Decade, debate

Even though the New Year was almost two months ago, this start of a new decade has really blown my mind. I didn't think much of it when the 2010s started, but now it's a big deal—probably because the 2010s were the first decade I spent entirely as an adult.

Is my whole closet out of date now because it's from a previous decade (and a few items are from the decade before that)? Is my music library out of date? Is my way of life out of date because I even have a music library?

This week I was looking at microfilms of 1990s newspapers. I can remember the 1990s (at least the second half), including some of the things I find in the newspapers, and yet there are two entire decades between the 90s and now. (I know those of you who are older than me are just laughing.) I started college a full ten years ago! I have many key memories and life events from 2012, but that was early in the last decade!

But I have to remember that decade designations are arbitrary. 1981 is closer to 1978 than it is to 1988, even though 1981 and 1988 are both the 80s.

In other news, I recently got a primary ballot. I'm unaffiliated, so I was able to get a Democratic ballot, and I think it's the first time that's happened. I think the Republicans only give you a ballot if you join the party, so no ballot for me. But I'm fine with that. The issues that matter most to me at the moment are ones that Republicans either ignore or oppose—gun safety and the environment (including climate change). (Not only do Republicans deny climate change, it almost seems as though they consciously want to destroy the environment, like coal, plastic bags, and plastic straws are sacred objects of veneration.)

So, in order to know how I should fill out my ballot, on Wednesday I watched the Democratic debate with Mike Bloomberg, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar.

After the debate, the ones I'm least likely to vote for are Sanders and Buttigieg. Sanders's main platform is free healthcare for all and raising the minimum wage. Not only are those not my main concerns, I have significant reservations about them. And Buttigieg's main platform seems to be "I'm more moderate than Bernie and therefore more electable." I totally agree that we need someone more moderate and electable than Sanders, and I would definitely prefer Buttigieg, but I think he needs to have more to his campaign than that. The "I'm more electable" thing was his answer to climate change. He also seemed to be one of the more combative ones.

Of the other four, I'm still undecided, because they all had their goods and bads. At one point, people were criticizing Klobuchar for forgetting the Mexican president's name, which she readily admitted. Warren came to her defense, saying it was ridiculous to criticize someone for forgetting a name when everyone does that. I thought that was a classy move.

Then, after the debate, I wanted to watch a particular movie on Netflix, but it didn't have any foreign subtitles, which is the only way I can justify idly sitting and watching a movie. So instead I started watching the documentary #CATS_The_Mewvie with Spanish subtitles, because cats are the most wonderful thing in the world. (I started my blog post later than I would have liked because Jimmy was sitting on my lap.) But the movie was mostly about Instagram. So I turned it off after a boring half hour.

And if you're thinking, "Ugh, I hope these political posts aren't a new normal," don't worry. I hope the same thing.