I am a Crunchy Granola Flower-Child (Apparently)

It has recently come to my attention that I may be a little crunchy given my current location (the South).

Urban Dictionary defines crunchy as an adjective.

"Used to describe persons who have adjusted or altered their lifestyle for environmental reasons. Crunchy persons tend to be politically strongly left-leaning and may be additionally but not exclusively categorized as vegetarians, vegans, eco-tarians, conservationists, environmentalists, neo-hippies, tree huggers, nature enthusiasts, etc."

Although that definition doesn't define me very well, Urban Dictionary's definition of granola is a little closer:

"an adjective used to describe people who are environmentally aware (flower child, tree-hugger), open-minded, left-winged, socially aware and active, queer or queer-positive, anti-oppressive/discriminatory (racial, sexual, gender, class, age, etc.) with an organic and natural emphasis on living, who will usually refrain from consuming or using anything containing animals and animal by-products (for health and/or environmental reasons), as well as limit consumption of what he or she does consume, as granola people are usually concerned about wasting resources. Usually buy only fair-trade goods and refrain from buying from large corporations, as most exploit the environment as well as their workers, which goes against granola core values. The choice of not removing body hair and drug use are not characteristics that define granola people, and people, regardless of granola status, may or may not partake in said activities. This definition is sometimes confused with hippy."

Since I'm in school, I don't really have a lot of time to devote to some of the above-mentioned causes, but I have begun noticing that my values follow these basic parameters.  I don't consider myself strictly liberal, however I am Libertarian (I tend to agree with Conservatives about economics but with Liberals about social issues).  I'm pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-LGBT, and soft-core feminist.  I just bought a pair of Vibram Five-Fingers for that barefoot feel, and I plan to cloth-diaper my future offspring. 

I believe everyone has a right to his/her opinions, values, and beliefs, even if they don't correlate with mine, as long as nobody tries to force their beliefs on me.  I believe in responsibility, liberty, freedom, and I believe in earning an honest living.  I also believe that some people really are the product of their upbringing and that there is a scary amount of grief, sadness, and hatred in the world.  I believe that too many stupid people procreate when they shouldn't and that not enough smart people procreate when they should.  I believe that a great number of people on government aid "take advantage of the system" because that's the only thing they were ever taught to do and it's all they know.  I believe that a great number of middle class Americans abhor lower class Americans because they don't understand the complexities of the situations those people deal with and they blame the challenges of the many on the wickedness of the few.  I believe that lower class and middle class citizens are engaged in completely separate cultures that rarely intersect, and each set of people doesn't understand the culture of the other.

The biggest problem I have is that I don't have an answer.  I can't fix the world's problems because even though I can define them, I don't know how to make a change.  I don't know what a perfect and fair world would look like.  This is why I like studying dystopian societies so much.

So anyway, that's me, the crunchy granola flower-child.  Peace, love, and happiness, y'all.

A Political Oxymoron

I usually don't write political blogs and I try to stay out of the political scene for the most part because of all the useless arguments that result from political rivalry.  The following post is actually a "note" I wrote a couple years ago and posted on facebook.  I've updated it a little bit, but the message should be the same.  I wrote the piece based on a group I found and an experience I'd had the summer before.
_______________________________________


I recently found a group on facebook known as the Libertarian Socialists.

If you don't immediately understand why this is an oxymoron, let me quickly explain: Libertarianism and the ideology behind it has everything to do with both economic and personal (social) freedom. Libertarians see a perfect government as one that exists, but is small and stays out of most things. Libertarians believe in self-responsibility, conservative management of funds, and that you should not punish many for what a few may do. We Libertarians also believe in keeping many organizations private and lowering taxes. I may be mis-wording some of this, but I hope you get what I'm saying.

On the contrary, Socialists welcome government intervention and support for many organizations; health care is an example. Socialists suffer from higher taxes in an effort to take from the rich to support the poor. I support helping the needy, however I do not see the point of the government taking my hard-earned money so Joe Shmoe who has no initiative and decided not to go to college can sell crack cocaine and make more money than me under the table, can own a 60" LED TV and a brand new Escalade while still reeping the benefits of government housing and assistance.

In this way, a party calling itself Libertarian Socialist is an oxymoron.
_______________________________________

Also, while I'm on the subject, I'd like to share something my dad shared with me a few summers ago when I asked him for advice concerning money.  That particular summer I got a taste of what it's like to provide for myself, and learned that it's much harder when you don't have a degree.

I asked him about food stamps and government aid to help those in low-income situations. I worked and lived with people on a regular basis who were in these types of situations and I began to sympathize with them, despite the unwavering political views that I'd adopted. I was also finding it hard to live on what I was making. Then my dad asked me a few questions about the people I was around a lot.

He asked:
"Do they own a TV?" Yes.
"Do they have cable?" Yes.
"Do they own any sort of gaming device such as an Xbox, a PS2, etc?" Yes, or most likely.

He then asked me if I saw owning a TV, receiving cable, and owning a game console as luxuries. My answer was undoubtedly a yes. He then explained to me that he and my mom have never applied for any government assistance, even when they would have qualified. Instead, they cut back on luxuries.

He also explained that many low-income families that receive government assistance also own a TV, receive cable or satellite of some kind, and indulge in other luxuries. He asked me if I thought it was fair that they received our hard-earned money from paying taxes in the form of welfare or food stamps, but did not feel the need to cut back on luxuries when they obviously couldn't afford them. My answer was that I didn't think it was fair at all.

As a result, I feel a sense of pride that I have not had to ask the government to help me out because I can't provide for myself, and in the future if I'm in that situation again, I'll sell my TV, cancel my cable subscription, and cut back on other luxuries before turning to "Big Brother."
_______________________________________

Oddly enough, I have found myself in that situation again.  With my husband in his last semester at college and in an internship, he had to quit his job to get everything done.  For the semester we could rely on his student loans to help pay our bills, but after graduation, when we decided he would enter another internship, we only had my income and our savings to keep us afloat.

We went through quite a rough patch, draining our savings down to only $50.  My husband and I were both stressed out and we would've qualified for government aid had we applied.  Instead, we don't have cable.  My husband sold his motorcycle so that we would have one less payment each month.  We ate in more, and I made my lunch instead of ordering out with my co-workers.  We didn't have to sell our TV or gaming system, but those are paid for and weren't costing us any money to keep.  My husband even started driving my little compact car when I wasn't using it to save money on gas.

We got through it.  And now my husband has a job and is contributing a fair amount to bills again.  We'll build our savings back up and we never asked for government assistance.  Self-responsibility and financial conservatism does still exist in the world, I promise!