Imagine

We celebrated our grand daughter's 8th birthday this evening and watching the joy in her face and hearing the laughter in her voice as she opened her presents was almost enough to get my mind off the world situation for a little while, if it hadn't at the same time magnified my concern for her future.

Hours later I find myself still sitting here, in the dark now, except for the bright white page in front of me, with the ticking of the living room clock slowly counting off the minutes, and reminding me that only a couple of hours from now it'll be time for me to get up and get her off to school and that what I really need right now is sleep. Ah, sleep, beautiful sleep. And I'm gonna get right to it, soon as I can find that switch that turns off my mind, or what's left of it.

Right now I'm busy trying to come to terms with the fact that the future is likely to be a very bad place for that sweet innocent little birthday girl, now sound asleep and dreaming of puppies and princesses just down the hallway. As much as I want to believe we'll find a way out of the mess we've made of this world, and in doing so, leave the world a better place for her and all the little ones coming up behind us, I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's just not going to happen.

I'm afraid we've already lit too many fuses, any one of which has the potential to destroy us and all that we could have been. Which one finally does us in is anybody's guess at this point. Will we continue to overpopulate the planet until we simply end up killing each other in a fight to the death battle over food and water? Will it be the effects of climate change that brings about our destruction? Or maybe a nuclear war that will makes our planet uninhabitable for anyone that is unlucky enough to survive being immediately blown to bits? It doesn't take much imagination to come up with many more scenarios, none of which are pretty.

But then again, maybe all the dark political realities clouding my pov lately have made me overly pessimistic, tainting my views on everything else as well. Hell,maybe we'll actually come to grips with the fact that 7 billion people is already several billion too many for this tiny planet to support and we'll take responsible action on that, or maybe mother nature will take matters into her own hands and solve that problem for us. And maybe we'll actually somehow manage to put the brakes on climate change before it's too late, not likely but it is possible. And what the hell, as long as we're dreaming, maybe we'll even be able to avoid WW3, even less likely in my opinion, but possible.

And man oh man, if we did indeed manage to douse all those fuses then surely our problems would all be over. And the human race and all of our fellow creatures could live in peace.

Because I'm sure that by then, humans, being the intelligent creatures that we are, will have elected governments all around the world that can be trusted to be fair and just and determined to live in peace with one another. Governments that would act only in the best interest of the people and the planet they live on. You know what I'm talking about, a government of the people, by the........... yeah, you've all heard of that one.

And even if for some strange reason we fail to achieve the kind of government that we all know we need, we can always hit the streets and blow the whole fucking thing up and build it all over again, making sure of course, that we get it all just right this time. Hell yeah man, that'd work for sure. Damn, now that I think of it, what the hell was it I depressed about anyway?

And now I may actually be tired enough to fall asleep. Thanks for listening. Good morning and good night everyone.

There is supposed to be a video near the top but it's not showing up in the preview, too tired to try and figure it out now.

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Big Al's picture

Keep hope alive as they say, if only for the grandkids. But at times it looks like we humans just aren't smart enough to develop the just and equal societies some of us are searching for. Technically we could figure it out, but we're held back by our greed, lust, and the quest for power. We're not smart enough to develop systems that equalize those traits because those traits keep us chained down, unable to progress. Even the smartest among us use their talents to wage war or exploit others for personal gain.

We allow our leaders to lie to us and we accept it. We allow them to make all the rules and take all the assets and make themselves rich beyond imagination.
I saw an advertisement on TV about a new show coming up about how billionaires spend their time and money. One of them said, "there's always someone with a bigger yacht" while another said he got individual swimming pools for his kids. People will watch this show. That's what's wrong, people will watch it. They don't have the guts not to. They don't have the moral sense not to. They don't have the intelligence not to.

It's like that with everything, including how we allow ourselves to be "governed". That's what it comes down to. Do we want what we say we want? I saw a quote recently, "if everyone who said they wanted Peace really wanted Peace, we'd have Peace".

Unless we can tame human's evil sins, it just might be too late.

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burnt out's picture

Ah yes, Hope, I remember her well. We were good friends for a very long time but sadly she doesn't come around very often these days, and never stays long when she does. I wish she did, I miss her when she's gone.

That show will not only be watched, it'll probably be a big hit. I'm constantly amazed at what people watch these days. It's truly mind-boggling. I sure can't figure it out, seems like half the population has had lobotomy's or something. If what passes for entertainment is related to, or any indication of human intelligence, then it's no wonder that everything is in such a mess.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

joe shikspack's picture

it's a strange thing. individually we're smart, collectively the human race is dumb as a stump - and that may be an insult to the intelligence of the average stump.

we've seen this coming for ages, our culture has been riddled with explorations of the theme for decades. but here we are.

will the village wake?

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MarilynW's picture

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To thine own self be true.

burnt out's picture

the home of every other creature that shares the planet with us as well.
Hi Marilyn.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

MarilynW's picture

so many beautiful animals with us on our road to extinction.

My comment on DK would elicit (alarmist, sky-is-falling, Debbie Downer, Obama has saved us)
I'm trying to be hopeful and yet realistic.

Hi burnt out.

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To thine own self be true.

burnt out's picture

Dumb as a stump, yep, sure seems that way, it's either that or simply that too many folks just don't give a damn. Or both...

Thanks for the Dylan.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

gulfgal98's picture

Your grand daughter is very fortunate to have such a thoughtful man for her grandfather. Smile

I am so shocked at how few people even talk about the concept of stewardship. We continue to rape and pillage our environment with our destructive extraction industries and with our continuous state of war all over the globe. The United States should be leading in the cause of mitigating and slowing climate change, but instead we are leading the charge in the opposite direction.

In my local Occupy group, the single greatest concern of the millennials was climate change. That was in early 2012 and very little has been done in the nearly four years since. We need more stewards of the environment in positions of power to ensure the world is safe and habitable for your grand daughter's generation.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

burnt out's picture

Environmental stewards in positions of leadership? Blasphemy!
You telling me you want to turn the gov't over to a bunch of damn tree huggers? OMG, can you even imagine the consequences? You must be a damn hippy or something. (That's probably why I love ya.)

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

gulfgal98's picture

is a friend of mine. You are a very good man, burnt out. The minute I saw your avatar, I knew you were a kind soul. Good

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives. - Sioux proverb

I know someday I'll have to try to explain to my 9 year old grand daughter, I keep trying to come up with something that makes sense, but no sense can be made of it. The only explanation is GREED.

Civilization? Yeah, right. Mankind's fatal mistake was the day we forsake the hunter/gatherer lifestyle and hunkered down in village communities and became agrarian. As the soil became depleted of nutrients, new fertile soil was needed. That was the start of imperialism, the conquering of nature and separating ourselves from it. It only took 10 or 12 thousand years to get where we are now. We've shit our beds, now we must lie in it.

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burnt out's picture

If you figure out how to explain it to her, please share it with me, I could use some help with that myself. Right now I'm torn between shielding her from the worst of it and educating her so she'll be prepared for what's coming. But for now anyway, I think it's best to just let her be a little girl. Not much point in crashing her world before it's absolutely necessary. And I don't know if I'll have the heart even then.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

I do everything I can to make her childhood a happy one, before reality displaces the innocence.

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janis b's picture

I think it's called growing pains, painful for all the ones growing, including grandparents. Luckily, we can still soften the inevitable pain, and strengthen the innocence.

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janis b's picture

and pass our best on, we can feel peace in these troubled times. You're already doing that burnt out, and just need to continue, so that sweet sleep comes.

[video:https://youtu.be/pqyc7lWi9xc]

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burnt out's picture

and I do try to keep a positive attitude, for her sake, but it's damn hard sometimes.

Thanks Janis

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

janis b's picture

just wanted to show my solidarity with you, and her.

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burnt out's picture

.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

janis b's picture

will help in sleeping sweetly. At least it does for me.

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Big Al's picture

got a new one coming up in less than a month. And a thing about Aylan Kurdi, the 3 year old Syrian boy who was a victim of
war and imperialism. Most people were horrified and saddened by the image of him lying on the beach, as we all were. For me it
strengthened my resolve against the imperialist murderers that is our ruling class. For me it also hit close to home. I hadn't seen my
three year old grandson for a couple months until last night. He had gone to the Philippines with his mom and dad (my son) for
the summer. So when I saw that image, I saw my grandson. I saw a little boy who looked just like mine, someone so vulnerable
in life that for others to take actions to hurt him angers me to no end. People say anger isn't a good thing in this new age of violence
and acquiescence. But when we see little kids just like ours wash up on the shore, when they didn't have a fucking chance in life
because of fucking GREED, maybe it's time we all got angry. Maybe until we really get angry we just won't be able to stop it.
Maybe we have to take this more personal.

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mimi's picture

of luck that it's not our own kid.

The images of kids in pain show us our own failures. I saw two video clips, very short ones, only lasting a second, which I will never forget. One was from a movie (don't remember the title anymore) that had a very short incursion of a scene where a women got cut off her arm. The arm dropped to the floor. It seemed to drop down as if it is the most usual thing to happen. Yet it shocked me profoundly. I can't get that image out of my mind. Since over twenty years.

The other one was a video during the time of the Ruanda genocides between Hutu and Tutsis. In the refugee camps in the Congo, it showed a man (a father) throwing his own dead babies into a pile of corpses without any facial expressions of feelings. A man who lost his soul and was dead, but living still. I have seen similar images and videos from the holocaust. I don't know why the one from the Congo sticked in my mind specifically.

Oh, well, the thing is, if I get depressed, I need to fight it and do and there is just no option to give up hope. So, if people and the news are clobbering my mind and eyes, I get a little angry. The older I get the more difficult it becomes to believe in something that would give you hope. But you need hope to go on. And I don't accuse or blame anybody for the ways they use to keep themselves hopeful and believing.

What good does it do to give up? You have to fight that and go on.

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janis b's picture

I really don't know whether anger, generated by personal identification, is an answer that will satisfy us in the end, and cause a more favorable result. I really don't.

I hope that our very human vulnerability advantages us in the end, rather than destroy us.

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about the state is the world is just old age. Every generation is convinced the world had gone to hell in a hand basket. Or is that as optimistic as it gets?

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

burnt out's picture

gotten wiser in my old age but maybe I've just become more paranoid. But I do sincerely believe that the world as a whole is a far more dangerous place than it's ever been. Fuses of all kinds are burning all over the world, every minute of every day.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Shahryar's picture

I have no idea how long it will take but this society will fall apart. I hope it's in our lifetimes! Why? (I might ask myself) Wouldn't the disintegration of society cause panic and wildness and anarchy and such? Well a little anarchy might be a good thing. We would be forced to deal with our small local environment and be unable to worry about some other area.

I'm looking out my window at Mt. Tabor which is more like a hill than a mountain. But that's real. That's part of my life. Caucus99 and all of this internet stuff is only a diversion from reality.

My hope is that when society breaks down the type of person who is now a bankster or a weapons maker (or user) will not be protected, will have to be a part of his/her smaller community, will have to answer to his/her neighbors, will have to fit in with others who aren't bankster/warmonger types.

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burnt out's picture

comes down to that. But if we aren't able to turn things around peacefully then that's surely what's in store at some point down the line. And maybe things will indeed get better after the dust settles but there's no guarantees on that either. And whatever the final results, win or lose, the battle itself would be horrific. For both of those reasons I believe we have to exhaust all other possible options before we go down that road.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

Big Al's picture

the more people die and suffer. The more pictures of dead 3 year old kids and more countries torn apart for what?
We all know it's for absolutely nothing except the avarice and quest for power of those that rule us.
We can't wait until it falls apart if we want to be what we say we are.

I think a big part that holds us back is the same propaganda that affects all of our lives. We're led to believe
certain things like it's too complicated, or it's too ingrained, or that's just the way it is. We're persuaded that we
can't do this or that, it won't work because we're in this fucking box and we have to stay in the fucking box
donchaknow.

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shaharazade's picture

of you. However I also think we have been all our lives so inundated with scary stories of anarchy and the end of the world as we know it that we underestimate the human capacity for change and adaption. Anarchy seems a lot less scary then what we have. Let the wild rumpus begin as Max said. Get out your pots and pans as revolution does not have to be bloody. Sometimes it is a matter of humans withdrawing consent and saying be still and refusing to support the devils. Me I want the US to break apart as centralization at this point is part of the problem. I would be happy to see the demise of this centralized two party farce which is in actuality one party state. Let it go it's pure evil. Here in the Us the home of the death dealing enforcers, we seem so cowardly that we refuse to address the reality this country is creating both globally and here in der Homeland. Anarchy might just be some change I could believe in.

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burnt out's picture

If you believed that a peaceful revolution was possible, is there any length of time you'd be willing to wait before bringing out the pitchforks? The reason I'm asking is that in spite of my worries, I do believe there's still that chance, although it may well be our last one. If I didn't believe that, well I'd be right there with you, there'd be no point in waiting. But as long as I still have a shred of hope I'll work for a peaceful solution. You probably think I'm naive, you may be right. But please don't assume that I'm Ok with the horrendous things happening today. It's insane to be alright with that. But it's been going on for a long time and whether you and I want it to or not, it's not going to be over any time soon no matter what we wish for. If all hell breaks loose tomorrow I'll be right there beside you, but even as fucked up as things are, it's still not going to happen for awhile yet, as far as I can tell anyway, so until it gets beyond the talking stage, we might as well go with whatever the best option is here and now. I hate arguing with you Al, I really do, we agree on almost everything.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

Big Al's picture

Not only does it defeat the purpose, it's pretty much impossible with the firepower the state has. When I talk about anger I'm certainly not talking about violent anarchy or violence of any kind. I was a big competitor in my day and I used anger for motivation, to work and try harder. We all get angry at things but it doesn't mean we use violence.

It depends on what people want. I want the big things to take the planet and the human race positively forward for our grandchildren and their grandchildren. I want to end the rule by the rich, to seek real democracy, to bring to justice the criminals that are killing people as we speak. For that we need a global people's revolution and I believe there are ways to accomplish that, peacefully.

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burnt out's picture

your anger and words to mean something entirely different. Don't know what to say except that I'm sorry. It seems we want exactly the same things, is there anyone here that isn't for all that? Have I said something that lead you to believe I'm not? And now I'm wondering just exactly what we've been arguing about anyway? Or have I imagined that too?

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

Big Al's picture

I didn't catch a bad vibe at all. I think I just tend to go balls to the wall a lot and it might come off as something it
isn't. In reality I'm a big softie.
We'll just keep on trucking bro.

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balls to the wall, I use that all the time too, but what exactly does it mean? Biggrin

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mimi's picture

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just looked it up. I gotta' got wash my brain out with soap now for thinking bad thoughts.

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gulfgal98's picture

I mean that in a good way. Smile

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Big Al's picture

I'm glad it wasn't something else.

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mimi's picture

despite the fist fights you have with the imperialistic punch bags. If you talk about fighting it's not easy to see a soft non-violent strain in you. But when you talk about your grand kids one can see it with closed eyes. There is a story behind your life, and I am so nosy and want to know how you became so "balls to the walls" prone. Smile

You are our brother, AL. They fight once in a while, but love each other. So, all is well, no?

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burnt out's picture

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

gulfgal98's picture

For many of us here, it is all about Peace. And I can tell you are a Peaceful man, burnt out. Smile

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

gulfgal98's picture

I love Al, even when we do not agree. Al is passionate and that is always good. Plus i can give him a lot of grief and he is going to roll with the punches. Biggrin

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Big Al's picture

Back at ya gg.

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