Death and Life

I have an old iPod Nano and a new iPod Classic, if that's the name. My husband has an old Shuffle and a new Classic and just got an iPhone a few weeks ago. We're contemplating an iPad. The fact that we have those and aren't considered Apple junkies says how pervasive Apple products are in our American lives; really the entire civilized world. (But a junkie would never be typing this on a PC. It was cheaper, what can I say?)

I admire intelligence. I admire invention. Probably because while I don't count myself as dumb, the skill sets that I lack are definitely captured in inventors and innovators. I can talk well, I can write well, I can analyze well and I can be creative in certain arts but I cannot grasp technological innovation. Just last week, while in the air, I turned to my husband and said, "I still cannot believe that airplanes can fly. I simply do not understand it." Thinking up inventions and machines not yet existing, I don't understand. Who thinks of it? Who knows how to do it? (One time, I did come up with the idea for a crib-wedge for babies with reflux or congestion. I was sure it was my golden ticket until I looked it up and there it was, already available for purchase.) The creation of technology is amazing to me. And, frankly, a huge indicator of a Creator God in who's image all men are created. Because intellectual gifts like that are not totally random from spontaneous combustion.

I am sombered by the news of Steve Jobs's death. What a great American innovator of my time. He changed the technological landscape of the world. Of course he had a team of genius with him, but he was the face and he was among them. America just lost a champion.

Once I learned of his death, I was struck by a very small reminder about his life posted on National Review Online - that he was adopted. The author thanked his birth mother and his adoptive parents by name. What a great reminder that every life is valuable and who are we to judge who is worthy of life? I posted as my Facebook status that "I am glad that Steve Jobs was adopted and not aborted. 56 years of genius is better than none. You'll be missed." My how much we would have missed if Jobs's birth mother had chosen to end her pregnancy rather than allow life to live and find wanting parents to parent him? She had no idea then but she found out and I'm sure that information blessed her. It would have blessed me if I were her.

How much have we missed by the others' who were never given such an opportunity? We will never know what society lost or what individual blessings women and families lost. It's just loss.

If you believe the Bible, which I do, technically Jesus was an unplanned and probably at some point, to some extent, an unwanted pregnancy from Mary's perspective. Immaculate conception to a betrothed woman. Totally not cool. But it ended up very, very cool. And what an eternal blessing ensued! Obviously, that's a bit different from the situation that you or I, or the girl next door would find ourselves in, but it is an example to show that there is value in life and there is a Creator of life, and it's not just the girl and the boy in the bedroom.

When you think about Steve Jobs's death; when you praise his life and call him a "visionary," as the President just did in a statement; think about your position on life, too. Whether you belive the Bible or not.

Occupy Hypocrisy

Just returning from vacation, I haven't paid much, OK, any, attention to the "Occupy Wall Street" protests that are occurring in New York. So, I give it about five minutes of my time today and I'm already irritated.

According to the organized protest's website, this is purportedly a protest against corporate greed and corruption. Apparently Wall Street needs a salary cap and should redistribute some of its income. Usually that's called an investment return, but whatever. I guess people want to sit outside, troll the Internet, and demand money for doing nothing from the people inside the building that are actually working and making money. Sounds fair.

Then I looked at the group's schedule, as posted on their website. So, they're rallying with the Teamsters and some other unions. Why would a group that wants to rage against corruption and greed team up with the Teamsters? A union that forces their tradesmen/women to join the union, to give their dues, to pay for political campaigns that, in turn, line the pockets of the union leader? That union, along with SEIU, is highly politicized. Can we rally against that greed and corruption, too? Or any other union that bankrupts private and public sectors alike? Where's the call for a salary cap on plumbers that make more than attorneys? What about electricians that make more than doctors that deliver babies during residency? What about a cap for the unionized workers that put American car companies out of business, 'til they got bought and paid for by the US Government (GM)? My tax dollars are paying for you to break the back of not just a private company but now the federal government.

I don't mind people speaking out against greed and corruption; go for it, both are horrible things. It's just that I can't stand blatant hypocrisy. And the idiocy, frankly, of those that are so self-righteous that they fail to see it. I'm really fed up with the arguments and they don't even directly effect me. What gives anyone the right to equate wealth with greed? That wealth creates things like charitable foundations, whole hospital wings, school auditoriums, libraries, museum exhibits, you know, things that we plain folk can enjoy. Why is it greedy to succeed in a material sense? Is it greedy to work hard, get into top schools, and earn an income that enables you to actually pay off $100,000 of debt and feed your family, too? Is it greedy to be an entrepreneur and take a big risk and have it pay off, morphing into a successful company that employs many people and provides goods or services to people who want it? Is it greedy to work your way up or do you just need to stay mediocre to ensure that greed doesn't creep into your conscience?

Or is it greedy to do nothing and demand something for it just because you have less? I have more than some and less than some. Who cares? I don't have designer bags. I don't have designer clothes. I have a free "dumb" phone. I don't get manicures. I dye my own hair. If I desired more of those things than my desire to stay home with my children, then off to work I go. I am not less because I have less. I am not more because I have more.

There's no righteousness that automatically comes from being poor just like there's no righteousness that automatically comes from being wealthy or like most of us poor schlubs, middle class. And some of "the wealthy" in this country, aren't so wealthy after you consider college debt and children's college savings, because the "wealthy" are too rich to qualify for scholarships but too poor to easily carry the financial load (obviously the super rich are not in this category). And to pretend that the "working class" of modern American unions qualifies as underprivileged is absolutely outrageous. Some of us that earn what you earn or pennies more but actually have to fund our own retirement. Or, actually, we have to fund your retirement, as well. So next time you complain about earning a few thousands less or a tens of thousands less, think about that. Think about greed. Think about that the next time you want taxpayers, at any income level, to pay more taxes simply to line your pockets. Sounds a bit like stealing. Or worse, greed. And before you know, you may be considered one of the evil wealthy.

The difference between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives want everyone to succeed; liberals want those that do to then fail. I choose to be conservative and I wish you well.