Friday, December 7, 2012

A Rant For Today:

Frank Zappa was a bona fide genius, musically, lyrically, intellectually. He made a living by thumbing his nose at commercialism. He did it in a creative way heretofore unknown in these parts. Sadly, there's nobody stepping up to take over where he left off.

Music has become industry. Industry doesn't challenge the mind. Business exists for the purpose of generating revenue for the owners and shareholders. Everything is about money nowadays. Kids are taught that from early childhood. Poor and middle class children are taught to consume and to waste, because wasteful consumption keeps the wheels of industry turning. Children of the rich are taught how to exploit others for material gain without regard for the consequences. Perpetuate the mess.

I hate money. I hate that the system is set up so that you have to have it to survive in society. We are rapidly turning our home into a garbage dump. We have almost depleted the oil. Other resources will follow suit. The power-mad don't give a fuck. They say, "I got mine, fuck everyone else." You can't take all this material shit with you into the next plane of existence, so what is the point of greed? Why do they hoard shit and waste shit while others go hungry and suffer? It makes no logical sense to me.

Why should one person benefit from the suffering of another? And why do so many take great pleasure in tormenting others? Why does the janitor make minimum wage while the office worker makes three times as much for doing less work? And why does the boss make even more for doing next to nothing? It defies reason.

No wonder Americans don't want to do the manual labor anymore. Not only is it not fairly compensated, it is looked down upon with distaste and outright disgust. So foreigeners come in and take the jobs that we mostly don't want, and then we sit around and bitch that the foreigeners are taking all the jobs, meanwhile we don't want those jobs anyway, and why? Because we have been taught that those jobs are beneath us, and we feel that we are entitled to something better.

Entitlement is a big problem. (I seem to have a talent for pointing out the problems, but implementing a solution to them remains elusive.) We have certain rights by birth, which are inaliable, and to which we are entitled. Among these are the right to live, to be free from restriction, and to be happy. We do not have the right to abuse anyone or to exploit anyone, however, most of us don't comprehend this because we have been taught wrong. The lie is perpetuated from generation to generation. Why do we not see that by abusing and exploiting others we are depriving them of their right to live free and unrestricted? Do we believe that they do not deserve the same rights as us? And if so, why?
"All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others." --George Orwell.

Orwell's Animal Farm tells the story of the Russian revolution, and why communism failed so miserably when put into practice. In my opinion, it also parralells our own revolution, and why our nation has failed to become the free, open, and democratic society envisioned by dreamers. The oppressed have an innate desire to turn the tables and oppress their oppressors, motivated by the need for revenge, ie: turnabout is fair play. When unable to accomplish this after seizing controll, they inevitably turn instead to oppressing others, be it their own former allies or someone else entirely. The elitists understand this dynamic, and they exploit it to their own ends. They see social unrest, and they infiltrate the mob and stir up trouble. They either set themselves up as leaders, by telling the mob what it wants to hear, urging them on, enstilling false hope, and then after the fighting is done they assume positions of power and resume the oppression. Or, they cleverly wait to see who the naturally emerging leaders are, and then bribe them with oppulence to do their bidding. Either way they accomplish their ends and retain power, whether overtly or covertly. The ones on top of the pyramid, for the most part, stay on top of the pyramid. They play society like Paganini played the violin.

So, how to nurture awareness? How to awaken the masses of somnambulent sheeple? That seems to be the dillemma. How to get folks to abandon the hotdog & cheeseburger MTV award winning dog & pony show? How to convince them that there is something better, something more rewarding, than  consistant instant gratification? I mean, sure, instant gratification seems wonderful on the surface, no need to be patient, no need to struggle, just be lazy and do the bare minimum necessary to fulfill your obligations. Let someone else do the hard part while you relax and reap the benefits of their efforts. Don't worry about the next several generations to come, you ain't gonna be here to suffer the consequences of your actions of today. (Or so you've been led to believe.) It's that same old attitude: "I got mine, so fuck you." It cascades down from the top of the pyramids; The monkey up there says it to those on the next tier down, then they say it to those standing below, and so on and so forth, all the way down to the ground, to the slaves with the broken backs, who in turn go home and beat their wives and children, and the children kick the chickens. (Because everyone gets shit on, except fot the top monkey, and when you get shit on, you need to shit on someone else in order to feel important.)

We need to yank that monkey off the top and make him clean up the shit, so he can see what it feels like on the recieving end for a change. But we can't stop there, because when the top monkey goes away, one of the other monkeys under him will climb up to take his place. We need to prevent that from happening. Destroy the hierarchy all together, and level the playing field. Everyone must have an equal say, everyone must do his/her fair share of work to recieve his/her fair share of reward. The CEO and the janitor must come to see one another as equal and worthwhile beings, each contributing to the good of all. If the janitor wasn't there to do his job, and the CEO had to do it himself, he would come to appreciate the necessity of it. True democracy means that everyone is equal and there is no boss nor group of bosses, there is no hierarchy, but rather we are all the boss.
We all have a job to do, we all have a say in the decision making process. We are the boss and the worker, simultaneously.

Well it works good in theory, anyway. Unfortunately, there is human nature to be considered again. Some people still think that they are somehow better than others, and until this notion is smashed completely and the actualization that we are all free and equal partners in this thing called society dawns on everyone and our eyes are opened to the truth of it, we will continue this rolly-coaster ride.
Indefinitely.

Ah.  I have some actual work to do now.  Laters.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Ah, better smoke another cigarette...

In the grand scheme of things, what is the life of one Bear? What is the life of one Panther?

The life of every being affects the lives of others.

Don't ask me why I say what I say. - I say it because I say it.

"Kansas City linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his 22-year-old girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, then drove to the Chiefs' facilities at Arrowhead Stadium and took his own life in front of some team employees, including coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli, on Saturday morning."
-- Yahoo News.
That's a sad story, it's some really fucked up shit, man. ...Really.

But what made me sadder was reading that a friend of a friend's cat died.  We lost our orange buddy Buddy not that long ago. I'm relatively certain that he's still hanging around here, we just can't see him with the naked eyes because he's a Spirit, and physical human eyes don't see that dimension very well, but we feel him.  And the other four-leggeds know.  They interact with him, which is descernable to human eyes.

I've burried too many cats and dogs over the years, and a few humans.  When someone we know leaves this realm, we miss them.  When someone we love leaves this realm, we miss them more.
I still miss my Doberman/Husky friend Toke, and she's been gone from this realm since 1985. She liked jumping out of the truck at red lights and running thru traffic, so I guess it was inevitable, in retrospect.  I figure she moved on to another level, but that doesn't make me miss her any less, or any of the other friends who have gone away.

We, that is to say all beings, affect everyone and everything around us, whether we realize it or not.
Just watch the old Christmas movie 'It's A Wonderful Life' (Don't watch the Turnerized version, watch it in black & white, it has more impact.)

The Buddha would probably have some bit of wisdom to say right now, probably something very zen.  But I don't.  ...So I'll just say something tao.  Later.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Why Do We Blog?

"I think it is sad the opinion you had was the only one voiced..."  --Black Sabbath


Human creatures, every one of us, have opinions. Granted, some people let others form their opinions for them, or they hear something that they think sounds good, and then regurgitate it as though it was their own, without checking or doing any investigation themselves, which amounts to a herd-mentality, a flock of followers following their percieved leader, hence the origin of the term sheeple. (Humans who behave like sheep.)

Whatever the origin of the formation of our opinions, we all have them, and it's only natural to want to share them. However, most folks don't care to hear the opinions of others, unless they are in agreement with, or complimentary to their own. (Hence the saying - "Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one and they all stink.") But this doesn't stop people from expressing their opinions, sometimes loudly and belligerently, (especially when alcohol is involved) if they strongly believe what they are saying is correct. This often leads to conflict. ---> Enter other forms of self expression.

I think, (and this is only my opinion talking, not my asshole,) I believe that the disire to express one's self is in our nature, and we need to have that desire fulfilled. This is why people write letters to the editor, people go into public places and shout loudly, people make and display signs, people create works of art, people paint their dwellings and vehicles certain colors, etc. ...And people blog.  The need for self expression.   And since the advent of the internet, (Thanx, Al Gore. hahahaha.) now we have even more places to express ourselves, whether others like it or not.
Just go watch any random video on youtube, then read the comments.
Sometimes I laugh my fucking ass off at the shit people post, and sometimes I post my own shit, which I'm sure gets a reaction from someone else.
Then there's Andy Warhola's "Fifteen Minutes Of Fame" - We all wanna be heard, don't we? We wanna be looked at, gawked at, gaped at, {huh-huh-huh, he said "gaped"} some of us wanna be laughed at, some of us wanna piss people off... [Yeah, ok. I get some twisted enjoyment out of pissing people off sometimes. I'll cop to it.]

In short, we blog because we can. Same reason why a dog licks his nut sack.  Whether anyone reads it or not, just the act of typing it and putting it out there fulfills that need.
That's my opinion, anyway. ..And not my asshole   (  *  )
:P

I'd bet that if dogs, and cats, and horses, and chimpanzees, and bison, and wolves, and other non-human critters could type - I'd just bet that they would have some shit to say to us humans, and we probably wouldn't like it, but it would most likely be true.   Think about that over your breakfast.

                                         I'm outta here, laters.