The Fate of The Republic on this fourth of july

Here are some quick reflections on this fourth of July morning.

We are in trouble folks!!! When I read the paper (big mistake), I see the seeds of global decay, social disruption, and future despair dwarfing the present misery. Everyone who has plenty are merrily watching Big Bang Theory and working at their half-way decent job with a half-way decent wage and dreaming of their next vacation, while those who don’t have much continue to struggle. The options for the destitute are few and government is going to provide less and less. This is a recipe for riot and mayhem. When you examine history you can see where all of this leads. Our Republic is split, pretty much evenly, between the rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, the smug and the desperate. As happened in France in 1789, the poor and destitute will not sit idly by watching the rich cavort and flaunt their wealth in their faces. We have an obligation to bring this republic back into balance, but I fear that we have already passed from republic to oligarchy (rule by the rich). Only the rich, such as Mitt Romney, can afford to become President. The rich pull all the strings and continue to feel free to screw the rest of us over at their convenience. It is not a pretty picture. Our republic is in danger of collapse. It isn’t apparent yet, but give it a few years. Twenty years from now will either show that we got our collective act together or we will be actively fighting one another.

China is quietly waiting in the wings. China is preparing for the collapse of the West. They are teaching English to those who will become our future leaders. Could we suffer such a takeover? Quite possibly, we might invite the Chinese in. Chinese style Communism would have a strong appeal to those who have nothing, can expect nothing, and are tired of being the victims of an oligarchy. I am not a Communist or a Socialist, but I can understand the appeal. When you have nothing to eat, nowhere to live, Communism looks like the answer to your problems. We have far too many people on the streets.

Some radical changes are needed and I don’t see anybody stepping up to the plate. There are significant differences between Obama and Romney, but in the final analysis they miss the mark when it comes to having the guts to say that we have to stop being complacent and give up our creature comforts and life of privilege and take responsibility for this republic.

So I don’t feel terribly patriotic on this fourth of July. I don’t feel proud of how we celebrate celebrity, wealth, and treat all of the old liberal ideals with disdain. Our present culture is a culture of death. We are unconsciously embracing disaster, it gives us a sick thrill. We figure we have it coming, others are foolishly looking forward to the apocalypse, thinking they will be taken up into the clouds in a supernatural rapture. This is madness.

However, we have faced disaster before in our history, and we managed to avoid it. Perhaps we can again. There is reason to hope. There are many brilliant people out there. They are building a new paradigm, a new world which will take out the corrupt present paradigm by stealth. There is far too much going on in the world for anyone, myself included, to be able to keep track of. The newspapers have a disaster agenda, fear sells, and so they peddle dread. So I should take that fact into consideration. Much is happening behind the scenes, and the powerful may not be as powerful as they imagine. I sense big changes in the next few decades, both good and bad. I know that within each negative lies a positive and vice versa. It is up to us to provide the tipping point towards disaster or renewal.

My last thoughts? At some point in our own lives and in the life of the republic, something has got to give. Nothing just stays fucked forever. Things change.

Sexual Cowardice

It is curious that on the same morning I posted what I think is a very bold but beautiful poem which successfully joins my poetic and horny selves, there was the news report on Yahoo about the conviction of Sandusky for child molestation. I still assert, with gusto I might add, that sex is not the problem. We need more sex, not less, but it needs to be the right kind of sex. Respectful, joyful, empowering sex, which reminds us of who we truly are, not sex as a weapon, sex as a product, sex as sin.

Once again, sex in all of it’s problematic power, is dealt a setback. The problem here was cowardice. Sandusky lacked the courage to put himself on the line and find sex in a responsible way. Or maybe it wasn’t really about sex at all, but power. Sex was a way for him to feel powerful, having total control over these boy’s lives, possessing their bodies to use as he might. He knew that if he pulled that crap on any adult male he would end up in the hospital, so he preyed on kids. Because he could. Infected with too heavy a dose of freedom, he thought he do whatever he wanted. The normal rules did not apply to him. This kind of thinking lies at the heart of any crime.

But let’s not let this be an indictment of sexual freedom. Those of us who champion a more liberal view of sex are not child molesters. Let’s not push sexual behavior into the darkness. Children need to be educated about sex in a responsible way, a truthful way, and we should leave religion out of it. It angers me to no end when yet another asshole takes something beautiful and ruins it. Thinking only of himself, and too much of a coward to do what he needed to satisfy his needs, in a responsible way. Too afraid of rejection. Why risk rejection when you can force yourself on someone weaker than you? People in positions of power who use that position to dominate and hurt others deserve what they get. But our society tends to paint all sexual hedonists as harmful perverts, potential child abusers or rapists and that simply isn’t the case. Stigmatizing sex isn’t the answer. Because it is almost impossible to be honest and straightforward sexually in our society, it leads to all kinds of perversions. I suspect it is worse than we know. I detect an ugly, aggressive undertone in today’s sexual culture. We are intolerate of differences and very quick to condemn. We seriously need to chill out on this subject. Ironically, chilling out will actually help to reduce sex crimes, not encourage them. It is a repressive, uptight society that is terrified of sex that generates sex crimes. Why? Because sex criminals get off on the wrongness of it. For them it is an aggressive act, and acting out of their hatred of all those who condemn them for their sexuality. It is an expression of the rage felt by those who are terminally rejected, despised by everyone. They can only get sex if they pay for it, and even that becomes a dismal experience for all concerned. This atmosphere generates sex crimes.

I know that my feeble attempts to inject some humor and honesty into this realm will not solve these problems. No potential child molester or rapist is going to listen to what I have to say. But if any of you guys think I am a kindred spirit you couldn’t be more mistaken. I have pity for your condition. You need to stop what you are doing and seek therapy. I support your incarceration. It is deserved. When I champion sexual freedom I do not mean that kind of sexual freedom.

I know this is a difficult subject. It is why I write about it. I seek some resolutions for myself as well as for the world. I am not surprised by the wall of silence which greets my sexual posts. But even if no one whatsoever pays attention to my blog, that would be fine. I am ultimately writing this blog for myself. If it is of benefit to you that is a welcome bonus. Don’t worry. I have a lot to say about a lot of things which have nothing whatsoever to do with sex. It has been my preoccupation of the past week or so, and that too will pass. I just hope that my openness and daring in sharing my sexual fantasies and poetry encourages others to do the same. Don’t allow your lust to gather dust in some dank, dark corner of your mind. Lust is universal, and it pushes us onward whether we are up for it or not. We need a genuine sexual revolution. This isn’t really the right time for it, because everyone is afraid. They are too frightened to fuck. They fear the fucker. In many people’s minds a fucker is a dangerous criminal who must not be allowed around their children. We live in a society of sexual cowards, finding their release from images on the internet, and talking as though they are having sex all of the time. They speak of it casually as if they could care less about it. Nobody really cops to actually liking it, instead it is a kind of status symbol. Everyone generally agrees that everyone is fucked. We live in a world of sick puppies, and you can only hope to find the least sick of them to hang with. What a sad commentary that is. We have moved on from metrosexual to nosexual or antisexual.

I will continue to rebel against all of this, although I suspect I am truly a voice in the wilderness when it comes to this subject. I will go back to the heart warming poems with my next post, I promise, but occasionally I just need to be responsibly naughty in order to serve a noble cause. We need to fuck more, not less, and feel good about it!!

Politics and Religion

I get so mad sometimes

I can’t think straight

Politics and Religion make a bad mix.

I feel so hurt and want to lash out

At people I have never met

And may never understand

Politics and Religion make me sick.

We all seem to be getting along swell

Until Politics and Religion come struttin’ in

Talkin’ about how important they is

And how they don’t get any respect

Then we spit and yell and swell up real big

Our self importance knows no bounds

Once Politics and Religion enters in

But my opinions poison me still

Seems there is no escape

This is a war I’d rather not wage

But I fight it nevetheless

Politics and Religion is to blame

For the whole damn mess!

t

Drums of War

Here we go again!! Marching off to war. This time it is about Iran, and once again we sit helplessly watching the news get more and more grim. Are we a few months away from another ‘shock and awe’? Another long war, bleeding us dry? It sure looks like it. Same old saber rattling as in 2003. We are even using the same old excuse. They are going to OMG, OMG!!!! they are going to build a OMG, Oh go ahead and say it, it has already lost it’s shock value. A nuclear bomb. Only they don’t have one. So our lame excuse this time is over what they might build if we let them. Here’s a question, lest I be regarded a domestic terrorist for voicing it. Why does Israel get to have a bomb and not Iran? Is that fair? Or for that matter, why do we get to have them but not Iran or N. Korea etc. Why not insist that Israel get rid of it’s nuclear weapons? Why not insist that everybody get rid of the damn things. Oh, we don’t know for sure Israel has nuclear weapons, I hear you say. Get real. They have them. Of course they do. And they will use them if Israel is in danger of being defeated. I am sure of that. The question is whether Iran wants to risk war. They surely know they cannot win. As it stands there is a great debate within Iran over this issue. These are people that are willing to die for their faith. Many Iranians would consider it an honor for Iran to be reduced to a smoking radioactive wasteland. Other Iranians have more sense. If Iran sees that we will insist that they intend to build a bomb, then, why not go ahead and build it? You know, it’s like the wife who believes her husband is cheating. Even if he isn’t cheating, if she is convinced of it, he may as well cheat on her. Same difference, Let’s not push Iran into that kind of corner.

Ron Paul is the only person making sense on this issue. He sees how insane it all is. We are allowing Israel to lead us into war! Why aren’t there large crowds in the streets protesting this?? You know what? It made me sick when Obama opened his State of the Union address bragging about killing Osama bin Laden. It was brazen politics. It reminded me of George Bush Sr. bragging about ‘Operation Desert Storm’ in his State of the Union address. What kind of bullshit is that? Did we brag when we dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Of course not!, so why all this bragging now? Our killing of bin Laden made very little difference in our fight against the Taliban. They weren’t taking their orders from Osama bin Laden. He had become largely irrelevant. It was a propaganda victory. It was bullshit! It had as much significance as our finding and arresting Saddam Hussein. Now Hussein is dead, and Iraq is still on the brink of a Sh’ite, Sunni civil war. It made no difference, his capture was a PR event. It is no accident that the Navy seals were put into action once again, in a dramatic rescue of hostages in Somalia, right in time for Obama to bask in it’s PR glory on the night of his State of the Union address. Sure it was great that they rescued the hostages. It was great that they killed bin Laden, and captured Hussein. That isn’t my point. My point is how these things were used. These events had a political motivation. There are plenty of other cases of hostages being held by terrorists. Are we going to send in a Navy Seal team to save their asses? Of course not. Why did it make sense to send in troops to remove Saddam Hussein, but doesn’t make sense now to send in troops to remove Assad in Syria? The Iraqs weren’t even in the streets demanding democracy. We are hypocrites!

I feel the same way now as I felt back in 2003 in the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq. I hear the same inflexibility. There are those who believe it is in the interests of the US to go to war with Iran. It is part of a grand plan to pacify the Middle East and make it safe for Israel. Unfortunately they have the President’s ear. It is a time honored tradition that Presidents start wars to ensure their re-election. I hope this is not the case this time.

To clarify, I support Israel’s right to exist. I believe there is a way for the Palestinians and the Israelis to coexist. The Palestinians need to stop attacking Israel, and Israel needs to stop building settlements on the West Bank. There has to be a give and take, in order for there to be peace. And no nation should have nuclear weapons. They have been a sword hanging over our heads for too long!! To quote John Lennon, “You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” However we need to stop dreaming and take control of our destiny, lest it be guided for us!

Finally, for those who would claim that I am unAmerican or unpatriotic, I say that is always the complaint lodged by Fascists. If you refuse to click your heels and shout ‘Sieg Heil’ you are not a true German and are unpatriotic. Bullshit. There were many Germans who opposed the Nazis, just as there are many Americans who oppose the crap that the US is involved in today. We are the true patriots, in my not so humble opinion.

Can someone really make money by writing online?

So, I’m wondering, can I really, really?, make money off of the internet? My guess it would take a lot of time and energy, and luck. It feels like shouting into a very dark void. Is anybody out there? Does anybody care about what I have to say? Certainly just having a blog like this one, which merely consists of some old guy typing his thoughts doesn’t generate money, only carpal tunnel syndrome. So, what is the secret? So many  people, from all over the world, doing what I am doing right now, typing out their thoughts and sending them out into the ether, never to be read by anyone other than their families and closest friends. It’s sad, really. But it isn’t as sad as not doing it. Sitting alone in an apartment with only a cat for a companion, only having enough money for a couple more months, and then what? I will be starting a sort-of job next week, that’s if I decide to go through with it. It would be canvassing for donations to support pro-choice. I’m not yet clear on how the donations support pro-choice. I’m not the door-to-door type, but I am also unemployed, so maybe I can become the door-to-door type, besides it isn’t like I’m selling vacuum cleaners. I actually support pro-choice, and that position is popular around here, so I’ll see how it goes.

But, back to my main theme, writing, for profit. I think I have what it takes, but who knows? There is no short supply of writers, that’s for sure! It is certainly a good idea to have sources of opinion other than the crap you are often served on television, and in the magazines. Put a few chimpanzees and a typewriter alone in a room for a few days and you would get better commentary than you find on Fox news. I have a lot to say, but sometimes I’m just tired. Expressing yourself in a way that is meaningful, and makes a difference is difficult to keep up day after day. But at least this is something. It allows an old guy, living alone, to feel less isolated. That’s all, for now.