People Are Strange

I'm sure this title is not surprising to any of you, since your life's experiences (like mine) have most likely illustrated this reality over and over again.

While people like this guy are a great reminder of our human capacity for weirdness, I've got something different (and a little less funny) on my mind...

What never fails to baffle me is the way people get all freaked out over one thing, when there is almost always something FAR WORSE going on at the same time that receives virtually no attention at all.

I have two specific examples, both rather contraversial...

The first is Octamom... that is what they call her, right? Now I'm not saying that she isn't strange herself, but the outrage over her giving birth to eight babies that she can't afford to care for seems a little shallow when you consider the millions of children born each year into poverty, where the mom is living on welfare and barely surviving. Seriously, this is a huge problem in our country. The answer isn't to ship all the kids away to the foster care system where they would get 3 different families by the age of two, which is what some people are vigorously insisting upon. Children are often born into less than ideal situations, but the alternatives are ugly too! So all the upset about octamom, in my opinion, should redirect us as a society to look at the bigger picture. What is the compassionate and correct way to deal with the rediculous number of children born into the welfare state?

Personally, I am far more upset about the fact that my tax money is being used against my will to fund abortions all around the world. If it were up to me, I'd rather my tax money be used to help children, just like those of Octamom, who clearly are going to need it. Why should children be punished because there mom is a nut? At least she's a nut that loves her kids. Enough said.

The second is this whole freak out over the AIG executive bonuses. Again, this is certainly something that tax payers should be upset about... but in my opinion, people are missing the point! I am FAR angrier about the fact that over $90 billion of the bailout money given to AIG has been funneled into European banks. So all that taxpayer bailout money is not even going to help the United States... why is no one investigating this? And why does no one seem to care that it was the GOVERNMENT that insured by law, that AIG would receive all those millions in "bonus money?" It was written into the stimulus bill , and yet now all these law makers are enraged by it. Doesn't that seem fishy to you? All I'm saying is that there is a bigger picture... there is always a bigger picture. Personally, I think we need to stop all this bailout madness anyway. Everyone is starting to think they deserve a bailout, and that is a dangerous attitude!

To sum up, people are indeed strange. If you're going to be outraged, just take a moment to look at the bigger picture... you know, so you can be outraged about something even BIGGER!!! :)

Just to end on a happy note, I'll share this quote from president Reagan: "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." I certainly believe this to be true. And it makes me feel good to hear it.