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united we stand I often wonder at what point I became "the man" to use an archaic slang term. Oh, I've know that I ceased to be hip at least a decade ago, but I want to know at what point most of my idealism slipped away. At what point in my life did I realize that most people try to get by in life doing as little as possible and are mainly concerned about themselves? When did I embrace cynicism? Listening on Tuesday to the young earnest dredlocked classmate talking about how capitalism isn't the best way of life and that the United States needs to reevaluate their beliefs I started to wonder if I was ever that naive or hopeful as she would say. Of course we live in a flawed country. Of course we as a group or what I really mean to say, the American government, do things that are unethical. Yes, there is more to life than earning money, but poverty isn't exactly a fun ride either. Yes, not everyone has the same advantages in life, but very few people think the same. Some people want more than others. Some people will try harder than others. People do establish a pecking order. I wonder if it ever dawned on her that her being in school is in itself a position of privilege to some people. She quietly said that she embraced a much more spiritual life, which is fine and well but someone has to do the dirty work so to speak. Yes, she might enjoy sitting around thinking about the larger questions in life and so do I, but I also have to go to work. No one is going to feed me if I don't. Someone has to work to keep a society going forward. Not to be overly critical but she seemed a far cry from being a saint to me or a person who has truly suffered. Nor did she look as though she were starving or in need of new clothes. She was trying to argue that the Native Americans who sit around all day on the reservation in the book that we were discussing were merely following through with their belief system. Sigh. The truth of the matter was that they didn't want to get a job. They were content to sit on the porch and watch life go by. If I chose to do that people would say that I was lazy. Even some of the people in the book called them lazy. Yes, in modern Western society the concept of having a job is a popular one be it right or wrong. The people in the book were a defeated people that didn't seem to want to change their lifestyle. On the one hand they complained about what they had to endure, but on the other hand very few of them did anything to change their surroundings. I also believe that the people in the book were clinging to something that can no longer exist today. The American people have ceased to be an agrarian society decades if not a century ago. We are not a self reliant people. People in general do not grow and or harvest their own food anymore. It just doesn't happen. I am not saying that Native Americans need to abandon their beliefs, but the days of being a nomadic people who roamed the land in search of food are gone and they are not coming back. There is a passage in the book where the Europeans are sent back on their ships never to return. The passage is a dream sequence and that is all that it will ever be. The past can not be changed. I truly doubt that we will ever live in a society that has no need of money. It certainly isn't going to happen in my lifetime. Nothing will change until an energy source is found that makes all other natural resources irrelevant. Somehow I don't see that happening any time soon. Okay, after what I just spouted I probably sound like a racist, but sometimes people have to learn to adapt in order to prosper. If I had my way I would sit around, read books and maybe paint now and then. Reality however says that I have to go to work at least forty hours a week and pay taxes. The author of the book did acknowledge that not all Native Americans stay on the reservation. Some of them do survive in modern society and do quite well. Some of them don't even mind being called Indians. Gasp. The author himself managed to escape from the reservation and has done very well. He is only three years older than me and has published more than one book of poetry, a collection of short stories and made a film. I can truly say that I admire and respect him. After I gave my presentation I spoke with the professor and she said that my argument was well founded by what was said in the text. Alexie does stress the hopeless element of the reservation almost to the point of overkill. The people in the book are not motivated. One more comment and then I'll move on to something less acidic. I would love to tell my idealistic classmate that somewhere in her future she might become a soccer mom. She will wake up one day and find herself wearing a nice pair of slacks and sitting behind the wheel of a mini van. I am sure that that would send her screaming away from me. This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife. Well, how did I get here? Water flowing underground. Perspectives change when a person gets older. An idealistic twenty something is understandable. A forty something person with no job, poor hygiene and no goals is pathetic. Some people call them hippies. Ouch. Yes, call me Alex P. Keaton even though I have never voted in my life because I am still a rebel at heart. Fight the power. Maybe I am angry at myself for not being as passionate about things anymore. Then again people do have to narrow their focus once they start a family. One can't be an activist and a parent at the same time. Oh, there are exceptions to the rule, but potty training tends to put a damper on marching in the streets. Maybe I am wrong. ... Sherman Alexie is going to speaking on campus next semester and I'll probably go to see him. His writing is very real to me and as I said I can respect him. ... To send me even further down the ladder of being cool, a coworker said that I looked like Ray from the television program Everybody Loves Raymond. Sigh. Many years ago someone else said that I looked like the uber hip if not strange director Tim Burton. At this moment I'm not sure which I prefer. ... I didn't go to Chicago with Ann today. It didn't feel right to me and I think that I wanted to spend my vacation a little differently. Rather than running around all day with her and a friend of hers that I do not know, I wanted some time by myself and that is what I got. Staying home let me take in some of the great weather that we have been having here. In my mind we're having what I call a California winter. It was sixty-eight degrees today and there were thunderstorm warnings. For the first time since I moved, I was able to open a window in my place and enjoy the breeze. It wasn't the most productive day and I did get tired in the afternoon, but I know that the rest of the year is going to to be set on fast forward so I can use the down time now.
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