Confessions of a Male Chauvinist

  So a funny thing happened to me on my way to the pools. The 2008 one is the one I'm thinking of. I've told you in the past that I voted for Barack Obama, but that is only half true. I voted for him in the primary for two basic reasons. First, Hillary I knew was bad news, as she has been around forever. In fact, I knew that Hillary left more than just bad press clippings in her wake, but also a few dead bodies. Besides that bit of reasoning, I thought that the election of a white woman before a black man, would be the final slap in the face to the black community in general, and to black men in particular. 

  But in the general election, I voted for McCain, even though he didn't have a chance. I knew it for sure when team Obama was complaining about the way that the McCain team was unfairly accusing Mr. Obama of being inexperienced and very weak on national defense. Ultimately, team McCain did in fact soften on Obama's weak kneed approach to all things military. I knew then that he would lose.   Now fast forward to today. In today's climate of victimhood, surely such thinking would have made the radical left feminists to label me as a sexist. But ladies please, call me a male chauvinist, hell, I admit that, but a sexist? It sounds so violent. 

  What brought all this to mind was that I had put up a musical post from Van Morrison's album, The Philosopher's Stone. But I took it down this morning because get this, PC speak had gotten me too! I am duly ashamed of myself, but there you have it. It was afterall, Father's day, and so the piece was decidedly masculine. I can't remember most of it, but I touched on what it means to be a man, and the responsibility that comes with it.  Obviously, I think very few if any, would disagree that the absence of a father in a family is devastating, it was one of the greatest ills in our society. Boys who are raised without a dad or a solid male role model are ten times more likely to get in trouble than those boys with a father. While thinking of a way to close this one out, I thought about the young men and boys who didn't have that influence in their lives.  But then at the end, it got personal for me, as in my mind I was speaking to one young man who some of you might know if I were to name him, but I won't. I said to this young man that even though he is convinced that he doesn't have a father, he does. A father who loves him and cares about his life. I said to him, Don't worry son, you have a dad. Now of course I include girls and young women also, in short, all children need fathers. And to you young men out there. It doesn't take a man to make a baby, it takes a man to raise that son or daughter.    

The attack of the machines

  In case it isn't too hard for some of you to think of the violent take over of the machines we created to eventually turn against us, like in the movie, The Terminator. Let me point out to you that the subtleness of our total dependence on them is well under way. Our absolute obsession to be the first on your block to own the newest and fastest hand held computer/phone, is both sad and funny. I watch as people rush to give away more of themselves to these machines.  Their privacy, and yes, in extreme cases, they give away their very lives to these machines, and so willingly. I know that many of you view me as just an angry old man trying to stave off the onslaught of these devices, and you would be both right and wrong about it, both at the same time. Its true that they have already begun to take over, and that I do my best to fight it, but I am not angry about what I see going on in this situation, but rather sad, and a little scared too. Make no mistake, big brother is already watching, we past that milestone in the Obama years, even though the potential for such abuse was there before his administration. The question is, Can we stop it? The answer to that is no, nor should we when the computers are used for medical and scientific reasons, and in that way, are indispensable.

  But as for its offshoot, the social internet, that is a whole other matter. The social internet exists for one reason and one reason only, and that is to sell. It is one huge selling machine. Having been taken on three different occasions for a total of $1,250 dollars, Two fifty for a concert seat scam, the other $1,000 wasted on two so called Christian self publish companies. Wolves in sheep's clothing types for those of you who know scripture. If you remember nothing else from this article, remember these two old true sayings, One, Nothing is for free, and two, If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Lessons I relearned online. I'm pretty street smart, and in one on one personal encounters, I can spot the schemers and the hustlers a mile off, but when dealing with the faceless and dead computers? Well, like I admitted, they already got me once, they won't again. There was one other time, and that with a stock advice company. But that was more of a salesman lying to make a commission. 

But quickly now, they, ( the computer giants), do two things to you the consumer. First, you must submit to training for whatever device you choose to use. Knowing full well that the average person, no matter your age, will need their help. Via planned obsolescence, wherein you need the next upgrade or app, or, to keep just enough a secret, so that you are totally dependent on them, either way, they win, and you the buyer whose hard earned dollars have made these few men so incredibly rich and powerful, are at their mercy. Either way, no matter how you look at it, we have reached that tipping point where we are more dependent on them, than are they of us.  And if that doesn't scare you in some way, it should.