So when I hear "blood is thicker than water" you can understand why I have a bit of a problem believing that.
Understand what people are really saying when they say "blood is thicker than water" is:
"We want you to lower your standards and give preferential treatment to somebody simply because they are related to you. Even though there are more deserving, more moraled and just out right better people out there, you should give family members preferred treatment and thus treat others unfairly."
Normally this comes up in the case where an "offending" family member has done something untowards you and you are supposed to just ignore it or dismiss it. This of course implies the family member can continue to treat you poorly, unacceptably and as an inferior, or their unacceptable behavior is simply excused because "well, blood is thicker than water."
But set aside genetic and blood lines and think about something else - skin pigmentation.
I bring this up because I am starting to believe that skin pigmentation is thicker than water also. What with the likes of Samuel Jackson and other prominent black Americans admitting they voted for Barack simply because he's black, then this implies a presidential candidate should just get preferential treatment based on his skin pigmentation. BUT, here's the key thing - that preferential treatment should come REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THAT PERSON HURTS OR HARMS YOU.
And so I wanted to see if Barack Obama was like my brother - somebody trying to harm me, but I should forgive anyway because "you know, skin pigmentation is thicker than water."
So let's introduce those nasty, dirty, disgusting things called "facts" and "statistics."
Here is the black median household income as a percentage of whites. I put two in there because I do not like "scaling" the y axis to make changes seem more or less dramatic than they are:
And shucks howdy will you look at that? Apparently blacks have suffered more under Barack Obama than they did that evil Bush.
I could go on and cite unemployment statistics, individual incomes, etc. etc., but frankly, I'm at Sturgis and I'm here to enjoy the decline. Additionally, you know the point I'm trying to make is going to fall on deaf ears. So I'll be brief.
It is a fact Barack Hussein Obama has been bad for blacks, MORE SO THAN WHITES.
I cannot wave a magic wand and magically undo all the racist-brainwashing the government, leftists, socialists, the media and the education system has systematically instilled in our minority brothers and sisters. But as a vain hope somebody, someday, might listen AND make themselves truly free, please, realize "skin pigmentation is not thicker than water."
(OK, so I got curious and the whiskey needs to wear off before I start driving around again)
At inarguration date black unemployment as a percent of white unemployment was 179%. This has increased now to 191%. Remember, "skin pigmentation is thicker than water" so make sure to blame Bush even though things improved for black more than whites under him:
Personally, I believe that extended family is more important than people realize and that people have lost touch with what it means to be part of an extended family after generations of children growing up and moving away from their family.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the importance of extended family comes from the observation of outcomes of people in my life. In University the students who were able to get good summer jobs, internships, and first jobs tended to be those who had a parent, aunt or uncle, sibling or cousin help them get these jobs; while most people who were (more or less) isolated from their family took whatever they could get. When it comes to parents, most parents who have extended family get higher quality lower cost childcare from their relatives than they would get from strangers.
This will (obviously) not always be the case, and often people's damaged families will cause more harm than good, but when you have a strong family full of good people it works dramatically for your favour.
Captain,
ReplyDeleteI want to write about my own experience in my speech class.
It is a short class, only 5 weeks, because it falls within the summer session. Out of 28 people, there are 24 guys and 4 girls.
It is filled to the brim with mechanical and electrical engineers (even one of the ladies!).
I love them dudes. They all have fascinating hobbies, they crack nerdy jokes, they truly enjoy what they do. A handful of them are married or engaged, some are already working in their field and even though they all talk about the high workload, you can tell they wouldn't be doing anything else in the world.
I've talked to the guys that sat near me, asking about various engineering programs, why outsiders perceive it as hard and other things.
Basically, it comes down to how much work a person is willing to put into it. They've all told me that they feel like I would do fine in such a program which I find encouraging.
It really does make me want to go and follow that train of study. I realize the time I've wasted in college but until I'm dead its not too late.
I'll leave you with one last story.
We all had to tell a little about ourselves in the first few classes. One guy got up there and stated that he had an original NES still in the box waiting to be opened. The class erupted into a standing ovation. I knew then I had died and gone to heaven.
-Ryan
Any time I hear someone say that blood is thicker than water, I tell them that syrup is thicker than blood so pancakes are more important than their family.
ReplyDeleteIt's nonsense, but so is "blood is thicker than water."
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteWhere is the class and are they taking new students?
"While growing up my brother tried to kill me. Twice."
ReplyDeleteThat being said, in functional families, you can usually count on your family for lot more than you can on mere friends for.
That presumes you aren't abusing you end of that deal.
[Insert "mess of pottage" wisecrack here.]
ReplyDeleteThe great majority of my family are uneducated losers with no ambition, only one in each generation ever went to college and amounted to anything. I have nothing in common with them other than being related and I choose to do my own thing. Sadly I get on much better with my ex's family and still think of them as my own. I just hope my kids can break with this tradition and be successful and happy.
ReplyDeleteOn an unrelated note, I found this link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nationalreview.com/articles/310166/golden-gateway-dependency-mark-steyn
It's a week old but it's funny, is about economics, and mentions Captain Capitalism. What more could you want?
(Cliff Arroyo)
ReplyDelete"While growing up my brother tried to kill me. Twice."
I certainly hope you don't think you can drop a bombshell like that and just go on as if nothing happened. Details, please (especially what happens now at those uncomfortable family reunions).
Full disclosure: A favored dinner topic in my family were the antics of my brother in trying to get rid of me as an infant which included (but were not limited to)
a) shoving me face first into snow banks and running away
b) giving me razor blades to play with when there were no adults around (no permanent damage though there was an unsightly amount of blood...)
c) talking me into dangerous stunts like trying to pet the neighbors growling german shepherd
I think a major reason blacks voted for Obama was because he was a black "democrate", if he had been a "republican" less would have voted for him though he would have still carried 75% of the black vote.
ReplyDeleteThis is not because he was black but because he would have been the first black president. Regardless of how good or bad he would be they could point to him and say to their children "see if you work hard you could be president".
By voting for Obama, they were voting to show their childred that the American Dream existed for everyone.