In this column I pose questions and raise issues. I don't always agree with the conclusion, implied or stated. The purpose is to put a slightly different spin on each item and to promote discussion.
- In the time of the American pioneers there were three ways, under international law, one nation could lawfully obtain property from another - conquest, purchase or treaty. A few Americans settled on land bought from Indians. Some settled on land obtained through conquest. Many settled on land obtained under treaties which were broken, and therefore invalidated, by the American government. But most Americans settled on land that was illegally expropriated. No conquest, purchase or treaty was involved, folks just came in, set up shop and called it home. In other words, most Americans are squatters. This is one reason why the American government has not simply ignored non-treaty Indian tribes - to do so would be illegal under international law.
- Pop feminists and others decry the increasingly misogynistic content of popular lyrics but ignore the extent to which decades of anti-male rhetoric contributed to this phenomenon.
- Columnist Fred Reed notes many African Americans "regard themselves as a separate people, and white police as an occupying army." I agree with that observation. But it's interesting to note that black leaders ignore and perhaps even fear how American Indians view many blacks in essentially the same way - as racist invaders. Why would black leaders fear this?
- Many attribute the growth of the black middle class largely to affirmative action, but the black middle class was growing before affirmative action as a by-product of industrialization and abundant factory jobs. Jobs which are now being exported to other countries.
- Corporate raiders are buying up larger dividend-paying companies which, once under the raider's umbrella, suddenly become "growth companies" and stop paying dividends. Ironically, the only things that make them growth companies are the consumption of older companies, the price of the company stock and the size of their CEOs salaries.
- Pundits question the wisdom of so many American workers going on strike when the economy is weakening and employers are cutting back. But given how the cost of living is increasing while real wages in most sectors are declining, what other choice is there?
- Ladies' night at clubs and bars casts men as beggars and women as choosers.
- Elvis Presley might be alive today if he had simply eaten applesauce, yogurt and a teaspoon of lecithin for breakfast every morning. Ironic how many people die because they ignore the little things.
- As women in modern times outnumber men, the relative scarcity of men means men actually have more implicit sexual power than women.
- If a man compliments another man, he's suspect for being gay, and if he compliments a woman, he's suspect for sexual harassment. So why should men compliment anybody?
- Corporations exist in communities created by people who defend land and uphold the laws that make the corporations possible. But today many corporations treat these communities as little more than resources to exploit, and act like the laws are just an extension of corporate policy. An attitude the Bush Administration is encouraging.
- When women are elected to public office, pop feminists celebrate and imply they deserve the credit; but the fact most elected officials are men is the fault of "voters' sexist attitudes," and the implication is men are to blame even though most voters are women.
- As most voters are female, it stands to reason that to get elected a female candidate should appeal to women voters.
- With plastic surgery changing how people look, eventually "perfection" may become so common that there will be a backlash against it.
- Feminists told men what women wanted and a lot of men delivered. But then it turned out feminists were wrong. So then pop feminists began using the law to criminalize the masculine behaviors women were saying, by their choices, they wanted. Hence, the pop feminists' war isn't against men; it's really against other women.
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