March 20th 2003 to May 7th 2004 (year-long in protest, in apathy, and in annoyance) |
don't write america off yetdear world, please forgive america its current warlike stance. you must know that this is not our general mood all the time, or even very often. even now in the very beginning of this war of unknown duration on iraq, we are not a warlike people at heart. the september 11th tragedy drove a lot of people over the edge. until then, global conflict might have seemed to them something that was only on television and never really involved americans unless they happened to be unlucky or stupid enough to be in a volatile region of the world at the wrong time. that illusion is now shattered forever, hopefully. people of this country very much realize we are immersed in the world, not living above it on some heavenly plane. that being said, a lot of people are still in a very unhealthy mental place where they're trying to find the right donkey to pin the blame on. used to be osama. then al qaeda. then terror. right now terror's incarnation of the season is saddam. next season it could be north korea. after that it could be lotus eaters. only as long as it's anyone besides ourselves or besides the random chance that a bunch of fanatics hatched a devastating plan that worked. that's why some of us now feel like we're the world's purgative. we will somehow flush the bad terror out of the global colon like a nice dose of psyllium husk. but it's not true. bad emotions are here to stay. they're part of our mental makeup. it would be nice if there were no terror, but our crusading around the globe to piss on fires that we ourselves have lit isn't going to conquer terror. only reaching a peaceful and vibrant state of mind allows one to avoid dallying in fear and terror; when one can no longer be terrified, that is the end of terror. this doesn't come from either end of the barrel of a gun. instead it comes from getting your mind together and fully functional. some now feel that all our years of supposed american good will were just a big charade, a marketing game, a long con job. but it's not true. even when we're being mealymouthed hypocrites one moment, there's sometimes that flash of good heartedness hidden in there too. a downplayed embarassment when it's a true feeling of compassion, and contrarily, a widely proclaimed media event when it's just as false as a marketing campaign. you know when it's genuine, like when a shipment of vaccine comes in to cure a plague, when a shipment of edible food comes with no strings attached and little fanfare, when doctors and medicine are sent to an earthquake devastated area. these bits of help come from people who are genuinely compassionate, and they don't ask for an award or acknowledgement when they do it (if they're genuine). they just do the right thing and don't brag about it. so, it's particularly painful for americans who genuinely believe we've got something good to offer the world (besides eternal war against an emotion) to hear all the blandishments about liberation and improvement of the iraqi condition, as bombs are simultaneously dropping in their capital city. true liberation comes from a belly that's not empty and from mental peace. let's hope that this kind of liberation is really what we end up giving iraq, even though it sounds like a big shell game right now, with all the greedy loathesome possibilities for the "true reasons" for our actions seeming so obviously the case at times. what i'm really hoping for is not some granting of indulgences for america's behavior based on patriotism for the "homeland". it comes instead from a patriotic feeling for the whole world. it's this simple fact: we all need to live together peacefully. starting wars to force a peace seems to be the head-up-butt wrong approach for that goal. we appear to be sailing madcap towards a vortex of increasing global instability concluding in hellish chaos, rather than landing on the golden beaches of the democratic utopia that the president claims is on the charts. we've got to hope for peace, no matter how vile we might personally feel towards particular leaders in nations here or there. despite their hawkishness, we have to hope that the overall global situation does actually improve. it's not american patriotism, it's because there's no other option. there are no international wars any more--there are only civil wars between different parts of our precious earth, our home planet. we've got to stop this fratricide as soon as possible and start acting like enlightened primates again instead of brutish "mud" flingers and back stabbers. the only thing i think i've really seen proved so far, which i was a little bit unsure of before, is that when a massive war machine is built, it cannot avoid being used for war unless it is destroyed or dismantled. certainly nothing much is keeping the iraqi war machine from being used to abuse iraqi citizens. not so similarly, but nonetheless, the american military is a massive and powerful thing. but is the might of america good for the planet? should any one government (that is, a region of the earth bounded by imaginary lines called borders) have the power to destroy the entire earth? i don't think so. if i could wish for one thing, it would be this: that the united nations be put in charge of earth's military might, that they would never ever use it except to defend citizens of our planet from aggressors, that they would have the wisdom to know when one must fight and when one must not, the latter being far more frequent in a sane world, that they could prevent an inhuman devil from ever controlling an entire nation of earth civilians again, that there could be an end to this volatility which increasingly lurches us towards an irreparable cataclysm, and that we could indeed realize we're only hurting ourselves when we hurt each other --like it or not, this planet's STILL the only one we've got. please understand this completely--we need all the extant cultures of earth to survive; we can't live with just one meme. the true iraqi lifestyle is a valuable thing and i hope it can be remembered after hussein is smashed (as it seems from this incomplete vantage point that he soon must be). things have been too fascist and uptight in iraq for a long time under saddam, let's hope the country gains new liberty and social health. it is just as crucial that the true american lifestyle--realizing your dreams by working at a good job while being a free soul in a country of liberty--be preserved. i implore you, i beseech you, when america wakes up from this nightmare, when it collectively decides that the world has been punished enough, that you all in the world try to forgive us. it will be even harder for us to forgive ourselves the temporary bloodlust, and for us to heal those we love who've been consumed by hatred and ill will. i beg no mercy for those of us who wreak war on others out of a liking for it, but instead for those of us who don't want war on earth and who strive against it as much as they are able. but face it, when one man has all the power of a nation, the potential for abuse is tremendous. it's a lesson every nation must learn one way or another--i fervently hope the lesson comes as painlessly as possible whenever and wherever it is learned. thanks for listening, an earth patriot (and an american). [posted 3/20/2003]
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The Gruntose Moment retires to here. |
Some Ways to
Avoid Starting a War (1) Realize that what is possessed by another is not yours; To have something rightfully, one should earn it. (2) Forgive the mad spoutings of ill tempered minds; The nurses and a lot of medicine should be on their way. (3) Examine the basic principles in your religion; Isn't there anything about loving others in there? If not, perhaps your religion sucks. (4) What does the world think? Make sure that you're not a sole aggressor. (5) Fantasies should not be allowed to drive your behavior; Be certain the weapon you think you see is not a banana. (6) Civilians get pissed off and willing to fight you when they are shot at; Learn to leave them alone. (7) A very powerful person should be gentle; A very weak person should be amenable to compromises. (Posted February 16th 2003) |
November
23rd 2001 to January 25th 2002 |
Set Your Time Machine to 1984 Is terror stronger than freedom? They [the Nazis] came first for the Communists, When they came for the Fourth Amendment I didn't say anything ...then they come for you & me,
and since there weren't any free thinkers left to stand up for our
right
to believe and think what we choose for ourselves, we were tossed in a
death camp for speaking out against the new world order, just because
it seems wholly foul, proctocratically wrong-headed, and to be paving
Satan's highway to world domination and earthly destruction...? |
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There Are No Words All terrorists in the world
must now kill themselves. No arguments. |
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Capitalism Stimulates
Primarily the Greed Cortex |
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We welcome a new guest editor for a series on Politics and Governance. Please put your hands together for Otto Czezylfarfen, the county veterinarian for Livotskstka, Smensk Republic. Communism Is the Religion of
the Hive Mind Insects
follow a doctrine similar to Communism. The only
worshipful thing for an insect or for a communist is the
state, and all benefits and punishments proceed from it.
However, just like a hive, communism does have its
queens. These are the leaders of the party, whatever they are
called, be they premiers or chairmen. In China, for example, the
general secretary is at the top of the food chain. |