No it didn't. I just forgot I had a blog amongst all the rehearsals, work, and drama I was living in. But now that I've figured out that my college is not nearly as artistic as it advertised its self to be, I'm going back to my old venues. I need to put something artsy into my life as I try to juggle work and transfer applications. Anyway, now to be sarcastic and cynical and joke about life.
College Party Scene
Is it just me or do college parties start to look the same after a while? Maybe I'm a freak, but I honestly don't understand how people can spend EVERY weekend drinking shitty vodka and playing beer pong and still find it fun. Sure, it's fun for maybe two or three weekends. But I'd like to be able to graduate from college knowing I remember some weekends. Not that I ever get that drunk considering how I end up having to take care of my shitfaced friends (it's a little hard making sure your friend doesn't end up in a hospital when you can't remember five seconds ago).
And yet, there's something about this weekly routine that just sucks people in. You know those people who every Sunday, when they're hung over and in pain, announce to the world "I'm not going to get that drunk for the rest of the semester! Ever! It's bad and I should take a break from it." Then that Friday it's 12 AM, you walk into some friend's dorm, and there they are slouched in a chair, with a red solo cup in one hand and a condom blown into a balloon in the other, screaming "RAH RAH AH AH AH, ROMA RO MA MA, GA GA OOH LA LAAAH" over and over again because they're too drunk to remember the rest of the words. Seriously people, only say that you're going to stop partying if you actually mean it. Otherwise you start sounding like an alcoholic.
In Other News
Within the three and a half months I was in college last semester my mom managed to buy five cats to replace my presence. This has multiple ramifications:
1) I have now learned that my net worth in the world is five cats. I wonder what that equals in dogs...
2) Considering that my family had only ever owned dogs before, the thought that there are cats running around my house is screwing with my mind.
3) I'm allergic to cats. So every time I'm on the bus home I need to prepare myself for the scratchy eyes and the sniffles ahead.
4) My mother is slowly turning into one of those crazy cat ladies you only ever hear about on TV.
Showing posts with label parties. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parties. Show all posts
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Philosophy Versus Political Parties
Ok, this may sound like a complaint, and I'm terribly sorry if it does, but there is one major misconception that drives me insane. My history teacher this morning decides he's going to try to teach the class about what it means to be a "Democrat" and what it means to be a "Republican". Now, his basic definition that good majority of Democrats are liberal is correct, and that a good majority of Republicans are conservative, but he doesn't bother defining the difference between liberalism and conservatism. Thus, his lesson gave off the aura that Democrat = liberal and that Republican = conservative. As that may be the situation in present day America, that is just not politically correct (no pun intended). To be a Democrat, for the sake of simplicity, means to believe in large government, and to be a Republican means to believe in small government. But these are not the defining factors of what liberal and conservative mean.
Liberalism is the idealism that is new or revolutionary for the day. A liberal person believes in ideals that are not widely accepted (i.e. gay marriage, immigrant rights, universal health care, pro-choice, higher taxes, etc.) and that personal liberty is most important. Conservatism is the idealism that is "old" or widley accepted by the majority of the public (i.e. pro-life, smaller taxes, anti-gay rights, restricted immigrant rights, etc.) and they believe tradition is most important. This means that the role of a political party changes depending on the stand they take on social and economic issues. Today Democrats are stereotypically liberal and Republicans are stereotypically conservative. However, back in the 1860's, the Republicans were the liberal party and Democrats were the conservative party. The only thing that consistantly defines a Democrat or Republican is their view on the proper role of government.
In fact, this is the only factor that has stayed consistant throughout America's history. Politicians have been arguing about the role of government since the conception of The Constitution - federalists wanted a larger government, and anti-federalists wanted a smaller government. To some extent, these are now the parties that exist today, except under different names. Keep in mind that I'm leaving out a lot of history for simplicity's sake, but it's undeniable that this central arguement has been pivital within the past 221 years.
Otherwise, I think teachers need to make a point to explain to their students that Democratic-conservatives and Republican-liberals DO exist. You can believe that government should have a bigger role in people's lives but that a woman should not abort their children. You can believe that government should play a smaller role in America and believe that gays should have every right to marry. There is a difference between a political party and a political philosophy. The problem is Americans today seem to mesh the two ideas as if they're the same thing.
Now, that's not to say that I wasn't one of these Americans myself. I was extraordinarilly naive to this difference until just a while ago. But, the fact that I didn't understand this essential difference scares me, especially since I know I'm not the only one. We're living in this country and yet we don't understand the basic principles of how our politics work. Scarier still is that teachers don't even adress this issue. They leave students to believe stereotypes they take as truth, some even reinforce it.
Liberalism is the idealism that is new or revolutionary for the day. A liberal person believes in ideals that are not widely accepted (i.e. gay marriage, immigrant rights, universal health care, pro-choice, higher taxes, etc.) and that personal liberty is most important. Conservatism is the idealism that is "old" or widley accepted by the majority of the public (i.e. pro-life, smaller taxes, anti-gay rights, restricted immigrant rights, etc.) and they believe tradition is most important. This means that the role of a political party changes depending on the stand they take on social and economic issues. Today Democrats are stereotypically liberal and Republicans are stereotypically conservative. However, back in the 1860's, the Republicans were the liberal party and Democrats were the conservative party. The only thing that consistantly defines a Democrat or Republican is their view on the proper role of government.
In fact, this is the only factor that has stayed consistant throughout America's history. Politicians have been arguing about the role of government since the conception of The Constitution - federalists wanted a larger government, and anti-federalists wanted a smaller government. To some extent, these are now the parties that exist today, except under different names. Keep in mind that I'm leaving out a lot of history for simplicity's sake, but it's undeniable that this central arguement has been pivital within the past 221 years.
Otherwise, I think teachers need to make a point to explain to their students that Democratic-conservatives and Republican-liberals DO exist. You can believe that government should have a bigger role in people's lives but that a woman should not abort their children. You can believe that government should play a smaller role in America and believe that gays should have every right to marry. There is a difference between a political party and a political philosophy. The problem is Americans today seem to mesh the two ideas as if they're the same thing.
Now, that's not to say that I wasn't one of these Americans myself. I was extraordinarilly naive to this difference until just a while ago. But, the fact that I didn't understand this essential difference scares me, especially since I know I'm not the only one. We're living in this country and yet we don't understand the basic principles of how our politics work. Scarier still is that teachers don't even adress this issue. They leave students to believe stereotypes they take as truth, some even reinforce it.
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