Motto "Knowledge is the most deadly weapon of all."
"Wingspan is a fictional character from the various Transformers universes. Wingspan has a voracious appetite for new data to absorb and analyze, and by extension, is incredibly nosey. Forever poking his beak where it does not belong, his natural hunger for information serves him well as a data processor for the Decepticons, even if he is just as likely to snoop through someone’s window as he is to spy on the latest Autobot meeting.
Wingspan transforms into a hawk, and possesses incredibly visual acuity, all the better to perform his function with. In addition to this ability, he is also equipped with a collection of chemical and infrared sensors for collecting and analyzing geographical data to help him locate natural resources for the Decepticons. In robot mode, he wields twin electro-burst rifles."
Thanks to Cosmis who randomly found this on Wikipedia. I thought it was cool and deserving of a post since I've been more then absence lately. And no this is NOT where I got my name from, ha!
Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi word meaning "life out of balance." It is also the title of a visionary 1982 film from Godfrey Reggio. The movie depicts human society as monotonous and soulless, and can very easily be interpreted as an indictment of the consumer society we all live in.
Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain
Those that have the power would have you believe that in order to be happy, you must buy their products and work at their jobs. The world of the consumer is a binary world. You are either a 1 or a 0. You either fit or you don't. The world of the consumer deals only in absolute. No dualities. Pragmatism, not idealism.
Sure, no one is actually happy. Their subconscious struggles with their own mortality. No one lives forever. But this is just the "Real World." There's no changing it. There is no changing the real world. You go to public schooling as a child. Not to learn, of course. At least not in the ways you should be. You are sent, by force, to a glorified indoctrination center, where you are taught how to fit into a society that you never volunteered to fit into. Nothing is more important than your job, they tell you. You have to be a functioning member of society.
Profits over people. If you don't have a job, how can you make money? You know, money, that green paper that we ascribe so much worth to. What is it? Does anyone know? It's fucking paper. It is, in most cases, worth less than it costs to make. It is worth a promise. It is a completely human construct. Much like race, money does not actually exist past what we say it does. Then why is it so important? Why is it continually preferred over the lives of humans? Why is it that EVERYONE who is "successful" has to make money? Because those who have it don't feel like losing it. People wonder why I don't trust politicians, why I see the Presidency as nothing more than a figurehead for international banking interests. Because I know that anyone in any position of power is there because they wanted to be. ANYONE IN POWER WANTS POWER. They crave it. Which means that, nine times out of ten, they will place the acquisition and preservation of their power over your well-being. Power is made by power being taken.
They tell you that the real world is a harsh place. They aren't wrong. They're just neglecting to tell you that the real world is so harsh because they made it that way. This country, along with most of the "civilized" world, is governed by businessmen. Economic sociopaths, as I call them. There is no bigger oxymoron in the English Language then "Business Ethics." Well, perhaps "Military Intelligence," but I digress.
"It was curious to think that the sky was the same for everybody, in Eurasia or Eastasia as well as here. And the people under the sky were also very much the same--everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just like this, people ignorant of one another's existence, held apart by walls of hatred and lies, and yet almost exactly the same--people who had never learned to think but were storing up in their hearts and bellies and muscles the power that would one day overturn the world."- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
Lines in the Sand
I don't want this to seem as if I'm railing against a nameless foe. I am not an anarchist. I don't say "Fuck the System" because the system is bad. I say it because the people who make it are. Everyone deludes themselves into believing that society's ills are the fault of God (or some other otherworldly figure). They fail to see that everything, everything that is wrong with our culture is the fault of humanity. Human beings. The same species as you, me, and anyone else reading this.
Perhaps this realization can be a little much for some people, so they partake in that oldest of Human traditions, line-drawing. They invent reasons not to identify with one another, be it race, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, likes, dislikes, height, weight, hair color. They become determined only to notice the differences between themselves over the similarities. This is ignorance at its worst. It's much easier to kill someone if you envision them as less than you, or different. For the longest time, African Slaves were considered "sub-human." The history of this country is littered with racial line-drawing. Less than 100 years ago, it was illegal for many Irish and Italian immigrants to receive jobs in America (it may not have been illegal, per se, but it was definitely frowned upon socially). What are the Irish and Italians now? Of course they are "white." Judgment is a crutch used by the small-minded to rationalize their own small-mindedness.
Human history is nothing more than a litany of bloodshed, a never-ending list of excuses to kill one another. Humans are, and always have been, very accepting of what they are told. They accept what their parents tell them. They accept the judgments of the church, of the state, of the authority. They find it easier to be told what to do than to think of what to do. Like I said before, I am not an Anarchist. I believe that people should do what they are qualified to do. You should earn everything you get. In a sense, I am a Meritocracist. I do not believe, however, that any single person (or any small group of people) should make significant decisions for the majority. This includes Monarchies (no butterflies), Oligarchies, Totalitarian states or even Republics. Even Democracy, which we are told is the system we use in this country (a bold faced lie), is inherently flawed. Because people are inherently flawed.
Thomas Jefferson said it best when he said "Democracy is nothing more than a mob rule, where 51% of the population can take away the rights of the other 49%."
Misanthropy
"Men will cease to be fools only when they cease to be men."- Democritus.
I've come to the realization lately that I am definitely a misanthrope. According to wikipedia, Misanthropy is a "general dislike or distrust of mankind." This, if you've been paying attention so far, is definitely my stance. This is not to say I can't like a person. In fact, I love several of them. As Tommy Lee Jones says in the original Men in Black "A person is smart. People are stupid." Mankind is capable of unbelievable beauty and unbelievable decency. My love for mankind's creations (music, movies, books, television, sports and video games) attests to this belief. This, perhaps, makes it even more so unfortunate to be a part of this world.
"If it is true, and we are all God's children, then it must not be possible for one to treat their relatives as badly as we do." Voltaire, Candide.
The only people who seem to be good and pure throughout their existence are children. They see the world much more clearly than the rest of us. They don't yet know what it is that is expected of them, all of the roles the have to play, all of the rules they have to follow. Some would say that "ignorance is bliss." I ask if what they are ignorant of is really something that should ever be learned. Surely they aren't ignorant of the sunrise? Surely they know right from wrong. Most children do. It is my belief that a person should only be judged by a child or an animal. They are the only beings capable of objectively judging someone. Any man who scares a child is no man I wish to know. They are humanity at its greatest, before they are poisoned by society and its demands.
"WHAT is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?—
No time to stand beneath the boughs, And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty's glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare."- W.H. Davies
Beauty
There is a duality in man. We are capable of the most beautiful works of art and the most heinous works of destruction. The depressing thing about is that most don't care for beauty. They only care for the here and know, for disposable entertainment. They can't be bothered to think. A lesser man would be blaming television and video games and other mind-rotting electronic stimulation. I have no such delusions. Anything can be intellectually stimulating if it is consumed by someone who thinks. Everything has meaning. Most of us just don't care to see it.
"There's no room for love in a modern sky." Queens of the Stone Age, Era Vulgaris.
In 2008, Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post published an award-winning column called "Pearls Before Breakfast.". The article was about his experiment with Joshua Bell, a world-famous violinist. Joshua, dressed in simple clothes not generally ascribed to a Classical Musician, played a 43-minute concert at L'Enfant Plaza Station in Washington D.C. He was playing, basically as a street musician. During his performance, over 1,000 people passed him by. Six of them stopped to listen. This is not a criticism of those people's musical taste. Perhaps they don't care for classical music. This is simply an observation that they didn't stop. They had meetings to attend. They had jobs to do. They couldn't be bothered to let something beautiful and meaningful into their lives.
"Some suggest. The perpetual friction of our hurried existence Has propagated a blind procession through life Three years ago, a respected publication placed a world renowned violinist in a subway station, during rush hour. A modest stage for a master, hailed for the elevation of his craft. Back and forth, his bow would glide, on a priceless Stratovieri. For 43 minutes he played some of the most celebrated compositions ever written. Over 1000 people passed by. Only six stopped to listen. Beauty camouflaged in a forest of repetitive monotony. Amazement rebuffed by the rigorum of counterfeit urgency."- Rapper/Actor/Poet Common, during the intro to the 2010 NBA All-Star game. He is describing "Pearls Before Breakfast."
Some people would say that children do not, in fact, know right from wrong. That they must be taught. This is ludicrous. Everyone should know right from wrong without being told what it is. Anyone should know if another human being is suffering. Empathy is a seldom-used human emotion. It isn't hard. People tell me "not to worry about all the bad shit happening in the world, it isn't happening to you."
That doesn't mean it isn't happening.
Please understand that despite my anger, despite my indignation, I am not a pessimist. I truly want to trust people. I want to believe that people are good. I am not a pessimist. I am a jaded idealist.
All I want is for you to stop and smell the flowers before you die. Get into music. Get into sports. Read a book, sing a song. Love life. Enjoy it while you can. Fall in love with something or someone, at least once.
Just a little shout-out to Derrick Rose, 2010 NBA All-Star. He's the first Chicago Bulls player to make an All-Star team since some fellow named Jordan in 1998.
It's on Derrick for Chicago. This is only the beginning.
