Expert terror

You know what scares me more than anything else? Experts. Lord knows we got enough of them. Some of them have respectable credentials. Most of them are only self-proclaimed. Yeah, that's one of the risks you take when living in an age when any opinion is as good as any other. That's where we are, aren't we? Yeah, unfortunately. Well, that's how we wanted it.

Our real problem is that we can pick and choose what we want to believe. It's not a matter of accepting any more. It's not a matter of the better argument, the more valid research, the more reliable information ... no, it's all about belief. We've long outdone the early Middle Ages, the Pre-Renaissance ... we're way past that. We're so much smarter than any of those poor misguided souls could have hoped to be. Yep, universal education, and not a bright person in the house. Should one actually show up, s/he'll get shouted down by the masses faster than you can say "liberal educated elite".

Me? I think we get what we deserve. We don't want it any different than we have it. If things don't work, it's really because we don't want things to work. C'mon ... gridlock is much more interesting than actually solving a problem. Holding to your hokey principles is much more important than actually making the world a better place. No, me? I have no sympathy for anybody anymore. Oh sure, I'm depressed by the fact that there are more have-nots than there ever will be haves. I'm bothered by the fact that too few take too much for themselves and are willing to leave the rest behind. I'm disturbed by how widespread true ignorance is. But, I can't say that I'm all upset about it. I figure is the systems doesn't work any more, feed it. It'll implode. It has to.

As a matter of fact, I actually think we're moving to a new level of crime ... not ignorance: that' been around long enough, and it has tradition, in fact. (If you don't believe me, try reading Hofstader's Anti-intellectualism in American Life (if you can get past your own anti-intellectual prejudices that is) for a cogent portrayal of a phenomenon that has been going on much longer than any of us can afford.) No, we are, I believe, moving from crimes of now to crimes against the future. They're not new, of course, but they are becoming ever more evident.

Pride before the fall?

OK, I hated (at least a little bit) to leave that last post hanging, but how much more is there really to say? We've got some unexplained (but not necessarily threatening) natural phenomena going on, and we've got some sensationalist news folks (almost exclusively American) "investigating" it all. And, we've got the fact that some of what has been going on has always been going on (but we haven't written it down), and some of it is truly a bit odd and in need of serious investigation. But, that still leaves us with what I consider to be the most important, and least asked, question of all: so what?

Let's assume the worst-case scenario: 2012 the world comes to an end. The Mayans turn out to be "right" (though we have no idea why their calendar ends or what they were up to, but no matter: we're dealing worst-case here). The Earth is rebelling, the Sun is overreacting, humankind have overstayed their welcome and are destroying Gaia ... it doesn't matter how we describe it, the world is coming to and end. Again, I have to ask, so what?

Why is this such a big deal? If you're a good Gd-fearing, born-again Christian, you can't help but get into rejoicing mode, because you're about to be taken into the bosom of Abraham. If you're a good Allah-fearing Moslem, you can't help but get into rejoicing mode, because He is about to assert his authority. If you're a good, Gd-fearing Jew, you can't help but get into rejoicing mode, because what has begun must also end. If you're a good, observant Buddhist, you can't help but get into rejoicing mode, because the Wheel is turning once more, and there's a good chance we all get off. If you're just a plain, old, everyday atheist, you can't help but not get excited at all: we're just here by chance anyway, so there's a chance at some point we won't be here.

In other words, just about every group I can think of has all their bets covered. And, if that's the case, why is it that the American news media thinks it can increase its sales (at least until the bottom falls out) and make even more money than it already shamefully does? It's quite simple actually: chances are good that nothing is going to end, except for the way that some people currently think. And that, my friends, is what so many folks are afraid of: they might be believing the wrong things? The big, threatening question is always: what if the other guys are right?

My question is, of course, the same as always: so what? All your believing can't change what is. Perhaps it is simply time to step a bit more slowly, to get a bit less insistant, and to become a bit more open to ... well, faith. The degree to which you are afraid, is the degree to which you do not know. The degree to which you are sure, is the degree to which you have no idea. The degree to which you accept, is the degree to which you are actually free. That's what a wise man once said: you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

The sky is falling?

A dear friend of mine sent me a link to a YouTube video that collected all the "unusual" happenings that have been going on since the beginning of the year. Mayan Calendar so or so ... there's lots of creepy things happening, and I have to say, I think I may agree.

First of all, except for a couple of mysterious sound reportings ... that is, people were hearing strange sounds coming from the sky (?) ... almost all of the "strange events" happened in the US. Second, the most cited news channel reporting on the events was Fox. Finally, the reports were about things that people (as they repeatedly intoned) had never seen before. Well, I'm convinced. Aren't you?

OK, granted, a few of the reports were actually interesting: the absolute increase in the number of severe tornados, even in areas where they don't "normally" appear. That's interesting, but it is more interesting for people who don't believe in global warming than for those of us who know it is. There has been some pretty severe sun activity lately, too, but my scientist friends tell me that we don't know what it might have been like at other times because reports are scarce and couldn't have been observed like we can observe them today, so we're starting with a pretty fresh sheet of paper on that one. And then, there is all this volcano and earthquake activity. Excuse me: I lived in California for 14 years and if I found earthquakes, even larger ones "unusual", well that pretty well described me as unusual to my peers. What do you expect when you live on the Ring of Fire?

There are plenty of folks out there who love (or would love) to cash in on people's fears, but if we look at the threats: tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes/typhoons, etc., couldn't it just be that the Earth is simply being what it is: the Earth? OK, we may be having (and I do believe we are having) an effect on the weather overall. You can't pump as much crap into the air and water as we do, you can't raze as much rainforest as we do without some kind of consequences. But if you're in denial, well, you'll just deny it anyway. My question is, what does it matter? Why all the concern? What is there to get all upset about? Nature is nature and we're all a part of it. And ... ?

May day

I love today. It's one of the nicest holidays we have here in Europe, and at the same time it is a call for help, for rescue. As with so many things, we can't have it both ways.

The 30th of April, of course, is Walpurgis Night ... I know you all knew that ... and it's still (fortunately) celebrated in many areas of the Continent. Oh sure, there is a lot of demon driving-away going on, but it is the "official" end of winter in these climes. Reason enough to celebrate. In good European tradition, if you are going to party long into the night, why not just party through the next day as well. And so it goes, that many communities with have their Dance into May, so that today, can be properly observed as a holiday; that is, by doing nothing.

I have no problem living amongst the non-Calvinists and non-Puritans. I've thought about it long and hard, and to be perfectly honest, I can't think of a single good thing that's come of those ideas. Psychologically, Mr. Calivn was a bit of basket case, but that never stopped anybody from declaring the crazy person the bearer of The Big Guy's word. True, He does have a habit of picking outsiders, but not a one of them was looney. That should have been a tip-off, but who am I to say.

No, what pleases me even more about today, is that International Labor has chosen it to be their day to celebrate. Once again, it's the world, and it's the US who just can't fit in. I know, I know, there are lots of folks across the Pond who would drop dead of shame if it were even intimated that they may have something to do with the Red Terror. If Irony weren't dead, we'd be astounded that the only Communists left are the biggest closest Capitalists going: the Chinese, but what we won't do to not offend our preferred trading partners.

Thanks to a good friend, I was pointed to a statement by a Republican congressman who maintains that over 80 of his Democratic colleagues are in fact Communists. I don't know how he knows. But what I do know is that he has no idea about communists, or politics, or economics, or ... he's simply proof positive that even nut-cases can find a job, even if the job isn't a real one.

Yes, Walpurgis Night is a night for pagan revelry, and the day after the night before is a chance to put work in its place. The truth of the matter is that the Grand Master of the Misunderstood, our friend Karl, got it right: we should work to live, but we should never live to work ... but, oh, I'm sorry, only my European friends can think about that now. My American friends have to wait until September.