Reruns, Repeats, and Groundhog's Day Pt. 1

I get it…a lot of my writings have a theme. Many speak to inequities of economical social existence. But dig deeper, seek an honest critical analysis of our existence. It’s not hard to see the past, present, and if we don’t change future of “the same shit, different day”. While I keep an open and pragmatic view of the future, based on what I have seen and read it’s not hard to become pessimistic.

That’s the rub isn’t it? Many things are wrong because it has become so hard not to just throw up your hands in disgust. Why try? The effort is rarely ever appreciated or even acknowledged.

But, I keep on sending out the message…something is wrong and we had better come together and fix it.

I say that for one reason…ITS NOT THAT HARD TO DO!

I know it won’t be easy, nor will we be able to put our problems in a microwave…DING…instant solution…welcome to utopia. That’s not the point I am trying to make. The difficulties we face are not as hard as we have made them. The obstacles are simple if we truly want to overcome them.

We don’t talk to each other; we may not because we know many don’t listen. We start with talking points and end with frustration, all the while contributing to the fear that we hear from the voices that benefit from our frustration. I never thought in my life I would ever see in the real world a 1+1=2 debate scenario. That was until I started reading more about history. That has been the debate all along. We are arguing about less taxes or more taxes as if either has anything to do with economics. It’s the debate of effective taxes or ineffective taxes. It’s the debate of small government or big government, as if either has been effective.

And the biggest issue is that we ALWAYS wish to place blame. The real issue is that not one leader (politician) ever thinks it’s his dumb idea that caused the problem. Banks bailed out, regulation falling to the wayside, politicians indulging in insider trading, or wars that profit multinational companies only is ok with you? I guarantee that it’s ok with those that get billions of dollars to tell you how much better you are off with picking them over the other guy that voting record and actions are mirror images.

But I'm repeating myself? Isn’t the fact that Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner are indulging in insider trading a good reason to repeat myself? Isn’t the reason that Bush and Obama have similar military tactics a good reason to repeat myself? Isn’t the fact that those on the left and the right think that their guy is going to be “the one” when they just end up being “more of the same” reason enough to repeat myself.

Ok, let’s ask simple questions…Jefferson hated banks, but Washington made him Secretary of State…Hamilton who LOVED banks became Secretary of the Treasury.

Bush, Clinton, and Bush the second had Alan Greenspan that clearly stated as the head of the fed his economic policies were “short-sighted”. But Greenspan never said what he saw…guess he was so short sighted that he couldn’t see what went wrong…so it can happen again with Bernanke and Geithner. From the first president to the current one the Secretary of Treasury is still on the side and in the pockets of the banks. Not a lot of “change” there, not a lot of “hope” of it ever changing.

So much for out with the old and in with the new.

While we bicker about things that have no significant impact on our lives money is leaving our lives and the government is asking you to come up with blame without ever telling you the truth about what happened.

How can you do that?

Sounds like I'm not repeating…it seems that my commentary is asking why are we repeating the same shit that didn’t work before.

I am so tired of socio-economic "Ground Hog's Day"...
There hasn't been joy in repetition...

Why I Write

It’s odd that I never gave it much thought. I remember when I was in the second grade, I gained a love of writing poetry. It gave me so much of a release. I felt free when I wrote, just the ability to get my thoughts out. I even remember one day writing something and not wanting it to rhyme. I just wanted reason. I even changed part of my pseudonym(yes...in the second grade I created a pseudonym) to fit what I had become, Free.

As I got older the writing bug never lost me. If anything it became more about finding out what I wanted out of life...connection.

The search led me to understand not only my emotions and feelings, but understanding those around me. My empathy gained with every passing year. I saw and felt the emotions of those around me. But as with all good things an end came. I was just far too overloaded with work, relationships, and just life in general. The muse was gone...

Then, I discovered a quiet place in my spirit. I learned to meditate and block out the noise and the voices in my head. A calm unlike anything I had ever known was upon me. Even though the journey was hard, I found an appreciation for it. The losses, the gains, and even the moments of stagnation no longer gave me an ebb and flow that caused extremes reactions. I finally had my center.
I had reached what a friend of mine called...flow.

But one day in the late nineties I wrote something that was on my mind for some time. I wrote what I saw in the world, not my world, but the world in its full capacity. I saw issues that even when studying history had occurred to me that nothing since this country’s inception has changed.It troubled me so that we as a species couldn’t overcome ourselves. Even in our greatest moments, we couldn't all come together just to set things right.

I wrote down suggestions or should I say solutions that I thought would help. It’s funny that now, over a decade later, I see more problems and more solutions. But one thing has held firm. We can’t fix this problem until we say it’s a problem and agree to work together.

In my writing I shied away from being direct, spoke with more of analogies and less direct. Then someone just pissed me off to no end, so I threw a punch. It felt so good!

Then I decided that my writing should have an honest approach and just putting what I saw out there in to the ether. The problems became easier to point out, but the solutions became so damn complex that I just stop talking in order to try to learn more. It’s a disappointing thing to listen to some of those that you admire or respected and hear talking points, ego, and self-aggrandizing. But it was so fulfilling to find others that were so knowledgeable, humble, and perceptive to take the place of those disappointments.

Yet the problems still exists. We can’t overcome ourselves. We don’t listen, we don’t care, we prefer to marginalize and dismiss a drive for excellence by saying no one is perfect. A sports team that wins a championship doesn’t have to be undefeated to be a champion, but we refuse the ring, by allowing the cheaters to destroy the game.

But, I just keep playing the game. I need to keep playing. There isn’t another game in town.

Life is all we have and on the day that the shiny new toys, the elusive moments of power over the weak, the need to be right even when everyone knows you are wrong, we might have a shot at living.

In turn I write for but one reason…that’s one of my ways to get into the game and hopefully come out with a group of friends on the same team…while we may lose from time to time…we can be champions. We can all be a part of the living. Not compartmentalized, cubicle assigned, labeled zombies…but living, loving, caring, and sharing individuals that just want to be…alive.

WHAT MORE IS THERE?

It's About Choice

I truly thought against posting this here...but it actually belongs here.

Let’s be honest...

As our two political parties sit on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum, have either side done what it claims is in the best interest of the country? Has it?

Or is it doing exactly what it wants?

Have you ever sat down and critically examined your party? Try putting your pom-poms down and think of the things that you and your party believes in and ask are you truly a Democrat or a Republican? Or worse, is your party truly what they claim to be?

As the Democrats' and their votes went absent in the last 2010 election was it because their agenda was absent of that of the politicians in office? Isn't the cry for a primary candidate a resounding rejection to what occurred in the last two and a half years?

Or maybe it’s the Clinton years that truly disenfranchised the electorate with the passing of NAFTA? Remember the Ross Perot quote during the election that appears to be prophetic:

"NAFTA will cause a giant sucking sound as jobs go south"

I wonder do the unemployed workers on the left or right hear that sound anymore. Why worry about protecting the border from illegals coming in when in another twenty years they won’t come here at all. You didn't really think that freedom is the motivation for many foreigners coming here do you? It’s the economy, stupid.

But hey the right will defend that position, its globalization Saynt, get with the program. Actually its unfair trade, coupled with protectionist laws from many countries that are involved in the "free trade". Each and every country has either by culture (it is expected to protect the country's economy) or by laws have protectionist parameters to sustain a healthy economic structure...except the quasi-globalist American policies. But I can’t go to Canada and get prescription drugs. Of course the only reason for that is profit is over people. As to many of the "conservative" electorate claims that point of view is socialism, the odd dichotomy of crying about illegals stealing good jobs that Americans could do screams hypocrisy.

Then of course there is the educational system that either the right wants to privatize or the left wants to keep throwing money at without cleaning up the mess that has been made by keeping the focus on salaries and not the fact that every mayor and governor cuts the budget and looks to the teachers to "breech" an agreement that has been made years in advance. I wonder if I could breech an agreement with Bank of America and get away with it? One thing no one will ever admit about why the educational system is failing our students is because there is not a focus on education but one of money. While each side blames each other, both have presented failure after failure with their policies.

An economic policy on both sides belies the real problem. Before you can ever get to the policies the process of how our representatives are elected and campaign on a daily basis must be addressed. Who do you think your mayor, congressmen, senators, and president listens to? The 160 million that may or may not vote or the millions of dollars that sits in their political campaign fund? The American people may have a problem with what the Supreme Court decided, but the acceptance of what was already true only came to fruition because of the simple fact that the rich and powerful hold no allegiance to either side, serve no country, have no citizenship of any country, and their money is a tool to do one thing...keep taking the voice and democracy from everyone else.

Now the left has…Keynesian economics where they want to spend your money…a lot of your money. But has the money been spent properly?

Then there is the right…an Austrian school of economics where they want to steal your money…legally...

NEWSFLASH! Deregulation is the reason many Americans lost homes pensions, savings accounts, and 401k.

Instead of trying to prove me wrong…ask Brooksley Born.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/25/AR2009052502108.html?sid=ST2009052502127

Or ask Alan Greenspan.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec08/crisishearing_10-23.html

While their way of explaining it may differ, the point is still one big outstanding word…

FLAWED! Thank god Greenspan wasn’t in charge of the murder laws.

Now in America’s history there has been one thing both sides have in common…MILITARY!

They have a love for war! Who has it been good for?

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_military_spending_30.html

964 billion dollars of our budget, where does it go? Surely, can’t be the soldiers. Some of them barely make a wage that keeps their families at home from becoming homeless, poverty stricken victims. Since we can find rats in Walter Reed, the money isn’t going to health care for the wounded.

So it must be going to somewhere else…

Halliburton, a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2000, is living high on the hog now. Wonder how that happened? Bechtel did one hell of a magic trick of making billions of our taxpayer money disappear. I wonder how well some of the politician did in their political funds from these companies? I do remember Nancy Pelosi getting caught attending a defense company’s party and being asked how much did she get from them…loved her (spin) answer.

But it’s all about choice…picking the left that promises to improve education, health care, and the middle class. Its electorate got mixed messages, a failing educational system, a health care plan that will still pale in comparison to the other OCED countries that are ahead of us, and a middle class that is shrinking so fast that they haven’t realized that they are no longer middle class.

Pick the right…who the fuck would…they promise freedom, less taxation, and a strong defense. Its electorate has the patriot act, a tax code that bleeds them dry, and 9/11.

"Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem."- Ronald Reagan

Will someone please tell that man…he was in office when the debt was tripled, from $900 billion to $2.7 trillion. I guess he knew what he was talking about. Only George Lucas made money off of Star Wars.

It would seem that the choices are only for those that pay millions and millions of campaign money to take billions and billions of America’s dollars.

Maybe it’s time to stop choosing the lesser of the two evils, especially when they choose to ignore you and do exactly what they get paid to do.

Someone Needs To Ask...

Why does the left seem so lost?


Why does the left always appear to be in a constant flux?


Why cant the left get shit done?


Here is my answer...


You don't lack a message, you lack members and representatives that agree with it!


Yup I said it, someone needed to say this. The "tent" of the left has always earned the description of "big and open", has anyone ever looked at the members and ask why be under a tent that is big and open if you are the owner of a small and narrow scope?
I have looked at the left and at times I just want to get up and shout to the heavens, but I always stop short of trying to do something that will gain me nothing other than an emotional release.


Someone blasted the left today in a group with a McCarthy like question. I thought that their approach was wrong and divisive and I still do, but then I realized that's the issue. The issues that matter never do matter and as long as there are just two political parties the issues that don't matter will be wedge issues that makes the left either show their true colors by withdrawing their support or walk away from the tent that they never stood under.


When you have members that can walk away to become a "Reagan Democrat", they are not a progressive. If you have members that don't want the New Deal to continue, they are not a progressive. If you have members that claim they are for civil rights but don't want to EVER discuss or see a nuance of racism, they are not a progressive. If you have black members that still have intense hatred of gay people and gay rights, they are not a progressive. If you have members that can use anecdotal "shit smearing" stories about the Latino community while there is a discussion about them losing rights as Americans, they are not a progressive. If you have members that believe in a strong middle class, but think unions hurt the middle class, they are not a progressive. If you have members that wanted Obama over Hillary because they aren't sure if a woman can lead, they are not a progressive. When you have members that say they are pro-business when they have never owned a damn business, they are not a progressive. When you have a member that is broke and jobless claiming they are for pro-global capitalism, they are not a progressive.

Shouldn't the issues be simply this...


Every human has a right, yes a damn right to an education, a job with a living wage, a place to call home, a neighborhood that you wont be afraid to walk the streets, civil rights to every man, every woman, every race, every religion, every sexual orientation, every American, a retirement without fear, health care that they can afford, a trust worthy media, politics that serve and represent you.


As long as you continue to accept anyone with a (D) at the end of their name while robbing you of your rights, what will be under your tent is a circus of wedge issues.
In the end, there are thieves in the temple of your fundamental beliefs, platform, and goals. As long as you constantly say hey we have a big tent, but many don't even endorse the politics under the tent, all you have is a bunch of clowns representing themselves and I just laugh at the audience that continues to buy the tickets for the members that performs the show from under a red tent.

Dont STFU!

If there is one thing that is certain in our day and age is the path to success will be likely more so than possible. It seems to get harder and harder with every generation. As many know there are forces working against us, there are also internal demons that we face every day. As we go through life our journey seems to attract obstacles, but when we add those demons, the molehill has the illusion of a mountain.

Once the mountain is in front of us, we enjoy the silence. Of course, we explode, implode, or even just become a static entity. Our explosions don’t reflect what we are dealing with; our implosions never approach a resolution. When many of us get to the point that we just can’t find closure, can’t achieve a resolution, or worse can’t get “one thing right” we look for the “fix”. The shrink, the pastor, Oprah, we seek any quick microwavable fixes we can find. Isn’t the world in general a prime example of most of our lives that we just would rather have emotional outburst than have emotional rescue? Rescuing requires the demand for help. We are great, perfect, and damn the person that says otherwise. We don’t need help that goes beyond a cool pill that has a great commercial or a 60 minute talk show that we can “connect to”. Our immaturity has no bounds, while our walls are getting taller and wider. We seem to only want to communicate when we want something or need to let out just enough to make it through the day. It’s no wonder that we are socially, financially, emotionally, psychologically, and politically deficient because of our fear of communicating our own comprehensive psychosis.

I have a suggestion…try a little talking…try a little listening…try a little tenderness…try a lot less outbursts of judgment, assumptions, and preconceived notions that we just can’t let go of.

If we, in our moments alone feel lost, how are we so certain of life when we have someone in front of our face?

Now, I think that we just don’t talk enough. We seek boundaries and walls to escape communication. It’s as if we just know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a question equates a challenge and a statement equates a judgment. How can you talk if the only time you listen is when you hear the voices in your head? If you want a better life cant changing one way of living a good start to do so? Staying stagnant won’t cure the ills. Maintaining the status quo won’t cause emotional growth. At what point is there a better life the only option? Rock bottom shouldn’t be the only destination that offers dropping the walls as a crossroad. How soon can now be if it helps you, helps you achieve your goals, and offers healing? So many of us want to be healthy, but can’t quit smoking, cant workout, can get off the proverbial couch. As in our physical, it is the same in our psychological and emotional.

Only when we get off the wall, get in the game completely and sincerely, can we attain health.

Dear Americans...

When I first came into the social networks, I soon found a digital high school. It was a cliquish collective of political, social, and economical sides. I have enjoyed the back and forth with friends on the left and the right, the stance of "never surrender" was so prevalent, then something clicked that changed my scope of the view of America and the world.

I must first commend my international connections. They truly have made me see that I don’t live in a bubble that ends at the coast of the Pacific or the Atlantic. What they really opened my eyes to was my hypocrisy. I have to concede, no matter how painful the reality is that I have been living a great delusion.

“We’re number 1!”

I lived in that comfort most of my life. Olympics, freedoms, and even wars kept me feeling pride filled about America. But I was lying to myself. I was following the “American Way”, worked all my life, been in management since I was 19. Truly believed that no other country could be better and there was no one that could change my mind.

But something went wrong. I stopped talking and started to listen. Didn’t like what I heard. Some people pissed me off. Others have almost gotten blocked because of the criticism of America had a sting that was hard to bear. There was one person who writes scathing commentaries about America and its politics. I highly recommend that you read it with an open mind:

http://bill-purkayastha.blogspot.com/

Do I agree with everything? No. But he made a point that I didn’t miss.

We as Americans have become hypocrites.

That’s right, we are full of shit! How are we number one because we defend our short-comings based on the shortcomings of other countries? So it’s the argument that we may suck but not a bad as other countries? Now if we are number one, what are the criteria? Is it our political freedom? Women couldn't vote until August 26, 1920 and blacks couldn’t vote until August 6, 1965. Freedom of speech? Did you know that Finland has one of the most free and open press? What about ours? But because Saudi Arabia doesn’t allow women to drive now we are number one?

Or is it education, health care, or mortality rates?

Education, we aren’t even in the top 10.

Health care, we aren’t in the top 10.

Mortality rates, we aren’t in the top 20.

If the OECD has us that low on the most fundamental of charts what are we beating our chest for?

What’s with the delusion?

I can explain this one. We see the repercussions of our government on us and us alone. When we hear that “our guy” wins an election, we run around like we are fans of a sports team that just won a championship.

But the Packers don’t have over a 175 military bases worldwide. The Dallas Mavericks haven’t used “shock and awe” on countries that never attacked us. The San Francisco Giants didn’t win the World Series by trying to destroy the global economic structure by using derivatives. The Bruins didn't use drones to win the Stanley Cup.

Our government is so damned arrogant that it uses military might to remove leaders from other countries! We applaud that! Because "We Won!"

You see Americans don't see what happens in other countries unless they are watching late night television to send 25 cents a day to help some poor kid in another country. Its hard to empathize with what other countries are deal with from Monsanto if we are struggling with our own kitchen table bills.

I know many reading this, especially my friends; will feel as if I am oversimplifying complex issues. I am. I am saying that many other people from other countries think that our hypocrisy is a joke! Not because we don’t have any redeeming values. Their issue is that with all the promise, all the bravado, we are supposed to be better. We are the “American Experiment”! Alexis de Tocqueville envisioned such great things for America. Many people across the globe want great things for America. We are supposed to lead the way in greatness, not empire building, not using the military to remove despots or democratically voted officials in other countries in order to enable paths to profiteers.

America is supposed to set the standard, not kill Chinese workers in order to make an iPod. We are supposed to be a “Christian Nation” that has a rehabilitating penal system, not applauding the death penalty. We should be the compassionate country, not one that spends over seventy years of interference in the Middle East.

We should be the example that everyone wants to follow, not the example to fear.

In order to be number one, we must be better…not just to ourselves as blacks, whites, republicans, democrats, gay, straight, Christians, Muslims, Chinese, men, women, children, or any label we carry around, but to other countries. Not with Foreign Aid, but with humanity and understanding. Our willingness to accept and embrace everyone makes us great.

We must rise above our impression of ourselves and see what we are doing to everyone else.

Maybe we need to remember:

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door. ”

What Is Flow? To Me

Someone asked me about the word flow because I use it so often. For me it explains all that is right in the world.

To start, the true definition of the word itself is probably the best way to define what it means to me.

Flow: To move or run smoothly with unbroken continuity, as in the manner characteristic of a fluid.

Its explanation however, takes on a fluid two prong position of belief and communication when applied. For me it begins as a belief that any true relationship will only survive through flow. Hence, open and honest communication, loyalty to the relationship, and abiding by the rules of the relationships construct.

Now with the U.S. constitution many believe that it’s a living and breathing document, they are not only wrong, but misguided. A living and breathing document would have each and every law that has been written and deleted as the relationship or agreement changes.

But in a relationship, the difference is minimal; in order for a relationship to survive or to exist it must do so with a level of communication that only exists in a financial board room. Blunt, honest, and personal communication is a relationship's lifeblood. Many couples know the limits of their relationship and proceed with so many unwritten and unspoken laws or rules, that it’s no wonder why fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. Far too many hidden agendas, personal resentment exists in a relationship for flow to ever become a reality. There have become marriages not of convenience, but that of secrecy pertaining to baggage unresolved, unaddressed, and eventually uncovered by either a personal explosion or betrayal.

In reality those issues that we claim to have buried are never dead, as a matter of fact if the other person in the relationship could be a fly on the wall of their mates' or friends psyche they would learn that not only is it not buried, its often closely held and monitored daily. It becomes the driving force in the relationship. It will eventually surface as something innocuous in a fleeting comment then permeate and manifest into a drama filled episode that generally leaves the other party of the relationship feeling confused, lost, resentful, and defeated. That's why I have always said if two people can't speak honestly, there isn't a relationship.

That is what couples in a relationship, family members, or even just friends deal with every day. We act as though we are being honest, but the definition of honest becomes diluted and bastardized to fit our level of comfort. That is a possible precursor to the relationships destruction. Because once you stop talking comprehensively to your mate, the bond breaks.

At times we all get that feeling that it requires a "special moment" to be honest, especially if it’s critical or may carry a negative connotation. But to be clear if the relationship has a strong foundation, anytime alone is the right time to get something off your chest. A conflict without resolution dooms future communication.

One thing I have learned is that no matter how critical you are with your mate it is important to analyze the word either by questions or personal reflection to decipher were you just attacked or was that a degree that you need to "bring your A game". When it was just attack you need to find out what is truly wrong. But if it was for you to do better, be better, and know that you needed to be better. On the surface that may appear to be a daunting challenge, but if you dig deeper, it is a moment in the relationship that signifies a lack of relating.

What also comes along with communication is a very strict theory and application...it’s better to say what you want, what you want to do, and why before you ever start the wheels in motion or your intent regardless of how innocent can be construed negatively. Many times you can get what you want with help if you state your case.

What have amazed me is how often we don’t communicate, how often we don’t share, and how often when we lose a loved one because of a dissolving relationship or through death we have regrets that stem from what we should have said or didn’t say because we were afraid to hurt someone’s feelings. How can you survive in a relationship with hypersensitivity and hyper-criticism? Plainly put, you can’t, the relationship hinges on just putting yourself out there fully. Be brave with your love for the person you are relating to.

As I have learned, communication is key is for one huge reason. It’s the only way shock, awe, and resentment doesn't destroy a relationship. It’s easier to be together in action if you are together in thought.

Commitment of Slave and Master

I have always found a great sense of pride in the commitment of my fellow Americans to their country. But, today I wish to challenge it. Not because commitment is a bad thing, but blind faith can be the enslavers of us all.

One thing you can rely on in a patriotic American is their commitment to country. Some serve in the military, volunteer in charity, even some go in to politics. But to what gain is that commitment based on the facts is what has me vexed. Or should I just be blunter in my approach…

Are your masters sharing the same commitment that you have?

Do they act as they speak?

Or are they laughing at you while feasting on the profits that they steal from you and have always done so since America’s inception?

You see, a master has no cause, no commitment greater than him/herself. But a slave can have attributes that won’t be seen in a master. Nobility, honor, and commitment to a cause greater than themselves are not the ways of a master. Its possibility is minimal, all because the bottom line is the bottom line. How can I profit when honor, commitment, or dedication would intrude on my bottom line?

Imagine for a moment that Bill Gates, George Soros, or even the late Steven Jobs acted with honor. Would the markets that they dominate lack competition as it does now? Could they manipulate economic markets for their own financial gain if they were committed to America? Can one even imagine how a man who is described as a genius, also have sweatshops( media’s cute word for slavery) in China to produce a machine that he stole the idea from someone else and settled out of court in order to keep the idea to himself? That’s how you can describe the iPod in case you were wondering.

But let’s look at the slave…committed to a cause. The slave will root for a president that condemns his predecessor’s military acts, but mirrors them in his own actions. The slave will root for a leader of the most financed military in the world, that can’t stop two planes from hitting a building in his own country.

The slave will damn another slave because the master blames one of the slaves for master’s actions. The master will say its Shaq’s fault that you have to pay more for the tickets to the game, but if Shaq gets traded the price will still go up. Some much for the slave being at fault?

You see the slave is at fault when master moves his business out of the country. The slaves were costing him too much. But the prices still get raised each and every year, while the wages stagnate. Why would a slave need more money just to wastefully spend it? Shouldn’t the master get more than the lion’s share of the profits? The slave is just the labor. There are always more slaves to be had.

I say all this because I have worked with the master and heard his core belief…profit. I don’t blame the master…I blame the slave. It’s the slave’s ignorance that impedes its rightful place of freedom. It’s the slave that beats up on the other slaves when one gets a miniscule piece more than the other slaves. It’s the slaves fault for not knowing that…

IT’S A SLAVE.

Freedom comes at a very small price…EDUCATE

Don’t think outside the box…there isn’t a box. Master made up that box.

Don’t think that when a slave acts like a master it’s deserving of the master’s whip.

Don’t think for a moment that master doesn’t fear the slave…know that the master uses YOU to kill that slave when it gets uppity.

The master will always have slaves as long as the slaves…listen to master's words… but not at what master has done.

The master isn’t patriotic…master is nationalistic and his interests only serves master…profit is his nation.

Legacy is his flag…serve me is his religion…fuck you is his anthem…riches beyond any man can spend is his God.

You…the slave…are his deepest…darkest…fear.

On the day the slave wakes up from his ignorance…master will serve…the slaves.

Dont Do Me No Favors

I have one big character flaw...I hate receiving or accepting help from others.
There is one big reason...


In my 42 years of life there is one big pet peeve of mine(as if I only have one) that just infuriates me more than anything...false help.


Now I know that the two words sound odd together. But just imagine if you need one thing and someone trying to "help" you by doing either the opposite or worse. Forcing you to do something that doesn't help and leads you into yet another problematic situation.


Of course there are many anecdotal ways to give examples, but let's use more institutional examples.

The New Deal

You give the American people Social Security and the people accept false help from an institution that never helps them. I challenge one person to ask why is Social Security the answer when the problem was employers exploiting years of loyalty and hard work. Where is the pension from the "free market"?


Try all the "freedom" we offer the world! Wasn't that some great help...for business?


I wonder if Haiti appreciates the help it got after the earthquake.


Native Americans damn sure didn't need any help...they got casinos for "accepting" a cultural and genocidal slaughter.


Many laid off workers have lost many good paying jobs, now they either make half as much or nothing at all...thanks for the help!


It seems that the word
help is slowly becoming a malevolent ego trip for those that use and take from us to gain an advantage. Then we get help. Maybe the best help is not to put us in the position of desperation to need help.


Are we just victims of blow back? Are we just unintended collateral damage? Victims of favors that we didn't need nor want.


Do me a favor? Do us all a favor.


Don't do me or us any favors.


Maybe then we won't need help.

Birds Of A Feather

Now I've seen places and faces
And things you ain't never thought about thinking
If you ain't peek then you must be drinking and smokin'
Pretending not to locin' but you're brokin', let me get you open

Now little Timmy got his diploma and little Jimmy got life
And Tamika around the corner just took her first hit off the pipe
The other homie shot the other homie and ran off with his money
And when the other homies heard about it they thought that it was funny

But who's the dummy 'cuz, now you done lost the hustler
A down-ass brother can never by replaced by a buster
And though I got love for ya I know I can't trust ya
'Coz my crew is rollin' hummers and your crew is rollin' dustas

And just because of that you act like you don't like the brother no more
I guess that's just the way it goes
I ain't tryina preach I believe I can reach
But your mind ain't prepared I'll C U when you get there

I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there
C U when U get there
I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there
C U when U get there

More temptation and faith I guess we livin' for the day
I seen a man get swept off his feet by a boy with an AK
The situation so twisted everybody gettin' lifted
I'm just tryin' to take care of my kids and handle my business

'Coz it way too serious so you gotta pay close attention
So you don't get caught sittin' when they come and do all the gettin'
Life is a big game so you gotta play it with a big heart
Someone's gotta run a little faster 'cuz we gotta later start

I'd be a fool to surrender when I know I can be a contender
If everybody's a sinner then everybody could be a winner
No matter you rag collar deep down we all brothers
And regardless of the times somebody up there still love us
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/coolio/c_u_when_u_get_there_album_version.html ]
I'm a scuffle and struggle till I'm breathless and weak
I just strived my whole life to make it to the mountain peak
Always keep reaching sure to grab on to something
I'll be there when you get there when you wit the sound bumpin'

I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there
C U when U get there
I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there
C U when U get there

You need to loosen up and live a little and if you got kids
Let them know how you feelin' for your own sake give a little
Oh, you don't want to hear that you busy tryina stack
And keep up with the Jones's taking advantage of your own

The realest homies that you've been knowing for the longest
But some ain't missing a good thing until it's gone
Could have built an empire if not for the jealousy that divides us
We prefer to keep our eyes shut to whats right when
Theres something of all that we desire

So hold your head up high if your poor and righteous
I know time seems right and the problems seem endless
But at times of despair we gotta pull ourselves together
And if you fell you're out the game then you need to get back in it

'Coz nothing worse than a quitter
You gotta face responsibility one day, my brother
So gather up your pity and turn it to ambition
And put your vehicle and drive and stop by my side

I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there
C U when U get there
I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there
C U when U get there

As we walk down the road of our destiny
And the time comes to choose which shall it be
The wide and crooked, or the straight and narrow
We got one push to give and one life to live

Stand up for something or lie down in your game
Listen to the song that we sing
It's up to you to make it big
I guess I'll see you when you see me

I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there
I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there
I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there
I'll C U when U get there
If you ever get there

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/coolio/#share

I have always been under the impression that we as humans are individuals that seek like minded individuals. We like having a collective of friends that share mutual principles. It strengthens us to have numbers on our side.



I have always wondered what the litmus test is for such a relationship or a personal covenant. Because there are personal and psychological "lines in the sand". There are always differences that we just can't "agree to disagree" with.
But I have seen some relationships that are either naïve, cynical, or just fraudulent.
We have bold and distinguished differences that need to inspire a refusal of participation to our circles.


But...


Feminist that have misogynists friends.


Political friends with differences that are at best considered extreme with a "bond".


Atheist with the same religious fervor that shares personal feelings with a hard core Christian.


Or a gay man that is a walking contradiction by working for the RNC and calls them friends.


A very positive person that allows a negative soul sucking emotional vampire into their covenant.

Ridiculous right?




What does that say about us and our desire for the pursuit of happiness? Are we just drawn to the drama? Are we that damn sympathetic? Is it the need to "try to change them"?


Can you change a gallon of poison by dropping it into your local drinking water plants?


Hell no! You use filters to keep the bad out!

But look at so many of us! Dying slowly from the negativity in our lives, sometimes just because the person offers one...just one fucking facet of them that we allow the emotional vamps to drag us down.
Oh, they are my neighbors, my family, we work together, or that's just their way. Their way isn't your way then who's path are you taking.


I refuse to allow these fuckers to take advantage of my empathy.


I say birds of a feather flock together...


Because...

I am no quack!

If roles were reverse...they would fuck me over the first chance they get!

Dominance...Has A Price

I was thinking about the economic crisis in the world and was inspired to write this.

Dominance of many countries, including the one I live in is evident. There is no reason to deny it. Its methods, its ways of systemic dominance, have place a stain on our human existence. The price for dominance has been our dignity, our freedoms, and our existence.

Was it worth it? Was the positions and status that were given to you by powerful people that never gave you anything, without a price, worth it? There is a mammoth amount of examples pertaining to what the price is for dominance.

Respect

In an effort to dominate, to hold another group of people down in order to lift you up, respect must be absent. How else do you think that racism, sexism, homosexual hatred, religious prosecution, and a litany of other nuanced subsets of “otherizing” is allowed to exist? There isn’t a single reason to talk about those tools of disrespect is there?

“____ism will always be around as long as there are people” So if you don’t respect others that you have allowed to be oppressed, killed without repercussions, robbed of financial gains, or even just bullied because their ways don’t match your own how can you respect yourself? Well, instead of “whining” let me continue.

Freedom

We always talk about slavery when we discuss a lack of freedoms(unless you are Americans, they believe if they can’t do everything they aren’t free) but what is colonization, annexations, expansionism, imperialism, Manifest Destiny, or any other guilty party that has used superiority to “expand their dominance”. But if you expanded your dominance how far is too far? Ok, I’ll stop carrying on.

Existence

While freedom and respect are very important, existence i.e. validation is needed in order for the other two to ever happen. How can a woman get respect if she isn’t a person, but objectified? How can we feel anything for Native Americans if they are considered savages? There are so many questions I would love to list, but why just blather on?

Why continue to state the obvious? Let’s state the needed. For all the privileges that some have received for being the right color, the right gender, the right sexual orientation, born in the right country, or born in the right family, the end game is slowly permeating into all of our existences. The powerful are now coming for you!

I ask you…are there anyone to fight for you?

I ask you…Anyone to fight with you?

Don’t answer…I knew the answer in the eighth grade.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.

-Pastor Martin Niemöller

“Although people may have different status in life, everyone’s dignity is the same”

As there are many people in this world that are not nice, not caring, there are just as many that are strong enough to accept power that they don’t deserve, but too weak to stop it from being taken from them.