Illustration Friday 'Envy'
OK, I decided to go with a political comic strip funny format this week. I just gotta be diffferent. This idea came to me because I was thinking about the Presidential process and how someone like me would never be allowed to be elected President. I'm bisexual and transgendered, so even though someone like David Duke could run and get votes, I would never stand a chance.
Then, I stopped feeling sorry for myself and I realized that a lotta people are in a similar situation. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Wicca, Blacks, and Women (just to name a few) also face the prospect of not being represented in this Government. As a digression (a good one though) I'm a Star Trek geek and I always admired the whole 'Federation of Planets' where many divergent alien races had equal representation and (if you watched the series) the President of the Federation wasn't even Human. That's bold. Can you imagine ? Not long ago people were afraid of a 'Catholic' President. Hell, not long ago Blacks were enslaved and Women couldn't vote and Gays were seen as monsters.
Things have gotten a lil' better, but when we make Extraterrestrial contact, how will the Human race behave ? Will it be a meeting of equals, or will we be bigoted/prejudiced/speciest toward them (or them toward us!)?
Envy can sometimes be a good thing.
Minds are like parachutes, they only work when they are open...
:-)
posted by steve @ 8:31 AM
47 comments
47 Comments:
This is fantastic...and very true. Plus, I love what you wrote. It sucks being anything besides the status quo.
Maybe someday, we'll make it different. :-) I'm always hopeful...
Thanx Emily ! It's all from the heart. I wrote what I felt, that's a lotta years of thoughts there.
I want a better world, I just don't want to achieve it the brutal way that most people have been leaning toward.
Although a few (many) well deserved spankings wouldn't be a bad idea.
Me first...
:-D
Wow, I never would have thought of a comic strip --excellant! I agree with Emily --I love what you wrote. As far as if and when we meet ETs..I shudder to think of how we'd behave. Thats probably why we aren't seeing them. They know and won't come:-)
Nice illustrated blog. I'm gonna add you to my blogroll. Hope that is OK. And thank you very much for visiting mine and for you comment.
Pat
just pat
You forgot the atheist.. Men and women of all religions look down on those with none.
Howdy do, Pat ! I've had a notion that Earth is just a tourist trap for traveling Aliens that has the tag 'look at the silly Humans, but don't contact them, highly aggressive'
Yes, please blogroll me. That would be very kewl.
You are absolutly right, Efm. But that means I would have to add myself to the illustration, and am I silly looking...
:-)
Hiya Bertha ! Thanx for the compliment. Glad you liked the idea. Say hi to your kitties for me !
oooh, how nice!
I wouldn't mind crucifying a prez or two.
Dude, spot on. Your mind again turns itself to producing a different take on the topic. I love it when a drawing makes one think - as this does - so again a job well done.
Detlef
http://www.detlefjumpertz.com
It's tempting, isn't it Miss Daze!
Glad to make those mental gears turn, Detlef ! You are most kind. I may blush!
Oops ! There I go...
Hi Steve,
Thanks for coming by to visit. What a thought provoking image. Your post makes me think of the word "xenophobia." I think it means a fear of strangers. The whole Ender's Game series of books takes a look at what happens when humans who have plenty of xenophobia come into contact with aliens.
Great comic and what you wrote too. And I love that mind quote. And you should definitely post more these.
That Ender's Game series sounds interesting. I'll probably check it out one day. Thanx Braidwood !
Glad you liked my work, Janey! I don't always have brainstorms like this, so don't hold your breath. Then again...
Hi Steve...great illustration as always!
And thanks for always having something kind to say :)
This is perfect! a comic strip ^^ a really great idea ^^. Your comic strip makes me think we can have a better world. ^^
And thank you very much for your noce comments about my painting ^^ I think Keiko will share her cupcake with you and I told her to have more for all the Illustration friday crowd hehehe. ^^
mine:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/kirblythe/22157.html
My pleasure, Guisi !
Ok, now I rilly am blushing ! And I got a free cupcake too !
Thanx Kir ! ^_^
WOW. incredibly deep. i especially loved your analogy with the parachute. when i was little, i always strove to be "president", although now i'm a catholic (non-practising) gimped canadian woman, so i think i'm outta luck! so funny, i don't care about your sexual orientation, but STAR TREK????!!!! OMG, Stevie's a TREKKIE! I think it must be the old jock in me that's so appalled! hee hee...love you despite!
cheers,
kerry
Excellent as always Steve. Just so you know your Presidents are similar to our Prime Ministers in Australia; that doesn't stop a lot of us from giving them a hard time about having closed parachute minds. They always end up hitting the ground hard in the end. It's great to be different!
Hey Steve , as always your are unexpected! have a great week end. I don't think you would enjoy being president. You can't think far your self!
This was really wonderful, and spot on. I've mentally tortured the president in many ways but somehow never thought of this one. Now this will be the first image that comes to mind! *LOL* Of course, I'd never want anything to seriously happen to him.
Then Cheney would be president.
*shuddering*
Wow ! This week you are more serious !I think you are right on that! Great idea and drawing ..now let`s think!:) I love it!
Hee hee, you sound like a very interesting person!
Two things: One, I think it takes a certain sort of (extremely warped or extremely obliviously optimistic) person to want to be president, and the American Christian ideals seem like they would produce more people like that... And Two: when the extraterrestrials make contact with us, it should go without saying that we'll end up as food, slave labor, or pets.
As someone who looks good in a sparkley rhinestone collar and doesn't mess on the carpets, I'll be applying for a 'pet' position.
Hmmm... it seems that first you'd have to get a party's approval- as the only way you can be president is to be one of the two choices we're spoonfed every four years.
As you are an intelligent, rational, thinking human being, I'll assume that you don't really WANT to be president :)
wow 27 comments, 28 now. You hit a well deserved nerve here. Do some more please.
I'm sending some luv back at ya, Kerry! Yes, I'm a cute nerd who has that whole 'sail to th' stars' dream. I tottaly enjoy the old cheesy 1950's space exploration enthusiasm. You mentioned 'gimped', were you injured ? How did it happen ? I'll assume it was a sports game. Sorry to hear it, y'know if Bush would get the corncobb outta his butt we could do some stem cell research and possible cure your injury...
How are things down under, Anonymous ? I think Polititians are similair everywhere, lie/cheat/steal to win. It's kinda fun to see them crash and burn when they get caught. Being different is great, but it's damned lonely at times...
My I.Q. would probably drop several dozen points if I spent any time in D.C.'s beltway. Maybe you'r right, Joe !
Ho ho ho ! That's a very good point, Aravisarwen. What was that phrase ? 'The lesser of two evils...'
Yes, I am capable of being serious, Nuray-Tulipland. I can't go through life always playing a 'laugh track'. I do hope this makes people think, thinking is one of our most precious and rarely used resources.
Cheers!
The Christians have been insinuating themselves into almost every group and organization ever since they learned that the klu klux klan wasn't tolerated by most people anymore. ( I know that sounded harsh, but I've heard and seen some things done by christians that would turn your hair green ! ) There definitly are 'good' christian out there, but they tend to be bullied by the extreemists.
As for your second point Bonnie Ann, I also look good in a sparkley rhinestone collar, and I'm housebroken!
Someone needs to swat my bottom with a rolled up newspaper...
:-D
get on that for me, will ya?! was so sad when bush came back into power, put my "cure" behind a few more years! it wasn't sports that buggered me up, was a car accident (paraplegic). the irony is that i was supposed to go skydiving the next day! if bush's worried about "designer babies" he's too late (if you haven't read "My Sister's Keeper" yet, it's worth a read) so he should just go with the flow, and institute some sensible guidelines.
cheers
kerry
You are absolutley right, Tony. It's too bad Americans don't remember that this country was based on a president elected by the people, for the people. Instead we are rapidly becoming a nation of 'US versus THEM'. Scary.
No, I wouldn't like being prez, but damn, I also don't like paying taxes yet I do because it's necessary.
After all, if Adolf Hitler were alive, were an American citizen, and running for prez, I'd run for office...just to prevent him from fucking things up...
Gods ! I finally made it down to you, Janey! Sorry luv, I didn't expect this much support for my message. Don't worry, my devious foxy brain has been operating at high speed since childhood. I may not be a genius, nor even brilliant: but I'm stubborn. And that counts for a lot.
Keep watching, more to come later...
I'm trying, Kerry. I voted for Gore the first time and Kerry (hmmmm) the second. But the courts sided against me. If Bush keeps this nonsense up, China, India, and Russia will pass us tech wise and we'll end up 10 years behind the cutting edge.
I recently read something interesting in Discover magazine "Suppose the failure rate from cloning a child is less than 1 percent. Would the government be justified in saying you can no longer conceive by natural childbirth ?"
And should we have funerals for all the fertilized eggs that don't adhere to the uterus wall ? The whole pro-life agenda is on thin ice these days...
we're headed somewhere in the direction of Atwood's "The Handmaidens Tale". Not a pretty picture! A bizarre clip from my life: Was driving to my folks for sunday dinner, had to pass by a pro-life rally, and a catholic nun threw herself in front of my car. I guess she valued the life of a couple of cells more than she did her own. Didn't hit her, she was lucky, but certainly never thought I'd ever curse so fiercely at a nun!
Cheers
Kerry
Funny that a nun would be so worked up about blastospheres yet won't lift a finger opposing America's and even the United Nations policies that allow African nations to be wiped out through arson, rape, murder and starvation. How about them nuns rescuing some brown babies who are dying of a multitude of diseases and mistreatment in Nigeria or Somalia instead of clusters of stem cells that she doesn't even love. Why don't we get all the radical right to raise all the babies who are in orphanages.
After all, it's not like the right wingers will let the gay couples adopt children. Gays can't even legally get married. And the straights keep crapping out unwanted children. Kind of a contradiction, huh ? Creat life, but don't take care of it. Nice.
Maybe things can start to change in three years Kerry.
Here's hopin'
I like that you used a political message...interesting ideas, too. I like being a little to the side of normal, don't you?
violetismycolor
People are strange, when you're a stranger...
I don't really fit in with most people, Violetismycolor. But that's ok, most people need a serious ass-whuppin.
Hey, wait. Can I sign up for an ass-whuppin too ?
:-)
you're certainly living in the wrong country luv! the states need to take a cue from canada when it comes to gay rights. hell, half my building is populated with married gay couples, a few with kids. you really should pop up during Vancouver's gay pride parade...it's such a massive fabulous party. last year by the end of the night i had a sixty year old drag queen in pink sequins riding around on my lap.
you're right about the nuns, those brides of god should grab a chunk of the catholic booty and take action in a productive manner.
cheers,
kerry
Things are the same down under as up above Steve. It can be extremely fun to see politicians crash and burn. Although we think we are less conservative than you guys, we don't have legal gay marriages yet. Kerry, I hope it wasn't the nun who gimped you, if so, she couldn't become a nun through guilt could she? Perhaps she's a priest now?
If I may say so, many of us Americans are 'Envious' of you Canadians, Kerry. You seem to have better civil rights, health care, and drug rights than my backward country. Don't get me wrong, I luv the USA, I just think that it's lost it's common sense and accountability. A Canadian friend of mine, Kristin, moved from Kalamazoo to northern California because she got tired of the B.S. She invited me to run up to Canada with her and her boyfriend Eric if Bush decides to bring back the Draft (the better to kill off the next generation of social security recipients).
So, I might just see you one day if things get REALLY obnoxious in Iraq.
P.S. I'll be bringing my buddy Kevin (K's Diseased Wits) and his wife and daughter. All the more artists to bother you day to day...
:-D
Y'know Anonymous, I'm wondering how the next few years will turn out. Both India and China have huge populations, both have either non-religious or different religious populations (Hindu and Shinto) and both are rapidly gaining industrial strength. Plus, they both are shareholders of American debt (we borrow way too much money for these 'war on...' projects, funny how that whole war on drugs kinda faded from the public eye yet the funding continues...)
BTW, I hear that Australia is a pretty kewl place to live. Don't sweat your conservative base, at least you don't have to deal with the embarassing Hollywood celebrity crash and burns. I am soooooo sick of hearing about Micheal Jackson and Paris Hilton. Blah !
:-)
I'm hoping for a cure for Kerry within the next year or two...
i gotta say us kids here in Vancouver found it most amusing to see line-ups of Americans at our clinics here to buy flu shots. i guess bush forgot to add them to his shopping list. you and your friends are more than welcome to come bug me anytime! hell, we'll move you into the building (it'll be fixed by then:)) cheap rent here and great neighbourhood.
i try and imagine what it would be like to be fixed again, and i've gotta laugh, cuz i was a bit of a handful. getting buggered up slowed me down a whole lot, i'm not sure some would want me to be back at full Kerry strength again!
Australia is a whole lot of fun, I have a lot of family and friends who've moved there. If I were to leave Canada though, I'd probably choose New Zealand. I love it there. The second best country in the world!
Cheers,
Kerry
America seems to be outsourcing everything these days, Kerry. Pretty soon we'll be outsourcing not only prescription drugs but also dicks up our asses (to me that would be fun, but...) because sodomy is probably cheaper in other countries. You know Bush, why do it here when we can grab our ankles overseas.
Boy, I rilly need a good hard spanking for that last statement! I think that I may have crossed a line...
:-)
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