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There's a disgusting little trait some of us have developed, under which, we champion the cause of saving people from themselves.  It's really very obnoxious this trait.

Saving people from themselves.

We attempt to create a world that doesn't exist when we attempt to change those around us.  There is truth in the saying that if I can't change the people around me, then I change the people around me; however, we've been trying to change one another for a very long time now.  Pharoahs, kings and priests have attempted for centuries to create something in the world that really was never there.

We've tried and look at where we are today.

What more is needed than contentment and quiet in the world?  No drama.  No conflict.  What more can anybody ask for in a life?  Pursuing the avoidance of conflict and drama should be our one collective goal of solidarity behind which we unite as a species.  Conflict management is only necessary because conflict is so uncomfortable.

Conflict is uncomfortable because it is an undesirable state of being.  Some people thrive on conflict, but look at the world around them.  How many waves have they created around them?  The dramatists, I mean.  How many waves does a dramatist create?  Life is good when it is tranquil. 

Life is tranquil when drama is at a minimum. 

There are many in need of a change of mind if we have any hope of our last act as a species not being the destruction of one another.

Conflict creates drama!

So back to those of us that try to save other people from themselves.  Why?  If somebody is doing something that is hurting no one else in the world but themselves, then they should be allowed to continue.  Whether I should defend them with the Way or God's Will, we have to recognize that certain factors within the world we live do not answer to our bidding.

If somebody does something that hurts noone else, how simple is it to simply let them act unimpeded.  Excess is the only social disease and most excessive forms of self expression have an inherent limiting factor. 

Snort too much cocaine and your heart will stop.
Drink too much alcohol and your liver will rot.
Until a car strikes another individual, a crime there is not.

Life presents a process for us to experience.  That process starts with a birth and ends with a death.  That much at least seems common.  What we choose in between builds individuals.  Life is a process of experience.

Our motto as a species should be something just as simple.

Go out and experience.
Don't cross a couple of lines.
Have fun.

Looking at history through a particular lens, we might find a significant portion of our energy has been spent on trying to create in others our sense of the world.  We have a long tradition of trying to force our experience on others.  Get on top and you can create the rules, if only for a moment.  You can be that schizophrenic monkey that bears the responsibility of people's lives with the carelessness of a child and an ant farm.  Conflict to the top and conflict on your way out. 

There is nothing but drama in our collective history.

It's old.
It's tired.
Frankly, it's depressing.

Remove the drama and you have peace.  Drama starts at all levels though.  As long as we respond to drama, we find that drama controls us.  Find a place of peace like the Zen Buddhists and experience moments each one as they pass the other.  Not to get all hippy-dip, but we have to look at human history with the idea that we're always moving forward as a species if we have any chance at hope.

How comfortable are you with your general knowledge and skill level compared to someone's born in 1913?  1813?  300 B.C.?  Are you personally moving the species forward?

In a historical sense, it seems, we've moved ever closer to democracy being our default government of choice, but we really haven't committed to the idea because few of us live in a democracy.  I know it's tired, but the United States of America is not a democracy.  It is a Republic.  The difference between indirect representation and direct representation is the level of trust elite members of any society hold regarding their fellow citizens.

We cannot achieve a lasting democracy until we all agree that today could be better.
We cannot move forward until we acknowledge that what we have is not the best we could hope for.
We could one day live in a world where each voice is treated with the same respect.

We're not there yet.

Question of the Week

When will things get better?  Is there a condition?  Must such and such take place in order for things to be better?  Or does better just happen?

Tip of the week

Try not to think all of the time.  Things will continue to happen without your constant attention.  Sometimes, when we study real hard, we can take things way too seriously.

Birthday Shout Outs (June 15th to June 21st)

15th
(1937) Waylon Jennings: On this list for the theme to Dukes of Hazzard.

(1969) O'Shea Jackson aka Ice Cube: One of the baddest rappers in the game and yet capable of creating a story as explicit and yet nicely nuanced as Friday.

16th
(1890) Stan Laurel: It blows my mind that Laurel worked with Hardy starting in 1917 and yet by the time I was a kid watching cartoons in the late 1970's they were still making appearances on Scooby Doo cartoons as if everybody knew who they were.  And we did.  That may speak to the successful films produced in general by Hal Roach, or more likely, speaks to how unique Laurel and Hardy were to the American television screen.  Alas, it seems now, their memory is headed for Trivial Pursuit and family members.

(1971) Tupac Shakur:  With some of the lyrics he wrote, it's not surprising that someone shot him.  If you believe.

17th
(1898) M.C. Escher: He's one of the few people to have created a name with pencil drawings.

(1942) Paul McCartney: The Beatles were so cool they created the ruler by which cool shall be measured.

(1946) Bruiser Brody: He's a professional wrestling legend who met a tragic end.

(1962) Mitsuharu Misawa: He was a significant part of a wrestling era in Japan in which dropping someone on their head was a celebrated act.  It seemed the closer a wrestler might come to breaking his neck on purpose was a celebration of honor and the spectacle that is Japanese professional wrestling.  The Japanese really know how to entertain.

19th
(1897) Moe Howard: He's a legend.  Nobody made being a dick so funny.


(1939) Ann Wilson: Heart had a nice sound.

(1943) Malcolm McDowell: His work in A Clockwork Orange alone gets him on this list.

20th
(1942) Brian Wilson: The Beach Boys had a nice sound.

(1949) Lionel Richie: He was bad with the Commodores and still managed to generate a nice solo career.

(1953) Cyndi Lauper: She's got a beautiful voice.  In the clip below, she's doing a John Lennon tune.  She's trying to be as cool as the Beatles.

(1955) Michael Anthony: The bassist for Van Halen that is apparently being written out of reunion tour history in favor of Eddie's son.  Nice move Eddie.

21st
(1921) Jane Russell: Old school hottie.
(1944) Ray Davies: The Kinks were almost as cool as the Beatles.



(1973) Juliette Lewis: Few actresses could portray finer poor, white-trash characters.  She's compelling.




A Forward-looking Civilization

Moving into the modern age, random pattern weekly follows the trend of leaving the written history in the shadow of mass oral tradtion.  Randomness should guide.  There should be no stringent agenda tying us to this planet as to this website.

Like thematic variety evening news programs (one week it's rape, the next day it's arson) chance topics weave a historical and social pattern recurring if by chaotic design in history books and almanacs.  Depression and recession occur with the frequency of an excellent comedian taking the stage.

Life can be learned by emulating what we like as well as disdaining what we don't.  Static agendas serve to limit our vision with blinders that hide the full spectrum of choices with which we are presented at any given moment.

Follow the Way and future happens.
Resist the Way and future happens.

What happened yesterday affects today.
What happens today affects the future.

Think about the future then make the future.

Belly Laugh

May 29th, 2008, Harvey Korman died.  He was seemingly in his prime during my early television watching years; however, he had already been working in film for more than  twelve years by the time I started watching him.  I most remember his work in Blazing Saddles, the Carol Burnett Show and Disney movies. 

He was great in the role of clown as well as straight man.