...and I realize that. It's supposed to be a play on the term "little people" which is used to refer to to the poor and downtrodden of the
world.
I wanted to pick a silly alias for ATS because I have picked so many over the years. I got my first computer a long time ago at age 11 and have been
online since the days of FIDOnet, Renegade BBS software and 300 baud Commodore 64 modems. After a lifetime of picking cool psuedonyms like "Darth
Aluminum" and "Idi0t_slayer" [those aren't real, I'm just proving that I can make up cool aliases.
], I just wanted to pick a simple, stupid
name that would not impress anyone. So smallpeeps is it.
I registered right after the first of the year and just started posting about things that were on my mind. I'm probably a little more political than
most. I am 32 so I don't know what generational terminology that places me in, but I think of myself as Generation Me, I guess.
After leaving the religious cult of my youth (and also my father, mother and sisters) I researched Atheism by reading all of Ayn Rand's books and
other atheists. I found that Atheism is seductive, but it is usually connected to corporeal pursuits (materialism and sex) and so I found it to be
fairly shallow. Who wants to live their whole life as an atheist? I prefer the Hindu idea of humbling ourselves before creation. The Hindus say
that almighty God sometimes takes human form and comes down to dance in front of us, without us ever seeing Him for his divine nature. Why does God
do this? We cannot know. I do know, however, that I have looked into other people's eyes and I have seen the very essence of what I consider to
God, or God-like spirit. Belief in karma is far more harmonic with what my heart tells me. The heart is the dream-part of us. I never believed
behavioralists like Skinner who say that man is a collection of ticks and conditioned reflexes. I do believe some of that, but at the core, we do
have eternal souls, and none of these souls is beyond salvation. Salvation for each soul rests in its own hands.
Anyway, there are three things that really irritate me these days:
1: Nuclear War (and the acceptance of it)
2: Religious cults
3: Mistreatment of woman and children
...So on the occasions where I am bold or direct with people on ATS, it's usually in one of these three areas. I really have no political framework
mentally. I vote as I wish and I consider myself a citizen of planet Earth. Earthlings is what we are. We aren't really Germans or Chinese or
American. We are Earthlings.
Anyway, hello to all. My advice to new people here would be:
1: Post with the knowledge that your words are being carved into stone. (Search Yahoo for smallpeeps and you'll see what I mean...)
2: Remember that regardless of the ideas between you, there is always another human on the other side of the screen. They have feelings and their
primary need, like most humans, is to be heard. Try to hear them.
3: Don't talk yourself into a corner. Pick the things that matter to you and try to phrase your points coherently.
Everyone rambles at times, particularly in this world of emails and typed communication. The thing I like best about ATS is when someone posts for
the first time and is truly honest in that posting. Sure, your words aren't going to be perfect, but words don't matter anyway.
It's the courage it takes to post that impresses me most.
Here's hoping this collective work called ATS survives us all, eh?
[edit on 20-5-2005 by smallpeeps]