User:Raresilk

Who I am
A person of medium social rank in the USA, a lawyer but one of modest means. My origins are working class. My father enlisted in the US Marines as a youth, coming from a place with no jobs. He was sent to officer school, almost immediately, and became a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. This was certainly a mixed favor for him. He served three tours of duty, and each time came home with increased damage and alienation. Our family was an example of how military families were neglected by the US in the 60s and 70s. My mother was a secretary or full-time parent her whole life. She was unable to cope and went completely mad the second time my dad was away. She never fully recovered. I tried to raise my three younger siblings, with mixed success.

Not who I am
A person who belongs to cliques or follows them.

I put that up front and by itself because I mean it. It's one of the defining characteristics of this clump of cells I call "me." When I edit anything here (and so far my edits have been small), I do it based on what evidence shows to be true, not on a pre-existing ideology. We all have those. But I deliberately and carefully set mine aside when editing here.

Peace and democracy to the Middle East, and everywhere.