you know it was coming - my first rant - the first soapbox entry. And as promised I will tell you what I found in my quick research about the term "being on the soapbox". Having studied the English language from the ground up I am always fascinated by funny figures of speech - one of my favorites is "It's raining cats and dongs.". The mental image of puppies and kittens falling from the sky is just heart warming.
{I warned you about typos, sometimes my typos are funny, instead of "cats and dogs" I wrote "cats and dongs" - so I will leave that up for my own entertainment}
At first I thought, when someone is on the soapbox, they are on it like others are on crystal meth - they are high! Then I thought of soapy bubbles coming out of the ranter's mouth - filled with air. These notions hold true even once I got to the real meaning. It later dawned on me. The mental movie of a 1920ies Newsie stepping on a wooden soap box to shout out the latest headlines was compelling. My 15 minute google research then revealed, I was close. Back in the 1890ies speakers in London's Hyde Park Corner would step on the sturdy soap boxes to make impromptu speeches about politics, religion and other topics.
Essentially, the soapbox gives people a platform (literally) to be heard, to shout out their opinion on things. I have found that in the online world, where the soapbox got a revival, its meaning has changed to be more of a bitchbox - people complaining, slamming other people and so on.
I tell you dear reader, my soapbox will be a vintage one - less bitching and whining - more shouting strong rhetoric that will capture your attention.
Here we go - *stepping on my wooden crate, clearing my throat*
BLOGGERS (& everyone else) listen up! In my humble opinion the biggest problem of today's discourse about any topic is people believing they know the truth. Well sugar, you don't! Your belief about what is the truth about health care, gay marriage and abortion ect. is just that YOUR BELIEF not the truth. In the best case you, sugar pie, have formed this belief yourself from you life experiences and your values, in the worst case others (like news media, preaches, your mom...) have formed this opinion for you - and you thankfully absorbed it - because someone else saved you time and headache to come up with your own opinion.
Beliefs change - so the "truth" changes. My solution: make it mandatory for everyone in High School student to take at least one sociology class. It will open your mind to see how societies function has a whole.
When I first explored different universities trying to find the right subject for me to study, I visited one mini sociology intro course Humboldt University had set up for us undecided High School students. The topic of the mini lecture was "What is normal?". I loved every minute of this class, every atom in my body was agreeing with the bottom line. "Normal is what a certain group, at a certain time defines as normal." You can substitute normal with "good" "bad" "right" "wrong" ect.
For example, back in the 50ies it was normal to smoke. There were ashtrays build into the lecture hall desks, your doctor would offer you a smoke and so on. Today, that has changed, especially in the US smokers are becoming a minority and are being pushed out - by sending them outside of a building to smoke.
There was a time when it was normal for woman not to be allowed to vote and stick to running the household. Today there are several female heads of state and woman make more than 50% of America's work force.
There was a time when people who were attracted to their own gender were considered ill. Only in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Wow, even science and doctors don't know the "truth".
There was a time when it was normal for a family to have 6 or more kids, today those families get their own TV shows - because they are so not normal.
So sugar, before you get all riled up about a topic, spend nights tossing and turning giving mental speeches in your head to an audience that will never really hear you, consider this - it's all relative - it can all change - usually not without a fight. But you get the idea. What is "right" today is out tomorrow, or is right somewhere else. The British think it's right to drive on the left side of the road, try doing that in the US and you will get arrested!
The Bottom Line
Loosen up! You don't know the truth, because it doesn't exist in a manifest way - it gets defined by the majority of a certain group of people at a certain time.
*stepping off of the my vintage crate*
Cheers my dears,
Dani!
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