Nationalistic Musings

I ain't so mad at uncle Sam, gone crazy again and again
other nations playin' with pistols, we use the cruise missiles
overweight and overpaid, caught up in a frantic charade
Americans aren't much more than overgrown kids
playing monopoly with the world and making our bids
swinging on a jungle gym built by madmen long ago

we know from whence it came, but where does it go?
the recess will some day end, change is around the bend
we didn't invent the game, so why we gotta take the blame?
same reason people hatin' Bonds everywhere
we play very well, just not fair

On Me

I honestly feel like a visitor to this world of man. All my life I've seen the stupidity and the cupidity for what it really is: a bad idea. A chilling rain of the insane that drenches me from head to foot. From the age of 4 or so on I couldn't help but notice this decapitated chicken syndrome that makes otherwise smart people run around manically looking for something they can't define, and thus find. As Freud once commented, 'the point of life is death'. Such would seem to be the theme. Why man past and present has sought to improve upon the perfect planet is beyond me. Probably just a craven competition between idiot adolescent bipeds all seeking illusory supremacy. Still, I can't pretend to be disinterested, unfathomably fascinated is probably what one should call it. Just as the cliffs look out upon the tumultuous sea knowing full well that its destiny is to crumble, I stand watch for the ages. Dully noting all the grand but vulgar hubris that my fellow man is manifesting. My eyes are fixed, my ears are open, and my soul is patiently playing its celestial part, as we all must do if we seek to find spiritual sanity in a land of unbridled vanity.

The Gist

Ok, it basically breaks down like this:
Back in the grand old days of old we all wandered around like the rest of God's creatures and everything was hunky dorry. Then slowly we started to adapt a little too well and started to alter our surroundings to benefit us. This is generally called agriculture, and what followed is generally called civilization; although some debate about whether it really is anything to brag about exists (see Mahatma Gandhi). When we started to manifest our own surroundings things got exponentially more complex, so much so that the average person could no longer fully comprehend their surroundings. This gave rise to a caste of people generally called 'leaders' that would dedicate their life to figuring out what the hell is going on and how to proceed. I'm not going to get caught up in praising or denouncing specific leaders, all I'm saying is that they are essentially an eventuality in any situation where people don't have the abililty, time or intelligence to explain the nature of their existence for themselves. Will we all ever get our shit together and finally start working together without the barrier of these so called 'leaders'? Like many things, only time will tell.

Common Nonsense

You'll have to excuse me if I speak of nothing but bliss

it's because I feel it's a world many Americans miss
perhaps we all really know
over consumption isn't the way to go
still we go along like it's all a ball
denying the inevitablility of the fall
open up the eyes of your mind
see that we are in terminal decline
all the plastic adds they can create
will never conceal the underlying hate
the oppression that fuels this sad symphony
we can break those chains if we are only happy
no longer need the shopping cart or Wal-Mart
because we as a people can act from the heart
fill the world with rayes of hope and imagination
spread our arms wide to embrace all of creation

Fire to Babylon

Fire to Babylon is ancient thought, that has been long sought. It started when the Israelites sat by the rivers of Babylon, and began to sing the divine song. It is a metaphor, I hope you can see, about mankind's yearning to be free. Up in this day and age, people trying like hell to take that away. But they can only fail and flail, as we with the eternal heart keep producing inspired art. Just as in way back in the day, they tryin' once again to do today. Constantly they telling you, all the things we supposedly got to do. Eat not of their bowl-o-shit, no matter how much they spit it in your face, they can't touch your undying grace. As we sit in the land of the two rivers, we can clearly see that we must always be givers. Some leaders grasp at the world with a deformed hand, but that isn't the mentality of any great man. With that priceless ancient vision, we can all make out our mission. This world of pain will all soon be gone, because we set fire to Babylon.

The Hike

Here comes the flow

fallin down like snow

Covering the ground

not making a sound

It wells up from deep inside

and it's beauty I can not hide

In the crystal clearest imagery

that can be conjoured in reality

here is my mentality:

we walk up this great mountain alone

and eventually the view we are shone

and when we finally get up and see

the infinite beauties of this thing humanity

and the deep worth of dear mother earth

it is a view that reveals to you

the things that you must do

and thus you begin to run

back down the mountain

from whence you came

no longer to place any blame or feel shame

but to embrace them with all passion and power

of an eternal tree growing more, hour after hour

big brain with many thoughts you now no need

you no longer sofa king re taught deed

Song of Socrates

Broken path forward lead
no more I see need
jump they say
me think no way
obstruction of mind
cleared by sign
seeds sown deep
inspiration we reap
see clearly all blind
locked in deep mine
dig deep for ore
reach core
no more warm bed
that world be dead

Seppuku

After a brief review of today's paper, it becomes evident to me that November the Sixteenth is going to be another brick in the wall. It seems as though humanity is becoming more and more determined to commit social seppuku on a mass scale. In a very peculiar way I get the feeling that everyone is on some level cognizant that we are really going to fuck things up this time. Perhaps it is only the hyper-consumers in bourgeois societies around the globe that are truly involved, I don't presume to know. Seeing as how the aforementioned world is the only one I've ever known, I thus have a tendency to consider it the only one around. My point in all this is that even the manner in which I've been trained to think is a pivotal part of this ephemeral problem. My statement earlier that 'today is going to be another brick in the wall' is typical of the western conception of history. That is to say, associating ourselves so much with the mistakes of the past that we view present society as unavoidable, and even self justifying. Occasionally people get greedy or desperate enough to use our latent genius to acquire some material thing we individually or collectivley want, but the epic imagination of man seems lost in this mental wilderness of our own creation. By the progress of technology in the past few decades we see not an improvement of culture, but quite the opposite. The nature of laissez-faire economics is to not withhold any invention-excepting of course those various state commissioned weapons of ever increasing lethality. Throughout history we see countless examples of inventions, and revolutionary thought in general, making or breaking civilizations. I think it is clear that the world is becoming more aware of itself daily, and consequently people are in some indefinable way entering into a collective sense of global consciousness. I can never think ill of this trend. However, by putting all our proverbial eggs in one basket, these inventions will make or break the human population on earth. Personally I firmly believe that the potential for success always outweighs that of failure; and yet I can't help getting a feeling of impending doom. Deeply do I hope that this is just the result of what I previously dubbed the 'western conception of history'. That despite all evidence to the contrary, mankind is entering into an era that will outshine all that has come before and that the collective imagination of the world will break with all the destructive proclivities of the past, thus helping us all to become more harmonious. My trained western mind is screaming for me to be pragmatic. Consider all the previous follies of mankind and don't get your hopes up it howls. And it is that kind of thinking, ladies and gentlemen, that constitutes the entire problem with this mental wilderness that has taken root. A lack of imagination, and the accompanying dose of hope, predetermines failure. It is what I would call in academic jargon, a self substantiating perception of reality. To illustrate it in a different way- sure, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. But if you insist on telling it that the water tastes like shit and is going to give it dysentery then who is ever going to want to drink?...

Why the Fascists will win

In these modern days anyone with any perspective must admit that people seem to be getting markedly more stupid. Some blame Fox News and the other propaganda organs of power. Sure, Rupert Murdoch makes certain that his companies belch nothing but biased one sided party jargon, but so what? Any political party is in essence a vehicle for groupthink. You sign away your ability to think for yourself and subscribe to a pedantic world view as espoused by your political representatives. That is how bourgeois party politics works. So what right does any of us have to criticize the Republicans for playing the game like pros? It isn't like the media is this sacrosanct organ of democracy that some people think it is. From the beginning, papers are nothing more than the platform from which one group or another, pitches their take on reality. So when Fox News starts going off about anything, they are just doing their job. Like the various parties of the Weimar Republic, political parties of all stripes in America just simply don't know how to combat the effectiveness of Republican propaganda. Thus do they decry media consolidation and corporate influence, like it is some new plague. The fact of the matter is, capitalism based democracy is a dirty business, always has been, always will be. All that nonsense about the Constitution and freedom is really just an idea; a concept sold to children to make them think they are living in an ideal society. Blaming Republicans for the insidious nature of politics is about as stupid and ignorant as thought gets. It is like blaming Michael Jordan for raising the bar in the NBA. The only certain result from party politics is that the most effective users of propaganda win...end of story... So next time you think about bashing a party, left or right, take a moment to acknowledge that you are an idiot for associating with them anyway. Power doesn't well up from some mystical spring in Washington DC, it comes from people. If only people could understand that propaganda is little more than brainwashing done through subtle means, maybe we would start turning our TVs off and start thinking.

November 8th 2006-day of the Pyrrhic victory

People sometimes aren't fully conscious of what it means to be an American in this day and age, perhaps that is why it all works. You see, the USofA has this little reputation for being the one country you just plain don't fuck with. The first war we got into as a country (after of course the War for Independence) was against the Barbary Coast. Now the Barbary coast was really just a bunch of pirates that exacted tribute for passing through their little part of the Mediterranean. Every other nation just accepted the fee as the cost of operating. Well the young little Republic of America just wasn't down to play like that. We rolled over the Barbary state and have pretty much rolled over anyone else who has messed with us since. Now some people think democracies are supposed to be inherently peaceful, that is rubbish. The first sincere democracy on record was Athens, and they were so sanguinary expansionist that they eventually were defeated in the Pelopenessian War by a broad alliance of other Greek states. The fact of the matter is that in a economically competitive world the collective egoism of nationalism will always lead political leaders to desire to demonstrate our power. It is often said that power corrupts, well what then of a nation of millions with power fairly evenly distributed amongst them? Does the corrupting power decrease as it is disseminated? I tend to think only the blame is lessened, but certainly not the destructive nature of power. As America came onto the world scene around 1800 the whole western world was doing this thing called imperialism, which is really just a name for a type of Capitalism. Well, a somewhat educated and independently minded America decided to play like the big boys did and build up an army and navy so we could bludgeon anyone with our might that we saw fit. After we had beaten the Barbary States in the first 1801-1805 and second 1815 wars we decided we liked the collective power and authority organized violence for economic gain bestowed. Thus followed a long list, here is a short version: Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Greece, Argentina, Peru, Fiji, Samoa, China, Turkey, Nicaragua, Japan, Uruguay, Panama, Columbia, Paraguay, Angola, Ourselves in the Civil War, Korea, Hawaii, Haiti, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela- and that is only up to 1900! Believe me, we didn't really get to whopping ass until the 20th centry. As Americans we need to face a fact: we roll on fools, and we roll hard. So now, one must ask oneself after accepting this fact, how hilarious is it that the Democratic party is pitching itself as the party of peace? Having already written plenty for one blog let it suffice to say I think that is nothing but ignorant nonsense.

Elections

I don't like elections, at least not in a socially and economically stratified society. It seems to me a half measure clearly meant to trick the lower classes into thinking that there is equality, which is pretty far from the truth. People get to go play at democracy once in awhile, yes. They vote for which representative of the elites they like best, and then go home feeling that their civic duty has been fulfilled. Well, as far as I'm concerned, if something makes you feel good and it doesn't hurt anyone, then far out. The problem is though, that our elected officials have the most powerful military and economic machine ever conceived and they use it to be international ticksters. They exploit, murder, incorporate, subsidize, utilize and oppress people all over the planet, including many segments of our own society. Since we are so proud of telling the world how great and perfect our form of democracy is, people think that Americans must like our leaders or else we wouldn't keep electing them. So naturally they blame us for all the insidious machinations of the moneyed classes which runs this corpora...sorry...I mean country. Well, if you really want to show the world that you don't support it, maybe instead of voting and complaining about the result you should consider not voting at all. The corporations run this country, that much is undeniable. It is their power that chooses which person gets into office, not ours. So why keep playing this redundant game? I'm bored of checkers, lets play chess.

Courage

My name is Ali and I am free

I am Twelve years old, and I am bold

No fear in my veins, although my life is pain

Fearlessly I tread, on the path of the dead

As a martyr I shall live, with only my life to give

Hope

"The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts."
-John Locke
Despair is what seems to predominate most youth these days. Assailed from childhood with advertisements and the mental prison of public indoctrination it should be no surprise. Breaking their spirits day by day until the tragedy of their teens, in which most act out or retreat inward. Either way by the time adulthood arrives, if such a term can even be used in America these days, they are quite often desperately inundated with despair. If they are lucky they have found refuge, perhaps in religion, a cause or sometimes even a job. For the rest however there is only a sort of pathetic remorse at having ever been born. Decadence is the most common and prevalent answer that I've noticed. Trying to drown their sorrow in designer drugs, alcohol and mind numbing tools of all sorts makes their despair a pastime. People of the older generations bitch about how we youngsters don't vote. But what is their to vote for? Another self serving frontman for corporate Americas seemingly endless apatite for ever more currency? Or maybe some charlatans who promises the world and delivers nothing but a harsh lesson in the foolishness of trust? No, if nothing else comes from this despair, it is a rather politically accurate realization that the product that our culture is selling is really not worth buying into. There is really only one real cure for despair, and that is hope. Hope that someday things will get better. Hope that the delineation of the world between ruler and ruled will disappear. Maybe even hope that the entire structure of western thought that has brought us to this deplorable state will be forever renounced for the false prophet that it really is. I myself found my cure in part in knowledge. Knowledge of the system, history, geopolitics, different cultures and all else I could acquire through conversation and reading. The one thing that did the most however to save me from the despair induced materialism that dominates America's youth is this: the quest to join the ranks of all decent people past and present who have done all they could to save humanity from the cold hand of hopelessness and despair. In that quest I've found a reason to keep my mind pure and free in the hope that some day people will break the chains of their mental inertia and ascend to the heights that I sincerely believe mankind is capable of.

Songs of a caged bird

One can't conclude much, unless one excludes much. And to generalize is, in essence, to tell lies. These things aren't exactly closely guarded secrets. How is it then that people, in all other ways rather intelligent, can just accept all the senseless lies that were told them in youth? They can read Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, but they can't accept that our entire society is based on slavery and genocide. Rather interesting paradox. My song goes:
Life is funny, when you exist to make money.
The deeper path is long lost, covered in frost
from the cold calculations, of a savage nation
can people return to life, after corporate strife?
Such is my dream, it remains to be seen...

Can only wonder

I wonder what people think when Americans come to town. What perspective those people have when vague rumors of technology, aggression and ideology wafting in with the columns of motorized vehicles and camouflaged troops. Throwing money around like it is confetti and preaching about how they are taking over to give you something you supposedly have never had, freedom. Compare to the doldrums of average oppression it must seem rather exotic; this elaborate explanation and justification. Surely with a reputation like America's no one actually believes such silly notions as liberty, democracy or freedom... or do they? Although the words are clearly hollow the fact remains that the majority of the world supports them and has already signed on to the program. The complete stupidity of those who resist and act like barbaric buffons only leads you to want the corporate world more and more. For if the American dream is anything it is comfort and safety. That fact is also why Terrorism is such a potent weapon against the US.

Funniest News Article Ever

The following is a short story that was on CNN's website, if it was from any other source I'd think it a joke:

OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy -- almost impenetrable forests of marijuana plants 10 feet tall.

General Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defense staff, said Thursday that Taliban fighters were using the forests as cover. In response, the crew of at least one armored car had camouflaged their vehicle with marijuana.

"The challenge is that marijuana plants absorb energy, heat very readily. It's very difficult to penetrate with thermal devices. ... And as a result you really have to be careful that the Taliban don't dodge in and out of those marijuana forests," he said in a speech in Ottawa, Canada.

"We tried burning them with white phosphorous -- it didn't work. We tried burning them with diesel -- it didn't work. The plants are so full of water right now ... that we simply couldn't burn them," he said.

Even successful incineration had its drawbacks.

"A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those [forests] did catch on fire. But a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action," Hiller said dryly.

One soldier told him later: "Sir, three years ago before I joined the army, I never thought I'd say 'That damn marijuana'."

Ignorance is Bliss

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
Americans have very little notion of what is happening in the rest of the world. And if they actually do care and try to find out, they usually content themselves to watching various domestic news sources that tell them nothing but what they want to hear; something fascinating, a little of the morbid and a lot of the sensational. Thus are we able to sleep in our beds in our houses in our various cities or suburban conglomerations all across the country. Such notions as class and poverty are vague concepts that, although hard to miss, are easy to ignore in a country where 98% of the population has a TV. Rumors of the occasional revolution or coup or famine or war occasionally are heard, but easy to dismiss as anomalies or the natural functioning of the world and be twisted into just another opportunity for self-aggrandizing reporters to show their skill at hiding the truth. Truth you say, what is that? The truth is just a plain picture, which is apparently is a hard sell these days. Let me give you an example. We are told that we are in a life and death struggle with militant Islamic terrorists, who are for no explainable reason hell bent on taking away our precious freedom. Say what you will about the objectivity of the media, that is undeniably how they put it to us. Well fine, I guess that is certainly a perspective, but here is another. We have been engaged in a 75 year long free for all for the exploitation of Southwest Asia's resources with the necessary accompaniment of political control of its people and they are finally beginning to collectively come to the realization of that fact. Having acquired this new consciousness they naturally turn to the only people with the courage to stand up against our outrageously powerful military, the fact that these people are fearlessly devout Muslims is purely coincidental and a result of circumstance. Now I'm very ready to admit that my view is just as subject to criticism and rebuke as there's, but it is just as valid, probably even more so since I'm at least trying to use some historical facts as a basis for my assertions. How about this, what would the media be squawking about if we didn't have all the Muslims to hate on? They would be all about Chinese expantionism, North Korean nuclear insanity, or maybe go back to beating the old anti-Russian drum again. This isn't the medias fault, they produce a product to be consumed just like everyone else. The one they are pitching is as old as dirt, the concept of the other, and their is very little reason to believe we are going to stop eating it up any time soon. So the natural question that we get from all this: Why do people in the US prefer being spoon fed their geopolitics to just actually deducing it for themselves? Rather than tell you what I think, answer that one out for yourself!

Oh man, we so funny. Running around like maniacal bunnies. I wish I could dismiss us all as dummies. But some of us drop knowledge in our tummies. But all the same, we go insane, play the white cracker game. Each day a few more sell out and few more buy in, I can't even really call it sin. More like despair induced materialism. Suppose I'm really not the one to say, not my duty to pass judgment anyway. Better off by far, go out into the world and build up a scar. A big old one, over where my heart used to be, pain on suffering, then some misery. Then perchance to dream, or more realistically make a big scene; sounds more like me. Spit out some verses like life damning curses. Watch the eyes stare in confusion as I go off on social fusion. Tell all the whites to find someone to night of a different shade, culture and creed. All the children will be on the border, of all the stereotypes and world order. Then those kids will have a chance, to make good on life's promise and just dance, to the new music that I'm sure they'll be producing. Yup, crazy as me, better off just bypassing the whole scene, of the maniacal bunnies that be so funny.

Groupthink

It came upon mankind one day. As we sat in the innocence of the worlds way. A person saw that if people think others all want something, they will go along with anything. From that day forth groupthink was the weapon of the leaders. A tool so effective that it would fit into the hands of any deceiver. Every nation that was ever established, was upon this notion mostly brandished; like a sword in the light, the people could only stare with a mixture of wonder and fright. Their own power multiplied by the ability of their leaders to lie, and the inability of anyone to cry: 'this isn't what we we want, it is only a imposed thought!'. All the wars and tribulations, of all peoples and nations. It is the charisma in voices, and the inability of people to make their own choices. A power so immense that once unleashed, it ravaged the world like some demonic beast. For good or ill, we have opened this Pandora's Box. People today fill the air with talk. Saying that what is shall go away, and that we have hope for a better day. But all the while they are in denial, of the nature of what makes us defile, ourselves and our reality. It's the gang mentality. Perhaps some day we will once again revert, no longer allow them to pervert, our souls and minds. Free our selves from the illusion of time. Maybe even the notion of an individual life, and thus avoid the charlatans incessant strife. We ate of the fruit, we took Prometheus' fire, but do we have the ability to forsake the liar. The spectacle we create may be great, but this madness must abate. It will either be us, or the earth that shakes us, from this historic dream. From the well of sorrow we never had to drink, only overcome this thing we call groupthink.

Lines in Rhyme for Our Time

sitting in rooms
breath in the fumes
of this fabricated age
the world is now a stage
a showroom from which to sell
the sound of the stock market bell
listen, talk, call, watch, work, buy, drive
to make it in this new world you must strive
don't try to combat the madness with your will
for if you do you're insane, and you'll get fed a pill

'tis a fatal embrace
joining the new race
becoming a hyper consumer
an itinerate information boomer
no more time for precious introspection
this new world requires your constant attention
in a reality spreading like aids whole world wide
believe my warning, there's no where to hide
the world of natural beauty still exists
as long as some resist, it shall persist

sine quo non

We stand on the precipice, looking down into darkness so immense that we can not comprehend it and think it is something imagined; a horrible dream that can never come true. Telling ourselves that our materialism doesn't really define who we are, but in reality it is as much of a religion as any the world has ever produced. A faith so expansive and complete that it justifies all. We rape the earth with such avarice and viciously lash out at our fellow human beings for reasons no one else understands. Caught up so totally in this religion we can't even acknowledge that our society is crumbling and is only propped up by our evangelical cause distracting our attention to far away places where people are dying for our faith and because of it. Everything has become a commodity, even ourselves. We know nothing of life but insist that we are in a position to educate others, and do so with a passion that defines so many other religions. Soon it will all come to an abrupt end. Like children we shall awake to find the desolation we have created and only be able to weep for our multitude of sins. A rain of tears so long in the making that it will wash away all the lies and assumptions. Propelling us to forever forsake our once precious faith for that of sustainable survival. For in the end there is only life, and without it, nothing.

Idealism

"You are all already Buddhas. You need to achieve nothing. Open your eyes."
-Shakyamuni Buddha
As far as I've ever been able to discern, the two most distinct types of people are those who believe in what this quote says, and those who are incapable of holding such high opinions of humanity.

Threshold Theory

"We learn from history that we do not learn from history." That brilliant quote comes from that most profound of Philosophers, Hegel, and within it lies the fundamental paradox of modern history. We are now at a faze in which everything is carefully documented and preserved for the benefit of future generations. There's only one small problem with this, collectively we consistently prove incapable of doing so. It is universally accepted that it is impossible for people to write history until at least 25 years after an event occurs. This is primarily explained on the basis of the unavoidable nature of bias when one is closely linked to the times in which one lives. This is probably true, but I prefer the explanation given by the Threshold Theory. It rather simply states that the vast majority of people will choose not to accept a fact if it causes their brains to reanalyze to many previously accepted concepts, and thus no matter how valid the observation they are confronted with is, they will necessarily disregard it and/or switch into apathy mode as a subconcious defence mechanism. This is most commonly expressed through the expression: "I'm not ready to accept that". A lie readily accepted is often very difficult to discard. For example, most westerners still believe in the concept of Western Civilization as positive, or at the very least necessary, force upon the world. This is something that western culture has accepted as a fact since the time of the Renaissance. Well, despite all our achievements in the realm of science and art we refuse to admit that the only thing we really have ever had on the rest of the world is an indisputable ability to visit organized violence en masse upon peoples. But accepting this would go against years of schooling and generations of arrogance; and thus most people can't acknowledge this rather glaring fact that uneducated people in the so called Third World are completely ready to accept as fact. Another good example of this is how we call our essentially Imperialist and racist behavior as 'peace keeping'. Once again claiming a sort of moral and logical superiority to the people we are bringing our 'peace' to, even though we have sometimes ostensibly rejected these notions (e.g. today's Europe). We are getting to the point in which we starting to regard some of our assumptions as mistaken, but only in part, the broader underlying thesis is still maintained and preserved as indispensable. Although you might 'not be ready to accept this', you better damn well believe the people who call themselves your leaders do, and furthermore, sustain their authority through it. By heaping more and more lies onto the mountain of previously accepted lies, they are ensuring that most people will never be able to move beyond these notions in their lifetime. Don't think for a second that I think myself above this cruel aspect of the human psyche, or even that I'm saying something original by pointing it out. I merely like to discuss such things as a process of self awareness in which I hope to encourage in myself and others the idea that accepting anything as a 'truth' is just going to lead to your mind getting attached to it and basing a lot of subsequent 'truths' on it. We aren't born with these notions, and I'm fairly confident we don't get to keep them when we die, so why take them so horribly serious in between and play into self-serving leaders hands?

SCREAM

Monkeys and monkeys and monkeys called men

reveling in cacophony and sin

call it corrupt, call it madness

no matter how much you see there's something you miss

It sorta makes sense

crazy and random and oh so intense

keeps you paying attention to the charade

don't cry be scarred or even complain, enjoy the parade

My attempt at veracity

It isn't always easy to be honest with others, but it's a far more difficult thing to be honest with oneself. Some days however, you get just the right brain chemistry going to be able to accept it all. Such is today for me. I am looking back on my previous posts realizing how much I have been pontificating and how little I have actually been expressing of who I am. What incites me to make my assertions of truth is to see people in recent history making the same mistakes over and over again, all the while claiming to have progressed so far. "To be rational is so glorious a thing, that two-legged creatures generally content themselves with the title.". John Locke said that, and I feel that it pretty much sums up the arrogance of western thought. I can't help but believe that most people are pretty decent, and if they're not then it's usually easy to see why that is too. Perhaps I'm just a fool for hoping that some day we are going to reach a point when rationalism or altruism trumps such emotions as fear, selfishness and greed as the primary motivation for peoples actions. Maybe I should just accept the verdict of the great Buddha that suffering is inevitable as long as there is desire. It all just seems completely self imposed through stupidity and ignorance. It's hard for me to watch so many people resort to drugs and alcohol to get them through each day. There is nothing wrong with drugs as a recreational tool, but when we need them every day just to keep going, that's something different. What are we coming to when the only reason we voluntarily socialize anymore is just to get intoxicated? Am I such a ridiculous idealist in thinking that humans should be capable of more? I'm sorry, rhetorical questions are about as useful as pontificating. All I'm trying to say here is that I think we could be so very happy if only we had the ability to discipline our collective behavior. I don't like the sort of top down authoritarian way that the communists tried to do it, it must be organic to my thinking to have any chance of success. But once again, I must concede that such high minded hopes for our world are just my way of coping with this rambling symphony of sadness we call a country.

The Fear

"Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once."
-Shakespeare (Julius Caesar Act II, scene 2)
I recently went to an event put on by a group of intellectuals who attempt to tell the truth where the media tells lies, a noble endeavor. This particular one was about the fallacies that were told about 9/11. Well anyway, before it began a man jumped up onto the stage and began to shout about how these intellectuals will only tell you the temperature of the water but not how to dry off. He proceeded to expound that all the talking in the world accomplishes nothing and that if we really cared about what our leaders were doing we would start a general strike that would bring our government to its knees. This man was of course booed and physically forced to leave after about 30 seconds. I might have been the only one in the audience who truly felt for this poor guy who actually thought that people really want to stick their necks out to precipitate change. Marx once wrote that "the workers have nothing to loose but their chains", which was true at one point. Now the workers of bourgeois America have a life of unparalleled extravagance and ease. This is the primary reason, even if they deny it unto the grave, that such intellectuals content themselves to just talking a lot and patting themselves on the back for how well they talk. They would never dream of sacrificing such a luxurious life for the great unknown of revolt, no matter how many foreigners or poor peoples lives our government destroys. They are simply afraid of a life in which everything they have known would simply vanish and they would have to learn how to survive without television, SUVs, cell phones and all the other consumer distractions. How have we grown so weak and servile? Our founding fathers had a lot to loose by rebelling against England, and many of them lost it all in the struggle, but they did it anyway.

Terra Incognita

When people call me anti-American, it makes me feel as though what I'm saying is on the right track. The petty myopia of nationalism, race, religion and class is the grand tragedy of mankind throughout the ages. Now the dialectic progression of history has brought us to the US, or perhaps more accurately, Capitalist, domination of the earth that we see today. People generally are afraid to question things upon which rests their entire reality and way of life. So be it. I recently came across something written by Thomas Carlyle (18th century Scottish historian) that more eloquently than I could ever hope to, states how I feel about this current paradigm and where it is bound to lead: "Your Society, your Household, practical and spiritual Arrangement, is untrue, unjust, offensive to the eye of God and man. Nevertheless its hearth is warm, its larder well replenished: the innumerable Swiss of Heaven, with a kind of natural loyalty, gather round it; will prove, by pampleteering, musketeering, that it is truth; or if not an unmixed (unearthly, impossible) Truth, then better, a wholesomely attempted one , and works well. Changed outlook, however, when the purse and larder grow empty! Was your Arrangement so true, so accordant to Nature's ways, then how, in the name of wonder, has Nature, with her infinite bounty, come to leave it famishing there? To all men, to all women and all children, it is not indubitable that your Arrangement was false. Honour to Bankruptcy; ever righteous on the grand scale, though in deatail it is so cruel! Under all Falsehoods it works, unweariedly mining. No Falsehood, did it rise heaven high and cover the world, but bankruptcy, one day, will sweep it down, and make us free of it."
Now here we are, as a society, very close to the bankrupcy that Carlyle spoke of. Rather than travel the well beaten path of decadence, decline and anarchy we are arriving at a point in time which might allow for a more deliberate and sustainable existence, if we have the collective courage to change this edifice before it all comes crashing down. But, as always, 'you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink'. So be it.

human history in 8 lines

people don't know how to think
as their lifetime passes by
they only know how to blink
then unceremoniously die

couldn't see beyond the self
can't really be to blame
thinking only of their health
because we're all the same

Foreign Policy in S.W. Asia

One consistent complaint of the establishment these days in response to criticism about its foreign policy in South West Asia is, 'well I don't see you having any better ideas'. I can totally understand that statement because Democrats content themselves with just being critical, never actually offering up any alternative ideas except throwing up their hands in confusion. Now I am pretty much completely off the political map, but regardless of that, I would like to offer up my idea of how to win the 'War on Terror'. It's really quite simple. The main cause of such rabid anti-Americanism among Muslims is a feeling that the Islamic world has been perpetually getting abused and used since it was divided into arbitrary nations at the end of WWI, and to a large extent, they are right. It is this deeply ingrained sense of betrayal that is the fuel to the terrorist's fire. So what I propose is a very simple stratagem that I think would solve western civilization's conflict with the Muslim world. First off, there would have to be a very public and sincere apology by western heads of state for The Crusades, 20th and 21st century Imperialism, Zionism, and our general insensitivity towards Muslim culture; followed by a pledge to never let that happen again. We would also have to have the intention of actually living up to this statement and start doing so immediately. After this was done the US would have to announce its intention to support the unification of the Arab world and a general plebiscite to decide its political future thereafter. Not only would this totally take the wind out militant Muslim groups sails, but it would also cause pandemonium among the Arab despots who currently run all the countries in the region. Lebanese, Syrians, Jordanians, Egyptians, Iraqis, and the peoples who inhabit the Arabian peninsula would all of a sudden have the support of the US government to create a pan Arab state that could once again make them proud. The complete opposition of their tyrants can be counted on, and to my thinking, this is a good thing. For it would necessitate that the masses themselves would need to make a concerted effort to overthrow those regimes and start working together to create an Arab nation that could satisfy the peoples needs. The Arab world has never undergone a true social revolution, and if they are ever going to get organized it must occur. No matter how it all turned out, one thing would be relatively certain, Muslims would no longer have a reason to blame the US for their pitiful political situation. And even if they did, would be far to busy to act on it. This is the best hope for the US to actually help create a stable South West Asia in the long term. We have been arrogant and foolhardy long enough and it has only gotten us to kill and be killed. Why not try something new?

Global Debate

"We think the special privileges that America and Britain are taking advantage of today are the origin of all disturbances in the world. Isn't it time that international relations are founded on democracy and equal rights of the nations? I suggest holding a live TV debate with Mr. George W. Bush to talk about world affairs and the ways to solve those issues the debate should be go uncensored in order for the American people to be able to listen to what we say and they should not restrict the American people from hearing the truth."
That was a quote from President Ahmadinejad of Iran. Now this little guy has a penchant for hyperbole that only an ignorant fool could fail to overlook. The reason that I post this is because it gives a perfect example as to why the international community (and I don't mean the G8, but the other 186 countries out there) hate America so much. We let our politicians make global proclamations about democracy, liberty and equality all the while doing things overseas that are in effect the complete antithesis of those ideals. The countries, like Iran, that have the courage to stand up to us will always have the moral upper hand as long as we here in the USA let such hypocritical filth emanate from the only spokesmen that the world generally gets to hear, the US President. I use the word 'let' very deliberately because it's the government that should be afraid of its people, and not the other way around.

Iraq 103

"A liberal is never happier than when he can think that the person screwing him over politically is stupid."
That quote right there is from my man Michael Parenti, and will kick off our third lesson about Iraq which will focus on the question of 'why?'. As with most wars this one is purely economic at its core, although it is covered with an insulating layer of ideology. When it's all said and done, 20 years from now people might refer to 'pulling a Bush' to mean playing dumb when in fact your actually being quite cunning. For example, most people think the war in Iraq is a huge failure for the US. Well, for the average American that would be correct, but to the power elite who run this 'democracy' it would be false. A general misconception is that the goal of invading Iraq was to liberate their oil fields, not so. It wasn't the pedantic neo-cons who were so publicly jingoistic and did all the dirty work of lying and bribing to get the invasion rolling that really started this, the real culprit was big oil. And their goal was in fact to not retrieve the oil and ensure no one else could. Now lets use our brains here people. Say your a CEO of Exxon Mobile and you want to increase the price of your one product, oil, what do you do? Their answer was beautifully simple, use the US military to disturb the supply of oil and thus drive up prices and scare the crap out of any country that had ever thought of any economic alternative to going along with the oil cartels. A very closely guarded secret is that oil is an artificially scarce commodity, and that's the way the people who sell it like it. Capitalism has been embraced by every major country on earth and as a result the demand for oil is going higher and higher. Countries like China with booming economies need it like an addict needs his next fix. Now don't think that the people who invaded Iraq are trying to be patriotic by making things difficult for our potential rivals, they just want as much money out of their growth as they can get. So as most Americans piss and moan about the evils of the Bush Administration the fat cats get fatter. Meanwhile people all over the world are beginning to notice that the American definition of freedom is the freedom to be endlessly exploited by monolithic and entrenched corporations from overseas that are near impossible to resist because the US military is their pimp. And as Iraq brilliantly illustrates, this is one pimp you don't want coming after you for not paying its whores.

Insanity is a full time job

One of my favorite bands lyrically is Bad Religion, and they have this song that goes: "insanity is a full time job that you believe in sanity". I really like that line and relate to it completely. Today as I sat reading in a park it dawned on me that perhaps insanity is just a point when you stop being understood by others, and if that is so then isn't every free thinking person dangerously close to the precipice. Perhaps that's why people seem so ambivalent about living in close proximity, they fear that those that surround them might collectively revoke their sanity status at any moment but at the same time need them around to ensure that they are sane; a rather profound paradox when you think about it. The Lord's Resistance Army has as of today decided to sign a truce with the government of Uganda. This is a big deal to my thinking because these people did every sort of atrocity that human kind is capable of. Went out to the brink of crazed self deprivation in every way imaginable. They were one of those movements that never thought of gaining popular support and only maintained themselves through their own brutality. The only real ideology they ever claimed was that their founder and leader Joseph Cony was a spiritual medium who conversed with God, so believe me when I say by all conventional thinking, these are some crazy people. But now they have signed a peace treaty! After 20 years of complete moral abandon and blood drenched debauchery they want to come back! Such strange happenings really make me analyze myself as a human, and naturally the other 6 billion of us on this strange place we call Earth. This ephemeral thing we call sanity is an elusive thing for people who are as given to contemplation as me, I can only hope that you don't have to consciously wrestle with it like I do daily.

what to think of it all?

Some days, today being one of them, I am completely flabbergasted at my society. I really don't mean to seem condescending or self-righteous, for I'm as much a part of it as anyone else. Having said that, it truly confounds me that people feel they absolutely have to work their fingers to the bones in the city so that they can have a nice house outside of it where they can raise their kids hiding them from the savage rat race until they are then cruelly demanded to step up and do the same. This is even more confusing when one considers that they spend a unhealthy portion of their day trapped in a car commuting between the two locations killing the planet and their peace of mind in the process. It always reminds me of the sign that was hung on the entrance to Auschwitz: "Arbeit Macht Frei" (The work will set you free). Granted it's an extremely different circumstance than a concentration camp. However, the motto and it's insidious implications are still very pertinent. I feel that in many ways it is the crux of what happened to make the European and later the American psyche so utterly unique, or to my thinking, deranged. This deeply held cultural belief that by keeping our bodies and minds busy with all sorts of labor we will somehow fulfill our purpose in existing. Max Weber called it the 'Protestant Work Ethic', and maybe he was right. However I think its more of a result of the bloodthirsty culture that was created in which might makes right and only the strong should survive. A sort of spiritual social Darwinism in which people who are more inclined to reflection and contemplation are pushed aside to make room for those who would sacrifice anything for money, power, prestige and the like. It was this sort of thinking that led to Imperialism and the subsequent spread of this way of life like a plague the world over. I truly feel deep down that all people still long for a life that they can make sense of and be proud of. Not this sort of all consuming lifestyle in which we have to struggle to find time to spend with our families,take care of our bodies and ponder lives many mysteries. Many people turn to religion these days as a refuge from this tidal wave of desire and hope that the hereafter will consist of all the things we denied ourselves in this existence. Such thinking is destructive in my mind because it makes people justify their careless behavior with their time on earth thinking that they will have an eternity in the next to just lounge about in heaven basking in glory. It all seems like a cruel ruse to keep people from realizing the true preciousness of the days they so mechanically fill with busywork. Perhaps I'm just lazy and am looking for a justification for feeling like that life just isn't for me. But maybe, just maybe, there is something better for all of us out there and we are just to damned preoccupied to see it...

Untitled

Life is the most beautiful thing any of us will ever know
Death is the thing that makes it so
Why so many rush through it without appreciating it as a whole
Is a thing I'm truly glad I do not know

The mass of humanity that writhes on the surface of this earth
Seems to have forgotten the purpose for their birth
Tragic as this may seem, no doubt the way things have always been
Shed tears for an unhappy race toiling away amid the din

Where we are going I've studied and pondered long
How indeed have we become so far gone?
People unthinkingly warping the world from our decadence
And when I look around I see no repentance

Perhaps their is some hope left yet
Hidden deep inside everyone I bet
A primeval need for balance and space
Quite contrary to our current insane pace

the new mason-dixie line

As most people reading this probably already know I'm not a big fan of the current capitalist paradigm. The primary reason for this is that I think the sort relationships fostered by this system is inherently detrimental to being a human being. In antebellum America their was an invisible line dividing the north and south called the Mason-Dixie line. It was in essence a line dividing two different sorts of exploitation, one centered on slave labor, the other on industrial wage earning labor. In our modern world the entire planet is divided by an invisible line much like it was then. That line divides the exploited and exploiter, it acknowledges no national or geographic boundaries and applies to every life on earth. It is difficult for people in the west to swallow this rather rough fact, but I believe it is essential if we are ever going to move beyond it. Those on the bottom (e.g. a textile worker in Bangladesh subsisting on starvation wages) and the top (e.g. a CEO or corporate manager in a G8 country) have a pretty clear view where they stand on the class line, but all those millions of people in the middle often don't. A great deal of people in America like to think of themselves as middle-class, seemingly dodging any need to be classified as exploiter or exploited, just hard working American folk. I take issue with this view for one simple fact. From its inception during the middle ages the bourgeoisie has never been anything but a buffer class for the elite. It was a sort of compromise struck between the traditional medieval aristocracy and the ambitious members of the population that demanded a bigger piece of the pie in return for their tireless labors. This also marked the beginning of nationalism as more and more people began to identify themselves as members of a nation rather than subjects of a king. In time the bourgeoisie came to realize that they didn't need this entrenched elite and joined with the poor to break free and forge their own fate, starting with the French and American Revolutions. The result was to replace the lazy and inefficient exploitation of the blue bloods with the far more avaricious and relentless exploitation of those ambitious members of the bourgeoisie who formed the new upper crust of the world. Unlike the old elite this new one had absolutely no sense of duty to the lower classes, except the occasional humanitarian, religious or nationalist feelings, and thus acted without conscience. In reaction to this class betrayal the poor began forming unions and political parties. With the help of some intellectuals they even invented different means by which to establish a society. Around this same time the capitalists started joining together to form uber-exploitation machines called corporations that made their heartless behavior even easier because it seemed to remove them from any guilt since they were all just working for share holders now. Despite this development it appeared that the proletariat might succeed in creating a workers paradise at such points in history as 1848, 1917 and the 1960's, but alas it was not to be and they ended up utterly loosing on all fronts to the subterfuge and sabotage of the rich. This epic struggle sees us today in a situation where the bourgeoisie of the rich western nations are bringing the whole world together under their dollar sign flag for the more efficient exploitation of all peoples. By keeping the masses abysmally educated and horribly busy they have established a status quo that perpetuates their power ad infinitum. To my eyes however things appear to be looking up. This corporate victory lap that we've seen during the 15 years since the fall of the USSR is causing a great many people in the Global South to realize that the externalization of authority is only going to lead to more betrayal and exploitation. They are as a result taking power into their own hands. So don't despair my readers, for if anything good can be said about human kind its that our ability to rearrange the world knows no limits.

how I see modernity

The world of beauty is dying day by day
I shed tears for seeing things go this way
The dominion of man replaces all
warping our whole planet into a mall
How much longer shall the decline take
How much more money will the rich make
I really don't' know and I really don't care
For in the end they will all get what's fair

Iraq 102

"Victor and vanquished never unite in substantial agreement."
Once again our Roman friend Tacitus gives us a perfect quote to start our second lesson about Iraq. We will now discuss where the Bush administration has made mistakes, or at least a short survey of the ones I see as important. Initially it seemed as though things might go rather smoothly. The majority of the Iraqi Army decided it wasn't a good idea to resist the juggernaut that is the US War Machine and at least 80% (non-sunnis) of the population was glade to see Saddam be deposed. Bush even made an excellent choice for a temporary administrator in Jay Garner. Jay Garner was a widely respected individual in the region because of his work with the Kurds after the first Gulf War and his generally honorable behavior towards Muslims. Unfortunately for everyone involved Mr. Garner actually thought his job was to ensure peace and help the Iraqis elect a new government. Consequently he had plans to do just that, such as pulling all US forces out of Iraqi cities as soon as possible while leaving civil authority intact, an election within 90 days, and insuring that no Iraqi assets would be sold off until the new Iraqi government could decide for itself what to do. For such noble and efficient efforts team Bush removed him after only two months and installed a political hack and soulless corporate hitman in his place, Paul Bremer. His first act was to declare it impossible to have elections that year, followed by the complete and utter rape of the Iraqi economy while disregarding any of the most basic needs of the population (providing clean water, medical needs, electricity etc.). He also refused to allow US troops to pull back to desert basses to avoid antagonizing the locals and starting an insurgency. He set up the Coalition Provisional Authority and its successor the Iraqi Interim Government for the purpose of making Iraq the first country to try all of Globalizations economic plans at once. Tariffs were completely removed flooding the market with goods and destroying virtually all local industry. All the corporations that where in bed with Bush Inc. were essentially put in charge of the privitization of Iraq's state owned utilities, not to mention the massive windfall from reconstruction and security contracts. Another very important mistake was using ethnic forces to perform military/policing operations in areas that had traditionally been occupied by opposing groups. By doing this they fanned the flames of ethnic and religious hatred into the inferno that is modern day Iraq. However, the largest mistake that I saw made by far was the disillusion of virtually every single civil post in the country and not to mention the incredibly stupid choice to disband the Iraqi army. Despite many of the flaws of the Saddam era it's organization of civil society wasn't one of them and punishing all those people that made that society work was downright maliciously idiotic. Now all these faux pas were pretty effectively hidden from the American public due to the fact that most of us here in the states are spoon fed our news through one of a few media sources that is essentially a very well trained pet of the executive branch. Those living in South-West Asia however see these mistakes very clearly, as the oppressed and abused usually do. Now all the mistakes I have mentioned here are only mistakes if the initial goal was to create a just and stable Iraq that could take its place among the nations of the world standing proudly on its own two feet. It is my contention however that that wasn't ever the goal at all and just a publicity stunt to justify something far more sinister. So stay tuned for the next lesson in which I will explain why we attacked Iraq in the first place and why we are still there making a mess of things today...

just another day

Today is going to be another amazing day on planet earth.
A lifetime of love between two people will come to an abrupt halt with someone dying
On this day a boy on the threshold of manhood will kill for what he thinks is a noble cause
Somewhere a religious leader will convince someone that his or her soul is now saved
A Muslim will offer up his life to Allah in the form of martyrdom
Some hiker today will see the most beautiful thing that they will ever lay eyes on
A baby will be born and its mother will die in the process, leaving it an orphan
Someone will enter a monastery today never leave again
An author will complete a book that took years to write, and realize it’s no good
Two young people will fall in love, and it will last the rest of their lives
Forests will be cut down to never again reign in their majestic glory
This morning a man will arise knowing that today he will be executed
For some, today will be the defining day of their existence
Others will not even get out of bed or step foot outside
Yes, today is going to be another amazing day indeed.

Iraq 101

"An honorable death is better than a dishonorable life."
This quote here is from the Classical age and was written by Tacitus. Although it was written ages ago it couldn't ring any more true today. The US adventure in Iraq seems to baffle many an American by it's complicated political nuances, tribal divisions, religion and culture. A land so dominated by violence and hatred that it seems that even the battle hardened US military is having a difficult time making any sense of it. Well lucky for you my fellow citizens of the world you have me to break it all down for you in nice little digestible tid-bits. This will be the first instalement of a series of posts in which I will seek to explain the situation in Iraq to the best of my ability.
The quote I opened with does much to explain that which is hard for westerners to grasp about South-West Asia in general. The people who are willing to go on kamikaze missions aren't all sexually repressed young men tricked into giving up their lives in return for lots of virgins in the next life, that is a racist and ignorant take on a much deeper situation. Honor and respect are huge, I repeat, HUGE themes in Arab Culture. It is such a big deal that any self respecting Arab Muslim would far rather have an honorable death than a dishonorable life. These people aren't necessarily fanatically religious, they are just desperate and enraged. Imagine if you will having your family murdered in cold blood simply for being of a certain ethnicity or religion. Then understand that the situation in Iraq makes any sort of legal justice utterly impossible. What would you do, no family, no justice, no hope of starting over in such a sanguinary place. Looks pretty bleak don't it. Well their is one faint hope, that perhaps Allah will give you the justice and peace you looked for in this life in the next. All you got to do is strap on some explosives, go into a area populated by whatever group victimized your family and BOOM! You not only get back at the bastards and retrieve your honor, but you get a place in heaven where your family should be waiting patiently for you, Allah Akbar.

Alea Iacta Est

Hello to all who may find themselves reading the text version of my mind. I will do my best to translate my esoteric thoughts into something that is at least partially comprehensible. This blog will be a mixture of commentary and interpretation on curent affairs, existentialist musings and, when the mood should strike me, poetry. As this weblog begins I am an aspiring author living in beautiful Northern California. My inspiration comes from people such as: Shakyamuni Buddha, Leon Trotsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky,Mikhail Bakunin, Michael Parenti, Karl Marx and all righteous peoples past and present. For those who dare to delve into the convoluted world of my young mind I salute your courage, and wish you the best of luck.

PS- For those who are wondering the 'Alea Iacta Est' is a latin frase that means 'the die is cast'. This was supposedly uttered by Gaius Caesar upon crossing the Rubicon into Italy, thus openly declaring his intention to take power.