You Can Disagree and Still Think Someone Kicks Ass!

Hate to dilute my posting on Stargate SG-1 since I like it so much…but upon reading one of my favorite comic author’s works online I had to publicize it because it was fun to read.
Peter Bagge has been one of my all-time favorite comic book artists. His work on “Neat Stuff” was no less than genius, and his focus in the 1990s on one of the characters from “Neat Stuff”, Buddy Bradley, in his later series, “Hate“, was witty and inciteful. If you want to read a great account of what Seattle was really like in the early 90s read his trade paperback “Buddy the Dreamer” ! He combines an intense drawing style with very well written stories.
Now, I’m one of those people who would like to see themselves as someone with unique opinions, and who does not fit in to the neat, BS categories our lovely corporate media try to put us all in to. So when I say I like what Peter has to say, I don’t necessarily agree with him 100%.
That said, I shouldn’t have to. Personal politics and opinions should not have to conform with corporate media notions of what we “should” believe 100% – they should be our own feelings and thoughts. There are natural convergences of all sorts, and when you let people talk outside the construct, you’d be shocked at how people can find common ground in the most unusual of circumstances.
Thus, when I read about his relevant observations on war protesters in 2002 I can’t argue with them too much. Now, given the latest information we now have after the fact, it makes some of these points moot, but the cult-like, weirdo mentality we were dealing with was a problem & he still he does make some good points.
So what is mypoint? Simply this: people can have varied opinions that do not necessarily fit the media bullshit constructs we’re led to believe we must take. Life does not exists in black and white but in shades of grey, and in those shades there are convergences that surprise even the most jaded of us. It’s just unfortunate corporate/big government media doesn’t want us to express those shades of grey but instead keep us in a world of red state/blue state, us vs. “them” and me vs. you.
I can be a lefty liberal guy and yet still hate the state for infringing on my rights. I can be someone who doesn’t like fascism and corporatism, and yet still distrust statism as well. I can be someone who believes in a happy medium that says that our systems can be oriented towards the good of all, and yet still enrich those who work.
Problem with that is, of course, that the construct created to “discuss” issues is more about labels and pre-conceived attack and counter-attack. Anything that doesn’t fit the construct is tossed aside. It’s great for keeping real debate dead and fast-food punditry alive – and distract us from real issues.
Crazy talk? Sure it is. But only if you believe that one way is the right way, and that there’s no room for all of us to get along.
And that is just what “they” would love you to think.
Note to my Halliburton Fans: Tell your bosses to give back the money they “accidentally” took. It’s good for Halliburton’s karma.
© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com