Where chaos stops and more chaos ensues. Where Filia plays the electric keyboard.
Where anything goes.
-//o_O\\7 *Home of the Awful, Mediocre and Pathetic* -//u_u\\7
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Where chaos stops and more chaos ensues. Where Filia plays the electric keyboard. Where anything goes. -//o_O\\7 *Home of the Awful, Mediocre and Pathetic* -//u_u\\7 |
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Monday, June 07, 2004 It is amazing what you can do if you sat down and thought about things for a while, rather than hastily struggling with them in your desperation. Interestingly enough, this 'maxim' applies to all of physical, mental and virtual challenges ... all it takes is a knowledge of the probabilities facing you so that you know when to give up (and that should only be if your chances are 0%). Because all those sports advertisements are wrong, there are things which are impossible in life ... the mistake most people make is not knowing which those are. Interestingly enough, drugs are more likely than sports to make the impossible happen. Think about the irony in those advertisements. Interesting quote to share : "A man under 30 who is not a liberal has not a heart, a man above 30 who is not a conservative has not a brain." - Winston Churchill. In the model of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, it rings true. The point of this temporary divergence into matters of politics (apart from it being a convenient excuse to once again declare in no uncertain terms my distaste for socialism in all its forms) is to reflect the political tenets of a very famous and well-known man who has recently passed away, Ronald Wilson Reagan, former president of the United States. Oh, sure, it might be rather absurd for me to state my support for a president of an overly libertarian country such as the United States, especially given my tendency in History lessons to root for the Soviet Union (although more for their totalitarian ways, rather than for their idealistic and ultimately ridiculous economic system). But several years of disastrous presidents, and a Democrat running for two terms between them, has helped us realise, on hindsight, that Reagan was a very intelligent and far-sighted man. Although that took a lot of hindsight, and it would help in appreciating this man for his influence in world politics if one was not actually a citizen of the United States (or, the Soviet Union, for that matter). I'm not going to recount a series of arguments debating the greatness of this man, who arguably provided the best leadership of the Cold War United States (though not, as the 'Reagan Victory' school claims, actually 'won' it per se, but I shall desist from repeating my essay here). The essential point of him which I like is that he was a defender of conservatism and a limited government, while pursuing a free market policy, similar to the way China and Singapore are doing it right now (however, to different degrees of 'consevatism' and 'free markets'). Another proponent of this means of government was Margaret Thatcher whom, unfortunately, has never earned the same popularity as Reagan across the world. I credit this to the male ego, which is unable to acknowledge superiority in any merit other than appearance in the opposite gender. That he is not exactly the most popular leader domestically is, of course, something which nags at me, but is not going to prevent me from expressing my admiration. I doubt any resident of any country (well, except Pakistan and India, maybe) would be utterly delighted at one's leader spending a large proportion of the budget and running huge deficits to create weapons of mass destruction, which are likely not to be (and, thankfully, have not been) used, to intimidate the national nemesis, not to mention the incredible amount of taxpayers' dollars spent on research on some orbital defence system which never looked like it would get off the ground. Of course, no leader is beyond blame for the numerous blunders they have made in their time in office ... it is merely that some leaders *ahem* have made more blunders than others. If only someone other than George W. Bush was running as the Republican candidate, I wouldn't give a second thought about John Kerry. And I'd definitely stop short long before lauding him with all praise as rabid American nationalists have done, because I don't give a damn about the American national sentiment. But I do care how the leader runs the country, and how their actions have an effect on the rest of the world. I would join America, for once, in expressing my grief for the passing of a great and intelligent man, the oldest man ever to hold office as American president. And I apologise for not being able to find a proper quote by Ronald Reagan (there's the one about the doctors, but that's in every newspaper), Churchill's comment being one I came across by chance. And it voices my sentiment about politics, as emphasised by this elaboration. posted by Charlotte | 4:59 pm
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Disclaimer : The Slayers and Filia Ul Copt and all images thereof are the property of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own any of them, although if I had a choice I would want Filia ... ~//n_n\\7 |
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