UPDATE....Once again I was right. Reading Thomas Frank"s article In Harpers, it is clear that the Lamestream Media's hated candidate was not Donald Trump but....Bernie Samders!! Never have I been so sad to be so right.
It is hilarious to watch the Washington elites ad the Lamestream Media poo-poo Bernie Sanders as he gets stronger. First he was a fringe candidate who would be lucky to break out of single digits. Then it wasn't a big deal after he broke 20 percent in polls. Then we were told to disregard the huge crowds and the huge amount of cash he was raising from the grassroots. After all, we were told that crowds don't matter. Grass roots funding does not matter, because after all, the Big Boys and Democratic Party Insiders were all for Hillary. Now we are told that it doesn't matter if Bernie wins Iowa and New Hampshire! Unbelievable! I have been a total political junkie since 1976 and never has it been said that losing Iowa and New Hampshire is not a big deal. In fact, such a result has always been described as a disaster. When Hillary was on the brink of losing both states in 2008, it was described as a quick kill for Barack Obama, until Hillary pulled out New Hampshire after some well timed blubbering. Why, is it all of a sudden, not a big deal in 2016?? We are told that its because of Hillary's strength with minority voters., which are few in Iowa and N.H. What, you don't think it will matter with minority voters after Hillary gets off to a disastrous start? You don't think that the Clinton's long record of race baiting whenever they get in trouble will not be remembered? The unions are for Hillary in Nevada!! We are told unions are dying, that they are irrelevant, except of course when they endorse Hillary Clinton.
But the real reason is that the elites have decided that Bernie Sanders must never be taken seriously. Ever. No matter what happens. No matter what is said. If we just ignore Bernie Sanders, his ultra lefty ass will just go away. The elites will say that Hillary wins debates when the polls say that Sanders won. They will say that her performance in front of the Benghazi Committee, which she essentially played it cool while the GOP made asses of themselves, is a clincher when it will be forgotten when the primaries start. Hillary is Inevitable! We said so!
Yes , Hillary is still a big favorite. But it might be a good idea if someone stopped the slide in Iowa and New Hampshire. Before people start, you know, voting.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Ronald Reagan Continues His Stranglehold on America
Sometimes the ignorance, bigotry, and hatred in this country is so overwhelming it breaks your heart.
Exhibit A- This morning, my wife's slightly redneck but usually decent cousin posted on Facebook actually begging ISIS to kill President Obama. Really. My hands literally shook with rage and shock. After all, I knew he was a conservative, but I really never associated such levels of hatred with him. What the hell is the matter with these people? What the hell happened to make this type of thing respectable in certain circles?
Well, Ronald Reagan happened. And he is still with us.
Reagan has been called the "Great Communicator." But what exactly did he communicate? That
it is OK to indulge in your hatreds and your selfishness. Reagan made it respectable to be a racist. Reagan made it respectable to be selfish and greedy. Reagan made it respectable to be a warmonger. In short Reagan made it respectable to indulge in sin as to your public actions. We still live in Ronald Reagans dictatorship of the national soul. My entire adult life has been spent in utter disgust of the coarseness and cruelty of our national discourse. My entire adult life has been spent in the fruitless hope that this national nightmare might end. And I am always disappointed. The middle class being strangled to death? It is the result of Reagan's ideas, and they still prevail. Endless, fruitless, war? Reagan paved the way with his belligerence. After the Masters of the Universe nearly tanked Western Civilization in 2008, I thought people would finally wake up and smell the coffee. We finally elected a Democratic President without the support of the South. Finally, I thought, we have finally shrugged off the poisonous legacy of Ronald Reagan. No such luck. The hatred and ignorance is still with us, only stronger and harder than before. Fox News, Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Scott Walker, Rick Scott. and many more. They are all the bastard children of Ronald Reagan. All they do is follow Reagan's ideas to their viscous and poisonous extremes. They would not exist without Ronald Reagan. Uncle Ron's superficial charm is long gone. The meanness and hatred is still with us. And millions of white conservatives proudly sprew out his hatred, pleased as punched with themselves, blissfully unaware of the shriveling of their immortal souls.
How can this be so? One of the reasons is that liberals are blissfully unaware of Reagan's total triumph. It is often said that today society is the result of a deal between liberals and conservatives. Liberals got the culture while letting conservatives run the economy. But as David Sirota explains in his book Back To Our Future, the liberals never got the culture either. The ideas of the Reagan Decade, the 1980's, still have a stranglehold on our soul. This is because of the reinforcements of pop culture. The so called hippies of the 60's have been totally demonized by characters such as Forrest Gump and Michael J. Fox's Alex Keaton in Family Ties. War has been glamorized by movies like First Blood, Top Gun, Red Dawn and too many others. Pop Culture has totally glamorized the myth of the Lone Hero against the Evil, Stupid Bureaucrat. Finally we accept black people only if they no longer act black. Bill Cosby's Cliff Huxtable. Oprah Winfrey. Michael Jordan was able to bleach himself in white people's eyes. LeBron James has not. Barack Obama thought he bleached himself enough to be accepted by whites. But it turned out that Reagan's America still thinks he's a nigger. So much for "hope" and "change". Reagan's America never changes. David Sirota is an expert an pop culture as only a child of the 80's is. Read his book. You will be both greatly entertained and greatly angered. Freaking Ronald Reagan never dies.
I write this four days after the ISIS terrorist attacks on France. But I don't worry about ISIS destroying America. I'm afraid Ronald Reagan has already managed it.
Exhibit A- This morning, my wife's slightly redneck but usually decent cousin posted on Facebook actually begging ISIS to kill President Obama. Really. My hands literally shook with rage and shock. After all, I knew he was a conservative, but I really never associated such levels of hatred with him. What the hell is the matter with these people? What the hell happened to make this type of thing respectable in certain circles?
Well, Ronald Reagan happened. And he is still with us.
Reagan has been called the "Great Communicator." But what exactly did he communicate? That
it is OK to indulge in your hatreds and your selfishness. Reagan made it respectable to be a racist. Reagan made it respectable to be selfish and greedy. Reagan made it respectable to be a warmonger. In short Reagan made it respectable to indulge in sin as to your public actions. We still live in Ronald Reagans dictatorship of the national soul. My entire adult life has been spent in utter disgust of the coarseness and cruelty of our national discourse. My entire adult life has been spent in the fruitless hope that this national nightmare might end. And I am always disappointed. The middle class being strangled to death? It is the result of Reagan's ideas, and they still prevail. Endless, fruitless, war? Reagan paved the way with his belligerence. After the Masters of the Universe nearly tanked Western Civilization in 2008, I thought people would finally wake up and smell the coffee. We finally elected a Democratic President without the support of the South. Finally, I thought, we have finally shrugged off the poisonous legacy of Ronald Reagan. No such luck. The hatred and ignorance is still with us, only stronger and harder than before. Fox News, Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Scott Walker, Rick Scott. and many more. They are all the bastard children of Ronald Reagan. All they do is follow Reagan's ideas to their viscous and poisonous extremes. They would not exist without Ronald Reagan. Uncle Ron's superficial charm is long gone. The meanness and hatred is still with us. And millions of white conservatives proudly sprew out his hatred, pleased as punched with themselves, blissfully unaware of the shriveling of their immortal souls.
How can this be so? One of the reasons is that liberals are blissfully unaware of Reagan's total triumph. It is often said that today society is the result of a deal between liberals and conservatives. Liberals got the culture while letting conservatives run the economy. But as David Sirota explains in his book Back To Our Future, the liberals never got the culture either. The ideas of the Reagan Decade, the 1980's, still have a stranglehold on our soul. This is because of the reinforcements of pop culture. The so called hippies of the 60's have been totally demonized by characters such as Forrest Gump and Michael J. Fox's Alex Keaton in Family Ties. War has been glamorized by movies like First Blood, Top Gun, Red Dawn and too many others. Pop Culture has totally glamorized the myth of the Lone Hero against the Evil, Stupid Bureaucrat. Finally we accept black people only if they no longer act black. Bill Cosby's Cliff Huxtable. Oprah Winfrey. Michael Jordan was able to bleach himself in white people's eyes. LeBron James has not. Barack Obama thought he bleached himself enough to be accepted by whites. But it turned out that Reagan's America still thinks he's a nigger. So much for "hope" and "change". Reagan's America never changes. David Sirota is an expert an pop culture as only a child of the 80's is. Read his book. You will be both greatly entertained and greatly angered. Freaking Ronald Reagan never dies.
I write this four days after the ISIS terrorist attacks on France. But I don't worry about ISIS destroying America. I'm afraid Ronald Reagan has already managed it.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
The Pentagon's Shocking Record of Failure
Now that the horror of the ISIS attacks is sinking in, the spastic little children in the GOP and the media are demanding "Do Something!!!". The fact that these people don't have the slightest idea about what to do does not stop them from screaming. All they want is to send the US Military out to kill people and blow things up. Doesn't matter what or where as long as it's Muslim. It is horribly and sadly predictable how this is all going to play out. First, wise people asking for restraint will be mocked as wimpy, unpatriotic appeasers. Then to appease these babies, the US will bomb something or invade something Islamic. This will accomplish nothing except help ISIS recruit more terrorists, kill innocent people, and finally get American soldiers killed. Oh yes, and give people like Marco Rubio a cheap bounce in the polls. When the body bags start coming home, General Marco will nowhere be found. And when the next terrorist attack happens, liberals will be blamed. Or hippies. Or Peaceniks. Or Jane Fonda. Or anyone except the assholes who demanded war. Who will be screaming, once again...do something!!!......
Any shrink can tell you a working definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again even if it doesn't work. By that definition, the United States of America is insane. We keep asking the Pentagon to get US out of these messes. And it has been proven that the Pentagon is only good at two things 1) Blowing things up 2) Fucking up.
Why hasn't it been reported that, since the end of World War II whenever the enemy decides not to cave in and, you know. actually fire back, the Pentagon loses the war? Korea was a tie once the Chinese got involved. Vietnam was a disaster. In this century both Iraq and Afghanistan were bloody, pointless slogs. The Marines were blown out of Beirut in the 80's when Reagan decided to Do Something about Libyan terrorism. The only time the Pentagon wins is if the enemy is so weak it cant resist (Grenada, Panama), can be subdued by just bombing (the Balkans) , or when the enemy essentially leaves the battlefield (the first Gulf War). All the rest have been defeats of the United States. This despite the fact that one half of the world military expenditures are borne by the United States. This despite the fact that the US has the world's only functioning blue water navy. This despite the fact that the US spends so much on national defense that nobody can tell exactly how much is being spent! I guess it would be unpatriotic to subject the Pentagon, to, you know, an audit. Finally, this despite the fact that the average American soldier nowadays is of consistently high quality. ( they are not "troops" they are soldiers). So we blame our defeats on Jane Fonda. Or that we didn't let MacArthur cross the Yalu or let John Rambo win the war in Vietnam. Or we just didn't have enough troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or they didn't give us enough time. Hey, if they would only give us 20 years, we could complete our "nation building" , whatever the hell that is. Its always the fault of someone else. Never because of the possibility that the generals, the desk jockeys, and the politicians might be incompetent. Oh no!
Maybe I'm being too hard on the Pentagon. After all, they work for a public that has essentially abdicated the responsibilities of citizenship and national defense. The volunteer army lets us dump all the responsibility of our safety on a small strata of people who are overstressed due to the demands made on them. Many in the military did not want to follow up on Bush's harebrained scheme in Iraq. What is sadly apparent is that a combination of an ignorant public, mindless politicians, and a Pentagon so bloated that it cannot get out of its own way will only get people killed while doing little to stop the evil of ISIS.
Before we start another war, maybe we can demand that Saudi Arabia and other petro-dictatorships stop funding terrorists just to save their own corrupt skins. Remember when Jimmy Carter was laughed out of the White House when he called the energy crisis "the moral equivalent of war?" Well it is war when the money we pay for gas winds up in the hands of ISIS thanks to our "allies". We could cut down our dependence on foreign oil, leaving the sheiks no option but to drink it. Finally, those of us who call ourselves "Christians", followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. can stand in the forefront, demanding accountability from those who would get us in another pointless war.
Any shrink can tell you a working definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again even if it doesn't work. By that definition, the United States of America is insane. We keep asking the Pentagon to get US out of these messes. And it has been proven that the Pentagon is only good at two things 1) Blowing things up 2) Fucking up.
Why hasn't it been reported that, since the end of World War II whenever the enemy decides not to cave in and, you know. actually fire back, the Pentagon loses the war? Korea was a tie once the Chinese got involved. Vietnam was a disaster. In this century both Iraq and Afghanistan were bloody, pointless slogs. The Marines were blown out of Beirut in the 80's when Reagan decided to Do Something about Libyan terrorism. The only time the Pentagon wins is if the enemy is so weak it cant resist (Grenada, Panama), can be subdued by just bombing (the Balkans) , or when the enemy essentially leaves the battlefield (the first Gulf War). All the rest have been defeats of the United States. This despite the fact that one half of the world military expenditures are borne by the United States. This despite the fact that the US has the world's only functioning blue water navy. This despite the fact that the US spends so much on national defense that nobody can tell exactly how much is being spent! I guess it would be unpatriotic to subject the Pentagon, to, you know, an audit. Finally, this despite the fact that the average American soldier nowadays is of consistently high quality. ( they are not "troops" they are soldiers). So we blame our defeats on Jane Fonda. Or that we didn't let MacArthur cross the Yalu or let John Rambo win the war in Vietnam. Or we just didn't have enough troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Or they didn't give us enough time. Hey, if they would only give us 20 years, we could complete our "nation building" , whatever the hell that is. Its always the fault of someone else. Never because of the possibility that the generals, the desk jockeys, and the politicians might be incompetent. Oh no!
Maybe I'm being too hard on the Pentagon. After all, they work for a public that has essentially abdicated the responsibilities of citizenship and national defense. The volunteer army lets us dump all the responsibility of our safety on a small strata of people who are overstressed due to the demands made on them. Many in the military did not want to follow up on Bush's harebrained scheme in Iraq. What is sadly apparent is that a combination of an ignorant public, mindless politicians, and a Pentagon so bloated that it cannot get out of its own way will only get people killed while doing little to stop the evil of ISIS.
Before we start another war, maybe we can demand that Saudi Arabia and other petro-dictatorships stop funding terrorists just to save their own corrupt skins. Remember when Jimmy Carter was laughed out of the White House when he called the energy crisis "the moral equivalent of war?" Well it is war when the money we pay for gas winds up in the hands of ISIS thanks to our "allies". We could cut down our dependence on foreign oil, leaving the sheiks no option but to drink it. Finally, those of us who call ourselves "Christians", followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. can stand in the forefront, demanding accountability from those who would get us in another pointless war.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Hillary WAS Just Good Enough to Lose With
UPDATE: Don't you just want to strangle Hillary now?
All that Wall Street money is now sticking to Hillary Clinton like stink on you know what. She cannot hide from it. Any pretext of economic populism is buried in it. Bernie Sanders is right. They do not give you that money out of the goodness of their hearts. They give it to you to own you. Does anyone really believe recent Hillary's shift to the left? Most people believe its just a stunt. A stunt that will be funded with Wall Street dollars. A stunt that will be repudiated when Hillary finally gets to sit in the Big Chair. Then it will be business as usual. Even if her recent shift is sincere, few will believe her. You took the money, Honey.
I am usually one to decry the media's obsession with "gaffes". The banal horserace reporting without speaking of what the candidates are really saying can drive me mad. But, man, Hillary really laid a big one at the debate November 14. When Sanders persisted in pressuring Hillary on her millions and millions of bucks from the Vampire Squid and others, Hillary said that it doesn't matter because, well, Wall Street was close to the World Trade Center, and she was New York's senator during 911 and therefore we were all victims or something so...uh...don't worry about the money because .....well, just because. All this after the ISIS attacks in France.
Good God.
Doesn't the Inevitable Nominee realize that her ties to WS are just as deadly as Jeb Bust's ties to Dubya and Iraq? Didn't she know the question was coming? Why, like Jeb, does she not prepare for this question? Could the reason be that there is no answer to the question? Could it be that her closeness to Wall Street will piss away all the populist advantages that the Democrats should have in 2016? Can you imagine Donald Trump saying "Hey Hillary, why did you take the money? Why did you take MY money?"
Isn't it about time the Democrats starting asking these questions?
All that Wall Street money is now sticking to Hillary Clinton like stink on you know what. She cannot hide from it. Any pretext of economic populism is buried in it. Bernie Sanders is right. They do not give you that money out of the goodness of their hearts. They give it to you to own you. Does anyone really believe recent Hillary's shift to the left? Most people believe its just a stunt. A stunt that will be funded with Wall Street dollars. A stunt that will be repudiated when Hillary finally gets to sit in the Big Chair. Then it will be business as usual. Even if her recent shift is sincere, few will believe her. You took the money, Honey.
I am usually one to decry the media's obsession with "gaffes". The banal horserace reporting without speaking of what the candidates are really saying can drive me mad. But, man, Hillary really laid a big one at the debate November 14. When Sanders persisted in pressuring Hillary on her millions and millions of bucks from the Vampire Squid and others, Hillary said that it doesn't matter because, well, Wall Street was close to the World Trade Center, and she was New York's senator during 911 and therefore we were all victims or something so...uh...don't worry about the money because .....well, just because. All this after the ISIS attacks in France.
Good God.
Doesn't the Inevitable Nominee realize that her ties to WS are just as deadly as Jeb Bust's ties to Dubya and Iraq? Didn't she know the question was coming? Why, like Jeb, does she not prepare for this question? Could the reason be that there is no answer to the question? Could it be that her closeness to Wall Street will piss away all the populist advantages that the Democrats should have in 2016? Can you imagine Donald Trump saying "Hey Hillary, why did you take the money? Why did you take MY money?"
Isn't it about time the Democrats starting asking these questions?
Oil Dictatorships Need to Stop Funding ISIS
I helped fund ISIS today.
I didn't mean to . but I did. You see. I drove to the grocery store.
Whether you drive a Prius or a Lincoln Navigator we help fund the atrocities of ISIS. The butchering in Paris only the latest. We drive our vehicles. We buy gas. Some of that gas comes from Saudi Arabia. Qatar. the UAE and others. The dictators, kings, sheiks, and bankers get the money. American oil companies and politicians like the Bushes make sure they get that money They use that money to fund opulent lifestyles and to oppress the masses. The average citizen becomes poor and frustrated. To stay in power, the kings buy off and fund Islamic extremist and terrorist groups. The groups then recruit frustrated outcasts to commit terrorists acts. In short, the sheiks, bankers, kings and oil companies get rich. Innocent citizens minding their own business in the World Trade Center and Paris and too many places in between get slaughtered. So the cycle goes on and on. Wars are started. Sabers are rattled. Fingers are pointed. Names are called. Soldiers die. Innocents die.
The bank accounts get fatter. The terrorists get deadlier.
The horror will never stop until the oil dictators are held accountable. Yeah, Jeb! That includes your family's buddies in the Saudi royal family.
I didn't mean to . but I did. You see. I drove to the grocery store.
Whether you drive a Prius or a Lincoln Navigator we help fund the atrocities of ISIS. The butchering in Paris only the latest. We drive our vehicles. We buy gas. Some of that gas comes from Saudi Arabia. Qatar. the UAE and others. The dictators, kings, sheiks, and bankers get the money. American oil companies and politicians like the Bushes make sure they get that money They use that money to fund opulent lifestyles and to oppress the masses. The average citizen becomes poor and frustrated. To stay in power, the kings buy off and fund Islamic extremist and terrorist groups. The groups then recruit frustrated outcasts to commit terrorists acts. In short, the sheiks, bankers, kings and oil companies get rich. Innocent citizens minding their own business in the World Trade Center and Paris and too many places in between get slaughtered. So the cycle goes on and on. Wars are started. Sabers are rattled. Fingers are pointed. Names are called. Soldiers die. Innocents die.
The bank accounts get fatter. The terrorists get deadlier.
The horror will never stop until the oil dictators are held accountable. Yeah, Jeb! That includes your family's buddies in the Saudi royal family.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Man's Search for Meaning in the 21st Century
Victor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning remains a classic today. His ideas, forged in the hellish pit of Auschwitz, still stun and move us. He reminds us that no matter how bad your circumstances are, the only freedom that cannot be taken away is the right to choose your attitude. The right to choose your own way. Coming from Frankl, these words no longer seem like new age pabulum. They were forged from history's most brutal laboratory. Frankl quotes Nietzsche with approval: "He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How." In the concentration camps, Frankl stated that the people who survived these most inhuman conditions were the people who believed they had something to live for. These people would never give up. When people gave up in Auschwitz, death would surely follow. As I write this, I am going through one of the most difficult circumstances of my life. Frankl's words jolted me out of my depression and stupor and got me hoping again. If he could survive Auschwitz, certainly I could survive my problems and face them with courage and bravery if I only would choose to do so. Wherever you are now, Viktor Frankl, I owe you a lot.
America in 2016 is certainly not Auschwitz. We enjoy freedom and luxury that Frankl and his fellow inmates could only dream of. But in America we certainly have not abolished despair. Depression and suicide remain menaces. But suicide rates in America remain incredibly uneven.
Suicide rates of white males over forty years old in America are THIRTY times more than black females of the same age group. Not three times more, not thirty percent more, thirty times more! Since I am a white male approaching my 54th birthday with a melancholy temperament, this is a cause for concern. I read in my hometown newspaper just last Sunday, how suicide and depression rates among white working class males is going through the roof. What is going on here? Could it be that we have all been sold lies? That wealth and status and accumulating stuff is the be all and end all of our existence in America? That the tragedy of my brethren was that they believed these lies? As the fallout of America's winner-take-all society reached critical mass, could it be that the so called losers couldn't take the shame? Was the shame so unbearable that some of these men killed themselves? I think so. Because when these men found out that their financial and social standing were hopeless, life lost all meaning. They had nothing else to fall back on. And what of the black females, the ones with the much lower suicide rates. They are certainly a much scorned group in America. They are much less wealthy then their white male brethren. But they are not killing themselves. Could the reason be that because of circumstances, they never really bought into the American dream? When hardship comes, these ladies, as a group, have something to fall back on. They have their community and are not as isolated as the white male. This goes to man's, and woman's search for meaning. For when hard times come, as they inevitably will for all of us, we must have a reason to keep going. Something to give meaning to our sufferings. This is true whether we are in Auschwitz or a wealthy suburb. The question is not how much stuff we have but whether our lives have meaning.
So, in these hard times of mine, what gives my life meaning. It is simply the fact that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to forgive me of my sins and bring me to Eternal life. And just as importantly, bring my friends and family to eternal life also. I am the youngest child of a family of five. with the death of my father two years ago, I am the last survivor. My eldest brother died of cancer in 2009 at age 49. My second eldest brother, died in a reckless gun accident in 1992 at the age of 37. You would think that now that my wife and I have been left alone, that suffering in the other areas of our lives would have eased up. Think again. The suffering of this life grinds on and on despite the desperate cries of Scott Stark to the Almighty screaming "Ease up on me! Call the dogs off! You took my family! Isn't that enough?? But I don't give up. Because I have the hope of Heaven. The hope that I will see everyone again. That we will be reunited and all our tears will be wiped away. I offer up my sufferings in the hope that they can be used by my family in redemption. The hope of heaven gives my life on Earth meaning. I use this power to keep going on, that there is something the world needs that only I can give, even if I have wasted a lot of my 54 years.
So let us all pray, Lord, give us your love. Your grace. For with this we are rich. We need nothing more.
Nothing.
America in 2016 is certainly not Auschwitz. We enjoy freedom and luxury that Frankl and his fellow inmates could only dream of. But in America we certainly have not abolished despair. Depression and suicide remain menaces. But suicide rates in America remain incredibly uneven.
Suicide rates of white males over forty years old in America are THIRTY times more than black females of the same age group. Not three times more, not thirty percent more, thirty times more! Since I am a white male approaching my 54th birthday with a melancholy temperament, this is a cause for concern. I read in my hometown newspaper just last Sunday, how suicide and depression rates among white working class males is going through the roof. What is going on here? Could it be that we have all been sold lies? That wealth and status and accumulating stuff is the be all and end all of our existence in America? That the tragedy of my brethren was that they believed these lies? As the fallout of America's winner-take-all society reached critical mass, could it be that the so called losers couldn't take the shame? Was the shame so unbearable that some of these men killed themselves? I think so. Because when these men found out that their financial and social standing were hopeless, life lost all meaning. They had nothing else to fall back on. And what of the black females, the ones with the much lower suicide rates. They are certainly a much scorned group in America. They are much less wealthy then their white male brethren. But they are not killing themselves. Could the reason be that because of circumstances, they never really bought into the American dream? When hardship comes, these ladies, as a group, have something to fall back on. They have their community and are not as isolated as the white male. This goes to man's, and woman's search for meaning. For when hard times come, as they inevitably will for all of us, we must have a reason to keep going. Something to give meaning to our sufferings. This is true whether we are in Auschwitz or a wealthy suburb. The question is not how much stuff we have but whether our lives have meaning.
So, in these hard times of mine, what gives my life meaning. It is simply the fact that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to forgive me of my sins and bring me to Eternal life. And just as importantly, bring my friends and family to eternal life also. I am the youngest child of a family of five. with the death of my father two years ago, I am the last survivor. My eldest brother died of cancer in 2009 at age 49. My second eldest brother, died in a reckless gun accident in 1992 at the age of 37. You would think that now that my wife and I have been left alone, that suffering in the other areas of our lives would have eased up. Think again. The suffering of this life grinds on and on despite the desperate cries of Scott Stark to the Almighty screaming "Ease up on me! Call the dogs off! You took my family! Isn't that enough?? But I don't give up. Because I have the hope of Heaven. The hope that I will see everyone again. That we will be reunited and all our tears will be wiped away. I offer up my sufferings in the hope that they can be used by my family in redemption. The hope of heaven gives my life on Earth meaning. I use this power to keep going on, that there is something the world needs that only I can give, even if I have wasted a lot of my 54 years.
So let us all pray, Lord, give us your love. Your grace. For with this we are rich. We need nothing more.
Nothing.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Kentucky: The canery in the coal mine.
UPDATE. The Election is over. Democrats have once again proven their uselessness.
Well, in the great Commonwealth of Kentucky they just had an election for Governor. Once again, a wingnut lunatic, Matt Bevin, was elected over a centrist Democrat, Jack Conway. This will have real consequences for real people. The healthcare exchange that was a model for the nation will now be dismantled. Over half a million people will lose their health insurance. And thousands of Kentuckians will die. Sorry if that shocks some people. People get sick. People need health care. People cannot afford health care. People die. The logic is unbreakable.
Why did this happen? It is because people will always vote for something over nothing. Democrats too timid to stand up for the truth? Fine, people will vote for Kim Davis-like fag bashing. Wingnut Republicans almost always beat timid, moderate Democrats. Especially those who are obviously ashamed to be Democrats. Especially Democrats who are too afraid to stand up for what they believe. Especially Democrats who do not believe in anything.
I am sick of hearing about how the future demographics favor Democrats. For every Colorado or New Mexico they gained, they have lost Appalachia. Kentucky. Tennessee. Arkansas. West Virginia. Missouri. All states where Democrats have been competitive. All solid for the GOP. The bright people in the Democratic Party, in their lust for 270 every four years ignore off year elections. Ignore state houses. Throw up their hands and whine "Gerrymandering!" or "Citizens United!" . This is a party that does not sweat the small offices. Does not want to get its fingernails dirty. Does not want to scuff its Gucci's. Does not want to go into tough areas or make tough races. Does not want to contest all 50 states,
It would really be funny if people weren't dying.
Well, in the great Commonwealth of Kentucky they just had an election for Governor. Once again, a wingnut lunatic, Matt Bevin, was elected over a centrist Democrat, Jack Conway. This will have real consequences for real people. The healthcare exchange that was a model for the nation will now be dismantled. Over half a million people will lose their health insurance. And thousands of Kentuckians will die. Sorry if that shocks some people. People get sick. People need health care. People cannot afford health care. People die. The logic is unbreakable.
Why did this happen? It is because people will always vote for something over nothing. Democrats too timid to stand up for the truth? Fine, people will vote for Kim Davis-like fag bashing. Wingnut Republicans almost always beat timid, moderate Democrats. Especially those who are obviously ashamed to be Democrats. Especially Democrats who are too afraid to stand up for what they believe. Especially Democrats who do not believe in anything.
I am sick of hearing about how the future demographics favor Democrats. For every Colorado or New Mexico they gained, they have lost Appalachia. Kentucky. Tennessee. Arkansas. West Virginia. Missouri. All states where Democrats have been competitive. All solid for the GOP. The bright people in the Democratic Party, in their lust for 270 every four years ignore off year elections. Ignore state houses. Throw up their hands and whine "Gerrymandering!" or "Citizens United!" . This is a party that does not sweat the small offices. Does not want to get its fingernails dirty. Does not want to scuff its Gucci's. Does not want to go into tough areas or make tough races. Does not want to contest all 50 states,
It would really be funny if people weren't dying.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
The Elites Perversion of the Concept of Work.
When I contemplate our wonderful economic system, with its built in unemployment, downsizing, low pay, long hours, tediousness, inequality, and just sometimes downright cruelty, I am reminded of the sign that the Nazis hung up over the gates of Auschwitz, "Work Will Set You Free". This is doubly horrible, not just because of its disgusting taunting of the Jewish prisoners who would be worked to death, but also of the desiccation of something sacred. You see, God created work to set you free. Work, when we are in tune with the sacred, is indeed glorious. Work does indeed set us free. Even Sigmund Freud stated that the two human needs are love and creative work. And we human beings, deep down, love to work. After all, what is a hobby? Its the work that you do when you get away from that job that's boring the living piss out of you. So many of us hate our jobs, so much that the comparison to a Nazi death camp does not seem so outrageous. Our system for too many souls, is a perversion of something that our Creator intended to be glorious.
Am I being too harsh? What about the abomination that is unemployment? We have become much too accepting of this grievous social sin. With our flimsy social safety net in the United States, the specter of unemployment has become a club to terrify the masses into submission. If you lose your job, you better get one quickly, or you might lose your spouse, your family and your friends. In these Great Recession times, everyone knows someone who life has been destroyed by unemployment. People know damm well that if you lose your job you will be stigmatized as lazy. It will be treated like it was your own fault. Get off your ass and beat the pavement! There are plenty of jobs out there! It does absolutely no good to say that, no there are not plenty of jobs out there, no matter how truthful that is.. You will be stigmatized. Or there might be some jobs out there, but they don't want to hire you. Because there is something wrong with you. You are unemployed! Welcome to being a social leper, buddy! Better get a job quickly, or you will be assumed to be unemployable. You will be assumed to have lost your skills, whatever that means. You will find out very quickly about a society that loves to divide people into winners and losers, because baby, you are one of the losers. The people who are most afraid of becoming losers themselves will be the ones to heap the most misery on you. Unless of course, your loving family gets there first. I once faced a troublesome period of unemployment, and it was always my dear old dad who got in front of the line and bashed me with those clichés that make the tormenter think they are oh so wise and profound. Get a job! I don't care if you have to shovel shit! GET A FUCKING JOB! I wanted so much to say to him, hey dad, I would love to! Just show me the pile of shit and I'll shovel it! But nobody is going to pay me to shovel shit. Nobody wants to pay me for ANYTHING! But I said nothing about his unfair criticism. Because I didn't want to make him mad. Because I needed him for help. Because I was fucking unemployed.
At least I was spared the horror of having my wife leave me, like some of my friends. Because in the good old USA of 2015, everything is a market, even the market for spouses. Trade in that loser for a shiny new model, one that has a good job. In a world that thinks that God is dead, there is no consequence for such casual cruelty. And everyone knows it. The elites especially know it. They always make sure the threat of unemployment is always over the workers heads. Want to unionize? Want to be paid more? Want to be treated like a decent human being? Better shut up or you're fired! And all the horror that was described above will become your life. Is it any wonder that so many people are afraid? Is it any wonder unions are dying? I have not even mentioned the productivity that is lost forever to society when talented people cannot find work. Who cares about the damage to society that the lost productivity, despair, and the ruining of people's lives causes? As long as the profits stay high, as long as the elites get theirs, its just fine and dandy. As long as I get mine who cares about the crushed souls?
Another way the elites devalue work is to make us waste time on useless stuff while the very necessary work for strong families and a strong nation gets undone. Imagine a Venn diagram with two circles intersecting. One circle is will be marked "Work that is necessary for the survival of society" . The other is "work some corporation or rich guy will pay you to do" . Or you can just call the second circle "jobs". In a healthy society, the circles would intersect pretty closely. In reality, they are mostly separate, with a small intersection in the middle. The necessary work that keeps a society going is just not getting done in America. Roads and bridges are crumbling. Hospitals are understaffed. The mentally ill are not being treated. The schools are underfunded and kids are not getting educated. People are hungry. The streets teem with homeless. The elderly die neglected and lonely. On and on it goes. We can spend all night listing the very important work that is not getting done in America. Why? Because these very necessary tasks don't make profits for rich people. Is anyone else outraged about all of the good, unemployed people who are forced to sit idle and hungry while the country rots because of neglect? Either the elites don't want to pay for it at all, or usually they pay just enough to keep a half assed system going that becomes more and more useless over time. So there is the poor American worker, trapped in his cubicle, trying to sell something from China people don't need while their kids are not getting taught, their parents are rotting in a nursing home and the neighborhood is going to hell. So we are told that this is the only way to do things, and it you question it, you are a Communist or something. Well, if I was a Communist, and I really wanted to destroy America, I could hardly do worse than what we are doing now.
But really, the worst thing the system has done is to take something holy, like work, and make us hate it. Drudgery and low pay. How many people have spent their working all their lives at a job they hated, dreaming of "retiring" at 65, only to become too sick to enjoy it, or worse, die off before you can retire. Or, some person will love their job, do it well, still be healthy, but told they have to quit at the age of 65. Why have we given up control of something so sacred, so important, and given it all to a small strata of people who don't have our interests at heart? Who would gladly enslave us if they could? It is because we are indeed already slaves, of bad ideas. That's just the way it is. Some things will never change. When we lose our sense of the sacred, we lose the power of the sacred to transform us. God put each one of us on earth with a purpose. It is our God given right to discern that purpose for ourselves. Our work is sacred. Our souls are eternal. A life is too important to waste on someone else's whim. We have allowed ourselves to be enslaved. Dear Lord, give us the strength and wisdom to reclaim our sacred work lives from those who would profane them.
Am I being too harsh? What about the abomination that is unemployment? We have become much too accepting of this grievous social sin. With our flimsy social safety net in the United States, the specter of unemployment has become a club to terrify the masses into submission. If you lose your job, you better get one quickly, or you might lose your spouse, your family and your friends. In these Great Recession times, everyone knows someone who life has been destroyed by unemployment. People know damm well that if you lose your job you will be stigmatized as lazy. It will be treated like it was your own fault. Get off your ass and beat the pavement! There are plenty of jobs out there! It does absolutely no good to say that, no there are not plenty of jobs out there, no matter how truthful that is.. You will be stigmatized. Or there might be some jobs out there, but they don't want to hire you. Because there is something wrong with you. You are unemployed! Welcome to being a social leper, buddy! Better get a job quickly, or you will be assumed to be unemployable. You will be assumed to have lost your skills, whatever that means. You will find out very quickly about a society that loves to divide people into winners and losers, because baby, you are one of the losers. The people who are most afraid of becoming losers themselves will be the ones to heap the most misery on you. Unless of course, your loving family gets there first. I once faced a troublesome period of unemployment, and it was always my dear old dad who got in front of the line and bashed me with those clichés that make the tormenter think they are oh so wise and profound. Get a job! I don't care if you have to shovel shit! GET A FUCKING JOB! I wanted so much to say to him, hey dad, I would love to! Just show me the pile of shit and I'll shovel it! But nobody is going to pay me to shovel shit. Nobody wants to pay me for ANYTHING! But I said nothing about his unfair criticism. Because I didn't want to make him mad. Because I needed him for help. Because I was fucking unemployed.
At least I was spared the horror of having my wife leave me, like some of my friends. Because in the good old USA of 2015, everything is a market, even the market for spouses. Trade in that loser for a shiny new model, one that has a good job. In a world that thinks that God is dead, there is no consequence for such casual cruelty. And everyone knows it. The elites especially know it. They always make sure the threat of unemployment is always over the workers heads. Want to unionize? Want to be paid more? Want to be treated like a decent human being? Better shut up or you're fired! And all the horror that was described above will become your life. Is it any wonder that so many people are afraid? Is it any wonder unions are dying? I have not even mentioned the productivity that is lost forever to society when talented people cannot find work. Who cares about the damage to society that the lost productivity, despair, and the ruining of people's lives causes? As long as the profits stay high, as long as the elites get theirs, its just fine and dandy. As long as I get mine who cares about the crushed souls?
Another way the elites devalue work is to make us waste time on useless stuff while the very necessary work for strong families and a strong nation gets undone. Imagine a Venn diagram with two circles intersecting. One circle is will be marked "Work that is necessary for the survival of society" . The other is "work some corporation or rich guy will pay you to do" . Or you can just call the second circle "jobs". In a healthy society, the circles would intersect pretty closely. In reality, they are mostly separate, with a small intersection in the middle. The necessary work that keeps a society going is just not getting done in America. Roads and bridges are crumbling. Hospitals are understaffed. The mentally ill are not being treated. The schools are underfunded and kids are not getting educated. People are hungry. The streets teem with homeless. The elderly die neglected and lonely. On and on it goes. We can spend all night listing the very important work that is not getting done in America. Why? Because these very necessary tasks don't make profits for rich people. Is anyone else outraged about all of the good, unemployed people who are forced to sit idle and hungry while the country rots because of neglect? Either the elites don't want to pay for it at all, or usually they pay just enough to keep a half assed system going that becomes more and more useless over time. So there is the poor American worker, trapped in his cubicle, trying to sell something from China people don't need while their kids are not getting taught, their parents are rotting in a nursing home and the neighborhood is going to hell. So we are told that this is the only way to do things, and it you question it, you are a Communist or something. Well, if I was a Communist, and I really wanted to destroy America, I could hardly do worse than what we are doing now.
But really, the worst thing the system has done is to take something holy, like work, and make us hate it. Drudgery and low pay. How many people have spent their working all their lives at a job they hated, dreaming of "retiring" at 65, only to become too sick to enjoy it, or worse, die off before you can retire. Or, some person will love their job, do it well, still be healthy, but told they have to quit at the age of 65. Why have we given up control of something so sacred, so important, and given it all to a small strata of people who don't have our interests at heart? Who would gladly enslave us if they could? It is because we are indeed already slaves, of bad ideas. That's just the way it is. Some things will never change. When we lose our sense of the sacred, we lose the power of the sacred to transform us. God put each one of us on earth with a purpose. It is our God given right to discern that purpose for ourselves. Our work is sacred. Our souls are eternal. A life is too important to waste on someone else's whim. We have allowed ourselves to be enslaved. Dear Lord, give us the strength and wisdom to reclaim our sacred work lives from those who would profane them.
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