Notes From A Smoke-Filled Closet
Another, albeit minor, Election Day has come and gone. So, if you were among the infinitesimal percentage of Americans who managed to drag themselves to the polls to fulfill what they perceive to be their "civic duty", did you vote for the moron or the crook? That's what our political options have become after thirty years of de facto and de jure deregulation which have, in effect, removed all the safeguards designed to protect the People from unscrupulous players who would use the system against Them by happily selling their allegiance to the highest bidder. That's the choices we have in a system completely remodeled to suit, above all else, the best interests of incumbent politicians. That's the world in which people who call themselves "progressive" are compelled to cheer the victory of a lifelong political hack like Terry McCauliffe because, at least, the guy from the Tea Party lost.
In the words of Jerry Garcia, "If you're choosing between the lesser of two evils, you're still picking evil."
Instead of voting, let's all get stoned. Instead of trying to determine which candidate's distortions and exaggerations we find less offensive, let's stay home and watch sitcom reruns. At least we can tell when George Costanza is lying to us.
Americans born before World War II have set the national agenda their entire lives...because they vote. They continue to believe it is vitally important they support a candidate even if they aren't provided with a decent option. And they choose the moron or the crook - whichever is less offensive to their specific tastes - and validate his role as their supposed democratic representative although his only loyalty is to the individuals who funded his campaign. It's not that the voters are blind or stupid. They are simply terrified of what might happens if the other guy wins.
That's what our elections have become: A yearly exercise in political terrorism designed to scare people into not voting for someone else.
I was once among those who believed voting was the duty of a member of a democratic society. But that was when I still thought I lived in that type of society; before thirty years of corporate rule overseen by figureheads who could have just as easily called themselves Democrats, Republicans or Klingons and it wouldn't have altered the national agenda. That was before I could see through the lies.
This book is, in many ways, the story of my awakening. And it has only become clear to me, after the fact, that, in the words of Robert Hunter, "I was blind all the time I was learning to see." What I did not understand while I was part of it, but can see clearly from the outside, is this: If a man involves himself in a system designed to benefit crooks and fails to recognize that fact, he is probably a moron. I know because I was a moron for fifteen years. I sincerely believed honest people could function, and even prevail, in a system with no protection against the dishonest. Now I understand those who are willing to sell tiny pieces of their souls for temporal gain are much more powerful in a world in which that transaction is not contraindicated and the buyers for his corrupted essence are, literally, banging at his door, wallets in hand, in search of his favor.
I invite you to take this journey to enlightenment - my "bodhi", if you will - along with me. What you will discover is we will always have more questions than answers and nothing is ever what it seems. (At least, I hope that's what you will discover and not something more akin to, "This dude needs to stop thinking of himself as a novelist and go back to writing press releases.") And the only easy answer to difficult questions (the favored approach of our species) contained herein will be our new mantra - with thanks, again, to the Grateful Dead - "Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile."
Smile with me. Tune in, turn on and drop out, if you prefer. But let's take a close look at the realities of our system and mock the fact it pretends to be a democracy, together, as we watch it either recover or decompose. And let's not allow ourselves to be impressed by Twenty-first Century politicians purporting to be their more noble antecedents simply to leave the false impression that people with integrity remain at the helm.
The only thing we have to fear is crooks quoting Roosevelt.
Most of all, let's not permit ourselves to be distracted from our disengagement by modern day crusaders who tell us if we only give them our votes, they will turn into the magical creatures who possess the power, integrity and determination to reform the system from the inside. If Mr. Smith went to Washington these days, he would be sent unceremoniously home with his severed, over-inflated testicles in a Hefty bag.
Like living beings, nations and governments are constantly evolving - always becoming something else - and never remaining what they intended to be for very long. It will be up to us to determine what manifestation of the peculiarly-American form of "democracy" our government will next assume. If it does not evolve into another system run by the stupid to benefit the wealthy while wrapping itself in the guise of democracy, we will already be ahead of the game.
In the words of Jerry Garcia, "If you're choosing between the lesser of two evils, you're still picking evil."
Instead of voting, let's all get stoned. Instead of trying to determine which candidate's distortions and exaggerations we find less offensive, let's stay home and watch sitcom reruns. At least we can tell when George Costanza is lying to us.
Americans born before World War II have set the national agenda their entire lives...because they vote. They continue to believe it is vitally important they support a candidate even if they aren't provided with a decent option. And they choose the moron or the crook - whichever is less offensive to their specific tastes - and validate his role as their supposed democratic representative although his only loyalty is to the individuals who funded his campaign. It's not that the voters are blind or stupid. They are simply terrified of what might happens if the other guy wins.
That's what our elections have become: A yearly exercise in political terrorism designed to scare people into not voting for someone else.
I was once among those who believed voting was the duty of a member of a democratic society. But that was when I still thought I lived in that type of society; before thirty years of corporate rule overseen by figureheads who could have just as easily called themselves Democrats, Republicans or Klingons and it wouldn't have altered the national agenda. That was before I could see through the lies.
This book is, in many ways, the story of my awakening. And it has only become clear to me, after the fact, that, in the words of Robert Hunter, "I was blind all the time I was learning to see." What I did not understand while I was part of it, but can see clearly from the outside, is this: If a man involves himself in a system designed to benefit crooks and fails to recognize that fact, he is probably a moron. I know because I was a moron for fifteen years. I sincerely believed honest people could function, and even prevail, in a system with no protection against the dishonest. Now I understand those who are willing to sell tiny pieces of their souls for temporal gain are much more powerful in a world in which that transaction is not contraindicated and the buyers for his corrupted essence are, literally, banging at his door, wallets in hand, in search of his favor.
I invite you to take this journey to enlightenment - my "bodhi", if you will - along with me. What you will discover is we will always have more questions than answers and nothing is ever what it seems. (At least, I hope that's what you will discover and not something more akin to, "This dude needs to stop thinking of himself as a novelist and go back to writing press releases.") And the only easy answer to difficult questions (the favored approach of our species) contained herein will be our new mantra - with thanks, again, to the Grateful Dead - "Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile."
Smile with me. Tune in, turn on and drop out, if you prefer. But let's take a close look at the realities of our system and mock the fact it pretends to be a democracy, together, as we watch it either recover or decompose. And let's not allow ourselves to be impressed by Twenty-first Century politicians purporting to be their more noble antecedents simply to leave the false impression that people with integrity remain at the helm.
The only thing we have to fear is crooks quoting Roosevelt.
Most of all, let's not permit ourselves to be distracted from our disengagement by modern day crusaders who tell us if we only give them our votes, they will turn into the magical creatures who possess the power, integrity and determination to reform the system from the inside. If Mr. Smith went to Washington these days, he would be sent unceremoniously home with his severed, over-inflated testicles in a Hefty bag.
Like living beings, nations and governments are constantly evolving - always becoming something else - and never remaining what they intended to be for very long. It will be up to us to determine what manifestation of the peculiarly-American form of "democracy" our government will next assume. If it does not evolve into another system run by the stupid to benefit the wealthy while wrapping itself in the guise of democracy, we will already be ahead of the game.
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