Danni's Grad Speech

I am so proud of my sister/cousin...

Why I Would Move To Canada (if McCain is elected)

Reasons:

1. My faith in the American people would be so definitively undermined, I could not look my fellow citizens in the eye without being driven crazy by the burning question, "Which one did they vote for?"

2. Undoubtedly the rich get richer politics of the Republicans will plunge us further and further into volatile recession, making the only reasonable choice a move to a country where the currency is more stable even if less valuable.

3. I will be too upset at the prospect of diminishing rather than expanding civil rights that I will move simply to avoid being confronted with those realities on a daily basis.

4. I may be deported, considering Mc Cain newly discovered intolerance for those born elsewhere. I can't actually be deported but maybe I'd leave out of solidarity with those who are.

5. Change of scenery.

Thoughts crossing my mind as I upload my music for my new iPod.

1. This is going to take a really long time.

2. Why did I like Billy Joel so much in Junior High?

3. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is not a country album, I don't care what iTunes says.

4. I swear I am missing a ton of CD's, who has them and which are they.

5. I'm enjoying the way some of these cd's are bringing back specific events for me, all those Monday nights at Loung Ax and Beat Kitchen, the Arad music festival in 1997, and Amy's Farm in 1991.

6. Why won't the computer read my copy of The Inevitable Squirrel Nut Zippers.

7. What do I do about the bootlegs?

8. Richie Havens looked exactly the same in I'm Not There as he did in 1969.

9. I really had a ton of Billy Joel discs. They're not going on my iPod.

10. iTunes really has the genres screwed up.

11. Holy crap, I still have a long way to go.

Who gets left behind?

The picture is of a frozen baby mammoth, it died over 10,000 years ago and has nothing to do with this post. What I wanted to write about is the ever expanding chasm between those of my friends with children (the great majority) and those without (the dwindling few) (the left behind) (the ones not in bed at 8 PM on Friday night).

At some point an initial step was taken and everyone paired off. Some are now pairing off for a second time but for the most part everyone has taken that initial step. If they did not, we can chalk it up to luck, or rather a lack of it depending on your situation. Because when it comes down to it, there are a few people for everyone, (except for me, there is only one person for me and I married her, I hope she is reading this).


Isn't it incredible how well preserved that mammoth is, really amazing isn't it.

So those that have not paired off for whichever reason, generally find each other and have fun, some rejoin that group after a tragedy or realizing they should not have paired off in the first place. Those few are usually temporary members of the singles club until they pair off again.
Some couples then move on to the business of offspring, multiple offspring being the norm, and some couples do not. Some couples cannot, not everyone chooses or has the ability to spend tens of thousands on fertility treatments. The next time you ask a married couple when they are going to have a baby, keep in mind they may have been crying about the subject for months. Regardless, the inclination to be fruitful and multiply is a strong one, but... is it a considerate one? The disdain for SUV's and the drive to recycle is a growing trend, but why are those snide comments about Hummers not also directed to the Nutters, or the Duggars. What will leave a larger carbon footprint, a Hummer or 18 kids? I'm willing to bet it's the kids in a landslide, a landslide created by global warming.

So we know having a multitude of children (or any children), isn't good for the environment, do we really care. Is it even a question of ethics or morals. Traditionally and at least in my mind ethics were taught in a classroom setting as a code regarding how human beings treat each other and act with regard to their human relationships. I don't think the scope is that narrow. I think most people would agree that whether or not we treat animals cruelly is an ethical concern. Can't we then extend the idea to our environment. The mistreatment of our planet is an ethical concern by extrapolation. So...


Is it unethical to have children? Why would we expect the dwindling resources of our planet to sustain a limitless population, when we know we are already in trouble. Well we probably shouldn't. I know you want a big family but we should probably stop making so many babies at the same time we stop making so many Ford Excursions, etc. I'm clearly just echoing other people's ideas on the subject but we should all stop to think about whether it's just bad for the environment to have kids, or because it's bad for the environment, is it just plain wrong.