Why People Do Crazy Things

Many people are so firm in their beliefs that they go through their entire life without questioning them. Even if you debate them and make excellent points, the thought that they could be "wrong" never enters their mind. This is frightening. Every thought, idea, and statement should be up for rational debate.

Now, let's take this to a second level: Many people are so conditioned by their authority figures that they will go through their entire life without questioning them. Thus, we get Jonestown, suicide bombers, and misogynists. Even in the United States, you see this happening on a more subtle level.

A preacher in Dallas, TX recently told his congregation to essentially "black list" any company whose employees did not say, "Merry Christmas." Suddenly, wishing someone a "Happy Holiday" has become offensive. This is just one of many examples.

And this is SOCIAL CONTROL by a religious authority figure.

The antidote to this form of mental abuse is education. Typically, the more you are educated, the more you tend to question. This is terrifying to religious organizations that are unable to withstand much scrutiny without quickly unraveling. The "danger" is that one question always leads to more questions, and before you know it, you have "questioned" yourself into a whole new world. And the beautiful thing is that "questioning" and skepticism will set you free.

When I did deep research into my childhood religion, what I found was shocking, and part of me wanted to hang on to that security blanket, but it was gone forever. But it didn't take me long to realize that "truth" and "reality" are always better than being led on an endless delusion by some preacher or priest. The clergy is NOT going to tell you the "truth" because their career and income depend on you being blinded with ignorance. And don't worry, our U.S. plutocracy relies on the same sort of control.

Just as I was dwelling on these points, and the hopelessness of the uneducated followers, I came across the latest video by my colleague, Laci Green. Laci is a former Morman and currently a teacher and college student. Her short video is eye-opening and dead on.

Note: This video contains some vulgar words. If you are easily offended, please don't watch. Laci is a rough kid.

Closure

If everything is going so right, why do I feel so empty? Who are these demons inside my body who continually torment me? Where do I get this sense of restlessness and uneasiness from?

Billions of little impulses bounce around in my mind as I try to make sense of it all. I have everything, yet I have nothing. I have joy, yet I have misery. Whenever there is sunlight, there is darkness that lurks underneath. Life is a stage, and I am but an actor. We all play our games, and many strive for wealth, but in the end, no one wins.

A 35-year-old thought that never leaves my head: Why would we try to containerize God with some man made religion? Doesn't that undermine his greatness? Why can't all the religious people in the world give up their fabricated religions so that we could all just worship God, in harmony?

Back On Track

After much soul searching for the past few months, I've decided that the best course I can take to save the world is to simply "stay the course." I am on the state board of a nonprofit environmental organization. I now see that my calling is to simply give this position my best. I also do other volunteer work and I have a demanding job, so, I'm really doing all that I can do.

Warned Out

I know what's going to happen to the Earth and our civilization. I've posted warnings on this blog and on Facebook, and few people take notice. What bothers me the most are the people who are so religiously indoctrinated that their minds are completely closed — they represent the sad part of humanity.

I realize that few people are going to listen to me, and I've noticed that most people are self-absorbed in their own "thing" and often only listen to others out of politeness. I mean, I find, the entire human interaction thing fascinating.

The religious and pro-business zealots will just keep doing their thing, and they'll get angry (thus, the Tea Party) and they'll get depressed (Prozac), and in the end, their fragile bodies will wither away just as easily as those of the liberals, and socialists, and commies. We will all arrive at the same place, and it won't be the Sheraton, and it won't be a golden mansion. It will simply be nothingness and peace, and in some crazy way, that is fine with me.

I know I should do more for the environmental cause, but I would be pushing myself to "stress out" levels again, and I'll just get burnt out and bitter again. So, I'm thinking that doing less but remaining steady is the answer.

I now see that I am addicted to "passion" because it gives me a sort of high, happiness, and fulfillment. Yet, passion is vain because you always want more, and you always want it more intense, and soon you find yourself lost in your own mythological world searching for more .... well, passion. I now wonder if passion is simply the "high" I obtain for pursuing and/or longing for things I can never have. If I can have it, secure it, own it, capture it ... then there is no longer passion.

End of Sermon

To those who flick their cigarette butts out the window, or walk around extremely obese, or pickle your liver with alcohol, I salute you. For you are the vanguard and representatives of a shallow, dysfunctional, and lost civilization. You represent the excesses of a defiled society, and for that I owe you a certain admiration. God bless America, and God bless God, and God bless the ancient Egyptians for defining him so well, and God bless the Hebrews for plagiarizing, and God bless that salvationist splinter group, which was adopted by a dying empire, to hold it together. God bless the pope, for he represents the Roman Emperors who could not give up, and simply found a more creative way to achieve immortality.

And, most importantly, God bless America, as well as its 500 overseas military installations, which keep the defense contractors rich and pour trillions into our economy, and the economies of other nations.

And God bless the corporations, who make us slaves, who cheat us from our retirement savings, and then kick us out on the streets. The people who built these organizations are hard-working Americans, who represent all that is good in our great country, and when they hit the top, they find that they can save money by paying children in Indonesia or Malaysia to do the same job that an adult once did in Indiana. And so goes the American dream, although the patriots are wrapped in their flag too tightly to breathe, much less think.

Pre Apocalyptic Ramblings

As we approach the end of the Industrial Age I think a lot about what I should do. Hording food is a waste of time, since organized raiding parties will quickly steal it, and you might even become food yourself.

The best chance for survival is to rough it on your own, in the deep wilderness. Heavily populated areas will be the worst place to be -- there will be vicious food wars and extreme violence, and eventually the warlords will take over. Life under a warlord may be better than the wilderness, but it will likely be short. Warlord clans will continually fight for domination, and the hierarchy within each group will be determined by "survival of the fittest." If you can't fight or provide an essential service, like making explosives or growing food, then there will be no need for you.

Any area that's heavily populated will experience massive "adjustment." The mass death, rape, pillaging, torture, and cannibalism won't be fun.

The safest place in the world will be the northern arctic regions like Siberia and northern Canada. These areas will hardly feel the global collapse. In fact, energy-rich Russia will get through it relatively intact.

The debt crises will be the first round, as Europe, the United States, and much of Asia sink into a global depression. Oil shortages will be the second round, and will make energy and food unaffordable. The third phase will be a series of short, intense wars, with a few nukes likely going off. These wars will be for resources, and will be fought with savagery, since people will literally be fighting for sheer survival.

Nature has stood quietly as mindless humans have exploded their population, fouled the air and water, and deforested the continents. Now, Mother Nature will spring the trap and get her revenge on billions of people.

Those who survive the carnage will be stronger and smarter. Hopefully, the new generation that spawns from our collapsed civilization will be more kind to the Earth, and will create a world that focuses on respect for life and nature rather than greed and short-term gain. The new world will be greener, quieter, and hopefully more compassionate.

As for me, I'm 50 years old, and I see no sense in going through a lot of trouble to save myself. I really dread starving or dying by violence. I might try living in the forest for a little while, just because I've always liked the woods. I doubt I'll have the skills to survive long. Perhaps I should check out a few library books before the collapse.

As for the guilt of bringing children into this world, I will do all I can to increase their chances of survival. I will do whatever I can to help and save them. But I need to let go of the guilt. I've spent years as an environmentalist and have tried to do what little I can, while still maintaining a job and raising a family. What I have done is light years more than the religious fanatics, who spend much of their money and time supporting a social organization that simply entertains them, makes them feel good, and perpetuates their delusions. And what I've done is tons more than the corporate warriors who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of making more money, so they can travel more, buy more crap, and basically become a bigger drag on the Earth.

So, in the next few years, I will have to go through all this survival crap, and, again, I'm totally dreading it. I think about the billions of poor people in Africa and Asia who will go quickly and painfully. I grieve for all the upcoming suffering.

As I regularly mention, all of this can be avoided because we have the knowledge and technology to live sustainability, but those people who are screaming warnings to the world are simply ignored and brushed off as liberal wackos. The typical human would rather adapt and self-delude his or her self rather than try to tackle the world's problems.

The rambling preachers and politicians have all had their say, and basically they have said nothing. Now, it is Mother Nature's turn.

To Save Or Not Save the World

Lately I have been living with great guilt for bringing children into this world. I know what is just around the corner, and I know what they'll be facing. My natural reaction is to try and do something about it, but what? There are dozens of organizations who are addressing the world's problems from many different angles. My goal is to find a volunteer movement that will have the most effective results for my limited volunteer time. But what?

When I first got back into environmentalism in 1997 I decided that the most important issue was global overpopulation, and I STILL think it's a top issue. I spent hundreds of hours creating a local population group, marching in parades, tabling at events, organizing forums, and giving presentations. Ultimately, I think I accomplished a little, but not much.

My fellow activists said I should "Think Global, But Act Local," so I got involved in a wide range of issues ranging from urban sprawl to stream buffer protection. I also worked in the campaigns of green politicians and organized against the bad politicians. On the county level, I did enjoy fair success knocking out developer puppets on county commissions and replacing them with greenies. But, eventually, those green politicians either moved on or were corrupted.

By 2003 I realized that overpopulation and global warming were simply symptoms of some global inner struggle. Our technology seems to have advanced faster than our maturity as a species.

The Logical Song

At age 50, my main conclusion is that humans in general are simply far less intelligent than I ever imagined. People are simply dumb, especially those who smoke. Humans are also petty, self-centered, disconnected, and most are incapable of critical thinking.

Being the hopelessly logical person that I am, I thought we could just say, "Here's a problem, now let's all work together to fix it." In fact, when I was working on overpopulation I felt that I could present a sensible argument and that people would say, "Yeah, you're right, let's fix that."

But the push back I see with any new idea or progressive proposal is simply incredible. For instance, with global warming, much of the general public simply doesn't care or is too stupid to know better, and then the handful of smarter ones simply deny it. Working behind the scenes are powerful special interest groups, with tons of money, who strongly influence the media, and would prefer that things remain "as is."

Cycles

I am now thinking that civilization simply operates in cycles, and there is NOTHING I can do to prevent our impending economic and ecological collapse. Great civilizations have died before, and we've certainly experienced the Dark Ages before. Thus, history is repeating itself and we are about to go through it all again. Who am I to resist?

The human dieoff part will be the worst. The abundance of cheap petroleum is supporting an artificially large population. When fuel becomes scarce, the population will shrink back to sustainable levels. Nature will do the job that we "smart" humans are incapable of doing ourselves. Unfortunately, the "adjustment" will not be pleasant. On top of everything else, I'm sure we can expect to see some all-out desperate wars.

New Beginnings

Colleagues tell me that nature always recovers from the havoc caused by humans. Some of the richest ecological areas are places where humans are not allowed, such as the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, or the land that's cordoned off around Chernobyl. I'm not sure of that at all -- it is completely possible for us to do irreparable harm to the planet.

But, you know, I'm now thinking that's okay. In the vastness of the Universe, with its trillions of stars, I'm betting that there is a handful of other Earth-like planets. My hope is that if some intelligent species ever evolves on them, that they will treat their planet better than we treated ours.