I'm sure I don't have to tell any of you that the passing of Proposition 8 in California is devastating to me, as I'm sure it is to all of you. What is equally devastating to me is the TV and newspaper headlines claiming that African American voters voted in huge margins to pass this measure. This should especially outrage you since there is evidence that this is in fact not true. This article explains why the statistics cited by the news media are highly questionable at best. It is an extremely long article, but you can get the main gist by skimming it:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/7/34645/1235/704/656272
I know this is hard for many people to wrap their heads around, but news media producers (who write most scripts and decide what makes the news) are more invested in providing an interesting story than telling the truth. (I know this firsthand.) If they can find an interesting angle on a story, they will run with it whether it is verified or not. And in the age of media consolidation, everyone just steals stories from each other so it's like a demented game of telephone: misinformation spreads like wildfire. In this case, the consequence is unacceptable. Tell everyone you know about this, don't let them point the finger at innocent people.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Prop 8 supporters just shut the F up!
It's sickening enough that so many people voted in favor of Proposition 8, but it's even worse that they then have to brag about it! Two of my friends in California posted their sorrow on Facebook about Prop 8 passing and in response people on their friends list proceeded to explain how they actually love gays, but had to vote to "preserve the sanctity of marriage" or to "just do what I think is right." What is the point of this? I am not asking a rhetorical question. What do these Prop 8 supporters get out of telling a person directly that they voted against their equal rights? If you're an ignorant ass or a religious nut job can't you just keep it to yourself?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Their day is coming
I thought about something when I was at the gym today. There was a poll on CNN breaking down how different minorities vote. In this election, only 3% of African Americans plan to vote for McCain. Granted, the other candidate is black so that may not seem surprising. However in the last election only 11% of blacks voted for Bush. When it comes to Hispanics, something like less than 15% plan to vote for McCain. (I was on the stairmaster and the time and I can't find the poll or exact numbers so bear with me.) 52% of whites plan to vote for McCain, and I believe it was a similar number who voted for Bush in the last election.
So does this mean, giving the shifting demographics of this country that all I have to do to see more democrats in office is just wait for whites to become the minority? According to the US Census Bureau, by 2042 whites will no longer be the majority. I don't know whether this makes me optimistic or uninspired. On one hand, it seems that the type of change that I want to see will probably come on its own. On the other hand, it seems like my participation in this change is not even necessary. I don't know what to do with this information.
So does this mean, giving the shifting demographics of this country that all I have to do to see more democrats in office is just wait for whites to become the minority? According to the US Census Bureau, by 2042 whites will no longer be the majority. I don't know whether this makes me optimistic or uninspired. On one hand, it seems that the type of change that I want to see will probably come on its own. On the other hand, it seems like my participation in this change is not even necessary. I don't know what to do with this information.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Obamanation
On the evening of the vice-presidential debate I was approached by some folks in my neighborhood about going door to door as part of a get out the vote effort. Feeling the buzz I acquired from the Sarah Palin drinking game and also the inspired feeling of being surrounded by people who think the Republicans are a bunch of idiots, I enthusiastically signed up to volunteer. The next day I met with the coordinator to get my instructions and the map of the area I was supposed to cover. When I took the packet from her hands I could feel the wind going out of my sails. The front page was a “contract” I was to sign stating that my goals were not just to register voters and encourage people to vote, but to sway undecided voters in the direction of Obama. I was so dismayed. I didn’t know what to do. I felt ethically conflicted.
You see, I am not voting for Obama. I understand that the Republicans are evil and I hate George Bush just as much as the other 73% of Americans. I just don’t agree that the opposite of Republicans=Evil is Democrats=good.
I have been with my partner for six years. She is a union electrician and has the best health insurance of any American I’ve ever met. I have no health insurance. Well, not really. I pay $85/month for catastrophic insurance that only precludes me from declaring bankruptcy if I’m hit by a bus. It doesn’t cover anything up to my $1500 deductible. I can’t get on my partner’s insurance because her union (IBEW local 46) only recognizes marriage that the federal government recognizes. (In fact, her union is one of only two organizations in Massachusetts that doesn’t recognize the gay marriages there.)
I am shocked when people somehow think that Obama is in favor of gay marriage. He has stated publicly that he is in favor of civil unions, not marriage. He does sneakily admit that he wants to overturn DOMA, which could cause recognition of gay marriage. This is progress, but why should I support someone who won’t declare his support for me in public? By refusing to publicly embrace equal rights for all, he is saying that separate but equal is ok. As a black man, he should know better. He is a disgrace to the civil rights activists that enabled the position he is currently in.
I know he has a health coverage plan but it does not impress me much. I suppose if I am part of a large pool of people I will be able to buy better coverage than I am buying now. But it will still take money out of my pocket that I can’t really afford to part with and put it in the pockets of insurance companies that make it their business to deny as many claims as possible. He wants to stop them from denying people for preexisting conditions but he has no plan for the random unsubstantiated denial of care that is common practice nowadays.
I wonder how many people will have to become as disenfranchised as myself before real change happens. I hope I don’t have to find out.
You see, I am not voting for Obama. I understand that the Republicans are evil and I hate George Bush just as much as the other 73% of Americans. I just don’t agree that the opposite of Republicans=Evil is Democrats=good.
I have been with my partner for six years. She is a union electrician and has the best health insurance of any American I’ve ever met. I have no health insurance. Well, not really. I pay $85/month for catastrophic insurance that only precludes me from declaring bankruptcy if I’m hit by a bus. It doesn’t cover anything up to my $1500 deductible. I can’t get on my partner’s insurance because her union (IBEW local 46) only recognizes marriage that the federal government recognizes. (In fact, her union is one of only two organizations in Massachusetts that doesn’t recognize the gay marriages there.)
I am shocked when people somehow think that Obama is in favor of gay marriage. He has stated publicly that he is in favor of civil unions, not marriage. He does sneakily admit that he wants to overturn DOMA, which could cause recognition of gay marriage. This is progress, but why should I support someone who won’t declare his support for me in public? By refusing to publicly embrace equal rights for all, he is saying that separate but equal is ok. As a black man, he should know better. He is a disgrace to the civil rights activists that enabled the position he is currently in.
I know he has a health coverage plan but it does not impress me much. I suppose if I am part of a large pool of people I will be able to buy better coverage than I am buying now. But it will still take money out of my pocket that I can’t really afford to part with and put it in the pockets of insurance companies that make it their business to deny as many claims as possible. He wants to stop them from denying people for preexisting conditions but he has no plan for the random unsubstantiated denial of care that is common practice nowadays.
I wonder how many people will have to become as disenfranchised as myself before real change happens. I hope I don’t have to find out.
West Coast Syndrome
I stood in the crowd of boisterous people, scanning the faces. Somewhere, there had to be a familiar one. After striking out in the first room, I moved on. Strangers, in their small groups, were smiling and laughing. After making my way through the various spaces in the gallery it became clear: I’d been stood up.
The sad thing was, I was hardly even surprised. When I make plans with people in Seattle I really don’t consider the plans concrete until I am standing face to face with someone. Up until that moment, my cell phone could ring (or worse, just “ping” signaling a text), begging off with some excuse. “Oh, I have to work late. I’m not feeling well. I forgot about this other thing I have to do. I’m washing my hair.” Hell, even getting any notice at all is a courtesy not always afforded me. What is up with people here?
It’s something I often refer to as “the west coast syndrome.”
The worst thing about it is that it’s cultural. It is so pervasive here that it becomes contagious. I am sitting here writing this self-righteous rant but it’s not like I never do it either. It is so socially acceptable to be a flake that when you do it there isn’t even any need to feel bad about it.
So if everyone does it and no one feels bad about it then does it even matter? I think it does. Many people including myself complain often about how hard it is to make friends here. This flaky behavior is one major reason for this. Once you jump the enormous hurdle of getting people to initiate plans with you in the first place, you are expected to forgive their flakiness on multiple occasions in order for you to stay friends.
It may sound like asking for trouble but I refuse to do this. I have a zero tolerance policy for flaking. If someone makes plans with me then stands me up, that is it. We are no longer going to spend time together socially. If someone backs out at the last minute (less than 2 hours) then I no longer initiate plans with them. If they try to initiate plans with me, I think long and hard about whether I am going to attend. And they have to repeatedly not be flaky in order to sustain a friendship with me, otherwise I drop them.
I have occasionally made exceptions, but rarely. I have one friend here, a transplant from San Francisco where the syndrome is even more widespread, who has exhibited flakiness on many occasions and yet we still hang out. Frankly, she is such a truly high quality human being that I just can’t bear to eliminate her from my life even though some of her flightiness has been atrocious (she’s the one who stood me up at the gallery).
As a result of all this, I do not have as many friends here as I would like. I have chosen quality over quantity, a decision I am not always happy with. Probably if I wasn’t in a relationship I would have taken a different road on this issue. It would be awfully hard to spend as much time alone as a hard line stance on this issue would require for a single person.
I am writing all of this as an encouragement to all of you Seattleites out there. If you are reading this and nodding your head, help me change this. Cultural change starts with you and me. Let’s all become a little more hard nosed against this behavior, and refuse to engage in it ourselves. On that cold crappy November night when you want to stay in your pajamas instead of meeting your friends for drinks, kick your own ass off the couch. When your friend backs out on your 6pm plans at 5:30 with some lame excuse don’t tell them it’s ok. Tell them you’re pissed! This is what happens to people who engage in this type of behavior in other parts of the country, like the East Coast or the South. Let’s make this kind of thing less socially acceptable, something that has negative consequences.
The sad thing was, I was hardly even surprised. When I make plans with people in Seattle I really don’t consider the plans concrete until I am standing face to face with someone. Up until that moment, my cell phone could ring (or worse, just “ping” signaling a text), begging off with some excuse. “Oh, I have to work late. I’m not feeling well. I forgot about this other thing I have to do. I’m washing my hair.” Hell, even getting any notice at all is a courtesy not always afforded me. What is up with people here?
It’s something I often refer to as “the west coast syndrome.”
The worst thing about it is that it’s cultural. It is so pervasive here that it becomes contagious. I am sitting here writing this self-righteous rant but it’s not like I never do it either. It is so socially acceptable to be a flake that when you do it there isn’t even any need to feel bad about it.
So if everyone does it and no one feels bad about it then does it even matter? I think it does. Many people including myself complain often about how hard it is to make friends here. This flaky behavior is one major reason for this. Once you jump the enormous hurdle of getting people to initiate plans with you in the first place, you are expected to forgive their flakiness on multiple occasions in order for you to stay friends.
It may sound like asking for trouble but I refuse to do this. I have a zero tolerance policy for flaking. If someone makes plans with me then stands me up, that is it. We are no longer going to spend time together socially. If someone backs out at the last minute (less than 2 hours) then I no longer initiate plans with them. If they try to initiate plans with me, I think long and hard about whether I am going to attend. And they have to repeatedly not be flaky in order to sustain a friendship with me, otherwise I drop them.
I have occasionally made exceptions, but rarely. I have one friend here, a transplant from San Francisco where the syndrome is even more widespread, who has exhibited flakiness on many occasions and yet we still hang out. Frankly, she is such a truly high quality human being that I just can’t bear to eliminate her from my life even though some of her flightiness has been atrocious (she’s the one who stood me up at the gallery).
As a result of all this, I do not have as many friends here as I would like. I have chosen quality over quantity, a decision I am not always happy with. Probably if I wasn’t in a relationship I would have taken a different road on this issue. It would be awfully hard to spend as much time alone as a hard line stance on this issue would require for a single person.
I am writing all of this as an encouragement to all of you Seattleites out there. If you are reading this and nodding your head, help me change this. Cultural change starts with you and me. Let’s all become a little more hard nosed against this behavior, and refuse to engage in it ourselves. On that cold crappy November night when you want to stay in your pajamas instead of meeting your friends for drinks, kick your own ass off the couch. When your friend backs out on your 6pm plans at 5:30 with some lame excuse don’t tell them it’s ok. Tell them you’re pissed! This is what happens to people who engage in this type of behavior in other parts of the country, like the East Coast or the South. Let’s make this kind of thing less socially acceptable, something that has negative consequences.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Living in Costa Rica as an American
When I tell people that I spent three months studying abroad in Costa Rica they almost always ask me if I want to move down there now. My reaction is generally to recoil and shout “no!” It only occurred to me recently that to people who don’t know me well that this reaction may make me seem like a snooty American who couldn’t stand a “third world” style of living. This actually has nothing to do with it. The truth is I couldn’t stand to be associated with the type of American that lives down there.
Costa Rica has the largest number of Americans residents of any foreign country. Many Americans who move down there end up living in American-style gated communities with other expatriates. There are seriously at least 25 of these subdivisions up and down the coastline of a country the size of West Virginia. They associate only with other Americans. They send their children to English language schools. Many of them drive SUVs, wear designer clothes, and generally live an extravagant American lifestyle at a much more affordable cost than in the states. Many expats see no reason to learn Spanish even though it is the native language. I had the misfortune of contracting a kidney infection while there and had to go to the “private” hospital where rich Ticos and Americans go. While I was waiting several very well dressed American women came in with their children. They didn’t speak a word of Spanish although I overheard one of them telling another American that they have lived there for five years.
In some countries such as Mexico there are restrictions on foreigners buying land. This is not the case in Costa Rica. When you drive up the Pan American highway there is a real estate office about every five miles. Their signs are in English and it is my understanding that basically 100% of the people utilizing these offices are Americans. In addition to the omnipresent realtors, just about every empty piece of land in the country has a sign on it stating that it is for sale (in English). I am not exaggerating. It’s like the whole country is for sale to the highest bidder.
Costa Rica also doesn’t enforce any environmental restrictions on the (largely foreign) developers that build these communities. There are technically laws that state that developers must show that there is adequate water and sewage for the number of residences built but a quick grease of the palm will generally get an inspector to sign off on this. As a result there are way too many people for the available water supply in most areas where Americans live. Most residents remain blissfully unaware of this although they can’t figure out why the water goes out every few days. There is usually sewage treatment for “black water” (what comes out of the toilet) but often none for “grey water” (the dirty soapy water from your sink or shower). The grey water often just comes out of a pipe straight onto the ground and right into local streams. Waste disposal is another issue. Up until recently across the country pretty much all garbage ended up either being burned, buried, or thrown in a river somewhere. Even now, only a few areas in Costa Rica have actually started using lined landfills. Considering not just the existing subdivisions but all the ones I saw in the process of construction it seems unlikely that current waste disposal facilities could handle this growth in population.
Costa Rica is constantly encouraging more people to move south creating the illusion that the country has the resources to handle it. They are often promising something they can’t deliver. These developers, aided by the Costa Rican government, make it seem in their advertising like you’re buying an American house just not in America. However it is common for an American to move into one of these houses and have to endure constant interruptions in the supply of water and electricity. This doesn’t even include other typical developing world problems such as hurricanes washing the roads out or crime such as petty theft. The developers are trying to trick people into believing they aren’t in the developing world but occasionally reality intrudes on them.
These problems caused by the onslaught of Americans are well publicized but with a few exceptions little is done about them. The truth of the matter is that all these Americans bring a lot of money into a poor country. Ask any Tico (as Costa Rican nationals are called) and they will tell you they want more American development in their area because it means more jobs. This is hardly surprising considering the lack of industry outside the capital of San Jose. It is the developing world, and catering to Americans is the number one staple of the economy.
What disturbed me about it though was that the Ticos didn’t seem to care about the cultural influence this had on their country. I was frankly appalled at how much American culture seemed to be steamrolling local customs. The Ticos did not seem too concerned about this. The first time I asked a Tico how he felt about all the signs and billboards in English, the huge American style houses, etc. he shrugged and informed me (in Spanish) that his grandfather was from Italy and explained how everyone in Costa Rica has relatives that are foreigners. I thought this opinion was an anomaly so I took to asking just about every Tico I met and every single one of them gave me a similar answer except for one. His response was “Once the land in my village gets sold to an American that is land that won’t ever return to my hands.” Good point, however we are talking about one out of around sixty people that I asked this question. The rest of them were quite content to see the Americanization of their country continue.
It disturbed me to my core. I feel that in most countries people have a strong sense of culture. It is one of the main things that connect people to one another. If that culture is trampled upon by an outside culture then what do you have left? I, for one, would fight for the preservation of my culture. The fact that Ticos as whole seem uninterested in doing so left me somewhat depressed. Some students in my study group put a positive spin on it, stating that their culture is much more malleable than ours. I think if this were an exchange between two economic equals I could agree with that, but when one considers how much more economic clout an American has than a Tico then it seems more like we are annexing Costa Rica without giving its citizens the benefits of being Americans such as decent wages and worker protection laws.
I wish this information was readily distributed to people considering purchasing a home in Costa Rica. I don’t think most people want to do things that they know harm another country. After all, you wouldn’t consider buying a home somewhere unless you loved how it is now. I do worry that if development there continues at its current rate that in fifteen years or so the country will be trashed by development and have lost the natural beauty that lures people down there to begin with. The key is for these individual buyers to think of themselves as part of the greater picture, not the one person who’s found the key to paradise.
Costa Rica has the largest number of Americans residents of any foreign country. Many Americans who move down there end up living in American-style gated communities with other expatriates. There are seriously at least 25 of these subdivisions up and down the coastline of a country the size of West Virginia. They associate only with other Americans. They send their children to English language schools. Many of them drive SUVs, wear designer clothes, and generally live an extravagant American lifestyle at a much more affordable cost than in the states. Many expats see no reason to learn Spanish even though it is the native language. I had the misfortune of contracting a kidney infection while there and had to go to the “private” hospital where rich Ticos and Americans go. While I was waiting several very well dressed American women came in with their children. They didn’t speak a word of Spanish although I overheard one of them telling another American that they have lived there for five years.
In some countries such as Mexico there are restrictions on foreigners buying land. This is not the case in Costa Rica. When you drive up the Pan American highway there is a real estate office about every five miles. Their signs are in English and it is my understanding that basically 100% of the people utilizing these offices are Americans. In addition to the omnipresent realtors, just about every empty piece of land in the country has a sign on it stating that it is for sale (in English). I am not exaggerating. It’s like the whole country is for sale to the highest bidder.
Costa Rica also doesn’t enforce any environmental restrictions on the (largely foreign) developers that build these communities. There are technically laws that state that developers must show that there is adequate water and sewage for the number of residences built but a quick grease of the palm will generally get an inspector to sign off on this. As a result there are way too many people for the available water supply in most areas where Americans live. Most residents remain blissfully unaware of this although they can’t figure out why the water goes out every few days. There is usually sewage treatment for “black water” (what comes out of the toilet) but often none for “grey water” (the dirty soapy water from your sink or shower). The grey water often just comes out of a pipe straight onto the ground and right into local streams. Waste disposal is another issue. Up until recently across the country pretty much all garbage ended up either being burned, buried, or thrown in a river somewhere. Even now, only a few areas in Costa Rica have actually started using lined landfills. Considering not just the existing subdivisions but all the ones I saw in the process of construction it seems unlikely that current waste disposal facilities could handle this growth in population.
Costa Rica is constantly encouraging more people to move south creating the illusion that the country has the resources to handle it. They are often promising something they can’t deliver. These developers, aided by the Costa Rican government, make it seem in their advertising like you’re buying an American house just not in America. However it is common for an American to move into one of these houses and have to endure constant interruptions in the supply of water and electricity. This doesn’t even include other typical developing world problems such as hurricanes washing the roads out or crime such as petty theft. The developers are trying to trick people into believing they aren’t in the developing world but occasionally reality intrudes on them.
These problems caused by the onslaught of Americans are well publicized but with a few exceptions little is done about them. The truth of the matter is that all these Americans bring a lot of money into a poor country. Ask any Tico (as Costa Rican nationals are called) and they will tell you they want more American development in their area because it means more jobs. This is hardly surprising considering the lack of industry outside the capital of San Jose. It is the developing world, and catering to Americans is the number one staple of the economy.
What disturbed me about it though was that the Ticos didn’t seem to care about the cultural influence this had on their country. I was frankly appalled at how much American culture seemed to be steamrolling local customs. The Ticos did not seem too concerned about this. The first time I asked a Tico how he felt about all the signs and billboards in English, the huge American style houses, etc. he shrugged and informed me (in Spanish) that his grandfather was from Italy and explained how everyone in Costa Rica has relatives that are foreigners. I thought this opinion was an anomaly so I took to asking just about every Tico I met and every single one of them gave me a similar answer except for one. His response was “Once the land in my village gets sold to an American that is land that won’t ever return to my hands.” Good point, however we are talking about one out of around sixty people that I asked this question. The rest of them were quite content to see the Americanization of their country continue.
It disturbed me to my core. I feel that in most countries people have a strong sense of culture. It is one of the main things that connect people to one another. If that culture is trampled upon by an outside culture then what do you have left? I, for one, would fight for the preservation of my culture. The fact that Ticos as whole seem uninterested in doing so left me somewhat depressed. Some students in my study group put a positive spin on it, stating that their culture is much more malleable than ours. I think if this were an exchange between two economic equals I could agree with that, but when one considers how much more economic clout an American has than a Tico then it seems more like we are annexing Costa Rica without giving its citizens the benefits of being Americans such as decent wages and worker protection laws.
I wish this information was readily distributed to people considering purchasing a home in Costa Rica. I don’t think most people want to do things that they know harm another country. After all, you wouldn’t consider buying a home somewhere unless you loved how it is now. I do worry that if development there continues at its current rate that in fifteen years or so the country will be trashed by development and have lost the natural beauty that lures people down there to begin with. The key is for these individual buyers to think of themselves as part of the greater picture, not the one person who’s found the key to paradise.
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