Lives of Desperation

Lives of Desperation

Those who live in the ghettoes across the globe, including the ghettoes in America, have often been a major quandary for me in any search for the meaning of life. I have, for some time, lost most of the earlier braggadocio about my own quality of life. It is not that people cannot take any credit for bettering themselves in various ways, it is just that the vast majority of the affluent/successful start off with extremely important unearned advantages. If I had been born in certain countries, in certain places, in certain times, with altered genetics---my chances of living the life I now live would have been close to zilch. Of course some, with no or little advantages early in life, do manage to escape. But even then it often has to do with mental or physical advantages, being at the right place at the right time, etc. Self made is not the play maker we often pretend.

My profession brought me into situations where I got a peripheral view of the whole ghetto 'business'. There is nothing remotely simple about the feelings, mindset, priorities, and behavior of those who live in these horrific environments. There is nothing remotely easy about any solution. There is nothing remotely clear as to how to slide, even the best of them, into being a successful and productive citizen.

You do, if you allow yourself to get at all close to them, gain a lot of empathy with them, an empathy which those at a greater distance will rarely achieve. What we affluent do is to wall ourselves off as far as possible from them, and gate ourselves into safer more prosperous communities. In America, we lock the less fortunate up in greater percentage numbers than any other place on earth. We call this law and order. Of course any society needs law and order, but it needs to be just---and that means paying as much attention to crime prevention as we do to the crime punishment which results from the inattention. We don't even try much to do that. Politicians don't gain votes for preventive measures, all of which cost money, but gain votes by promising stiffer jail sentences. Ironically, the $30,000 per year jail costs far exceed the costs of most preventive measures.

Be all that as it may, it has always intrigued me how these less fortunate people think and feel and behave. A book by Viktor E. Frankl, a survivor of 4 different Nazi death camps, has helped me apply his observations of Nazi prison life to ghetto life. Of course life in downtown Detroit or Newark is not the same as a Nazi death camp, but one is an extension of the other. In both cases the inhabitants have lost considerable control over their own destiny. To be a child in a dangerous neighborhood, with bars on the the windows and doors, with a dysfunctional family, poor schools, poor health care, poor diet, etc. is to be trapped mentally into a 'death' camp of a different sort. There may be no gas chamber looming on the immediate horizon, but there is a degree of hopelessness and no seemingly apparent path to betterment. I guess we need UNDERSTAND that abnormal behavior in abnormal situations is NORMAL. In any normal environment it is ABNORMAL for a young person to maliciously assault another person over little things. It is not abnormal, in the sense of being unexpected, in the ghetto. In the death camps, the inmates often lost the emotions of disgust, horror and pity that they may once have had in abundance. In the ghetto the same emotions can be lost, or maybe never acquired---essentially for the same reasons. In a death camp, everything tends to lose value except survival. In our ghettoes, for many of the young (and old), a lot of the values which we cherish, they may lose---except for the desire to survive. And that too, in some cases, is lost.

It is hard to respect others when hardly anyone, and in many cases no one, has any respect for you. I can't count, how many times, as a kid, I was made to feel important by someone or something I did. There are often not a whole lot of respect or feelings of accomplishment to be found in ghetto environments. For a young person in such a setting, the lack of such enriching contributions to emotional and ethical growth come at at time when his/her character and emotional nature is being formed.

Just as SOME of the prisoners at the Nazi prison camps were able to maintain a minimal sense of humanity throughout the ordeal, some youngsters in ghetto environments do well, and sometimes even excel in the areas of ethics, values, and priorities. In the prison camps it is often past memories of loved ones which provide the hope and strength to endure. For a youngster in a ghetto it is often the love and protected attention given by someone---a parent, a grandparent, a teacher----who gives them the strength to endure. Without that kind of targeted love and attention I can't really recall too many success stories. People really do build people. The price of irresponsible reproduction IS PAID BY these defenseless offspring. Those most adamant about bringing all fetuses to term are the very ones least supportive of tax measures to provide any kind of government support for these kids, and are the very ones who prate on about family values---which translated always refers to THEIR OWN family values.. It is not anyone else's family or family values which are much on their minds. These other kids get poor schools, poor health care, poor security, poor opportunities for jobs, for play or travel, and little exposure to varied social settings.

Even those children given admirable support from a family member or teacher etc. are most often stunted in how far they really go in life. The struggles are so difficult, so relentless, and so stymied at every step, that once they gain minimal accomplishments, the race for them is over. It becomes more a case of enough is enough, something is better than what he/she had. To genuinely know any of these young people, to understand their thoughts and amazing personal qualities, is to be saddened by their eventual limited career or financial success. They escape the ghetto, but barely. The rewards rarely match their efforts.

I never could really accept or get used to these pictures from life's other side. I can't really estimate the percentage of young people in the ghetto who have been irreversibly damaged by their circumstances. I understand God's evolutionary process evolves ever upward, not just in physical complexity, but in human social values, human priorities, and human responsibility. Ghetto environments are throwbacks, a regression in time for human culture. With human overpopulation now in full press across the globe, ghettoes multiply disproportionately to population growth. Affluent societies HAVE REAL REASON to fear these ghettoes, and with terrorism now available as an effective tool to channel their anger, all of us, with much to lose and to protect, are beginning to witness Mother Nature resolving what humans are not yet capable of generating---responsible reproduction and social responsibility for all fellow human beings.

If evolution provides anything it provides hope and faith that the future, in the big picture, will continue to improve with Time. Even in the Nazi prison camps there was always real hope for those willing to cling to it----such hope acquired not by the many, but by the few, and these few---the survivors---become the agents of evolutionary growth. Survival of the fittest works, the evolutionary progress is self evident. But the victims are many, a difficult and depressing spectacle. What is unknown are the consequences for those affluent who contribute, by their actions or inactions, to the injustices which abound. All of us everywhere understand the Golden Rule. Maybe not many in the ghetto understand, whose values and priorities are often warped by their circumstances, but those of us enjoying an affluent life understand the Golden Rule and choose, each of us, to embrace or ignore this concept to varying degrees. At this point human understanding is too limited. We know so little about life, something which we all experience for years, and to know anything about life after death, judgment, rewards, punishments, etc. is simply beyond human grasp.

What struck me the most about young people from our own ghettoes is how isolated they really are. Most of them have never been more than a few miles from their home, except maybe on a rare group trip to a museum or a bused trip to some affluent camp or school for charitable 'adventures'. These bused 'adventures' are expensive and well meant, but are done mostly to make the sponsors feel good about themselves. Nothing wrong with that but the end result is often to push these kids into further hopelessness. There is little these kids can personally do to change their environment, and these trips---along with TV---serve more as a form of taunting than as a means to anything.

The only contact most of these kids have with anyone of affluence, outside of shallow interchanges with store clerks, govt bureaucrats, etc. are their teachers, and this is often a disaster. These students, for the most part, get the worst teachers, those who cannot gain employment in more affluent schools. The teachers quickly grow to resent the indifference, the bad attitudes towards others, the lack of respect, the lack of empathy with others, the selfishness, the disdain for rules, etc. The feeling of hopelessness abounding in the kids soon is matched by the feelings of hopelessness by the teachers. Nobody, not the teachers or the students, see any light at the end of the tunnel. I once wrote to the Head of the English and Science Departments at 8 different inner city schools to get some student referrals for modest monetary grants to pursue approved game plans for their lives. There was not a single student referred. Not a single teacher in these two areas could be bothered to recommend anyone. I sensed the attitude was that if they could not turn these kids around, some 'idiot' distant to the scene most certainly could not. I then approached the managers of popular fast food chains, managers who come in contact with some of these students as employees. Not a single one of them cared to recommend anyone either. These young people are really and truly isolated. To me, it is shocking.

I can't give percentages, but these young people generally fall into two categories. Most are severely if not permanently damaged by their environment. You don't want to find yourself in contact with them. They are the ones who think only of survival from moment to moment. No one else counts. They feel they never count, and so, to them, no one else does either---except maybe a parent or other gang members. They have little comprehension of justice or empathy for anyone---they are filled with anger and payback. Life has not been kind to them and they are incapable of kindness to others. No one is going to hire them for legitimate jobs because they have few of the values you want in an employee. The second group, a much smaller group, have not only endured their environment, but have personal traits impossible not to admire. Usually a single parent or a grandmother, or guardian of some sort has instilled the kind of personal values in them which truly exceed those of most affluent young people. They are real heroes in the true sense of the word.

Affirmative action, defined properly, is an application of the Golden Rule. Affirmative action should mean that those, who for no reason of their own doing, are less fortunate----that these less fortunate are helped by the more fortunate to have a more level field on which to compete. Affirmative action has nothing to do with race or politics or sectarian religion. Who, more than the less fortunate young people, need better teachers, better health care, better job opportunities, better adult models, etc. We regulate and monitor all sorts of human behavior except reproduction and the raising of children. We don't let young people drive a car unless they demonstrate they know how to drive. We don't want irresponsible drivers on the road. Yet there is no such legal thing as irresponsible reproduction. Some, with questionable ethical dogmas, insist any kind of irresponsible pregnancy, once begun, must be brought to term and THEN the responsibility of our society ends. If indeed, ghetto life results in some young adults being past rehabilitation, then allowing such formative environments to exist amount to some form of murder. If this is not wrong, not much is wrong. To insist God wills this is to make God some kind of sadistic pervert. What is more clear is that if we ourselves do not take measures to ensure responsible reproduction, this cruelty to children will continue. To twist this obvious scenario into some kind of God mandated insistence that this continue is, to me, absurd.

Young products of a ghetto, even the most hardened ones---those who have essentially lost empathy, respect for, or sense of justice for others, are often not totally dead to these emotions. You spot them quickly in any class situation, and their attitude/behavior is not the sort which kindles any kind attitude toward them. Teachers and most other students will avoid them. Most everyone fears them. They go through life instilling fear in others. This makes them feel empowered. Of course not in any productive way, but still gives them transient satisfaction. My technique was to immediately call them on some infraction of my many rules and tell them after class to stop by my office before the next class. You can tell by their look they are eager for the confrontation. When they arrive, ready to let me understand the limits of my power to control them, I take the opposite tact. I pretend I have no idea why they are there and ask, "What can I do for you". "You told me to come by your office". "Well, I have a lot of students and know few of them at this point. Since you are here tell me a bit about yourself". "There is nothing you need to know about me". "I suppose not but I assume you want to better your life, and that is what I am paid to help you do, so how can I help if I know nothing about you. Where did you go to high school?" And thus, invariably they begin to talk about themselves a bit. The object is to have empathy with the difficulties of their life. It is rare that a young person doesn't want to talk about themselves. And in these cases I got the impression no one ever really cares to listen to them. All this has a difficult downside. If one listens, they go on for some time AND they will come back, OFTEN.

I forget the names of almost all of these 'pictures from life's other side'. But in the still of the night or out in the peacefulness of nature the lives of these people who live lives of desperation loom large in my mind. "Freedom and justice for all" is, after all, not to be found in the laws of evolution. Evolution is more about chance, luck, and change. The trend of evolution is ever toward the more complex, and in the case of humans the direction is for stronger, faster humans with an increase in social justice over time. We no longer, for the most part, dismember people for punishment, stone them, use slaves, deny people rights on the basis of ethnicity, or religion, or sex and now sexual orientation. But all this progress has come at a steep cost. Behind in history, and present in our own history are the large masses of people who lived, or are living, lives of cruel desperation. LIFE, FOR EACH OF US, IS REALLY A QUEST FOR MEANING. The more we understand the life we live the more contentment we achieve. Power, wealth, blind faith based inherited religion, or pleasure without meaning is vapid, hollow, shallow, and unfulfilling. A person cannot find meaning via amusement, rituals, faith based beliefs, and manipulation of others. No one, who has ever spent any time around those with power, titles, wealth, social popularity, physical beauty, or mental acuity has ever found these qualities, of themselves, to bring any real contentment. Whatever else we seek in life, it is only an increased understanding which gives meaning to our lives and this meaning brings contentment. The extent to which any individual can reach understandings about life will vary, and vary considerably, but it matters little, for only those who achieve the highest understanding, given their potential to understand, will ever reach contentment. Contentment is an inner quality. Others cannot achieve it for you. The road to understanding aspects of life differs from one person to the next. What is meditation, yoga, walks in nature, Buddhism, and other such mind searching exercises but the attempt to understand, and through understanding to achieve contentment. I don't think inherited religious dogmas qualify because they are not dogmas arrived at through reason or experience, or thoughtful thinking. Inherited religion is a crutch, a purely faith based exercise. It gives the believer an attitude, hope, but no real understanding. Those with effective religious beliefs achieved them with an open mind using observation, reason, and experience to arrive at ethical conclusions.

So what then, given the current evolutionary status, do humans know about bringing freedom and justice to these masses of people living lives of tragic desperation? We know that full development of human potential starts at an early age when the mind and body are in the earliest formative stages. Thus, ethics dictates that EVERY child deserves GOOD HEALTH; every child deserves GOOD TEACHERS; every child deserves GOOD ADULT ROLE MODELS---whether they are biological or not; that every child deserves a SAFE ENVIRONMENT; that every child needs to see the GOLDEN RULE IN ACTION around him; that every child needs to learn to APPRECIATE DIVERSITY---amongst humans and the entire plant and animal kingdom; that every child needs to learn the RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT; that every child needs to learn about RESPONSIBLE REPRODUCTION. All of these needs are within the ability of human possibility. No doubt with time, God's created evolutionary process will achieve these advancements. How long and what kind of massive evolutionary corrections will be required by Mother Nature is beyond human understanding. God's evolutionary process is a brilliant, effective, and good process. History has evidenced that. But the individual tragedies which occur along the way are staggering and sad. For all living individuals, the Hand of Fate keeps spinning, where it stops and for whom it will favor seems driven by chance and luck. Does God ever interfere on behalf of specific individuals of any species? How can one really know? Maybe he does a lot, maybe he does seldom, maybe he never does. I always come back to one of my favorite quotations, tampered with in a minor fashion: "There is a way of life, a way of thinking, of behaving towards other men and your fellow creatures, towards all living things, towards the whole earth and the sky and the sun that is based on love, on compassion, on respect, on cherishing everything there is around you because it is wonderful, unique, it's natural and good and it evolved that way by itself, it's got to be cherished and if we think like that and live like that and live that kind of life, we can all maximize our freedom and the freedom of others, we can all maximize our contentment and the contentment of others, we can all feel the sun and smell the grass and smell the flowers and look upon each other with appreciation." (Davis) (Maybe Wade Davis?)

2nd Chances

Second Chances

The heart rendering story of Chris Henry, the Cincinnati wide-receiver suspended from football for numerous arrests, mostly for violent acts, dismissed from the team, and then when no one else wanted him, was given a second chance by Cincinnati, seemed to have settled down and was doing things right----and then, falling out of the back of a pick-up truck during a domestic dispute with his bride to be, he died at age 26. Those who knew him best, his teammates, the coaches, the owners, all seem genuinely devastated by his death, all claiming he was nothing like the media portrayed him. That of course, is hard to fit with a college coach who once told Henry that he was a total disgrace to his team and school.

Of course those on the other end of his violent, angry, emotional outbursts for most of his life may see it differently. Perspective is everything. Depending on your job in life you may or may not meet and have any meaningful contact with the Chris Henrys of life. I certainly did and you never get over how much empathy they can extract from you in calm conversational situations. In some sense they are con artists. Part of why they do such anti-social acts is that they can invariably use their personal charm to weasel out of any lasting consequences. One always feels, if you know them in any counseling situation, that he/she is mostly misunderstood, a basically good person who foolishly does some bad things. Many parents understand what I mean here.

Henry, it seems had finally turned things around and was settling into a more 'mature' mode and the 'good' Henry was about to have a good and fulfilling life. Maybe so, maybe not----hard to really say. But let's be positive here and assume he was a once 'bad' character who had turned his life around. BUT, how many 'good' people who do bad things ever have a financial fortune as a carrot? I wonder what percentage of ghetto gang members who are basically 'good' persons might shape up if the reward for such personal discipline and altered priorities, was a huge financial fortune? Of course one feels bad that Henry had turned the corner behavior wise and seemed on track to live a productive life as a good citizen when he met his death. It is a legitimate feel good story.

STILL, there are millions more young people out there, equally 'good' people 'at heart', doing bad things, who will never have such a financial carrot out there to force a change in their behavior. If one feels sorry for Henry, then logic demands we feel equally sorry for these millions of other young people, with no such physical talent to be worth huge financial rewards for such a talent, who will never get endless second chances, have no access to support from those who have already succeeded, and----for the most part---are basically walled off or 'gated' from the more successful in life. It is really just a picture from life's other side. Henry's demise is a tragedy, but an even greater tragedy are millions more
leading hopeless lives of quiet desperation. There is no sad sudden demise of their lives because they are never high enough in life's success plateau to fall. And if we really knew many of these people as a person we would no doubt say of many, 'they are basically good people, who given the right environment, could turn their lives around. For a zillion reasons, they are never going to get a good environment, they are not strong or smart enough to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps like a Terrell Owens, and even if we all really wanted to share our resources and help them, their numbers are staggeringly high, the task too difficult, and the natural resources are no longer there on the globe for them to live the lifestyle many of us do. If we feel sad for Chris Henry, logic dictates we weep and bawl loudly for this other vast mass of humanity across the globe who pay a ghastly price for human overpopulation on a stressed planet. Henry at least had the athletic talent to be allowed to smell the roses for a brief time. The effort it took on the part of so many to salvage Henry from this other vast mss of humanity who live lives of quiet desperation---this effort was long standing, widespread, and the carrot available huge.

I don't have any answers, I don't really understand most of the questions, maybe there are no answers. God's created evolutionary process is run by laws which use survival of the fittest for evolutionary progress. It works, millions of years attest to that, but this forward progress over millions of years leaves in it's wake tragic personal consequences for individual specie members. There is a cost to most everything worth achieving. The cost for God's evolutionary progress is especially steep for the weak and less fortunate who end up with the wrong cards from the wheel of chance which plays such an important role in the process. The results are overwhelmingly impressive, but the process can be brutal. I personally feel lucky, but not on the basis of any personal intervention by God for this luck. I don't feel singled out, I don't feel I earned all this good fortune, I don't feel God likes me better than others, I just am lucky. This is not to say individuals cannot, via their own good choice, parlay luck into a better life. But it starts with luck.

So What To Think of Tiger Woods?

So What To Think of Tiger Woods?

When it comes to matters of sexual fidelity, date rape, sexual acts, and divorce I am muted. It comes down to how I 'feel' about any of it, and feelings are not facts.

What is sex, taken from a disinterested viewpoint, but a universal, albeit individually unique, neurosis. I don't think , no matter what clergy says at the alter, that God cements or blesses any marriage or romantic relationship. If God did, those marriages/romances would never fail. God, by definition, doesn't make so many half ass mistakes. With sex there are really no logical standards upon which to get a good grip. That is exactly why people do not spend much time in social situations talking about the specifics of their sex life, or even their feelings about the hodgepodge behavior we call sex. Our own personal inclinations and interest change with time. Let's face it, for most people, just how likely sly sexual trysts are to occur depends a lot on the availability of such adventures. Youth, physical attractiveness, financial wealth, fame, power, are directly related to the odds of such sly sexual trysts. I wonder, if the government sent out bodies of beauty to entice all of us into a little hanky-panky on the side what percent of us would succumb? And for those who would not succumb why don't they? Perhaps they don't really enjoy sex that much anyway. Is that a crime, or at least an abnormal psychological state? I doubt it. LIke with so much about sex, it just is a part of that person. Neither bad or good. If they don't succumb because they take their commitment to their spouse or current lover serious, that is certainly commendable but hardly a high percentage decision. How do you really control just how much you continue to love someone? You may want to be the best at something forever, but life simply is not that way.

Perhaps the only solid ground available to us in these matters is that sex, whatever the nature of it, must be consensual between adults. Even here it gets complicated. I would absolutely refuse to serve on a jury regarding date rape. Solomon himself would be stymied with many of these cases. Somebody is lying or both parties are guilty of misreading the signals being sent by the other, or maybe one party is simply seeking revenge for genuine anger over their relationship. Such trials are often nothing more than just empathy contests. Which defendant appeals most to my empathy? No thanks, I'll pass on that. The one who looks or acts like the culprit surely must be.

I can't form an opinion about Tiger Woods or his wife. How the hell can any of us know the basis for that marriage? Many good looking women or men marry for money, prestige, a comfortable life style, etc. If Tiger Woods had been a caddy instead of a famous golfer, would she have ever remotely considered marrying him? Who knows? No one. It is clear why O. J. Simpson murdered Nicole. The dumb bastard really thought an 18 year old girl was genuinely attracted to a 50 year old aging athlete who looked like he had been tackled a few times too many. It must be hard to accept that your role in a marriage is provide a wealthy environment in return for sex. Was Jackie Kennedy an evil person because wealth and high society meant more to her than sex? I credit her with honesty. The marriage worked because Kennedy wanted to be sexually adventurous and Jackie probably was content to let him work off his sex drive elsewhere. She clearly did not have the same need to sex every willing good looking guy in sight.

When people work themselves up into a dither about other people's sex lives, I find it senseless. If a person can find a way to have a contented sex life with no victims or underagers then they have done well. And I really don't care if it involves hanging from a chandelier engaging in all kinds of unusual sex acts. BUT, one could argue when someone cheats on their spouse or 'significant other' there is a victim. There is the spouse, there are the kids. I agree and the whole matter is between the spouses, not anyone else. Sure kids are victims, just like kids can be victimized by the schools they attend, the neighborhood they live in, by divorce, by bad health, by being ugly, by lacking talent in certain areas, etc. Kids raised in a home where the parents can't stand each other are victimized also. Psychologists have long agreed that kids are often better served living with a single parent than living in a house where the parents detest each other.

The papers say Tiger and his wife are now renegotiating their prenuptial agreement, that he is going to have to put up front a lot of big money to keep the marriage intact. What kind of disingenuous marriage is that? Marriage as a lucrative business adventure? I think Tiger has enough lucrative business adventures. Marriages of convenience are not unusual in one form or another. Some marriages are simply held together for fear of ending up alone, or for financial reasons, or for the sake of the kids, or succeed because each lives their own lives with little serious interaction. Sex may not even be involved at all anymore. And if I am asked what I think about any of these marriages of convenience of this or that nature I just don't think about it at all. Nor do I think the government should think about it, or the courts get involved, or religion has any answers. You can't force compatibility, and you can't, for any particular relationship, find a solution that fits all.

Again, what is sex, taken from a disinterested viewpoint, but a universal, albeit individually unique, neurosis. Maybe human sex is an expression of God's sense of humor. Maybe that is why sex is the topic of so many jokes----and that may be exactly the best way to look at the hodgepodge of sexual behaviors prevalent all around us. I wonder, if I had Tiger Woods' fame, money, good looks, etc, what my sex life would be like? Feelings about sex just differ. Each person has to deal with their specific feelings and try to find a way to satisfy their feelings about sex in a way which is compatible with all the parties involved or affected.

What is the proper role of others in anyone else's sexual life? Does the public have a right to know about the sex lives of the rich and famous? Is this knowledge useful for us to judge them? If so, why can't the FBI maintain a data base on everyone's sex life? Maybe I have the same need and right to know about the sex life of everyone part of my life as I do the rich and famous. If I knew what you do in bed, with whom, how often, where, and whether it is licensed or not would certainly enable me to adjust my opinion of you accordingly. Maybe all citizens could take lie detector tests and have our deviancy ratings in various categories printed in the paper once a year like the taxes on our individual homes. When it comes to sex I feel dangerously uninformed about most people who I otherwise feel I know fairly well. Actually, I feel the same way about myself in this area---a hodgepodge of feelings, inclinations, and attitudes all wrapped up in a package that seems I had little control in assembling. Nothing---not laws, not religion, not prevailing statistics, not common sense, not scientific studies, provide much insight into how I or anyone else feel about sex. It is certainly not a level playing field---your choice for a partner is limited and anyone who went through the youthful dating game knows that. If there is a Devil, He/She certainly invented sex. In the last analysis sexual behaviors, like all other behaviors, is governed by the Golden Rule. Whatever anyone's needs are regarding sex, it must be consensual between adults. If that criteria is met, whatever the consequences of the resulting sex is a matter between the two or how many others are involved. Any 'crimes' or moral breaches occur between the parties involved. The rest of us are not involved and should not really be. When it comes to sex any of us are lucky if we can just once in a while know which end is up.

Observations II

These observations are, for the most part, not original on my part. They are concepts stolen from others via reading mostly, and changed, adapted, and worded so as to fit my peculiar leanings at this point in time. It is hard to have original thoughts about life, and the best we can do is to fit pieces together so as to have one's own unique outlook on life. Some of the applications are purely my own, some additions have been made, some concepts expanded, some altered a lot, some just abbreviated, maybe some butchered up. But they all help me put my own personal puzzle together.

Observations II

Our planet has essentially two societies. One is the world of Presidents, Chancellors, Generals, Religious Dignitaries, Ambassadors, Corporate Executives, Lawyers, Estate Barons, Country Club Members, etc. The other less visible world, much larger and growing much larger, is a repressed reservoir of revolution and terrorism. No one knows exactly what those in this potentially explosive society think, feel, or are how close to chaotic eruption.

Most of the insurgents, rebels, terrorists across the globe belong to oppressed economic, religious, or ethnic groups. That hardly means they fight for freedom and justice. Most are fighting for power---for revenge---for the right to be the oppressors.

I always fight for humanity. It is those around me who are so hard to love. Smile.

Those who reason least are often the dregs of society. This observation cuts across economic, religious, and ethnic lines.

By being born you have committed an act which carries a mandatory sentence of capital punishment. Everybody gets to say goodnight.

What is scariest about religion is that, given the right environment, most anyone can be made to believe in anything.

How can anyone expect third world nations, seeped in poverty, hungry, imbedded with fear and violence, to be anything but cruel, desperate, and angry?

The laws of nature were created by God to improve life progressively over millions of years. The dogmas of religion purport to bring salvation to the few and damnation to the many. The two are simply not compatible.

Rearranging your prejudices is not progress.

Typically, rigid religious conservatives cut off reasoned discussion about their beliefs with a curt: "I don't want to talk about it". Thus, they are sure of their beliefs, all wrapped in a cocoon of self imposed ignorance.

Stupid honesty is worthless; knowledge without honesty is dangerous.

The greatest and most important problems of life are correctable only by the laws of evolution. Mother Nature always bats last. Humans concoct, fiddle, battle, and innovate but cannot make major alterations in evolutionary progress because, as part of a much more vast process, humans cannot see the forest for the sake of the trees. All of us are pawns in the process, limited to improving our own peculiar lot in this process.

Humans claim they are impressing God with ornate temples of worship, but these temples are really built to impress other humans and themselves.

Perhaps everyone who believes in the infallibility of the Pope and views the Pope as mediator between God and man should have to stand on a stage, read some of the absurd words Popes have uttered; read aloud all the crimes of every sort which have been committed by Popes and then bow before busts of all the Popes and proclaim to all, "These are God's mediators for my beliefs".

Without God's created process one might conclude God is unable to prevent suffering and thus not omnipotent. If God intervenes with His own created laws of evolution to help some and not others then he is not merciful and admits His own created laws of life are not adequate to ensure progressive evolution of life. Some seem to feel if we will just pray to God, God will then be merciful, that WE control God's mercifulness via prayer. Interesting, but kind of a stretch.

Religious dogma tends to make so many of life's issues black and white. The sooner more worshippers realize the world, according to God's evolutionary process, is a continuum, the sooner the human species will be able to reach a legitimate ethical state.

Famine seems to be the last and most dire resource of Nature to control overpopulation. Tis' sad human reason has not evolved enough to generate responsible reproduction. We know when deer populations need to be culled, but are remarkably unable to enforce responsible reproduction in ourselves.

Education is the major tool which enables those with little to acquire more. Where academic talent is limited, a good life depends on the willingness of those in the House of Have's to share with those in the House of the Have-Nots. Sharing is often not a human strength.

Acquaintances are often more palatable to our disposition than good friends.

Is democracy in this age of information overload reduced to the persuasive power of slogans invented by slick ass self serving managers of politicians?

To fool all of the people, by definition, starts with yourself.

Winning at anything combines self industry and talent with the stupidity of others.

Here's my choice for an award winning 'Onward Christian Soldiers' quotation: "The death sentence is a necessary and efficacious means for the Church to attain its ends when rebels against it disturb the ecclesiastical unity, especially obstinate heretics who cannot be restrained by any other penalty from continuing to disturb ecclesiastical order." Pope Leo XIII. Seems like words right out of Christ's mouth. Hardly, but maybe out of the mouth of a Jerry Faulwell, Pat Robertson, Bin Ladin, etc.

A problem with democracy is that liberty produces wealth and wealth then enslaves the economic class upon which wealth depends until liberty to the poor means little more than nothing left to lose.

Fear of death creates religions.

He who is content with little has more real treasure than he for whom enough is never enough.

The highest level of slap stick comedy are politicians in one of their periodic fits of morality.

It is so natural for humans to be intolerant about matters they really care about. Diversity of most shades goes against the grain of our gut, of how we want the world to be, or at the very least, seem. Appreciation of diversity is one of the most admirable achievements of the human mind.

A truth believed simply because it is a part of our culture, inherited religion, or authority indoctrination is seldom the kind of truth which genuinely drives your life. These truths are believed mostly when it is convenient. When not convenient, they are ignored. Just ask most members of any religion.

It is our own mind which makes our Heaven or our Hell OR one out of the other.

Perhaps sexual virtuosity is merely a reflection of opportunity and peculiar taste. If I am not into bestiality most likely it has more to do with with taste. If I am not sexually promiscuous it may in large part have to do with lack of opportunity. Maybe the Government could hire young beautiful people to test every one of us. Tax those who succumb. Solve our major deficit.

Each day, especially during retirement, is best spent in search for truth and understanding, for the beauty of nature, and to be kind to those with needs. Contentment will be the reward.

I am reluctant to believe in a God Who is vindictive, or requires begging (praying) to be kind, merciful, or just. Nor do I believe in a God Who, if He wanted to communicate with the human species, would do so via human written dogmas made ages ago, available through inheritance to select tribes of humans. Nor do I see any evidence that humans are a favored species, made in the image of God. Is the frog favored over the amoeba because the frog is a more complex form of life? It just seems any special interest God has toward any specific humans is over-exaggerated. I suppose there might be exceptions, but the overriding evidence is that all living creatures are governed by God's created laws of evolution. Seems fair enough to me---without God's evolutionary process I wouldn't exist. I do exist, I am thankful for it, and try to make the best of it. That's about the all of it for me. For God's Will to be done does not require my consent.

Violence seems most often to rise, not out of excess power, but precisely out of feelings of powerlessness.

Marriage seems to be built upon standards which few can meet. I think most couples do the best they can, with the best of intentions, in a marriage God did not put together, but reality ends up trumping illusion. An honest effort is not failure.

Two jobs, three cars, a huge mansion, piles of gadgets, acquired power, titles, and control over others requires a life spent with an inordinate amount of stress and effort, whose reward in the end is a lengthy obituary. It may be better to stop and smell the flowers.

To live is to CHANGE and to CHANGE after reasoned analysis is to become a more perfect person. Those who cannot CHANGE are destined to suffer the bitterness of their creation----a pot of rancid stew.

Modern conflicts are rapidly becoming conflicts without winners.

Evolution will conquer wars just as evolution has conquered slavery, discrimination against women, human sacrifices, head hunting, and cannibalism. The questions about better life on earth are not IF but WHEN. We need to remember that God's evolutionary process is never ending. The process is full of personal tragedies and massive catastrophes, but the progress over time is ever upward.

One of Lincoln's stories illustrated the following observation: Many of those with none of the common vices such as smoking, drinking, promiscuity, gambling, etc. often appear to have shallow virtues also. They seem to have little temptation to be human. Cold, critical, and pious comes to mind.

The notion that religion cannot be based on reason, that college degrees are required to preach morality, doesn't fit the subject matter. The Golden Rule----who needs to go to college to understand it?

If you want to be proud and happy and feel fulfilled doing evil----cloak it in religious duty and 'Away You Go' Jackie Gleason fashion.

I guess one, coupled with God's approval, make a majority. But it little matters if you are being burned at the stake while the votes are being counted.

Important truths often survive, not because the opponents give in, but because a new generation is capable of recognizing the truth in question.

Amusement and thinking are distinctly different forms of mental activity and lead to different ends.

Diversity is the engine which drives God's created evolutionary process. To stifle diversity is to battle against evolutionary progress.

I don't know if miracles occur or what defines a miracle, but they seem to occur in certain eras and in certain countries which believe in them and in the presence of those predisposed to believe in them.

If we draw from the same pie and if I take too much it means others get too little. When 1-3% of the people own 90% of the wealth the 1-3% probably are taking too much.

Paying less than a living wage is a wretched sin and those who say it is good for the economy or even for these employees (better than no job at all) should be forced to be a part of that good.

When you separate the spirit from the flesh, perhaps all you get are convents and brothels.

Wouldn't it have been great if Bush/Cheney had announced a War and nobody came?

The abortion debate has long since become a moot and inane debate. Just flip a coin and pass the law of the winner. Any law is irrelevant. Proper pills can induce a safe abortion and any law to make the pill illegal will be about as effective as the laws of alcohol prohibition, marijuana use, condom use, etc.

Buddhism seems to be the only religion never to kill on a grand scale. While Buddhism works to rid a soul from conflict, Christians and Muslims seek to purge conflict with fire and brimstone.

To call war and soldiering the apex of courage and virtue (except when defending your homeland) is like calling whoring the apex of love.

Science gives facts, feelings give us meaning.

People are not becoming less religious. More people are rejecting the absolute authority of man written dogmas penned centuries ago. Instead, more people use these and other sources to formulate reasonable beliefs about the nature of their ethical obligations. It is not any belief in God which has declined but a belief in God as dictated by self appointed prophets of ancient years. God is alive, well, and yes His Will, via evolution, continues to be done. Those robed and titled religious prelates who have the illusion God has appointed them Site Managers for the Evolutionary Process are just fools of a peculiar ilk.

The truth of an opinion cannot be measured by how many believe it.

If humans evolve to the point where they can measure happiness, not in the level of misery of their enemies, but in the happiness of the greatest number, than peace will reign and conflict minimized.

In truth, a person of true compassion, despite acquired knowledge, a comfortable secure lifestyle, and good health can never lose a melancholic sadness for the greater world of loneliness, poverty, and pain that so makes a mockery of what human life should be.

Of all emotions, hate is the most destructive to ourselves as well as the targets of our hate. The horrific genocides across the globe seem unreal---no civilized gang of any ilk should be capable of such senseless slaughter---not in Germany, not in Darfur, not in Rwanda, not in Somalia, not in Ireland, not in Vietnam.

I suspect most people are capable of deep thought if they could but discipline themselves to find the time and find the data needed to fuel deep thought.

We may try, but cannot tear out a single page from our life. And why bother? The whole book has an expiration date.

The titled, affluent of society wage wars; it is the poor, for the most part, who DIE and are REWARDED by patriotic parades and music at half time of a football game. If the same patriotic parade and music were held at a separate time in the same stadium a handful of people would attend. This staged charade is simply DISINGENUOUS. These people in the stands and watching on TV turned are turned in to watch football. Wars are not entertainment and to push them as such seems INAPPROPRIATE.

To faith based believers of TRUTH, victory will be felt only when the heretics have been killed, jailed, or silenced. TRUTHS not based on reason cannot be assuaged in the mind of a faith based believer any other way.

Man's advantage over animals is REASON. An animal's advantage over man is not to understand the concept of death.

To be aloof or social varies depending on the circumstances. Which, for any individual, is chosen, is the least grievous of the two.

We all, in varying degrees, grasp at straws. Anecdotal 'science' cannot be dismissed as always irrelevant, since like in all lotteries, there are some winners. Medical science uses proven technology to cure diseases and conditions. Alternate 'anecdotal science' focuses on improved mental health which helps sustain a healthy life. People need to be in the right frame of mind to be successful with preventive medicine. To the extent unproven anecdotal exercises and supplements improve anyone's mindset they are useful.

Death is a long protracted process. Part of us dies with every passing of a person close to us until finally, if we live long enough, there is little left of us to die.

With terrorism the prevailing methodology of warfare, is victory distinguishable from defeat?
Ireland, Israel-Palestinian conflict, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, our Drug War, the Abortion War---do these conflicts ever end? It is more an endless shift of which side, at any point in time, are committing the terrorism.

If one believes living well is the good, not the act of living itself, then one chooses to live as long as they should, not as long as they can. LIKE: "I am 96 yrs old!!!!!" "Really.....AND is there anything else about your present life to brag about?"

To consume happiness or wealth without producing a similar effort to promote happiness and wealth in others seems unethical.

True love probably extends past logic and reason. It is maybe the grand daddy of positive emotional experiences. IRONICALLY, once in that emotional state, marriage follows. Ironically is the right word since emotional states are not always sustainable.

Let's see how it often works: The rich accumulate wealth off the backs of the poor. The government staves off insurrection with food, blankets, etc. while religion promises the poor a good life after death when all the suffering will be alleviated. Those feeling the most desperation and who send themselves prematurely to 'Heaven' and take their perceived persecutors with them, are labeled deranged lunatics. The poor who remain, on average, will die an earlier death than the affluent, and thus get rewarded with heaven sooner. OK, I guess I understand, at least chronologically.

Personal contentment matters in matters of health. The immune system works best in a physiological state absent the stresses extraneous to actual microbial antigens. When microbial antigens are not the source of stress, the immune system is like a fire company trying to put out a fire without a specific address.

Martin Luther King's 'Dream" was noble for the context of his time. Today, with a global economy, global environmental threats, global resources dwindling, global overpopulation---with all this, patriotism is obsolete and like a cancer to humanity. All humanity is now in the same boat, like it or not, and will soon sink into chaos; a chaos which neither Obama, the Pope, an Ayatollah, or any dictator can save humanity from, and the terrorism which follows. Limbaugh may bellow away, Sarah Palin may dumb it all down to cliches, but sadly, it will be the terrorists best fitted to prevail.

When we believe love is forever, dogmas are valid forever, war is the answer to conflict, trickle down will raise up the poor, prayer is the answer to human salvation, friendships are forever, natural resources are inexhaustible, freedom to reproduce is unlimited, etc-----when we believe wishful generalities like these are solutions, the battle is lost and all these problems left to be solved by God's laws of evolution. Evolutionary corrections are never pretty.

When a petty thief robs at gunpoint we take away his gun. When corporations rob the same populace, and in a grander more costlier scale, the government does little, defending the robbery as 'free enterprise'. Reasonable profits from free enterprise are healthy; unlimited profits, no matter the process, remove too much wealth from the many to the hands of the few.

Many laws are like cobwebs. The weak get trapped, the strong break right through. Of course, in the interests of justice, it is against the law for the rich as well as the poor to beg in the streets or sleep under bridges.

Tyranny is pervasive. It is a matter of degree. There is the tyranny of the few over the many (dictatorships), or the tyranny of the majority over a minority. Majority rule maximizes freedom but creates a tyranny of it's own for the few.

Nations that tolerate the present, despise the future, and find satisfaction only in past glories, are dying.

Is 'God Bless America' meant to be a fact, a demand, or a plea? It also reeks of some sort of all or none proposition, a 'my country, right or wrong' mentality. Is there any country not infested with this same self serving demand, fact, or plea to God?

The affirmation of the origin and function of religious leaders is best understood from Pope Stephen V and Pope Stephen I: "The Popes, like Jesus, are conceived by their mothers through the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost. All Popes are a certain species of mini-Gods, for the purpose of being able to conduct the functions of mediator between God and mankind. All powers in Heaven, as well as on earth, are given to them". "Let them (the people) innovate in nothing, but keep the tradition". As a kid I always wondered why a religious leader was the final word on everything. I still do.

The strictest justice is NOT ALWAYS the BEST JUSTICE and therefore can become an INJUSTICE.

The most agreeable, least grievous, and most thought provoking companion is solitude.

Some of us can remember war as a patriotic defense of one country being invaded by a government army of another country. The World Wars, Korea, Kuwait, Balkans/Serbia are examples. Somehow in the last decades it all got drastically changed. With minor exceptions, the only military invasion into other countries has been American military forces. America is now the only country with military bases spread across the globe. It is no longer a patriotic venture where citizens from all walks of life defend themselves, or another country, from invasion, these ventures are now all volunteer mercenary armies in it for adventure, economic reasons, or blind patriotic/religious beliefs that might makes right. For too many, it is a chance to travel, meet new people and kill them. Cast in the worst light, which I am now doing here, the aim of these wars is murder. The methods of these wars include spying, bombings, terrorizing communities, torture, and demolishing a country's infrastructure. These modern invasions last for years, creating in the invaded country the absence of freedom, widespread poverty, idleness, debauchery, drunkenness, ignorance via closed or inoperative schools, a mindset of tit for tat with all the cruelty that comes with it, and ever growing masses of people with nothing left to lose, including the soldiers bunkered down in 'green zones' waiting for themselves or their buddies be at the wrong place at the wrong time for hidden home-made bombs. There are no battlefield army of soldiers fighting decisive battles. The only identifiable enemy is the American soldier in uniform. It is no wonder that American soldiers often return home with an emotional dead zone for any compassion for others, traumatized by a dangerous situation over which they have little control and for which it is luck more than any bravery or skill which determines their survival. We all know violence begets violence but pretend our soldiers are immune. We also know many of those who volunteer for these kind of ventures are violence prone to begin with. These volunteer soldiers are not heroes, but victims. These wars turn violence into a sport. Tough? Yes. Violent? Yes. Angry? Yes. Victims? Yes. Heroes? Hardly. How can one be a hero in immoral wars? Those who join a mafia or gang or vigilante group are not heroes. Victims, yes; heroes no.

To be an honest thinker one must use his/her minds without prejudice, and be open minded about matters that clash with prior customs, privileges, or beliefs. When any of this is absent when we think, any discussion is useless.

Nations who give the least to the people and the most to military adventures implode in the long run. The practice is not sustainable.

If one wants to always be in love, perhaps marriage is not for him/her. Yet musical beds create more of a mindless obsession than any real satisfaction. Addictions of any sort lead to no promised land.

If we live different lives, each hidden from the others, then we will die more deaths than one. Of course we all do live different lives and when each chapter closes, a part of us dies.

There is something about a morality based on disdain for perceived sinners which carries with it the dark baggage of heartlessness, revengefulness, vindictiveness, tunnel visioned morality, and a disingenuous sense of humanity. What is emitted from these people is hate and intolerance.

The kind of God we worship tells us more about ourselves than God.

Here is one of my favorite poems:

"You can't go back home to your family
to a young man's dream of fame and glory
to the country cottage away from strife and conflict
to the Father you have lost
to the old forms and systems of things which seemed
everlasting but are changing all the time."
Thomas Wolfe

I couple this with another favorite:
"I have learned
To look on nature, not as in the hour of thoughtless youth;
but hearing oftentimes the still, sad music of humanity."
William Worsworth

To want no more than we need is to be moral in the purest sense; for it leaves something for others. The less we want more than we need---the more contented we become, like it creates a heaven on earth.

We need learn not to fear death. Then we have no reason to fear our enemies; the worst they can do is kill us. No need to fear friends, the worst they can do is betray us; We do need fear the indifferent, those whose indifference allows wars, injustices, poverty, etc. to exist on a wide-scale level. They really don't care, and this creates a culture of permissiveness for massive human misery. We can gate ourselves off from all the misery, but it still is out there.

Professional Sport Commissioners

Professional Sport Commissioners

A professional pro sport commissioner should not be picked by the owners. If I had my choice cities would own the teams and the huge profits targeted to help educate and clean up the ghettoes of cities. The owners getting to pick the Commissioner is not fair to fans or players. These businesses are monopolies, the most pure form still existing of the 'good ole boys' clubs. The Commissioners should be appointed by the Federal Courts----these are national sports and the fans need protection. The players have a union and between these two greedy and corrupt cabals, the owners and the players get the gold mine, the fans get the shaft.

The most ludicrous part of a football game telecast is the obligatory shot of the owner, sitting in his skybox, and the commentators lavishing nonsensical praise on them for fear the network will have a hard time retaining the lucrative contract to get the games if they don't lavish praise.

Common sense dictates that any business as vast and lucrative as professional sport franchises ought to be held accountable. If not, all kinds of abuses will occur. When is the last time any of us saw an owner of a professional sport team hauled into court for illegal financial schemes, fraud, racketeering, money laundering, etc.?
We are supposed to believe, I guess, that by some kind of miracle these CEO's are all honest, not addicted to money, and therefore when they say all their decisions are done in the best interest of the game, we should dutifully believe them. And amazingly, most people I guess do. From contracts, to ticket prices, to rules, to arbitration----you name it, and the process is stacked, unregulated, outside the normal accountability to government or the courts. If all of this is not wrong, nothing that goes on in the corporate world is wrong. They even get to choose who prospective new owners will be. How cozy.

I think Commissioners should be appointed by the Federal Courts, answer to the Courts, and fans should have a Union, just like the players do, and all agreements be decided by all three parties---owners, players, and FANS. "Pray tell" one might ask, "how do these owners get away with all this?" Simple. Even I like sports, and as long as I do, I watch the games. It is like sex, maybe we shouldn't be having sex out of marriage, but some like the sex so it happens. Everyone knows, in their heart, that giving the owners of professional sport teams so much unregulated power is wrong, but we like to watch sports, so the situation is allowed to slide.

Random Observations #1

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS #1

None or few of the following are original concepts. They are lessons learned, mostly via reading, from others and simply put into my own words as part of insights I have learned over many years. Maybe in years to come my viewpoints will change yet more, or at least become revised. What is life, really, but revised understandings?

Sectarian faith is but insistence that a blind man being led by inherited dogma treads surer through life than a seeing man treading through life by the light of reason.

The world AS is, IS no longer and will never be AS IS again. Nor should it. Evolution doesn't go backwards---EVER. Or fail to change---EVER.

No religion which requires persecution and laws to sustain it's dogma is worthy of respect.

Prevention of crime is a more ethical priority than overzealous revengeful punishment of criminal behavior.

If we must hate, if hate provides some sort of meaning to our lives, then at least we should hate what should be hated----violence, falsehood, the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few at the expense of the many, irresponsible reproduction, etc.

Sarah Palin will die a political death from swallowing her own lies, ignorance, and self delusions. Maybe some polar bear, on the way to extinction, will take her with him/her.

What is sex, taken from a disinterested viewpoint, but a universal, albeit individually unique, neurosis.

At the time of Christ, Jesus was a progressive radical opposed by the conservative elements of his day. Today, to accept Christianity one must look past modern rigid purists with braces on their brains. To believe that EVERYTHING CHANGES with evolutionary time EXCEPT religious dogma is to accept an apparent absurdity. Every spread of justice and human rights to those without such rights has come over the vitriolic protests of religious dogmatists.

We should cease making God our accomplice in unethical behaviors, attitudes, and intolerance . Then maybe, at some point in human evolution, peace will reign across the planet and every species be spared human assault on their well being, including other humans.

Not much has ever been done for the good of the people without the rich and religious purists having had their monopoly of power and their rights of property/religious dogmas limited by law.

Poverty is the parent of most crime, chaos, and terrorism. Unrestricted, irresponsible population growth generates inescapable poverty, the kind of poverty which, by treating just the symptoms will never effect any cure, and indeed makes the poverty worse.

The bravest are those who conquer themselves and sacrifice to help others, not those professional soldiers who practice mass slaughter of their often illusional enemies. People are not heroes because they kill whenever a government tells them too. If this is not true then where is the holiday to celebrate World War II German soldiers?

Who are the best of us? Those of us willing to let our illusions die.

When enough is not enough, misery and discontentedness follow---and this includes material wealth, power, sex, titles, fame, etc.

When the gap between the rich and the poor becomes too great and empires too overextended, such empires implode upon themselves.

The biggest of political lies: that the Government should protect the rich with tax breaks, loopholes, exemptions, etc. and that the rich in turn, via trickle down, will care for the poor, the different, the sick.

Those on the religious right seem to fall into a pattern: They begin by loving inherited sectarian dogma better than the truth, then proceed to love their neighbors as themselves---UNLESS THE NEIGHBORS' THEOLOGIES ARE NOT STRAIGHT----and then proceed to persecute, via laws and discrimination, those of different religious beliefs, and end by LOVING THEMSELVES better than everyone else.

The moral dilemma, irrespective of political bent, is that so many of the fortunate are willing to live in excessive material comfort even if the price of this is poverty, ignorance, and disease for a majority of other global inhabitants. To maintain this extravagant lifestyle wars are waged until today terroristic wars have become universal and continuous.

Science without ethics/religion is evil. Religion without science is fraud. Fraud is evil. Good people become victims of this fraud.

The expenditures (more than the expenditures of all other major powers combined) for the many wars the U.S. has launched in the last 50 years has not only killed, displaced, or wounded millions of innocent victims, but is theft from those American citizens who are hungry and are not fed, are cold and not clothed, need good schools and have not, need good health care and have little, need jobs and have no job. EVEN AMERICA is not rich enough to wage endless wars and still provide the needs of its poorest citizens.

Death is best viewed as a NECESSARY IRRELEVANCY. While we exist there is no death, and when there is death we do not exist, therefore we do not know we are dead. Why fear something which cannot exist while we exist? We know so little about life, which we have experienced, so it is farcical to claim knowledge about death which we will never experience.

The laws of nature are laws established by God. As evolutionary time passes humans better understand the laws of nature (science). All human contrived religious dogmas are based on an imperfect understanding of the laws of nature. Thus, as understanding is elevated over time, moral precepts change too. All ancient religious dogmas have many falsehoods. Failure to correct these falsehoods in an enlightened future becomes a major impediment to increased justice for all.

Democracy is never free from it's own tyranny. Ask any minority.

TRUE religious beliefs are not wrapped in dogmas, myths, fables, and cultism via an inherited religious sect. True religious beliefs emanate from the inherent universal human concept of The Golden Rule. This universal inherent ethical concept is a PRODUCT of God's evolutionary process.

Most Christians are apparent atheists. If they weren't they wouldn't behave as they do.

Capital punishment doesn't cure crime anymore than charity cures poverty.

Religion in the worse case scenario is worshipping what one doesn't understand.

Rituals, ceremonies, anthems, adulation are not real patriotism. Precisely because you love your country you owe it reasoned deliberation, and especially criticism when government policies are morally wrong. Wars like Vietnam and the 2nd Iraq War ( which is something like the 50th country we have invaded since 1950) would never have happened but for blind patriotism. Neither would it have taken so long for more American citizens to gain the justice and freedom already granted other citizens.

The tears of the poor and over the top extravagances of the rich seem directly proportional. Not a lot of trickle down.

All human concocted religions have some truths and some falsehoods. That is a demonstrable fact. Therefore, none of these religions, all originating around the same time in history, are God's Word. God doesn't get such things half ass right.

Reckless change and blind conservatism seem tied in level of imbecility.

Nonconformists, at least those who seek change to better the lives of all, are the real engines of progress in any culture, any type of government, any religion.

Of all sexual orientations or practices, abstinence seems the most unnatural.

When those in the House of the Haves attack those in the House of the Have-Nots, no matter how sophisticated the weaponry, the House of the Have's always lose---sooner or later. This seems to be one of the most immutable laws of nature.

The American modern day vast expenditures for defense fails to produce a sense of security, but does generate a VAST NUMBER OF ENEMIES---which leads to fear of other nations, a fear seeped in suspicion and distrust and evil imagining of other cultures.

Free will may be somewhat of a misnomer. Our free will is little more than the individualized organization of our brains coupled with the influence of the environment on our individual brains.

Which is better----sleep, wakeful living, or to never have been born at all? The answer seems to depend on the particular human being to whom the question is directed.

In God's evolutionary process CHANGE is the only permanence.

In modern wars battlefield deaths mean little. We can kill ten of "THEM" for every ONE of us killed, and in the end it will be WE who will tire of the carnage and halt the invasion. We lost around 3000 people in the Trade Center bombings and went emotionally berserk---all of us, and not unnaturally so. If we went berserk it was a kind of a natural berserkiness. Millions of Vietnam and Iraqis were killed by us and we tend to view their emotional responses to our killings as their being crazed loonies, religious/political zealots willing to die as blessed martyrs. Maybe the world just has too many religious/political zealots. Maybe Americans should lead by example and not meddle so much.

The Afghanistan Dilemma

The Afghanistan Dilemma

I write this before Obama announces his revised Afghanistan policy. Like many other major problems facing our country right now, this one is complex and fraught with risks every which way. I supported Obama because he seemed the only political leader with any prayer in Hell of achieving results on the myriad of problems facing the entire planet. I think he has the intelligence, the disposition, the personality, and the experience needed to get others to face reality and bite the bullets necessary to avoid disaster on many fronts. Having said this, another part of me feels things may well be past the ability of anyone to avoid several impending disasters. Whatever follows here is based on far less information than available to Obama. In some sense democracy is failing because the issues are so complex these days that most voters haven't a clue about solutions. Politics and special interests drive everything. The recent health reform activities reflect just how irrational things are. Here is a complex issue with a zillion nuances and yet who is for or against any package is divided exclusively between parties. In other words, every vote is based on the political perceptions that will result from your vote---and little to do with health care reform.

At any rate, given my understanding of the situation in Afghanistan I am opposed to sending American troops to fight any battles against terrorism--- which is not equally supported by other major powers. The war in Afghanistan is about fighting terrorism. Clearly logic dictates that in the absence of terrorism who would really care who controls Afghanistan? No one.

But now the whole issue gets really dicey. Every terrorist in Afghanistan could be driven from the country and terrorism would proceed unabated. Terrorists don't need to meet in buildings or control any country to be effective. With the internet, cell phones and a host of other communication devices, any group can stay in contact with others just about any place in the world. Does it really make any difference whether any terrorist group operates out of Afghanistan or Somalia or Sudan or downtown Detroit? Terrorists don't need uniformed soldiers, expensive modern weapons like 'smart bombs' to be effective. Blow up most any building, kill a lot of people in the process, and you will have terrorized those who live in that country.

The point is that we can win the War in Afghanistan and such an effect on terrorism will be minimal and temporary. Americans tend to think of terrorism in terms of Al Quaida (sp). Al Quaida started out as a group opposed to American military bases in Saudi Arabia. Chased out of Arabia they migrated to Sudan and then to Afghanistan and now I guess Pakistan. The methods Al Quaida uses have simply been adapted by all angry dissident groups across the globe. So if the Sunni blow up Shiites we tend to call them Al Quaida. Most of these active terrorist cells across the globe probably have little or no contact with Bin Laden. He may be respected by them as the Father of Terrorism, but each terrorist cell pretty much runs their own show. They have to since too much communication with known terrorist leaders can get them arrested.

Here is a simple reality: Whoever fights the terrorists across the globe becomes the target of the terrorists. If we get suckered into fighting a hugely expensive war against terrorism on our own while others spend their money on domestic needs, we fail to meet our own domestic financial needs and we allow ourselves to be the target of terrorists across the globe. Other countries are perfectly willing to let us fight terrorism on our own because it saves them from being a major target. Since terrorism is a major threat to civilized governance, my position is that all governments fight it together or we should decline to play the role of fool. The U.S. better start rethinking this idea of maintaining military bases all over the globe. For many reasons, but mainly with the increasing disparity of wealth between the rich and the poor, terrorist groups are going to grow as this disparity continues to increase. Terrorism fits those with nothing left to lose like a glove. The advantages of having military bases abroad now are outweighed by not having them there to irritate opponents of that nation's current government.

In addition to all of the above, what is the point of driving out terrorists from controlling a area inside a country when they will return as soon as your forces leave? Who can afford the manpower and cost of maintaining troops on every street so the terrorists can't return? When we talk about winning the hearts of the people the term hardly applies in places like Afghanistan. The reality for the people of Afghanistan is that they better cooperate with whatever group is in control of their community at any given time. At this point in time they have no luxury of choosing which group controls them, or whether they end up being tortured or killed by Bin Laden supporters, Dick Cheney supporters, War Lord supporters, or centrol government forces.

Perhaps this sounds absurd, but terrorism might well be Mother Nature's way of reducing human population on our planet. Mother Nature always bats last. The laws which drive God's created evolutionary process will prevent humans from destroying the planet or all life on it. If humans have not evolved enough mentally to control our own population growth, then survival of the fittest will do the weaning out. Terrorism, and the response to terrorism is already wiping out millions of humans every year. Terrorism may well continue to grow until once again there is enough land, water, and clean air to support the remaining life on the planet. There is no American destiny, no God favored tribe, no God needing our worship to have His will be done, and it is up to humans to use our mental energies to control our own population in a civilized just way OR this terroristic battle between the Have-Nots and the Haves will bring global chaos and the subsequent mass slaughter of human, plant, and animal life.

The Social Life of Senectitude

The Social Life of Senectitude

This might be a total waste, to muse about the social life of old age, as there is little to generalize about regarding the social life of our productive or aging years. It is quite individualized. Then again, old age impacts considerably on most of our social lives.

Most people become less social with old age either because they are less interested in a social life or the interest is there, but others have busy lives and have little time to amuse the elderly. Often the elderly, among themselves, become a cantankerous cauldron of simmering discombobulation. Having lost power to the productive years crowd, they push each other around. Lot of mumbling, too much of a personal sort.

Oldsters with children and grandchildren often find grandchildren set the perimeters and nature of their social life. The degree of involvement varies depending on a multitude of factors---distance, compatibility, in-laws, time constraints,personalities, etc. The relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren is interesting. To some variable extent the grandparents shower attention on the grandchildren in order to force more closeness with their own grown children. Grandparents can say they are done with babysitting but they understand the risk that ensues. Grandparents may sense their grandchildren have little material needs, but understand, skimp in this area and see how interested the grandchildren are in visiting or being visited by grandma and grandpa. There are certain grandparents whose personalities are such that kids really do love being around them. But, for the most part, this is the exception. As soon as most kids are old enough to forge an identity of their own they become less and less genuinely amused by grandma and grandpa. It is more likely to be a case of parents saying: "You do too like to visit grandma and grandpa, look at all things they buy for you!" "You can't be running off to play all the time and ignoring grandma and grandpa, they took the time and effort to visit us.", etc. I liked my grandparents, but it was more a case of they existed and were present often at relative gatherings than any real relationship. When I was young, and had an elderly grandmother who lived alone, I used to sometimes walk through fields and woods to visit her, mostly for something to do and out of curiosity, even then, about someone so old. It was my first introduction to the dilemma of the old. She had like half a dozen offspring, and for the most part they were her social life. She would tell me how lonely she was and how she felt no one much cared for her, etc. I felt sorry for her but, like others in the family, my life was increasingly filled up with activities of this or that sort. To get to see her grown children she took to taking them out to restaurants. She always paid. This was to be a pattern I noticed often with grandparents---a sort of pay for the attention. I used to hate those restaurant trips. It bored me to death, they lasted forever. When I asked why Grandma always paid, Grandma dutifully offered that she enjoyed paying. When I followed up with the question as to who ever pays for her meals the outing was quickly over. Kids can be unpredictable.

But then there are grandparents who practically raise the kids themselves. If both parents work and the grandparents care for them, things can be quite different. Many grandparents feel somewhat depressed and a sense of loss as grandkids become almost totally focused on others in their lives. Grandparents are then reduced to objects to be dragged out on holidays, school performances/games, graduations, etc. with the expected congratulations and hugs. I have lost count of the times when I ask a grandparent if they see their grandchildren and get an answer like, "When they want a present I see them". The happiest grandparents are often those who manage to be standoffish and yet warm when approached. The trick is to manage to get the grandchildren to want to have the grandparents around, not feel it an obligation dutifully expected to be met.

Grandkids are often temporary pleasures but there are exceptions. My mother's life in her latter years would have been totally different without the support and attention of a grandchild. Each were best friends of the other. But that is quite rare.

Anyway, this whole topic of grandchildren is beyond my expertise. My only point is that most of the elderly better not put their whole bag of expectations for contentment on grandchildren. It seems grandparents should never get their expectations up to high. Too many variables. Some grandkids are lovable, others are not---just like kids in general. Grandparents should not even get their expectations up too high over their own grown children. Grown adults in their productive years are really busy. It can't be helped. They have jobs, kids to raise, hobbies, and the culture today is not conducive to a lot of down time, periods of time for reflection. I don't see too many people reflecting much anymore---if they have a moment free they reach for their cell phone, the TV, search the web for amusement, etc. I have no idea what this all means or where it is leading. Old people hardly ever understand where moderninity is going. I guess us old cantankerous terminationists have always been this way.

Since I retired I have made a serious effort to devise a lifestyle which brings contentment and tranquility. Excitement is great, especially for the young and productive. It is tranquility which is great for those in their terminational years---more precisely contented tranquility. I think it boils down to making it simple and rewarding. And it can't be rewarding if your contentedness depends too much on others. My observations have been that when those in their terminational years are unhappy it seems always because others they depend on let them down. This, to me, is irrational. The idea that because you are old, others have an obligation to spend their time amusing you, is kind of absurd. And it will work only in those cases where the younger person needs caring for you to give meaning and purpose to their lives. If that is not the case misery will descend on the relationship. Modern health care has substantially extended the length of our terminational years. This can be a blessing or a nightmare, and if you live long enough with your mental faculties intact, it will be a nightmare. These irrational nitwits who value life under any conditions and claim this is God's will end up imposing medical torture on many who don't wish it. If that is not wrong, nothing is wrong. It also is responsible for a high percentage of our runaway health costs---like a third of health care costs take place in the last three months of life.

Being independent of others comes natural for me. I have what might be called a socially challenged attention span. I like people, appreciate diversity---but like to keep arms length and interactions short. Chit chat for extended lengths of time are resented. There are exceptions but not that many. As I see it contentedness in one's terminational years is directly proportional to one's mental independence from others. Those elderly who sit around waiting for other's to amuse them are invariably going to have a rough time. There comes a time when the world has passed you by and you better comprehend that, then accept it. When you do that you are half way to contentment.

For the first time in life, most in their terminational years have the opportunity to CAREFULLY observe, both the simple and complex aspects of life. To observe you need to feel comfortable walking around, hither and thither, to see the world under your own microscope. Observation is best done alone. For example, if you go to a museum alone you will learn the most, be able to spend your time on exactly what interests you the most, and not be corrupted with idle chatter about whatever might be on someone else's mind who accompanies you. It is good to have time alone---after all, it has been a long life, thus plenty to mull over, to digest, to reformulate conclusions about a lot of things. Each day, through observation, reading, the internet, DVD's, etc. you find understanding about something new. Understanding, in the right atmosphere---in my case Mother Nature---brings a sense of solace, of understanding that relaxes the mind in a way which is pleasant. This is the kind of contentment a person in their terminational years ought to relish and seek. It kind of makes so much of the noise painfully present during one's formative and productive years disappear, become unimportant, and certainly irrelevant. It is good for the health and mind to walk a lot while one is still mobile. It is in nature settings which brings a sense of belonging to the evolutionary process. Once so absorbed, there is little need to pester others, to push and shove, to dominate, to control, to win any personal relationship battles. Live and let live is as applicable to the terminational years as it is to the formative and productive years.

It may sound socially weird, but pets can be the best friends for those in their terminational years. While busy with your own observations, new understandings, and going gently down the evolutionary stream toward an unknown abyss, pets provide the unwavering emotional support which is unconditional, and minus the drama of human relationships.

Hovering over any person in their terminational years is the knowledge good health will not last forever. Failing health will come, as sure as night follows day, and one should not neglect to mentally prepare for it's arrival. The smart have lived healthy lives and reap the benefit in their terminational years. Good health in your terminational years is no small reward. It is huge. To fuss, fret, get depressed, and make others miserable with your own miserableness is not only pointless, but makes a bad experience worse for yourself. To ward off a bad attitude when the time hits I think it best to prepare your mind for that time. As soldiers prepare for battle, those in their terminational years need to prepare for death. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, when the religious right are defeated on this issue, each person will have control over their own dying process at the time, or via advance directives. Faith based medical torture, claiming this is God's will, is a logical absurdity. This human concocted notion that God decides when a person dies fails every test of reasonableness. It is ok to be merciful to your pet and prevent a pet from suffering at the end, but such mercy is denied humans. Ludicrous. For a human being to be forced to suffer an agonizing death when that human being has had enough and wishes to go peacefully with dignity is irrational torture. And to justify this torture by claiming God dictates it is, to me, an absurd stretch. The evolutionary laws which drive the process were created by God. Progress over time involves enough tragedy and suffering without claiming God tampers with his own created laws to favor or punish this or that individual. One of the requirements for sanity is not to pretend you understand things beyond human comprehension. Whenever I hear an elderly person, out of frustration, wail "Why has God forsaken me" I feel sorry they spent so much time deluding themselves about the nature of an evolutionary process billions of years old. One should be ever so grateful for the UNEARNED opportunity to be part of the process, if even only for living in 'a little gleam of Time between two eternities'. When anyone has had 'enough' they should be entitled to be peacefully put to rest. AND, quit the silly ass games: "we won't kill the person we will disconnect a feeding tube and let them starve to death, or we won't kill the person we will remove a breathing tube and let them suffocate to death." If this is so ethical why don't we do that to our pets? And more importantly what kind of God do so many people worship? At one time, to please God, humans made killing of certain animals or people a necessary sacrifice to make God happy. Now we still medically torture some elderly to make God happy. There is still a bit of silliness left.

So there it is, simple and there every day---a chance to learn something new, to understand better something about life, to walk around and learn to appreciate diversity, to get as close as you can to God's evolutionary process, to be thankful for all your blessings, to be kind always to those less fortunate, to share your wealth and time with the less fortunate, both before death and in your will, to support the political policies which benefit the most and demand the most from those with the most, to live and let live, to free yourself from the demands of others, to free others from your own demands on their time, to live each day as if your mind still needs to learn so many things, and as one thusly goes gently down the stream the reward will be a peaceful contentedness---the kind which will be needed when the final curtain descends, whether it be slowly or with a sudden drop. Time stays, we go.

Just Wondering

Just Wondering

I support and agree that no civilized ethical country should leave millions of it's citizens without health insurance, especially children. It certainly doesn't meet the minimal religious obligations of any major religious teachings. BUT, I wonder where all the additional doctors, nurses, technicians, etc are going to come from? You just can't press a button and they exist.

I wonder if this country will ever establish enough medical schools so that we have enough of our own citizens to be our doctors?

I wonder if medical school education in this country will ever be made efficient, sane, and absent barbaric practices? Like there is no need for all doctors to go through 4 years of medical school, several years as an intern, and several years as a resident----all of which runs up hundreds of thousands of dollars debt. For example, a dermatologist hardly needs 4 years of medical school---to be an expert on the kidney, heart, etc. to the same degree as an internist.

I wonder why internists, who need to know the most about practically everything, are paid less than specialists who only need to know a lot about less?

I wonder why interns are still required to spend so many continuous hours on duty? What place has this sophomoric fraternity type hazing in the medical profession? How does that in any way contribute to good health care?

I wonder why priests and ministers always imply God is involved in marriage vows?
I think if God were involved in putting a marriage together the marriage would never go asunder.

I wonder if people who play the lottery, go to the casinos, or bet on horses can pass a math test?

I wonder why it is unethical to torture prisoners and ethical to medically torture dying patients who just want to die peacefully and painlessly?

I wonder, if energy supplies are running out and air pollution a serious problem, why people are allowed to own gas guzzlers?

I wonder, since so many people die of alcohol and nicotine related deaths at a high medical cost, why alcohol and nicotine are legal and marijuana illegal?

I wonder why people decided it was a waste of time to try and ban alcohol and gave up, but for 50 years now think marijuana can be banned successfully?

I wonder why Congress allows Professional sport teams to be owned by the wealthy? These wealthy owners not only own the team but operate outside almost all the controls imposed on other businesses. When is the last time a wealthy owner of professional sport franchise ever was bought to court on racketeering, fraud or any other major charges? How lucky we are that they are all such honest guys.

I wonder how it is that wealthy owners get to decide which wealthy owners can buy a team?

I wonder why Congress permits wealthy owners, piling up millions, to blackmail cities to build them a new stadium or else?

I wonder why Congress allows all major decisions in professional sports to be made by representatives of the owners and the Players Union? Why are fans not represented at the bargaining table?

I wonder, if professional sports is for all the people, why owners are allowed to make all the seats available at a price only the affluent can afford? In some stadiums a preferred few are allowed to go to all the games and the vast majority of fans can never have access to a ticket.

I wonder why the American people have bought into the notion that the sky is the limit for the wealthy? There seems to be no such thing as enough is enough. Even when 1-3% of the people end up owning 90% of our wealth, there is hardly a murmur. I guess we now have, in reality, a wealthocracy.

I wonder why so many people really think that God would reward individuals by 'saving' them, or helping them, or favoring them via inherited religion? Humans have a knack for making God some kind of angry idiot needing our support for HIs will to be done.

I wonder why so many people think they have a 'right' to practice irresponsible reproduction and the state has no 'right' to interfere? I thought the needs of society came ahead of individual needs?

I wonder why human sex is so outside the box of reason? We seem to be the only species which makes it a hodge podge of unfathomable behaviors.

I wonder what percentage of jokes involve sex?

I wonder where any politician for a major office finds the energy to campaign for two years to get elected?

I wonder why Viagra is so popular for the elderly? I mean fine, you can get an erection, but who the hell really wants to be in bed with you at an old age? Like when does duty end?

I wonder why, if true love is more than skin deep, that couples at the alter almost always are close on the beauty/handsomeness scale?

I wonder why our particular sex life is not a subject of detailed discourse when we are in social settings? I mean everything else we spend time at and enjoy we bore others with endless details. Just once I would love someone to elbow up to someone at a social event and say, "Hey, let me tell you what the wife and I did last night, I had a huge orgasm......" Most would probably respond, "Hey get away from me".

I wonder why our pets can get medical attention the same day we call a vet and yet when we call our doctor the first appointment may be weeks away? Huh?

I wonder why it is ethical to mercifully put a pet to sleep and it yet the law says it is unethical to do it with human beings, even if they ask for it?

I wonder why so many people exchange gifts at Christmas by giving each other a list of what they want---the size, model number, color, etc. I have a better idea, why not each exchange $10,000? That way you can brag how big a gift you got.

I wonder why two people, neither of whom is in any real need (anything reasonably priced, which they really need, they have already bought) bother to exchange gifts at all? What percentage of time is it anything you want so much?

I wonder why it is the people with the loudest and irritating voices who use the cell phone so much in public?

I wonder if it is legal to get on a cell phone in public places and make up conversations? Like, "Ma, are you and the neighbor going to have sex tonight, or is that tomorrow night?" "Look tell the bastard to sign the contract for $6.5 million or forget it." "Look, I want to end these sexual encounters. You are so young and I fear your boyfriend could find out". "Ok, I'll squeeze one more performance in if you are sure it is sold out". "Mom, you're pregnant? You are 65 years old." " I am really hungry, has the lobster been flown in from Maine yet?" etc.

I wonder why there can't be one fair graduated income tax and after that you spend your money as you wish with none of it being taxed?

I wonder why real old people can't get special license plates so you don't waste time on a tirade behind them until you finally pass and realize their age?

I wonder why Sport Commentators yell and pontificate so strongly when their predictions about games are rarely more than 60% correct? I mean, why not express your ignorance more quietly?

I wonder why an athlete, just once in a while, can't just step to the mic and say, "I had a real lucky day today--the ball came my way, it came at a crucial time, I happened to catch the ball this time, my opponent slipped, I didn't, and by chance there was no one between me and the end zone. There is no one to thank, my teammates were not really involved beyond their expected role, I doubt God was involved here, and I will ask my agent to speak to the owner about the salary implications of this catch. Good day."

I wonder why colleges insist on pretending their athletes are students? Why can't they just pay them money to play, and if any of them want to take some courses, fine, let them do it? I mean why should some bozo, with the academic ability of a near moron have to pass courses in order to perform something at which he is very good? I mean huh?

I wonder why no Constitutional Amendment can't be passed to require Federal Budgets to be balanced like in many State Constitutions? Then we couldn't engage in wars without paying for them up front, or any thing else and pass the costs off to the next generation.

I wonder why cities can't own their professional sport teams so the huge profits couldn't be used to bail cities out from their economic woes?

I wonder, now that scientific proof is beginning to pile up that concussions and other serious football injuries often cause severe medical problems in middle and old age, just what can be done to make football a defensible sport? Humans have become so fast and big and strong that injuries in a sport like football are a dime a dozen.

I wonder how many years it will take before boxing is outlawed for the physical damage it does to the brain?

I wonder how all these serious and unprecedented problems facing our planet can be solved when so few who vote have any remote understanding of these problems or their consequences? This is scary.

I wonder why bicyclists are required to ride in the direction of traffic when that means they cannot see approaching danger?

I wonder why the most DURABLE bonds are between a person and pets or nature?
Divorces are numerous, friendships come and go, and most human relationships have periods of distrust, irritation, anger, lessons being taught, etc. The bonds an individual forms between himself/herself and pets or nature are rather durable and minus all the drama. Nature and pets are calming influences, human interactions are filled in varying degrees with commotion and aggravation. Maybe we can't do without them, but there is a cost.

I wonder, why, when we are old enough to really live are we old enough to die?

I wonder why we use the phrase 'all men are created equal' when I think we really mean all men deserve a level (equal) playing field. I mean really, we all know we are not equal in anything unless we are identical twins.

I wonder, now that effective terrorism is available to all countries everywhere, and modern weaponry with it's smart bombs etc. is useless, how any society, where wealth accumulates in the hands of a few, can survive in the future?

I wonder how any political organization which has opposed every effort over the years to provide more freedom and justice to women, blks, prisoners, gays, the poor, those with differing views on politics or religion, can see themselves as suitable representatives of all the people.

I wonder why almost all of us, in one way or another, get any pleasure in denying freedom and justice to others. The pleasure just seems to be a matter of degrees.

I wonder why, when we get persecutory or greedy impulses, we use religion as the justification? This seems absurd to me. These are things we should fight against, for ethical/religious reasons, not seek to justify.

I wonder what 'respect me like a man' is suppose to mean? It is used in sports a lot. If you can't beat the shit out of someone are you lacking in manhood? Seems a bit like the caveman mentality to me. I think I would like to function a bit above the level of a caveman.

I wonder how far one needs to push the Golden Rule to be considered an ethical person? Maybe if we spend on others less fortunate, equal amounts of money that we spend on ourselves for non necessity items might be fair enough. That way others are equal to ourselves in importance. If I spend $30,000 on a car, when a $20,000 car is all I need, then I need spend $10,000 on the less fortunate. Sounds good to me. You first.

I wonder why so many of the rich and famous seem so unhappy most of the time?

I wonder if there are really any advantages living to be ancient? We all know when we visit people really up there in age that they are no where's near their old self. I think if you took a prisoner and gave them medicine which would render them hardly able to move around, hardly able to see well, hardly able to hear well, and hardly able to remember things, it would be considered extreme torture---unless you are Dick 5X Draft Deferred Cheney.

I wonder why so many of the patriotic smash mouthed right wing warmongers have never sought a military adventure or career? Well, patriotism needs limits.

I wonder why Whitey Ford's first name isn't more popular? Like Whitey Limbaugh etc. Am not sure the first name Blacky has ever been used. Like Blacky Obama which has a decent enough ring to it.

I wonder what percent of priests and ministers actually work for a living, at least in the sense of what is usually meant by work.

I wonder what percent of their time most ministers and priests actually spend in direct individual contact with the poor and different amongst us? Or what percent of their time they spend conducting ceremonies or preparing for ceremonies?

I wonder, if somebody gets murdered before he gets 'saved' if he is eligible for Heaven? And suppose the person who murdered him gets 'saved' after he murdered him, does he go to Heaven and the person murdered, who had not yet been saved, go to hell?

I wonder what so much internet exposure to pornography before puberty does to a person's sex life after puberty?

I wonder, if one goes to Heaven what age will he/she be, which spouse will he/she be with, which pets, which friends, etc.

I wonder why, in social settings, no one ever goes into act specific detail about their sexual adventures? Every other portion of their life they go on and on about ad nausea.

I wonder why, with earth's human population now putting pressures on so many natural resources like water, arable land, energy, forests, etc. that societies across the globe make little attempt to curb excesses like huge houses, 3-4 cars per family, and in some places, especially the U.S., actually curtail expenditures on public transportation, energy conservation, etc.?

I wonder when the citizens of Afghanistan, some of the poorest on the earth, living in the toughest of climates, will ever be allowed to live in peace? For centuries now these tormented souls have had their lives threatened by ever changing forces of war lords, religious purists, drug lords, central government forces, and foreign occupiers with smart bombs. It is so bad now that maybe the only solution is to relocate everybody in the country and let them return under controlled stable conditions to start anew. Living in Afghanistan is about the closest one can come to living back in the Stone Age. To stay alive in Afghanistan is to support which ever forces control your neighborhood any given month.

I wonder, how many times before a person dies does he/she ever know anything for certain?

I wonder, clearly contentment cannot be an ever present condition, so what percent of the day does one need to feel content to be in the top10 percent?

I wonder, we all laughed when Ross Perot's Vice-Presidential candidate opened up his Vice Presidential debate with: "Why am I here? Who am I?" I don't know, can any of us answer for ourselves that question?

In my retirement each day I find new things to wonder about. For me, this is the challenge of retirement, to wonder about so many things, to gain a more informed understanding, limited as it might prove to be, about so many aspects of life. Idle chit chat about Nothing by human Nothingburgers has limited appeal to me the older I get. If I left this musing open for a year the length would be impressive. People some times ask how I find things to write about. Wrong question. It should be how do you select which topics to write about.? Just don't ask what it all proves.