I don't diary much, and many of mine have been lame and ineffective. After lurking for months, I can see why.....there are WAY better essayists here than I will ever be. Cool, cool....I am who I am. I do what I do, living the best progressive based life I can, raising a kid, small biz owner, single Mom. I try. I fail some days. I rock some days. I am totally ineffectual some days. Today, I got pissed. Follow?
I got this from my recently deceased Father's sister just now. I hope I can make this not look wonky w/ code.........
PREDICTION THE OUTRAGE WILL APPEAR AT THE NEXT CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION!!
This letter was sent to the Wall Street Journal on August 8, 2008 by Alisa Wilson, Ph.D. Of Beverly Hills , CA . in response to the Wall Street Journal article titled "Where's The Outrage?" that appeared July 31,2008.
Really. I can tell you where the outrage is. The outrage is here, in this middle-aged, well-educated, upper-middle class woman. The outrage is here, but I have no representation, no voice. The outrage is here, but no one is listening for who am I?
I am not a billionaire like George Soros that can fund an entire political movement .
I am not a celebrity like Barbra Streisand that can garner the attention of the press to promote political candidates.
I am not a film maker like Michael Moore or Al Gore that can deliver misleading movies to the public.
The outrage is here, but unlike those with money or power, I don't know how to reach those who feel similarly in order to effect change.
Why am I outraged? I am outraged that my country, the United States of America , is in a state of moral and ethical decline. There is no right or
wrong anymore, just what's fair.
Is it fair that millions of Americans who overreached and borrowed more than they could afford are now being bailed out by the government and lending institutions to stave off foreclosure? Why shouldn't these people be made to pay the consequences for their poor judgment?
When my husband and I purchased our home, we were careful to purchase only what we could afford. Believe me, there are much larger, much nicer homes that I would have loved to have purchased. But, taking responsibility for my behavior and my life, I went with the house that we could afford, not the house that we could not afford. The notion of personal responsibility has all but died in our country.
I am outraged, that the country that welcomed my mother as an immigrant from Hitler's Nazi Germany and required that she and her family learn English now allows itself to be overrun with illegal immigrants and worse, caters to those illegal immigrants.
I am outraged that my hard-earned taxes help support those here illegally. That the Los Angeles Public School District is in such disarray that I felt it incumbent to send my child to private school, that every time I go to the ATM, I see "do you want to continue in English or Spanish?", that every time I call the bank, the phone company , or similar business, I hear "press 1 for English or press 2 for Spanish". WHY? This is America , our common language is English and attempts to promote a bi- or multi-lingual society are sure to fail and to marginalize those who cannot communicate in English.
I am outraged at our country's weakness in the face of new threats on American traditions from Muslims. Just this week, Tyson's Food negotiated with its union to permit Muslims to have Eid-al-Fitr as a holiday instead of Labor Day. What am I missing? Yes, there is a large Somali Muslim population working at the Tyson's plant in Tennessee . Tennessee , last I checked, is still part of the United States . If Muslims want to live and work here they should be required to live and work by our American Laws and not impose their will on our long history.
In the same week, Random House announced that they had indefinitely delayed the publication of The Jewel of Medina, by Sherry Jones, a book about the life of Mohammed's wife, Aisha due to fear of retribution and violence by Muslims. When did we become a nation ruled by fear of what other immigrant groups want? It makes me so sad to see large corporations cave rather than stand proudly on the principles that built this country.
I am outraged because appeasement has never worked as a political policy, yet appeasing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is exactly what we are trying to do. An excellent article, also published recently in the Wall Street Journal, went through over 20 years of history and why talking with Iran has been and will continue to be ineffective. Yet talk, with a madman no less, we continue to do. Have we so lost our moral compass and its ability to detect evil that we will not go in and destroy Iran 's nuclear program? Would we rather wait for another Holocaust for the Jews - one which they would be unlikely to survive? When does it end?
As if the battle for good and evil isn't enough, now come the Environmentalists who are so afraid of global warming that they want to put a Bag tax on grocery bags in California; to eliminate Mylar balloons; to establish something as insidious as the recycle police in San Francisco. I do my share for the environment: I recycle, I use water wisely, I installed an energy efficient air conditioning unit. But when and where does the lunacy stop? Ahmadinejad wants to wipe Israel off the map, the California economy is being overrun by illegal immigrants, and the United States of America no longer knows right from wrong, good from evil.. So what does California do? Tax grocery bags.
So, America , although I can tell you where the outrage is, this one middle-aged, well-educated, upper middle class woman is powerless to do anything about it. I don't even feel like my vote counts because I am so outnumbered by those who disagree with me.
Alisa Wilson, Ph.D. Beverly Hills , California
There are a lot more out there who think just like Alisa Wilson, the only difference, she put her thoughts in an email that will reach thousands. I would like to keep this going and see how big it gets.
My (a tad cocktailed) response....
Please, just stop.
Many people who celebrate these holidays are American citizens, and last time I checked, most of our ancestors were immigrants as well....with differing religious backgrounds, beliefs and languages.
America is not a solely Christian nation, despite people's desire for it to be. Its a melting pot and celebrated for its diversity. Years ago, we relished in the idea that we were all inclusive.....the whole point was to create a haven for the down trodden and long-suffering citizens of countries who did not offer what we do. A quick check of the quote on the Statue of Liberty would verify that.
Yes, there are illegal immigrants.
Yes. They exist.
Why do they come? Because America represents a better place. Just as it did 100 years ago. It always will. We should RELISH our place and work with our government to find a way to help people who want to come here to make a better world for themselves, and their children. We should welcome them just as we did when we placed the Statue of Liberty in our harbor. We should not be excluding people based on their religion, or philosophy, or origin of birth. That is the very defintion of bigotry, something our forefathers abhorred.
Be a bigger person. Do NOT let fear and anger steer your judgement. We are Americans!!! We welcome those from other lands, we're supposed to!!
I can only say, thank God I don't teach my child to be as angry and bigoted as this email would imply we as Americans should be. She will grow up with an open heart and and open mind and help those struggling to gain what she was lucky enough to own as a birth right by the sweet happenstance she was born to an American.
Its all the luck of the draw. We're born where we are born, no control. But we make of it what we make of it, and those who look to America as the land of dreams we tout it to be should not be shut out.
We should all sit and thank whomever....God, Allah, Buddah, Muhhammed, Jesus.........and be grateful we were born into the good life. And we should NOT seek to deny those who love the idea of America the right to seek a better life here.
Yeah. That should go over well.......but I am so sick of her emails! I know I'm far from the only one but it gets so exhausting. Teh STUPID!
UPDATEI've been lurking a while, done some weak diaries but this is my 1st rec list....I'm stunned! And tired, and have to get to bed after dealing w/ a sick kid all day and trying to get house work and yard work done. SingleMommyLand is rough. THANKS to all of you, please don't be offended if I don't reply. I need sleep! Thank you all, and never let the FWD's get you down!
UPDATE w/ REPLYI'm glad to hear this back from my Aunt...
"Sorry didn't mean to upset anyone. Just because I forwarded something doesn't mean that I agree wholly with it. Just some interesting options of other people. I do know that my mothers people when they came from Russia behind the iron curtain couldn't wait to become american citizens learned to speak english but also kept their own customs and do to this day. I have worked with people who refused to learn english even tho they needed a translator to do a lot of things. But once again everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Hope I didn't offend you."
I'm glad, because she was at least nice about it and respectful, I do love her and was hoping my reply didn't create a big rift. I'm also glad to be able now to take this chance to maybe challenge her to examine how she thinks when she can admit to sending these kinds of forwards out without really reading or believing what she's sending. I'm actually happy to have a chance to open up a dialogue with her about this, about the misinformation she is spreading and the hatred she is fueling by passing these kinds of emails along without thinking about it. What she doesn't mention is that her own Mother and Aunts & Uncles from the Ukraine never learned to read or write English, though they spoke it, but would require translators to read things to them or fill out forms. Interesting that she implies judgement on the people she works with who refuse to learn English but doesn't mention our own family history in the same light....ah, well. At least I can try talking to her about this now!