February 22, 2008
T-Minus 49 and Counting Up
Dear America,
Frustration is a terrible thing a sane man begins to wish he were crazy so he could enjoy another sunrise. I know that the odds are against my life making any kind of a difference, but I couldnt live with myself if I didnt try. It was either write you guys this letter or kiss a moving train. I hope that the letter is more productive.
Let us dare to read, think, speak and write John Adams 1765
Dudes Am I alone in thinking that the overall history of humanity as the dominant organism on this planet pretty much sucks?
Sure, theres been a lot of cool stuff happen over the last few thousand years; music, moments of pleasure, happiness and even love have all been poetically recorded; but lets face it, since historys first written chapter opened in the Fertile Crescent a few thousand years ago slavery, brutality, exploitation, oppression, genocide and war have overshadowed the stories of every generation like a gathering storm cloud. Our report card thus far as a species cant possibly be better than an overall C-minus.
Whether you believe humanity slowly evolved from primordial ooze or was created by a god, in either a divine image thing, for divine amusement or somewhere in between, its hard not to admit that our history is currently under way. While the many theories as to how humanity got here can be neither proved nor disproved by attempting to repeat them, at least most humans can agree that were here. Ill even bet that, if polled, at least 75% of respondents would agree that Earth and humans exist and that weve been here for at least 2,000 years. Its a start
However our species came to be here and rise to the tops of the political and food chains on this world, there is no denying that were here. Can we also agree that, even if the behavior of the economically and politically powerful on this planet has been less than perfect, the documentation for it, for at least the last 1,000 years, is reasonably accurate?
Also noteworthy in spite of our history and because of our past, Earth is still the best place for most of us to call home. Over 75% of respondents also agree theres no other planet that theyd rather be living on.
The thing is, in spite of the slavery, brutality, economic oppression, greed, genocide and war that dominate the records of humanity thus far, Earth is a pretty nice planet. The food is varied and tasty, sunny days out number the storms, the beach is always fun and theres something special about connecting mind, soul, and / or bodies with another human.
Throughout our history, between the volatile environment and the potential for brutal treatment by other people, the odds of living as a happy human on planet Earth have always been about like winning the lottery, sunshine filled days and connecting up not withstanding. Sure, it would have been cool to be born the son of an absolute monarch in 15th to 17th century Europe; all powerful even your neighbors reduced to property you could command at a whim it wouldve been fun to live a kings life but what, were the odds of being born into one of those families? I think it safe to assume that for any era during Western Civilization prior to World War 2, Vegas odds would put smart money on any given soul turning up in the flesh of some poor bastard who was working his or her ass off to line another mans pockets for a bowl of gruel and managed fear.
Can you imagine living in Roman times or the middle ages? What were the average Joes odds of being a slave or serf in those days? As with today, it kind of depended on where you were born my personal choice for living on this rock 2,000 years ago would have to be Hawaii But I digress.
If the Internet is any reflection of human nature, I shudder to imagine what it was like to live as another persons legal property 2000 years ago in Rome, or as a serf or peasant in Europe of the 1600s, or for that matter, as a slave or servant right here in America, circa 1800 especially for girls.
You have to admit, though the kind of dog-eat-dog conquest and capitalism that humans have practiced here, especially in The West, from the Greeks & Romans, through European colonization, to the ongoing American Experiment, has put together a pretty impressive infrastructure, at least for our current technology level.
I like our infrastructure I like being able to get into a privately owned transportation machine and travel basically anywhere I want in North America on public roadways. I like being able to trust perfect strangers to fly me quickly to exotic, far away places in machines theyve invested in because citizen infrastructure includes public airports.
Today, an average Joe with only modest resources can travel from Seattle to Johannesburg and back in the span of only 14 days!
Wow, 14 days?!? No shit?!?
But WAIT, theres more!!
That 14-day trip includes 9 fun filled days, on the ground in S. Africa, seeing how those guys & gals do it!
Isnt that amazing?
Actually, it is amazing
100 years ago on this planet, just 2 to 4 generations, if Joes grandpa or great-grandpa wanted to make that journey, or one like it, it would have been impossible just to get there and back again in 14 days, no matter what resources he had at his disposal and then, to be able to pull a personal gizmo out of his pocket, with technology linking him wirelessly to a private voice network for real-time communications with contacts both back in Seattle and there in Johannesburg???
Forget about it!!!, hed say with a thick NY / Italian accent just like hed heard in the movies.
Infrastructure a gift built by ancestors and maintained and improved upon by the current generation as a gift to their children. At least in theory
I am writing to you all because those of you whom Ive met and spoken with seem like honest, intelligent people who know Shit from Shinola.
Yall have talked to a lot of influential people in America, the most influential nation on the globe at this time. I get it that truth must be danced carefully around on camera due to litigation fears (its what you get electing and hiring professional arguers, spinners and bullshit artists to make up the house rules), but youve spoken to these people off-camera Do any of our fearless leaders speak of simplifying things?
In spite of claims to the contrary, this planet cant possibly be under the rule of the majority conscience. Not unless the majority conscience is suicidal
I am not going to blow smoke up any of your collective asses and tell you I know how to fix the world, but I know a couple of fixes for America.
Its been frustrating, having the inspiration for answers and being just an average Joe. I could never afford the legal team required to share my ideas in a presidential campaign as is currently required by our system.
There just cant be a small few who see through the bullshit
Is a Write In Revolution possible ?
Can We fix health care coverage?
Insurance
Participants contribute to a pool of funds to cover agreed on future losses. Approved claims are paid from the pool. The pool of funds is managed by professional people to soften future claims and show a profit for the underwriters. Is this not the definition of Insurance ?
What if We, The People of the United States started our own insurance company? All you need to start an insurance pool is money and a computer How low could the cost of coverage go if the profit currently going to the insurance corporations instead went towards claims? How simplified could the paperwork get if How will this affect our share price was not a criterion for an offer of coverage or a payment of claims? (Please base answers for the paperwork question on Americas potential and not her IRS Bureaucratic track record).
Are We, The People people who put a man on the fuckin moon - too stupid to competently underwrite an insurance pool? Is there some stupid sacred rule that says our government cant do true transactional business with its citizens? If The People of The City of Green Bay, Wisconsin can own a winning football team, why cant they shop for a group health policy? Why cant they start their own insurance pool? How about Chicago, NY or LA? These City-States are plenty big enough to be self-insured. There is a reason why employees of big companies can afford insurance they shop for it as a group! The bigger the group, the more they can save! They save even more when theyre group is big enough to self insure Aint We, The People a large enough group to self insure?
What if We, The People told the fund managers we hire that among their own brilliant ideas for investing our insurance pool safely, wed like them to invest in mortgages for American Families and Businesses? Mortgages are very liquid investments, as safe as the real estate deeded, and the pool receives immediate monthly cash flow. Not to mention the stable boost to our economy that kind of access to fairly structured and priced capital would be.
How about auto insurance? Imagine a world where We, The People held the insurance pool for all drivers. No endless bickering over who is at what percentage of fault, because all the damages are paid from the same pool of funds Damages paid out quickly Lives gotten on with People may even start to apologize again when they make boo boos just like Mayberry Digressing again. Sorry.
Can We fix our Government? Make it more responsive to the people it provides rules for?
Well, hey If I wanted to design a government that would be easy to corrupt and manipulate with money and favors, I would put all of the elected bureaucrats in one office building so my lobbyists could get to them all at once, getting lots of favors throughout the country for the price of only one big, expensive party. Sound familiar?
If I wanted to tweak our government so that it would be harder to corrupt, (assuming that telephones and e-mail existed), I would spread the representatives out with local offices in the geographic areas they represent so that a lobbyist would have to spend a bunch of money just to talk to them all. (Of course, I would also make professional lobbying a castrate-able offense but thats just me) This would have the added anti-corruption benefit of keeping those representatives closer to their homes and their neighbors, the people theyre supposed to be representing and serving the ones who are supposed to be lobbying them.
Considering the communication technology available in 1780, I can understand the need back then for Congress to meet regularly in one city things have changed a smidge over the last 200 years.
Thomas Jefferson said, He who is governed least is governed best
Id like to add, He who is governed close to home stands a chance at being accurately represented.
Shouldnt the politician with his fingers in my pocket be the one I can look in the eye and shake hands with?
Speaking of April 15 in America
Why is it that We, The People collect taxes from us on the consumer level? Couldnt We save a few bucks on the bureaucracy alone if We collected taxes on the retail level? What about a sales tax? If I can afford a new Ferrari, shouldnt I pay new Ferrari tax? If I can only afford a 92 Yugo, wouldnt the same percentage tax paid on that purchase be much closer to fair? No bullshit, no loopholes, no lawyers, no paperwork! If Im being frugal to save up for a Ferrari or for my kids college, shouldnt I pay tax when I spend it? A sales tax is easy to collect and close to fair can it be that simple? Would anyone besides the board members at H & R Block, et al, really miss the paper-work party every spring in America? Ill wager the trees would be happy!
Does anyone else see the stupidity of supporting both the IRS Bureaucracy and the Tax Preparation Industry just to collect taxes from us? Does living in America have to be so fucking complicated?
I pride myself on being cleverly lazy When I figure out a faster, simpler, easier, more efficient way of accomplishing the same task, it gives me a fuzzy warm feeling inside. It makes me feel smart. Now, I know Im not the brightest bulb in the box Lots of people out there are smarter than I. It makes sense, that intelligence is out there stupid people did not create the infrastructure and the Internet, and we have all had a hand in building them. They are the greatest collaborations of free, less than free and un-free humans in the annals of our sorry-ass existence. I cant be the only one who scratches his head and wonders how we came up with the convoluted concoction of rules that We, The People are trying to live by. If this were a Monopoly Game, I believe Id quit and go home. Especially with the frequency that the rules change around here...
Does any one person actually know all the rules for where they live? Does any one person know The Tax Code for their filing status? Shouldnt everyone? People who cant afford accountants and lawyers in our economy dont stand much an entrepreneurial chance to grow beyond economic mediocrity And yet, in spite of the paperwork, America of today is the best place on Earth to call home. Canadas nice, but way too darned cold.
Rules and laws
Why does The Gentlemen from The Great State of Rhode Island give a flying flip how The People of California like to get intoxicated and fuck ?
Declared independence Can groups of people still do that? Like the Dutch Netherlands did from France and like America did from England back in ancient times?
The People of Kosovo did it in February 2008
Good for them!!
Declared Independence A group of people in a specific geographic region agrees that their current government situation is a nagging bitch and they declare themselves free! Divorce their government
Good for them!
Will The People of Alaska have the balls to be next? They have the geography and the resources Will Texas lead the way or follow? It has to be tempting the American Bureaucracy is nothing if not expensive. Could either join OPEC as an Independent State? Would Obama send troops? Would Big John? Would American soldiers actually shoot Americans to prevent another secession from The Union? What are the odds this could happen? Is Vegas taking bets? Is China?
I have other ideas too. Illegal immigration not as difficult as were led to believe, if we just think outside the box
What would they do if 75% us wrote in None Of The Above on our ballots in November?
So, what do you think?
Warm regards,
- Average American Joe
[email protected]
RANTS & RAVES FROM A LUNATIC FOX
Fear seems to have always been a favored tool of the powerful to keep the exploited producing wealth for the wealthy. Its as cheap as a club wielding asshole, it can be as intricate as a Worldwide War on Terror and leaves the victims both in working condition, and fairly well motivated, at least as a group. Exploited and / or corrupted Belief Systems (religion) have also been a common and cheap source of fear.
Lets avoid discussing Religion You will know why in #2.
1. Religion has generally been a good thing, especially for individuals. When people share a common Belief System and serve each other in the faith that they, as individuals, were doing Gods will for them, sharing thoughts, ideas and beliefs on how life came into being and who to thank for it, has pretty much been a good thing. The key word is service. As long as the servant role is understood among the teachers and their congregation, especially the leaders, belief in Devine Origins has, for the most part, been a benign to good thing.
It took people in The West almost 1,800 years of European royal & religious bullshit, from Rome to The American Experiment, to get the idea to form a government where a separation of peoples belief systems from The Peoples Assets, seemed like a good idea. It has been less than 300 years, a mere 5 to 7 generations since then Many people on this planet still have beliefs foisted or coerced on them by assholes. Dont ever believe that organized religion does not involve power.
Is faith in the Devine not a belief because it can be neither proved nor disproved? If it werent something that had to be believed in without evidence, it wouldnt have faith value. (See FAITH in your local Funk & Wagnels )
So unfortunately, whether something is true or not, if you can get enough people to believe it, or join your cause anyway, you too can organize your own religion. This is an evil side of religion things dont even have to be true to be believable. Partially true is even better!
Religion was evil when believers allowed mass human sacrifice in Central America to further some assholes career in Aztec Politics (thanks for the visual Mel!).
Religion was just as evil when the Pope divided the lands and resources of a thousand more primitive nations between his wealthiest supporters and their armies, along their political lines, because it seemed like a good career move at the time.
2. RACE -VS- RELIGION O.K Get ready for it the secret of harmony among Sentient Beings with varying races and various dogmas on the origins of life and how one should live is very complex 2 things need to be understood, fortunately, they can make sense to an open mind
1) EVERYONE IS HANDED THEIR RACE WITHOUT CHOICE OR CONSULTATION YOUR UNIQUE GENETIC FAMILY (NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES! (ALL SALES ARE FINAL!))
2) EVERYONE BUILDS A BELIEF SYSTEM YOUR PERSONAL SENSE OF RIGHT -VS- WRONG AND PAIN -VS- PLEASURE DYNAMICALLY CONSTRUCTED DURING YOUR LIFE IN THE PRIVACY OF YOUR OWN MIND.
They are 2 separate things!
Everyone on the planet gets handed their race at birth and then, no matter what degree of freedom they have, they get to choose as many or as few belief systems (or parts there of) as they want
It is actually pretty easy to tell them apart Race (Born As) -vs- Religion (Personal Belief System)
Anytime you cant choose to be less or more of something, you are dealing with RACE.
Go ahead, ask Tiger to be a little more Negro... See if Al Madden can be a little less White
Belief systems, on the other hand, can be turned on or off. They can also be turned up or down by degrees.
The skin Im currently wearing is of Western European / American decent. Im what yall call white. Sure, I can alter my appearance with technology, but I am still in my assigned flesh when the make-up comes off - and even in make up, I cant jump.
I can however, choose to be more Republican or less Republican as needed, depending on the political drivel emanating from the girl with the nice rack Id like to be shown later.
I can choose to be more or less Christian if that helps me make the sale
I can appear more or less materialistic, depending on who I want to impress, and why
I can become more or less of any of the lines of thought that guide my actions, depending on the circumstances I find myself in.
I can even fake it completely to get nice stuff, whispered the woman gazing at her new diamond earrings regarding her last orgasm.
Depending on who I want to relate to, and in which way I want to relate to them at any given moment, I can become whoever I want. It is called dressing the part or selling your self. We all do it in varying degrees. For most of us our social and economic livelihoods depend on developing some level of the skill. Real chameleons can make a fortune at acting, politics or sales.
Fortunately, I can change clothes on Friday night and again on Sunday morning, said the mild mannered accountant, with a wink.
If my survival depends on it, I can even fake it completely, muttered the prison bitch with understandable bitterness.
Remember, the whole point is to craft Your OWN Personal Belief System from the various beliefs that are available. You may or may not have help, from parents, teachers, pastors, friends, etc., which may or may not be wanted at the time, but the ultimate system we each create for ourselves, in the privacy of our own minds, is going to be first and foremost dynamic. Meaning flexible everyone adjusts their own thinking (religion), depending on what is occurring in their environment at that moment. All are flexible on some beliefs; some are more rigid with certain beliefs, some to the point of being willing to die for a belief Are they stupid or a hero? That would depend on who you ask and if they too, believe.
None of the above is not an option if you choose not to decide, you have made your choice. No matter who we are born as, no matter what circumstances we live under, a personal belief system, our personal belief system, develops from our choices in life to be at least as unique as our fingerprints.
Sure, we share common beliefs wed never be able to socialize if we didnt but show me two people who truly agree on everything, and Ill show you a factual freak of nature.
Smart people purposefully adjust some of their thinking, keeping it dynamic as they grow older and wiser, said the frustrated grandparent to the teenager with the blank stare
Here are several of the more popular Belief Systems available for you to choose from on Planet Earth Can you think of more?
I think you can!, Mr. Rogers exclaimed to all the children.
Remember choose as many as you wish, but watch out for conflict conflicting beliefs wont survive in a single organism. One will ALWAYS struggle with the other for dominance in the organisms thinking. Some people will wrestle with this type of conflict in their minds for many years in a vicious cycle of centered faith in something believed and uncertainty or backsliding behavior.
Fortunately for us, society is not an organism, its an organization!, Mr. Rogers noted with glee Smart man, that Mr. Rogers! That means that a fair government for all the people with all those various belief systems is possible, once the members of the organization adopt some sort of combination of tolerance and ignorance toward one anothers beliefs!
Choose Wisely, Grasshopper
ÿ Christian And Any Social Subset!, said the Catholic to the Baptist, who nodded to the Methodist, who was translating to American Sign Language for a Lutheran who lost his hearing in the war
ÿ Muslim And Any Social Subset!, said the Sunni to the Shiite
ÿ Witchcraft And Any Social Subset!, said the White Witch to the Dark Wizard
ÿ Nude Living And Any Social Subset!, said the Naturist to the Nudist
ÿ Material Thinker * And Any Social Subset! the dude in the mirror sunglasses, gassing up the jet ski while righteous tunes blared on the state-of-the-art sound system just installed in the brand new 4 x 4 towing it said to the girl in the front seat wearing clothing with some label that Material Thinkers in a certain fashion sub-subset would surely recognize
ÿ Sexual Thinker * And Any Social Subset!, said the Boy with his hand in his pocket to the Girl who was masturbating to a romance novel
At the risk of being repetitive, let me repeat
WHO YOU ARE - WHAT YOU THINK, & WHAT GUIDELINES YOU BELIEVE ARE BEST SUITED TO RUN YOUR LIFE BY AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT IN YOUR SHORT PERSONAL HISTORY, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHO YOU WERE BORN AS.
EVERYONE ON THE PLANET GETS HANDED 1 FAMILY (RACE) AT BIRTH NO REFUNDS / NO EXCHANGES
PLUS, THEY GET TO CHOOSE AS MANY OR AS FEW BELIEF SYSTEMS AS THEY WANT AND THEY GET TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS ABOUT THEM AS MUCH AS THEY WANT!
Can an organization survive if different ways of thinking are not tolerated or ignored?
Can enough rules be made to make the members of a society to think alike?
Can enough rules be made to force citizens tolerate each other?
The American Experiment may answer these questions
We, The People, should not tolerate the treating with disrespect, anyone because of their race it truly is not that funny given Earths history. Dare I say, especially when it is done amongst members of the same race?
We should however not only have the right to question the various beliefs of each other, it should be encouraged as healthy. Members of the Flat Earth Society, take special note youre free to believe and preach, but I think youre wrong, and Ill be happy to discuss it over beers.
Side Note:
It is a damn shame that some people have a hard time questioning a fellow humans belief system without being, or seeming to be, disrespectful to some degree. Also a shame is in not realizing, when ones beliefs are being questioned, that only the beliefs are being questioned or attacked the questioner cant change them or take them not if the beliefs are believable in the first place.
The good news is that questioning your belief system will always either make it stronger in your own life which is all you get to control or modify it / kill it in favor of what you now believe is a better belief. These are the only two possible outcomes from the questioning of beliefs (especially by oneself). This should NOT be confused with someone else telling you what you can or cant, or should or shouldnt believe.
Any one who tells you that you dont have a right to think or believe in a particular way is an asshole. Even if the thinking is stupid, shortsighted or cruel. We all have an inalienable right to our good, bad, and ugly opinions and thoughts.
This should not be confused with behavior, We, The People need rules that designate agreed upon bad behavior and We, The People have a responsibility to make these rules easy to understand and the punishment for bad behavior understandable and fair.
* Sexual Thinkers, Material Thinkers and their Social Subsets:
Lets cite some more examples of these * Social Subsets for clarity.
Sexual Thinkers A person who thinks about sex in one way or another, to any degree, is a Sexual Thinker.
Are there any bullshit artists out there who want to claim -0- sexual thoughts? (All entrants into the bullshitting contest above must be living and18 years or older.)
The wonderful news is that you are not limited to just one belief in your system, you Horny, Married, Christian Woman about to meet your trusted, similar-thinking husband at the airport wearing only your over coat buttoned to the top of course, until you both get in the car and he begins to drive where you give immense pleasure to both of you by teasing him to a frenzy with glimpses of your body under the passing streetlamps All the way home you act playfully because its fun for you, you know he likes it, and your God said that the Marriage Bed is a place of sacred fun when a man and a woman are publicly committed to each other and working hard in their relationship to earn each others continued trust in matters of the flesh. Your God is cool that way almost like He knows you.
O.K. so who are these Sexual Thinkers of planet Earth? Lets have some more examples
A. All males age 14 to dead. (O.K., thats a joke but funny because theres some truth to it)
B. Lets hope everyone is a sexual thinker to some degree or another it would be a shame for anyone to fear sex so much that they didnt even think about it.
(Please look for the winning stories from the bullshit contestants in the previous paragraph coming soon to a theater near you.)
Sexual thinkers are you know post pubescent / pre death boys & girls who spend some amount of their day, week or month thinking about sex in one way or another. Whether or not they think about the same kind of sex as other people think about is irrelevant.
It could be missionary sex weird sex group sex gay sex Is anyone on this planet qualified to determine normal for everyone? Without an official state approved style of fucking, no government is qualified either!
Thank God for THAT! said the Celibate Priest to the Preacher with seven kids, who winked with love and lust at his blushing wife.
It could be sex like the married couple above Which married couple above you may ask? Why, the one having sex, of course!
Thank God that most of us are interested in consensual, mutually satisfying sexual pleasure with other humans and not into hurting one another
Our society is WAY to complex for there to be a proper way to think about sex any more, the Soccer Mom mused, while thinking with a grin about her regular Tuesday date with her husband Her smiling friend in the overcoat thought of her own fondness for giving her husband oral in the car on the way home from the airport. (Which is a delight to the husband, if that sordid little detail may be added.)
All kinds of thoughts and beliefs can, through bad behavior, cross the line into anti-social behavior usually signified by a true victim (not a hypochondriac or his lawyer) Has our history not proved that self interest, sexual interest and religion can all be abused to the point of crime? Sometimes at the same time? Have we learned nothing from C. S. I.?
It should be against the rules to judge someone based on their thinking, but if some creep thinks and then acts on one of the deviant thoughts (religious, sexual and / or material) that everyone has to one degree or another, and hurts someone, especially a child, they should have their balls (or equivalent) chopped off. Hurt is the key word here We The People need a reasonable person to judge the degree to which one of us has victimized another based solely on the situation being judged precedent be damned!!
Crime & Punishment...
Ever thought of robbing a bank? How about just keeping the extra change on a cashier boo-boo? Isnt it the same crime? What about murder -vs- other hateful behaviors Are they, like stealing a lot -vs- stealing a little, both varying degrees of the same crime?
But I digress this too is another story for another movie.
* Material Thinkers Cmon! You know who you are!
A. Most Women between age 8 and dead. (Joke again Please dont write me letters!)
B. Its not just the girls How about you Businessmen 40-hour work week??? Yeah, Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!
C. Parents & grandparents nothing makes you spend money (or wish you could spend money) like having a kid!
D. Anyone who spends time wishing for, or working for, stuff is a material thinker to some degree theres that word again Degree You mean, we are all not the SAME However shall we deal?
As you can see, Material Thinking is like Sexual Thinking in that we all do both in varying degrees, with an astonishing variety of styles, or ways to think about these things. Varying degrees of intensity and style is what makes these particular lines of belief and thought so politically volatile. If one does not relate to how another human thinks, especially about sex, religion and / or property, a right -vs- wrong conflict will surely ensue. If Im right and she thinks differently, is she wrong? Is there any chance that we can agree to disagree? Is it possible for opposing points of view to all not be wrong?
Is it possible to be both sincere and wrong in your beliefs?
Ask any follower of Jim Jones
Religion (Origins and worship): Just like sex and money, any persons trains of thoughts on this subject cannot be proved or disproved as right or wrong theyre opinions. Even if LOTS of other people believe and think the same way, theyre still just opinions until theyre repeated in a laboratory or an organization makes up an enforceable rule. The more rules there are, the farther an organizations members are from freedom If the experiment in government known as America has proved anything so far it has proven that things like responsibility, love and opinions cannot be legislated, no matter how many rules are made or how many words are used to express those rules. You can force people not to kill each other, but to not hate can only be taught and encouraged.
In the end, rules, preferably simple and easy to understand rules, should only be applied to behavior.
What if We, The People could fire all of the cops we employ? Should it be a goal? Aside from the expense of police protection, doesnt it say something of us as a people that so much of our resources need to be spent on protecting us from ourselves? If too many people are breaking the rules, do we blame the people, the rules or both? Are the people bad or are the rules vague or unreasonable?
Some arguments are never meant to be won or lost; only presented as clearly as possible
I know, I know Im digressing. Again.
SOCIAL SUBSETS
What I mean by Subsets in Social Subsets is that people tend to gather along the same lines of thought. The larger the gathering, the more likely there is to be a lot of conflicting belief systems, tolerated because of the commonality. This is why you can have a Gay Construction Worker sports fan, a Christian Soccer Mom sports fan, a sports fan guy who cheats on his wife and thinks the wrong kinds of thoughts about one of his daughters friends (but controls them by knowing that its wrong and hell go to jail if he acts on them) and a Deacon in the Methodist Church who loves his season tickets almost as much as his religion can all be together in the same oversize-building, voices rising in harmony, urging well-known strangers to excel in a task theyre well paid to do with coordinated shouts of GO TEAM!! and the like.
I suppose it is a good thing that they dont know much about each other, beyond the similar team sweatshirts. They might never have cheered in unison or high-fived and hugged after the championship game. 4 people could have missed physical, mental and emotional contact with fellow humans that night, which was inspired by like-minded thinking about a sports team and made possible by ignorance if not tolerance.
Intimacy like that occurs too rarely these days the girl whispered in a sad voice as she watched this movie all alone in a crowded theater.
People love to share their passions. They like finding common ground.
It is one of their favorite things to do! said the happy grandfather to the brightly smiling 6-year old, who was hanging on every word.
You can be passionate for Christ; talk to anyone for as long as theyll listen about what Jesus has done and is doing in your life. When Christians gather, dont most of the people enjoy most of the conversation? Can conflict still occur?, the protestant asked of the catholic.
You can be passionate about your kids; talk to anyone for as long as theyll listen about what the little darlings are up to and have strong relationships with all of their teachers and friends because you believe it is vital.
You can be passionate for sex; talk to anyone for as long as theyll listen about what it was like to play with this adult human, or how far you got (or didnt get) with that one.
(Some Social Subset gatherings are going to be larger and or last longer than others Some will be more interesting to more people than others )
When any Social Subset, from me myself and I, to me and my friend, to a company of colleagues, working in common to generate shared profits, to a congregation in a church, joined at the hip in worship, to an army a million strong, to a nation in the billions gathers, it is the common threads that bind them together. Like the wide variety of Human Belief Systems, gathered with the common thread of Sports-fan found hugging after a championship game, the more easily the un-common threads are tolerated or ignored, the stronger that Social Subset (organization) will be. Conversely, the more the un-shared ways of thinking are emphasized, the weaker and more divided the organization. Has anyone seen a 50 50 vote lately? Does evenly divided mean evenly weak?
I have seen nations fall into anarchy and civil war for this very problem, said the Sunni to the Kurd.
Sometimes for the right reasons, though, Abraham Lincoln sighed, though he knew that no one was listening.
Obviously, if we all thought the same way, we would be easier to govern But should that really be our goal?
Common ground plus both tolerated and cherished differences This is why he can choose a comedy movie for himself; his wife will most likely choose a chick-flick for herself; and together they go for action-adventure common interest shared
This is also why a single mom of teenagers, a married mom of teenagers (whos life revolves around her church), a personable engineer who adores his wife and grandchildren, a Red White and Blue Constitutionalist American, a Vietnam era vet who works hard when hes there, a grown up red neck who still thinks farts are funny, a young stud rocker guitarist, a pierced and tattooed artist with dread-locks and a possibly crazy man who wanted to tell this tale can work together as a team in a small business, making a reasonable living for all, said the author to no one in particular.
There are subsets in subsets in subsets! said the Married Baptist Preacher to his fishing buddy, a single bartender who happened to think that Catholicism was the way for himself. (Bob was a dear friend from the navy before he became a Baptist Preacher, so its cool.)
Like, do you think all gay men LIKE each other and socialize together just because theyre, like gay?
Did we learn NOTHING from Will & Grace?
The Gay people that I have known in my short time on this planet are just as picky about who they hang out with as the Christians, the Straight people, the Republicans and the Democrats that Ive met.
Gay construction guy hung out with tolerant construction guys & gals and musicians because he fancied himself a sax player.
Gay waitress hung out with the thespian crowd because she liked the theater. It was just an added bonus that thespians are pretty tolerant of most alternative life-styles.
(Thats a funny American phrase alternative life style. Lets face it anyone not living your life is living an alternative one, so in a sense we all are living alternative lifestyles!)
The point here is that now, at this point in time in our history, the world is smaller, easy communication is driven by technology, and we tend to know more about each others belief systems and thinking than ever before whether we want to or not.
SUDDENLY we all know enough about each others belief systems to be confident that, rare is the individual who thinks just like me; and there are so many people with so many varied lifestyles and belief systems. We simply have to be discriminating. Its not wrong! Fortunately, there are plenty of folks to relate to on plenty of levels in plenty of areas of belief.
Live and let live Is this a valid philosophy? Can people actually be content in spite of knowing that others believe differently? Even on issues of extreme passion, like the path to Heaven, abortion and weird sex? I hope so I truly do
If not, let the next war begin May you hasten to your inevitable demise humanity may not be salvageable
Can we learn about each other with out judging? Shit happens Can intimacy happen?
Learning about each other is a good thing!, the material thinking politician said when he realized his gay son is the same person he always was He just thinks about sex in a way that I will never be able to relate to It is a good thing that there are like minded individuals for him to connect with, and share intimacy with, without his causing or receiving pain that is uncommon to relationships as I do understand them.
Intimate Relationships.
I am not speaking of intimacy of the flesh. Flesh to flesh relationships, from monogamous unions between two individuals who consider the vows of commitment a sacred trust, to carnal intimacy that is basically sport-fucking, occur across the matrix of belief systems employed on our little planet, the fallen Priest said to Amy and Paris who nodded to Tom Cruise, as he tapped knuckles with every guy age 14 to 80
No, true intimacy is not flesh-to-flesh
Intimacy occurs when two or more people get together and truly engage each others minds.
I think I understand, said the successful salesman to the couple with the annoying habit of finishing each others sentences.
How many of us have not experienced the pain of losing contact with someone, known well enough by us to be easy to engage minds with. Perhaps it was a lover, parent or teacher who reached out and made us feel listened to listening being the cornerstone to building intimacy of the mind. (Note that agreement is not required for intimacy)
From the various societies that prospered in the Fertile Crescent to the Mediterranean nations culminating with the Greeks and Romans, to the Moslem, Byzantine, and Western Cultures that rose from the ashes of Rome, Every era in human history thus far has produced individuals who were, either simply by the luck of being born into the right family, or brutal enough to take and hold it, wealthy enough to afford an army to exploit others to gain more wealth to hire more armies to exploit others to gain more wealth to hire more armies well, you get the picture, you live in the result.
The problem is the only way that we can kill off the descendants of all of the rich assholes in our history is by committing suicide.
The history of Western Civilization is the continuing saga of exploitation by the powerful followed by revolution and / or civil war. Now, while my sympathies truly exist for historys slaves and exploited, as does my disgust with their owners, can you pay for the sins of your ancestors? Should you? What if one of your ancestors was owned by another one of your ancestors? Who pays then?
The problem is the only way that we can kill off the descendants of all of the rich assholes in our history is by committing suicide. Rich assholes like to fuck people and not every child got their fathers name or inheritance.
Which generation on this world will truly forgive the past? Way to go Rawanda!! (NBC Nightly News Feb 19 2008) Of historical significance is forgiving such brutality so recently experienced!
Please remember that every one of us, especially in America has an ancestral link to some rich asshole. (Im o.k. with this generalization of people because, lets face it, rich assholes who have the stones to buy and sell other people probably exploited them sexually. Having seen the prolific size and depth of the part of our information networks that are devoted to sex and weirdness, one can only imagine what kind of shit went on in the dwellings of a person who was the property or subject of another. Also of note to remember: forgiven does not mean forgotten.
The problem is the only way that we can kill off the descendants of all of the rich assholes in our history is by committing suicide. Rich assholes like to fuck people and not every child got their fathers name or inheritance.
But I digress
The British in the late 1600s with their Glorious Revolution gave our world a taste of Democracy over Absolute Monarchy; as long as your religion was right a step in the right direction.
The Dutch in the 1600s & 1700s gave us religious tolerance and the birth of modern commerce, including slave trade and government assisted stealing from the Spanish. Go Amsterdam!
Searching for religious tolerance, The American Experiment is a beautiful thing, considering the circumstances. Sure genocide, slavery and exploitation followed the European colonists into the American Experiment, but so did John Lockes vision of democracy Over the last 250 years, We, The People has proven that a flexible democracy can build a functioning economy in the least, and a prosperous one for the most part. Especially when there are so many undefended resources just to the west to exploit to pay for it. Unfortunately, We, The People havent been united States since our civil war. In spite of our lumbering young nations slow reaction to the sudden change from plenty of land and resources for the taking to finite resources needing to be managed, the American Experiment, using capitalism, did a reasonable job of harvesting and managing the peoples resources, given the technology available. Fairness in distribution of those resources even got a little better generation to generation until the corporate consolidations and mergers of the 1980s and 1990s.
Was there unfairness? Ask any native
Was there waste, exploitation, environmental compromise and brutality? Sure, but there was also innovation, infrastructure construction and industrialization.
What good ideas have proved to work in the ALL of the peoples interest over the last 200+ years, you ask?
How about changing the people who make up the rules and wield control over the security forces on a fairly regular basis? Was this not a good idea?
Separation of state affairs from religion was brilliant!
Could it be that the next move is a separation of state affairs (power) from wealth ?
Is this revolutionary talk? Perhaps
The trick is to revolt while preserving our infrastructure and leaving individual wealth accumulation an attractive belief system. It is one of the best economic motivators; second only to starvation. No revolution has been without righteousness, unfortunately, when the people have had enough of lining another mans pockets, the infrastructure that supports their economy, the infrastructure that they and their parents have worked so hard to build, is usually the first casualty.
The American Revolution was and is unique. Not much infrastructure was in place to be destroyed and a shit load of resources, extending as far as the eye could see to the west, were there for the taking. Im not saying that the American Experiment, as it flowed through the river of time that marked the European rape of our planet through colonization, didnt foment an inordinate number of greedy bastards who exploited resources, including native peoples to accumulate wealth. Some assholes even found justification to import tens of thousands of people from Africa, solely to be exploited for wealth creation. But there is good news. The good news is that the American Experiment allowed, for the first time in history, true wealth to be created by many families. Yes, the creation and distribution was less than fair. It still is. Get over it. Its time to quit bitching and fix the fucker or sink it. I dont know about yall, but Im too old to live like Mad Max. The spreading of true wealth among so many families, combined with the closest thing to a democracy the world had seen, may not have been perfect, but it was progress toward true freedom.
If yesterdays question is, Whats this fine kettle of shit our ancestors dumped us in? - The question for today is, "What tasks do we leave to our children on humanities road to fairness and true freedom?
Me? Im kind of stuck here, and I would appreciate it if this revolution / civil war can be finished with a minimum of damage to the infrastructure our ancestors were kind enough to build. I like being able to get just about anywhere on the planet quickly and safely. I like reasonably safe water, packaged food, air conditioning and heat. The American Experiment has finally prosecuted three unprofitable wars in a row. The next revolution will either secure our decedents relative freedom or hit Earths re-set button to one degree or another
Freedom, at least relative freedom, and the personal and public infrastructure created by our parents, maintained and added on to by us, is the only thing that we, as a species, can give to our children. The security for our descendants, as it was for the WW II generation, and the generations before, will be up to them.
FREEDOM
Living as a relatively free Earthling in a region currently governed by the American Experiment:
- Is an average Joe free to construct a shelter and grow or harvest food where he finds productive land?
Absolutely NOT! Stolen in the past or purchased in the present, that land is someones property.
- Can an average Joe build and sell automobiles out of his garage?
No, No! Not new ones at least. Rebuilding current technology is sometimes oky-doky, with the proper licensing, but no new technology!
- Is Joe or Jo free to get intoxicated and laid on his / her 21st birthday?
Lets see The rules have some variables
Alcohol & a consenting adult of the opposite sex? Pretty much Yes, Yes!
Alcohol & a consenting adult of the same sex? Not everywhere Hmm
Weed & a non-consenting adult of the opposite sex? No, No!
Weed & a consenting adult of the opposite sex? Hmm still No, No!
Cocaine ? No, No! Not even with a consenting adult
Valium? Maybe. If you can just convince a doctor that you need it
Now, if only you can convince a doctor that you need a big bud of Maui Wowie and a hooker
Freedom, even in America, is relative. Societies, even a society of just 2 individuals, need some rules for living together peacefully.
How many rules? How ridiculous the rules? Totally up to the rulers of the organization If you feel like the rules are stupid blame the rulers. Change them if you can Changing the way a government does business without shedding blood? So far, history says it cant be done. Well see.
Every rule that a society is forced to adhere to by its rulers or owners is a step away freedom. Even if that society believes it is self governing. By that logic, isnt the population on Earth that enjoys the greatest freedom the one with the shortest list of rules? Where DOES America rate on that list? Does any single American even know all the rules for where he / she lives? Any lawyer that smart would become a lobbyist in our current economy.
Back in the 1600s King Louie of France was the hottest shit on the planet. He was the absolute monarch of the most powerful country on the planet. He used the French military to settle personal scores and appropriate resources, especially from the Dutch, for himself and his buddies. He surrounded himself with the richest and coolest people. The people of France were his property to command. World news was centered on him. Inquiring minds of the day wanted to know. Most of his status was bestowed on him because his family was ruthless enough to be at the top of the haves pile in France, but he was also good looking, clever and industrious. He liked to party and he liked to have rich people kiss his ass. He literally thought he was Gods Gift. He built himself a Xanadu with taxpayer money. His belief system led the French Aristocracy to Let them eat cake !
Louie was the biggest celebrity of his day because his family was rich and because of his role in government which he was just lucky enough to be born into. Louie and his ilk in Europe was an unfortunate path towards the road to freedom on this world.
Fortunately, as a general rule, today we are not being led by celebrities...
Imagine Britney with the right to hire an army and attack Paris (Hilton, that is).
Instead, our leaders, at least in The West, are selected primarily from our pool of Lawyers
People trained to argue for a living
People for whom complicated rules for the game of life is good business Am I the only one who sees the fox guarding the henhouse here?
But I digress. True freedom is another story
Can you imagine the marketability of a program like American Idol if the elimination and election process more closely resembled the one that We, The People use to elect our leaders? No wonder participation is so weak. What the hell is a Super Delegate any way? Please tell me that Im not the only one who looks at this process and says to himself, Say what?!?
With so many different colored people with so many different beliefs about who they are and what their place is, Americans are going to be divided about 50% - 50% on almost every question posed to us as a group. Gridlock and extremely complicated rules and procedures will become the norm. The more tasks assigned to the federal level, the tighter the gridlock and the more complicated the rules. Sound familiar?
Why do the major news sources on this planet insist on giving us a play by play of the politics instead of wide discussion of the issues?
Arent the news anchors supposed to ask the questions that We, The People would ask if we could? Why would We ask a major presidential candidate if another candidate has the temperament to be President? (The CBS News, Feb 04, 2008)
How the fuck are you supposed to answer that question?
Uhh, No I think the bastard will go nuts and nuke someone
Is there any reason why the entity with the largest cash flow in the history of the planet cant seem to get out of debt? I know The obvious answer to that one is Congress
We cant just disband Congress, not immediately at least. The problem with our government is that all of the fish are in the same barrel. A barrel called Washington D.C., making it easy to lobby, bribe and corrupt the people, if not the institution.
I Want My Flying Car A Manifest for Revolution
When I arrived here, back in the 60s, The Jettsons were among my favorite T.V. shows on Saturday Morning cartoons. I just knew that by the time I was 50, weekend road trips would be to exotic places like Hawaii and personal cars would fly. It was The Sixties and for budding young me, life was good. My father told me that America was kickin ass in Nam, not that I knew shit from Shinola, but I believed him. Almost everyone I knew had a working father and a mom at home. Cars were cool and fuel was cheap. I could ride my mini-bike for hours on about a dime and dimes were easy to earn. Construction on The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System was well under way, Hot Wheels were fast and America just put a man on the fucking moon. Oh, yeah Life was good.
My earliest road-trip memory is watching my mom, steering with one hand while massaging her tired right ankle while her left toe edged our six-year old Caddie just a smidge over 80. It was late in the second day of a three-day drive from Denver to Rochester, NY. Sticking my tongue out at my sisters, both of whom were relegated to the humiliation of the back seat, I scooted up on my knees because I could (No seatbelts back in 67). Stretching my arm out the open window into the hurricane force wind rushing by, I once again ignored my mothers anecdote about some guy loosing his arm to a passing truck with that stunt. I loved feeling the tug of flight as I tilted my hand up and down in the steady rush, I couldnt wait for flying cars. Three days from Denver to Rochester? I smiled as I imagined piloting my automobile that distance in three hours!
In the 70s, just before I received my training in chemical fueled personal transport craft in Texas, legendary for its open roads and investment in quality highways, the national speed limit was dropped to 55. I cried for a week.
Where is my flying car? What the hell happened? Why didnt the humble chemical fueled automobile give rise to personal aircraft, like the horse and buggy was parked in a museum to clear the way for automobiles? Could it be that there was a shit-load of cash being accumulated by them that were making the cars and the chemical fuel? Could it be that these modern kings were happy with the status quo? Could it be that mergers, consolidation, takeovers and manipulation of the free market economy through lobbying and politics proved cheaper than competing with new ideas? Does anyone remember when oil companies needed to advertise, like real free-enterprise businesses?
Speaking of Political Debate...
Given the proven fact that the technology allowing a woman to terminate her pregnancy... and make no bones about it, because the technology exists, every woman who becomes pregnant has the choice (thank goodness most women, for whatever reason they decide in the privacy of their own hearts, choose to deliver their children)... What do We The People of These United States do about Abortion?
We The People Of The United States have been split about 50 / 50 on this issue since it became an issue. As a nation, we will probably always be about 50 / 50. No agreement of, any majority consensus (like 2/3 or better), will ever be made on this issue... Whats a democracy to do?!?!?! Should we fight another civil war?? Red States -vs- Blue States?? Doesnt that sound productive?
When I am in a group of people and there is a choice to be made and the group is adamantly split 50 / 50, one common, amiable solution is to go to 2 different movies and discuss them later.
What if We The People Of The USA, when faced with something that a clear majority cant be found to agree on, kick those decisions down to The People Of (insert the name of your State here)?
If seventy-five percent of The People of The State of California want to allow abortion in their state, they should be able to. If 75% of The People of The State of Massachusetts wish for gay marriage contracts to be legal, who am I to say they shouldnt? I dont live there and I am free to NOT visit and spend my money there if I dont want to! (Not that I wouldnt Im sure Massachusetts is a wonderful place, and I am tolerant of most alternative lifestyles. (Alternative lifestyles hee hee))
If the majority of people in The Netherlands want to make drugs and prostitution legal in their state, they can... Cant they? Would we propose to take those people to war because we feel that our morals are superior? Who am I to judge?
Arent The People of The State of California at least as trustworthy as The People of The Netherlands? I suppose that if 75% of The People of The United States wanted to impose rules on The People of Holland, then there is a mandate that the other 25% of us must live with... or move to Canada.
Im betting though, that at least 75% of us either respect The People of Holland enough to let them decide for themselves, or dont care enough to make the investment that imposing rules there would require. Why should the people of The State of Kansas live with rules that a politician from Pennsylvania thinks is good for Pittsburgh? Are The People of California more stupid or less trustworthy to decide for themselves than the Dutch? The Texans? The Alaskans?
Who better to decide how people in a given geographic region live than those people? Unless someone can show me EVIDENCE from God that proves that they speak for the Holy Spirit, and free will is no longer an option, Im thinking: Who am I to judge?
If seventy-five percent of the people of Iowa want to make performing an abortion in their state a capital offence shouldnt they also have that right? As long as they dont try to tell The People of New York what technologies they can or cant employ...
What if The People of a state cant agree? What if they also split 50 / 50?
Kick it down to the counties.
If the People of a county cant agree, kick it down to each School District or other sub group.
If We The People of My Little Neighborhood still cant come to a 2/3 or better consensus, it may be a technology, the use of which will have to be decided in each individual home. Isnt there something in some respectable book about freedom coming with some measure of responsibility?
But remember, the only way to make this work is to remember that the technology is not going to simply go away. Our sphere of influence must be restricted like that of a Christian, whos job it is to bring an unbeliever to an awareness of the truth and then step aside and let the Holy Spirit change them from within.
When will We The People learn that morality cant be legislated? Love cant be made the rule, it can only be taught and encouraged.
How About Taxes?
How should We The People collect money from ourselves? Is the current tax codes from all levels of government fair?
What does FAIR mean? Is it a subjective term?
Do we want fair to mean exactly the same burden for all, no matter ones income?
Perhaps fair should be an amount that is based more ones blessings in life?
The first thing we need to decide is how We The People Define FAIR...
I think it is safe to believe that at least 75% of us would want to tax ourselves based at least somewhat on a tax payers ability to pay.
I think that the fairest method of a people taxing themselves is a general sales tax. If you can afford a $80,000 car, you should pay more taxes than someone who can only afford to buy a $20,000 car. If each of the tax payers above paid the same percentage of sale sales tax, wouldnt those taxes would be fair?
Of course there would need to be exempted purchases. What purchases should be exempt?
I dont know... these are the subjects of healthy political debate.
I also firmly believe that America affords enough of an opportunity, and some of us are so blessed by our ability to take advantage of that opportunity, or the circumstances of our birth that allow us unimpeded access to that opportunity, that an income tax should be considered for people making really good money. Call it a Game of life winners tax.
How much money should We The People be able to make tax free? I dont know... these again are the subjects of healthy political debate, but in my opinion the income should be more than most people make, like $500,000 per year.
How far away do we want to make our tax decisions?
What if any given individual, family or business (We The People of A County) paid all of our taxes as taxes we imposed on ourselves in our county, based on what are the economic activities that We The People of That County wanted to encourage and discourage as neighbors? Wouldnt We The People of That County have a much better handle on how that money was converted to public services like education and infrastructure like roads and sewage treatment?
Shouldnt We The People of A County be able to negotiate the construction of a refinery in our own neighborhood because 75% of us see it as a good business move, knowing that We The People are who give permission to build and operate and are the same people who would be affected by and have to police this potentially polluting neighbor? Wouldnt it be nice if the elected individual who gives the oky-doky for a refinery to operate is a person whose office can be invaded by the neighbors of that refinery if the refinery turns out to be an ass-hole of a neighbor?
Until We The People of My Local Region are free to police corporate activity in our own neighborhoods, corporate irresponsible behavior will continue to be a problem. Of course another option is to force the owners of industrial property to live in the community. The further away from a decision between cheap and responsible is made, the more likely cheap will win.
What if The People of a state then collected their tax based on a percentage of the tax revenue stream from all of the counties?
What if We The People Of The United States then collected general revenue taxes based on a percentage of the revenue stream of each state?
Hell, if We The People of The USA took advantage of the profitability of insuring ourselves and the profitability of the real estate that We The People already own, I imagine We The People of The United States could reduce our tax demand from We The People of The States down to less than 10%. There is no reason We The People of Any Given State couldnt invest in income generating assets (real estate) towards increasing State revenue without raising taxes too.
What if we decide by the rule of 75?
If We The People of The United States cant agree on something by a 75% majority, the policy decisions on that issue should be made at the state level.
Can we really trust The People of California to legislate a playing field for themselves that is a good neighbor to The People of Nevada and whose economy will not require the forced slave labor of children???
I think that we can!
Can we really trust The People of Arkansas to realize that educating their citizens is a wise business decision and declaring Baptist as the state religion would be stupid???
I think that we can!
O.K. - Everyone who feels like they are properly represented on ANY level of government, raise your hand...
How many hands went up? I closed my eyes for just a sec
T-Minus 49 and Counting Up
Dear America,
Frustration is a terrible thing a sane man begins to wish he were crazy so he could enjoy another sunrise. I know that the odds are against my life making any kind of a difference, but I couldnt live with myself if I didnt try. It was either write you guys this letter or kiss a moving train. I hope that the letter is more productive.
Let us dare to read, think, speak and write John Adams 1765
Dudes Am I alone in thinking that the overall history of humanity as the dominant organism on this planet pretty much sucks?
Sure, theres been a lot of cool stuff happen over the last few thousand years; music, moments of pleasure, happiness and even love have all been poetically recorded; but lets face it, since historys first written chapter opened in the Fertile Crescent a few thousand years ago slavery, brutality, exploitation, oppression, genocide and war have overshadowed the stories of every generation like a gathering storm cloud. Our report card thus far as a species cant possibly be better than an overall C-minus.
Whether you believe humanity slowly evolved from primordial ooze or was created by a god, in either a divine image thing, for divine amusement or somewhere in between, its hard not to admit that our history is currently under way. While the many theories as to how humanity got here can be neither proved nor disproved by attempting to repeat them, at least most humans can agree that were here. Ill even bet that, if polled, at least 75% of respondents would agree that Earth and humans exist and that weve been here for at least 2,000 years. Its a start
However our species came to be here and rise to the tops of the political and food chains on this world, there is no denying that were here. Can we also agree that, even if the behavior of the economically and politically powerful on this planet has been less than perfect, the documentation for it, for at least the last 1,000 years, is reasonably accurate?
Also noteworthy in spite of our history and because of our past, Earth is still the best place for most of us to call home. Over 75% of respondents also agree theres no other planet that theyd rather be living on.
The thing is, in spite of the slavery, brutality, economic oppression, greed, genocide and war that dominate the records of humanity thus far, Earth is a pretty nice planet. The food is varied and tasty, sunny days out number the storms, the beach is always fun and theres something special about connecting mind, soul, and / or bodies with another human.
Throughout our history, between the volatile environment and the potential for brutal treatment by other people, the odds of living as a happy human on planet Earth have always been about like winning the lottery, sunshine filled days and connecting up not withstanding. Sure, it would have been cool to be born the son of an absolute monarch in 15th to 17th century Europe; all powerful even your neighbors reduced to property you could command at a whim it wouldve been fun to live a kings life but what, were the odds of being born into one of those families? I think it safe to assume that for any era during Western Civilization prior to World War 2, Vegas odds would put smart money on any given soul turning up in the flesh of some poor bastard who was working his or her ass off to line another mans pockets for a bowl of gruel and managed fear.
Can you imagine living in Roman times or the middle ages? What were the average Joes odds of being a slave or serf in those days? As with today, it kind of depended on where you were born my personal choice for living on this rock 2,000 years ago would have to be Hawaii But I digress.
If the Internet is any reflection of human nature, I shudder to imagine what it was like to live as another persons legal property 2000 years ago in Rome, or as a serf or peasant in Europe of the 1600s, or for that matter, as a slave or servant right here in America, circa 1800 especially for girls.
You have to admit, though the kind of dog-eat-dog conquest and capitalism that humans have practiced here, especially in The West, from the Greeks & Romans, through European colonization, to the ongoing American Experiment, has put together a pretty impressive infrastructure, at least for our current technology level.
I like our infrastructure I like being able to get into a privately owned transportation machine and travel basically anywhere I want in North America on public roadways. I like being able to trust perfect strangers to fly me quickly to exotic, far away places in machines theyve invested in because citizen infrastructure includes public airports.
Today, an average Joe with only modest resources can travel from Seattle to Johannesburg and back in the span of only 14 days!
Wow, 14 days?!? No shit?!?
But WAIT, theres more!!
That 14-day trip includes 9 fun filled days, on the ground in S. Africa, seeing how those guys & gals do it!
Isnt that amazing?
Actually, it is amazing
100 years ago on this planet, just 2 to 4 generations, if Joes grandpa or great-grandpa wanted to make that journey, or one like it, it would have been impossible just to get there and back again in 14 days, no matter what resources he had at his disposal and then, to be able to pull a personal gizmo out of his pocket, with technology linking him wirelessly to a private voice network for real-time communications with contacts both back in Seattle and there in Johannesburg???
Forget about it!!!, hed say with a thick NY / Italian accent just like hed heard in the movies.
Infrastructure a gift built by ancestors and maintained and improved upon by the current generation as a gift to their children. At least in theory
I am writing to you all because those of you whom Ive met and spoken with seem like honest, intelligent people who know Shit from Shinola.
Yall have talked to a lot of influential people in America, the most influential nation on the globe at this time. I get it that truth must be danced carefully around on camera due to litigation fears (its what you get electing and hiring professional arguers, spinners and bullshit artists to make up the house rules), but youve spoken to these people off-camera Do any of our fearless leaders speak of simplifying things?
In spite of claims to the contrary, this planet cant possibly be under the rule of the majority conscience. Not unless the majority conscience is suicidal
I am not going to blow smoke up any of your collective asses and tell you I know how to fix the world, but I know a couple of fixes for America.
Its been frustrating, having the inspiration for answers and being just an average Joe. I could never afford the legal team required to share my ideas in a presidential campaign as is currently required by our system.
There just cant be a small few who see through the bullshit
Is a Write In Revolution possible ?
Can We fix health care coverage?
Insurance
Participants contribute to a pool of funds to cover agreed on future losses. Approved claims are paid from the pool. The pool of funds is managed by professional people to soften future claims and show a profit for the underwriters. Is this not the definition of Insurance ?
What if We, The People of the United States started our own insurance company? All you need to start an insurance pool is money and a computer How low could the cost of coverage go if the profit currently going to the insurance corporations instead went towards claims? How simplified could the paperwork get if How will this affect our share price was not a criterion for an offer of coverage or a payment of claims? (Please base answers for the paperwork question on Americas potential and not her IRS Bureaucratic track record).
Are We, The People people who put a man on the fuckin moon - too stupid to competently underwrite an insurance pool? Is there some stupid sacred rule that says our government cant do true transactional business with its citizens? If The People of The City of Green Bay, Wisconsin can own a winning football team, why cant they shop for a group health policy? Why cant they start their own insurance pool? How about Chicago, NY or LA? These City-States are plenty big enough to be self-insured. There is a reason why employees of big companies can afford insurance they shop for it as a group! The bigger the group, the more they can save! They save even more when theyre group is big enough to self insure Aint We, The People a large enough group to self insure?
What if We, The People told the fund managers we hire that among their own brilliant ideas for investing our insurance pool safely, wed like them to invest in mortgages for American Families and Businesses? Mortgages are very liquid investments, as safe as the real estate deeded, and the pool receives immediate monthly cash flow. Not to mention the stable boost to our economy that kind of access to fairly structured and priced capital would be.
How about auto insurance? Imagine a world where We, The People held the insurance pool for all drivers. No endless bickering over who is at what percentage of fault, because all the damages are paid from the same pool of funds Damages paid out quickly Lives gotten on with People may even start to apologize again when they make boo boos just like Mayberry Digressing again. Sorry.
Can We fix our Government? Make it more responsive to the people it provides rules for?
Well, hey If I wanted to design a government that would be easy to corrupt and manipulate with money and favors, I would put all of the elected bureaucrats in one office building so my lobbyists could get to them all at once, getting lots of favors throughout the country for the price of only one big, expensive party. Sound familiar?
If I wanted to tweak our government so that it would be harder to corrupt, (assuming that telephones and e-mail existed), I would spread the representatives out with local offices in the geographic areas they represent so that a lobbyist would have to spend a bunch of money just to talk to them all. (Of course, I would also make professional lobbying a castrate-able offense but thats just me) This would have the added anti-corruption benefit of keeping those representatives closer to their homes and their neighbors, the people theyre supposed to be representing and serving the ones who are supposed to be lobbying them.
Considering the communication technology available in 1780, I can understand the need back then for Congress to meet regularly in one city things have changed a smidge over the last 200 years.
Thomas Jefferson said, He who is governed least is governed best
Id like to add, He who is governed close to home stands a chance at being accurately represented.
Shouldnt the politician with his fingers in my pocket be the one I can look in the eye and shake hands with?
Speaking of April 15 in America
Why is it that We, The People collect taxes from us on the consumer level? Couldnt We save a few bucks on the bureaucracy alone if We collected taxes on the retail level? What about a sales tax? If I can afford a new Ferrari, shouldnt I pay new Ferrari tax? If I can only afford a 92 Yugo, wouldnt the same percentage tax paid on that purchase be much closer to fair? No bullshit, no loopholes, no lawyers, no paperwork! If Im being frugal to save up for a Ferrari or for my kids college, shouldnt I pay tax when I spend it? A sales tax is easy to collect and close to fair can it be that simple? Would anyone besides the board members at H & R Block, et al, really miss the paper-work party every spring in America? Ill wager the trees would be happy!
Does anyone else see the stupidity of supporting both the IRS Bureaucracy and the Tax Preparation Industry just to collect taxes from us? Does living in America have to be so fucking complicated?
I pride myself on being cleverly lazy When I figure out a faster, simpler, easier, more efficient way of accomplishing the same task, it gives me a fuzzy warm feeling inside. It makes me feel smart. Now, I know Im not the brightest bulb in the box Lots of people out there are smarter than I. It makes sense, that intelligence is out there stupid people did not create the infrastructure and the Internet, and we have all had a hand in building them. They are the greatest collaborations of free, less than free and un-free humans in the annals of our sorry-ass existence. I cant be the only one who scratches his head and wonders how we came up with the convoluted concoction of rules that We, The People are trying to live by. If this were a Monopoly Game, I believe Id quit and go home. Especially with the frequency that the rules change around here...
Does any one person actually know all the rules for where they live? Does any one person know The Tax Code for their filing status? Shouldnt everyone? People who cant afford accountants and lawyers in our economy dont stand much an entrepreneurial chance to grow beyond economic mediocrity And yet, in spite of the paperwork, America of today is the best place on Earth to call home. Canadas nice, but way too darned cold.
Rules and laws
Why does The Gentlemen from The Great State of Rhode Island give a flying flip how The People of California like to get intoxicated and fuck ?
Declared independence Can groups of people still do that? Like the Dutch Netherlands did from France and like America did from England back in ancient times?
The People of Kosovo did it in February 2008
Good for them!!
Declared Independence A group of people in a specific geographic region agrees that their current government situation is a nagging bitch and they declare themselves free! Divorce their government
Good for them!
Will The People of Alaska have the balls to be next? They have the geography and the resources Will Texas lead the way or follow? It has to be tempting the American Bureaucracy is nothing if not expensive. Could either join OPEC as an Independent State? Would Obama send troops? Would Big John? Would American soldiers actually shoot Americans to prevent another secession from The Union? What are the odds this could happen? Is Vegas taking bets? Is China?
I have other ideas too. Illegal immigration not as difficult as were led to believe, if we just think outside the box
What would they do if 75% us wrote in None Of The Above on our ballots in November?
So, what do you think?
Warm regards,
- Average American Joe
[email protected]
RANTS & RAVES FROM A LUNATIC FOX
Fear seems to have always been a favored tool of the powerful to keep the exploited producing wealth for the wealthy. Its as cheap as a club wielding asshole, it can be as intricate as a Worldwide War on Terror and leaves the victims both in working condition, and fairly well motivated, at least as a group. Exploited and / or corrupted Belief Systems (religion) have also been a common and cheap source of fear.
Lets avoid discussing Religion You will know why in #2.
1. Religion has generally been a good thing, especially for individuals. When people share a common Belief System and serve each other in the faith that they, as individuals, were doing Gods will for them, sharing thoughts, ideas and beliefs on how life came into being and who to thank for it, has pretty much been a good thing. The key word is service. As long as the servant role is understood among the teachers and their congregation, especially the leaders, belief in Devine Origins has, for the most part, been a benign to good thing.
It took people in The West almost 1,800 years of European royal & religious bullshit, from Rome to The American Experiment, to get the idea to form a government where a separation of peoples belief systems from The Peoples Assets, seemed like a good idea. It has been less than 300 years, a mere 5 to 7 generations since then Many people on this planet still have beliefs foisted or coerced on them by assholes. Dont ever believe that organized religion does not involve power.
Is faith in the Devine not a belief because it can be neither proved nor disproved? If it werent something that had to be believed in without evidence, it wouldnt have faith value. (See FAITH in your local Funk & Wagnels )
So unfortunately, whether something is true or not, if you can get enough people to believe it, or join your cause anyway, you too can organize your own religion. This is an evil side of religion things dont even have to be true to be believable. Partially true is even better!
Religion was evil when believers allowed mass human sacrifice in Central America to further some assholes career in Aztec Politics (thanks for the visual Mel!).
Religion was just as evil when the Pope divided the lands and resources of a thousand more primitive nations between his wealthiest supporters and their armies, along their political lines, because it seemed like a good career move at the time.
2. RACE -VS- RELIGION O.K Get ready for it the secret of harmony among Sentient Beings with varying races and various dogmas on the origins of life and how one should live is very complex 2 things need to be understood, fortunately, they can make sense to an open mind
1) EVERYONE IS HANDED THEIR RACE WITHOUT CHOICE OR CONSULTATION YOUR UNIQUE GENETIC FAMILY (NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES! (ALL SALES ARE FINAL!))
2) EVERYONE BUILDS A BELIEF SYSTEM YOUR PERSONAL SENSE OF RIGHT -VS- WRONG AND PAIN -VS- PLEASURE DYNAMICALLY CONSTRUCTED DURING YOUR LIFE IN THE PRIVACY OF YOUR OWN MIND.
They are 2 separate things!
Everyone on the planet gets handed their race at birth and then, no matter what degree of freedom they have, they get to choose as many or as few belief systems (or parts there of) as they want
It is actually pretty easy to tell them apart Race (Born As) -vs- Religion (Personal Belief System)
Anytime you cant choose to be less or more of something, you are dealing with RACE.
Go ahead, ask Tiger to be a little more Negro... See if Al Madden can be a little less White
Belief systems, on the other hand, can be turned on or off. They can also be turned up or down by degrees.
The skin Im currently wearing is of Western European / American decent. Im what yall call white. Sure, I can alter my appearance with technology, but I am still in my assigned flesh when the make-up comes off - and even in make up, I cant jump.
I can however, choose to be more Republican or less Republican as needed, depending on the political drivel emanating from the girl with the nice rack Id like to be shown later.
I can choose to be more or less Christian if that helps me make the sale
I can appear more or less materialistic, depending on who I want to impress, and why
I can become more or less of any of the lines of thought that guide my actions, depending on the circumstances I find myself in.
I can even fake it completely to get nice stuff, whispered the woman gazing at her new diamond earrings regarding her last orgasm.
Depending on who I want to relate to, and in which way I want to relate to them at any given moment, I can become whoever I want. It is called dressing the part or selling your self. We all do it in varying degrees. For most of us our social and economic livelihoods depend on developing some level of the skill. Real chameleons can make a fortune at acting, politics or sales.
Fortunately, I can change clothes on Friday night and again on Sunday morning, said the mild mannered accountant, with a wink.
If my survival depends on it, I can even fake it completely, muttered the prison bitch with understandable bitterness.
Remember, the whole point is to craft Your OWN Personal Belief System from the various beliefs that are available. You may or may not have help, from parents, teachers, pastors, friends, etc., which may or may not be wanted at the time, but the ultimate system we each create for ourselves, in the privacy of our own minds, is going to be first and foremost dynamic. Meaning flexible everyone adjusts their own thinking (religion), depending on what is occurring in their environment at that moment. All are flexible on some beliefs; some are more rigid with certain beliefs, some to the point of being willing to die for a belief Are they stupid or a hero? That would depend on who you ask and if they too, believe.
None of the above is not an option if you choose not to decide, you have made your choice. No matter who we are born as, no matter what circumstances we live under, a personal belief system, our personal belief system, develops from our choices in life to be at least as unique as our fingerprints.
Sure, we share common beliefs wed never be able to socialize if we didnt but show me two people who truly agree on everything, and Ill show you a factual freak of nature.
Smart people purposefully adjust some of their thinking, keeping it dynamic as they grow older and wiser, said the frustrated grandparent to the teenager with the blank stare
Here are several of the more popular Belief Systems available for you to choose from on Planet Earth Can you think of more?
I think you can!, Mr. Rogers exclaimed to all the children.
Remember choose as many as you wish, but watch out for conflict conflicting beliefs wont survive in a single organism. One will ALWAYS struggle with the other for dominance in the organisms thinking. Some people will wrestle with this type of conflict in their minds for many years in a vicious cycle of centered faith in something believed and uncertainty or backsliding behavior.
Fortunately for us, society is not an organism, its an organization!, Mr. Rogers noted with glee Smart man, that Mr. Rogers! That means that a fair government for all the people with all those various belief systems is possible, once the members of the organization adopt some sort of combination of tolerance and ignorance toward one anothers beliefs!
Choose Wisely, Grasshopper
ÿ Christian And Any Social Subset!, said the Catholic to the Baptist, who nodded to the Methodist, who was translating to American Sign Language for a Lutheran who lost his hearing in the war
ÿ Muslim And Any Social Subset!, said the Sunni to the Shiite
ÿ Witchcraft And Any Social Subset!, said the White Witch to the Dark Wizard
ÿ Nude Living And Any Social Subset!, said the Naturist to the Nudist
ÿ Material Thinker * And Any Social Subset! the dude in the mirror sunglasses, gassing up the jet ski while righteous tunes blared on the state-of-the-art sound system just installed in the brand new 4 x 4 towing it said to the girl in the front seat wearing clothing with some label that Material Thinkers in a certain fashion sub-subset would surely recognize
ÿ Sexual Thinker * And Any Social Subset!, said the Boy with his hand in his pocket to the Girl who was masturbating to a romance novel
At the risk of being repetitive, let me repeat
WHO YOU ARE - WHAT YOU THINK, & WHAT GUIDELINES YOU BELIEVE ARE BEST SUITED TO RUN YOUR LIFE BY AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT IN YOUR SHORT PERSONAL HISTORY, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHO YOU WERE BORN AS.
EVERYONE ON THE PLANET GETS HANDED 1 FAMILY (RACE) AT BIRTH NO REFUNDS / NO EXCHANGES
PLUS, THEY GET TO CHOOSE AS MANY OR AS FEW BELIEF SYSTEMS AS THEY WANT AND THEY GET TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS ABOUT THEM AS MUCH AS THEY WANT!
Can an organization survive if different ways of thinking are not tolerated or ignored?
Can enough rules be made to make the members of a society to think alike?
Can enough rules be made to force citizens tolerate each other?
The American Experiment may answer these questions
We, The People, should not tolerate the treating with disrespect, anyone because of their race it truly is not that funny given Earths history. Dare I say, especially when it is done amongst members of the same race?
We should however not only have the right to question the various beliefs of each other, it should be encouraged as healthy. Members of the Flat Earth Society, take special note youre free to believe and preach, but I think youre wrong, and Ill be happy to discuss it over beers.
Side Note:
It is a damn shame that some people have a hard time questioning a fellow humans belief system without being, or seeming to be, disrespectful to some degree. Also a shame is in not realizing, when ones beliefs are being questioned, that only the beliefs are being questioned or attacked the questioner cant change them or take them not if the beliefs are believable in the first place.
The good news is that questioning your belief system will always either make it stronger in your own life which is all you get to control or modify it / kill it in favor of what you now believe is a better belief. These are the only two possible outcomes from the questioning of beliefs (especially by oneself). This should NOT be confused with someone else telling you what you can or cant, or should or shouldnt believe.
Any one who tells you that you dont have a right to think or believe in a particular way is an asshole. Even if the thinking is stupid, shortsighted or cruel. We all have an inalienable right to our good, bad, and ugly opinions and thoughts.
This should not be confused with behavior, We, The People need rules that designate agreed upon bad behavior and We, The People have a responsibility to make these rules easy to understand and the punishment for bad behavior understandable and fair.
* Sexual Thinkers, Material Thinkers and their Social Subsets:
Lets cite some more examples of these * Social Subsets for clarity.
Sexual Thinkers A person who thinks about sex in one way or another, to any degree, is a Sexual Thinker.
Are there any bullshit artists out there who want to claim -0- sexual thoughts? (All entrants into the bullshitting contest above must be living and18 years or older.)
The wonderful news is that you are not limited to just one belief in your system, you Horny, Married, Christian Woman about to meet your trusted, similar-thinking husband at the airport wearing only your over coat buttoned to the top of course, until you both get in the car and he begins to drive where you give immense pleasure to both of you by teasing him to a frenzy with glimpses of your body under the passing streetlamps All the way home you act playfully because its fun for you, you know he likes it, and your God said that the Marriage Bed is a place of sacred fun when a man and a woman are publicly committed to each other and working hard in their relationship to earn each others continued trust in matters of the flesh. Your God is cool that way almost like He knows you.
O.K. so who are these Sexual Thinkers of planet Earth? Lets have some more examples
A. All males age 14 to dead. (O.K., thats a joke but funny because theres some truth to it)
B. Lets hope everyone is a sexual thinker to some degree or another it would be a shame for anyone to fear sex so much that they didnt even think about it.
(Please look for the winning stories from the bullshit contestants in the previous paragraph coming soon to a theater near you.)
Sexual thinkers are you know post pubescent / pre death boys & girls who spend some amount of their day, week or month thinking about sex in one way or another. Whether or not they think about the same kind of sex as other people think about is irrelevant.
It could be missionary sex weird sex group sex gay sex Is anyone on this planet qualified to determine normal for everyone? Without an official state approved style of fucking, no government is qualified either!
Thank God for THAT! said the Celibate Priest to the Preacher with seven kids, who winked with love and lust at his blushing wife.
It could be sex like the married couple above Which married couple above you may ask? Why, the one having sex, of course!
Thank God that most of us are interested in consensual, mutually satisfying sexual pleasure with other humans and not into hurting one another
Our society is WAY to complex for there to be a proper way to think about sex any more, the Soccer Mom mused, while thinking with a grin about her regular Tuesday date with her husband Her smiling friend in the overcoat thought of her own fondness for giving her husband oral in the car on the way home from the airport. (Which is a delight to the husband, if that sordid little detail may be added.)
All kinds of thoughts and beliefs can, through bad behavior, cross the line into anti-social behavior usually signified by a true victim (not a hypochondriac or his lawyer) Has our history not proved that self interest, sexual interest and religion can all be abused to the point of crime? Sometimes at the same time? Have we learned nothing from C. S. I.?
It should be against the rules to judge someone based on their thinking, but if some creep thinks and then acts on one of the deviant thoughts (religious, sexual and / or material) that everyone has to one degree or another, and hurts someone, especially a child, they should have their balls (or equivalent) chopped off. Hurt is the key word here We The People need a reasonable person to judge the degree to which one of us has victimized another based solely on the situation being judged precedent be damned!!
Crime & Punishment...
Ever thought of robbing a bank? How about just keeping the extra change on a cashier boo-boo? Isnt it the same crime? What about murder -vs- other hateful behaviors Are they, like stealing a lot -vs- stealing a little, both varying degrees of the same crime?
But I digress this too is another story for another movie.
* Material Thinkers Cmon! You know who you are!
A. Most Women between age 8 and dead. (Joke again Please dont write me letters!)
B. Its not just the girls How about you Businessmen 40-hour work week??? Yeah, Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!
C. Parents & grandparents nothing makes you spend money (or wish you could spend money) like having a kid!
D. Anyone who spends time wishing for, or working for, stuff is a material thinker to some degree theres that word again Degree You mean, we are all not the SAME However shall we deal?
As you can see, Material Thinking is like Sexual Thinking in that we all do both in varying degrees, with an astonishing variety of styles, or ways to think about these things. Varying degrees of intensity and style is what makes these particular lines of belief and thought so politically volatile. If one does not relate to how another human thinks, especially about sex, religion and / or property, a right -vs- wrong conflict will surely ensue. If Im right and she thinks differently, is she wrong? Is there any chance that we can agree to disagree? Is it possible for opposing points of view to all not be wrong?
Is it possible to be both sincere and wrong in your beliefs?
Ask any follower of Jim Jones
Religion (Origins and worship): Just like sex and money, any persons trains of thoughts on this subject cannot be proved or disproved as right or wrong theyre opinions. Even if LOTS of other people believe and think the same way, theyre still just opinions until theyre repeated in a laboratory or an organization makes up an enforceable rule. The more rules there are, the farther an organizations members are from freedom If the experiment in government known as America has proved anything so far it has proven that things like responsibility, love and opinions cannot be legislated, no matter how many rules are made or how many words are used to express those rules. You can force people not to kill each other, but to not hate can only be taught and encouraged.
In the end, rules, preferably simple and easy to understand rules, should only be applied to behavior.
What if We, The People could fire all of the cops we employ? Should it be a goal? Aside from the expense of police protection, doesnt it say something of us as a people that so much of our resources need to be spent on protecting us from ourselves? If too many people are breaking the rules, do we blame the people, the rules or both? Are the people bad or are the rules vague or unreasonable?
Some arguments are never meant to be won or lost; only presented as clearly as possible
I know, I know Im digressing. Again.
SOCIAL SUBSETS
What I mean by Subsets in Social Subsets is that people tend to gather along the same lines of thought. The larger the gathering, the more likely there is to be a lot of conflicting belief systems, tolerated because of the commonality. This is why you can have a Gay Construction Worker sports fan, a Christian Soccer Mom sports fan, a sports fan guy who cheats on his wife and thinks the wrong kinds of thoughts about one of his daughters friends (but controls them by knowing that its wrong and hell go to jail if he acts on them) and a Deacon in the Methodist Church who loves his season tickets almost as much as his religion can all be together in the same oversize-building, voices rising in harmony, urging well-known strangers to excel in a task theyre well paid to do with coordinated shouts of GO TEAM!! and the like.
I suppose it is a good thing that they dont know much about each other, beyond the similar team sweatshirts. They might never have cheered in unison or high-fived and hugged after the championship game. 4 people could have missed physical, mental and emotional contact with fellow humans that night, which was inspired by like-minded thinking about a sports team and made possible by ignorance if not tolerance.
Intimacy like that occurs too rarely these days the girl whispered in a sad voice as she watched this movie all alone in a crowded theater.
People love to share their passions. They like finding common ground.
It is one of their favorite things to do! said the happy grandfather to the brightly smiling 6-year old, who was hanging on every word.
You can be passionate for Christ; talk to anyone for as long as theyll listen about what Jesus has done and is doing in your life. When Christians gather, dont most of the people enjoy most of the conversation? Can conflict still occur?, the protestant asked of the catholic.
You can be passionate about your kids; talk to anyone for as long as theyll listen about what the little darlings are up to and have strong relationships with all of their teachers and friends because you believe it is vital.
You can be passionate for sex; talk to anyone for as long as theyll listen about what it was like to play with this adult human, or how far you got (or didnt get) with that one.
(Some Social Subset gatherings are going to be larger and or last longer than others Some will be more interesting to more people than others )
When any Social Subset, from me myself and I, to me and my friend, to a company of colleagues, working in common to generate shared profits, to a congregation in a church, joined at the hip in worship, to an army a million strong, to a nation in the billions gathers, it is the common threads that bind them together. Like the wide variety of Human Belief Systems, gathered with the common thread of Sports-fan found hugging after a championship game, the more easily the un-common threads are tolerated or ignored, the stronger that Social Subset (organization) will be. Conversely, the more the un-shared ways of thinking are emphasized, the weaker and more divided the organization. Has anyone seen a 50 50 vote lately? Does evenly divided mean evenly weak?
I have seen nations fall into anarchy and civil war for this very problem, said the Sunni to the Kurd.
Sometimes for the right reasons, though, Abraham Lincoln sighed, though he knew that no one was listening.
Obviously, if we all thought the same way, we would be easier to govern But should that really be our goal?
Common ground plus both tolerated and cherished differences This is why he can choose a comedy movie for himself; his wife will most likely choose a chick-flick for herself; and together they go for action-adventure common interest shared
This is also why a single mom of teenagers, a married mom of teenagers (whos life revolves around her church), a personable engineer who adores his wife and grandchildren, a Red White and Blue Constitutionalist American, a Vietnam era vet who works hard when hes there, a grown up red neck who still thinks farts are funny, a young stud rocker guitarist, a pierced and tattooed artist with dread-locks and a possibly crazy man who wanted to tell this tale can work together as a team in a small business, making a reasonable living for all, said the author to no one in particular.
There are subsets in subsets in subsets! said the Married Baptist Preacher to his fishing buddy, a single bartender who happened to think that Catholicism was the way for himself. (Bob was a dear friend from the navy before he became a Baptist Preacher, so its cool.)
Like, do you think all gay men LIKE each other and socialize together just because theyre, like gay?
Did we learn NOTHING from Will & Grace?
The Gay people that I have known in my short time on this planet are just as picky about who they hang out with as the Christians, the Straight people, the Republicans and the Democrats that Ive met.
Gay construction guy hung out with tolerant construction guys & gals and musicians because he fancied himself a sax player.
Gay waitress hung out with the thespian crowd because she liked the theater. It was just an added bonus that thespians are pretty tolerant of most alternative life-styles.
(Thats a funny American phrase alternative life style. Lets face it anyone not living your life is living an alternative one, so in a sense we all are living alternative lifestyles!)
The point here is that now, at this point in time in our history, the world is smaller, easy communication is driven by technology, and we tend to know more about each others belief systems and thinking than ever before whether we want to or not.
SUDDENLY we all know enough about each others belief systems to be confident that, rare is the individual who thinks just like me; and there are so many people with so many varied lifestyles and belief systems. We simply have to be discriminating. Its not wrong! Fortunately, there are plenty of folks to relate to on plenty of levels in plenty of areas of belief.
Live and let live Is this a valid philosophy? Can people actually be content in spite of knowing that others believe differently? Even on issues of extreme passion, like the path to Heaven, abortion and weird sex? I hope so I truly do
If not, let the next war begin May you hasten to your inevitable demise humanity may not be salvageable
Can we learn about each other with out judging? Shit happens Can intimacy happen?
Learning about each other is a good thing!, the material thinking politician said when he realized his gay son is the same person he always was He just thinks about sex in a way that I will never be able to relate to It is a good thing that there are like minded individuals for him to connect with, and share intimacy with, without his causing or receiving pain that is uncommon to relationships as I do understand them.
Intimate Relationships.
I am not speaking of intimacy of the flesh. Flesh to flesh relationships, from monogamous unions between two individuals who consider the vows of commitment a sacred trust, to carnal intimacy that is basically sport-fucking, occur across the matrix of belief systems employed on our little planet, the fallen Priest said to Amy and Paris who nodded to Tom Cruise, as he tapped knuckles with every guy age 14 to 80
No, true intimacy is not flesh-to-flesh
Intimacy occurs when two or more people get together and truly engage each others minds.
I think I understand, said the successful salesman to the couple with the annoying habit of finishing each others sentences.
How many of us have not experienced the pain of losing contact with someone, known well enough by us to be easy to engage minds with. Perhaps it was a lover, parent or teacher who reached out and made us feel listened to listening being the cornerstone to building intimacy of the mind. (Note that agreement is not required for intimacy)
From the various societies that prospered in the Fertile Crescent to the Mediterranean nations culminating with the Greeks and Romans, to the Moslem, Byzantine, and Western Cultures that rose from the ashes of Rome, Every era in human history thus far has produced individuals who were, either simply by the luck of being born into the right family, or brutal enough to take and hold it, wealthy enough to afford an army to exploit others to gain more wealth to hire more armies to exploit others to gain more wealth to hire more armies well, you get the picture, you live in the result.
The problem is the only way that we can kill off the descendants of all of the rich assholes in our history is by committing suicide.
The history of Western Civilization is the continuing saga of exploitation by the powerful followed by revolution and / or civil war. Now, while my sympathies truly exist for historys slaves and exploited, as does my disgust with their owners, can you pay for the sins of your ancestors? Should you? What if one of your ancestors was owned by another one of your ancestors? Who pays then?
The problem is the only way that we can kill off the descendants of all of the rich assholes in our history is by committing suicide. Rich assholes like to fuck people and not every child got their fathers name or inheritance.
Which generation on this world will truly forgive the past? Way to go Rawanda!! (NBC Nightly News Feb 19 2008) Of historical significance is forgiving such brutality so recently experienced!
Please remember that every one of us, especially in America has an ancestral link to some rich asshole. (Im o.k. with this generalization of people because, lets face it, rich assholes who have the stones to buy and sell other people probably exploited them sexually. Having seen the prolific size and depth of the part of our information networks that are devoted to sex and weirdness, one can only imagine what kind of shit went on in the dwellings of a person who was the property or subject of another. Also of note to remember: forgiven does not mean forgotten.
The problem is the only way that we can kill off the descendants of all of the rich assholes in our history is by committing suicide. Rich assholes like to fuck people and not every child got their fathers name or inheritance.
But I digress
The British in the late 1600s with their Glorious Revolution gave our world a taste of Democracy over Absolute Monarchy; as long as your religion was right a step in the right direction.
The Dutch in the 1600s & 1700s gave us religious tolerance and the birth of modern commerce, including slave trade and government assisted stealing from the Spanish. Go Amsterdam!
Searching for religious tolerance, The American Experiment is a beautiful thing, considering the circumstances. Sure genocide, slavery and exploitation followed the European colonists into the American Experiment, but so did John Lockes vision of democracy Over the last 250 years, We, The People has proven that a flexible democracy can build a functioning economy in the least, and a prosperous one for the most part. Especially when there are so many undefended resources just to the west to exploit to pay for it. Unfortunately, We, The People havent been united States since our civil war. In spite of our lumbering young nations slow reaction to the sudden change from plenty of land and resources for the taking to finite resources needing to be managed, the American Experiment, using capitalism, did a reasonable job of harvesting and managing the peoples resources, given the technology available. Fairness in distribution of those resources even got a little better generation to generation until the corporate consolidations and mergers of the 1980s and 1990s.
Was there unfairness? Ask any native
Was there waste, exploitation, environmental compromise and brutality? Sure, but there was also innovation, infrastructure construction and industrialization.
What good ideas have proved to work in the ALL of the peoples interest over the last 200+ years, you ask?
How about changing the people who make up the rules and wield control over the security forces on a fairly regular basis? Was this not a good idea?
Separation of state affairs from religion was brilliant!
Could it be that the next move is a separation of state affairs (power) from wealth ?
Is this revolutionary talk? Perhaps
The trick is to revolt while preserving our infrastructure and leaving individual wealth accumulation an attractive belief system. It is one of the best economic motivators; second only to starvation. No revolution has been without righteousness, unfortunately, when the people have had enough of lining another mans pockets, the infrastructure that supports their economy, the infrastructure that they and their parents have worked so hard to build, is usually the first casualty.
The American Revolution was and is unique. Not much infrastructure was in place to be destroyed and a shit load of resources, extending as far as the eye could see to the west, were there for the taking. Im not saying that the American Experiment, as it flowed through the river of time that marked the European rape of our planet through colonization, didnt foment an inordinate number of greedy bastards who exploited resources, including native peoples to accumulate wealth. Some assholes even found justification to import tens of thousands of people from Africa, solely to be exploited for wealth creation. But there is good news. The good news is that the American Experiment allowed, for the first time in history, true wealth to be created by many families. Yes, the creation and distribution was less than fair. It still is. Get over it. Its time to quit bitching and fix the fucker or sink it. I dont know about yall, but Im too old to live like Mad Max. The spreading of true wealth among so many families, combined with the closest thing to a democracy the world had seen, may not have been perfect, but it was progress toward true freedom.
If yesterdays question is, Whats this fine kettle of shit our ancestors dumped us in? - The question for today is, "What tasks do we leave to our children on humanities road to fairness and true freedom?
Me? Im kind of stuck here, and I would appreciate it if this revolution / civil war can be finished with a minimum of damage to the infrastructure our ancestors were kind enough to build. I like being able to get just about anywhere on the planet quickly and safely. I like reasonably safe water, packaged food, air conditioning and heat. The American Experiment has finally prosecuted three unprofitable wars in a row. The next revolution will either secure our decedents relative freedom or hit Earths re-set button to one degree or another
Freedom, at least relative freedom, and the personal and public infrastructure created by our parents, maintained and added on to by us, is the only thing that we, as a species, can give to our children. The security for our descendants, as it was for the WW II generation, and the generations before, will be up to them.
FREEDOM
Living as a relatively free Earthling in a region currently governed by the American Experiment:
- Is an average Joe free to construct a shelter and grow or harvest food where he finds productive land?
Absolutely NOT! Stolen in the past or purchased in the present, that land is someones property.
- Can an average Joe build and sell automobiles out of his garage?
No, No! Not new ones at least. Rebuilding current technology is sometimes oky-doky, with the proper licensing, but no new technology!
- Is Joe or Jo free to get intoxicated and laid on his / her 21st birthday?
Lets see The rules have some variables
Alcohol & a consenting adult of the opposite sex? Pretty much Yes, Yes!
Alcohol & a consenting adult of the same sex? Not everywhere Hmm
Weed & a non-consenting adult of the opposite sex? No, No!
Weed & a consenting adult of the opposite sex? Hmm still No, No!
Cocaine ? No, No! Not even with a consenting adult
Valium? Maybe. If you can just convince a doctor that you need it
Now, if only you can convince a doctor that you need a big bud of Maui Wowie and a hooker
Freedom, even in America, is relative. Societies, even a society of just 2 individuals, need some rules for living together peacefully.
How many rules? How ridiculous the rules? Totally up to the rulers of the organization If you feel like the rules are stupid blame the rulers. Change them if you can Changing the way a government does business without shedding blood? So far, history says it cant be done. Well see.
Every rule that a society is forced to adhere to by its rulers or owners is a step away freedom. Even if that society believes it is self governing. By that logic, isnt the population on Earth that enjoys the greatest freedom the one with the shortest list of rules? Where DOES America rate on that list? Does any single American even know all the rules for where he / she lives? Any lawyer that smart would become a lobbyist in our current economy.
Back in the 1600s King Louie of France was the hottest shit on the planet. He was the absolute monarch of the most powerful country on the planet. He used the French military to settle personal scores and appropriate resources, especially from the Dutch, for himself and his buddies. He surrounded himself with the richest and coolest people. The people of France were his property to command. World news was centered on him. Inquiring minds of the day wanted to know. Most of his status was bestowed on him because his family was ruthless enough to be at the top of the haves pile in France, but he was also good looking, clever and industrious. He liked to party and he liked to have rich people kiss his ass. He literally thought he was Gods Gift. He built himself a Xanadu with taxpayer money. His belief system led the French Aristocracy to Let them eat cake !
Louie was the biggest celebrity of his day because his family was rich and because of his role in government which he was just lucky enough to be born into. Louie and his ilk in Europe was an unfortunate path towards the road to freedom on this world.
Fortunately, as a general rule, today we are not being led by celebrities...
Imagine Britney with the right to hire an army and attack Paris (Hilton, that is).
Instead, our leaders, at least in The West, are selected primarily from our pool of Lawyers
People trained to argue for a living
People for whom complicated rules for the game of life is good business Am I the only one who sees the fox guarding the henhouse here?
But I digress. True freedom is another story
Can you imagine the marketability of a program like American Idol if the elimination and election process more closely resembled the one that We, The People use to elect our leaders? No wonder participation is so weak. What the hell is a Super Delegate any way? Please tell me that Im not the only one who looks at this process and says to himself, Say what?!?
With so many different colored people with so many different beliefs about who they are and what their place is, Americans are going to be divided about 50% - 50% on almost every question posed to us as a group. Gridlock and extremely complicated rules and procedures will become the norm. The more tasks assigned to the federal level, the tighter the gridlock and the more complicated the rules. Sound familiar?
Why do the major news sources on this planet insist on giving us a play by play of the politics instead of wide discussion of the issues?
Arent the news anchors supposed to ask the questions that We, The People would ask if we could? Why would We ask a major presidential candidate if another candidate has the temperament to be President? (The CBS News, Feb 04, 2008)
How the fuck are you supposed to answer that question?
Uhh, No I think the bastard will go nuts and nuke someone
Is there any reason why the entity with the largest cash flow in the history of the planet cant seem to get out of debt? I know The obvious answer to that one is Congress
We cant just disband Congress, not immediately at least. The problem with our government is that all of the fish are in the same barrel. A barrel called Washington D.C., making it easy to lobby, bribe and corrupt the people, if not the institution.
I Want My Flying Car A Manifest for Revolution
When I arrived here, back in the 60s, The Jettsons were among my favorite T.V. shows on Saturday Morning cartoons. I just knew that by the time I was 50, weekend road trips would be to exotic places like Hawaii and personal cars would fly. It was The Sixties and for budding young me, life was good. My father told me that America was kickin ass in Nam, not that I knew shit from Shinola, but I believed him. Almost everyone I knew had a working father and a mom at home. Cars were cool and fuel was cheap. I could ride my mini-bike for hours on about a dime and dimes were easy to earn. Construction on The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System was well under way, Hot Wheels were fast and America just put a man on the fucking moon. Oh, yeah Life was good.
My earliest road-trip memory is watching my mom, steering with one hand while massaging her tired right ankle while her left toe edged our six-year old Caddie just a smidge over 80. It was late in the second day of a three-day drive from Denver to Rochester, NY. Sticking my tongue out at my sisters, both of whom were relegated to the humiliation of the back seat, I scooted up on my knees because I could (No seatbelts back in 67). Stretching my arm out the open window into the hurricane force wind rushing by, I once again ignored my mothers anecdote about some guy loosing his arm to a passing truck with that stunt. I loved feeling the tug of flight as I tilted my hand up and down in the steady rush, I couldnt wait for flying cars. Three days from Denver to Rochester? I smiled as I imagined piloting my automobile that distance in three hours!
In the 70s, just before I received my training in chemical fueled personal transport craft in Texas, legendary for its open roads and investment in quality highways, the national speed limit was dropped to 55. I cried for a week.
Where is my flying car? What the hell happened? Why didnt the humble chemical fueled automobile give rise to personal aircraft, like the horse and buggy was parked in a museum to clear the way for automobiles? Could it be that there was a shit-load of cash being accumulated by them that were making the cars and the chemical fuel? Could it be that these modern kings were happy with the status quo? Could it be that mergers, consolidation, takeovers and manipulation of the free market economy through lobbying and politics proved cheaper than competing with new ideas? Does anyone remember when oil companies needed to advertise, like real free-enterprise businesses?
Speaking of Political Debate...
Given the proven fact that the technology allowing a woman to terminate her pregnancy... and make no bones about it, because the technology exists, every woman who becomes pregnant has the choice (thank goodness most women, for whatever reason they decide in the privacy of their own hearts, choose to deliver their children)... What do We The People of These United States do about Abortion?
We The People Of The United States have been split about 50 / 50 on this issue since it became an issue. As a nation, we will probably always be about 50 / 50. No agreement of, any majority consensus (like 2/3 or better), will ever be made on this issue... Whats a democracy to do?!?!?! Should we fight another civil war?? Red States -vs- Blue States?? Doesnt that sound productive?
When I am in a group of people and there is a choice to be made and the group is adamantly split 50 / 50, one common, amiable solution is to go to 2 different movies and discuss them later.
What if We The People Of The USA, when faced with something that a clear majority cant be found to agree on, kick those decisions down to The People Of (insert the name of your State here)?
If seventy-five percent of The People of The State of California want to allow abortion in their state, they should be able to. If 75% of The People of The State of Massachusetts wish for gay marriage contracts to be legal, who am I to say they shouldnt? I dont live there and I am free to NOT visit and spend my money there if I dont want to! (Not that I wouldnt Im sure Massachusetts is a wonderful place, and I am tolerant of most alternative lifestyles. (Alternative lifestyles hee hee))
If the majority of people in The Netherlands want to make drugs and prostitution legal in their state, they can... Cant they? Would we propose to take those people to war because we feel that our morals are superior? Who am I to judge?
Arent The People of The State of California at least as trustworthy as The People of The Netherlands? I suppose that if 75% of The People of The United States wanted to impose rules on The People of Holland, then there is a mandate that the other 25% of us must live with... or move to Canada.
Im betting though, that at least 75% of us either respect The People of Holland enough to let them decide for themselves, or dont care enough to make the investment that imposing rules there would require. Why should the people of The State of Kansas live with rules that a politician from Pennsylvania thinks is good for Pittsburgh? Are The People of California more stupid or less trustworthy to decide for themselves than the Dutch? The Texans? The Alaskans?
Who better to decide how people in a given geographic region live than those people? Unless someone can show me EVIDENCE from God that proves that they speak for the Holy Spirit, and free will is no longer an option, Im thinking: Who am I to judge?
If seventy-five percent of the people of Iowa want to make performing an abortion in their state a capital offence shouldnt they also have that right? As long as they dont try to tell The People of New York what technologies they can or cant employ...
What if The People of a state cant agree? What if they also split 50 / 50?
Kick it down to the counties.
If the People of a county cant agree, kick it down to each School District or other sub group.
If We The People of My Little Neighborhood still cant come to a 2/3 or better consensus, it may be a technology, the use of which will have to be decided in each individual home. Isnt there something in some respectable book about freedom coming with some measure of responsibility?
But remember, the only way to make this work is to remember that the technology is not going to simply go away. Our sphere of influence must be restricted like that of a Christian, whos job it is to bring an unbeliever to an awareness of the truth and then step aside and let the Holy Spirit change them from within.
When will We The People learn that morality cant be legislated? Love cant be made the rule, it can only be taught and encouraged.
How About Taxes?
How should We The People collect money from ourselves? Is the current tax codes from all levels of government fair?
What does FAIR mean? Is it a subjective term?
Do we want fair to mean exactly the same burden for all, no matter ones income?
Perhaps fair should be an amount that is based more ones blessings in life?
The first thing we need to decide is how We The People Define FAIR...
I think it is safe to believe that at least 75% of us would want to tax ourselves based at least somewhat on a tax payers ability to pay.
I think that the fairest method of a people taxing themselves is a general sales tax. If you can afford a $80,000 car, you should pay more taxes than someone who can only afford to buy a $20,000 car. If each of the tax payers above paid the same percentage of sale sales tax, wouldnt those taxes would be fair?
Of course there would need to be exempted purchases. What purchases should be exempt?
I dont know... these are the subjects of healthy political debate.
I also firmly believe that America affords enough of an opportunity, and some of us are so blessed by our ability to take advantage of that opportunity, or the circumstances of our birth that allow us unimpeded access to that opportunity, that an income tax should be considered for people making really good money. Call it a Game of life winners tax.
How much money should We The People be able to make tax free? I dont know... these again are the subjects of healthy political debate, but in my opinion the income should be more than most people make, like $500,000 per year.
How far away do we want to make our tax decisions?
What if any given individual, family or business (We The People of A County) paid all of our taxes as taxes we imposed on ourselves in our county, based on what are the economic activities that We The People of That County wanted to encourage and discourage as neighbors? Wouldnt We The People of That County have a much better handle on how that money was converted to public services like education and infrastructure like roads and sewage treatment?
Shouldnt We The People of A County be able to negotiate the construction of a refinery in our own neighborhood because 75% of us see it as a good business move, knowing that We The People are who give permission to build and operate and are the same people who would be affected by and have to police this potentially polluting neighbor? Wouldnt it be nice if the elected individual who gives the oky-doky for a refinery to operate is a person whose office can be invaded by the neighbors of that refinery if the refinery turns out to be an ass-hole of a neighbor?
Until We The People of My Local Region are free to police corporate activity in our own neighborhoods, corporate irresponsible behavior will continue to be a problem. Of course another option is to force the owners of industrial property to live in the community. The further away from a decision between cheap and responsible is made, the more likely cheap will win.
What if The People of a state then collected their tax based on a percentage of the tax revenue stream from all of the counties?
What if We The People Of The United States then collected general revenue taxes based on a percentage of the revenue stream of each state?
Hell, if We The People of The USA took advantage of the profitability of insuring ourselves and the profitability of the real estate that We The People already own, I imagine We The People of The United States could reduce our tax demand from We The People of The States down to less than 10%. There is no reason We The People of Any Given State couldnt invest in income generating assets (real estate) towards increasing State revenue without raising taxes too.
What if we decide by the rule of 75?
If We The People of The United States cant agree on something by a 75% majority, the policy decisions on that issue should be made at the state level.
Can we really trust The People of California to legislate a playing field for themselves that is a good neighbor to The People of Nevada and whose economy will not require the forced slave labor of children???
I think that we can!
Can we really trust The People of Arkansas to realize that educating their citizens is a wise business decision and declaring Baptist as the state religion would be stupid???
I think that we can!
O.K. - Everyone who feels like they are properly represented on ANY level of government, raise your hand...
How many hands went up? I closed my eyes for just a sec
Some night when it is cold and foggy I might read your novel, but tonight ain't that night! lol 
