I was surprised by a conversation with a classmate the other day. I observed that for his birthday this year, Dr. King was getting Samuel Alito, and she said, "Who?"
I got as far as saying that he was Bush's current Supreme Court nominee and she said, "I don't have any interest in politics." I'd heard people say things like that before, but this time I was really struck by how far apart her view of the world is from mine. To me, a mentally-sound adult who has no interest in politics is as odd (and possibly as reprehensible) as an able-bodied adult who has no interest in working.
I pressed on, pointing out that Alito is expected to be the swing vote to overturn Roe v. Wade
, and she said, "I'm absolutely pro-life, but I don't think that's ever going to happen."
I was polite, and refrained from pointing out that it's pretty damn easy to call yourself "pro-life" if you presume that the issue will never come up in real life.
She's a young single woman. I could have said some things that could have really hurt her feelings. But I didn't.
But I was surprised.
On the lighter side, it's also surprising how few people are aware that The Matrix is a remake of a 1975 TV-movie. Alas, in those days the special effects were not really up to the task, as you can see in this musical interlude from late in the film.
//The Magic 8-Ball says, "People go to Hell for lying, you know."\\
1 comment:
Don't go for Roe Vs. Wade - go for wiretapping and torture, checks and balances.
People stop thinking when you mention abortion, with a gut reaction for or against it obscuring the larger issues of personal liberty - but the presumed capacity of the the executive branch to ignore the courts and congress in order to spy on its own citizens and torture the citizens of other countries, accountable to no one, is enough to jolt anyone with a mere moiety of his marbles into thinking about the rule of law.
I used to not think about politics, too. You grow out of it as you learn to think for yourself more and more.
Peni
Post a Comment