So here I am, neglecting my oodles of reading for the sake of...neglecting my oodles of reading, I suppose. Regardless, I will take this golden opportunity to talk to you about the former Soviet republics.
Stop reading, for just one moment, and think about how many former Soviet republics you can name. In case you're comparing to me, I could only name 13. So, why this neglect? Why is there no allure to so many of these places?
Moscow has allure, Tokyo has allure, Baghdad has allure. You've played Prince of Persia, why not King of Kazakhstan? I just don't understand how this entire mass of land gets virtually ignored in popular American culture, even people who are relatively aware have no idea what's going on in that area. I've been trying to find out, but it's not easy. I don't know anything about ethnic Kazakhs or their history, why so many people living their are Muslim, if there are beautiful areas, if there are disgusting areas, it's all just blank.
I think it's because it all just got grouped in with Russia before, but at the same time that's no excuse. So come, my pupils, let's go learn about these countries. Besides, it's interesting to see the tourist destinations in these countries you'd never thought of before. Yay, learning!
I think that people shouldn't distinguish so much between people's lives, in terms of how much they're worth. In all honesty, why should the President be so much more important than anyone else in this country, to the extent that he deserves his own personal bodyguard 'round the clock? Kill the President, we'll have a new one tomorrow. Kill that one, we'll get another President. We have enough willing bodied people to be President, why do we have to keep the one we have so well protected?
Sure, part of it's just because I think he's a moron, but what makes one person's death so much more salient than any other? Case in point: those damn astronauts. Sad? Of course. But at the same time, these were people who knew they were risking their lives. Hell, one was a fighter pilot for fox sake, he knew it was a high risk position. Besides, there were only seven people. This is not an astonishing number. More people die due to starvation in 3rd world countries in a day, hell, probably even an hour. But does the pope pray for them? Does a nation mourn? No. What the fuck kind of bullshit is that?
And I don't want to hear about what the astronauts symbolize. Don't mourn because your symbol has been destroyed, or the greatness of your nation is in question. That is not cause for weeping. This is not a crisis. Upwards of 35% of Botswana infected with AIDS is. America needs to get its priorities straight, and at the very least, realize that they don't care about the lives of the astronauts. They care because it's a matter of personal pride.
Meanwhile, we're about to go to war with another impovershed country. One with an annual inflation rate of 60%, over 5% of negative GDP growth annually, with the United States accounting for nearly half of all of its exports. And who is our nation going to mourn? The brave young Americans who go off to fight for their country and our nation's pride. Get the fucking Pope to pray for the Iraqis, they need it. To pray that not many civilians die, that their country isn't utterly destroyed, that they won't have to live in poverty after they're liberated from their own leader.
