By SJ Otto
This year I am retiring. I will still work part-time, but I
will rely mostly on social security payments. I'm no longer trying to find a
new job. I am no longer trying to build a career. I plan no more college
classes. I may take some classes for the fun, but I won't really need to take
them.
It is for that reason that I can now use my real name, in
English. I no longer need to hide my name under Khmer letters. I don't have to
worry about loosing my job. I do risk my part-time job, but I'm willing to risk
that.
In this so called "land of the free" I have been
legally able to produce articles for people to read that are completely against
the system—the capitalist system. When I was growing up they kept telling me,
in grade school, how lucky I was to live in a country where I can criticize the
government and not be put in jail, like a lot of those other countries—such as
communist ones. What they didn't tell us is that we can get fired and lose our
jobs because of something we said or wrote. I know of several people who lost
their jobs that way.[1] There is nothing we
can legally do if someone fires us. Here in Kansas they can fire us for any reason or no
reason at all.
I've noticed that a lot of conservatives run to our bosses
and try to get us fired if we print something that outrages them, such as
criticizing the military. It seems their beliefs are sacred to themselves and getting
us fired is the first thing they try to do in order to try and punish us. It often
works for them. I feel that getting someone fired for their political beliefs
is a cowardly chicken shit thing to do. So in reality we don't have
freedom of speech. I never put my actual job on my Facebook page for that
reason. And that is the reason I posted my name as សតិវអតុ. Those letters literally spell out Stev rather than
Steve (the E is long but no silent e on the end). And Ato instead of Otto (a
double letter would imply a different sound and the A is short as in Cat).
These letters spelled my name phonetically. I have enjoyed using Khmer letters,
I find their writings system interesting.
Since I no longer rely on a job for my main income, I can
allow people to see who I really am. I feel that being a writer is my main
profession and without a full-time job I am free to pursue that profession. I
plan to write for my blogs (I have more than one such as Counter-culture
Journals (文革), Artsy Fartsy (អាភៀន) And Otto's Book Store).
I also write books and short stories.
Now that I am retired, I can practice real freedom of
speech.
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