Is the world flat, curved or round? Sometimes it's flat and things stay right where I put them, other times it goes all Einsteinian and things start rolling away as soon as I set them down, no matter where I stand or which way I face. Still other times the world is perfectly round and no matter which way or how long I walk I never seem to actually get anywhere.
There is one immutable law, though. No matter what shape I think the world has taken on, it's different when I step into it (much to Heisenberg's delight, I'm sure).
Peace,
Robert
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Self-Improvement Threat
Self-improvement is the process by which members of the lower of the 2 universal human classes, the Haves and the Have-Nots, can cross the gap and join the upper of the two. Thrift, frugality, etc. are components of the process. The process is based on the proposition that humans are fundamentally equal in capability, and the existence of a strong middle class proves the proposition. Of course the process is under threat -- it has been since the Magna Carta because it validates the idea that the Have-Nots can own some of the wealth they create, that they don't just exist to enrich the Haves. It doesn't take long for that little crack in the windshield to wreck the view from on high -- if the little guy can accumulate wealth just like the big guys, how can you tell which one is which? Without the dual principles of Divine Right and Genetics to fall back on the only reason the little guy can't join the country club is that the big guy's an a**hole.
And the Big Guy is a technicolor, full-figured, winged harpie of an a**hole. Look at what he's done so far:
Step 1. A house divided against itself cannot jack us for pay raises. The "Great Communicator" decertifies the Air Traffic Controllers Union, establishing the principle of Union-busting for the Greater Good. The Private Sector follows up shortly thereafter by developing a virtually impenetrable Union-proofing process obliquely referred to as "outsourcing".
Step 2. You gotta have money to make money. The Government of all of us opens the borders in the name of Wealth and Prosperity For Everybody! The little guy gets to compete for jobs with people who can buy an entire year's worth of food, clothing and shelter for what the little guy has to pay just to keep his lights on for a month. Cha-ching!
Step 3. Ya can't get there from here. The Liberal Media floods the airwaves with a relentless barrage of propaganda branding anything that looks like a part of the self-improvement process as Socialist and Anti-American. Because the Liberal Media consists mostly of Conservative (and a few Ultra Conservative) vocabulists dedicated to keeping the "bully" in "bully pulpit" nobody else can get a word in edgewise and the principle of Validation by Repetition reigns supreme.
Personally, I've gone underground. I have a quart jar that I'm filling with pennies (they're too small too be seen from up there) and I don't buy anything without using actual money (in other words, I don't buy anything). And if I happen to get anywhere near a Big Guy, rest assured I won't be throwing any shoes.
I'm throwing that jar.
And the Big Guy is a technicolor, full-figured, winged harpie of an a**hole. Look at what he's done so far:
Step 1. A house divided against itself cannot jack us for pay raises. The "Great Communicator" decertifies the Air Traffic Controllers Union, establishing the principle of Union-busting for the Greater Good. The Private Sector follows up shortly thereafter by developing a virtually impenetrable Union-proofing process obliquely referred to as "outsourcing".
Step 2. You gotta have money to make money. The Government of all of us opens the borders in the name of Wealth and Prosperity For Everybody! The little guy gets to compete for jobs with people who can buy an entire year's worth of food, clothing and shelter for what the little guy has to pay just to keep his lights on for a month. Cha-ching!
Step 3. Ya can't get there from here. The Liberal Media floods the airwaves with a relentless barrage of propaganda branding anything that looks like a part of the self-improvement process as Socialist and Anti-American. Because the Liberal Media consists mostly of Conservative (and a few Ultra Conservative) vocabulists dedicated to keeping the "bully" in "bully pulpit" nobody else can get a word in edgewise and the principle of Validation by Repetition reigns supreme.
Personally, I've gone underground. I have a quart jar that I'm filling with pennies (they're too small too be seen from up there) and I don't buy anything without using actual money (in other words, I don't buy anything). And if I happen to get anywhere near a Big Guy, rest assured I won't be throwing any shoes.
I'm throwing that jar.
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