Unless you have spent the past 24 months living in the middle of the forest (I love Hanover), you must surely know that the United States is a tough place to live. Considering that this is the richest nation on Earth, I wonder how people survive in all other countries (I come from Azerbaijan).
Ever felt like you are being misunderstood, pressured, discriminated against? If so, then you might be a Mexican-American living in Arizona. Or a Muslim-American trying to find a place for the Friday prayer in New York City. The so-called "Victory of Islam," a.k.a. "Can-I-please-pray-somewhere?" Mosque has generated too much media hype. Since when has gathering peacefully on Fridays and praying for 15 minutes in a local mosque been equivalent to plotting a massive comeback attack on the United States and preparing a generation of youth terrorists? To be fair, the mosque's anticipated construction location is indeed very close to Ground Zero. On the other hand, denying a person the right to exercise her religion is just inhumane (and a violation of the Bill of Rights, by the way).
Speaking of non-humans, if only gay men and women were people. I mean, corporate entities are legal persons and can thus sue, get sued, spend limitlessly on a political campaign (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) and merge with another corporation (mergers are legal in all states). Certainly gays are not corporations; they don't have headquarters, managers, stockholders. Neither do they have millions of dollars which allow corporations to buy corrupt politicians and law-makers and force them to defend the corporate agenda. Of course, paying for the bailout of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley is important. Meanwhile, same-sex marriage, which is still banned in the constitutions of 36 states, apparently isn't.
As long as I can remember, there have always been cases of sexual harassment of women in the workplace. My advice to all well-educated, successful women who simply want to finally be treated normally: stop complaining, suck it up and strive to change the patriarchic structure of the modern corporate world instead of whining about it! All you have to do is to become one of the numerous female corporate executives and impose your own "girly" perspective on business. All the numbers are strongly in your favor: only 15 percent of all board members in large corporations are currently female. Which means 85 percent are males who aren't exactly thrilled at the prospect of losing their power and control. They are also probably the same men against whom you filed your sexual harassment complaints in the first place. Good luck with that.
Life is not that easy for men either. The majority of the jobs lost in the past two years were held by men, while employers increasingly tend to hire women into positions historically dominated by men. Apparently, women are just as efficient, educated and motivated (if not compensated) as men. Who would have thought? It is such a shame. It only took them hundreds of years to finally realize that.
Ever heard of Enron? Bernard Madoff? Collateralized debt obligations? The deeds of the first two were illegal; the latter, on the other hand, has proven to be a fairly legitimate financial instrument. It only creates a multi-billion dollar asset bubble that eventually explodes, causing a Great Recession in which billions of dollars evaporate, affecting millions of people. Everyone suffers. Everyone except the CEOs of large investment banks who, despite everything they have done, still receive millions of dollars in bonuses for nearly destroying the world economy.
It isn't all that bad, folks. Don't get me wrong, you have 100 percent of your liberty to do and be what you want. It's fairly simple: unless you are gay, Muslim, non-white, a woman, a man, elderly, a creditor or an investor, your life is as good as it can get. But if you are a homosexual old Muslim Mexican-American female mortgage buyer prepare for the roller coaster ride of your life.
