tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post8868987519058036319..comments2023-09-11T19:56:03.229-07:00Comments on Think Or Be Eaten: THE COUP WILL NOT BE TELEVISEDAnghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02385030071978985956noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-68900123762313100592009-04-24T22:05:00.000-07:002009-04-24T22:05:00.000-07:00I'll be honest Ang, I read this post about a month...I'll be honest Ang, I read this post about a month ago, and it resonated with me, just as all of you other posts have. The unfortunate part is, as much as an alcoholic as I am, I can't remember the details, but I can guarantee that the whole of it has become a part of me. Have no doubts about that.<br /><br />I gain insight and strength from your posts, and hope as well. In the last couple weeks, hope has become a rare commodity for myself; to put it another way, I've been in a funk, that I cannot pull myself out of. <br /><br />I believe that a good reason for that is that I keep checking back for your new posts, but it's been almost five weeks now.<br /><br />I just hope that you're doing alright, and wonder why there has been such a gap in your postings. I understand that we all go through our good and bad times, sometimes we are able to produce great things, other times all we can do is sit and think.<br /><br />I just hope you get back to us soon, because I miss your posts, and that's no lie.<br /><br />Hope to hear from you soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-1149366305994152092009-04-17T09:36:00.000-07:002009-04-17T09:36:00.000-07:00Ang,
Interesting post. In essence I agree most w...Ang,<br /><br />Interesting post. In essence I agree most whole heartedly. <br /><br />When we examine historical writing, we see that our situation is not new at all. I do agree with JC on that. What motivates people to live under a hierarchy I don't really understand. I suspect it has something to do with religions, but maybe not. Just maybe Marx had it right when he insisted that religion was the opiate of the masses. After all, that is the ultimate of hierarchy. <br /><br />I suppose this is why in essence I am an anarchist. Bottom up systems of social order rather than top down. Problem is, that won't work for very large groups of people, only works in small groups. <br /><br />Whether people will actually change how they perceive their social organization is open to question. Considering over 5000 years of known history, probably not. Ha! We are doomed.murphnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-86427553148279384632009-04-03T06:30:00.000-07:002009-04-03T06:30:00.000-07:00oops, it was from a link at moonfood--Jjoops, it was from a link at moonfood--<BR/><BR/>JjAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-15861470360487617192009-04-03T06:06:00.000-07:002009-04-03T06:06:00.000-07:00Greetings--New reader from a link at nobodys blog-...Greetings--New reader from a link at nobodys blog--<BR/>You can only decide for yourself and maybe the masses will lean and the wind will blow them in the right direction--but more than likely not<BR/>What can you do? Mainly, stop buying crap--fix what you have or throw it away--do we really need a TV in every room with attached VCR/DVD player and surround sound--<BR/>Stop playing the con-job stock market--it's the shell game, and it's rigged--lotsa folks just found that out--why go to college, it just sucks the money and life out of you--<BR/>Stop giving your money to the other whores--churches--any idea where it goes anyway?<BR/>Working for minimum wage, or less than you used to make--well, you're not sending boatloads of tax money in, heck you may not pay any taxes at all--sign up for every freakin' benefit you've paid into for the last 30 years--food stamps, medicaid, housing--they are relying on you having "(false)pride" and pulling yourself up by the bootstraps--but they stole your boots--refuse to play the game--just turn your back on it to whatever extent you can--heck, grow a garden and go hunting in (or out-tee hee) of season--hunting season is just to keep more rules choking you--please check your local laws--lol--<BR/>Basically, you're on your own--but thats cool--you always have been--<BR/>The whore that is, just stepped out into the light and it's not a pretty sight--<BR/><BR/>JjAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-38512502780826342522009-04-02T15:22:00.000-07:002009-04-02T15:22:00.000-07:00brilliant, brilliant essay.brilliant, brilliant essay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-46482725129160916842009-03-25T12:46:00.000-07:002009-03-25T12:46:00.000-07:00Michael,That's just it, isn't it? Putting a new c...Michael,<BR/><BR/>That's just it, isn't it? Putting a new captain at the helm usually just creates a new monster. Allowing anyone to have power over other people's lives is guaranteed to cause problems somewhere along the line. I'm not sure why we have the idea that a central power figure is a good thing. It's not at all democratic, and it has nothing to do with being in charge and control over one's own life, resources and personal community. As long as there is so much money to made from controlling an institution that can help itself to other people's money, it won't matter much who the boss is. <BR/><BR/>You are right in sensing my disgust with the lack of moral, ethical leadership we keep getting. I suppose I am angry about it, but nothing like I used to be. I'm to the point now where I find it humorous, or at least it would be funny if so many people weren't getting hurt. What truly angers me is the arrogance and the lies of this government and the nastiness of extremist Israeli politics. That gets my blood pressure up. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for your thoughtful comment.<BR/><BR/>AngAnghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02385030071978985956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-41374104094791728342009-03-25T12:29:00.000-07:002009-03-25T12:29:00.000-07:00Ang,As I read your posting I could feel the profou...Ang,<BR/><BR/>As I read your posting I could feel the profound depth of your frustration and your boiling anger and resentment at the current state of affairs.<BR/><BR/>All of us are annoyed to varying degrees by the increasingly and seemingly mindless path we see our society taking.<BR/><BR/>We envision the potential of horrors and chaos resulting from the self serving decisions those in power make, with no apparent concern for those of us who live encumbered by their rule.<BR/><BR/>But are these circumstances so unusual from an historic perspective? I think not.<BR/><BR/>People have the same wants, needs and desires today as they did 10,000 years ago.<BR/><BR/>But compared to the serfs and slaves of old... we do have one distinct advantage.<BR/><BR/>Knowledge.<BR/><BR/>We have at our fingertips one of the most incredibly powerful pieces of technology the world has ever seen.<BR/><BR/>Technology that allows us to express our opinions and write words and create images that can be seen by people the world over... in real time.<BR/><BR/>Technology that allows us to communicate with others simply and easily, with the click of a mouse. <BR/><BR/>I argue that that this technology was invented, promoted and appropriated to all people by those who brought about the 'current state of affairs'.<BR/><BR/>Yes maybe the ship we are on is headed for rough waters and maybe we have doubts about our captains ability to bring us to safe harbor. <BR/><BR/>That's undeniable.<BR/><BR/>Maybe something has gone horribly wrong. Maybe we are on the path to destruction that you expressed so succinctly but others of us aren't quite so sure about.<BR/><BR/>I ask though is it now time to jump over board... as the seas are swelling?<BR/><BR/>Instead it may be more prudent to march to the pilot house, arm and arm with your fellow sailors and remove the captain from the helm.<BR/><BR/>However, if we choose that option, we better be dam sure that the pilot we put in place of the captain to commander this huge vessel has better vision than the captain we removed.<BR/><BR/>Or we may find our ship floundering even worse and listing more than ever before. <BR/><BR/>We could unexpectedly get crushed upon the shoals that our new pilot, with all his self assured high mindedness, failed to recognize was right in front of the ship he was guiding. <BR/><BR/>MichaelMichael Oldinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11057740063856827616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-39622940022408598092009-03-24T12:44:00.000-07:002009-03-24T12:44:00.000-07:00Inflation has been very high, salaries and wages d...Inflation has been very high, salaries and wages did not keep pace. The 'few' that were allowed to insure financial transaction and those few who failed to regulate need to be held accountable. Mob sourcing greed, hate, fear, ambition all manner of sin is easy. We've just learned that.<BR/><BR/>Those who were free to do that did. Those who followed were masses of people, all seeing that sex in the streets with teenagres was now legal and even if you were 'caught' it was the public's fault.<BR/><BR/>This is a matter of values, as you point out and values for each and every person. <BR/><BR/>Demand higher wages. Demand your bank give you part of the bailout and explain how their bailout is going to help you.<BR/><BR/>Demand answers where you live, and with those you know. Don't let this crap roll around your favorite blog as arm-chair generals. <BR/><BR/>Get out and RAISE *YOUR* prices. Not your costs. Demand government put price controls back into place. Demand your pay increases by 35% over the next 18 months and *everything* is cured.<BR/><BR/>No bailouts, no 'stimulus' no debts, no bankers to worry about, no abuse, no auto-plays, no threats from bankers to close the bank or refuse to lend money since they lost all their money..<BR/><BR/>GET YOUR WAGES UP, or STOP WORKING.<BR/><BR/>Each and everyone has that power. Will the public have the balls to do that? <BR/><BR/>Its tough when there are threats of no food, no housing no job, no anything. So what. join a farm coop, partner with construction workers to make you own housing. Pool resources together to buy and apt complex and move there and make it better.<BR/><BR/>People can solve this. Waiting for Bush for 8 years or congress for 12 didn't work. I'm not certain waiting for Mt. Obama will, unlesss the people support him and give him some power.<BR/><BR/>Right now the banks are taking his power (money).<BR/>Demonstrate, support for democracy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-54492655178566706592009-03-24T12:15:00.000-07:002009-03-24T12:15:00.000-07:00Could not agree more! It's nice to read a rant lik...Could not agree more! It's nice to read a rant like this that isn't a ramble and not the same old 'kill your TV' regurgitated counterculture blah blah blah. Keep up the good fight!For End Times Networkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14140537786233923678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-63795343465876428022009-03-24T09:55:00.000-07:002009-03-24T09:55:00.000-07:00Population overshoot, climate change and peak oil ...Population overshoot, climate change and peak oil severely limit the time the human race has to reform itself.<BR/><BR/>A sub-species of psychopaths has taken control, not because power corrupts but because only the corrupt seek power.<BR/><BR/>Now we have people who exercise power over every aspect of our lives, including the contents of our body fluids.<BR/><BR/>Now we have trans-generational legacies of environmental destruction and irresponsible use of non-renewable resources.<BR/><BR/>As a race we learned to celebrate libertine excess as emblematic of success in life. We expect it of our leaders and they never disappoint.<BR/><BR/>This self-destructive co-enabling co-dependancy between psychopaths and sheople has developed over the course of 10,000 years into a malignant blight upon nature.<BR/><BR/>The future of the human race literally lives in your personal real-time decisions. We can continue down the bumpy path to self-extinction or use our minds to overcome the psychological problems and mental aberrations that otherwise doom our species.<BR/><BR/>Psychopaths are neither reformable nor redeemable. OK sheople, now what?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-49411592865993029282009-03-23T23:29:00.000-07:002009-03-23T23:29:00.000-07:00Fantastic work Angie. Stuck you up on my blog toni...Fantastic work Angie. Stuck you up on my blog tonight, only wish I saw this sooner.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-92226492323802732352009-03-18T13:31:00.000-07:002009-03-18T13:31:00.000-07:00bigj-yoda,Hear, hear. Well said. I remember a TV...bigj-yoda,<BR/><BR/>Hear, hear. Well said. I remember a TV preacher once saying how God would return to Jerusalem to sit on his throne and rule the world; and all the people would know God was in charge and they would obey God. And I thought, human nature being what it is, the tremendous selfish, small mindedness, the propensity for perversity and narcissism etc, that I doubt even God would have much luck bringing the world to its senses. God would probably be assassinated if it were possible, to make way for some power hungry tyrant. I can't imagine things changing so drastically that we'd ever be free of people who want to be the center of the universe.<BR/><BR/>That said, people want to do good and be good, it's inherent in most of us I believe. We can be taught, we can learn. As it is people are not exposed to the kind of thinking and influences that will lift them and bring about intelligent, benevolent change. Yet, somehow in the over all, the better side of humanity seems to prevail consistently, even if it occasionally gets set back, it still returns to take a 51% foot hold and prevent total physical and moral collapse. Plus there's always the thing about people learning the hard way. That's a hard one and it's unavoidable. When we screw up we pay for it, and if we're remotely intelligent we will learn from it. It's slow going and much harder than it needs to be, but that's how it has to be done I suppose, as long as such heavy negative influences retain so much control.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your excellent comment.<BR/><BR/>AngAnghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02385030071978985956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-76760981399171177382009-03-18T10:49:00.000-07:002009-03-18T10:49:00.000-07:00Ang,This essay opens a couple of cans of worms. A...Ang,<BR/><BR/>This essay opens a couple of cans of worms. At least these cans don't have any potassium choride in them:-)<BR/><BR/>First, when do the masses wake up?<BR/>Second, what do they do if/when they wake up?<BR/><BR/>You wrote the following:<BR/> <BR/>"At what point will it occur to the masses that things are turned all the way around?"<BR/><BR/>My answer to this is never. The only time I can think of in history where the masses woke up to the true horror of their condition was in France before the revolution. I am sure there must be other examples but I am no historian. But reading through your musings here, I couldn't help but be struck by the same dilemma Winston Smith - the protagonist in the novel '1984' - faced when realizing the only challenge to Big Brother lay with the Proles who were hopelessly distracted by ever-shifting realities, calls to patriotism, and appeals to their violent nature. How is it any different in our time? We have a group of citizens who demonizes anyone who disagrees with their viewpoint. We have ubiquitous anesthesia from shows like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. Try to point out the idiocy of these programs to someone who watches them and you will see first-hand the violent defense of stupidity. We see the least patriotic, most brazenly cowardly among us wrap themselves in a figurative flag. The bread and circuses of our time is politics and television. The level of education necessary to effect a massive change will not occur. Thus it comes as no surprise that those who would do the most harm will always pay token concern to the cause of education. Educated people are a threat to any form of control.<BR/><BR/>There is another cause of perpetuity here. It doesn't take very many people to keep the current socio-economic machinery humming along in its current state. Most businesses where I've worked do not promote the best and brightest cogs in the machine. Those who are promoted are the ones who blindly follow every order given. There will always be a small group of people who will not bother to concern themselves with morality or righteous cause. These people see the chance for monetary gain or social empowerment and cast every other objection aside. Thus the dumb and blind become 'leaders' whose only skill is in perpetuating the very systems that are broken.<BR/><BR/>Now, let's say enough people wake up and realize the futility of a massively upward redistribution of wealth and the dehumanizing effects on individuals and the historical danger to a stable government this redistribution represents. What do they do? They can vote, sure. But disenfranchisement is a regular cottage industry. A mere vote merely gives us another leader with a mouthful of platitudes and empty promises. So what about revolution? Do we bring back the guillotine and public executions? Are the disenfranchised morally bound to NOT engage in the sort of dehumanizing behavior that underpins the current 'system?' And if so, how does meaningful change occur? And if not, how is it any different?<BR/><BR/>There is a passage in 1984 where Winston Smith is asked what he is willing to do to overthrow big brother. He will do anything: lie, murder, disseminate porn to school children, anything. If this is the cost of changing a broken system, how could the new one be any better?<BR/><BR/>Those who would continue to steal on the scale we are currently seeing care more about themselves than country. I certainly agree that there is an inhuman quality to them. What is incumbent upon each of us is to point out at every chance the bankrupt nature of this value system. Perhaps, that is the 'system' that needs to be exposed in the simplest terms possible so that the farm couple in Iowa who lose their only son in a needless war can finally understand the great cost of listening to the lies that serve so few.<BR/><BR/>Another good essay here, Ang.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-86335060696762418232009-03-16T11:47:00.000-07:002009-03-16T11:47:00.000-07:00Kevin John,Yeah, I agree it would be wise to avoid...Kevin John,<BR/><BR/>Yeah, I agree it would be wise to avoid the team sport religionists when the lights go out. Predatory Christianity is a strange thing indeed. <BR/><BR/>I'm a true believer in having fun every day, otherwise what's the point? Whatever happens will happen is exactly right. Stressing out over the possibilities is debilitating and non productive. There are way better things to do.<BR/><BR/>AngAnghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02385030071978985956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-7246683828616174102009-03-16T11:26:00.000-07:002009-03-16T11:26:00.000-07:00JC-I specifically meant our own rich folk but didn...JC-<BR/><BR/>I specifically meant our own rich folk but didn't convey that very well. I changed the line to read "our wealthy class". Our elites used to be expected to do good things with their money, and they actually did a few good things once upon a time. Otherwise, I totally agree with you about the ruling classes of history being useless, selfish twits.<BR/><BR/>AngAnghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02385030071978985956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-25059134937649660812009-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:002009-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:00"But I wonder what it will take to fully and final...<I>"But I wonder what it will take to fully and finally peel away the scales from the eyes.."</I><BR/><BR/>That won't happen. There will always be those that will do anything, kiss anyone's butt and do what they are told because..well, nothing's up with Monday Night Football and those will be the ones shooting at people like you and me when it hits the fan. Sadly many of those people are 'friends' of mine @ area churches.<BR/>Go figure.<BR/><BR/>That said, you will drive yourself bugshit if you don't get out and play a little. What will happen will happen. All we can do is pray, hope and try our best.Kevenjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04527702723486597969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35215770.post-80876298980151558062009-03-16T10:15:00.000-07:002009-03-16T10:15:00.000-07:00Ang, I vehemently disagree with this premise- “It ...Ang, I vehemently disagree with this premise- <BR/><BR/>“It used to be, in earlier days, that the wealthy classes knew better than to believe they could flaunt their retarded imperialist attitudes in public and expect to get away with it.”<BR/><BR/>I’m not sure what you mean by ‘earlier days,’ but this statement, and the paragraph that contains it, seems diametrically in opposition to so many previously held beliefs you have espoused in so many earlier blogs . From the time of ancient Egypt and its line of ‘god’ pharaohs dating back to 3000 BC, through the era of the Roman empire and its ‘deity’ emperors, to England’s class structured society, where lineage was everything, to today’s corporate state, where money supplants lineage and is the supreme measure of all things, close to 100% of these people have ALWAYS believed that they could flaunt their imperialist attitudes, ‘superiority’, ‘divine rights’ , and any/every other fallacy that could further their class and cause. England’s history over just the past three centuries is a sterling example, negating your entire paragraph. Sons of kings and emperors, scions of the captains of business and industry, and the offspring of the political ruling classes have ALWAYS been ingrained with the belief, from birth, that they were gods, or superior, or special, a breed apart from ordinary people. These people ALWAYS expected the public to embrace their deluded belief that they were better than the rest of us. THEY were brought up believing it. They DO believe that they actually own everything on the planet and that the people are not entitled to have a single thing. And their ‘justification’ is almost always the same, the world over. They have been successful. Their methods do not count. Their god has rewarded them, and therefore justified their acts. And so their superiority is anointed by god. It is part of their ‘training’, reinforced by a lifetime of privilege and reward without the necessity of merit. They did not pretend to believe in their superiority. By an overwhelming percentage, they DID believe it. And they still do.JChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16065075529959713288noreply@blogger.com