colorblind
Why have we, as a nation, become obsessed with color coding ? From the ridiculous homeland security rainbow to red and blue states-its all just too simplistic and strange to me. In the Vanity Fair magazine that I most recently recieved-there is an advertisement picturing a party in a high rise building with beautiful, futuristic looking people drinking the alchohol that is being advertised. What caught my attention though was the wording at the bottom of the advert.-it says: "Blue state independence party year2033" While it was slightly amusing, it struck a chord in me that made me uneasy. Is that advertisment a sign of times to come? Is this really the direction in which we are heading? I wonder....
In the wake of the hurricane disaster in Gulf Coast I have heard a great many comments. Mostly sympathetic but many harsh and cruel. The one that stuck out the most though was this: "Oh, well-at least it hit a red state-ha ha." Although this comment was not heartfelf it got me back to thinking of how we, as Americans, are oversimplifying matters that are so much more complex. Politics are a complicated and personal matter. We all have strong beliefs that we stand by, but isnt the human brain more complex than just red or blue(this is excluding W.'s obviously)? I am, as they say, a" flaming liberal" . Most of my beliefs-pro choice- pro higher taxes-anti Bush. are about as "blue" as they come. But, I am also a strong believer in states rights-and isnt that a tradionally "red" (aka Repubican) value? Does this mean that deep down I am really....purple?
In the aftermath of Katrina "reds" and "blues" alike were helping eachother-while the "Terror Alert" color was shifting from yellow to orange and back down again. During this virtual RAINBOW of political and human chaos-who was really thinking of such nonsense anyway? We are Americans and human beings above all else. And when I think of the oversimplification that is going on around us at the hands of the media and powers that be it makes me angry, sick and mostly sad. Because this color coding comes from a very black and white mentallity-a mentallity that I hope to see fade away in the not so distant future. We, and the states that we reside in are so much more than "red" and "blue". I urge everyone to take a compassionate, closer look at ourselves, our friends, enemies, neighbors-and country in general. And I hope we all ultimately realize that complexity is a beautiful thing.
In the wake of the hurricane disaster in Gulf Coast I have heard a great many comments. Mostly sympathetic but many harsh and cruel. The one that stuck out the most though was this: "Oh, well-at least it hit a red state-ha ha." Although this comment was not heartfelf it got me back to thinking of how we, as Americans, are oversimplifying matters that are so much more complex. Politics are a complicated and personal matter. We all have strong beliefs that we stand by, but isnt the human brain more complex than just red or blue(this is excluding W.'s obviously)? I am, as they say, a" flaming liberal" . Most of my beliefs-pro choice- pro higher taxes-anti Bush. are about as "blue" as they come. But, I am also a strong believer in states rights-and isnt that a tradionally "red" (aka Repubican) value? Does this mean that deep down I am really....purple?
In the aftermath of Katrina "reds" and "blues" alike were helping eachother-while the "Terror Alert" color was shifting from yellow to orange and back down again. During this virtual RAINBOW of political and human chaos-who was really thinking of such nonsense anyway? We are Americans and human beings above all else. And when I think of the oversimplification that is going on around us at the hands of the media and powers that be it makes me angry, sick and mostly sad. Because this color coding comes from a very black and white mentallity-a mentallity that I hope to see fade away in the not so distant future. We, and the states that we reside in are so much more than "red" and "blue". I urge everyone to take a compassionate, closer look at ourselves, our friends, enemies, neighbors-and country in general. And I hope we all ultimately realize that complexity is a beautiful thing.
posted by Selené Emrys at 4:46 PM
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