As I sat there at the patio table, debating the death penalty with a passionate Palisades lawyer (residing around the corner from Tom Hanks and Michael Keaton), I wondered how many times this poor man had already had this discussion.
I mean, afterall, I'm not in the business, I'm younger than he, and I've already had this ping-pong conversation nearly 2.7 patrillion times (minus, of course, 1.5 patrillion debates that ended in: "But what if a one-eyed mariner drowned your mother in a swimming pool of vinegar and pickled olives- oh, forget it. Pass me the peanuts.")...
No, but honestly... The thing that astounds me is the magnitude and sincerity of fist-clenching, intestine-raising Passion that accompanies our strongest beliefs,
regardless of the antiquity of the debate.
I mean, no matter how many times I exchange foreign policy discussions or giggle over "Bushisms", I still always get an overwhelming body-clenching anger when forced to discuss the current administration.
And, even though I've pro-ed and con-ed to excess, I still always feel my body on the verge of eruption when arguing the superiority of platypuses, discussing the downfall of dehydrated Tang, and verbally wrestling with my opponents over the inalienable rights of Pineapples as officially-recognized pizza toppings...
I just don't know how to scientifically explain it...
I mean, what kind of biologically-concocted mixed chemical drink aides in the screaming of individuals over the position of toilet seat lids and toothpaste tops? What psychological reasoning explains outbreaks of faith-based hatred, sexual-orientation-platformed disgust, and bar brawls over country music selections?
I guess I'm getting more entry-level, college-style philosophical here than I should...
All I mean to say is that I think it's absolutely wonderful that we homosapiediscohumanoids continue to get riled up about our strongest beliefs despite the repetition of questioning.
And, that discussions- even age-old, been-there-done-that ones- are undeniably excellent.
(PS - non-politically and non-religiously speaking: Dog Damn if I won't take a knife to the neck of a brick if you tell me killing is ever OK.)
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3 comments:
oh ho...my previous comment got eaten up.
I think what I wrote was that I had decided that I would never write about my political views, simply coz ppl have their mind set on certain things and 'political dialogues' tend to be rather pointless. Now if i wrote like maureen dowd or borowitz, that would be different.
Plus, do you like living california vis a vis japan? coz i feel your posts now have a more angry undertone, which it didn't have in Japan. :-)
Cheers
R.
r- I DO feel more of a sense of social responsibility for the political actions of the country I reside in now, but I certainly hope it doesn't come across as anger... I just like a good passionate debate every once in a while:)
frustrated- Ditto. And, sorry about the brick. It was self-defense, I swear!
When I was in university, I did a radio show for Amnesty International on our campus station, and one of the things we did every week while we were on the air was read out the names of those that were scheduled to be exectued during the week. All I can say is that, after doing the show for two years, I had read out an awful number of names - too many.
You know, C, I don't think I've said it before but you're a really outstanding writer. I've never seen anyone use the word "homosapiediscohumanoids" quite as eloquently as you!
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