Control is the Drug of choice

If we didn’t need to control everything – how would that be. I mean NEED to control. We can organise, we can plan, we can anticipate, we can avoid if possible – but how would it be if we said well that’s life. In the 1920s in the Western World, everything collapsed – economy – the wheat farms, the banks- because the “experts” were wrong and no-one had anticipated all the actions coming together to produce that horror – then there was world war – killing millions. Millions. 9-11 killed what 5000 civilians. Stalingrad and Leningrad in World war two killed 1.5 to 1.2 million people. Each.

Before that was a war – 1914-1918. The Battle of the Somme in one day killed approx 300,000 people.

Before that (in the Western World I am referencing) there was a major war every….50 years ? The future was relentless and uncertain – no matter who planned what.

Nowadays we think because we are obviously and advanced civilization we can control events. You will go to school, you will go to college, the world will get better,you will achieve, the world will get better – you will grow up – the world will get better. All will be well.

And that has never been true anywhere at anytime for more than 50 years.

In other words, its gonna be bad a lot of the time, its gonna be hard, and sometimes its gona be good. But when its good rememebr – this too shall pass.

So its not the events that happen, its how we react.

How would it be in your mind if you said – well I cant control anything, except me. And I am fine. Until I am not. And thats fine. Because theres nothing I can do, except worry. And worry only changes me in a bad way. Sometimes it makes me ill, even when I am well.

Like an addictive drug.

Its the Stupid Money

When Time Magazine in 1968, and Nietzsche, a little before that – stated God is dead – the “nominated ” successor was apparently Science – self nominated. In fact of course as we all know the new god was and is money – long live the new god.

And to be specific probably the corporate culture of money is the newly risen.

Power follows money so all our recent “leaders” have bowed to the Corps because that’s where the money/ power seems to be. And Money is God, and we will not worship at any other idol so help us God

And Corps need to worship at the money totem – so they are not about producing (they still quote the GNP as if that means something) they are about increasing  share value – (its the share value stupid). And as GM recently stated, if you don’t “actually ” have value you fudge it and make it happen (that is – you lie). Recently we note GM has run out of fudging and has dropped share value by missing imaginary profit predictions.

GM isn’t about producing anything, its about Share Value. Exxon isn’t about oil – its about share value. Companies dont produce things as their goal – its share value. How high can they get it. And nothing goes up for ever (except in the minds of wall street speculators) so when nature takes its course and things fall, or adjust or flex – they lie. Because reality does not exist in the stock markets its all about constant acquisition of MORE

As goes the Corps so goes the average investor – or the sucker – as they are known inside. So the average investor speculates in foreign exchange and oil and food futures – because its the lottery , numbers on the screen, and its how you get wealthy and getting wealthy is all there is. Right?

So the high price of oil isnt about the cost of getting it out of the ground – its gamblers. The high cost of food that is forcing starvation around the world – inst about the high cost of production of food – its about gamblers. Hey its about the money – let em die. I need that Mercedes – its my dream – don’t deny me my dream – die sucker.

So we have food crisis, exacerbated by gamblers, we have high oil prices, exacerbated by gamblers, we have politicians who are mean and greedy and petty as their highest calling – because thats what everyone else does Sonny – and corporations who’s mission statements, real missions statements are about how much share value they can fake (it has to be fake because nothing can be maintained upward costantly)

Its a wonderful world.

Let em eat cake for Gods sake

Progress and other Myths

Progress is one of those words that we believe in for no good reason. Its one of those words we use to define our structure and society and scientific and artistic endeavors – we , we now this generation are in the midst of progress. A couple of generations ago – it was THE word – Progress =- Starships, Spacemen – now its a given, we are in the midst of progress.

So stop and think – what has progressed, if we use the term, as most of us use it – i.e.

Progress indicates generally forward moving (L. Progressus, a going forward, advance¹) and may refer to:

In science: Progress (philosophy)

• Evolutionary progress, the idea that there is a largest-scale trend in evolution of organisms and that the trend is toward improvement.
• Scientific progress, the idea that science increases its problem solving ability through the application of some scientific method
• Social progress, process in which societies or individuals become better

“improvement”, “better” etc. Really?  – side note

Progress trap, process in which science and technology, in pursuing innovation, create more problems than they can solve

But lets think of progress as moving forward in a positive direction

So how far have we”moved forward” in terms of living with each other?

or, Helping each other, or understanding each other, or understanding ourselves or any form of living with each other.

Do we fight less? Are we less jealous? Are we less angry? Are we…better, in any way?

Well we have DVD’s and Blu Ray – that’s progress right? Thats new stuff

Ok – do we know what we are made of or what anything is made of – do we know the fundamental “stuff” that makes up everything else? – No

Do we know how the fundamental building blocks of our bodies work? – No (the word gene is made-up and no DNA does not exclusively carry inheritance etc characteristics

Do we know…ooh lets see something simple, everyday – what gravity is? No

So wheres the progress.Not that we should expect it – its hard to examine and know a thing, when you are the thing. But our hubris is almost infinite – isnt it?

They say. “they” say – that there is more “awareness” these days – more “aware” individuals than ever historically? And sson we will reach the tipping point (dont you love a hackneyed phrase?) and we will all evole

Right on.

In the West we have progressed from survival to greed – is that progress? I guess. Greed for things, greed for power, greed to be “right”.The greed to control the planets climate. Greed.

And now the rest of the world follows – The greed for power in the Independent African Nations – the greed for recognition in China.

So I am wrong there is progress after all – from bad to worse.

Once we have just enough, we want more

I am legend links

If you like the behind the scenes stuff of movies – here are links to I am Legend behind the scene things.

The joy Ride

Creatures Breaking in

Closing 5th Ave

evacuation part 1

more to follow

Traffic Signals – yep we’re morons

What is it with those things – traffic lights, traffic signals – why are they treating drivers like morons?

Supposedly, and I seem to remember, there was a time a ‘through’ street would have lights that would allow cars to make it most of the way down that street without being stopped by lights (traffic etc permitting).

Now there seem to be no such ‘through’ streets. Everyone is thrashing around trying to figure out ‘congestion’ from traffic and yet the PTB ( Powers That Be) either deliberately or (more likely) without a thought in their heads are deliberately causing more congestion than is necessary.

Supposedly  Wiki on traffic lights there are ‘dynamic’ and ‘co-ordinated’ signals working somewhere – and I have seen co-ordinated or actuated lights – but what happened to dynamic that allows a cascading flow of traffic through all the lights. So a through street was a through street.

And what about those left turn signals – delayed and otherwise. Are we so stupid we cant figure out when to turn, all by ourselves? You sit trying to turn left on a delayed or a red turn signal, all by yourself, no other traffic. The streets are clear, the intersections are clear – but can you turn? – NO. Because the little light says – NO you wait – bad boy. Why dont we just put Dunce Caps on and put our nose in the circle on the blackboard – like the morons we are.

The best test – is to drive though city streets either early in the morning or late at night – like 3am – and see how many times the lights stop you. You the only car on the road. And there you sit with your moron cap on , all by yourself. Stopped on an empty street, because some dumb (literally) light has decided to change – not because there’s traffic, not to aid traffic flow – but because the PTB wanted a light there – a by God they are going to have a light there – traffic and common sense be dammed.

We need a Second Amendment equivalent in Canada – the right to bear arms to shoot out stupid traffic lights.

You’d be crazy to think -

Gödel showed that …. within any system, there exist certain clear-cut statements that can neither be proved or disproved. Hence one cannot, using the usual methods, be certain that the axioms of arithmetic will not lead to contradictions … It appears to foredoom hope of mathematical certitude through use of the obvious methods. Perhaps doomed also, as a result, is the ideal of science – to devise a set of axioms from which all phenomena of the external world can be deduced.

ie – you cant “prove” truth

How can you figure out if you are sane? … Once you begin to question your own sanity, you get trapped in an ever-tighter vortex of self-fulfilling prophecies, though the process is by no means inevitable. Everyone knows that the insane interpret the world via their own peculiarly consistent logic; how can you tell if your own logic is “peculiar’ or not, given that you have only your own logic to judge itself? …thus Gödel’s second theorem, which implies that the only versions of formal number theory which assert their own consistency are inconsistent.

i.e. sanity cannot be proved – (but you can sure tell when its missing )

The other metaphorical analogue to Gödel’s Theorem is… we cannot understand our own mind/brains … Just as we cannot see our faces with our own eyes, is it not inconceivable to expect that we cannot mirror our complete mental structures in the symbols which carry them out? All the limitative theorems of mathematics and the theory of computation suggest that once the ability to represent your own structure has reached a certain critical point, that is the kiss of death: it guarantees that you can never represent yourself totally.

i.e. – no system can be studied from within that system. So we can never fundamentally “know” ourselves by studying ourselves from within ourselves…

you can “know” but not the way you think

with apologies and thanks to- http://www.miskatonic.org/godel.html

Lincoln Stalin Churchill Obama – what has this got to do with

So its a given we live in a “whatever the marketplace wants” society. Which allows us and those who pretend to govern to say – we’re done with social programs that’s so 60s, now its the untrammeled free spirit. Get what you can, and what you get is your responsibility (and how you get it we wont say – unless , you know, you get caught – like Enron, like Conrad Black,etc, and then, well kinda depends on how we all feel that day).
So politicians who have free health care and transportation and flights to Goa to investigate…something (i.e. they have unlimited free social programs) -and do not really have to do anything, except sometimes take a call or…a lunch … And btw what happened to governing – as in serving? No-one gets into public office to serve these days do they – its a career, a hell of a job – great benefits, no real work, and a pension even if you screw up. Whats not to like.Serve ? Serve? who – those idiots tax payers – why, what have they ever done to deserve my attention, excuse me I have a flight to Goa to catch. Politics reserved for the petty, unvisionary and mean spirited – sign-up here…what was I saying ?….
O yea then there’s Obama – even if the machine allows him in – whats he gonna change? There is no political or social “will” in N.America to fight ” the marketplace mentality “(marketplace- read Corporations rule)
So – whats to be done, what can the lost in the wilderness individual do?

Well -Fight the battles you can win.

You know.

Now I like to complain but politics etc only catches my attention because it shows the lack of direction in N.American society, and the direction of a society can be changed , only by: -
a) a visionary leader who’s fanatical and prepared to do whatever to make his/her vision work, and I’m thinking Lincoln, Churchill etc but it also includes the likes of Lenin, Stalin, Hitler – so its kind of a hit and miss sort of deal.
Or
b) one person at a time out here in the wilderness of real life.
And what does one person at a time do?

Focus on their lives, to start. Focus on a little bit of service, where we can, a little bit of kindness, when we can, and a constant working to some form of inner awareness – not media awareness, not techno awareness, not “information awareness, a search for some inner, subtle, infinite, unbounded, spiritual awareness, that allows the individual to form a sense, a Common Sense, a sense of self and others, that can guide them/us.

We don’t need the Wall Street Journal, or “news at eleven”, or the latest cooking/media/techno/health/fitness guru -

Just us, just you, just me. Working away in our spaces on ourselves.

And as Arlo Guthrie says – first there’s a solo, then a duet, then voices in harmony and pretty soon you gotta movement.

A sense of the other. A common Sense