You're Still Wrong.. Mykel's Feb 2020 Blog I DON'T GET IT (Pt. 3)

You're Still Wrong.. Mykel's Feb 2020 Blog I DON'T GET IT (Pt. 3)

NOTE: This is my third WEEKLY blog. I’ve heard from several readers that “it’s too long.” Maybe they’re right. I know the feeling of reading on a screen. An old friend from the band The Apostles sent me a 65 page book he wrote. It’s a great read, but I can only manage 10 pages at a time on the computer. Something about the media shortens attention or concentration. For me, this is a test. Please let me know what you think. So far, these segments seem too short. Next month: BI-WEEKLY! 

YOU’RE STILL WRONG
Mykel’s Post MRR

Feb 2020

Part Three

of

I Don’t Get It

The focus of this column is feedback from others... explaining how they think on topics I don't understand. Last week I asked for an explanation of how omnivores can excuse the horrors of factory farming, yet condemn less-horrible cock-fighting and bull-fighting. This week I ask about...)

GAY MARRIAGE: I’ve long been an opponent of gay marriage... and straight marriage… at least as government recognized institutions. Again, if you want to see my reasons, just go back and read everything I’ve ever written before.

BUT, I can understand the thinking of those who want to be allowed to partake of the benefits of marriage: Half-price healthcare, automatic hospital visitation rights. the ability to transfer funds without being taxed, the right to social security benefits someone else paid for… and this from Consumer Reports: If there's a large discrepancy between the bride and groom's incomes, the lower-earning spouse might serve as a tax shelter for the higher earner.

I get it. You want those perks offered only to married people. That is… to those who follow a government sanctioned religious rite. I don’t like it. I don’t support it. I think it’s unfair, but I understand it.

What I don’t get is those who claim to want gay marriage on the basis of equal rights! It’s as clear as the blood on the sheets that married and unmaried people do NOT have equal rights. Marriage itself is inequality. The “right” to get married is the “right” to give up your freedom and participate in a fundamentally unequal institution. This has nothing to do with equality. The “right” to marry becomes a duty to marry, with insurance companies demanding marriage before they’ll insure “a partner.” TWO becomes the official number... required before you can avoid estate taxes or gain the right to someone else’s social security when they kick the bucket.

It’s as if, in the 1800s, gay people demanded the right to own slaves… in the name of equality. Slavery, like marriage is an institution of inequality. Allowing more slave owners (or marriages) does not change that inequality. So please… explain to me how gay marriage makes people equal. 

ENDNOTES: [You can contact me on facebook or by email at god@mykelboard.com. Through the post office: send those... er... private DVDs..or music or zines... or anything else (legal only!) to: Mykel Board, POB 137, New York, NY 10012-0003. If you like my writing, you can be notified when anything new is available. Subscribe to the MYKEL'S READERS Yahoo group readmboard-subscribe@yahoogroups.com]

→ A touch of integrity dept: US Attorney General William Barr asked facebook to build a “back door” into its encryption of Messenger and WhatsApp messages and calls. Why? For SECURITY, of course, so criminals can’t send messages without the cops reading them. (Of course, in pre-internet letter-writing times, the cops did open a few letters… but not in anywhere neat the number they do or want to do now).

"The 'backdoor' access you are demanding for law enforcement would be a gift to criminals, hackers, and repressive regimes," WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger executives wrote. I’m still not a fan of facebook (though I use it too much), but you gotta give punk points where they’re due.

LINK TRADE DEPARTMENT:

I read that the search engines like lots of links... and it's also nice to support my friends --and enemies-- in their blogs. So facebook me or email me if you have a blog, webpage or something else to connect to. I add you. You add me.

Here's a start:

David Goldberg's Busy Microbes Blog

And another Goldberg: goldberg.wordpress.com

Poetry and humor fans will like Justin Martin in The Latency

And my friend Mike R has a nice site with recipe hits from the past! (He cooked for me once... great stuff.) Check out Yesterday's Recipes.

And here's one by a member of ANTI-SEEN... a tour diary of sorts.

Andy Shelton has an interesting blog here.

Savage Hippie is a guy who has been YouTubing for a long time. Our opinions largely overlap... but he complains that I'm a Communist. I'm not! I'm a communist.

Chris Stecher publishes a zine called PRECIS. You can see the back issue links there... and he promises a new issue soon.

If there’s no link here (I can’t find it temporarily), then Google… er… Duckduckgo him for information.

And my long-term pal Sid Yiddish contributes with his Mishegas Master Blog.

Then there’s the link for people who hate links. Real live XEROS, a zine in a world of e-zines and virtual ideas. Check out ASYMMETRICAL ANTI-MEDIA “The Review Zine with Lunatic Fringe Tendencies.” What’s the URL? Hah! You need to put a crisp (or wrinkled) dollar bill in an envelope and MAIL IT (With a stamp. Get it?) to: Jason Rodgers, PO Box 10894, Albany NY 12201 And you should.

Let me know if you have a blog… or a PRINT zine and want to be added to the list. You show me yours… you’ve already seen mine. god@mykelboard.com