MacBigot Cached Glances

From ‘Giving Thanks’, by Jennifer James at LATimes.com:

“…For the Pilgrims, life was a constant battle for survival. Later, Governor William Bradford made a decision. Instead of the colonists sharing their crops equally, he assigned a parcel of land to each family and told them they could keep whatever they produced for themselves.”

“Then what happened?” asked Sam.

“At last the Pilgrims began to prosper. Governor William Bradford wrote in his book ‘Of Plimoth Plantation,’ ‘This had very good success, for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been.’ ”

“Shoot! If you can keep everything you make, of course you’re going to work harder. Everybody knows that.”

Grandpa answered, “The first seed had been planted for the American Revolution. People were free to practice their religions as they saw fit and were free to keep the fruits of their labor. This had never happened before in the history of mankind. In the words of William Bradford, ‘As one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation.’”

“That William Bradford sounds like a pretty cool guy,” said Sam.

“He was a pretty cool guy,” Grandpa said with a chuckle.

It’s the morning after Election Day. Well, I didn’t wake up happy.

But here it is…

For the last 15 years, I have made my living as a Macintosh aficionado (or MacGeek, if you prefer) living in a world ruled by Windows. In fact, the domain name that this blog squats on comes from having been harassed daily by ‘Windows bigots’ who truly believe that if it didn’t come from Microsoft, it’s not a real computer.

To those of us who have fought those battles, this struggle has often been compared to a religious war, and sometimes — as a cultural divide.

When the protagonists on the MacOS side of the battle were at their most active peak, a group called the ‘MacEvanglists’ (initially organized by Guy Kawasaki) would combat the incorrect information provided, by default, to anyone within the long reach of Microsoft’s arms. You might have called us crusaders for a lost cause. Our logo (shown at the top of this post) was chosen by vote in an internal contest to represent us and our fight (I still wear three of those tshirts!).

But those battles are over — the war for acceptance was eventually won — not because of any particular skirmish; but because over time the establishment realized that we could all get along in this diverse market and be stronger for it. There are Linux servers in almost every basement in corporate America. There are Windows and Mac users living and computing side-by-side at adjoining desks, and browser-based applications mean less of an ongoing need to roll proprietary (single-plaftorm) tools out to staff.

And Microsoft came to realize that no matter how they fought, we were not going away.

Now that the war is over (the ‘real’ IT people still poke me in the ribs about my platform choice), it is a lot easier to exist in this Windows world; even though it wasn’t designed for me and my favorite OS. I still come to work every day to a place that is designed almost completely around Microsoft software. I haven’t quit my job to go work somewhere that has an all-Macintosh network.

Mostly because there is hardly anywhere to go that isn’t designed around Microsoft Windows.

But it’s telling — about why I’m not looking at travel brochures for Canada after yesterday’s election of an almost all-Leftist government. Though I truly believe that our government will be less like what the Founders intended, now that we have elected a Left-leaning President, a Left-leaning Congress, and have a decidedly Left-skewed judicial system — it’s still America.

There is hardly anywhere else to go — that has kept Lefty-thinking at bay.

So no, even though we may joke about finding a few acres up above the Canadian border — we are all likely to stay, and find a way to be productive citizens in this new environment.

Among the MacEvanglists, we often called Microsoft, ‘Big Brother’.

We referred to our choice of platform as ‘reason-based’ and Windows users’ choice as ‘following the crowd’ or ‘just doing what’s popular’.

We endured mocking, belittling, and blatantly unfair treatment from the IT service industry, the media, manufacturers, and Wall Street.

Lies and marginalization by Windows salespeople, ‘bigoted’ IT professionals, and armchair tech experts is just another day at the office.

Even now, Windows proponents arm themselves with numbers, white papers, and millions of marketing dollars to squash the impact of competing technologies (like software, programming languages, operating systems, and online services).

We became comfortable comparing the plight of our favorite operating system to the experience of a minority culture (see the MacEvangelist logo, above). Many of my friends smirked at my struggle in this — because, they hint, it’s good for a middle-aged white guy with a face for radio to ‘not have it so easy all the time’.

After a decade and a half, I no longer fear my plight. Hegemony continues to annoy and frustrate me — but cannot crush my will to continue being the stalwart Mac user. Every time a Windows user reboots, I tell my children, “See, those people think that daily reboots are normal, but since we only have to do it four or five times a year, we know that there is a better way to live than that…”

Maybe I’m more prepared to survive this troubling time than I’d thought.

But I don’t think that The New Hegemony is OK just because it comes with such a dazzling smile.

H/t to Rob Bluey for passing along this viral email story:

“In a local restaurant my server had on a “Obama 08″ tie… so when the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept.

He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need – the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed away without a word.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I’ve decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.”

What I’d like to know is how Obama and his ilk think they will be welcome at the restaurant — or anywhere else — after treating the producers in this country like that

Perhaps that’s why most Democrats also like to fight against our 2nd Amendment rights; they know that eventually, there won’t be any restaurants that will serve them willingly, and they’ll have to get their way by brute force.

Too late, many people will wish they had gotten off the couch and voted in the General Election.

I heard this concept from a caller on the Dennis Miller radio show (I try to catch it on the way home every day — too bad I only get half an hour of it… but then, it’s not that I’d rather be in the car for a radio show than home with the kids and trophy wife…); and I liked it so much it’s now here in a bit more fleshed-out form.

HOW TO HAVE AN OBAMAWEEN NIGHT:

1. Post a sign so that kids knocking at your door understand the rules. Just in case they might not understand the rules, let them know that it’s OK, you will inform them when they break a rule — though it might be just because the rules were changed without notice to suit the greater good.

2. The sign should stand near the front door of your house, so that everyone can read the rules while they are waiting in line. There will be a line because no other houses on the street will be allowed to do business until you are done doing yours — anyone who doesn’t like it will be called names and accused of not being ‘inclusive’ enough.

3. Near the sign will be a scale — the kind that someone can stand on so that everyone can see what that person weighs when they step up. There is no reason that anyone should need to be weighed without everyone else in line knowing whether the person on the scales should be classified this-that-or-another.

4. When each child steps on the scales, their weight will be recorded, and after everyone in line takes a turn, the kids in the top 5% will turn in as much candy as you deem that the other 95% should get. At no time will you have to provide candy yourself, nor will any of the smaller children — because the heaviest kids will provide all that is needed.

5. The following year, when the heaviest children no longer show up at your home, you will repeat the process with the heaviest children in line for that particular year providing all the candy for the other 95%. Repeat this process until no one shows up with anything to offer.

Congratulations! Though it may take four or five years for all the children to catch on (after all, most of them won’t be paying attention until it’s too late — hey, you’re giving them candy!), you will have taught all the children in the neighborhood what Socialism is. Doesn’t it make you feel wonderful to provide this educational experience to those who are so ignorant compared to you?

NOTE to the adults: for a big-people version of this lesson, we highly recommend the article, ‘How to pay for beer’.

Further reading: Happy Obamaween (MichelleMalkin.com)