I've actually been kinda proud of myself... sorta. I've had all these rants built up and I have kept myself from making an arse of myself by posting my inane ramblings on this blog. So on the other hand, I now have this blog that I'm doing nothing with. So here is a quick (well quick for me) blurb about the things I was going to rant about.
First up we have comics, politics and the school system. This rant really got started with the latest issue of the Ultimates. The Ultimates is Marvel Comics' attempt to put alternate (some say they are "updated") versions of characters such as Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, and others in what they see as more "real world" scenarios. At first they started with the Ultimates having to stop the Hulk who is a cannibalistic and very horny monster bent on smashing Freddie Prinze Jr (a noble goal to be sure). But very quickly more political issues began cropping up. Have I lost all the non-comic readers yet? So anyways, I had several ramblings. I had the whole "why are these people still reading this book that upsets them so" and a few politically charged retorts (stuff about being upset with what you see in a mirror... albeit a somewhat distorted mirror). Then I had wanted to point out that much of this book was shown from the bad guys' perspective to give their views, show how they justify their actions to themselves, and what propaganda they are being fed by their own governments. And when you focus on what these other governments in this storyline are doing you'd see that countries like China and Russia had more reason to be upset by how they are portrayed than the US does. But I digress.
After reading some of the arguments about this book my focus has actually moved to our school system (odd ain't it) and how little I learned about the history and make up of this little world we inhabit. After spending a little time with google (and wikipedia for some stuff) I've realized that I've been very ignorant to the world. For instance, I'm a little ashamed to admit it but I never really knew much about the motives behind the two World Wars (yes, the initial discussion inevitably went to Hitler and Germany) or really much about them other than Vimy Ridge being somewhere important for Canadians and that the assassination of an Archduke was pretty important (and I have to thank Jeopardy for that one). And although I've often heard the word "fascist" being thrown around I never really took the time to look into what fascism was (I just avoided using the word myself out of fear of looking stupid... pretty smart huh?). Now, instead of blaming myself for being ignorant I feel the need to point at someone else so I'll go with the school system. My reasoning for this, the only thing I remember about my high school history courses is that I had to memorize a whole bunch of dates (but don't ask me to remember them now). I was never tested on this other stuff. Perhaps they figured that it was too complex to test high school students on that sorta thing or perhaps like with the Ultimates book, any mention of whatever motivated Germany and their allies will be seen as justifying what they did. I can't say for sure what the reasoning was.
Now perhaps I am alone in this area and that other people had a much broader education so this rant can be ignored as the ravings of someone talking out of their ass. Or perhaps I should concentrate on learning this stuff for myself now instead of reading biographies of professional wrastlers. But instead of wading through all the misinformation out there isn't it so much easier to just point the finger at someone? Especially an institution that can't point back. I feel so much better now.
Ok, now that I've gotten that out of my system I realize it's time for some lunch. And to be honest, I can't remember what my second rant was going to be so it'll have to wait.
Cheers!
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