Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 54
October 30, 2020
LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF...
As a professional author, I am, as the song goes, a man of independent means (actually, in the Rolling Stones' song, it was "wealth and taste" I think). However, in my newly released Sci-Fu work, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, the three young protagonists are definitely not "of independent means." Taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by Raymond Gaynor and William Maltese left off, NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, provides a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live.
Raymond Gaynor is the pen-name of the multi-award-winning, reclusive writer-artist-photographer-videographer, who, in his own words, "lives and breathes" San Francisco. He co-authored with William Maltese on the Tripler and Clarke gay political thriller, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) and with A. G. Hayes on the fifth Koski & Falk adventure, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016). He is the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction works published under a variety of different pseudonyms. THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) is his first singly authored work. And, yes, "professional author" is a bit of an oxymoron in that "author" has always historically implied "professional," though this distinction is rapidly blurring in today's world of increasingly diverse "publishing" schemes and "giveaway writing/writers" erroneously called authoring/authors. My opinion. Hope this ruffles enough feathers to stir a few comments...
The Edge of Madness
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
Quantum Death
Raymond Gaynor is the pen-name of the multi-award-winning, reclusive writer-artist-photographer-videographer, who, in his own words, "lives and breathes" San Francisco. He co-authored with William Maltese on the Tripler and Clarke gay political thriller, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) and with A. G. Hayes on the fifth Koski & Falk adventure, QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016). He is the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction works published under a variety of different pseudonyms. THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) is his first singly authored work. And, yes, "professional author" is a bit of an oxymoron in that "author" has always historically implied "professional," though this distinction is rapidly blurring in today's world of increasingly diverse "publishing" schemes and "giveaway writing/writers" erroneously called authoring/authors. My opinion. Hope this ruffles enough feathers to stir a few comments...
The Edge of Madness
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
Quantum Death
October 29, 2020
UNLIVING HISTORY
First, let me state as did Michael Jackson, that history is more about his-story than her-story. In fact, I’ve never heard mention of herstory, have you? Given that women have been treated as chattel for thousands of years, and only been “given” the right to vote in the USA since 1920, a mere 100 years in the course of human his-story, it’s not surprising that history has been rewritten, not just by conquerers, but by male conquerers. And often exceptionally violent ones at that. “History is written by the Victors” (Winston Churchill).
It’s easy as a male in contemporary USA to assume that this injustice, like that of Native Americans and the descendants of slaves brought to America, as well as non-citizen immigrants, have all been “fixed.” Easy to assume, but sadly blatantly untrue. “Great” nations are often built on violent foundations, it’s just that they are easily forgotten by the descendants of the conquerers.
From where does the, call it misinformation or just “spin,” come? How does it continue its grip on a country and its people? Myth? “Natural” His-story? Propaganda? Deliberate deceit? How can it be brought to an end. I’m reminded of a similar question, namely, how does a perpetrator atone for past sins? Especially if the need to atone is more out of guilt or fear of “being exposed,” than genuine grief and sorrow? Can innocence be “restored” through victim forgivenness? I don’t think so. Which belies the question, how can this despicable, archaic infrastructure be “fixed?”
Legality aside (though making it illegal is a possible first step), what benefit is there to the victim to “forgive” a violator? A more “healthy” mental attitude by “letting go” of the infractions, pain and hurt? I suspect that, as unfair as it is, “letting go of the infractions,” and starting afresh may be the only way. No return to innocence; simply older and wiser.
It may not seem on the surface that THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor is about unliving history and re-writing a better, more plausible future, but it is my contention, it is. In fact, this is at the very crux of Sci-Fu, the “new” literary genre I have supposedly introduced with this work, giving readers the opportunity of peering over the edge of madness at a plausible, science-based future. Perhaps by looking into the future, we can discover a solution to gender inequity, and a new infrastructure upon which we can build our living history.
The Edge of Madness
eBook Now On Sale!
It’s easy as a male in contemporary USA to assume that this injustice, like that of Native Americans and the descendants of slaves brought to America, as well as non-citizen immigrants, have all been “fixed.” Easy to assume, but sadly blatantly untrue. “Great” nations are often built on violent foundations, it’s just that they are easily forgotten by the descendants of the conquerers.
From where does the, call it misinformation or just “spin,” come? How does it continue its grip on a country and its people? Myth? “Natural” His-story? Propaganda? Deliberate deceit? How can it be brought to an end. I’m reminded of a similar question, namely, how does a perpetrator atone for past sins? Especially if the need to atone is more out of guilt or fear of “being exposed,” than genuine grief and sorrow? Can innocence be “restored” through victim forgivenness? I don’t think so. Which belies the question, how can this despicable, archaic infrastructure be “fixed?”
Legality aside (though making it illegal is a possible first step), what benefit is there to the victim to “forgive” a violator? A more “healthy” mental attitude by “letting go” of the infractions, pain and hurt? I suspect that, as unfair as it is, “letting go of the infractions,” and starting afresh may be the only way. No return to innocence; simply older and wiser.
It may not seem on the surface that THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor is about unliving history and re-writing a better, more plausible future, but it is my contention, it is. In fact, this is at the very crux of Sci-Fu, the “new” literary genre I have supposedly introduced with this work, giving readers the opportunity of peering over the edge of madness at a plausible, science-based future. Perhaps by looking into the future, we can discover a solution to gender inequity, and a new infrastructure upon which we can build our living history.
The Edge of Madness
eBook Now On Sale!
October 27, 2020
LIVING HISTORY
No matter what your individual “take” on contemporary politics, ethics, business, government or civilization, it’s my opinion that we’re right now living and experiencing history in the making.
The USA has for nearly two-hundred and twenty-five years existed as a vibrant semi-democratic nation of traders. It is now being challenged from every direction, be it government, politics, ethics, public health, individual health care, social security, education, transportation, business, to re-examine and rebuild the infrastructures of the above in anticipation of the future. This should be a gradual, cooperative feat, but today forces not unlike those before the American Civil War are pressing for divisiveness and disintegration. I fear another civil war unless Americans can actively move away from the lure of fascist authoritarianism and re-embrace the diversity and freedoms our ancestors fought so hard to garner and enjoy.
Today’s divisiveness is unnecessary. We don’t have to entirely “drain the swamp” of everyone capable of governing and substitute popular fascism or “proletariat” communism in its place. Ours is neither a fantasy or shadow democracy. As a nation of traders, we don’t embrace violent transition. We invite others to join us in the pleasure and security of living under a power-balanced government scheme. Power-balanced, that is, unless the administrative branch begins pontificating instead of administering, the legislative branch legislates only for a portion of the people, and the judiciary abandons “blind justice” and allows itself to be “stacked” politically in favor of one belief system over another. There can be no balance or orderly transition, swinging from one extreme to another.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor assumes that even after a total meltown [TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2016) by William Maltese and Raymond Gaynor] of the USA, the constitution of the slimmer more vigorous NewAmerica remains the same, neither interpreted “as it was” in 1776, or “as it might be” in the future in favor of one ideology or another, but as it must be — in the now, “of the people, by the people and for the people” — in order to endure. The rise of NewAmerica and its gradual assimilation of NewTerra presumes these basic principles, upon which technology and society were then “free” to build the necessary infrastructures of the future. So again I ask, what’s it like to be living history in the making? And, don’t be afraid to peek over the edge of madness at one plausible science-based future. It might not be as bad as you or I fear.
The Edge of Madness
The USA has for nearly two-hundred and twenty-five years existed as a vibrant semi-democratic nation of traders. It is now being challenged from every direction, be it government, politics, ethics, public health, individual health care, social security, education, transportation, business, to re-examine and rebuild the infrastructures of the above in anticipation of the future. This should be a gradual, cooperative feat, but today forces not unlike those before the American Civil War are pressing for divisiveness and disintegration. I fear another civil war unless Americans can actively move away from the lure of fascist authoritarianism and re-embrace the diversity and freedoms our ancestors fought so hard to garner and enjoy.
Today’s divisiveness is unnecessary. We don’t have to entirely “drain the swamp” of everyone capable of governing and substitute popular fascism or “proletariat” communism in its place. Ours is neither a fantasy or shadow democracy. As a nation of traders, we don’t embrace violent transition. We invite others to join us in the pleasure and security of living under a power-balanced government scheme. Power-balanced, that is, unless the administrative branch begins pontificating instead of administering, the legislative branch legislates only for a portion of the people, and the judiciary abandons “blind justice” and allows itself to be “stacked” politically in favor of one belief system over another. There can be no balance or orderly transition, swinging from one extreme to another.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor assumes that even after a total meltown [TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2016) by William Maltese and Raymond Gaynor] of the USA, the constitution of the slimmer more vigorous NewAmerica remains the same, neither interpreted “as it was” in 1776, or “as it might be” in the future in favor of one ideology or another, but as it must be — in the now, “of the people, by the people and for the people” — in order to endure. The rise of NewAmerica and its gradual assimilation of NewTerra presumes these basic principles, upon which technology and society were then “free” to build the necessary infrastructures of the future. So again I ask, what’s it like to be living history in the making? And, don’t be afraid to peek over the edge of madness at one plausible science-based future. It might not be as bad as you or I fear.
The Edge of Madness
October 26, 2020
SATIRIZING SATIRE
When I was in college, I was always cautioned about using comedy, but especially satire, in non-fiction writing where the object was to convey the truth in a way that readers could quickly and easily confirm. Recently, however, I’ve become aware of comedy or satire appearing in other areas where readers assume the object is to convey truth, but in fact has been highjacked by business and politics for other ends. An online dictionary states that satire is “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” As a fiction writer, often tending more toward Sci-Fu (science-based futuring) or “plausible” thrillers, the line between plausibility and satire seems substantially blurred these days.
This morning I was thinking: How can an author of fiction incorporate comedy or satire without having readers believe what’s being said as satire? Like inserting making sure it appears only in dialog. Or using EM-dashes around the satire or something like that? Or maybe satirizing the joke or satire? Now there’s an idea. But how to do it, and, most importantly, would some readers still mistake it for fact?
So, today’s post is exactly that. A satire of satire. Right? Did you get it? I wonder. I’m not entirely sure I got it, and I wrote it!
I’ve been asked by one reader if THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor is actually satire. Or a sort of inside joke. In fact, when I wrote it, it was neither. It was my attempt at a new genre, that of Science-based Futuring (Sci-Fu), a peek over the edge of madness at a plausible future based on cutting edge technologies that can be expected to impact society in the near future. I wanted to create a sort of mirror into which readers could look and decide on their own actions based on whether they liked or disliked various aspects of this plausible future. Not fantasy, but not entirely non-fiction. So, well, maybe THE EDGE OF MADNESS is a satire of satire after all. I mean, if satire is not to be believed, wouldn’t that make a satire of satire true?
The Edge of Madness
This morning I was thinking: How can an author of fiction incorporate comedy or satire without having readers believe what’s being said as satire? Like inserting making sure it appears only in dialog. Or using EM-dashes around the satire or something like that? Or maybe satirizing the joke or satire? Now there’s an idea. But how to do it, and, most importantly, would some readers still mistake it for fact?
So, today’s post is exactly that. A satire of satire. Right? Did you get it? I wonder. I’m not entirely sure I got it, and I wrote it!
I’ve been asked by one reader if THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor is actually satire. Or a sort of inside joke. In fact, when I wrote it, it was neither. It was my attempt at a new genre, that of Science-based Futuring (Sci-Fu), a peek over the edge of madness at a plausible future based on cutting edge technologies that can be expected to impact society in the near future. I wanted to create a sort of mirror into which readers could look and decide on their own actions based on whether they liked or disliked various aspects of this plausible future. Not fantasy, but not entirely non-fiction. So, well, maybe THE EDGE OF MADNESS is a satire of satire after all. I mean, if satire is not to be believed, wouldn’t that make a satire of satire true?
The Edge of Madness
October 25, 2020
QUANTUM MEMORY
My partner sometimes accuses me of having a “quantum memory” when I can’t fully recall something previously said or promised. Today’s post, however, is about a different kind of Quantum Memory.
In the Physics section of SCIENCEALERT, David Nield reports, “In New Milestone, Physicists Store And Transport Light Using Quantum Memory.” The article describes an important advancement over “electromagnetically induced transparency” (EIT) where individual atoms have been used to trap, map, store and move light pulses within a storage device. We’re talking trapping, mapping, storing, recalling and transporting quantum light information over distances greater than the storage device. And we’re not talking absolute zero cold magnetic bottles here.
Photons carrying information are translated into electron cloud excitation states that can me moved in photon-electron packets called polaritons across distances, de-translating them back into photons carrying the same information. The underpinnings of Q-trans as appears in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
In the Physics section of SCIENCEALERT, David Nield reports, “In New Milestone, Physicists Store And Transport Light Using Quantum Memory.” The article describes an important advancement over “electromagnetically induced transparency” (EIT) where individual atoms have been used to trap, map, store and move light pulses within a storage device. We’re talking trapping, mapping, storing, recalling and transporting quantum light information over distances greater than the storage device. And we’re not talking absolute zero cold magnetic bottles here.
Photons carrying information are translated into electron cloud excitation states that can me moved in photon-electron packets called polaritons across distances, de-translating them back into photons carrying the same information. The underpinnings of Q-trans as appears in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor.
The Edge of Madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...
October 21, 2020
WHY DO PEOPLE READ FICTION?
Earlier today, I began thinking about the phrase “better than…” and several thoughts have slithered through my subconscious mind, eventually coalescing into the question, “What could be better than reality?” leading me to today’s post, “Why do people read fiction [when they already have have reality, which, these days is already quite a bit stranger and more engaging than fiction]?”
Let me qualify this first: “better than…” Better than eating. Better than money. Better than sex. Better than writing. Better than…fiction. Sort of a flow of subconsciousness with moments like these bubbling up into consciousness as I proceed through the day working on manuscripts, old and new.
Having a creative mind that quite runs well on its own without the need for a lot of conscious direction, for me, I simply like the creative process. And, yes, it’s better than eating, money, sex and trying to write it all down. Call it “freedom” if you like, for that’s what it feels like to me. Freedom of expression if you’re a politician. Freedom of the spirit. Freedom of the soul, I prefer, imagining one’s soul to be the sum total of all worldly (and unworldly) experiences during a lifetime. Don’t forget this line, as it is integral to my sequel to THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859)
Without giving away a spoiler, in a Multiverse like that posited in TEOM, there’s always the question of how to get from one universe to another, and, well, the “natural” way is birth and death, the latter transition being guided by one’s soul as defined above. Ponder this, Pilgrim. It’s quite deep. Then read THE EDGE OF MADNESS and prepare yourself for the sequel, for you will need some preparation for the ride.
The Edge of Madness
So why do people read fiction? In my world, it’s to gain insight into the results of our actions — I call this kind of fiction SCI-FU (science-based futuring) — in order to quiet the beast within who incessantly wants to know what happened before and what happens after or next.
Let me qualify this first: “better than…” Better than eating. Better than money. Better than sex. Better than writing. Better than…fiction. Sort of a flow of subconsciousness with moments like these bubbling up into consciousness as I proceed through the day working on manuscripts, old and new.
Having a creative mind that quite runs well on its own without the need for a lot of conscious direction, for me, I simply like the creative process. And, yes, it’s better than eating, money, sex and trying to write it all down. Call it “freedom” if you like, for that’s what it feels like to me. Freedom of expression if you’re a politician. Freedom of the spirit. Freedom of the soul, I prefer, imagining one’s soul to be the sum total of all worldly (and unworldly) experiences during a lifetime. Don’t forget this line, as it is integral to my sequel to THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859)
Without giving away a spoiler, in a Multiverse like that posited in TEOM, there’s always the question of how to get from one universe to another, and, well, the “natural” way is birth and death, the latter transition being guided by one’s soul as defined above. Ponder this, Pilgrim. It’s quite deep. Then read THE EDGE OF MADNESS and prepare yourself for the sequel, for you will need some preparation for the ride.
The Edge of Madness
So why do people read fiction? In my world, it’s to gain insight into the results of our actions — I call this kind of fiction SCI-FU (science-based futuring) — in order to quiet the beast within who incessantly wants to know what happened before and what happens after or next.
October 20, 2020
TOE-MAY-TOE OR TOE-MAH-TOE?
I heard a most interesting comment today about news and “fake” news: “Toe-may-toe, Toe-Mah-Toe!” followed by a nonchalant shrug. I was so taken aback, so gobsmacked, I stood there with my mouth open and no reply. What could I reply?
As a published author, I’ve always paid due deference to the difference between non-fiction and fiction. Okay, so in my thrillers, I’ve dabbled a bit in the nebulous realm of Truman Capote-style “historical fiction” – the IN COLD BLOOD “novel.” Never having been a fan of pure fantasy or unbridled fiction, I wrote THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, not as a science fiction or fantasy work, but as a science-based futuring work (a new genre that I take full credit and responsibility for inventing – and I don’t mean SCI-FU in the earlier sense of a “model for pursuing full visible unity in Scotland”).
And I do take umbrage with not keeping reality and spin distinct and separate in everyday life. It can be “fun” in the mind to blur the distinction, but it can also be deadly, as people are learning in today’s world.
Toe-may-toe or Toe-mah-toe, it’s equally important to distinguish between SCI-FU and SCI-FI especially when reading a SCI-FU novel. And, yes, I use the word “novel” intentionally to further challenge SCI-FU readers to separate not only non-fiction from fiction, but the present from a plausible future. Humans typically learn not so much from their successes but rather their failures or mistakes. SCI-FU offers a hypothetical “mirror” in which one can peer into a plausible future and decide if what is reveled is a benefit, failure or mistake.
The Edge of Madness
As a published author, I’ve always paid due deference to the difference between non-fiction and fiction. Okay, so in my thrillers, I’ve dabbled a bit in the nebulous realm of Truman Capote-style “historical fiction” – the IN COLD BLOOD “novel.” Never having been a fan of pure fantasy or unbridled fiction, I wrote THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, not as a science fiction or fantasy work, but as a science-based futuring work (a new genre that I take full credit and responsibility for inventing – and I don’t mean SCI-FU in the earlier sense of a “model for pursuing full visible unity in Scotland”).
And I do take umbrage with not keeping reality and spin distinct and separate in everyday life. It can be “fun” in the mind to blur the distinction, but it can also be deadly, as people are learning in today’s world.
Toe-may-toe or Toe-mah-toe, it’s equally important to distinguish between SCI-FU and SCI-FI especially when reading a SCI-FU novel. And, yes, I use the word “novel” intentionally to further challenge SCI-FU readers to separate not only non-fiction from fiction, but the present from a plausible future. Humans typically learn not so much from their successes but rather their failures or mistakes. SCI-FU offers a hypothetical “mirror” in which one can peer into a plausible future and decide if what is reveled is a benefit, failure or mistake.
The Edge of Madness
October 19, 2020
"FAKE" SURVEYS
This morning I was called by a genuine public survey firm (I know, because I “secretly” called their headquarters office during the survey) and was excited to be asked my opinion. At last. At every level of government politics and from many businesses, I’m constantly being solicited, scammed, conned, duped, gypped, bilked, hoodwinked, bamboozled, swindled, lied to, and tricked for money. No one ever asks, wants or is even interested in my opinions. Here was my chance!
However, as the basically “yes/no” “agree/disagree” “support/reject” survey progressed, I slowly came to realize that I couldn’t honestly provide black/white answers to the complex questions presented. A little further on I found myself thinking, I’m sounding very much like a radical ultra-conservative, and I’m anything but. Then I realized that the questions had been subtly constructed to solicit my answers so I would appear as someone I wasn’t. When I tried to stop and discuss my concerns, I was reminded that “it’s just a survey,” and the person I was talking to on the phone “is not allowed to discuss or qualify the questions,” as that would “bias” the survey.
Looking back, this survey had all the trappings of a legitimate survey, except that (1) the questions were subtly constructed to, in the end, support a particular view point; (2) there were no open ended questions allowing any room for qualification; (3) the interlocutor offered carefully prescripted but biased responses to my concerns. The clincher, however, should have been my asking who was paying for the survey, a question I hadn’t thought of till later. It might have been telling.
So, now I’ve had the pleasure of knowing that someone really wanted to hear my opinions, though they will likely end up being twisted into the polar opposite of what I really think. What to call this? A “fake” survey? It didn’t sound or feel fake until right near the end. And what to do about this and similar highly biased situation? I called the company back after the survey to express my concerns, only to receive a recorded message with no opportunity to talk or even leave a message. Go figure.
In SCI-FU (science-based futuring) one issue that is absolutely necessary to take into account is lying: intentional misdirection, spinning, fraud, prevarication, dishonesty, misrepresentation and out-and-out deception, even when it’s “in the public’s best interest.” People are much more resilient than most “leaders” think. When faced with a genuine challenge humanity proven again and again its ability to rise to that challenge, but can only ultimately lose faith in and leave leaders who deceive or propagandize.
In my newly released SCI-FU novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, the one required assumption that makes the difference between dystopia and plausibility is the belief that truth will prevail.
The Edge of Madness
However, as the basically “yes/no” “agree/disagree” “support/reject” survey progressed, I slowly came to realize that I couldn’t honestly provide black/white answers to the complex questions presented. A little further on I found myself thinking, I’m sounding very much like a radical ultra-conservative, and I’m anything but. Then I realized that the questions had been subtly constructed to solicit my answers so I would appear as someone I wasn’t. When I tried to stop and discuss my concerns, I was reminded that “it’s just a survey,” and the person I was talking to on the phone “is not allowed to discuss or qualify the questions,” as that would “bias” the survey.
Looking back, this survey had all the trappings of a legitimate survey, except that (1) the questions were subtly constructed to, in the end, support a particular view point; (2) there were no open ended questions allowing any room for qualification; (3) the interlocutor offered carefully prescripted but biased responses to my concerns. The clincher, however, should have been my asking who was paying for the survey, a question I hadn’t thought of till later. It might have been telling.
So, now I’ve had the pleasure of knowing that someone really wanted to hear my opinions, though they will likely end up being twisted into the polar opposite of what I really think. What to call this? A “fake” survey? It didn’t sound or feel fake until right near the end. And what to do about this and similar highly biased situation? I called the company back after the survey to express my concerns, only to receive a recorded message with no opportunity to talk or even leave a message. Go figure.
In SCI-FU (science-based futuring) one issue that is absolutely necessary to take into account is lying: intentional misdirection, spinning, fraud, prevarication, dishonesty, misrepresentation and out-and-out deception, even when it’s “in the public’s best interest.” People are much more resilient than most “leaders” think. When faced with a genuine challenge humanity proven again and again its ability to rise to that challenge, but can only ultimately lose faith in and leave leaders who deceive or propagandize.
In my newly released SCI-FU novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, the one required assumption that makes the difference between dystopia and plausibility is the belief that truth will prevail.
The Edge of Madness
October 18, 2020
THE END OF USA?
Okay. First, I’m no Nostradamus, nor am I an astrologer, prophet, Q, or inner member of the Illuminati or Deep State. Nope. I did, however, write about the end of the USA in a scenario not unlike that of the end of the USSR; however, in our case it ended with the abdication on election night of a petro-president (President Brown, if you’re getting nervous). Written together with the incomparable William Maltese, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), after several attacks by foreign interests, an attempt by organized crime to take over, followed by a brief nearly civil war, the USA emerges smaller and stronger, having shed it’s protective coastal coat and transferred the capital to Chicago. So now, if you still feel inclined to call me Nostradamus or any of the other attributions mentioned above, you need only wait a brief few months and “all will be revealed.”
But back to today, I’m also not a writer of dystopia. After the USA slims down and comes to realize that the fall wasn’t because of the failed president, who was more of a match than the dynamite, but because of a lack of vision wherein the infrastructure of the USA had become outdated. Pope Francis recently said that free-market capitalism, the heart of the USA, had failed. I take him to mean the highly dangerous, “necessary increasing profit” version of capitalism (and, in my mind, its inherent infrastructure from addictive Wall Street gambling to the forced emphasis on war supplies, drugs, human trafficking, forced human concentration). In my recently released SCI-FU (science-based futuring) novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), three young firebrands attempt to find their way in a post-post-meltdown world where technology and societal change drive NewAmerica and NewTerra to even greater heights. A world where the necessary increasing profit version of capitalism isn’t altogether gone but no longer drives humanity. A world where “Fast Eddies” are still on the prowl for a “fast buck,” but are balanced in their effect by a new kind of “family,” lifelong education and a panoply of choice unimaginable to us today.
Don’t worry. It’s all quite safe. Dangle your toes over the edge of madness and imagine what a future world that’s not dystopian might be like
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The Edge of Madness
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
But back to today, I’m also not a writer of dystopia. After the USA slims down and comes to realize that the fall wasn’t because of the failed president, who was more of a match than the dynamite, but because of a lack of vision wherein the infrastructure of the USA had become outdated. Pope Francis recently said that free-market capitalism, the heart of the USA, had failed. I take him to mean the highly dangerous, “necessary increasing profit” version of capitalism (and, in my mind, its inherent infrastructure from addictive Wall Street gambling to the forced emphasis on war supplies, drugs, human trafficking, forced human concentration). In my recently released SCI-FU (science-based futuring) novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), three young firebrands attempt to find their way in a post-post-meltdown world where technology and societal change drive NewAmerica and NewTerra to even greater heights. A world where the necessary increasing profit version of capitalism isn’t altogether gone but no longer drives humanity. A world where “Fast Eddies” are still on the prowl for a “fast buck,” but are balanced in their effect by a new kind of “family,” lifelong education and a panoply of choice unimaginable to us today.
Don’t worry. It’s all quite safe. Dangle your toes over the edge of madness and imagine what a future world that’s not dystopian might be like
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The Edge of Madness
Total Meltdown: A Tripler and Clarke Adventure
October 16, 2020
THE GREATEST AND THE LEAST
Last night I focused my huge Sky-Watcher 180mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope at the brightest object (of two) in the southern Oahu sky, Jupiter, the second brightest being Saturn. Of the two, Jupiter is my personal favorite. Jupiter (Greek Zeus), the much larger and stronger son of Saturn is the supreme Greek god, god of the sky, rulers of storms, lightening and thunder. The brother of Poseidon, god of the oceans and seas, and Hades, god of the underworld, Jupiter was also the principal god of the republic of Rome. "All roads lead to Rome," an incredible quote accorded to 12th century French poet and philosopher Alain deLille (though French, he didn't say all roads lead to Paris!), and in the southern Hawaii sky, Jupiter holds it place well as the brightest unblinking "star" in the night sky.
All this is to point to humanities longstanding worship of precedence and power. I have, however, long held the belief that money and its mighty relative, power, are but human illusions -- games invented by people who believe that by "winning" over others, they can achieve a futile mastery over fate and, perhaps subconsciously, death itself. In the end, that pathway seems to inevitably lead to rudeness, over confidence, arrogance and the application of aggression against others. A masculine representation of the power of creation, others claim.
Cupid (Eros), considered the weakest figure in ancient Greek mythology -- a mere child with a bow and arrow, and not greatest aim -- was ultimately feared even by Zeus. According to Pindar, “even the gods abhor his [Cupid's] power.” Can love then "conquer" all? I believe so, in a sense, but more in the form of genuine caring and empathy. The affectionate, nurturing side of humanity; the feminine representation of the process of birthing the creation into our world, others claim.
This universal, ubiquitous, omnipresent orchestration of archetypal forces is all about balance. My favorite representation of this in today's world is the hopi movie Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance decrying the polarization of the world into urban life and technology verses the "natural" world, at the very heart of my newly released novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020 by Raymond Gaynor.
The Edge of Madness
In it, urban life doesn't become dystopian and disappear, technology continues to race wildly ahead and the "natural" world immediately and sustainably benefits. How can that be? Clothe your mind in an invigorating balance of power and nurturing, peer over the edge of madness and see what one SCI-FU (science-based futuring) look at tomorrow holds.
All this is to point to humanities longstanding worship of precedence and power. I have, however, long held the belief that money and its mighty relative, power, are but human illusions -- games invented by people who believe that by "winning" over others, they can achieve a futile mastery over fate and, perhaps subconsciously, death itself. In the end, that pathway seems to inevitably lead to rudeness, over confidence, arrogance and the application of aggression against others. A masculine representation of the power of creation, others claim.
Cupid (Eros), considered the weakest figure in ancient Greek mythology -- a mere child with a bow and arrow, and not greatest aim -- was ultimately feared even by Zeus. According to Pindar, “even the gods abhor his [Cupid's] power.” Can love then "conquer" all? I believe so, in a sense, but more in the form of genuine caring and empathy. The affectionate, nurturing side of humanity; the feminine representation of the process of birthing the creation into our world, others claim.
This universal, ubiquitous, omnipresent orchestration of archetypal forces is all about balance. My favorite representation of this in today's world is the hopi movie Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance decrying the polarization of the world into urban life and technology verses the "natural" world, at the very heart of my newly released novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020 by Raymond Gaynor.
The Edge of Madness
In it, urban life doesn't become dystopian and disappear, technology continues to race wildly ahead and the "natural" world immediately and sustainably benefits. How can that be? Clothe your mind in an invigorating balance of power and nurturing, peer over the edge of madness and see what one SCI-FU (science-based futuring) look at tomorrow holds.
