Whatever I Have to Say

Lately, I've been pondering the state of the United States and the world, and mostly keeping my mouth shut and the fingers off the keyboard. There's just so much out there - it would take the rest of my life simply to address all that goes on in a single day.

Whatever I have to say isn't going to make a difference anyway. I suspect most of the readers of my blog already feel like I do about things. If you don't and you still read me, thank you for having an open mind. It's a rare quality these days. (And yes, I read the blogs of those who don't think like me. Sometimes not regularly, but I do read them.)

Looking out at the macrocosm, I see a world where Mother Nature is striking back. Call it climate change, call it weather, call it whatever you want, I personally think Gaia is about ready to spit us all out and call it a millennium or two. Earthquakes (be sure that the organization you give to for the devastation in Nepal is a legitimate one, as it is hard to tell on the Internet), volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, floods - you name it, ol' Earth is tossing it out. Even now I have a headache from a front moving in. Can't keep that barometer at an even pressure for nothing anymore.

Drawing that macrocosm in closer, nationally we have riots and looting, old white men trying to turn the calendar back to 1949, and young people of all colors hoping to figure out what the heck is going on - unless they've already given up. I don't pretend to understand any of it, but it seems to me that whatever we've been doing for the last 20 years - maybe the last 200 years - hasn't worked very well. Is it time to take a look at where we are as a society? But we can't even agree on right and wrong, so however would we make such dramatic and important decisions?

Whatever I have to say about the local microcosm, I hope someone listens. I must report that yesterday I watched the people who lead my county do their "work" and then I wanted to put my hands over my eyes and weep. Things are not good in the locality, my friends. Stop watching TV and pay attention. Start worrying about your neighbor - your next door neighbor - and less about yourself. Do the things in the media matter? If not, turn off the TV. Do good, not bad. Worry less about money and more about people. It's people first, money second. It is not the other way around.

Must we really hate our neighbors? Must we be so greedy that the thought of paying taxes makes us angry? Do you not feel like you should have to pay a little something to live here? Talk about entitlement. You live in the United States and you feel entitled to be here and pay absolutely nothing? Who gave you that idea, anyway? Pay your taxes. Give unto Caesar that which he claims is his, and make do with what is left. I do believe that's in the Bible somewhere, though I'm sure someone would argue my interpretation.

I'm not sure why we're so into killing one another. I don't know when the U.S. turned into a police state, but it is. Sure, we have our "freedoms" and "civil liberties" but they're not much good if someone else has the right to shoot you dead and then claim it's okay because his right to "stand his ground" trumps your right to walk down the sidewalk. Nobody has the right to shoot anybody else. Not the police, not the military, not you - nobody. Dead is dead and you can't bring somebody back. It is morally reprehensible under any circumstance.

Stephen Hawking, thought to be the smartest dude alive, said recently that he did not think humanity would be around in another 1,000 years. I'm not sure we'll be around in 100 years, at the rate we're going.

It is very depressing.