Scapegoat

What is it about the human that we must scapegoat? There is a certain amount of scapegoating that goes on in this society that make you wonder: is it part of human nature? 

We’ve picked on the Native Americans, then Blacks, then Chinese, then Polish, then Irish, then Italians, then Jews, then Japanese, then Vietnamese, Hispanics, and so on. 

Political correctness took hold of the culture’s intolerance towards race and calm it down. Even the gays can celebrate for society’s effort in reducing the word, “faggot,” in high schools, work arena, and public areas. 

I dare say the N-word is a curse word on to itself. It shows how much culture has changed. 

But one group that strikes to mind that many people in very public space can still joke around and get away with it, are fat people  

Fat. Obesity. Heifer. Porker. Pig. Fatass. Lardass. Flab. Flabby. Fatty. 

People in this country are much more forgiving towards alcoholics and drug addicts, who have done many destructive things to their lives and hurt those who love them, then fat people. Think about it. People are pulled back when a 300 pound women eats an entire large pizza. But we celebrate one someone tips back a fifth of vodka? 

I think our collective aggression and the fear of the other in human nature goes somewhere and expresses in someway. Our political correct culture clamped down on the intolerance for many groups like gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and beliefs. But fat people, they are one of the last remaining groups to be picked on. 

Just think about what joke you can get away with, be it in school or at work: a racist, sexist, religious, or fat joke?

 

Imma n Luv Wit a Stripper

Let’s talk about strippers

A few of my buddies dated strippers, or exotic dancers as they like to be called. This was always a mystery to how they did it. On the surface it doesn’t seem like you can pick them up at their work. If you so happened to have dated a stripper before you knew she was stripper, that doesn’t count. Not too long ago, though, my buddies spilled the beans to me on their method.

So a usual experience at strip club is a group of guys go out to the club, and circle around the stage to watch girls go topless, maybe bottomless, and dance to Def Leopard or Usher. With tongues hanging to their knees, eyes glued to boobs, butt, and maybe more, guys shamelessly drop cash like a slot machine. A few girls come around to offer a private dance at a given rate. And oh yeah, this retarded service: illegal to offer and serve alcohol, they suggest juice for you.

A few guys are infatuated by the girls and are quick to say yes to a private lap dance. So you strike conversation during your dance. And here’s the futile attempt to pick her up. You get excited in getting her number. Yet, you find out it’s the number to the club. Bummer.

According to a dear, dear, dear, dear, dear friend, you have to go to the club and sit back. Buy a beer, and when the girls come around, just simply say you are just there to kill some time and a drink a brew. If they offer a dance, say nay. That’s when you are putting some groundwork in.

After few times doing just that, you get noticed. The girls talk about you, backstage, because you are not the one with a tongue hanging down or eyes glued. You seem sane and normal–and that intrigues their interest. You are that mysterious guy they want to know more about.

So after while, you can strike this conversation:
What’s your name?
My name is Candy, but my real name is Alex.
Oh yeah? Alex, what time you getting off?
(If she says when the club closes and her friend is picking her up, then dead end, brother.)
But if she says, “I can leave anytime I want,” then game on.

Before people start being critical, allow me to add: strippers need love too. Let’s not be judgmental and declare picking girls up at the club is morally wrong. Nay.

And before people think I dated a stripper, I don’t have that slick of game. But I guess, thanks, though.

Editor’s note: beware it’s very common for a stripper to carry some baggage when dating; be it trauma history, abusive boyfriend she can’t shake, or the occasional kids she crank out in high school.

Connect the Dots.

There is a certain amount of admiration for the Europeans and the EU for that matter. They have a social safety net that protects their people from poverty, ignorance, illness, and injury. The welfare state, established shortly after War World II, was meant to keep dictatorships at bay by keeping their population educated, healthy, working, and taken care of in their young/late years. It’s what I want. But it has trade offs.

In recent decades, the EU has suffered from relatively high unemployment. It varies from nation to nation, but around 7% is a conservative estimate. According to Alan Greenspan’s Age of Turbulence, there is a relationship between their social saftey net and unemployment. Let’s connect the dots.

Mr Greenspan asserts the flexibility or rigidness of an economy is in relation to governmental regulation and intervention. Flexibility in a economy is advantageous as it gives way to creative destruction of inefficient industries and reallocates resources to more efficient businesses. This in turn, helps an economy to move and adapt to harsher or encouraging market environments. For example, the dot.com burst of the late 90’s gave way to a more robust Web 2.0. Mozilla Firefox and iTunes replaced AOL and Napster’s place in market dominance.

The destruction of World War II demanded all of the labor force of each nation to be placed into work in order to reconstruct Europe. Nations, ” worked through the backlog of reconstruction demand that buoyed its economy. Demand was easing of and economic growth slowed.” Inefficient enterprises pushed through and the creative destruction process kept at bay. Tough economic changes could not be implemented for fear of the pain that comes with removing inefficiencies and redeploying of resources.

The nations of Europe developed stronger unions during it’s reconstruction years. In partnership with the government, the unions sought to protect their jobs. As a result it became very costly to remove employees, and if a downsizing was in the air, strong backlash from the unions would prevent further actions. For example, recently France had to deal with their transportation sector. The unions followed through with their strike and President Nicolas Sarkozy bent to pressure. Back to square one.

So if it’s costly to remove employees, than why the high unemployment?

Economic and job growth. Old Industries that are obsolete and inefficient absorb resources and lessen productivity of a nation’s GDP. The pie grows slower. But demand for jobs don’t; it’s in step with population growth. So if old jobs can’t go through the creative destruction process due to costly obligations of the social safety net visa vie taxes or regulations, new jobs can’t develop out of the ashes of inefficiency and obsolesce. Loosely saying, AOL and Napster would never gave way to Firefox and iTunes. (If Napster kept it’s place in the music market, why purchase songs from iTunes? I understand Napster’s fall was legal in nature, but it’s fall provided a power vacuum to fill.)

The bureaucracies are like slow 800 lb gorillas that are asked to fluidly dance and improvize with the markets. Demand is simply not met efficiently. Whereas free-market enterprises are like great comedy acts, where improv is part of the deal.

Free Market Capitalism is awesome in creating a bigger pie. Wheres Socialism and Command Economies aim to redistribute the wealth. Granted in their good intentions, but if you have the same pie from 10 years ago with more people want to piece, eventually somebody is not going get a piece. We call that not having a J.O.B.