Economelt

The whole premise of my blog is that humanity could be heading in a sustainable direction, but we are screwing things up royally, and self-mutilating ourselves as fast as we can.

Class Warfare

Uh hum, so let's talk about class warfare, since we are seeing so much of it lately in Wisconsin, London, Greece, and the Middle East.

The dilemma is that capitalism is the only thing that truly motivates lazy, slob birds like me. Some people are far better at the capitalist game than others, and the wealth is pulled to the top, like sucking chocolate milk through a straw.

As the rich are enriched beyond all dreams, the "damn liberals," socialists, and other left-leaning weenies start worrying about the losers starving in the streets. We are told that based on Reaganomics, the wealth will trickle down to the poor bastards, likely in the form of breadcrumbs and hunks of chocolate stuck to foil wrappers. Then the Tea Partiers tell us that the government shouldn't be in the "hand out" business — that churches and good hearted people will take care of the poor. But so far, those good people don't seem to be giving little Johnny a warm lunch every day. Instead, we hear moaning about those lazy, deadbeats who need to get a damn job like the rest of us.

Now, granted, there is a flip side to this. See, I the Goose, am no liberal, conservative, or moderate, I'm just a dumb bird. But I've flown over enough neighborhoods to know that when you give people aid, a sense of entitlement DOES occur, and the more you give folks, the more dependent they become.

So, now that I've enraged everyone on both sides of the issue, let me say this: Communism and Socialism are failures because since there is no direct benefit, people are not motivated to give their best. Capitalism is a failure too, because it is all about Darwinism and survival of the fittest, and, well, the slow adopters are left behind (and ain't it funny that the same people who don't believe in evolution embrace it passionately as an economic model). Libertarians want the government to stay out of everything, which is simply handing over the car keys to the capitalists (right, they care about us we are told, as they ship our jobs overseas as fast as they can).

The bottom line is that NO current economic system is sustainable. Which means we all need our victory gardens, we need to barter, and we need to learn how to make our own basic necessities.

The End

The reason that Western civilization is failing is simple — we kept spending more than we made, on both a personal and government level. Everyone wanted a good time, and every politician wanted to get re-elected. Hell, in the U.S. we could have dragged this fantasy on a few more decades, until we were all dead and didn't have to worry about. Our children? Oh, send them to the finest private schools so that they can have some good survival skills. Leave them a wad of dough in your will. Croak feeling good about yourself, as your private nurse gives you another shot of morphine. Be proud of the fact that all you really did for your children was crap on them.

But I digress ... the other economic problem is that we stopped creating real wealth a long time ago. Our manufacturing base went overseas. We bought time for a while by whoring our land away, and then we played it out even further by artificially inflating the value of real estate. We gave houses to everyone we could, and after a while we ran out of GOOD creditworthy people to give a five bedroom house to, so then we started giving homes to the BAD uncreditworthy people. For a time, it worked, but then the entire scheme collapsed. But, no worries, Brother Bush bailed out everyone who was "too big to fail" (and "too big" to be responsible).

And let's not forget those two wars that put a drain on the U.S. treasury, and then the "stimulus" plan, that gave us new lingo to throw around like "shovel ready projects."

But what really got us is the fact that the recession meant a sharp drop in tax collections, and to raise taxes in a slow economy would only slow things further, or at least that's what the Republicans said. So, the point being, the collapse caught all the rabid policy makers and golden parachutists BEFORE they had the chance to go to Heaven. So, all these successful, middle aged capitalists are wandering around saying, "What the hell happened?" No one anticipated this, yet the path we've taken in the past three years has been totally predictable.

Big Circle

To add to the fun, energy and food prices are rising around the world, and our global population is continuing to explode, right on target. We have to encourage as many babies as possible because the world is infinite, and you never know when the next Einstein might appear. And it doesn't matter any way because the "good people" will soon be rescued by flaming chariots driven by white unicorns. Men wearing nothing but a diaper and some angel wings will be cracking whips and screaming, "Get on board, 'cause we are headin' for the clouds." Of course, this competes directly with Greyhound's new express service.

In the end, 90 percent of the population will remain in complete denial that the world economy crashed, and even as we eat rodents, rabbits, and neighbors, we'll be reading sacred passages written by Gov. Perry and singing 19th century gospel hymns.

And life will go on, just like it always has. But yet it won't.

Man really attains the state of complete humanity when he produces, without being forced by physical need to sell himself as a commodity. —Che

Goose Visits the Psychologist

This whole thing about the Goose being a prophet wasn't catching on, and finally everyone voted unanimously to send him to the psychologist. Goose kept screaming and swearing he was correct, "I've done all the calculations ... I know, I know, I know!"

The next thing you know Goose is laying on the couch in a room with dark, musty panel. Dr. Snorensky is in a chair writing down notes.

"But I'm not crazy ... it's just that ... well ... peak oil, social unrest, and too many McDonalds. And not to mention Wal-Mart, which will remain open 24 hours even after the economic crash."

"Mr. Goose, calm down, relax."

"Everyone is so self-absorbed in their own little game, and everyone's doing a different thing without seeing the big picture. The television has sucked their intellect out. Then there's these mega churches where they show movie clips and give you 'practical lessons' and send you out the door, and you have just enough time to beat the crowd at Longhorns."

"What???"

"And this Universe is so complex and beautiful, from the big stars down to the cells in our bodies, yet most people don't even think about it or write it off to the 'man in the sky' kind of thing. But, okay, maybe there is a God, but maybe this supernatural being is not a being at all, but rather a force that aids evolution and keeps the Universe in order."

"Are you saying God is dark energy ... dark matter???"

"Yeah, He's that force out there that makes all the atoms work, that makes gravity work, that makes photosynthesis work because, hell, no one has any idea how photosynthesis works, yet half the world is green, except for the parts that were clear-cut."

"Goose, do you need drugs?"

"It's like, I'm laying here now, on a rock that's traveling three times the speed of a bullet, soaring through space. Why can't people understand that just to be alive is a freakin' miracle? Why can't they appreciate this? Let's keep the ancient desert gods out of this. I mean, if you can't see it it ain't real."

"Goose, this is your free introductory session. You're only supposed to answer a few questions, like whether or not you hate your mother and have you ever been a member of the Communist Party."

"It's nuts, I mean, I'm telling people the economy is going to crash, we're going to run out of oil, and all that plastic we dumped at the landfill is going to turn into a creature and come and get us in the night."

"Delirium tremens."

"Who me?"

"No, I just like to say that term. Makes me feel professional."

"Look at all we've learned just in the past 100 years. The question is, can we learn everything there is to know? Does the human brain have limits to understanding? Are we going to blow a circuit breaker when we realize that matter is infinite, time is infinite, space is infinite, and we are just little shits who are addicted to pop culture?"

"Goose, I'm not getting paid enough for this."

"Not that I'm being random, it's just that, I think the world is a beautiful place, with lots of greens and blues, and all we humans know are economic growth and adding more people, to create customers. All we know how to do is consume, and we just keeping wanting more junk because it fills that big gap in our lives, and it makes us less miserable."

"Are you saying????"

"Yeah, we all want more, all do our own things, and eventually the blue marble that we share is going to crap out on us. And it's not fair to the millions of other species that share this place with us."

"Goose, I have to go. Baseball game tonight. Remember, you're just a patient, nothing more. I do this psychology crap to figure out myself, as if THAT'S really helping."

"Let me out. I have to go speak with the people. They need me. They want to hear the Message of the Goose."

"Fine, okay, fine...."

What We Forgot

The recent debt ceiling debate shows just how partisan and uncivil we Americans have become. Town hall meetings are all but impossible because hecklers are planted at each event, and you might even get shot in the head. Welcome to Mother America, the land of the brazen, overweight Tea Party Patriots who drone on about the Constitution, while having no concept of true democracy.

See, the whole democracy thing is about having a rational discourse, listening to your opponent, and then achieving compromise. The recent debacle in Washington was more like watching rabid clowns perform in a low-budget remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

As for the Obama Haters, come on, and give it a break — seeing your worldly self emerge from your Christian facade has gotten old. I've never seen so many people hate on one poor guy, a guy who has the most rotten job in America. And, to my shock, one day people are going to their country club churches to learn about "love," and the next day they are telling the most vile and hateful jokes about the U.S. president. Oh, yeah, there is an exemption in the Bible for hating on the president -- you can read about it in one of those obscure books in the back of the Old Testament. Honest.

I have to blame it all on gerrymandering, but fully realize that the typical American doesn't know what that is (they are more concerned about the Biggest Loser getting voted off the island). But it's this gerrymandering thing that creates Left and Right congressional districts, and the moderates are all but lost. It's a nasty game.

No, No, No!

As far as political maneuvering goes, it looks like the Republican Party and their Tea Party militia wing are doing everything in their power to sabotage the presidency of the president. So what if they keep us in a recession and millions out of work. The point is that them NASCAR god-fearing folks want the White House back.

Oh, and as far as the debt ceiling goes ... those Tea Party Patriots have no problem with taking little Johnny's subsidized school lunch away, but when it comes to corporate tax breaks and runaway military spending, they appear totally indifferent. After all, it's Obama who invaded Iraq and bailed out the banks, and had an affair with Monica. At least that's how the Texas Board of Education will spin it, and since history and facts are just another illusion to the Tea Partiers, it really doesn't matter anyway.

A Demo What?

My point is that to create a sustainable world, we must have a healthy, productive democracy. This means gathering input from all sides and creating a workable solution. And better yet, a solution that is sensitive to the long-term. This does NOT mean letting a vocal, raunchy, fringe group ramming a hard line position down every one else's throats. Where is the love? Where is the idea that we are all Americans?

It's okay to be a conservative, moderate, or liberal. Each side should respect the other, and "respect" is something we've totally lost in this country. Let's be civil, open-minded, and caring. Let's LISTEN to what the other side has to say. Let's vote in the best interest of our children and future, rather than bowing to the puppet masters.

It's not our political system that is broken. It is WE who are broken. I've seen too many people who have lost their rationalism and decency as human beings. Our country is becoming Road Warrior Nation, a land that is controlled by roaming brutes.

Show some love, baby. Show some compassion. And remember what democracy really is, and not who you are trying to impress. Throw your tea in the bay and join the rest of America. And let us become one again.

Amen, saith the Goose

Death of Idealism

I remember when I had hope. I remember when I cared. I remember when I tried to make a difference. When I saw the futility, I'm not sure. It was in 2004 when a hundred puzzle pieces came together and I suddenly could see what I never saw before -- the whole picture of how the world works. How the power structure manipulates the government. How religion is used to herd the masses. How words, communication, and propaganda are used to mold unquestioning puppets.

So, dear elite WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT? You've taken everything, and you give the people just enough breadcrumbs to keep them from rioting in the streets.

You squeeze dry the environment, and when anyone dares to question you scream JOBS as the saliva drools down your face. You hire information jammers to throw doubt and questions into the global warming debate. Yes, Barney Foofoo at the community state college was paid millions by Big Oil to say global warming is a myth. Let's all believe Barney Foofoo.

Let's never question our religion, and when someone does let's call them little back-slidden heathens. Let's have a prayer rally in Texas -- we already know that's where God lives. Yes, God is punishing America because we gave gays rights and we murdered trillions of babies (i.e. the Supreme Court felt it an invasion of personal privacy to force desperate women to have their unwanted child -- hell, let's spin that one baby. Let's use this as a "talking point" to energize the foot soldiers for corporate America! Yeah!)

Let's gather up all those Muslims, gays, and immigrants, and put them in a rocket ship and shoot them to the moon. Let's not try to figure out why God gave those Muslims so much oil. Let's just pray our brains out, even though any good thing or bad thing that happens is only chance. But if you spin it enough it becomes a miracle. And, besides, there is a picture of Jesus in my French toast, not to mention that cloud shape of God, and then there was that tree in Conyers, GA.

So, at what point did I snap? After all, the world is perfectly sane. After all, I see my elected leaders spend weeks fighting like dogs over moving ONE DECK CHAIR on the Titanic. They agreed to move that deck chair, well, next to the rail, and now they are boasting about how great they are. Guys, guys, guys, I'm sorry but it's too late. I'm still paying for Father Reagan's deficit budgets, and I'm still waiting for His trickle down economics to bring me wealth, and, well, it hasn't hit me yet. Oh, and by the way, I suggest that every highway, airport, and government building named Ronald Reagan be renamed Che Guevara. I just think it has a better ring.

Easter Island is a mecca. The Holocaust didn't happen. The 9/11 thing was an inside job. And President Obama is a Muslim born in Kenya, or is it Indonesia? Just depends on what the Fox News guy had for breakfast.

I can't believe I'd give up all my precious ideals, throw my hands up, and say, "Okay, folks, tried to warn you."

But, Goose, you are no prophet. You are just a guy that is not fitting into the dominant culture. Everyone knows if you touch the pants of a Tea Party officer your warts will instantly heal. Why are you questioning that, Goose? Shall we have the Department of Homeland Security send you to waterboard school? Maybe one of the those friendly countries like Morocco where they torture in exchange for port privileges and a bag of money?

There are 7 billion ants running around in 7 billion little directions. As the Somalians starve, yet again, and as the dictator of Syria picks out a new suit, and as the Israelis tell us they are noble and as the Palestinians tells they are noble, and as Italy and Spain beg for money from the European Union, well our little brains get overloaded and fried. Or maybe it's all the video games and fast food? Or maybe all that reality TV and pop culture. Or maybe it's the fear of questioning the righteousness of Rupert Murdoch and all those Godly mega church pastors in Texas.

So, I slide, slide, still wondering when the asteroid is going hit us or when the Seven Horsemen are going to ride through my backyard, followed by the Pentecostals, and seeing Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix resurrected. I mean, finally, what took so long? And to think that drugs can mess you up -- they just put you down for a while.

And, if you think I'm blabbering, try watching one of those Sunday morning political shows, or to see some serious blabber, go to a "conservative style" Baptist church, where the pastor screams, "If you die in a car wreck on the way home today, do you know where you're going?" Hmmm, fertilizer for a few surrounding plants, maybe? I know, not a lot of pizzazz with that response, so let's steal a religion from the ancient Egyptians and make people feel guilty if they don't follow it. Yeah, I know.

So, it was on this cold, winter day, when the leaves were blowing around, and I just stood there watching this plastic bag, whipping around like in the movie American Beauty. Yeah, that's when I lost my idealism because people are producing way too much plastic, and it's going to take 500 years to rot, and all the while it's going to be letting out hot methane, which will cook the world, and all the billions of people will become billions of bubbles.

And it was then, just then at that moment, that I lost my idealism. I stopped fighting. I stopped caring. I decided to just step back and watch this human freak show and let it end, the way that I knew all along, way deep down, how it WOULD end.

To my children, I am so, so sorry. To my pets, I am so, so sorry. To the cat I ran over in 1980, I am so VERY sorry. To the beautiful planet that I have had the honor of living on, I am so, so, sorry. I really did try for a while. I really, really did.

Sincerely,

The Goose