LEAVE IT TO PEEVER
14 Years of
Peeves
It’s hard
to believe that all this nonsense started in 1995. You’d think eventually a
person would run out of peeves. I must be truly gifted, because the peeves just
seem to keep on coming. I’m afraid that’s not real good luck for you. Over the
years, I haven’t missed many categories of people, and have done my best to
peeve each and every one of you. There is a method to my madness, but I’m not
about to tell you what it is. After all, if I don’t have any secrets, how will
I ever get on the GREDA board?
Here are
some definitions that will help you understand The Peeves a little better
during year 15:
* Peeves: Anything
that gets under your skin. It may or may not be logical, reasonable, or even
real, but it just drives you nuts. After a while, you may wonder if it’s just
you. It ain’t.
* Christian: A lot of
people call themselves this. Frankly, that doesn’t impress me. The Bible is a
complicated piece of literature. Our best theologians can argue over its content
and meaning. I tend to trust their understanding more than I do ministers or
lay people. Because the Bible is not an easy piece of literature to understand,
I have boiled down my definition of a Christian to mean someone who models
their life after the example of Christ.
For me, that’s the true test. The rest is of little consequence.
* Right-wing
Christians: These are people who use their misplaced understanding of the Bible
and blend it with politics. They generally know little about either. You know,
our anti-choice, prayer in public schools, no stem-cell research, teach
creationism as science to our children, abstinence passed stupidity, those
folks. These people think they got it and they want to spread it. They got it
alright, and it’s nauseating.
* Republicans: These
are people, for the most part, just like the rest of us. They just have been
mislead to believe that white males are meant to rule the world. I understand
their confusion. They think Christ and Lincoln would have been Republicans. I
believe they would be real disappointed.
* Democrats:
Democrats look very much like Republicans, but will usually not be wearing a
suit or a long-sleeved, white shirt. Given the fact that Democrats tend to mate
with Republicans, their natural tendencies to fight for the underdog are
dissipating. Natural selection seems to be moving us toward a one party system,
where everyone believes the rich are the truly ordained ones, and as for the
rest of us, well, we make good workers.
* Leaders: There are
few of these. No one likes to stand alone and say that we need to go down the
road less traveled. Taking on the status quo day after day takes its toll.
There are few who can withstand the criticism and ridicule that comes with a
message of change. Those holding on to the perceived power don’t want to let it
go. A leader understands that it is not power that they possess, but
self-interest and greed. A leader can easily exploit these weaknesses.
* Revolution: When
the status quo no longer meets our needs, it is time for a radical change. It
is really a matter of measuring how well we are being served by any particular
entity, most often the government. Are we getting what we need? Are the people
involved doing what they are suppose to be doing? Are our lives being made
better or worse because of this entity or these people? When the answer to
these questions becomes no, the revolution is on. In an orderly manner, we just
elected someone new to lead our nation. We are expecting him to take us down a
new road. It would be naive of us to think the status quo will not fight back.
Likewise, in Galesburg, we are demanding that a new course be set to get us
economically on track. The old, traditional, status quo, good-old-boy approach
has pretty much lead us to a disaster point. We have watched failure go on for
too long. When the people are moved, a wise leader either listens or is
replaced. It’s that simple.
* Socialism: You hear
a lot of right-winged wisdom concerning what a socialist, or socialism, is.
They’re all full of bull up to their ears. Limbaugh and Hannity and Dobbs and
O’Reilly don’t have a clue. A socialist professes that government has a role in
society, that it is not an institution exclusively in existence to make sure
the rich get richer and the poor get nothing. A democratic socialist theory is
based on public participation in all facets of our existence, including
economic. Public ownership helps to avoid the exploitation of capital we have
seen over the last 25 years. Capitalism sees government as evil. Socialism sees
government regulation and intervention as necessary. Marx is coming back into
vogue. Capitalism is not a good mix with democracy. It can’t work. Humans are
way too greedy.
So thank
you for sticking with me over all these years. I appreciate it. Without you, I
would be nothing. With you, I’m pretty much still in that same boat. The Peever