On the "Coming Insurrection"

The Invisible Committee released a document in the early part of the millennium to offer a voice to their troubles. "The Coming Insurrection" was their attempt to capture their angst and project it in a productive way. In the article, they carefully lay out issues they see plaguing them and their peers into circles. Each circle makes the attempt to lay out the strife and discord they experience as part of a global culture. They touch on many consumerism issues, from product definition of self, and to need driven self worth. They attempt to break down even further their basis of fault by offering solutions to the social and economic disorder of their times. They talk of the broken inheritance they are receiving from the generations prior. They also offer rebellion and commune lifestyles as a possible solution to the woes of the world.

As you turn each page of this rant you get the impression it was written by a schizophrenic child reading the "Communist Manifesto". There are no new ideas presented, merely anger and confusion. It is a reflection of what is really wrong with the world today. Rather then ownership of problems, you see the need to assign blame. With the assignment of blame you see the need to enact vengeance. So on scale of social maturity this paper was presented in a way that made me think of a very angry and spoiled child. Towards the end you see this transfer into the bully, and nobody really has time for a bully.

The fire of inspiration this paper generates is scary. It appeals to the baser instincts of the under educated and those lacking the experience of life in the real world. It is kerosene being added to a unguided fire. Today's youth, or the inheritance generation truly do have things to be angry about, but this wide focus is an uncontrolled burn. You see this in their disregard for government systems, and hatred of the police force. While this blind rage has to burn, it does not offer thought to what it consuming. It also hands responsibility to others and offers to accept very little of its own. While I know I have inherited problems from those that came before me, I have also received as many blessings. I think the real solution lies in accepting the problem as your own, and resolving. You find resolution in dealing with your problems, and little resolution comes from blame. In essence, shit happens, so don't step in it, and make fertilizer. This is called being mature and productive.

Looking further into the sense of entitlement and need to not accept responsibility, you get to the root of the issue. It is in this that we can see the decay of society in direct correlation to lay of personal responsibility. It is in the passing the proverbial buck that we lose our ability to deal with problems, or rather we replace coping skills with shifting blame. You can see this in the fall of most societies or cultural decay throughout history. These issues are reflected in this paper, and if you look closely, in the news today.

Strong Language and morals ahead.

Well I have been giving somethings some thought. Yep the old brain pain has been sizzling. You see I hear people talking about living in these modern times trying to hold on to old school values. Yeah its rough. When people are so consumed by their own thoughts and modern consumer values. You see the biggest test we have to living to a particular code of ethics is the complete disregard of anything resembling ethics and they are successful. They have so much more than you, at least material items and such. You struggle to tell the truth and do the right thing. What is your reward? You got some no talent ass clown driving a Beamer sipping lattes and living a good life, as you struggle with bills, get passed up for promotions and watch people take more and more from you.

What do you do? Seriously do you you give in? Do you start to compromise your own beliefs and values to get ahead in anything? Do you stop telling the truth so you don't hurt your bosses little pansy ass feelings? Do you tell your neighbors they have a cute kid to avoid conflict? Do you feed yourself to hide your misery? Do you tell other peoples stories to people to make yourself seem more interesting? What do you give up to make life easier for you? Why the hell do you not give in to this lifestyle to make your life easier? What is it that keeps you thinking about those things that you give up, or perceive that you gave up?

Look I am going to break this down in short simple concepts that might make my brain a bit easier for people to understand. You can compromise your morality all day, its yours. I like my morality. I made a choice to live by it. It was not something that was forced on me through genetic guilt or social pressure. My morals have developed over the years I have walked on this planet, and are strongly based on the moral codes established by my ancestors through trail and error so many years ago. If you think I am a dick for following them, here is the simple part, I do not give a damn. I do not live my life to please you. I am not measured by the position or title I hold in one social group or another. In the end when the Valkyrie come for me, it will be me standing with my life and you standing with yours.

Yeah its hard when you make adjustments to your life. Some people don't get it, that is cool, those I do not count amongst my friends. I act with honor at school, and at work not to please others or get that next promotion, I do it because it is what I know is right and right by me. I don't whine every time some self loathing wanna be hippie capitalist sheeple mind zombie gets something better, because they have a different sense of ethics than I do. This is why they are sheeple. They play the game just like everyone else, and look for the loop holes in the rule to make their life easier. Can't really blame them for that either. All a person could want in life is to be left to their own happiness. Others are just willing to give up more to get it. They also confuse compliance with happiness. Just because life is easy, does not mean you are happy.

So if you have your own ethics, code, or moral compass, follow it. This is your path, and you will find it so much easier to walk if you are not passing judgment on those not walking it. You walk my path though, be ready to keep up, or get out of the way. Stop worrying about all the crap you have or don't have, and just worry about the things that matter. You might not drive the coolest car, or wear the nicest suits, but have you sold yourself like a hooker in the game of life? Have you sacrificed your own integrity to improve your image? If so what did you really get out of it? Can you share those stories with your grandchildren, and maybe share them in a way you don't have to look over your shoulder and whisper?

You do not need other people to tell you right from wrong. You don't need to do wrong to achieve comfort. There is only so much of you that you can sacrifice before there is nothing left worth living for. At the end of the day its your life, and you have not business putting it on the scale with others. Judge yourself, for you will be more critical, and its your judgment that matters. Judge others by their deeds, but stay the fuck out of their life you busy body old bitty with a broke leg and some binoculars. Let them live their life, because if you are trying to live theirs you are only half assing yours.

Parralel universe parking.

Yep, I am the center of my own universe. I understand this. I know that I can not change the feelings of others. I understand that they and they alone can change their feelings. I also know that I am responsible for my own actions and reactions. You do not piss me off. I allow the results of your actions to piss me off. I am a big boy (not just in a porn star way either) and I understand that I choose to feel shitty, angry, happy or what ever spectrum of not dead I have to go through to get through life. I know that I am the controller of what is in my head. I decide to live by my code of conduct. I walk on my own spiritual path because I choose too. I do not do this for praise, adulation, or with expectation other than self gratification. So in that I say this is who I am, and if you don't like it, I can choose to give a fuck. If I don't you can make your personal choice to be butt hurt. This is how it works. This is the universe in a nutshell.

Now I know that I am the center of my own universe, and I know you are the center of yours. Universe implies a lot of space though. So while I am the epicenter of my own field of mass destruction, I know that being the center is not the end of it. No man is an island after all. So we have to at least once in our life interact with other centers, and we have to make choices about them. We have to decide if we like them or not. We have to decide how reactive we are going to let them be in our life. We can give thought to whom we let in, and who we tell to get the hell out. We surround ourselves with those we want to surround ourselves with.

In participating in society we have on a subtle level agreed to play by the established rules. We are saying that we not just kill those that piss us off. We agree to play nice with those that come out with us. We accept the decisions of others if we decide to join in a group, tribe, office, or gaggle fuck with them. It is along the lines of sex. When you hump somebody, you are are saying you are willing to sleep with every person they ever slept with before you. Now this is not a question of your sexual preference, but a statement of fact. This is also why some people I know are completely safe from being exposed to my awesomeness. I know who they slept with and personally I could never stomach that. You know who you are, and if I am saying your judgment sucked on who you banged, that is saying something.

So in this you have to understand that balance of personal and group social dynamics. This comes with being a part of a group. You do not have to like everyone in the group, but you have to understand that being part of the group you agree to play nice with all the people in the group, and listen to the rules of the group as a whole. This is also why I do not like cheaters. You agree to play a game, like monopoly for example, so you play by the rules in the damn box. If you are not playing by the rules you are not playing monopoly, but rather a twisted weaker version that is not the game at all. If you cheat to win, than that victory is shallow as well. So play nice, play by the rules, or leave the interaction to better people than you.

Now somebody reading this is probably thinking this is about them. I am going to say get over yourself and understand this is not about you, but rather about me putting my thoughts into form. This about understanding roles we all play. This about understanding the value of everyone, and that everyone has a value under the right situations. This about making it clear that I am agreeing to play by the rules, because if not what is the damn point of playing. I understand the pros and cons of the choices I make. I understand the difference between agreement and offering my word. I understand the levels of commitment you offer to a group. While I am not saying too my readers that they do not understand this, I am sharing my level of understanding. If you get butt hurt over that, remember it is your choice not mine.

So in this you need to understand the balance of life. You are the center of your own universe, but the universe is pretty damn big. The more you are a douche nozzle the more crap will be brought into your universe. I say this so you guys know why I am a judgmental asshole because I like my universe the way it is, and I do not need somebody's bullshit contaminating it. I try to bring the good in, and I favor those things that make my life more meaningful. In doing so I fulfill my social responsibility by not bringing garbage into the universes of those I choose to interacts with. Its all about being respectful.

D-Day

Today I find myself thinking about a little event that happened sixty eight years ago. Now what I am thinking about is not the event itself though. You see there was something those men and women had that made this happen. This was the largest amphibious assault in human history. This is an event that shaped the world. It was with one loud cry that the voice of freedom placed its balls on the table and shouted in the face of fascism and tyranny. It was a battle of character. The war was happening for so many others for five long years. This though, was when the line was not only crossed, but pissed on. Twelve thousand allied soldiers lost their lives. It was estimated that the Germans had lost ninety percent of their fighting force in this assault. A mere nine thousand killed or wounded, compared to the twelve thousand of the Allied forces. The pill boxes rained death into the opening jaws of the landing craft. Antiaircraft weapons shredded the gliders carrying the paratroopers behind the lines. So few held so much, but in the end those few died and a foot hold was established in the Axis powers ass.

Now the question you have to ask yourself is what exactly possess a person to accomplish such deeds? What makes a young farm boy run into the fray? Instinct dictates that the ordinary person runs from such things. Instead of running from, they ran to danger with a bayonet in hand. They screamed in the face of death and looked to it as a purpose much greater than themselves. They saw something to fight for that was not of the individual, but it was personal. It kind of makes you wonder what the difference was between that greatest generation and the thing we have become? You see America was a two party system then. Pearl Harbor united them in cause far beyond the length of one presidential election. War bonds, victory gardens, and so much more showed not only support but a commitment to a higher cause. This was a cause that overcame the boundaries that overshadowed any God that anyone of them bent a knee too.

This was not a yellow ribbon magnet temporarily fixed to your cars posterior to help you fit in. It was not about being cool in the eyes of your neighbors and coworkers. All of this before we even knew the full extent of the atrocities of the Nazi's. So what made them so different? What made them so selfless? Does anybody think we as a nation could do this again? A war on two fronts, movements on a scale never before seen, and support pouring over. It was not the gritty video games that children emulated, but the stories from AFN. So what is the difference? What level of timing in our social evolution allowed us to shine in the spotlight? What the hell has happened since then?

Where did the ideal of personal courage go? Where did the idea of individuals balanced in the whole of the nation? This is when we were truly Americans. This is when we were something more than just Bob, Mike, Karen, or Jill. This is when we were Americans not just people that lived in a system called America. This is when we were really those UNITED States. They did not lack character or individuality, rather they celebrated it. I would not say they accomplished this in spite of this, but rather because of this. They knew that it was their individuality that made them Americans. It was that unique facet that was them that allowed our country to aspire to this greatness. They were the facets on one huge diamond. They enforced their will, and this did this without trying to bend others to it.

This diamond was flawed, with segregation and other embarrassing conditions that were later rectified, but even with this we stood UNITED. Blacks left a distinguished record in World War II. Even Americans of Asian descent fought valiantly and with distinction as their own families were held in interment camps on our own fucking soil. Women took to the factories even though they were not allowed to fight. How the hell did they do that? What made this greatest generation come together even when they were so divided at home? I can tell you what it was, they saw something bigger than themselves. They knew what was really on the line. It was the hope of equality, and the promise of liberty. It was what being an American is really supposed to be about. It was not trying but doing. It was putting forth the solution they had, rather than bitching about what they didn't.

So to that I say hail to the heroes and those honored dead. So say hail to those that set the standard that our selfish lazy entitled asses can't seem to follow. I say thank you to them for showing us that yes we can do it. It is possible even when things are not going so great to be a part of something that is. It was not about being just you, but understanding that also needed the "S" and the "A" to really be great. So hail to the heroes that died that day. Hail to those that lived and showed us the potential in ourselves. We can be more, once we figure out its not just about us, but its about U.S. Thank you to that greatest generation, and I hope we can once again be worthy to call ourselves Americans like you.