Clothosfate’s blog

Just the other day I was sitting around with my family, hashing out opinions on politics and philosophy which are always big topics.  A theme that kept resurfacing in the conversation was how ridiculous it is that good parents are being persecuted for the failings of stupid ones.

A favorite example being the disappearance of, and criminalization of baby-walkers.  Those infant toys that were in every family in the 70’s and 80’s that had a cushy seat for your baby and wheels so that he/she could get themselves around without being carried or having balance down pat.  It seems obvious in the very nature of the toy that it should not be used near open stairwells; does that really need pointing out?  Do you ride anything with wheels down stairs if your not an 11 yr old boy?  Well apparently it wasn’t apparent enough to some neglectful parents who let their children get seriously hurt or even die falling down stairs in one of them.  Instead of those parents taking responsibility for their stupidity, they blamed the company for making a child’s’ toy that could so easily show how fucking stupid they really were.  It is now illegal to own one.  There are many many things that have gone the way of the baby-walker for the very same reason; cowardice.  People don’t want to be held responsible for the mistakes they make, “It’s not my fault.”  Fuck that bullshit, it IS your fault, now deal with it.

This way of being really works in favor for the wealthy class in our society.  The more choices that are taken away from us due to the fact that we just can’t be trusted to make good decisions, the less we strive to make our own decisions that could break us out of the cycle of debt and despair that keeps us working for The Man.  ‘I can’t do that, its against the law for a good reason I’m sure.’  ‘I should take these pills because my doctor, who really cares about whats best for me and my family, tells me I need them to be normal.’  ‘I can’t fix my own house, or car without a certificate that says I am qualified, because if I fuck it up, I will have to take responsibility for my actions.’  ‘I can’t give my child herbs and vitamins to benefit his health because the pharmaceutical companies didn’t sell them to me.’  Someone has to make money off of what I do or else I probably shouldn’t do it.

Children get passed through the education system because of their ethnicity and not their capability.  My son can’t bring his MP4 player to school because if some other kid steals it, apparently I won’t take responsibility for him bringing it from home, I’ll sue the school.  Same goes for a failing grade, its not my fault, its the school.  So the schools play it safe and make everyone a winner, and equal and fair.  Right, cause life is so fair and equal. My son is the smartest kid in his class, but he gets a B average from boredom, while children doing far less get the same grade because ‘its the best they can do’. Schools don’t really teach our children how to learn, only how to buckle down and succumb to the idea that life is all about making money.  Only people who don’t think very deeply will agree to that bullshit, so what better way to control the population then to condition them through public education and media to be what you want them to be. Ignorant.

Long ago (but not too long) in our culture women were kept ignorant for propriety’s sake.  It was scandalous for a woman to know too much about the workings of the world, because if a woman were to be educated, she would be able to see through all the lies and manipulations that were being imposed upon her and her daughters and possibly make her own decisions that may not be the ‘right’ decisions.  Even with women being kept ignorant, they have always had a major impact on their men; as I’ve said before, men will do anything for a self-assured woman not afraid to show her sexuality, and that was a power just too big to allow women to have.  So down with independent thought, and damn her (or burn her at the stake) if she reveals any of that sexual power that may influence a man.  Might as well make sex a sin while your at it, just to be safe.

Now, although it appears that we are more socially advanced then that if you believe what they tell you on TV, the truth through my eyes looks rather different.  It is no longer just women who are being kept ignorant, now it is everyone who does not belong to the small percentage of the wealthy class (which is less then 20% of the population who owns more then 50% of the wealth).  We are not being dealt in on the hands that decide how our lives are spent, and through conditioning we question that fact less and less.  As a rule, we are agreeing to allow ourselves and our children to be treated as less important then the wealthy.  This isn’t new, but the fact that we aren’t questioning the sense of it anymore, is.

It is no more the job of the wealthy to remind us of what life is all about then it is the job of our children to raise us.  The wealthy are not our parents or even our teachers or leaders (well they should not be); in fact they have the will to be our masters and keepers.  It is our jobs to teach our children to think for themselves, and our jobs to act upon that lesson.  A quote from Buddha says it perfectly; ‘Do not believe just because wise men say so; Do not believe just because it has always been that way; Do not believe just because others may believe so.  Examine and experience for yourself!’

There is not much I hate worse then people who will whine about a problem that they have absolutely no intention of doing anything about.  Things aren’t just the way they are, we make them this way, and we can change it.  Take a moment to think about being human, and what else we might possibly be here for, and then lets talk. If all you can see is making money, paying bills and buying things, then stop whining and live the life you’ve got.  If you see more then that… welcome to the conversation.

Some days my Muse is like a fog drifting across the mountain; wholly intangible.  Other days she is an insistent, over-tired child who doesn’t know what she wants and really just needs time to sleep… and dream.  Today she is restless and full to the brim.

My Muse has walked with me through all the ages of my life, whispering her words of wonder and crying her tears of outrage; all the beauty… all the magic… so ruthlessly tossed aside for the peddlers’ bag of sweets. What a sham.  What a waste.

‘Don’t give in’ she tells me. ‘Don’t be fooled by the shiny bauble, they only desire to enslave you within it.’

I have heeded her warning all of my days… watched my step; kept my eye on the curtain; danced away again and again from the allure of complacency and conformity.

“Life is but a dream… sweetheart.”

“hello, hello again..”

My muse is the boat and the wave, upon which I ride the vast ocean of possibility.  She speaks to me of finer things then bills and taxes and sales.  She sings to me of bravery; of courage, compassion and soul.  My Muse accepts only greatness; the kind that lies can’t erase.  She dances, prances, sings and swings.  I move within her music.

Yet… the Muse is not the action.  She is not the doing of the act, but the imagining of the many possibilities which could come about if YOU take up the brush, the sword, the pen or ballet shoe… and become the vessel through which all of creation can be expressed.  It is I who the Muse moves to do the moving.  I bring my pregnant pen; she her gift-wrapped packet, and together we dance in the faery ring under the full moons light.

One of the things I used to like to do with my spare time (hahahaha), when I was not writing, doing Mom stuff or any of the other million things on the daily ‘to-do’ list was play World of Warcraft, otherwise known as WoW. I am not alone in this past time by any means, considering there are about 8 million players worldwide, some of which I actually play with as it is an online game. WoW  gained a certain level of stardom with William Shatner and Mr. T doing commercials for the game (watch them, they are hilarious) but I sure hope it doesn’t drive the game to experimentation with drugs because I really don’t think it would survive rehab.

I have a theory about why this game is so popular, and when I say popular, I mean all-encompassing. Some people live for this game… they get up, go to a lousy job that has very little responsibility so that they can leave there work at work, come home and still have the time and money to play WoW. Their girlfriends feel in competition with the game, their family members get concerned, their friends with ‘real’ lives make fun of them. It is probably considered an addiction in some cases, but how do you label video game playing as an addiction? Not to mention as far as addictions go… it could be worse.

I would say addiction is the wrong word. Instead I would go with… purpose. Purpose is what we live for. We have so little purpose is our society, just cause and affect. I need to eat and keep warm, therefore I need to have money, which leads me to work. Sure survival could be considered a purpose, but if that was ever enough for us we would still be living in tribes in the jungle. How can anyone be satisfied with doing only what our society expects of them. In fact it amazes me that we don’t have more people standing up and saying “No… I won’t do it.” As important as survival is, we are not just animals, and therefore we need more.

I believe that we all have the drive to do something important, or fulfilling with our lives, we are just not offered the opportunity or even the choice. Our society has programmed us all to the point where, the moment we are born, pretty much all of our choices are laid out for us like cereal boxes in a grocery store. These are your choices… no more, no less and don’t bother whining about it cause we all know life is not fair. What a load of horse shit. Sure, if I want to let my society dictate my experience for me, I will just have to pick from the types of cereal I see in front of me… but if I want to try something new, well hell, I will just have to make some new kinds myself.

This is where WoW comes in.  When your every day life offers you little to no satisfaction, and all those wonderful choices they lied to you about seem to be between beet soup and beet stew after a day at the beet factory, do you just kill yourself or think of something new?  What if someone else thought of something new for you and all you have to do is sit down and be a part of it.  Well HELL YA!  Who doesn’t want to sit down? And not only sit down, but sit down and play with other real people; plug into a fantasy world of magic and heroes, epic battles, cool toys, recognition and camaraderie, consistently bigger and badder bosses and… a sense of purpose.

Well even with all my ‘free advertising’ about the game, one thing remains resolutely clear.  Even as we get a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from playing WoW, it is still a fundamentally empty feeling.  Ultimately, it is only a substitute for real purpose in the face of no purpose.

I gave up WoW with the desire to live my own adventures.  To be willing to go against the flow, try something else.. find a real purpose.  Of course, this does not mean I wont be back to the wondrous land of Azeroth again one day, how could I stay away?  But for now, until the time has turned… the adventure lies here.

Lately I have been busy doing school, and school related things.  I am attempting to  apply to an Education Assistant program, which some say I am very well suited for, which I think may be true but I really just want to be an EA because it pays more then $8.50/hr, doesn’t involve serving/cooking/cleaning/breaking back (which all pay in the close range of $8.50/hr give or take $1) and being an EA I can actually use my brain.  Very important aspect of a desirable job in my opinion… using ones brain.  Highly underrated (and underused?) ability in some very important places.

I am presently taking a Critical Thinking philosophy class, that challenges all the students to examine critically their beliefs and choices, and to approach the world around us with the same frame of mind.  It is a refreshing, invigorating, challenging, inspired and important endeavor to embark upon.  I stress the importance.  Very important.  Especially in this time.  This day.  We must think hard about the choices we make and why.

I wrote my first exam for the class, and I think my first two answers are a great explanation as to why I feel as I do, and what this post is all about.  So here they are:

1) A critical examination of your beliefs is important for many reasons.  Unless we examine our beliefs we can not claim to be doing anything other then what we have been told to do, which is a loss of personal freedoms.  If we care about our choices and beliefs, which is how and what we think, then we must examine them to be sure we have good reason for having those beliefs.  A person can not justify belief in something without good reason to back it up, which takes critical examination of that belief.  Thinking guides our actions which guide our life, so the more thought out our choices are, the better life we can have. 

2)      I accept the idea that it is immoral to believe claims without good evidence.  For a person to act without thought or to live without examination of their actions or beliefs is to act or live irrationally or irresponsibly.  Irresponsibly believed claims can lead to unexamined support of immoral practices.  A person can not claim ignorance of the morality of their choices; if they support a claim, examined or not, they are responsible for that belief and the consequences of it.  Therefore it is a moral choice to examine ones beliefs.

And there ya have it.  Happy voting.

A thought that has always puzzled me and struck me as strange is Organic Food. This is why:

“Organic foods are produced according to certain production standards, meaning they are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.”

So basically the way food was originally grown, before it needed to be called Organic to distinguish it from the food that has been ‘treated’ with the above mentioned interventions. So in fact when you buy ‘potatoes’ what you are really buying is genetically influenced/chemically grown potatoes, and when you buy organic potatoes you are then truly buying ‘potatoes’.

It is misleading to label naturally grown food as Organic, and I think that it is done purposefully. Organic has been coupled with ‘hippie’, ‘environmental’, and other words associated with activism to give it a disruptive spin and create an opposition to the reintroduction of naturally grown food. This is just another ridiculous way in which the general population is being manipulated voluntarily. I say voluntarily because even if a number of you know this, you just don’t care enough to DO anything about it. I understand though… not enough time in a day to do what you HAVE to, let alone do what you SHOULD do.

Next, the irony of logging in B.C., Canada. HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!

So there are a lot of environmental activists here that have spent years and years protesting and slowly altering the logging practices of the Forestry Industry. Less clear cuts, more sustainable logging. Its a good idea, sure, we need trees and the forests handle thinning out much better then clear cutting. Its more expensive to the Logging companies, but then thats the whole point of environmental activism, not to trade our ecosystem for a quick buck.

The funny part of this is, the pine beetle. After all these years, a bug destroys HUGE amounts of pine trees here, that now need to be cut down to prevent wild fires and the complete eradication of the pine trees in B.C. So, the environment that the environmentalists are trying so hard to protect has replaced the ‘evil loggers’ and clears trees without favor or prejudice. I love it.

Lastly, STUPID FUCKING DRIVERS GET OFF THE ROAD!

Can anyone tell me what a passing lane is for? Is it for slow drivers to speed up because the road is straight and clear? NO! Don’t be a fucktard! If you were driving slowly before the passing lane, and I am (unobtrusively) riding your ass, keep your damn speed and let me pass you, you stupid, inbred, spawn of a whore.

Ahem.

Now some pics from my garden, enjoy

Oooo this is a must see for all you people who like to imagine the ‘what-ifs’ and have any interest in anthropology, politics, religion, evolution… or just like a good story.

This is definitly not a film of any budget, it all pretty much takes place in one small cabin and has no explosions, sex scenes (I know why watch it then right?), murder, hot babes or special effects. What it does have is imagination, creativity, ingenuity and originality in abundance.

What if a man from the ‘Cro-Magnon’ period never died? What if he made it through all the ages of history before it was history? What would it all be like to experience first hand instead of retrospectively? What would you want to say to this man? What would you want to ask? (I would love to hear what YOU’RE questions would be)

For me I would probably want to ask if there was ever a time that humans were in harmony with each other, or if there was ever a time that the spiritual or political leaders were not corrupt.

This is the kind of story that makes my toes tingle. A good ‘What-If?’

The prudishness spread to the hippies too.  Apparently before I came into the community there was a lot more nudity and frivolity, which was still in high swing when I did arrive, but not as much as years passed I hear.

At summer solstice there are costumes, music, dancing, acting and naked children playing with pools of water and paints…naked or partially naked people is a common thing to see… but even since I arrived the nakedness has gotten less and so I tend to go topless every year just to let it be out there to make people more comfortable to do it themselves. Body paint is fun! I was once one of the ‘covered’ and I know the freedom of realizing you can be naked without sex.  The swimming hole is naked by choice as well, but since it is not far off a dirt road, some people feel the violation of strangers eyes driving by.

The difference with the acceptance of nudity is, in the small community where I lived, no one felt intruded upon or violated by any one else’s eyes when they were naked.  There was an understood respect and even an appreciation that was not… objective.  In the city, in ’society’ a naked body is a commodity that is regularly sold… blatant nakedness is fed upon as a free buffet would be.

Besides nudity, the people attempt to be self-sustaining, such as growing there own organic food, home schooling there kids, environmental activism, a council… there are mechanics, electricians, carpenters, herbalists, amazing gardeners and cooks.  They live in nuclear family situations within a valley… like a rural neighborhood… but celebrate all the seasons and events together.

It’s a wonderful idea that got my attention young, I was 19 when I moved there from Vancouver, but it has its flaws and dysfunctions.  Politics is a tricky thing and some people who leave society tend to have pretty big hang-ups and issues that don’t play well with others.  I tend to be a black sheep always on the outskirts of the communities inner council, which is as I would have it.  The society I would wish to be on the inner circle with probably doesn’t exist outside of some really good books.  But i give them big kudos for the effort, and to be fair, some of the people in the valley, are really…. well groovy is the right word.  They blow my mind and I love it… When I found myself here, I knew I would always be a part of it, no matter where I was in the worlds…

And yes, read LeGuin, she’s worth it.  Winter, what a great name for a world.  I would recommend this book to you, the politics in it is in itself worth reading.

Enjoy!

This book came into my hands in an almost inexplicable way, the way great stories tend to. The copy I have is a 1969 hardcover, owned by an aged real-life ‘hippie’ woman I know from the alternative community I used to live in. It almost smells like hope and action. It is my first Ursala K. LeGuin novel and I wonder where I have been hiding all this time.

The writing itself is compelling and intelligent; she does not place her words carelessly or without intention. I am drawn into the tale immediately and can practically feel my brain growing, feeding almost… the experience is addictive and wholly satisfying.

The story is ground breaking and multi-faceted in it’s description of a subdued society that is absolutely not compelled or controlled by the raging hormones of any one sexual side or the other, and the alien man who travels to the world called Winter, as an ambassador.

To a hermaphroditic race which only becomes sexually capable during ‘kemmer’; a type of ‘heat’ they go into, this man from the stars is a sexual deviant, a pervert with his constant and blatant sexuality. Although he may be able to hide his nature under the heavy clothing that is necessary to life on a world deep into ice-age, redefining his experience and his ability to relate, which is based so strongly on being responded to as a man, is much trickier. Getting past that hurdle is only the beginning to the challenge of convincing these people that they are not alone in the universe.

And that is only a slight whiff of the underlying flavor of this incredible novel. I give her all ten toes, all eight fingers and both thumbs up!

I can see the potential in all things. Especially in people. I see all these possibilities and choices and outcomes. I see great imagination, invention, love… so much potential. Thats all it is though… potential : existing in possibility : capable of development into actuality.It is not actuality though. Potentially people are incredibly brave and innovative. Creators. In actuality most can only dream of these things. Including me sometimes.

I look around me and I see a world where all of our choices are handed to us in a neat little package. “Here’s is your family, here is your ethnicity, here is your potential career, here is your education, here is your dreams… now choose between the pink folder, the green folder or the blue one.”

What you don’t like those choices? Well too bad, who do you think you are anyway? These are the same choices everyone gets, now live with it and no complaining.

If you dare to step outside the box and say “well what about all the other possibilities?” You will be harassed, laughed at, scolded and forced back into line by shame and fear. If you don’t stay in school and get a good education, you will amount to nothing. If you don’t wear the right clothes you will be ostracized. If you don’t take any job you can get, you are ungrateful and lazy.

How are these choices meant to make us feel? How do they make you feel? Trapped? Stressed? Unfulfilled? Alone? Not good enough? Well don’t worry, they have pills for that.

Let me get more specific, I do tend to drift. First, our education system. Exactly what are we being taught? I asked my son recently what he felt was the big message to kids these days from the school and the tv. He said “to compromise.” Very insightful that boy. I agree with him.. we have all been asked to compromise. Compromise our beliefs, our thoughts, our desires.. our whole lives actually. Now compromising is being sold to us as a ‘fair’ way to go through life, and its true, sometimes compromise is necessary and good. But life isn’t fair remember. So fuck compromise.

Our education is a one way ticket to becoming consumers and tax-payers. There is no other lesson being taught to our children, as if there is no other life to live. Wow. Is that really what we are here for? The greatest potential of the universe, which started ages ago as bits of stars, that blew up, traveled all this distance, through time and evolution to become a complex, imaginative and amazingly feeling creature that can actually ponder its origins.. and we are here to work lame ass jobs to buy stuff and pay taxes. Mhm.

Even if some of us do overcome our dumbing-down and make it to fulfilling, imaginative and incredible experiences, those are the exception, not the rule. They are not the people that our education system (or any of our ’systems’ for that matter) is trying to pump out. No matter what lies it tells us all. You are not going to grow up and become a famous movie star or entertainer. Most of you are not going to grow up and become a doctor, or politician, or even the less glamorous occupation of a scientist.

Those ‘jobs’ are passed down in families, or through connections that involve influence and power. Most of the young people in school will end up flipping burgers, (I don’t care what Bill Gates says; flipping burgers isn’t suitable for anyone who does not desire to be a cook), or taking any of the other multitude of demeaning jobs for minimum wage. They will do these jobs with the idea that they are a temporary, necessary evil, on the way to some greater more fulfilling life. They are taught to think just that; to compromise what they really feel and want. After 10 years or so, they realize that there is not a more fulfilling life on the horizon, they were lied to, but how do you change it by then?

If your parents are blue collar, so shall you be, and gladly right? Don’t forget to be grateful.

We must learn to think differently then what we are taught, begin to create our own choices and some day we may realize our potential.

Invasion sounds like such a  scary thing; evokes visions of aliens, or armies with guns and lots of death and destruction.  But not if it was Canada invading.

I am sure there are at least a half a million Native Americans who would love to curse me for saying such a thing, but they can go back to their subsidized houses, educations and jobs and bitch about it all they like.  All I got to say to them is, stop whining, for a conquered people you are doing pretty damned good for yourselves.  It’s not our fault that, like other North Americans, many of the people in your culture are messed up and can’t seem to make healthy choices for themselves.  That is a human problem, not a cultural problem, just look around.

Now I personally think that if Canada were to invade any other country in the world, the people there should consider themselves lucky.  If you look at how Canada treats its conquered people, you will know that you have nothing to worry about, and in fact it means that your children will have a good education, your elders will have good health care and you will be privileged enough to have your choice of jobs above and beyond the choices of your conquerers.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.  So I say, LET CANADA CONQUER THE WORLD!!