An odd scene drove past me the other day on
my way to work.
I was sitting at a side street, waiting to enter
a major thoroughfare when this car drove by
me.
Well, the back passenger door on the drivers
side was all overly-swaddled in duct tape.
Obviously the window had been knocked out by
a thief, or the owner because all the
doors were locked and the keys were still
in the ignition.
The window is what caught my attention. The
duct tape has a nice sheen when hit by sunlight.
The driver was very unconcerned as she drove
by, talking on her cell phone.
My immediate thought was of priorities. We do
have to keep those in order, don't we?
How did we get here? How did we arrived at
this point in time when the only thing that
makes sense is me? Don't you agree? Aren't
you the only person that makes sense to you?
Why hasn't someone done a time-line book on
stupidity? I would also like to see one on
contradictions. I think the history of those
two concepts would be very interesting.
Like the duct taped automobile, we can always
do exactly what we've done in the past, we
can stick a band-aid on the problem. We never
seem to have solutions anymore, just band-aids,
coverups, temporary feel-better-for-now's.
We're much too busy to try to arrive at a
solution. Let someone else worry about that.
Other people get paid a hell of a lot more
than I do to solve these problems.
The fact that they often make matters
worse is immaterial. At least they are trying.
You know, sort of like a doctor who tells you,
"Take this medicine, and if that doesn't work,
we'll try something else."
DO WHAT?
Or the weatherman on television when he says,
"Today there will be a 40% chance of rain."
Can't you just see the side glances going all
around the room if the weatherman had said
"Today, there will be a 60% chance of no rain."
You would probably be wondering why he even
bothered to say that. If he reported the weather
that way, he really wouldn't have much of
anything to talk about during his allotted time
on the air, in your living room, in your face,
would he?
So, in reality, the smallest chance of anything
will be your weather today.
Try stepping out the back door, do you feel a
cool breeze or a cold wind (and why not a cool
wind or a cold breeze)? Chances are, you will
need a jacket. Glance up at the sky. Is it
cloudy? Take the umbrella, just in case.
What has all of this to do with where we are
today?
Simple. Linguistic whitewash. We are continually
distancing ourselves from everything by merely
changing our language. By changing the language,
we change our views. By changing our views, we
change our beliefs about things. The fact that
this is backwards and contradictory is immaterial.
For example: the war in Iraq.
We have young men, and some not so young, over
there putting their lives at risk. Some are
giving up their lives and their futures. They
are pumped and primed to engage in battle. They
are willing to kill another human being if given
an order to do so. And it's ok.
If they do manage to come home in one piece, they
return to a country and an environment which says
it is illegal to kill someone (hint, hint)! But
we expect these young people to kill someone (for
us) in a foreign country and then to 'just put
that behind them' and get on with their lives
upon their return.
How do you forget that you have killed another
human being?
How do you forget this when every day you pick
up a newspaper and read about someone being
arrested for either killing someone, or a gang
kills someone in a rival gang, or a husband has
his wife 'knocked off' by hiring someone to do
what he can't, or a boy goes on a shooting
rampage in a school? When caught, they have been
arrested because killing is illegal. Period.
But then, we can turn around and have 'that
killer' killed by the state, and that's legal!
Logical conclusion: it is ok to kill... for some,
but not for others, it just depends on who does
the killing and why. Killing can be both illegal
and legal. And we turn to ....(who?) to determine
who can kill and when?
And, as if that weren't enough with which to
contend, we then get into the obvious fact that
human life isn't worth a dime. This is proven
by the fact of so many gang killings, road rage
killings, people 'going postal', so to speak, and
of course, people who WANT to kill themselves and
as many as possible with them when they become
embroiled in some fanatics ego-dream and lust for
power. Life in this reality just isn't what its
cracked up to be, is it? After all, we have very
prominent philosophers and people in high places
telling us that our bodies are comparable to
machines, occasionally needing some mechanical
repair. A machine. Machines don't have quality
of life, do they? Ever see a machine produce a
baby machine, care for it, nurture it? Of course
not. So, where did this idea of us being
comparable to machines come from? The media.
Some stupid reporter picked up on an analysis
given as an example by a doctor or researcher
to explain a point and the reporter ran a
touchdown by conveniently dropping part of the
report. This 'machine' aspect became his point-
of-focus, not the entire report. Another
reporter picked up on his article and scored
still another touchdown with an assertion
bordering on "fact" in still another article.
Soon, everyone is spouting the same garbage
as if it were common knowledge!
People, it isn't.
The media is also who bring you wars, murder
and any other tabloid reporting of the
things that are possible for one human to do
to another, the meaner the better. People see
this on television, tell their friends who tune
in to see someone die (watching grandpa die
wasn't very exciting, was it?), television
ratings go up, obviously this is what the
public wants, film more gore, more people
watch, ratings go up, more gore on the news,
more people watch...... And this ends....
where? When a bigger event occurs that can
create more misery and misfortune, like a
volcano, a psunami, a hurricane or an
earthquake. The media, in one more gaffe of
misjudgement, mistakes the publics search
for knowledge and information with its ability
to present horror, blood, murder and
misfortune.
But a lot of pictures or footage and a little
bit of text is so much easier, and profitable.
