Passing Thoughts on Some “G” Topics

Gambling - An addiction which captures people who hope that luck will favor them, regardless of whether they believe they deserve it or not. One legitimate reason for governments to conduct lotteries might be to disqualify as voters those who buy lottery tickets. We have had too many public officials elected by voters hoping their vote is a lucky one instead of informing themselves about the candidates, their records and their positions before voting.

Game - A competitive challenge, sometimes from ourselves, sometimes from others and sometimes from the game designer. Some people see life as a challenge from all three.

Garden - Where our mind and spirit contact the earth.

Gasoline - A volatile fuel, especially for the American political economy when the price is high.

Gates - Though it is only speculation, I cannot help but wonder how the world of computers would be different today if Bill Gates had not been born.

Gays - Well people who cannot be cured.

Geek - A person of deep but narrow ability, usually in a technical area, who is not seen as sexually attractive - even by other geeks.

Gem - Primarily a stone, rare and precious, often capable of being further shaped and polished. Some people are gems, but many are still “in the rough”, due to poverty and lack of education.

Genealogy - Searching for ancestors is a very personal way to increase our knowledge of history and our understanding of how we are connected to the past. What will our descendants learn about us and our times when they do their research?

Genius - This Latin word originally meant the guardian spirit of a person. Every person has abilities and spirits - his or her own genius. Somewhere along the line the word came to be applied exclusively to persons deemed to be of eminent ability and intellect. The rest of us need to reclaim our birthright and celebrate our own genius spirit.

Gerrymander - The political brass-knuckle tactic of the party in power re-drawing district lines to maximize their chances for elections. Tom Delay was the most recent master of this evil. Imagine if the US House of Representatives could be elected without districts, with members of the House representing people, not places. Candidates could then run sincerely on issues and positions they believe in, instead of running based on what polls show a majority of likely voters in one district want. Such a House would be much more representative of the American people than the one we have now.

Ghosts - Ghostly mythology is so powerful that even scientific minded people can get spooked. Someday science might find what happens to the unseen aspects of our being when we die, possibly even lending some credibility to parts of the mythology. One famous religious Ghost was renamed a Spirit

Gift - Only anonymous ones come without strings.

Global - In theory, encompassing all the Earth, as “universal” encompasses all the Universe. In practice, a global corporation is one which out sources production to at least one poorer country, and a universal remote is one that might be capable of performing minimal functions on at least two TVs.

God - The Supreme Being Intelligent Designer to some people. One of a pantheon of gods, or an amalgamation of all existence, to others. Perhaps an unknowable enigma, but often cited as authority in support of a person or cause. Perhaps He did chose George to be US President at this time - to teach us still another lesson about how not to live our lives.

Google - A tremendous search engine with delusions of grandeur, riding a deserved wave of support. Some of its delusions will be realized before the next wave rises to take its place.

Guns - In America, weapons a significant portion of the population idolizes, in spite of all the reasons to the contrary. Many such people expect they will band together and preserve freedom if the government gets too tyrannical, yet they are the same ones who, except regarding guns and taxes, support tyranny over civil liberties.