Reflections September 19, 2011

Reflections

Over the last while, I have given much thought to a lot of different things. Perhaps one could say that I have had time on my hands, given the fact that someone had to be on fire standby, and that someone has been me. Fortunately, we have had a very slow fire season. An abundance of rain has led to yet another very quiet season. This is a very good thing. Even though the fire hazard has been low, someone still had to be at the ready in the event a fire report came in.

This lull in fire activity has provided me the time to think and ponder on life. Some of the things I have thought about are as follows, in no set order.


The law and how society decides how to make law.

Education

Religion

Morals

What things are just simply right and wrong

Politics

Justice

What rights do I have

Science

Evolution

Getting Older

Gay Marriage

Firearm Registration

Bullying

Animals

Are we still living in a democracy or is it more of a plutocracy

Stem Cell Research

Abortion

War

Peace

Prejudice
These are just a few of the things that I have thought about. Whether or not people will admit it, these things are the some of the ones we all have feelings about. Some would say that some these I have mentioned can be touchy subjects. Indeed, I will not argue this point. However, I still think a person should be able to speak their mind and share, if they so wish, their thoughts.

I have no intention of hurting anyone in any way, these are just my thoughts. To say I have an answer, for any or all of these subjects, would be a complete oversight on my part. Are my views the end all be all? Far from it, they are just my thoughts that I want to share.

As some of you may know, I was a game warden for a long time. In that time there were many nights, many long nights, setting in the dark, waiting for someone to come along and make an attempt to hunt game in the night, which many of you may know, is an illegal activity in New Brunswick.

During these many long nights, there was one partner that I had for a long time, who I was able to discuss a lot of these subjects listed above with. Many of you will know what I mean when I say that I am going to write a dialogue. This is nothing new; Plato used this style many years ago to make his points clear. I am certainly not in the same league as Plato, but I thought that it might be fun to write in dialogue, as if it were myself and my partner, who I will call Jed, that were having the conversations.

I hope this will be fun, and also thought provoking. So over the next while, I will tackle each of these listed subjects in a way that old buddy Jed and I would have talked about each. Again I must stress, there is no intent on my part to be mean spirited in any way. In these dialogues, you will come to know what I think about each of these subjects. For this I will make no apology, for they are my thoughts. It will be up to you, as to whether you agree with me or not. If it turns out that you disagree, hopefully you will not think less of me, for I certainly will not think less of you.

On the subject of Jed, often I will put him on the opposite side of the issue. I do this in order to make a point. In real life, this was very often the way it was, however, we did agree on one or two things. I have often said if someone was to have crept up on us and listened in without our knowing, they would have called the both of us certifiably insane.

In closing I will say that these will be written over time, as I have the chance. I do hope that in the end, I will have caused some of you to give some serious thought to these writings.

RL Tex Smith
September 19, 2011