I remember back in the 90's watching Norther Exposure

[mdmc]

I was watching a re-run with my mother while I was home from college.

In the episode Maggie's old boyfriend (Maggie was the love interest of displaced NY'er Joel Fleishman) had come to Alaska to try to win her back.

Maggie's old boyfriend offers Dr. Fleishman a huge amount of cash to leave Alaska (a place that Dr. Fleishman hated) and return to his beloved NYC.

The boyfriend said something like, "Here you are treating frostbite while your medical college buddies are pulling down 6 figures while playing golf 3 times a week. And your Alaska contract will expire (a three year contract, for those that didn't watch the show) just as universal healthcare kicks in."

Joel considers the offer, but rejects it.

I remember asking my mom if she thought we would have universal health care in a couple years.

She told me that it would make sense (she is a public health nurse). But she also said that she never thought that pot would still be illegal in the 1990's. She told me that she thought pot would be taxed and legal by 1969. She was amazed that it was still illegal.

Now she is not at all shocked that we still have private insurance death panels. She thinks will continue to do so for the rest of her life.

Perhaps the revolution will not be televised. Perhaps change is still another generation away.

[FatDave]

1. If change is still another generation away...

...it's because we're waiting for a bunch of old conservatives to die.

[donheld]

2. I do so wish the Democrat Maggie was real and

the Repuglican Janine Turner was just a Character

[mdmc]

3. That was one sad life lesson

but I have a place in my heart for parents that turn GOP in an effort to "protect" their kids. I can understand misplaced conservatism when it is due to "trying" to "conserve" or protect kids.

I loved the political episodes with the local city council (Both Holling and Maggie served as mayor).

Ah, good times

[misanthrope]

4. I have no such fondness for those people...

...and that tendency is one of the most distasteful traits I've noticed among the parents I've known. My wife and I have lost so many friends over the years, people who dropped their liberal perspectives once there was a "baby on board," thereby revealing that their liberalism was little more than fashion. If you truly held liberal ideals and thought them the best way to make the world a better place, then why would you forsake them just because it's more convenient? Isn't the subliminal message there that "it's OK for everyone else's children but mine are a different story?"

It's also another way you can see that although a lot of folks like to paint the child-free as selfish and the child-bearing as altruistic, quite the opposite is the reality in a lot of cases. Their children are merely an extension of themselves and their egos.

[mdmc]

5. yes

I tend to live and let live in most respects.

For me, the reduction of poverty is the most pressing political issue in my life.

So if a now conservative parent wants some trickle down tax policy, I just remind them that their taxes may go down, but millions of children living in poverty will suffer.

I always bring it back to the children.

Don't support gay marriage? Neither did the thugs that dragged that gay kid behind their truck until he died.

Don't support WIC? Imagine if your kid was hungry.

The list goes on.

In the end I have a great deal of respect for people that live their lives in accordance with a wisdom tradition. I draw the line at hatred (homophobia and racism). That is where I sever the ties.

[misanthrope]

8. Well, unfortunately...

...most of the conservatives I've met have beliefs that in various ways can be traced back to myopia, xenophobia, hatred disguised as religion and just general selfishness.

The gay marriage question? Some are fine with it (as long as the gay person isn't in their family) while others trot out their religion as rationalization for their discrimination.

WIC? They blame the parents of those other children as a way to assuage their guilt. If you ask them to imagine their child hungry, they proclaim that their responsibility has taken care of their child as others should do.

And while wisdom traditions might seem fine in some regards, they can often have unsavory aspects. Exclusion, ignorance, gender discrimination, all type of things can be washed away with, "well, that's how it's always been done." Where I live, racial segregation, feudalism and lynching can be considered part of "tradition."

Besides, I think most all of humanity's problems can all be traced back to selfishness and overpopulation.

[mdmc]

9. I agree about selfishness

Thanks for the reply..

Perhaps is sounds silly, but I don't think the planet is overpopulated. In fact, I think we could feed, cloth, and house all of this planets population with the resources found in the State of Kansas. It would just take selflessness in order to get it done.

It is selfishness that gets us in trouble..

[RyboSlybo]

6. I miss that show... I guess we still have re-runs to enjoy...

Good post,

I haven't caught an episode of Northern Exposure for some time...

What a great cast they had, excellent actors with a nice range of different personalities...

TV just isn't what it used to be, I miss the greats that are long gone and probably never to return... but hey at least we still have American idol... ;)

Oh and Legalize Pot already!

[mdmc]

7. were do you see re-runs?

A&E cable channel had it for some time, but lost the rights to "The Hallmark" Channel. I didn't think that the Hallmark Channel still ran NE. The Hallmark Channel is not available in Newburgh (actually, I don't have cable, so I am not sure, but I think I am right).

I would love to catch the whole series. I did get all the disks via netflicks, but the soundtrack is not the same (different songs - I need to find tapes of the originals).

:toast: