Category Archives: sociology

NO CANDIDATE.

political commentary, social commentary, sociology, , , , , ,

 

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This is my FINAL POLITICAL POST for 2016.

I, Ruth Ann Scanzillo, HAVE NO candidate in this Presidential election. I support neither Hillary nor Trump. Nor Johnson, nor Stein.

Regardless what many thought of his decision to pull out of the running, to publicly support Hillary, all of that, I chose Bernie Sanders months and months ago – and, never looked back.

THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT BERNIE.

The belief that the Democratic party, and its candidate, have adopted Bernie’s platform with full intent to carry it out meets with dubious acceptance, on my part. Talk is the only thing cheap in politics, and we cannot know how many, if any, of his policies as outlined by him will be given a second thought once the new President is installed.

The Republican party, in my view, is lost. Trump has been, for all his public bluster and buffoonery, shrewd and calculating. The fact that the Republicans did not and, apparently, could not head him off says far more about them than it ever will about him.

For those of you who see me as a simplistically minded, superficial “pseudo- intellect” (and, I had a “boyfriend” who did), you are free to feel any way you will about me. This isn’t about me. It’s about what people take from social media, and how everybody reacts to what is said here.

For most of my adult life, I have been a registered Independent. I chose that party because I learned early on to reject the two-party system, seeing it as representing a petulant, stubborn mentality that serves no real productive end. Recent developments pretty much prove all that out, to me at least.

No; I have no hard answers. All I have is a point of view, and the right to choose. And, this year, I may very well choose to have maxillofacial surgery intended to abolish lifelong migraines, in Houston, during the first week of November.

Absentee ballot, you say? In Erie, Pennsylvania? You’ve got to be kidding, right?

I am a divorced, childless woman pushing 60. We, in my demographic, are regarded by local society as among the least relevant and most powerless. So be it. I have nothing left but gratitude to express to those who both mentored and modeled sound morals and values to me, beginning with my wonderful parents and grandparents. Family may just be a memory in my life, but I am thankful and at peace with my place in the universe.

Selah, kids. Bloom where you’re planted. Life is short. Create while you can, with everything you’ve got.

Thanks.

Oh; and, anybody who posts a defense or promotion of any candidate in the thread below will just have to endure seeing their comments deleted. I’m not trying to generate that kind of discussion. This is just my final opinion, and will have to stand as it is.

To those of you who actually read the entire piece: feel only love. Thank you.

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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo  10/3/16

littlebarefeetblog.com

 

SOCIAL MEDIA: It Was Supposed To Be A Party.

brain research, commentary, dance, drama, human behavior, humor, musicians, performance, photos, prose, psychology, social commentary, sociology, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

 

Dear Social Media:

[The ones who haven’t hidden my posts.]

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It’s been 7 years. Is this the itch?

Here’s what I think of our relationship. (Like a good therapy patient, I’ve made two lists): Good Stuff and Not So Good Stuff.

Good Stuff:

  • Re-acquaintance with old friends, remote family, DNA determined ancestors, and former students;

  • New friends, some special and close;

  • Community Bulletin Board announcements, including:

          a.) “In a ‘relationship'”; b.) marriages, c.) births; d.) pet acquisitions; e.) deaths;

  • Photos and video of fine art, music, dance, soccer goals, and drama;

  • Promotion of performance based events;

Not So Good Stuff:

  • False picture of the social landscape in the real world;

  • Subconscious drive to “keep up with the Jones’s”;

  • Political proselytizing, not always fact-based;

  • Passive-aggressive verbal warfare;

  • Flat out braggadocio;

Consequently, each of us has unwittingly submitted to a cinematic characterization of ourselves that distorts public perception.

The Introvert, Extrovert and Ambivert: It’s a @#$% Party!

Introverts rarely post; they read, and draw conclusions. Extroverts enter one liners, then leave the house to actually go and be with their people. Ambiverts, caught between creating in print and communicating with intent, post excessively – leaving themselves wide open to extrapolation and interpolation, only to wonder why cliques shun them in public.

The Interpretation

We have come to interpret reactions to our persona on social media with far too much of the alternate angst, delusion, and regret. The Blocking Feature has been deadly, cutting off all hope of public reconciliation; it’s as if that 3 foot barrier in three dimensions has taken on an anti-gravity shield, distinct from any currently being employed by the alien civilization presently closest in proximity (sic) to earth.

And — how many of us knew it was just a @#$% party!?

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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo  9/30/16    – All rights those of the author. Thanks!

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Walking Dead.

Deep Questions, grief, human behavior, memorials, political commentary, psychology, social commentary, sociology, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

 

A moment ago, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie presented his portion of the 2:00pm EST press conference, following the deadly commuter train crash in Hoboken.

During his speech, he declared:  “The silver lining? Only one fatality.”

And, furthermore, “due to injuries caused by debris”.

A woman died. A woman, whose name has not yet been revealed, pending notification of next of kin.

Her only defense: standing on the platform, waiting for the train.

Soon, we may be permitted knowledge of her identity.

And, perhaps there will be a retrospective of her life, aired by the media.

But, a word, please.

The world of statistics. Those who live within it are to be pitied. Theirs is a realm of calculated loss, some mumbling about “the greater good”. Oh; and, a mentality that is fed by tactic and strategy.

This is a war mentality.

It is not civic minded. It is not compassionate. The value of human life is reduced to a numerical equivalent, like the toluene levels in drinking water. Acceptable, or not. One death, equating to some notion of Acceptability.

I suppose we should all thank our God that we were not standing on that train platform at 8:45 am this day. And, we might pray for the family who lost a beloved sister, daughter, perhaps mother.

I know that, at my own mother’s death, she lay in her own bed in her own home, the sun streaming in to receive her soul. As for those to whom her death was merely a calculated, statistical risk, who administered the treatment protocol that did nothing to save her life, I wonder how long ago their own souls left their bodies.

The walking dead. They are among us.
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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo  9/29/16    –  All rights those of the author. Thank you.

littlebarefeetblog.com