From Smart Shrews To Dumb Humans

I like to call human evolution "DE-EVOLUTION" because our species is going in reverse — we are not only destroying our immediate habitat, but the entire Planet as well.

The misinformation I hear about evolution is immense. I hear both educated liberals and de-educated creationists say things that shows that few people understand some of the basic concepts of evolution.

Allow me to clarify a few things:

• We DID come from apes. I'm not sure why people are offended by that, just because gorillas like to throw their poop around at zoos.
• We DID NOT come from dinosaurs — we split off from them 256 million years ago.
• I like to think that our earliest ancestors are the shrews, which started showing up about 220 million years ago. But, in reality, evolution is a continuum. Our earliest ancestors are, in fact, the eukaryotes, complex cells that first appeared 2.1 billion years ago. As mentioned before, it was a living hell getting those first cells to evolve, but once that happened the rest of evolution was easy.
• It was at 10,000 years ago when humans, as we know them today, began to emerge. It was around this time when we invented agriculture, started getting light skin, and began adopting cats as pets.

Our brains started evolving 550 million years ago when we were little flatworms in the water. In fact, by then a lot of what we are today had already evolved. For instance, we already had bilateral symmetry and germ layers, which led to the development of tissues and organs. So, when someone calls you a "slimy little worm," don't be offended because that's what you once were.


Anti-Enviro Shrews

The reason that evolution is so important is that the better we can understand our evolutionary history, the better we can understand our current human behavior. We are products of our flatworm brains.

When I see my brothers and sisters in the environmental movement hit a brick wall, I have to ask, "Why have they hit that brick wall?" What is it in our evolution that makes us so willing to horde resources and become obsessed with our immediate comfort, at the expense of our environment and children's future? Something apparently has gone very wrong in the evolution of our species.

One of the best ways to learn more about the facts of evolution and the myths of creationism is to follow the YouTube channel of AronRa, who is mostly a self-taught evolutionist. He does a great job of putting complex biological information into plain English.

Educate Yourself On Evolution:
Subscribe To AronRa's YouTube Channel

Santa Claus

Wow, at around age 3 you really don't know what's going on, but it sure is cool. Some fat man in a red suit comes to your house and leaves you presents. By age 4 you're totally excited and ready for this guy.

As you grow older you learn more about the story. The guy lives at the North Pole and throughout the year he has little short guys in green outfits building toys. Then, one night a year Santa Claus gets his magic reindeer and he flies through the air on a sleigh, and he delivers toys to every kid in the world.

One of those Elves your dad
was telling you about. The
old man was such a perv.

Now, as a child you are totally believing this crap because your parents are feeding you the lies and you are watching those TV Christmas specials.

And then the lie grows even bigger. See those birds on the electric line behind your house? Those are Santa's watch birds, and if you don't eat your peas they'll give a bad report to Santa -- then you won't get as many toys. In fact, if you are a ratty ass little kid, Santa will find out and you won't get toys at all — you'll get a lump of coal instead.

I was one of the late bloomers. I did not know Santa Claus was a lie until age 9 when the boy next door told me. He said it was my parents who were actually putting the toys under the tree. I was shocked so I confronted my mom, and she figured it was time for me to know the truth.

NOTE TO PARENTS: Please don't screw your children's brain by lying to them about Santa Claus.

So, there are many old myths and traditions in our history that are similar to Santa Claus. But OUR version of Santa Claus comes from Saint Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century Greek Christian bishop who gave people nice gifts (hair dryers, iPhones, etc...).

In the 19th century there were variations of the Santa Claus story and He had no one, consistent look. It wasn't until the 1930s when an artist working for Coca-Cola gave Him his current look — a fat guy with a white beard, wearing a red suit and a goofy hat.

Like many other children, I started asking questions. The main question is: "How can Santa Claus be in so many places around Christmas time?" I was told that those were people just DRESSED like Santa — the real Santa was at the North Pole.

For my oldest daughter, she figured out the Santa lie when her new stuffed bear smelled like laundry detergent. See, we used to store our childrens' presents in the crawlspace under the house. One Christmas eve, when we were getting the presents, the dog came in, hiked his leg, and peed on some of the presents. We told Christi a reindeer had peed on her Winnie the Pooh bear — she didn't buy it.

So, after screwing your child's mind for years, the parent finally tells him or her, "Oh, Santa Claus is all made up. It's PRETEND." Oh, but Christianity is completely true and factual. So, don't believe in this elaborate Santa myth, but do believe everything in the Jesus myth. Yes, the virgins, angels, walking on water, casting demons, raising the dead — all perfectly true. BUT SANTA IS A LIE.

Fixing Government

Wow, I thought I was cynical, but the cynicism and anger I see directed toward our government far exceeds mine.

Okay, everyone just relax and take a step back....

First of all, I love our government and believe it's brilliantly designed. There is nothing WRONG with our constitution and political system, but what IS wrong are some court decisions and laws that have been made since our government was created.

The biggest thing that has destroyed our democracy is giving "personhood" status to corporations. Then, defining corporate campaign contributions as "an expression of free speech" was a really sorry decision. See, President Bush packed the Supreme Court with conservative revisionists who are opening the door further for Big Business. This is our number one problem with government.

Gerrymandering ....

The SECOND biggest problem that has ruined our democracy is gerrymandering. This is where the ruling party draws election districts in a way that most benefits them and least benefits the minority party. Typically, this is done by "packing" the other party's voters into a single electoral district to reduce their influence in other districts. The end result is that the main political parties are able to elect more extreme candidates, and the poor moderates get the squeeze. Yeah, you know, those sorry team players that could actually make our nation work.

The beauty of democracy ....

The beauty of a democracy is that we debate, vote, and set public policies. This is a wonderful thing. One of the classic debates is how much to take from the rich to give to the poor. This is simply a public decision and people get way too emotional about this. Let's just all engage in reasonable debate.

Participation ....

I've worked in seven political campaigns, for both Democrats and Republicans. One thing I've learned is that if you are positive and supportive of your elected leaders, it has a much better result. I've attended various town hall meetings and forums where citizens simply get up and whine and bitch. This is not the answer because the problems of your elected leaders are YOUR problems, and we need to all work as a team to solve them.

Absolutely awesome ....

Democracy is incredibly wonderful because it allows you to ultimately be free. Sure, you are bound by the laws of your land, but you always have a pathway to change them. You are not under the yoke of a dictator or junta that makes the laws for you. You are part of a collective body that rules themselves, rather than someone ruling you. This is very, very beautiful.

DON'T TAKE DEMOCRACY FOR GRANTED!

Vote in every election, become a positive player in politics, and don't become hateful and cynical toward your opponents. If you disagree with a politician, write letters, make phone calls, and organize to topple him or her in the next election. This is all part of a healthy, functional democracy.

THE WORST ENEMY OF DEMOCRACY IS APATHY ... because then the nasty special interests creep in like parasites and they influence government to benefit them and NOT the general public. But the good news, which I've seen several times, is this: The power of an engaged public is always stronger than special interest dollars.

MOST IMPORTANTLY ... be thankful every day that you live in a democracy. Participate, be active, and be positive!

A must read:

America 2.0
By Jan Hanson

Excess Intelligence

As the story goes, we humans evolved out of the large ape family because of our unique environment on the African savanna. We eventually left the Dark Continent and started migrating around Europe and elsewhere. Around 10,000 BCE we started farming in the Fertile Crescent.

What puzzles me is that the human brain became far more powerful than what was needed to survive on the African plains. We became VERY smart.

Over the past 30,000 years or so we haven't changed much -- we just somehow got these powerful, big brains and have spent thousands of years growing into them. Just look at the progress we've made in ten millenniums, and imagine where we'll be in another ten millenniums. It seems that there is so limit to what our brain can learn and empower us to do.

One hundred thousand years ago we only needed enough brain power to escape predators and to hunt. Now, these basically same brains are allowing us to travel through space.

I recently brought this point up in an evolution discussion list and received many responses, although no one could really answer the question.

I will say that there is MASSIVELY more information to prove evolution than there is to prove the Abrahamic religions, but there are still some puzzling gaps.

There is no doubt that evolution exists, no matter how desperately the creationists try to debunk it. The evidence is everywhere and overwhelming.

But why are we so freakin' smart? This leads me to believe that there IS a higher power in the Universe and that humans have a mission. My gut feeling is that humanity is destined to populate the Universe, but who made us so smart and why?

Since humans started sitting around campfires thousands of years ago they began conjuring up stories about their existence. These same stories morphed into the wacky religions we have today. Modern religions are simply variations of ancient beliefs. Even in the earliest times it appears that humans had a "hunch" that there were supernatural forces at play.

Having read some articles on the origins of life I was beginning to think that creating a living thing is no big deal in the Universe. After all, the Universe has massive amounts of time and millions of chemical experiments taking place, so it's no surprise that life will pop up on occasion.

Creationists say that creating a molecule would be like throwing the contents of a scrapyard into the air and letting it fall into place as a 747. That is silly because we now know that lifeforms slowly transition from primitive forms to the more complex. In fact, as life evolves it continually increases in complexity, and there's no turning back. I read a book on this once called The Myth of Progress.

So, maybe there is NOT any higher intelligence at all, but, rather, only a set of laws in play. Maybe as we evolve, our brains keep evolving, and we just keep getting smarter because, maybe, there's an evolutionary advantage to that.

As we evolve mentally, look how we are also evolving socially and technologically. Just a century ago our children would be working 12-hour days in factories. And if we had just one abscessed tooth in the 1800s we'd probably die.

So, we are evolving in many ways, and, again, we are growing into our brains. Just how much are we capable of learning? Can we one day know ALL there is to know about the Universe? And, if so, then what do we do?

And won't the Universe run out of fuel one day anyway? When the last star burns out the Universe is going to be a really cold and dark as hell place. Then what do we do? Will we stockpile enough uranium from planets to keep us warm and cozy in our pitch black, expanding Universe?

This gets us back to the very core question: What is the meaning of life? I don't know, and I'm very perplexed by it. Maybe it would be better if there's no meaning at all. We just live, consume some resources, and return to space dust. End of story. It's certainly an easier story to comprehend.

The Goose

Religious Dishonesty

I have a peculiar fascination with TV evangelists and I watch them on occasion to see what they are up to. On Saturday I watched evangelist Benny Hinn and today I saw Atlanta pastor Dr. Charles Stanley. Of interest, both ministers were talking about "God's grace." Apparently, if you follow a series of steps from the Bible you can unlock "powers."

In Hinn's stream-of-consciousness, rambling rant he talked about all these powers you can get from praying certain prayers, including prosperity. Stanley's sermon was much more mainstream and he seemed to actually follow an outline. The things that Stanley mentioned that you can get from God's grace were less exciting -- things like strength and peace.

The problem is that both of these Bible teachers are making claims and presenting them as fact, even though they don't have a lick of evidence to support their claim.

Let's put it to the test using the scientific method. We will have one group of people following the Biblical instructions for obtaining wealth, strength and peace. We will then have a control group that won't do any praying. What do you think the result will be in a properly controlled experiment? Answer: Nothing.

For centuries, religion has been held to some higher standard where ministers can get away with dishonesty, and you, a mere mortal, are not allowed to question or challenge the religious claims. In any other situation, these men would simply be liars, but when they stand on their religious mantles they suddenly have the green light to say anything they want, as long as they can conjure it up from scripture.

Through the years people start believing the dishonest lies and claims, and they desperately try to justify the lies. They cling to a pack of lies, and somehow rationalize that this makes their god happy.

And for me to even challenge the "God's grace gives you powers" crap is taboo. Most Christians would be offended by me calling any religious claim a lie. But they can't prove otherwise, so, really, all religions are dishonest, and, thus, corrupt.

More and more people just need to say, "Where is your proof?" That is at least a start.

Goose

Why Can't We All Just Get Along

I wish everyone would throw partisanship out the window — I'm sick of it. Both of the major U.S. political parties have good things to offer. While I lean left, there are many Republicans that I am fond of, like my county commission chair Sam Olens, Rep. Ron Paul, and Gov. Mike Huckabee. There are things I like about Sarah Palin, and I like John McCain as well. Even though I don't agree with these folks on many issues, I respect and listen to them.

Greatest Lesson I Ever Learned
When I was in junior high school I took a political science elective. It was fascinating. We had regular political debates and had a practice election. I learned to enjoyed listening to my opponents and I gained a lot from it. What I learned was to KEEP AN OPEN MIND.

Another Amazing Experience
In my mid 20s I had the honor of serving on the Mayor's Task Force for Teenage Pregnancy in Atlanta. During this time church folks had drilled into me that "Planned Parenthood was bad." As I started working with the Planned Parenthood staff I realized that this was one of the many lies put into my head. The organization, in fact, is wonderful, and I have volunteered for them and worked with them, off and on, for 24 years. Also during this time I tried to get the religious and secular sides together to have an open discussion on teen pregnancy. It didn't work at all — neither side was willing to talk because of the strong emotions over abortion. Of course, I've always felt that the win-win solution to abortion was pregnancy prevention, but the religious folks I spoke with didn't want to hear about it. I learned a lesson.

Hollywood & the Media
I once heard an actor say something to the effect that, "We actors tend to be more liberal because we are exposed to so many different people and ideas." I am a former journalist and I can say that the suspicions are true — we journalists ARE more liberal for the very reason above. We are trained to question and look at all viewpoints, and, well, that makes many of us liberal. But people are liberals for other reasons as well, and liberals are NOT BAD as some would have you believe. Liberals just have a different worldview (and usually broader).

What To Do
Believe me, there are plenty of far left liberals that annoy me as much as hard core righties. The key is to accept and listen to others with a different viewpoint. More importantly, don't ever buy into dogma or a party platform without questioning it. I recommend looking at every issue, one by one, and making your own opinion. Don't just accept the rantings of a TV or radio personality. Nothing is sacred in this world and everything should be up for scrutiny.

Rationalism Required
If we can just RESPECT and LISTEN to people with differing viewpoints, then we've taken a major step forward to getting along. However, one of the biggest shocks of my life has been the irrationality of people. If people don't care about logic, and follow ancient dogmas or rely on unproven information to base their arguments, then any intelligent and productive discussion ends. Don't just accept what you are told. Question everything! It's always okay to question — question your government, your religion, and your corporations. Trust me, they all three feed you lies every day.

Fight Ignorance
Civil discourse is also difficult when one party is uneducated on an issue. I urge everyone to read the newspaper, read blogs, and get your information from a variety of sources. Don't rely on information from "slanted" sources alone. When debating an ignorant person, that person will typically fall back and rely on straw man and circular arguments or resort to ad hominem attacks — that's where the debater simply attacks the person instead of responding to the ideas.

And So ....
I have never liked labels. I don't care about someone's political affiliation, race, nationality, etc... We are all people on this planet and we are all strikingly similar. Our relationships and Democracy could all work much better if we buried the hate and bias and just learned to listen to the other side. Almost always it's possible to find common ground.

Partisanship may get the vocal elements of each party worked up, but it accomplishes little. Let's start working together and listening to one another, and let's start moving forward on critical issues like health care. Humanity has some serious issues to face now and in the near future, and if we don't start getting along and working as a team, then we will likely self destruct by our own hand.

Peace.

Teabaggery

Some violence will probably always be inherent in our society simply because a few human brains have faulty wiring. I just saw a grim example of that this past week in my community when a jilted boyfriend killed his ex-girlfriend's son and then himself — murder-suicide. The young boy happened to be co-captain of our high school football team and had a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University. Tragic.

Of our country's sick obsession with guns, which is best exemplified by the Teabaggers, makes violence by aberrant humans easy. Yes, talking about GUNS as part of the problem is almost taboo in the U.S. We don't talk about how easy it is for a sicko to blow away 20+ people at a university with GUNS, we only talk everything else. Almost always, the solution to GUNS is MORE GUNS, much to the delight of the gun manufacturers.

I did read an article today that said overall murders are down in the U.S., but domestic murders are showing a frightening spike. It's like people are stressed out now because of the recession, etc.. and appear more likely to snap and kill their loved ones, usually with GUNS.

Ode to the Teabaggers

Oh you pour little Teabaggers. You think those evil socialists are going to come take away your guns and raise your taxes. And you don't want to pay more taxes because you think the money will just go to "those people," yeah, those people of color that you feel are getting a free ride. Oh Teabaggers, if Sarah Palin is your leader, well, I'm not too impressed with your movement. You are angry, but very hypocritically angry. You vent your anger on mainly one political party, even though it was the OTHER party that started this mess. You selectively hear and believe what you want to ... oh, that's probably because you're religious and your brain has already been conditioned for that.

Oh ye Teabaggers, elect all those Republican pawns who are bought and paid for by corporate special interests. You Teabaggers are the brownshirts of the GOP — always willing to serve, and never willing to think. You are angry! Let that anger flow! Forget about crossing lines, reaching out, and doing all that silly Christian stuff like loving your enemies. No, it's more fun to follow the Holy Bible selectively, so it's just more exciting to bash gays, liberals, illegal immigrants, and all those other groups on your lengthy hate list. Let it out, Teabaggers. Let your reactionary, right wing anger FLOW.

Ode to the Scientologists

You guys are absolutely, totally nuts. Don't try to hide your insanity with good deeds. Your little minds have been rewired and you are now pawns of a bizarre cult that seems mainly interested in self-perpetuation. Oh ye weak brained, how did you let yourselves fall into that? You guys are almost as dumb as tobacco smokers (not saying that pot smokers are smart, but maybe they are).

The Solution

Let's crossbreed all those Teabaggers with Scientologists. The Teabagger children won't be angry anymore. The Scientologists won't be such space cadets. And this is all really, really funny. The point being is that on the fringes there will always be nutty people and mis-wired brains. That is part of life and must be accepted. The aberrations are simply evolution at work, and sometimes they will produce a benefit, but usually they will create a disaster. But the bulk of us in the pack, the semi-rational mainstream folks, well, we have to keep moving forward and progressing as a society. I, the Goose, can't end the violence, but maybe we CAN greatly reduce it by getting people to think rationally, opening up sacred subjects, and getting rid of a lot of these STUPID, HORRIBLE GUNS. There, I said it. Yikes.

Morality, Part II

What really troubles me is that I have led a moral life, but according to most Christians I must endure trillions of years of torture simply because I can't believe something that cannot be proven. This doesn't seem fair, but those are the rules, so I am screwed.

I blame my fifth grade teachers Mr. Delk and Mr. Copenhagen. They had a huge impact on my life because they taught me to think and question. I blame myself for having an open mind. I blame my early career in journalism where it was MY JOB to question and be skeptical.

Oh great, for all of that I have to swim around in a burning lake — it will be like that river in Cleveland in the 1970s. I'll be wading in the water with Hitler and a billion Muslims going, "Why couldn't I believe???"

Okay, my "new blog" is going to be more personal, so .....

I've ALWAYS lived a moral life so I'm really don't feel like I deserve Hell. I can think of six bad things I've done in my life, and five of them were before the age of 18.

Four of the bad things I did involved conducting "hate campaigns" against two ex-girlfriends and two neighbor kids, when I was a youngster. I'm not sure why I was hateful, but part of it was the "pack" mentality because my friends or cousins joined in or led. I deeply regret this behavior and tried to contact and apologize to three of these individuals — I was only able to find one, my senior prom date, who accepted my apology.

The other bad thing I did as a youth was steal building supplies from a housing development under construction. I did this partly to resist the new subdivision that was replacing a beloved orange grove across the street from my home (I grew up in Florida). It was my first act of radical environmentalism.

The sixth bad thing I've done in my life was get too close to a single mom with small children (and me being married). We did not have sex, so half the people I've polled do not consider this an "affair." However, I did "sneak" to see her many times, so that part was wrong.

I am not saying I'm a saint and I may have forgotten some things, but for the most part I've lived a moral, clean (albeit boring) life.

The visit ...

Recently, two guys from a local church paid me a visit on a Saturday morning. When they found out I didn't believe they basically said I was going to Hell and that they would "pray for me."

I tried to explain to them that the only thing that separated me from them is that I cussed and drank beer occasionally. That's it. I've held the same job for 19 years, I raised two good daughters, I pay taxes, I vote, I give to charity, I do LOTS of volunteer work. So, I'm good too, aren't I? Christians have a way of making me feel rotten. And, funny, because I would venture to guess that Christians aren't perfect either, but, oh yeah, they are forgiven.

So, I hope the ancient desert God of the Bible forgives me for the ratty ass things I've done above. In the conservative Baptist faith I was raised in, I could go out and murder 20 people, but as long as I "ask for forgiveness" and "accept Christ as my savior" I'm in heaven. It's a great deal.

I guess I won't be in heaven with Ted Bundy, the sicko who murdered all those women, but who was then "saved' by James Dobson, of Focus on the Family fame, just prior to his execution. So, yes, you can rape and murder all you want and then just "let Jesus into your heart" before the authorities inject you. Man, what a GREAT DEAL for all of you who are prone to act like brutal criminals.

Anyway, in all seriousness, I think conservative Christianity is totally contradictory, illogical, and nonsensical, and I pay ZERO attention to it. And as for the people I've wronged in my life, I deeply regret some of the things I said and did, and I try to make up for what I did by being more accepting, kind, and loving to others, every day. It has nothing to do with religion, and it has everything to do with my own sense of morality and what I feel is right and just in my heart.

— Todd

Morality

Morality evolved out of the need for cooperation for mutual survival. Or, morality evolved from the need to get a youngster to reproductive age. Pretty cut and dry.

The Big Three religions say that morality comes from a divine being. In Christianity, for instance, people tell me that morals come from the Bible. While the Bible has influence on our modern morals, the fact is that Christians "pick and choose" the morals they want to follow. The Bible says to put adulterers to death and condones slavery. These are "morals" that are not followed in modern society. Christians say that abortion is "immoral" but there is nothing in the Bible that forbids abortion.

I would say that "morals" are an agreed-upon code that keep society's fabric intact. Many of our morals are made into laws, while others are enforced by public opinion. For instance, it's not illegal to cheat on your wife, but breaking trust with your mate is seen as a character flaw, and if you commit this act others will make you feel like a rotten person. I do not think males, by nature, are monogamous animals, yet we must override our urges to gain society's respect. To give into our urges is a sign of weakness.

The problem with Christian morals is that God supposedly put them on paper thousands of years ago and they cannot change or adapt as human society evolves. For instance, the Bible and Koran both take a dim view of women, after all both books were written by chauvinistic men. But in the most modern societies woman are treated as equals, or at least they should be. Thus, there are two conflicting value systems. However, the Bible, for instance, DOES adapt to modern morals. To MAKE the Bible adapt, Christians just cherry pick different scriptures or re-interpret scriptures. SUDDENLY IT IS BAD TO OWN SLAVES AND TREAT WOMEN LIKE LIVESTOCK. Surprise!

Speaking of this, throughout both the Old and New Testaments it is evident that the God of the Holy Bible is definitely anti-gay, and He is also very anti-woman. In the New Testament it is made clear that a woman must be subjugated and she should remain submissive and quiet in church. Now just how convenient is that, you clever male authors .

But now, gays are the favorite target of the Christians, who always need an "enemy" to unite their base. Yet, homosexuality does occur with other animal species. Most notably there are lesbian lizards and gay sheep. Of interest, I recently learned that the whiptale lesbian lizards must be "lesbian" to reproduce. So, if "God hates gays" why did He create those gay lizards in Arizona, or allow them to evolve? Of course, these gay lizards have a big problem because without the mixing of genes they are simply creating clones, which limits their ability to mutate. So, I guess there is a purpose for us guys after all.

In summary, the moral of this story is that humans decide for themselves what their moral code will be, based on where they are with their social evolution. For instance, I have heard the argument many times, "If we allow gays to marry, then the next thing will be bestiality." Naw, I don't think that's coming any time soon. Even liberals are grossed out at the idea of having sex with animals. And, because of our growing respect for animal rights, well, I don't think anyone is going to go for it. But in regards to gay marriage, you have two humans who love each other so much that they want to make a public commitment saying "we want to be together for life." I think that is a very beautiful statement and a good thing. So, yeah, I strongly support gay marriage and I think probably around half of my fellow citizens are with me on this. So, again, our morals are evolving.

A New Direction

After 300+ posts I've decided to take my blog in a new direction. Since 2004 this has been an "issues" blog where I've focused solely on the environment and peacemaking. Favorite side-themes from these discussions have been religion and population.

I'm still going to rant and ramble about my favorite themes but I want to open this blog up a little. I want to start including more personal stuff and more general subjects going through my balding head. In effect, this journal has become a log of my journey through life — my observations and thoughts. Of course, I will provide plenty of my ever-famous cynicism and satire, which some people like and others do not.

I am now at age 49. It was at age 37 when I began "waking up" and it was another seven years before I started putting things on paper.

I can say that the last few years of my life have been very interesting, in a good sort of way. There has been good and bad and a few unexpected surprises.

Join me for the rest of the journey ...

Life at the End of Empire

We send our warriors to die to protect the financial industry, the health care industry, the defense industry, the ... well, you get it.

I wish for a happy ending to our recession, but it's not looking good. See, the United States has lost most of its manufacturing base. Why? Because, thanks to overpopulation, there is an infinite supply of cheap labor in other countries. Because the supply of labor is so plentiful, the VALUE of labor declines. In the U.S. you have a worker who wants health care, a pension, and a bass boat, and this guy is competing against some Malaysian guy who works for a bowl of rice and a fish, and, well, guess where the jobs go.

So, without manufacturing, Mother America turns to her second way of making big money, which is new construction. Mother America whores away her greenspace, encourages mass immigration to grow the population, and BUILDS! The immigrants provide both the cheap labor as well as more consumers. Thus, we have the Housing Bubble. The criminal organization known as the Federal Reserve keeps the Housing Bubble going as long as they can. The financial industry is making the most money off the scam, not the poor Mexican laborers. The financial industry is the number one contributor of campaign contributions to Washington. Thus, Washington is paid well to look the other way as the Housing Bubble expands. The Left screams, "Affordable housing for the poor," and the Right scream, "Less regulation so that business can prosper."

And even when the Housing Bubble should have died, the scammers keep it going by offering sub-prime loans and giving houses to people who shouldn't own houses. Sure, there's a risk, so the big banks bundle hundreds of loans into packages, knowing that if a few mortgages are foreclosed, it won't hurt the overall bundle. And then that bundle of mortgages is sold to big investors like China.

But it's a Ponzi Scheme and soon the entire thing starts to collapse. But no worries, because the financial industry has spent $3.8 billion to buy the federal government, who promptly bails out the big financial institutions, and some executives even GET REWARDED! And then our government feeds us this big lie called "TOO BIG TO FAIL."

And due to this recession, I have neighbors and friends who are out of work, but for some strange reason they don't feel the rage that I don't do. They don't understand how the system has completely screwed them. And at my job I work with many small businesses that are suffering greatly due to this recession. Where is the rage, and the demand that we do a major reform of our government and economy?

So, I'm not sure how the story will end because I have a lot of faith in Americans. We are a smart and savvy people and can likely find a way to reinvent our economy. However, things will probably never be like they were before.

The bottom line is that our world and resources are not infinite. You can't keep building, throwing McNasty wrappers in the trash, and burning coal indefinitely without some kind of consequence. Our comfortable dream life, you know, the one we destroyed the environment for, is an illusion. And the millions who pursue it are full of DElusion.

— Todd

"We" Instead of "I"

Love one another, and remember that America is superior, and that everyone else in the world is corrupt and basically sucks. And don't worry about those uninsured U.S. citizens, yada yada.


I just saw the movie "Sicko" by Michael Moore. I don't understand why so many people hate him — I love the guy. The one thing that sticks in my mind is his comment, "It should be about 'we' and not 'I.'"

That's a theme I try to always push, but people don't get it. I was at a leadership conference recently and somehow got into a discussion with this guy about "working together as a team" and that the United States was arrogant. He said he was totally against the U.S. working through the United Nations or working with other countries because he did not want to support "corrupt dictators."

First, what "corrupt dictator" is he talking about? Or is he just parroting Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, like most people do around here.

Secondly, earlier, the guy was talking about being a Christian, church guy type. Wouldn't Jesus want us to "work together" to address the world's problems. No, I guess not.

I'm not sure where this "I" American attitude comes from, but I'm totally sick of it. We are an extremely selfish people, and at the same time we talk about "family values." Yeah, this is the nation where the dumb masses don't want public health care — we just want to keep the insurance companies and pharmaceutical firms filthy rich. You know, the ones that have purchased Congress. And where is the Christianity in all that? What about helping the downtrodden and poor?

Basically, I'm sick and disgusted with this entire country, and the level of hypocrisy I see is mind-boggling. Most in the U.S. have selective smelling — they can't smell their own shit.

One thing I'm sure of and that is our "great" nation will fall, and fall hard and soon. Hopefully, more humble nations will rise to assume world leadership.

President Obama has been one of the few bright spots I've seen lately. And the hate I've seen aimed against him is unparalleled. To have vision and an actual concern for the poor, well, damn, that is SO UNAMERICAN. And as for President Bush, he sold out the American people many times, and most unforgettably, he sold us out with the prescription benefit plan — a nice gift for the giant companies that own America. In fact, so many industries own America (pharmaceutical, defense, banking) that I'm sure our Congress is totally schizophrenic.

And one thing is for sure, and that is BEING AMERICAN means your head will be full of stupid lies, like CUBA IS BAD, FRANCE IS BAD, CAPITALISM IS ALWAYS GOOD, etc.... No one in this country seems to have the ability to question all the lies — probably because they are living so many lies themselves. After all, most Americans are delusional and believe that some guy in the clouds is watching over them. Maybe not. Maybe it's time we all work to help each other rather than putting so much trust in our imaginary God-man, our imaginary good government, and those beloved corporations. Americans, you are totally duped. WAKE UP.