Coffee Flavored Kisses

Even though I self-identify as a Liberal, nay occasionally as a Socialist (depends on how pissy I feel), I have been feeling that we need to see a whole new resurgence of the concept of Personality Responsibility.

Now, I will freely admit that this view grows stronger as I teach Intro Philosophy more and more.  Since my approach to that class is that it’s about defining and refining our personal belief systems not learning names and theories, it makes sense that my own philosophy is in the process of refining itself.

I digress, personal responsibility is the topic, and by that I mean taking responsibility for your own choices and actions.  The idea for this comes from a discussion on the main page about who is responsible for an obese woman’s being asked to get of a piece of equipment.  It seems that the woman is painting herself a victim of fat discrimination by the gym, while glossing over her choices to ignore the plan made by the gym and to ignore the warnings that she might be too big for the equipment.  It’s the painting herself as a victim that has worked my  last nerve.

Now it’s not that I don’t believe in victimhood.  Certainly, it exists in many ways.  We are often victims of place, victims of gender, and so forth, but we are also more than just that.  We can choose to stay the victim or we can take control of our choices.

This is in part why I became an educator, too.  Because how can you make the choices that will take you out of victimhood, if you don’t even know those choices exist.  This is where things tie into liberalism for me. If our government is to be truly effective and work, then it needs to provide the services necessary for its people to make choices–and to know the whole spectrum of choices they have.  If you don’t know that you can be anything other than a farmer, how do you choose something else? If you don’t know that you can get off the welfare system, how can you choose to do so? A good government should be providing the information needed for people to make those decisions.

This doesn’t mean, however, that all people will choose the best route.  There are always going to be people who make poor choices, but they need to recognize that these were choices.  This is being personally responsible.

I am tired to death of one phrase that I seem to be hearing a lot: “It’s not fair!” Given that I teach for a living, you might imagine I am hearing that about grades, but I’m not. Mostly, “it” seems to refer either to the complainant not getting their way about something.  It might be that they did something stupid, and are not paying the consequences, or it might be that they didn’t get the newest gadget or go to the most recent concert.  Or that they actually have to do work for a class.

Take for example, one recent incident. One of my students went out on a date with someone he met on the ‘net.  He lft his cell phone and calculator in the person’s vehicle.  The ‘net person has not returned the items, and the student says “That’s not fair!” Personally, I don’t even see how fairness comes into it.  If I forget my stuff, somewhere, then I am at fault–it’s not an issue of fairness, but responsibility.  Has that word totally disappeared?

Or take the SIL, for example, who tonight claimed it wasn’t fair that the instructor for her class actually keeps them the whole time of four hours with only a ten minnute break.  That’s not fair, she says.  I have no clue how that’s not fair, she’s lucky to get the break, in the first place–not all instructors will do so.

Here’s a clue to all the “It’s not fair” people–no, it’s not–so get over it.  If life were fair, there’d be fewer murders (certainly, killing someone isn’t fair), there’d be no cancer (It can’t be fair to work hard all your life only to die from a disease caused by that work environment), there’s be no orphans, or war, or much else.

Life’s just not fair.  We can try to make the opportunites people have fair, we can try to make out justice system fair, we can try to make school and work fair, but we don’t always succeed.

Basically, I guess I’m sick of people complaining about things they bring on themselves, and then whine that it’s not fair.  No, it’s not, so suck it up, and roll with the punches, and move on.

No, I am not going to discuss politics or my political views here.  It’s not my purpose in writing, and frankly, I am just freaking burned out on the whole mess.

Instead, I want to bitch and moan about the state of politics and thought in our country, and I will use the microcosm of my Philosophy class for it.  I am prompted to this by a blog entry by my friend Roger.

Now, Philosophy is fraught with anxieties as a course in the first place because you are expected to be able to think and explain.  Secondly, someone is going to trash your widely held world views–be it someone in class or the textbook or one of the philosophers in the textbook, or well, me.

This semester I have a very motley crew, and sometimes it is all I can do not to break out in laughter.  I have a couple of women who have come out of clearly bad divorces and relationships.  I have a couple of youngin’s who have never ever questioned anything in their world view, and one of those is loud mouthed an egotistical.  I have a clown, who is much smarter than he acts.  I have some religious, some agnostic. And I have one who will take as extreme a stance as possible to get a rise out of you.  I probably have some preachers or preacher’s kid as well.

The problem, of course, that makes it close to the political problem is that some of my students don’t want to think or hear other opinions or even realize that it is possible to hold two very contradictory ideas in your belife (I like the typo more than the word belief!) system at once.  This means that a couple of them keep trying to shout out (and shut out) anyone who challenges their beliefs.  The few who do this, of course, get my tweaker of tails (or tales, if you prefer) and clown going.  This causes the lefts to rise, which offends the rights, and so it all starts over again.  We’ve only met three times, and I think I want a bullwhip and a megaphone.  Oh yes, and some muzzles–how scary my philosophy class almost requires fetish gear!

This, however, is how politics seems to be going, at least in my view.  Everyone tends to want to shout out and shut up anyone who questions or thinks, and I see that on all sides of the equation (or colors of the rainbow) if you prefer.  It just makes me tired.

I’m odd, I know that I want to try and see and understand more than one side of an issue.  I tend to find the gray spaces more interesting than the black and white corners of the political boxing ring.  But like anyone in the middle of the ring when the two boxers go at it, I find myself feeling pummeled by politics, and sometimes Philosophy!

No wonder I find myself feeling drawn to the most famous of the original Greek cynics–Diogenes.  I am beginning to think living in a barrel on the beach and looking for an honest man are about the only things one can do.  Debunking the corrupt ideals of a corrupt society…yeah, I think I like old Diogenes.