And now a word from our sponsor

That's how commercials were once introduced. It was almost an apology that whatever it was you were watching on TV was not going to be interrupted so that someone who thought they had the right could try to sell you something .. or at least entice you to perhaps buy it the next time you went shopping. Those days -- by no means, the "good old days" are long gone. We're no longer asked, we're told. Times change.

Circumstances don't. We still get broadcast all that we need to know, that much is true, but while the machine spews forth unceasingly, those of us "down here", are having trouble swallowing it all. After all, there's only so much you can allow through your craw, whether you like it or not.

There was a time when news was news and commercials were commercials, but those times are no longer. Now we get commercials for news (that is, what we're supposed to think) as much as we get commercials for what we should buy. The content should be different, but it isn't. The reactions thereto and our own behavior should also be different, but it isn't.

A dear friend recently asked me what I thought of the so-called "refugee crisis" here in Europe (and Germany) in particular. He figured I wouldn't be opposed, given my disposition toward others and life, and he was right, but I suspect that he truly wanted to know how I could still remain positive in light of a situation that was, well, by all standards, threatening. He was right about the threatening part and he was right about my reaction.

Truth be told, the crisis with which we are confronted is a pseudo one, a contrived one, a made-up one, not a real one. Oh, there's no denying that millions of people are on the move, looking for safe havens in times of imminent and life-threatening danger. But, as is so often the case, it's the "little people" who have to suffer when the "big people" (the "important" people) decide the world should be a certain way.

Neither I nor anyone I know believes that all those fleeing towards Europe are really refugees, in the traditional sense of the word. Some are really so-called "economic refugees", people looking for a way out of their current hopeless morass. Some are hopefuls, looking for half a shot at something "better", whereby what that means differs from case to case. Some of them are truly asylum seekers, fleeing from inhuman and violent conditions, simply trying to save their own lives and that of their children. And, whether we like to admit it or not, some are subversives, simply using the current situation to further own personal, religious or political agendas. That's just the way it goes. That's the reality of the situation, but it's not the actuality.

All these people streaming toward Europe are not taking on these hardships because they have nothing better to do. If we -- and by "we" I mean all of us in the Western industrialized world -- were serious about what we say we believe, we never would have created the situation that forces these people to flee. Given half a choice, just about everyone would rather stay where they are than move, but our "leaders" have decided what is better for us -- and by default for others -- is best, and now we've got this situation.

Don't blame those who flee. Blame those who make them flee. But, it is always easier to side with those in power than with those who have been victimized by it.

Summer's almost over

Summer was a much bigger deal when I was a kid and it was also a much bigger deal in the US. Three months of summer vacation is nothing to scoff at (especially when you consider that Europeans get a mere six weeks), but once you leave school and find a job and start working for a living, well, summer becomes more or less the hot time of year when you have to work. Nothing exciting about that, even if we tend to pack in more power-weekends at this time of year, just to convince ourselves that our lives are not completely in vain.

Hint: if you have to power-weekend at all, your life's pretty much in vain.

This was just another summer and not all that much out of the ordinary: a bit too hot, a bit too dry, a bit too short, and a bit too time-consumed by everyday life. We all tend not to really appreciate what we have while we have it, and I'm pretty sure that come November, I'll be thinking back fondly of these very days which will have been made better than they actually were because there has been time between now and when I will think of them again. That's pretty much how our minds work. We don't appreciate enough of what we have when we actually have it. Yes, most of us in the West have been firmly conditioned to want "more", or at a minimum to be dissatisfied with what we have.

That's pretty sad when you stop to think about it. Yes, there is definitely one thing that you cannot, you may not, be in a capitalist economy, and that's satisfied. Where would we be if everyone were satisfied? Consumerism and consumption is predicated on the idea that you can never, ever be satisfied. That's not only sad, it's downright unhealthy. What kind of a world have we made for ourselves?

But those days of lazy reflection are just about over. Kids are back to school. Our daily and weekly routines have normalized themselves. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the days are going to get noticeably shorter and the light is going to start fading. It's going to get cooler, then colder, and we're going to start getting a bit more precipitation than we like, so we'll grumble more, complain more often, be more dissatisfied than usual and, well, all the more "motivated" to go out and buy stuff we don't really need, because it's the only therapy we're willing to submit to. That's pretty sad, too, when you stop to think about it.

But once summer is over, we can at least act as if we're busier than usual and with the weather turning bad, no one's going to be coming along with extraordinary plans or demands. We can just get busy and do our thing, and start yearning for those crazy, lazy days of summer, which are so far off, and so beyond our reach.

Why beliefs trump reality

Before anyone gets the wrong impression (whereby I'm fairly sure that this plea comes a bit late), I would like to reiterate something I never tire of saying. I am not just beating up on my home country. I am merely using them as an example, for in many cases, the USA is simply the best example of what I'm talking about. The root causes, the root feelings, the root beliefs and the root reactions are evident across the entire world, both West and, mutatis mutandis, East. We're all human beings and no one is exempt. We all have similar moral potential, and we all have inherent weaknesses. That's what makes us human. But it is always easier to ignore than to acknowledge, let alone accept.

It just so happens that I agree with Einstein that patriotism is an infantile disease. We are born where we are born by virtue of an inexplicable cosmic accident. To use that as a basis for unquestionable allegiance to one's birthplace is, in my mind at least, just silly. We are made into unswerving loyalists, we weren't born that way, so when you place your own country, for example, above all others, it is not a fact, it is simply a belief that you have taken on for any number of reasons, some perhaps OK, others questionable.

The point I really want to make is that we buy into this belief because it makes us feel good, it makes us feel worthwhile and it makes us think we have a purpose. We want to believe we are the good guys, that what we do is good and right and proper and admirable. And, there is nothing essentially wrong with any of this, as far as it goes. The problem is, however, that it goes much farther and deeper.

When confronted with evidence that contradicts this most fundamental view of the world that we have, we become fearful and insecure. We simply don't want to believe that things are different than the way we want to think they are. We will do everything in our power not to look these facts and this possible evidence in the eyes. Why? I don't know for sure, but one reason is certainly because we think we will no longer be the person we once were. That may be true, but it's not bad. Sure, it may be unpleasant, even painful, but closing one's eyes to reality doesn't make it go away. No one ever said the truth would make us happy, but it is truly the case that it is the truth which sets you free.

FDR once noted that we really have nothing to fear but fear itself, and he had a point. Whether you like his politics or not, he still had a point. I believe that now, more than at any other time in my short life, we are being called upon to face our fears. We can't give in ... or can we? Fear is more often that than not the root cause of hate, and when you begin to hate on the basis of your beliefs, for whatever reason, you have removed yourself from the world of reason. Hate is a powerful emotion, one of the most powerful in fact, but it is destructive, not only for others but for oneself. Hate is a poison that destroys one from inside every bit as much as the actions it calls forth wreak destruction on everyone and everything toward which it is directed. And, I must say that it saddens me to see and hear as much hate being spread about as I do these days.

As cynical as I may be, I would still like to think that we're better than that.

How to win a Holy War

Instead of the usual blah-blah-blah you may be used to, I decided to let someone else speak today.

Why?

Because the man has something to say that's worth listening to ... and I think he's on the right track.

So, How to win a Holy War.