Five Questions

Just a little Q and A with myself, questions I wonder about, think about, most times not aloud, lest I get accused of a variety of PC crimes... :)

Seriously, most of these are simply lame, but some are hard questions one must ask about motives and methods of those around us, how history has affected us, and how the machine of politics and media distorts our perceptions. Some are even obvious questions with some obvious, or not so obvious answers.

1) Is cultural imperialism(or social imperialism) better or worse than actual imperialism? Let's beat them with Coke and McDonalds (or democracy) instead of conquering them, or for the anti-American crowd, let's just out breed them (ah, no stopping demographics. The US and New Zealand are the only Western nations with a sustainable birth rate at the present time).

2) Should not the 'holiday' spirit be the 'year-round' spirit? Or does being a hypocrite for only 2 months of the year make you feel better about the other 10? Needless to say, I question this every year, and get no easy answers. Some people are extraordinarily generous year round, some or not. Sometimes it is financial, other times it what is expected of them. Me, I help when I can if I can, holidays aside. I just like the holidays for the extra time to spend with family and then there's the food :)

3) Would Jesus approve of Christmas? Clearly, he might not approve of what Christmas has become. But as for remembering his birth, the Jesus of History would certainly be confused since he probably expected the Kingdom of God to be at hand before his death as he was an Apocalyptic Messianic Jew... though as a Messianic Jew he might like the idea of being remembered. As for the Jesus of Faith, I am sure he would approve of the 'spirit', but would probably like it to be year round.

4) Should the media be blamed for the perception of the problems in the world? Certainly a loaded question, for I think the media has its agenda (all media outlets want their papers to be sold, their programs to be watched and listened to, so this is perhaps obvious) and wants to press it. Anyone who reads the NY Times, The Washington Post, or even The Dallas Morning News knows this. Conversely, if you watch Fox news and MSNBC, agendas are easy to read. Now, strange thing, Fox sports is sponsored by MSN, though their news outlets are diametrically opposed... never could figure that out. So, we can blame them for perception, but we have only ourselves to blame if we cannot read between the lines and understand bias and perception in the mixed up world of media.

5) Why do celebrities get accorded the status of 'celebrity' and why should we care? I think it is something that we lack in self confidence that we have to give credence to those who can do certain things better than us whether it be act, play sports, or give speeches. I mean that generally, for there are those like myself that simply give nary a care to the concept of celebrity. Now, I do respect certain actors and athletes for their work on film, stage, or on the field, but I care little about what happens in off time. And I certainly do not like hearing about it on the news, but such is the way of modern society.

Just some odd points to ponder that might or might not make sense and an example of the random things I think about during the day.

C.