ALL THE THINGS WE PUT UP WITH

 

ALL THE THINGS WE PUT UP WITH

 

A few live extremely well at the expense of the many.

 

No, this is not an article about all our gripes, pet peeves and the growing list of inconsequential faultfinding items we increasingly grouse about.  The list of personal grievances can be so large that it comes across like whining.  I don’t like whiners and I don’t want to sound like one either.  Toes curled, lips zippered, take a deep breath, walk away; that’s what the smart ones do.  Save your energy for a bigger fight.  Most of us prefer to squawk about the petty stuff, rather than the issues that really matter, because most of those issues either can’t be resolved or resist solution.  Stubborn matters that affect everybody and have done so since the dawn of mankind.  To name just a few: Fairness, equality, an equitable sharing of goods, food and resources and justice dispensed based on the severity of the offense and not on one’s standing in the community.  I’ll stick with a few of the biggies.

We mean well.

This is an article about the haves and have-nots, about masters and servants, about those that rule and the masses that obey and follow orders.  What makes the article uncomfortable is the sad fact that we’re all complicit in propping up a system that benefits few at the expense of many.  Not to worry that this will turn into some kind of manifesto akin to Das Kapital by Karl Marx.  Enterprise and hard work deserves its own reward, I just don’t believe that a scandalous, one-sided division of wealth will benefit any of us in the long run.  My approach is more philosophical and attitudinal.  Our sanctimonious approach to freedom and liberty, to values, morals and ethics is astonishing, because when it comes to standing up for ourselves, to celebrate our individuality and inner resolve, we continue to fail en masse.

We talk a lot.

We have created a system, a model of governance and economics that thrives on complicity, compliance and conformity and I am one of you.  I belong to the masses and I feel just as helpless as to what any of us can really do.  To make a difference.  Do you?  We continue to prop up models that are so skewered and unfair that it defies common sense and I continue to be baffled by our willingness to go along with this nonsense.  We’re caught up in a vicious circle of subservience and dependence and for the life of me I can’t figure out why we go along with this shit.  Part of it can be explained away in how tribal creatures follow evolutionary pathways that are beneficial to the group as a whole.  Our primordial past comes once more knocking on our doors.  For convenience sake I’m lumping humanity in with all lifeforms that live in troops, groups or tribes.  Despite the fact that in my humble opinion we’re an aberration and a poor fit, we’re still part of the bigger picture and had we remained in the jungle as apes I wouldn’t have to write this article because the lifestyle models that evolved in the natural world lack the complexity, nuances and oddities reflected in what we have concocted.  Wealth sharing and equality are non-debatable issues in the natural world because the biggest, greedy brute always gets to eat first.  Hmmm . . . apparently the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.  That evolution thing keeps rearing its ugly head.  What is kind of amazing and perplexing is the fact that despite that much vaunted intelligence of ours, we still mimic the behavior of that of the natural critters living in the wild. 

We have maintained the pecking orders.

Not only have we maintained a distinct pecking order in our human tribes and societies, we have taken that whole exclusivity thing to the next level.  Most of us voluntarily put on that straitjacket of conformity and obedience.  And it doesn’t really matter what stratus in life you’ve been born into, even amongst the rich certain expectations apply: don’t share, keep them in their place, make them dependent and limit their rights (that will be us).  How often have you been reminded to know your place in society?  Born a pauper, you’re expected to remain a pauper Better remember what side of the tracks you came from. We look down on people who break the shackles of conformity and become a success and are almost filled with glee when they fall and stumble.  For some reason we hold those born into hereditary wealth and status in higher esteem than ordinary people.  In all fairness, we’re well aware of the persnickety reality that only so much cream floats to the surface and there is room for only so many chiefs at the top.  I could have penned ‘bosses’ instead, but every now and them I like to kick those insufferable woke chins.  Nothing wrong with holding on to a good phrase.

An equalitarian society is a utopian dream.

As a species we’re simply too ornery, selfish, greedy and self-possessed to conscientiously and determinedly pursue a model of governance and human behavior that should have been a spontaneous byproduct of a superior intelligence.  Alas, an increase in intelligence has not turned any of us into better people.  And the few that try are mowed down with an indifference that resembles the appetite of the great whale. (For the curious, check it out, it’s absolutely amazing!) (The appetite!)

The emphasis has never been on bringing out the best in an individual, focusing on strengths and helping them to overcome weaknesses.  To allow the best and the brightest to reach their full potential, regardless of birth, race, gender or background.  Advancement without prejudice.

Dream along.

It behooves the privileged and the entitled to keep us in our place, up to our eyeballs in debt, subservient and obedient, shackled to their whims and wishes.  They just love to protect their wealth and status.  This kind of unfair distribution of wealth and status remains part of any kind of governance system humans devise.  The failure of communism was twofold.  Not only did they fail to abolish a class society—it existed on paper only, but they established a party elite that was as exclusive, predatory, selfish and ruthless as the nobility, the rich and entitled, they supposedly despised and deposed.  What the new hierarchy accomplished was simply exchanging one autocratic bunch for another.  Unfortunately, while purging the establishment of all the elements they didn’t like they also dismantled a profit-based, market economy in exchange for state operated enterprises run by incompetents.  What unfolded within decades was the impressive collapse of an empire, corrupt from top to bottom and infused with distrust and paranoia.

We all need incentives.

Why aim for the top or pursue a degree or demanding profession when you end up earning little more than a street sweeper?  Especially when the thugs running the nation are living the good life.  Our true nature defies the dreamers and the do-gooders and they end up being pitied for being naïve and rather delusional, no matter how well-intended their visions and their dreams of a better and just society.

Let’s face it.  It’s the bad ape that always gets the lion’s share and all the attention.  The rudest, the most brazen and aggressive, the strongest, the most obnoxious, greedy and selfish.  We have had some amazing leaders that made a difference and many have tried.  But there is that ever present undercurrent of negative energy and momentum, often fueled by the inequities that seem to be rising like an unstoppable tide barreling down on our shores.  It may skip a few generations, but we always seem to be reaching a new boiling point when the division of wealth gets out of hand and too many people are failing and falling through the cracks.  It is the few that have everything that appear to have an appetite for wealth that is insatiable.  And we appear to accept it as a fait accompli.

When you have it all.

The king can afford to wave with a smile filled with warmth and benevolence from the palace’s balcony, because he knows that his larder will never be empty and the royals don’t have to worry about the crowds below getting out of hand and threaten their exalted position.  Because, we, the masses have been conditioned and raised to be compliant and to conform according to the expectations set out by society.  We are taught to obey those above us, elected or selected.  There is a whole structure in place to keep us in our place.

Reversed evolutionary engineering won’t solve our predicament because the pecking order in the natural world is as savage as it is in ours: Only more honest, straight to the point and without dialogue, diplomacy or negotiation.  The natural world dispenses of niceties.  You know where you stand right away.  Piss off the big ape and he will clobber you.  Despite the fact that the natural world is unencumbered by everything we have accomplished and hold dear, life in the wild is not a picnic.  So, let’s not over-idealize the natural option and this dream of going back to nature and doing it right.  It’s a tad late for that.  Our banishment from the Garden of Eden, the tale of Adam and Eve, the snake and the apple, it describes our failings and shortcomings to a T.

I am an objectivist.

I don’t apologize for my rather bleak outlook pertaining to our species, our humanity and all the things we are and are not.  I know where we are headed and why, but that doesn’t mean I’m excited about it.  I have no political views because my political party doesn’t exist.  Its cornerstone is the carrot and stick; reward those who try to the best of their abilities with carrots and use a stick on all who can, but refuse to.  I do believe that honest and hard work deserves its own rewards but that none of us need to be rewarded with obscene wealth.  In an equalitarian society we take pride in caring and sharing and looking out for each other.  Fairness.  Compassion.  Personally I wish that I could put a stop to all the extremists, religionists and hate mongers who keep differences alive and use them to pit us against each other.

I do believe in brotherhood, in our humanity, especially when given the chance and allowing it to blossom.  The sun that beams down on us from above shines for all, regardless of birth and where you were born.

As a writer I am an objectivist.  I try to be as objective as I can, for my benefit and yours.  My blog is free and I don’t serve any masters, but only you, my readers.  I always end my articles with the following: feel free to comment or share.  So far, all responses have been positive, but incredibly short: liked (followed by the title of the article).  However, as a writer I am always interested in what you are thinking.  Not just your opinion, but also your concerns, your dreams and expectations.  I do hope that all my readers are blessed with original thought and critical thinking.  Thank you for reading and sharing.  If you like what I write, spread the word.

  

CIRCUS AMERICA

 

CIRCUS AMERICA

The price we pay for electing clowns to the highest offices.

 

In this article I am going to draw comparisons between Trump and Hitler, not only to illustrate how nations can get stuck with some deplorable leaders (it happens all too often and history is rife with questionable heads of state), but how similar these two are in their psychological profiles.  We’re finding ourselves in troubling times and we’re faced with complex issues.  Any sane leader would concentrate on attempts to solve these problems, rather than spent an inordinate amount of time erecting monuments to gratify the leader’s ego.  Tacky displays.  Statues (in gold of course).  Marches.  Military parades.  Plastering your face and name on buildings and renaming some in your own honor.  A UFC contest on the lawn of the White House, demolishing part of this national symbol to make room for a billion dollar ballroom, turning a rose garden into a putting green.  On the political and financial front his ‘presidential’ actions are as erratic and unpredictable, a lot of it motivated once more by an out-of-control ego that is rooted in a dysfunctional childhood and an overbearing father figure; fostering a level of insecurity that has led to a constant need to overcompensate and prove his worth: power, control, wealth.

Who in his right mind would start a global trade war with outrageous tariffs and economic sanctions?  CUSMA, once praised and negotiated by Trump to replace NAFTA, he now describes as an absolute disaster and valued neighbors and trading partners—Canada and Mexico—are now derided as parasites as if their close ties fostered over decades of integrated, mutual trade, have come solely at the expense of the United States.  Fact and figures point at the opposite but the volatile nature of unpredictable leaders saddled with a psychotic mindset will ignore anything that contradicts their aspirations.  Hitler’s political ideology was one of resentment and perverted by racism and a desire for Germany to dominate the world. 

No control mechanisms.

There is nothing in our political and legal arsenal that can protect us from out-of-control psychopathic leaders.  Sane leaders abide by convention and negotiated agreements and treaties: led by and motivated by an expectation of respectful and thoughtful behavior.  Both Trump’s and Hitler’s tenure has been tainted by vindictive vendettas towards political opponents and critics.  Both displayed a desire to comment on anything and everything as if their opinion matters.  Trump from the onset has denounced and belittled friends and foes alike.  Praise one minute and ridicule the next.  A behavioral pattern similar as to what he displayed in his company’s boardroom.  Control freaks excel at this kind of destructive approach to governing and ruling; building up and breaking down, keeping underlings on their toes and as a result they all go out of their way pleasing the boss.  It creates an unhealthy and pathetic working environment.  Policies that please the leader, accompanied by a flourishing signature and the lackeys applauding in the background.  Smiles all around.  Hitler employed the same tactics!

They keep pushing to see what they can get away with.

Bad leaders also engage in questionable tactics and they constantly probe and poke to identify weaknesses as in; what can I get away with!  Kidnapping a president.  Military strikes against suspected drug runners.  Embargos on “sanctioned oil ships”, leaving Cuba in the dark.  Oddly enough the world’s worst nations when it comes to illegal drugs and drug cartels—Mexico and Columbia—are thus far left alone!  A unilateral war against Iran and nobody can figure out why this was initiated in the first place, although between Israel and the US an illusion is kept alive that somehow they can control the Middle East and the flow of oil.  Hitler learned to his chagrin that an army runs on oil.

Desperation breeds contempt. 

And then there is the mystery surrounding Ukraine and Trump’s rather vague explanation that “Ukraine is not our war.”  Soft pedaling Russian aggression and refusing to back up NATO with tougher sanctions against Russia.  All of a sudden North Korea’s nuclear capabilities are ignored while Iran is being crucified for attempting the same, attempts that have been consistently bombed into oblivion by the US and Israel.  Trump’s flip flopping on many issues couldn’t be expressed more acutely than in the way he has dealt with US-China trade relations.  His divide and conquer approach hasn’t worked out well. 

Hitler was just as erratic.  As he steadily rose to power and expanded his control his true nature came to the fore with a messianic, savior complex combined with a level of aggression that proved frightening in scope.  Outrageous displays of flags, parades, and thousands of people in uniform.  All saluting each other and the leader with the infamous Hitler salute: Heil Hitler.  He unleashed an incredible building frenzy, from monuments and planned museums to his personal retreat in the mountains.  His image and presence were everywhere.  What he and his acolytes crafted was a cult status that placed Hitler and the state above anything else.  And it came with enforced compliance.  His secret state police, the SS and the Gestapo were omni present and ruled with impunity.  The black uniforms, the lightning bolt epaulets, the silver skulls on their caps.  Everything was designed to invoke power and to intimidate.  So-called subversives were incarcerated in concentration camps and judges presided over kangaroo trials.

And now look at the detention centers in the US, the separation of families, a lack of legal representation, deportations.  ICE arresting anyone suspected of being a potential illegal citizen.  And look at the color of their clothing and tactics used!  Former administrators like James Comey are charged and threatened with court action based on fabricated and frivolous accusations.  Even if acquitted and exonerated, it is all based on career destroying motives.

Persecution and threats.

In Nazi Germany the intelligentsia was persistently ‘cleansed’ of anyone not willing to adhere to Nazi policies and towing the party line.  It led to a national justification of hatred, bigotry and racism.  State-led, state-fed, political indoctrination through a process of relentless coercion

In Trump’s America we see a similar process taking place.  Intimidation of candidates that are not pro-Trump, condemnation of networks featuring programs that are deemed anti-Trump with bad jokes or taking potshots at his bungling, lies and distortion of facts.  They are trying to create a Trump-cult-America where you don’t achieve or rise up through the ranks unless you submit to their views.  MAGA or else!  Submission without question.  Smile instead of cringe.  Sell out rather than doing the right thing: serve your country with dignity and respect.  Honor and abide by the nation’s constitution and laws.

Tap into fear.  Create fear.

Hitler faced a nation that was defeated and humiliated in his eyes, although World War I was put in motion by a psychotic, delusional Kaiser Wilhelm.  Sane world leaders are not afraid of the psychopaths elected as heads of state, but of the insanity they will unleash once they are in power.  Not a single, global institution is designed or can cope with an out-of-control leader.  Germany was broke.  The population fractious and volatile.  All it takes is a determined psychopath to light the fire and keeping it fed.

America is broke and it won’t be fixed with tariffs and sanctions.  England’s economy was devastated by an on and off hundred year war with France (1337-1453) and when the king’s coffers were empty they often resorted to tariffs on imports.  It led to smuggling and tax evasion instead and with thousands of civil servants charged with trying to put a stop to it.  America’s impressive military complex and with an army of over a million people in uniform spread out across the globe has steadily eroded America’s financial stability.  A mighty army that is not backed up by an equally impressive and profitable private sector presence is a recipe for disaster.  Under the astute financial mismanagement of Trump and company America is well under way towards a forty trillion dollar federal debt.

Appeasement has never worked.

Hitler compensated for Germany’s impoverished state by invading other nations and stealing their resources and using slave labor.  Hitler started his expansion by annexations that appeared tolerated as the world around him contemplated how to best contain him.  Austria was annexed in a semi-friendly-hostile takeover and the excuse: well, we all speak the same language and therefore an ‘Anschluss’ makes perfect sense.

Trump and company have been equally eager for much needed resources and cash.  He has expressed a desire for Canada to roll over and play dead and join as the 51^st state.  And look at the size, the resources and the impressive workforce of Canada.  What a bargain that would be!  And let’s not forget that most of them speak the same language.  They are also eyeing Greenland, the oil of Venezuela and practicing the art of intimidation and military threats by putting Cuba in the dark and bombing boats out of the water that are ‘identified’ as potential drug running vessels.

Hitler kept pushing to see what the world would do in the face of his increasingly erratic behavior and early conquests: the Rhineland, Austria and Sudetenland.  He mistook the reluctance of the Allied powers for fear and that he could pursue his agenda of invading other nations with impunity.  Sane leaders don’t fear the person, but what they will unleash.  War has never produced a lasting result or an improvement in relationships with neighbors or adversaries (the conflict model continues to dominate international relations, as if we need enemies to justify trade and financial policies.  Culture, language, customs, traditions, religion and heritage continue to be abused as justifications to pursue war and animosity).

They crave attention.

Big egos love to draw attention to themselves and again, both Trump and Hitler are prime examples.  Hitler would hold forth for hours, claiming to be an expert on anything.  And of course, nobody was given a choice but to listen, nod in affirmation and applaud.  Ditto for Trump.  Put a microphone in front of him and he won’t shut up.  Claiming to know everything: I am the smartest man.  I could have been a professor.  And the accolades he heaps onto himself keep piling up.

Hitler learned the hard way that armies run on oil.  All that impressive and expensive military hardware requires huge amounts of energy.  The Middle East is still the primary source and he who controls the oil spigot rules.  The unilateral decision by the US and Israel to provoke a war with Iran has little to do with Iran’s desire to enrich uranium for nuclear warheads, but with showing the world whose boss.  At the latest G7 meeting Trump was boasting to the leaders in attendance that “I’m the boss” as he took a seat at the table.

Israel has steadfast refused to reach a compromise deal with people of Arab descent living within its borders.  A land they shared for thousands of years.  They believe that by bombing the hell out of the remaining Palestinian enclaves that they can force them to move.  Accommodation and power sharing has deliberately been removed from any negotiations.  Psychotic leaders want it all and a lot of it hails from desperation.

Who needs America?

Once upon a time the world craved everything ‘made in America’.  We wanted their refrigerators and appliances, cars and machinery.  America’s manufacturing sector was booming.  Something peculiar started to happen in the 70s and 80s.  America as a nation started to trade in its manufacturing base for the pyrotechnics of stock speculation.  All part of the progress trap, which has been the undoing of nations past and present.  A few doing extremely well at the expense of the many.  Large corporations squeezing out the little guy.  Factory farming displacing thousands of farming families.  Profits and quantity before quality.  Supply management as practiced in Canada would have saved the livelihoods of thousands of farmers.  All economic practices, no matter how well intended at first, once in place, are extremely difficult to reverse.  America is now discovering to their chagrin that in the case of heavy industries like ship building and steel, they are now at the mercy for these items to foreign nations.  Some at the other end of the world.

America’s costly reliance on mega-sized defense industries—stuff that only gathers dust unless you use the stuff in profitable wars—has put its political masters in the poor house.  They have dug the costliest global financial hole.  I will illustrate this with one simple example.  A jet fighter, from the first bolt ordered until it is scrapped as junk at the end of its lifetime, is a cost factor.  Tax dollar wasted and spent from start to finish.  On the other hand, a commercial jetliner will earn its owners millions of dollars as it flies for years from destination to destination, ferrying millions of ‘paying’ passengers’.  This is how the private sector works and if the private sector doesn’t earn any money, there are no taxes to be levied.  A private sector-for-profit product doesn’t cost the taxpayer a single penny.  It actually produces tax dollars.

A little late at this stage of the game for Trump and company to attempt to turn back the clocks and reinvent the America of the 50s.  Don’t forget that America before, during and after World War II, started out as lenders of money.  A lot of it used to boost and reconstruct industries all around the globe destroyed by war.  Within record time they have become the world’s biggest borrowers of money and they’re only adding more each year.  Trump’s erratic trade policies are costly and counterproductive.

Out of control spending. 

The biggest millstone dangling around the neck of every American taxpayer is excessive military spending aimed at retaining a superpower status.  No other nation maintains as many costly security bureaucracies as the US, many of them born out of pure paranoia and fear and a lot of it hyped to justify the expense.  Get rid of heavy industries and manufacturing and millions of people previously working are now on the dole and need government assistance.  America is drowning in bureaucratic layers and many of them are rife with cronyism, corruption and fraud.  American insurance companies and health delivery services love to milk the taxpayer for all its worth.  Government contracts fail to deliver bank for buck and military contractors are the worst when it comes to cost overruns and overpricing.  Russia is a prime example of a nation bankrupted by its military spending.

Victims of the progress trap.

The progress trap is a typical example of how some of our best intentions end up costing us dearly.  The progress trap causes a progressive slide of disproportionate wealth division (haves and have-nots) that eventually places wealth and prosperity beyond the reach of the many and only increases government dependency (and henceforth the cost of government).  Economist John Kenneth Galbraith warned American presidents as early as 1954 that this was a recipe for economic and financial disaster.  Trump and company’s pathetic attempts to reverse this trend of economic and financial decline are laughable at best as most of them are the beneficiaries of what their predecessors and their families have created in the first place.

None of them will impose any controls or reversals on basic greed and excessive profit taking.  Using archaic tactics such as tariffs, sanctions and military escapades will only drive much needed investments away.  Even disgruntled Americans who have bought into Trump’s circus America will soon realize that what seemed originally harmless entertainment by putting a clown in the White House is swiftly turning into a nightmare.  It is one thing watching a circus, becoming part of the act is altogether different.

Only one blessing: he’s old!

Feel free to comment or share.  Become a subscriber and never miss a single article!     

                

THERE IS NO CONSTANT

 

THERE IS NO CONSTANT

Everything is driven by energy and momentum

 

Every once in a while I like to take you on a semi-academic-scientific journey to illustrate with yet another example how energy and momentum impact everything in and around us and why any of our efforts to bring a certain level of constancy in our lives are doomed to fail.  It is frustrating and the underlying cause for much of the friction that exists in the world we inhabit.  The bulk of the universe is made up of matter: atoms, particles and gasses.  Inanimate and lacking awareness.  Matter has no needs.  It simply is.  But, it doesn’t differentiate in how it too is affected by energy and momentum.  Energy constantly bundling and releasing.  There is a certain amount of predictability, but not in the intensity of a release.

Awareness sets us apart from atoms and particles.

Earth is a slightly different kettle of fish because something rather special took place as we inhabit the only planet in our galaxy that produced living cells that spawned a veritable cornucopia of life over a timespan of billions of years.  Living cells, from simple to complex, require nutrition, oxygen, water and sunlight to survive and thrive.  Certain favorable conditions have to be met to keep living cells alive.  All lifeforms are constantly confronted by a host of challenges, something inanimate matter doesn’t have to put up with.  A byproduct of the precarious existence of living cells is an instinctive awareness that is present in virtually all of them.

We’re part of a universe that is a restless entity.

All living cells are the product of energy, but energy is not a constant and because of momentum (the automatic byproduct of energy) it creates constantly changing circumstances, from extremely positive to extremely negative.  A simple example is nutrition.  We don’t always eat the same thing, at the same time and experience the same sensation.  Our craving for sustenance changes constantly depending on need and activity level.  As a direct result of the impact of energy and momentum all lifeforms lead a rather unstable and volatile existence and it produces behaviors to match.  Compounding the impact is the fact that all living cells have a limited lifespan, lack resilience and are susceptible to disease and decay.  The combination of needs and uncertainty is what creates a constant state of turbulence.  This is one of the reasons why extreme incidents of intense negative energy bundling and the subsequent release is nearly impossible to stop.  The needs can be so powerful that it overtakes common sense and reason.

All human behavior answers to the unpredictable patterns of energy and momentum and it explains why our attempts at control are an abysmal failure.  The volatility only increases because of our higher level of intelligence and a higher level of awareness.  It has created a dichotomy we constantly struggle with because when we’re in trouble satisfying and meeting our immediate needs, we consistently fall back on primordial and instinctive behaviors.

We’re not different. All lifeforms share the same building blocks.

All lifeforms on Earth display the same evolutionary characteristics and trademarks.  A superior intelligence doesn’t set us apart, nor does it grant exemptions.  It has only given us an edge over all other lifeforms and if you follow me on my blog or read my books, you will know that I don’t think that is necessarily a good thing.  The following two primordial instincts are dominant in all lifeforms; survival followed by procreation.  When energy needs are met the inevitable urge to procreate is present in all species and a lot of depends on what its immediate environment can support.  And look at our numbers!

A dominant species can exert a greater influence over all the other species it shares the same environment with while potentially competing for the same resources.

In our case it is not only us versus the natural world, but we’re also competing with other human tribes for a variety of reasons, but the underlying sentiment that drives it, is supremacy.  Northern Ireland’s Catholics versus Protestants.  Houthis versus Tutsis in Rwanda, Serbs and Croats in the Balkans.  History is filled with examples galore of uneasy coexistence and fragile relationships.  And let’s not leave out Canada and our ongoing brush with reconciling our fractious historic past with our indigenous people; French Canada versus English Canada, East versus West.  America’s North and South.  Blacks versus whites.

When trouble knocks on our doors (and it could start with something small and insignificant, and yet, it can be blown out of proportion in record time), because, when we’re in trouble or being challenged, our primordial and instinctive behaviors become dominant once more.  Because . . . everything and everyone . . .  all driven by energy (and energy needs) and propelled by momentum.  No biggie when the energy that bundles is positive and the release corresponds accordingly, but, when negative energy bundles in intensity there is no innocent, harmless dissipation.  The true impact of energy reveals itself when it hits extremes.  Take an honest look around you and then ask yourself if there is a rational explanation for what is happening in the world today.  We’re not governed by rules of reason and proper conduct that follow logical and predictable patterns.

Believe your own lies and nothing else matters.

All lifeforms, all living cells, experience highs and lows; and what makes all life hazardous is the simple fact that there is no constancy; no guarantee or predictability.  We are at the mercy of energy and momentum and energy rules.  The efforts of those in charge, elected or selected, regardless of political stripe or religion, is to seek out a constant; an equilibrium that is sustainable and which provides a modicum of stability.  Destabilization leads to chaos and anarchy.  The human tribes resemble the planets in our galaxy in behavior; none are the same, all are different in size and make-up and all behave differently due to the constant push and pull of others.  We too are constantly tearing at each other; maneuvering, testing, poking, agreeing and disagreeing.  Or busy killing each other!

Intelligence is a dubious asset.

You would think that a superior intelligence would turn us into better people.  It is something you would expect.  Pulling together should be a no-brainer, but the opposite is the reality.  Energy intake and requirements provide all the motivation nations and tribes need in their justification to reign supreme.  And the supreme dominators amongst us rule with an arrogance that in their eyes justifies the dominion over others.  Listen to the rhetoric that flows from the lips of Trump, Netanyahu and Putin.  Pay attention to their body language.  In their simplistic views might makes right.  We can and therefore we will.  The indifference shown towards the carnage they have inflicted, the hundreds of thousands of victims, mostly innocent civilians, men, women and children, all signs of how unglued we have become.  And when it comes down to the long-term consequences, the impact on the rest of the world and the future our children will inherit?  None of them care as they are intoxicated by their power and infamy.

The irony?

What they crave and what eventually will be their undoing is that the constancy they desire is actually undermined by their actions.  Pulling together and setting differences aside makes all the difference.  Strength lies in all parts working together.

An intelligence not tempered by wisdom is an intelligence not worth having.

The fact that a constancy simple doesn’t exist and never will doesn’t mean that we, as a species, should give up trying by modifying our behaviors along more acceptable and moderate lines.  Less negative energy and more positive energy.  Nuclear fusion is the holy grail of energy generation and efficiency, but harnessing that awesome power is still elusive.  What is lacking is a constant and reliable generating process and thus far it is a physics experiment that defies reliable controls.  If it reaches critical mass and it spins out of control, the subsequent blast will be enormous.  The one thing that eludes nuclear fusion and all lifeforms on Earth is constancy.  It is not a requirement for atoms and inanimate particles.  They simply are.  We, on the other hand, crave constancy, predictability, safety, security, protection and if at all possible, saved from disease and decay.

We’re purposely ignorant of the natural forces that control our destiny, because the truth hurts.

Within the vast universe that surrounds us we are a fragile element constantly impacted by energy and momentum.  Awareness fluked into being on our planet, the only one to produce living cells and life.  We’re a space oddity.  An exception.  Nothing in space is as affected in its existence like we are.  We’re the ones who got stuck with awareness, with intelligence, with bodies that are fragile and temporary.

Our existence has nothing to do with fairness and we if don’t improve matters, greed, ignorance and stupidity will continue to play out on a planet where humanity as a species is increasingly running out of time and options.  We can ill afford to waste what planet Earth provides.  The only sage advice I can give, and you may ponder this for a while, is the following: Be the answer.

 

Purchase my novel; Energy and Origin from KDP Amazon.ca 

It will open your mind and explain not only who we are, but where we are headed and why.

Feel free to comment or share.

A VIEW OF THE WORLD

 

A VIEW OF THE WORLD

Actually, it’s about how you view the world.

It is a typical human habit to want to attach labels.  On a container it signifies immediately what you’re purchasing.  On our busy roads we rely on traffic signs.  Signs and labels for just about anything.  Drugs, poisons, paints, all come with explanations and signage indicating how lethal some of these products are and where to go for help.  Even on the news—sorry, it’s no longer called the news, but the show—the hosts feel obliged to explain the weather and the need for cautions, in case of rain for instance, “Be sure to bring your umbrella and wellies.”  Labelling.  Cautions.  We’re constantly getting in each other’s face.  Even unasked for advice, (we can’t seem to help ourselves) no matter how well intended; it is so pervasive.  Movies come with ratings and unpleasant news events come with a warning.  “What you’re about to view may offend some viewers.”

Labelling people.

This article is about labelling people into categories.  We do it all the time.  Obesity ratings.  Fitness ratings.  Toddler, infant, child, teenager, adolescent, adult, senior.  Old, young, bald, ugly, beautiful, wrinkled.  For some reason color has been segregated and black is no longer phonetically correct with a lower case.  White, brown, red or olive are still lower case and for some strange reason Black Lives Matter must have been responsible for that slight linguistic change.  I would have been much happier with a heartfelt legal equality, not only in law but one that comes from the heart as well, rather than settling for a capital B.  Anyway, that is just a slight deviation from the crux of the matter at hand.  How do you view the world and what kind of label would you attach to yourself?  You see, at the end of this article you get to decide.

Optimist, futurist, alarmist, pessimist, realist?

What kind of person are you?  How do you interpret your place in the universe?  Do you concern yourself with the present or the future?  Since my fingers are touching the keyboard and the subject matter is entirely mine, I get to decide a certain order and you will have to contend yourself with some of my personal biases slipping in.  Not to worry, even my objective mind suffers from bias and so does yours.  Bias is a subject for a much later date and it’s not a biggie.  Bias is a like a shadow comparable to the clothes worn by the emperor, yet semi-transparent and always close to the surface.  Not unlike the emperor, we see what we want to see!  We are products of the times we live in and how we experience the world is limited by personal knowledge and experience.  What you know and are exposed to go hand in hand.  Nobody is an expert on everything.  It also explains stupidity and stupid people. 

Are you a futurist?

Let’s start with the futurists.  I am an avid reader, but when it comes to science fiction and vampires, I kind of bypass that section in the library.  The world of the fantastic and totally imagined makes for light entertainment and amuses for a while, but it lacks substance.  For little me; fantasy in small doses please.  But the true futurist fanatics believe in all that anticipated technical wizardry.  The Jetsons coming alive.  We’re buzzing around in flying cars and live in floating worlds and robots deliver us meals that come in the form of a pill.  Yummy!  May the force be with you, Star Wars’ aficionados, and they’re convinced that one of these days we will be leaving boring planet Earth in search of exciting stellar systems filled with wondrous lifeforms and mindboggling technologies that will tickle our innovative imaginations.  The details are a bit fuzzy, but if you can envision it, it will happen.  Leave it to Musk and other space cadets to turn that dream into a reality.  For the futurists their motto is simple, “The future is ours and looking bright.  Warp speed 5, Mr. Zulu . . .  and beam me up, Scotty.”

An optimist?

A bit naïve they are, optimists, and what futurists share with optimists is hope, that silver lining kind of thing, sunny side up just like an egg.  Optimists are by and large nice people.  You can’t get mad at them.  There is an optimistic side to my realism because I refuse to go through life as a pessimist.  As a realist I am utterly convinced that my personal impact and opinion are by and large tolerated, but basically ignored.  When you’re not calling the shots, who listens?  Those calling the shots are however responsible for the tens of thousands of mostly innocent civilians who do get shot and killed each year.  The deciders is such a small category that it disqualifies most of us.  So, let’s skip the deciders.  (This is not an endorsement for home delivery services)

An alarmists?

I will skip this category as well.  They remind me too much of the fairytale of the boy crying wolf.  They tend to be miserable as well.  Perhaps the two go together, like peas in a pod.  Believe it or not, but you recognize alarmists from a distance, it is etched in their faces and reflected in their eyes.  A quick dash towards the next door behind which are encamped the pessimists.  (I can’t be seen to favor one home delivery service over another)

A pessimist?

Pessimists fall into the alarmist category, constantly worrying about everything and that includes worrying about the buffoon currently occupying the White House and the sinister little creep in the Kremlin.  We can only hope that a timely death will welcome all the little tyrants (and soon) who are currently hastening the demise of the planet and everything on it.  I’ve already let the cat out of the bag with the realist reference (my choice). 

I am a realist with a sense of humor.

A realist acknowledges that eventually we will be done in by greed, ignorance and stupidity.  There are so many of us that we can’t ignore the inevitable.  If there were very few of us I doubt I would be writing this down.  As a matter of fact I wouldn’t be writing at all, because I would be too busy loving and exploring the natural world, because I do love life and the fact that I am here and not on some godforsaken planet out in the galaxy boonies, surrounded by weird creatures speaking in guttural sounds I can’t understand.  For Pete’s sake, leave Star Wars out of my life.

Without going into greater detail I will ignore all those fantasies about effortlessly travelling through space, flying from one planetary wonder to the other and leave that part to the futurists and optimists.  If you’re really curious, I wrote a book called—They were like Angels—and it will provide you with much greater insight as to why zooming through space is not in the human cards.  It will cost you.  Currently it is only available through me and in paperback.  Twenty bucks and shipping costs and it can be yours.

As a realist I love to shrug my shoulders when it comes to doom and gloom and all things hoped and wished for.  We are what we are and there is very little anyone can do to change anything.  I’ve never trusted politicians who claim they can change things for the better, nor will I blindly follow those who promise everlasting life if things don’t turn out on Earth.  Life is a journey and I revel in the experience.  Enjoying the ride if you will.  And of course it comes with aches and pains, with grief and disappointments, trials and tribulations and I do realize that for many of us the ride is pure hell and torture.  Be happy if you were born on the right side of the tracks and above all, be happy with who and what you are.

Ordinary and boring, don’ knock it!

Some people can be so unrealistic, constantly looking for things that are out of reach; success, the perfect mate and relationships, instant gratification, a career you absolutely love, money in the bank, debt free and you die at age one hundred without ever seeing a doctor and you were bright as a whip right up to final breath of air.  Just ordinary and mundane can be so gratifying.  Boring is okay.  Not getting bombed out of your home or moving from one refugee camp to the other, kept alive by aid agencies suspected of harboring terrorists while handing out food.  Apparently those two things go hand in glove if some of our less illustrious leaders are to be believed.  It also allows them to save some money by cutting off funding.  Killing two birds with one stone; hey, Bill, you’re full of phrases today.

Temper your expectations and appreciate the cards you’ve been dealt in life (I can’t stop or help myself once I’m on roll, with the phrases that is).  Appreciate what you have been given.  My nose is slightly crooked.  I’ve always had bags under my eyes.  My liver spots masquerade as a tan.  I’m slightly balding and I’ve got so many spare parts inside of me that I can be classified as a medical miracle and an impressive pile of scrap metal will be left behind upon the cremation of my dead body.  I am still very much alive, the dead reference was just that, a reference.  On occasion I have looked upon beautiful human specimens with envy, especially if they’re blessed with an impressive amount of luxurious hair, but it is usually followed by a disparaging thought to make me feel better: probably a salesperson or a politician, or in a worst case scenario, a lawyer.

I do feel bad for the billions of people who got stuck in a shithole from the day they were born.  Dumb luck.  Bad luck.  No intent involved and stuck with a shitty hands of cards.  Imagine being born black (Black with a capital B for those who insist on the ‘new’ literary awakening.  If there is such a thing as woke, this would be it for me) in the Sudan, stuck in a refugee camp and faced with daily deprivations and violence.  Life can really suck if you’re born in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Thank goodness that we can turn things off. 

Luckily for us all species are blessed with a shut-off mechanism that prevents us from cracking up when bad things come barreling down like an avalanche.  When we feel the worst while experiencing the worst.  If we didn’t have this we’d go out of our minds.  Not that we’re shutting out unpleasantness or disaster, but without that mental defense mechanism we wouldn’t survive.  In case of a major catastrophe the first order of business is cope and regroup.  It is a basic survival thing.

But what about wars and disasters that don’t take place in our own backyard.  Well, the coping in that case is a bit more altruistic, as in being pleased that it is them and not us.  A sort of remote empathy that doesn’t go very deep.  It is still part of that mental defense mechanism, but also plays into the basic survival strategy that we’re not obliged to feel pain that is not ours.

In my hometown there are currently about seventy people classified as homeless.  I could sell all my assets and hand over the money to these hapless souls and within one or two months of whooping it up, we’d all be broke again and stuck in the same rut.  I don’t have any answers and neither do you.  This is a quote from Lyndon B. Johnson—he wasn’t handsome either and apparently cussed like a sailor before they started to tape everything that came out of a president’s mouth—Life isn’t fair, it never was and never will be.

All we can really do is cope to our best abilities and go with the flow.  When something fun and exciting happens, enjoy!  If nothing out of the ordinary happens and everything is steady as she goes, count your blessings.  Even boring can be appreciated when everything else around you is going to hell in a handbasket.  If I’ve overdone the phrases, no apologies from the author.  I enjoy writing my articles.

So, when it comes to your view of the world, is there a label that fits you or a favorite inclination?  We just survived nearly five months of nasty winter weather.  I mean, this is Canada and even for us, it was bad!  I wonder if this kind of philosophical bender was a direct result of the winter blahs.  Cabin fever.  I even changed the lyrics of our national anthem.  Oh, Canada, land of snow and ice, freezing your ass off is never nice.

I purposely limited the views of the world to a few that are incredibly general and left out all the predictable subjects, topics, inclinations and phobia that lead to endless and annoying discussions and interpretations.  Keep it simple.  I also don’t want you to scratch your head incessantly, induce a headache or steer you towards intense soul searching.

I am a realist with a devious humorous streak.  What are you?

Feel free to comment or share or purchase my novels on KDP Amazon.ca

Follow me on Substack: Earthbound and Incoming or on wmabes.blogspot.com