The New World Order

I was reading a story the other day, and there were some references to the Holocaust and the clan. It is hard to believe, in this day and age, that there are still pockets of Nazis and other racist, fascist groups out there. Did a pile of people somehow miss the fact that we are well into the first decade of the 21st century?

It's a little hard for me to come to terms with the entire concept of "the master race". While I was growing up, it was always pointed out to me that there was only one race, the human one. We lived in a small town, so ethnic diversity was a little hard to come by, and prejudice was more on a socio-economic level. When I first started learning about segregation and the genocides of the past, it all just made me so sick.

I do agree, sometimes, that there needs to be a new world order. However, it cannot be based on exclusivity. The only way a civilization can survive is to take the best of its parts, and incorporate them into the whole. Where as Hitler and the Apartheid government of South Africa sought to eliminate the "pollution of the pure race", I think they had it backwards.

The world can never be whole so long as one group of people feels it has the right to be in charge of everything. Wisdom is knowing that you will never be everything, and that supporting one another is the way to get things done. That applies in genetics as well as political endeavours. When you try to breed out the "perfect human" what you wind up with is usually a genetic anomaly or a person lacking defences against disease. Look at the royal families of 19th century Europe. They in bred for so long, they had problems with hemophilia and similar disorders.

No, in my version of the new world order, there would be no more attempts to separate the ethnic groups. Marriage of any couple that loved each other would be encouraged. Eventually, genetics would produce a group of humans with all of the advantages of each background. Sure, there will always be problems with the evolution of the human form, but best to spread the genetic net than fish from a single line.

We don't need a "master race", we need a guardian race. In centuries to come, humans will evolve to be the species that cares for this planet, keeping it safe from the ravages that we currently inflict upon it. We will learn to harness resources to care for ourselves without damaging the ecosystem. Our population will find its balance with what the world can sustain. We will learn to work together toward what is truly best for our civilization.

It's a choice, we either learn and grow, or die off fighting over things that don't really matter in the big scheme of things.

I choose to grow.

A boost to self esteem.

I got a major shot in the arm today.

The other day, I was in an on-line discussion forum, and posted that I felt my writing was crap compared to what I had read recently. While I still feel that I am very much lacking as a writer, the response to that remark has made me feel infinitely better.

One person said that my statement was patently bullsh*t, and that everything he had read by me was of a very high standard. Another reminded me that the only person I have to compare myself to is me, yesterday. Have I improved since then? The general consensus is that while being critical of my own work is a good thing, I went to far by calling it garbage.

Maybe sometimes we do harsh on ourselves a little bit too much. We want what we do to be good and noteworthy. If we forget the reason we took up writing, drawing or whatever, the fun goes out of it, and then what is the point? There is a fine line between being critical and wanting it right, and being obsessive.

So a big thank you to those who took my head out of my a**. I think maybe now I can get on with the chapters I have on my plate and feel better about it. At the very least, I can have fun.

Our Mellissa

A happy birthday to my second oldest niece, Mellissa-Anne!

She is another reminder that I don't have any little girls anymore. I actually have to look up to her, even if she isn't wearing heels, which she can now do confidently. I swear that one of these days I'm going to have to start standing on chairs. Being looked down on by these girls is depressing.

In all seriousness though, they have grown up much better than I could have hoped. For the most part, they are good, honest and independent young women. Mellissa has come farther than we had hoped when she was little. Maybe a rough start kind of helped get things going.

She's decided on a career already, and is working towards it. She is already looking at colleges, and she still has two more years of high school. If she is pulling in Cs, she wants to be bringing home a B. If she's getting Bs, she wants to shoot for the A. This isn't a little girl anymore, this is a full blown young woman.

We are all proud of how far you've come Mellissa, and are behind you, wherever you decide to go. Just remember to come back and visit once in a while.

Commitments

I was going to do a write up about the Fourth of July, but something happened today that put that by the wayside.

I was woken this morning by a phone call from the property manager of the building. They needed to show an apartment, and wanted me to check with one of the tenants if it would be okay to show hers. This was fairly early in the morning, and I was doing good to find my glasses. So, I walked over there and, afraid that I might be waking up the nice lady, knocked on the door.

Fortunately, the good woman had been up for hours already, and didn't mind if we took a person through, to show the amenities.

The person never showed up! We waited for more than half an hour, and she never came. Not so much as a phone call to explain that they would not be here. In my book, that is just the height of rudeness. If you make an appointment to be someplace, you had better darn well be there!

My parents brought me up to believe that punctuality wasn't just a courtesy. It is an obligation. If I say I'm going to be somewhere, you'd better believe that I'll be there, or at least let you know what happened.

I think the problem is that we aren't as committed to things now as past generations were. We want everything to run according to our schedules, and we want it now. We have forgotten that it is a two way street. If we want the respect, we have to be willing to show it first. To me, it is part and parcel of being a proper gentleman, to always say what you mean and mean what you say.

I always put my watch on in the morning, usually right after my glasses. I check the time regularly. If I have an appointment, I always try to be five minutes early.

It all goes back to courtesy, respect for the other, and just being a good person. I hope that when people meet me, I make a decent impression.

Another Canada Day

It's that day again, time to celebrate the birth of our nation. Canada is 131 today. Odd, she doesn't look a day over 100. Ooh, bad Joe. Bad Joe.

Even in troubled times, Canada is still the only place I could ever see as home. I know that as long as I live under the maple leaf, I am going to be helped and allowed to help. Debate socialism all you want, but I wouldn't give up the health care system we have for all of the tea in China. I am free to be who I want to be, as long as I do not take that right from anyone else.

So far, Canada has not fallen into the economic quagmire that so many other nations have. Our economy isn't growing at the rate we might like, but it hasn't stalled quite yet either.

We are starting to learn as a society. We are looking for clean alternative energies, even as we supply so much of the world with crude oil. More and more people are conserving and recycling. It is in our best interests, not just ecologically but financially, to do so.

Enjoy the day, Canadians, and join us if you can from other places.