Darwin was wrong. Science was wrong. It was with some pleasure that I read about epigenetics in Time Magazine. Now, I'm certain the reporter got several key points completely wrong, because reporters always do, but clearly this discovery is somewhat embarrassing for the Evolution believers. Don't get me wrong -- I'm no Creationist. I simply know that Evolution is scarcely less an issue of Faith. What I love is seeing Science forced to admit that it has been Wrong for so many years about something so fundamental to its theory of creation. I like seeing hubris shot down wherever it is found.
But Darwin was wrong and I was right. I have theorized for some time that genes change over the course of a life and that the genes passed on at one point would be different than those passed on at another point. Things like cancer and mutations were what I looked at.
The most disturbing aspect of this discovery is the effect it will have on the potential for increased social control. The idea that today's decision can directly effect generations of descendants is going to increase the temptation for the Controllers to criminalize a lot of activities. Not to mention the power to turn on and off our genes selectively. Yeah, great, we can use this discovery to cure a lot of diseases and further purify the human race. Our Master Race will be so beautiful and polite, perfect and athletic. Everybody will be athletes and dancers, singers and artists, creating the earthly Nirvana thanks to Pharmakon and Epigenetech.
While the other billions starve because the Combots drive them off the good land and away from the valuable resources. You know, those who can't afford designer babies and Domestic Robots.
So, now that Evolution has proven to be fallible theory and not Incontrovertible Fact, should it still be taught in school?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
PeriPateticking Around
If you've checked my profile, you know I have a couple other blogs. I also have a private one that none of you guys who aren't reading this blog have access to. So, while this particular blog has not been active for a while, I have been posting regularly. I have been devoting my time to organizing my thoughts on marijuana legalization, my new book, and some deep religiphilosophical explorations. The last has me really questioning my sanity, and the sanity of the society around me. I have also been very busy with my practice, which is a good thing. It means that survival begins to look better.
My thinking has once again veered sharply radical. Bitterly opposed to The Way Things Are. The system is just fucked up, and we all know that. Now is the responsibility to do something and not just continue to obliviously grant it our consent. We need to make our Change, and not count on just electing some guy president who says "Change" and "Hope." Yes, we need those things, and it was good that he brought those words back into the political discourse, but WE need to BE our Change and Hope. If we want Change that is going to benefit US, WE have to make it happen.
How do we do that? We have to research and learn, develop our principles as individuals, and figure out how we can put them into practice. We need to gather with like-minded people and pool resources to make our common vision real. And, we need to ally with different-minded people who share our core interests or principles in pursuit of those interests and principles against those people who are actively seeking to harm our interests and destroy our principles.
It's just a shame that the middle class always sides with the Rich against the Poor. I guess the middle class hopes that it will be granted entry to the Rich, and not become the Poor. Side with the winner. Unfortunately, only a very few of the middle class ever gain entry into the Rich -- like one in a 10,000 or 100,000 -- while the Rich-serving policies of the last 25 years have pushed thousands if not millions of the middle class into the Poor. The middle class is like the runty, dorky twelve-year-old hanging around with the high school varsity football players hoping to be let into their pickup game. They shove him aside and laugh at him, and next weekend he's out there again, hopping and skipping at their heels saying, "Can I play? Can I play?" He's a fucking moron! That's what he is: a crazy fucking moron!
-- All new construction should be required to generate at least half its own energy, and recycle at least half its incoming water. Including renovation, remodeling, and addition.
-- All new development should be required to promote pedestrian traffic and inhibit vehicular traffic.
-- Parking should be scarce and on the periphery, while buildings are close together and linked by public greens.
-- People should be allowed -- nay, government must recognize that people have the right -- to conduct business at their home and in their yards. The right is not unlimited, and should be denied to limited liability entities. Business size in residences should be limited, but large enough to allow the family to provide itself a life of luxury and travel.
-- Government must recognize that people have the right to grow and enjoy the fruits of any crop they choose on their property. The right is not unlimited, and they can be required to do so in a fashion that protects the rights of their neighbors, but a person who wants to have chickens and devises a way to keep them from waking everybody up every morning should be able to do so. Of course, if we knew our neighbors and had a sense of shared purpose (i.e., we're all in this together) with them, it wouldn't be as much of a problem.
Secessionism is in the news. It is fascinating. It is timely. The world is changing. The days of the nation-state may very well be ending. I read that article with interest, because I, too, have become a secessionist. Not necessarily that I want my state to secede from the Union, but that I want to secede my family from the United States. But not just from the United States: from the world the Superclass is creating. The United States is just the kernel from which the Superclass will create its world. I want no part of it. No, my thinking has been dominated by two related words:
Exile
Exodus
My thinking has once again veered sharply radical. Bitterly opposed to The Way Things Are. The system is just fucked up, and we all know that. Now is the responsibility to do something and not just continue to obliviously grant it our consent. We need to make our Change, and not count on just electing some guy president who says "Change" and "Hope." Yes, we need those things, and it was good that he brought those words back into the political discourse, but WE need to BE our Change and Hope. If we want Change that is going to benefit US, WE have to make it happen.
How do we do that? We have to research and learn, develop our principles as individuals, and figure out how we can put them into practice. We need to gather with like-minded people and pool resources to make our common vision real. And, we need to ally with different-minded people who share our core interests or principles in pursuit of those interests and principles against those people who are actively seeking to harm our interests and destroy our principles.
It's just a shame that the middle class always sides with the Rich against the Poor. I guess the middle class hopes that it will be granted entry to the Rich, and not become the Poor. Side with the winner. Unfortunately, only a very few of the middle class ever gain entry into the Rich -- like one in a 10,000 or 100,000 -- while the Rich-serving policies of the last 25 years have pushed thousands if not millions of the middle class into the Poor. The middle class is like the runty, dorky twelve-year-old hanging around with the high school varsity football players hoping to be let into their pickup game. They shove him aside and laugh at him, and next weekend he's out there again, hopping and skipping at their heels saying, "Can I play? Can I play?" He's a fucking moron! That's what he is: a crazy fucking moron!
-- All new construction should be required to generate at least half its own energy, and recycle at least half its incoming water. Including renovation, remodeling, and addition.
-- All new development should be required to promote pedestrian traffic and inhibit vehicular traffic.
-- Parking should be scarce and on the periphery, while buildings are close together and linked by public greens.
-- People should be allowed -- nay, government must recognize that people have the right -- to conduct business at their home and in their yards. The right is not unlimited, and should be denied to limited liability entities. Business size in residences should be limited, but large enough to allow the family to provide itself a life of luxury and travel.
-- Government must recognize that people have the right to grow and enjoy the fruits of any crop they choose on their property. The right is not unlimited, and they can be required to do so in a fashion that protects the rights of their neighbors, but a person who wants to have chickens and devises a way to keep them from waking everybody up every morning should be able to do so. Of course, if we knew our neighbors and had a sense of shared purpose (i.e., we're all in this together) with them, it wouldn't be as much of a problem.
Secessionism is in the news. It is fascinating. It is timely. The world is changing. The days of the nation-state may very well be ending. I read that article with interest, because I, too, have become a secessionist. Not necessarily that I want my state to secede from the Union, but that I want to secede my family from the United States. But not just from the United States: from the world the Superclass is creating. The United States is just the kernel from which the Superclass will create its world. I want no part of it. No, my thinking has been dominated by two related words:
Exile
Exodus
Open your eyes and look within
Are you satisfied with the life you're livin?
We know where we're going
We know where we're from
We're leaving Babylon
We're going to our Father's land
Come out of him my people
Come out of him
Yes, exile and exodus. Exile is being driven away or leaving your land without agreeing that your ties to it are broken. If you are in exile, you are away from home with the intent to return when you can. You cannot live under the political power of the time, but if that power ends, you will return. Exodus is the flight of a people from a land where they are oppressed to a land where they believe they can live in freedom.
My family is leaving the United States as soon as we can. We want to live in a place that cares about its citizens, that sees providing the basic needs of all as being its primary purpose. We want to live in a place that values health care for its citizens over the ability to project military force over every square inch of the globe, and into the space around it. So we will leave. We don't know where we will go, but it might be to the west coast, given the increasing divergence between those states and Washington, D.C. We might choose internal exile, or internal exodus.
That is primary news piece number one. Our goal is to leave the country. We do not agree with the governance of this country, and we no longer consent to its rule over us. I was born a citizen of the Republic, and I want no part of the Empire.
The other piece of news is my renewed determination to write.
A writer is one who writes, so if you want to be a writer, write. I saw or heard that aphorism somewhere recently. I do not remember where or who said it. I just know that it resonated within me and gave me a mental slap in the face. It is so obvious. If you want to be a writer, write. Don't worry if it will ever sell or if anyone will ever read it. Write it, and let the rest take care of itself.
So I am writing again. Writing is my number two time priority now. First is work. Must pay the bills. Second is writing. I guess I should talk about "productive time priority." The people in my life will not be neglected. I love my time with my wife and with my daughter. That time is crucial. That is the time that makes us human.
I have begun another book. When I wrote Broken Doll, I did a couple of things. I got Mary's ghost out of my brain. I told her story. And I completed a book. So only a few people ever read it and I will never sell it or publish it. I wrote it. I am now starting my second book. And it is my first. I am returning to the book I spent my college years writing. I was like a pickup truck in the middle of a wet cornfield. Blind Faith. This time I am going to complete it. The book is my vision from my college years. It is my life's work. This time, I am going to complete it.
In addition, I am blogging. Every day, I will blog something, whether it is in this blog or one of the other blogs. I will not stop. Finally, I am going to return to pamphleteering. It's in my soul. Samizdat was one of the best things I ever did, even though the readership was so small. I will make and print a small journal with news stories and my own writings. I will invite a couple other people to write for it. I will point people to a website for it.
It is suddenly time for me to go.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
I was going to attend the Virginia People's Alliance rally and march on the State Capitol today with my camera, and submit a report, but when we drove by it was so pathetic I didn't want to waste the time. There were about 20 people there. I think the cops and media outnumbered the rallyers.
But then what is the point of a rally and march today when nobody is there. You want to show it to these rich corporations and the legislators by rallying and marching on a day they aren't even in their offices? Wow, that makes your statement loud and clear. No, if you want to put pressure on them, you go in on a weekday. You get an army of unemployed men and women, including high school and college students, and you march down 9th Street at 8:45 A.M. Monday morning.
We have a very long way to go.
But then what is the point of a rally and march today when nobody is there. You want to show it to these rich corporations and the legislators by rallying and marching on a day they aren't even in their offices? Wow, that makes your statement loud and clear. No, if you want to put pressure on them, you go in on a weekday. You get an army of unemployed men and women, including high school and college students, and you march down 9th Street at 8:45 A.M. Monday morning.
We have a very long way to go.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
How long is it polite to sit at a coffee shop for an espresso drink and muffin?
When a bottom-feeding employer can play off good employees and solid citizens against each other to keep hours, wages and demands low, then something is seriously fucked in the Capitalist-worker bargain. This is where we find ourselves after 29 years of Reactionary rule. Good middle class citizens fighting it out for minimum wage work. When you go shopping this week, wherever you go, look around at the people you see working there. They are probably making less than $10 an hour. If you're in a chain store, the store manager is probably making shockingly piss-poor money. Like less than a plumber. And he's top dog in the local store.
That's what our economy has produced. The American Dream reduced to $10/hour and living with your parents or children. You know what? I got no problem with the latter part, because rebuilding our extended families would be a good thing for the country. But it shouldn't be done this way, by devaluing all labor to the point where fewer and fewer people can afford their own place even though they work full time.
It's our own fault. We've rolled over and let them fuck us. As a result, they have gleefully fucked us harder and faster as each year has gone by, each legislative session, each presidential administration, each bullshit business cycle. They plan to wear us out even more, because as with all other deviancies, theirs is a progressive addiction.
I keep reading about the collapse of the world financial system. What collapse? That was the global ponzi scheme that collapsed, the financial system is alive and well. Frankly, this latest recession was probably no worse than any other, except that for the first time the rich lost a lot of money too. They lost half their wealth in a hurry. Damn, some probably even had to sell the fourth or fifth house and delay buying the eighth car. No, for us it is the same as every other recession. But now that the portfolios of the wealthy are rising again, we hear that it is a recovery. Yeah, well, unemployment is not coming down and we are told it is going to be a jobless recovery.
That's no recovery. Do not let them bullshit you. Forget recession and recovery. What we are in is a regression. The Great Regression of the Late American Era, 1981-. The statistics that matter for the people that matter -- the People -- have been consistently dismal for almost thirty years. It has been a sustained regression, coincidentally beginning at the same time Ronald Reagan took over and busted the unions. The political history of America from 1981 to the present has been about the Destruction of Labor. It is time to end that story and begin a new one, the one where the People rise up.
That's what our economy has produced. The American Dream reduced to $10/hour and living with your parents or children. You know what? I got no problem with the latter part, because rebuilding our extended families would be a good thing for the country. But it shouldn't be done this way, by devaluing all labor to the point where fewer and fewer people can afford their own place even though they work full time.
It's our own fault. We've rolled over and let them fuck us. As a result, they have gleefully fucked us harder and faster as each year has gone by, each legislative session, each presidential administration, each bullshit business cycle. They plan to wear us out even more, because as with all other deviancies, theirs is a progressive addiction.
I keep reading about the collapse of the world financial system. What collapse? That was the global ponzi scheme that collapsed, the financial system is alive and well. Frankly, this latest recession was probably no worse than any other, except that for the first time the rich lost a lot of money too. They lost half their wealth in a hurry. Damn, some probably even had to sell the fourth or fifth house and delay buying the eighth car. No, for us it is the same as every other recession. But now that the portfolios of the wealthy are rising again, we hear that it is a recovery. Yeah, well, unemployment is not coming down and we are told it is going to be a jobless recovery.
That's no recovery. Do not let them bullshit you. Forget recession and recovery. What we are in is a regression. The Great Regression of the Late American Era, 1981-. The statistics that matter for the people that matter -- the People -- have been consistently dismal for almost thirty years. It has been a sustained regression, coincidentally beginning at the same time Ronald Reagan took over and busted the unions. The political history of America from 1981 to the present has been about the Destruction of Labor. It is time to end that story and begin a new one, the one where the People rise up.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Jerry Reese Deposed
Reese has joined God on the Nietschean scrap heap in the wake of the Giants' embarrassing loss to the Carolina Panthers in the last game EVER at Giants Stadium. He looks fallible now, having created a defense that is being discussed as perhaps the worst in Giants history. For Giants fans, that is intolerable. We are proud of our history of defense. To watch our team give up over 40 points FOUR times is something none of us ever thought we would do. No, Jerry Reese now has something to prove, and he is going to receive a lot of advice on the Internet on how to do it.
Hey, I'm a Wahoo who remembers In Pete We Trust at the apogee of Pete Gillen's tenure at UVA. We all know how that went. There are no Gods.
So, Jerry, here is my advice on what the Giants need. That's right, more unsolicited advice from a lay idiot.
Jerry, we need some scary linebackers. Have you seen The Blind Side? Yeah, you know that scene at the start where we see Joe Theismann's career end and the NFL change forever? That was The Giants. That IS The Giants. Get us some scary fucking linebackers. We have the wimpiest linebacking corps we've ever had. We need big, fast monsters who are going to fly to the ball, blowing up anybody who gets in their way. Linebackers who are a threat to crush the QB on a blitz, smother a back two yards behind the line of scrimmage on a sweep, and pulverize a WR on a crossing pattern.
Jerry, shame on you for entering the season with 1.5 NFL safeties. We need two NFL starting-quality safeties. I'm sorry about Kenny Phillips, and you get a pass for him, but we have to count on him never coming back. Michael Johnson needs to be the third or fourth safety.
Jerry, get rid of Osi Umenyiora. I've never liked his personality. I think he is selfish and corrosive. Get rid of Osi, move Canty to end, and bring in a new tackle. Canty is not built to be a run-plugging tackle. He's too long. Canty and Kiwanuka can compete for Umenyiora's spot. I'm not ready to bail on Rocky Bernard yet, but the Giants need to come to camp with at least two new bona fide starting DL candidates. We need more push and clog from the DTs, and more plays from the DEs. Mostly, we need the line to provide base pressure and keep the blockers off our linebackers.
Jerry, the offensive line is creaking. I don't know why most of our line got Pro Bowl recognition, because the line as a whole was not dominant. Eli came under a lot of pressure, and the backs didn't have a lot of wide open space. We need a new starter. Whether he wins a job this summer, or just forces the coaches to make a tough decision, he will improve the team. We need one.
More than going down the units, though, the primary needs are turbulence on defense and pressure on offense. Add a couple players on offense who will create competition in camp. And the defense needs turnover. It needs hunger. It needs a flagship player in the front seven. A disruptive force who makes opposing OCs install changes to the system when the Giants are up next on the schedule.
The Giants still have the core of a contender. The QB is in place. The receiving corps is there, and just needs to be kept fresh. At least one new WR and one new TE are likely to be on next year's roster, but not as starters. The other units have NFL-quality components. Three or four new players could have a decisive impact. The changes that are needed can be made with the resources at hand. The toughest job, of course, is finding that Disruptor. It's also the most vital.
The coaching staff also needs some turnover. The defensive staff needs to be blown up and redone. The special teams need perhaps a new coach, or at least the current coach put on the hot seat. Coughlin needs to re-evaluate, because his team was poorly coached. Penalties, mistakes, confusion, poor decisions marked the season.
The Giants will return to the playoffs next year. It was apparent early on that this was going to be a bad year. I said so in July, because of the injuries. Next year should be better. Fewer injuries, a few new players, a professional defensive coordinator, and better coaching will produce a playoff season.
Friday, December 25, 2009
O Holy Night
or Are We Living the Way We Should?
"Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains He shall break, for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease."
- Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure, 1847
You've probably heard Anita Bryant sing it, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But not together. Or probably not even on the same CD. But if you're like me and make playlists on your iPod, probably on the same playlist. It's a beautiful song, though in my mind mostly a meaningless hymn to an uncaring god. I heard the verse above this morning while I was walking through the frozen remains of a Winter Wonderland to buy a package of shredded cheddar cheese, and at the end of it I thought, "Do we live that way? Really? Love and peace don't seem to be what our lives are about, and there is plenty of oppression. If the verse is true about Christ and Christianity, then this supposed 'Christian nation' seems to be a very unChristian place."
No, Christ is no more relevant in America at this time of year than he is at Easter or any other time of year. Christmas is about Consumption in modern America, where the unifying Creed is a nihilistic narcissism -- or is it a narcissistic nihilism? Let's stick with the first one. Narcissism, or extreme self-absorption, without any driving belief or purpose behind it, is the sum of the messages we are fed every day. As Barbara Eirenreich, Matt Taibbi, and surely others point up, the most visible and vibrant "Christian congregations" in America feed those very same messages, more and more in the very same language. I claim not to be a Christian, probably mostly because of my disgust with what passes for Christianity today.
This is not a "there was real christianity back when I grew up but it's all gone to rubbish today" rant. No, I came to the conclusion somewhere around the age of 12 that if Jesus came back today, the Christians would be the pharisees and sadducees he railed against. He would hang out with -- as he did then -- the whores and druggies, the working poor and the desperate. Our American government would be the Caesar he would dismiss. The superrich he would condemn the way he did the ... superrich of his day. "The poor you will have with you always," he said then. He may as well have said "the rich you will have with you always," and it would mean roughly the same thing.
No, America has been converting to this Nihilistic Narcissism since at least the mid-60s. Does it come naturally with hegemony? Is it the moral complacency of the man on top?
all good things come to an end
the second law of thermodynamics
for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction
actions have unintended and unforeseen consequences
matter is neither cerated nor destroyed
to do one thing is to foreclose the opportunity to do something else
These are all things that we know to be true: natural laws, if you will. And yet, we as individuals and a society live as if none of them apply to us, as if we can get around them. We live like children who think they are getting one by their parents. In fact, I argue that modern society is designed to reduce all Men to the status of children. It is a conspiracy, a Conspiracy of Everyone. They are conspiring to control us, and we are conspiring to give up responsibility.
We've also turned away from our received wisdom. The "old sayings" and the biblical principles and the findings of writers and thinkers from ancient times -- or any time before our own. The "old sayings" became cliches because they were the product of generations of experience. We don't listen to things like "neither a borrower nor a lender be," "judge not lest ye be judged," and the Seven Deadly Sins. No, that's all old-fashioned and not applicable to The Modern World."
No, in The Modern World, our job as citizens is to Consume. Borrow to the limit of our income stream's capacity, then beyond. Always Procure More. We must do so in order for the economy to constantly expand, and produce More and Greater Profits. Take care of your credit score, it is your measure of personal value. If you want it, go for it. If you want to do it, just do it. You can have it all. Have it your way. You can be whatever you want to be, if you just put your mind to it. Extreme. No limits.
I don't want to continue to live that way. It is unsustainable. I want to live in a way that if the system collapsed tomorrow, I would be able to survive. What if I had to be a hunter-gatherer again? Or with a little agriculture? I want to use only cash and think about others and be part of a community that is concerned for each other and takes care of all. I want to not watch TV, and keep my mind free of the messages from the narcissism culture.
"Rise up rise up
With wings like eagles
You run and don't grow weary
Take my hand
and Hold on
Hold on tightly"
It's Christmas Day. The holiday means very little to me. It seems to have more of a negative meaning to most people. They approach it with a desperateness and panic that indicates fear of disapproval. Damn, I don't want to go shopping for gifts, but everybody will get pissed if I don't get them something good. Gotta have the most extravagant light display. Gotta get together with family even though none of you might really want to do it. Supposedly to celebrate something very few of us really believe in. It's a fake holiday, a creation of charlatans and advertisers. And there I was at 6 AM, in Walgreens, looking for something for my wife, because I knew my effort had been insufficient. And in a few hours, I will climb into my car and drive hours to eat with my parents, which none of us really want to do. Oh well, can't change the world in a day.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
It was nice to see on the local news last night that Ukrops workers are considering unionization. I hope to see an increased spread of union activity. We need it. What are unions but like-minded people banding together to obtain their interests? It's ok when rich people do it, so why isn't it ok when working people do it?
We need fundamental changes. Those are not going to come by electing a cool new guy president then going back to our idle pursuits or life on the hamster wheel and expecting him to do it all for us. No, it's not going to take long for him to start seeing things the power elite's way when those people are the only ones he is exposed to and the only ones presenting their opinions. Fundamental change comes from the people.
Let's start rebuilding our families. Maybe the economy will force us to do what we need to do anyway, and that is recombine extended families. Atomized individuals are far easier to control from on high than are groups of people joined by powerful bonds. Why do you think the messages of the organs of social control (including every major media outlet and in particular anything you see on TV) work so hard to promote extreme individualism and an ideology of pure self-interest?
Barbara Ehrenreich is my new favorite writer. She is a wonderful social critic. Start reading all her books. I have just recently read Bright-Sided and This Land Is Their Land. I want to read several others. Nickel and Dimed was another great book. I read parts of it while browsing in Barnes & Noble a year or so ago.
Every time I sit down and watch TV, I want to try not to buy anything I see advertised or even mentioned. Everything on TV is manufactured. Every show, every ad is manufactured to manipulate the viewer. Your thoughts, ideas, feelings and viewpoint are being shaped by everything broadcast on TV, whether over the air or through cable. Every thought expressed on TV has been approved by someone with enough money to get on TV. The more we rely on TV (and movies) for our thinking, the more we permit the millionaires and billionaires to dictate our ideology. Do you think they are doing so for OUR benefit? Of course not. They do so for their own, which benefits us only so far as our interests are in line with theirs.
The Giants' season is on life support. We have to win our last three games to make the playoffs, but if we do so, our chances are good. If Dallas goes 2-1 and we go 3-0, we are in regardless of what anyone else does. Dallas has to play New Orleans and Philadelphia. I don't see them winning both of those. Of course, the Giants winning three is not much more plausible. Minnesota is at worst the second best team in the conference, and they might be playing for home field advantage. If we don't beat Washington, we don't deserve the playoffs. I don't know the third opponent. Carolina. Could go either way. Probably no playoffs with 2-1, but given the Cowboys' propensity to choke on their T-bones in December, still not out of the question.
I lost my moleskine journal. I need to find it.
We need fundamental changes. Those are not going to come by electing a cool new guy president then going back to our idle pursuits or life on the hamster wheel and expecting him to do it all for us. No, it's not going to take long for him to start seeing things the power elite's way when those people are the only ones he is exposed to and the only ones presenting their opinions. Fundamental change comes from the people.
Let's start rebuilding our families. Maybe the economy will force us to do what we need to do anyway, and that is recombine extended families. Atomized individuals are far easier to control from on high than are groups of people joined by powerful bonds. Why do you think the messages of the organs of social control (including every major media outlet and in particular anything you see on TV) work so hard to promote extreme individualism and an ideology of pure self-interest?
Barbara Ehrenreich is my new favorite writer. She is a wonderful social critic. Start reading all her books. I have just recently read Bright-Sided and This Land Is Their Land. I want to read several others. Nickel and Dimed was another great book. I read parts of it while browsing in Barnes & Noble a year or so ago.
Every time I sit down and watch TV, I want to try not to buy anything I see advertised or even mentioned. Everything on TV is manufactured. Every show, every ad is manufactured to manipulate the viewer. Your thoughts, ideas, feelings and viewpoint are being shaped by everything broadcast on TV, whether over the air or through cable. Every thought expressed on TV has been approved by someone with enough money to get on TV. The more we rely on TV (and movies) for our thinking, the more we permit the millionaires and billionaires to dictate our ideology. Do you think they are doing so for OUR benefit? Of course not. They do so for their own, which benefits us only so far as our interests are in line with theirs.
The Giants' season is on life support. We have to win our last three games to make the playoffs, but if we do so, our chances are good. If Dallas goes 2-1 and we go 3-0, we are in regardless of what anyone else does. Dallas has to play New Orleans and Philadelphia. I don't see them winning both of those. Of course, the Giants winning three is not much more plausible. Minnesota is at worst the second best team in the conference, and they might be playing for home field advantage. If we don't beat Washington, we don't deserve the playoffs. I don't know the third opponent. Carolina. Could go either way. Probably no playoffs with 2-1, but given the Cowboys' propensity to choke on their T-bones in December, still not out of the question.
I lost my moleskine journal. I need to find it.
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