Straight Edge My views on straight edge are an approach many people seem to be taking these days. To the surprise of most, I do not drink or do drugs. The closest thing to a drug is soda. But I do not choose to label myself straight edge for more personal reasons than anything else.
Vegan/Vegetarian There is no real policy on this. I am not, have never been and will never be vegan or vegetarian. I do believe that a healthy diet consists of meat and other such food people seem to not want to eat these days. People usually get angry over this because I don't understand the whole point behind their thinking. We do not support animal cruelty, well, not for the cute ones any way. As long as you don't get mad when I eat a cheeseburger in front of you, we'll be ok.
Racism/Homophobia This really should go without saying, but no one should ever support any sort of racism or homophobia. I have a firm belief that there are both good and bad people in all races. Something as simple and physical as skin color cannot determine whether or not you are a good person. And while I, myself, am not openly gay or bisexual, it is still a matter of not only "to each his own", but just simply that "whatever makes you happy". Well, whatever makes you happy so long as it doesn't involve genocide or something.
Religion I don't really practice religion, per se. I believe with all of the different religions out there, something got misconstrued along the way. I believe a movie with a good take on the situation (although it was intended to be a comedy) is "Dogma". I believe in God. I live by certain morals and standards. I read the Bible. I just do not take part in the capitalistic nature of such things as church or organized religion.
Censorship Censorship is perhaps one of the stupidest things. If shows on cable at 8pm at night aren't allowed to say more than "hell" and "damn", then what's the point of having this whole rating system any way? When it comes down to it, censorship- whether it be television, movies, music, video games- is there simply because parents are lazy. It has become a device to ensure their child's safety in ways which, if the parents just got actively involved in their child's life, would not be needed. I also stand firm in the belief that people should be able to say what they want. If it is not appealing to you, do not listen. Turn off your television if South Park offends you. Send your kids to bed at 10pm instead of bitching about how they learned the f-word from Eric Cartman. Take some responsibility. It's not anything your child won't pick up in public schools any way. You know, a lot of stupid things happened after the show Jackass. People lit themselves on fire, all sorts of stuff. And now Jackass is rarely shown and when it is there are a ton of warnings on it. Look, if you need a television show to tell you not to set yourself on fire, you deserve to burn. Plain and simple. And where were the parents in this? Exactly.
Public Schools
There are two problems I see with public schools.
First, no one should be forced to take "physical education",
"p.e.", "gym" or however you wish to label it.
Some people are the athletic type. They're jocks or maybe not.
And some people could care less about running in circles
for what is known as "track". Hey, to each his/her own.
But no one should be forced to do anything they don't want to.
Being a part of things like the basketball, baseball or
football team are optional in most high schools- if not all-
where you have to actually try out. Yet, in "physical
education" they take anyone and everyone.
I still have yet to seem the long term effects from
playing volleyball in the eighth grade.
Secondly, there is a problem in public schools with reading.
No one should be forced to read anything. People should really
take a hard look at what books are deemed fit for reading.
Some of these books are the worst books ever written.
When were these standards set? The 1950's? Have they been
changed since? Teachers also must realize that books are
written, like art is drawn or painted, to be open
to interpretation. That means the answers on your tests are
not neccesarily the right ones because there is no right
and wrong, only a grey area. People really should read more,
because I am very pro-reading and think once you stop learning
you die so you should always keep on. But when you're forced
to do something, and at such a low level, it no longer becomes
fun and you no longer take out of it what was intended to begin
with any way.
Welfare Welfare is something I never understood. Someone can go to college for years on end, work for a couple years, and then because they got laid off from their 60k a year job, they want us to start paying for them to live? Suck it up and get a job at McDonald's, they're always hiring. It's mostly a matter of pride, not that there aren't enough job openings or things of that nature. And do you know where this money for welfare comes from? There is no magical welfare box out there throwing around money. It comes from each and everyone of you, the tax payers. So let's put this into perspective. Someone gets laid off from their high paying job and refuses to work a few levels down for a bit just so they can pay the bills and get by. Instead, they want each and every one of you to take a portion of your hard earned money and share it with him. So while you go to work all day, this guy on welfare gets to sit home and let you pay his way. If they did away with welfare, it would mean less taxes coming out of your pay check, or a better use for them. So what's the point?