Progressing Backwards

Is racism bad? Yes. On both sides of the aisle. It runs both toward and from several ethnicities. Personally, I’d like to see people of all skin colors and ethnic backgrounds get along and just acknowledge each other as people without any describers other than gender or hair color or other innocuous stuff. Except then there’d end up being animosity based on THAT.  Because that’s how humans work. We are a warring and excessive animal. 

The George Floyd situation? Clearly wrong and those men deserve to be punished. Absolutely. The man who exercised unnecessary force and violence as well as those who had a responsibility to ensure he didn’t act that way. When you wear a badge you’re held to a higher standard and you ARE you brother’s keeper. It is your responsibility to keep your brothers in check. Not just the citizenry but those with badges as well. 

I fully agree with peaceable protest for justice. Absolutely. PEACEABLE protest. Not looting, rioting and being violent. That’s not how to push for justice; it’s how you show your base nature of being a lowlife or a thug. Those using these protests as a cover or excuse for their criminal acts show precisely WHY we need the police they’re protesting against. 

True to our human nature, though, these protests have gone to extremes. The reaction to this instance of unnecessary violence and abuse by police has been carried too far. It’s like humans look for a cause, find the line, then just proceed to cross that line. The response by the police to George Floyd was excessive, so the response to it is excessive too. Human nature. 

And part of this excess is crying for defunding and/or dismantling police. Out of 60 million interactions between police and citizens a year, we have one case like this every 4-5 years. So, basically, 1 case out of roughly 1.3 BILLION interactions. But the protests say black people are being targeted. Except the numbers don’t support this. Who cares about facts when you can respond with emotion? Emotion clouds reason and logic so basing policy and affecting change based on emotion is a terrible idea. So I’m sure that’s what’ll end up happening. Right up until they later realize how terrible that decision was. 

Disband the police? Then what? Are we promoting vigilantism? Surely no one thinks crime is just gonna stop if you get rid of the police. Surely no one is dumb enough to think that any excessive violence or racism by people will just disappear if you dismantle the police.  Are these “progressive” people really pushing for us to return to the Wild Wild West? Why is progressive supposed to mean “moving forward” or “forward thinking” but it’s a name adopted by the most SHORT SIGHTED members of society? It’s like they enjoy the hypocrisy of their oxymoronic behavior so much they adopted a name that suited said hypocrisy. 

Look, I’m all for progress but maybe we should do something that’s actually progressive instead of regressive.  I’m all for checks and balances. I’m all for righting wrongs. However, I’m not down with the hypocrisy of blaming the entirety of one group for the actions of the few. That’s prejudicial by definition and close minded by practice. 

Protesting all over the place to end prejudice while exercising prejudicial behavior doesn’t make you any better than those you’re protesting against.  Committing criminal acts while pushing to disband police makes you part of the problem, not the solution. Try changing YOUR behavior before insisting everyone else change theirs. 

Are there police that abuse power and have no business having a badge? Yes. Unfortunately, though it’s not just law enforcement where this problem occurs, they get the most media attention because of the deaths that result. Not that every death that’s been protested is solely the fault of the constabulary involved. This one? Definitely was senseless, needless and the fault of those law enforcement officers involved. It was way over the top, just as the response has been. 

Here’s the problem with those pushing to disband law enforcement... right now you’ve got an organized group upon which you could focus your anger and disapproval. What happens if you succeed and we have no law enforcement? Let’s look first just at one aspect.... things would move in one of two directions. 

First, let’s say it just leads to martial law. You think having the government make our decisions for us and enforcing them with an iron fist is going to be a better solution? That’s laughable. 

Secondly, let’s say the police get disbanded and there is no martial law. So then we’ve got lawlessness and vigilantism and now you don’t have an organized group to voice your displeasure to. Don’t like what’s going on? Then shit will just get more violent in response and everything escalates. Sure hope you’re not one of those liberals who doesn’t believe in gun ownership when your “solution” backfires on you and the people who protect you are all fired and told not to protect you anymore. 

Remember, wars are the result of two or more parties of opposing opinions reacting in the extreme. Keep taking protests and shit to extremes and demanding extreme “solutions” and see if peaceful “getting along” is the natural outcome. 

Finally, and think hard about this..... demand the firing of the roughly 20,000 people who are trying to enforce law in the other 328 million (and ever increasing) people in the U.S. alone and put them on welfare and unemployment. Hell, keep decreasing the number of people paying taxes and increasing the number of those without jobs.  Now who’s supporting the rest of the country? Apparently you’re not familiar with the formulas that lead to economic collapse. Now imagine that collapse with no one to put their life on the line for you.  Welcome to the prequel for a Mad Max type of society. 

"Banned Wagon"

I would like to address a serious issue that no one seems to be willing to do anything about. People are dying out there and it can be prevented. We MUST unite and take action soon!

I saw yet another needless death on the news today. And we aren't doing anything about it as a nation. I've heard no talk of protests, gun control or banning anything. I've even scoured the internet looking for groups that are campaigning for protection or anything. It baffles me. 

I mean, every time someone gets killed or injured by a cop I don't see protestors with signs reading "ban laws; breaking them can get you hurt". Whenever there's a shooting people start campaigning to get rid of flags, symbols or guns because clearly those are the culprits. 

So, I want to address these deaths I saw today on the news. I'd like to raise awareness so I did some research. How have we missed this?! 

On average, more than 100 people per day die in car crashes in the U.S. annually. The death toll for a single day can range from 45 to 252 people. In fact, the days with the most crashes are around holiday periods with July 4th weekend being the highest. 

And it gets worse! Did you know that lightning alone kills about 52 people a year?! How are we still allowing this happen? And there's drowning. Roughly 350 people die every year from unintentional drowning. Intentional drowning? I'm not too sure how many. I don't know but I'm thinking some of the "unintentional" ones might be on purpose. Because people aren't just gonna fess up to drowning their spouse unless they're complete idiots. I've met a few people that have tempted me. 

But why aren't we banning these things? I mean, c'mon, we keep handing out driver's licenses even though cars are clearly weapons of mass destruction. In fact, our government saw fit to lend financial aid to car manufacturers who were facing bankruptcy. Doesn't that kinda make the White House "arms dealers"? They know how dangerous cars are. That's why the President has a plane and helicopter. Duh. Not to mention cars are obviously symbols of inequality. Rich folks flaunt it in everyone's faces by buying really expensive cars while the poor have beat up looking Flintstonemobiles. The poorest of the poor have to ride the bus. Or even...WALK! How undignified. Granted, it's free cardio but still, so inhumane. I say we unite to ban these murderous, hateful icons of oppression over the poor. 

Speaking of walking, it's hot out there in the summer. Especially in the south. Let's not forget northern winters. Combined, the summer and winter temperatures claim approximately 2,000 lives annually. When you consider lightning, tornadoes, heat, cold and other natural phenomena, we are looking at about 4,500 deaths yearly in the United States alone. Plus there are tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, the list goes on globally. I've not found a solid number for global deaths from "Mother Nature" and cars but my educated guess is it's a LOT. (Disclaimer: "a LOT" is not an official unit of measure anywhere yet so I'd like to copyright it as Touchet Units of Measure. Along with "assload", "shit ton" and "a buncha commas")

This "Mother Nature", she's kinda cruel. What kind of mother kills so many of her offspring? We should look into maybe fining her for lack of cooperation at the very least. I think sometimes it's premeditated so we should consider murder charges. Perhaps we can't get rid of her because she is kinda handy with that whole "spring" and "fall" stuff but even those sound a little violent. Maybe we should change their names to something like "gentle bounce" and "cushy landing". 

We haven't even gotten into wildlife yet. I haven't been able to find stats on number of people killed by mountain goats or rabid badgers but I'm sure there have to be a few. Sharks, bears, Pumas, they kill people too though. Admittedly, wildlife isn't as big an issue because the death toll on humans is dropping. Thankfully that's because the ones we can't eat we are slowly killing off. Hey, that's what they get for not being tasty. Want your species to survive? Evolve some flavor. Or be more useful as work animals. Geez. 

Back to the cars. Sorry, they're so incredibly violent that I can't forget them. Wrap your mind around those numbers. Roughly 40,000 people killed in just the United States. Contributing factors? Alcohol. It's an accomplice, time for prohibition again. Drugs. Are we winning that war yet? I'm starting to think not. Speeding. We govern 18 wheelers, why not cars? Cars kill more people than trucks by far. Sleep deprivation. Truck drivers are only allowed to drive a certain number of hours a day and have to account for every minute of every day. I notice people in cars can drive tired though. Distracted driving like texting. If you get caught in a truck with a phone in your hand the first time fine is over $2,000. Maybe folks in cars should experience this prohibition too. In the interest of saving lives. Also, to get rid of distractions, we should ban billboards (especially those light up atrocities), mini skirts (I know they've almost caused me a few accidents), and pets in cars or kids in cars. Those critters can be pretty distracting. 

Let's not forget that another contributing factor to those deaths is stupidity. That is probably the largest factor. Therefore, I say we get rid of it. Just completely ban stupidity. That'll save us from a bunch of other problems too so it seems the best move. Maybe we could determine a "national average" for intelligence level required for different activities. It'd be like the "no child left behind" thing but with a twist. We'd have to stick with it though and not just make the tests easier as we become dumber. I know that's what we are doing now but it's certainly not helping. 

I'll think of the activities we could apply this to. You guys can help with suggestions or something. It'll be fun. I'll even write up the post and we can try to implement it while we're pushing the nature bans up to Congress and shit. 

"An Imagination Game"

So I'm thinking its time for an imagination game. I want you to close your eyes and imagine something. No, not yet. Wait until after I finish. Hey you. Yeah, you. Open your eyes back up. I wasn't ready yet. You know what, everyone just wait till the end to close their eyes. 

Ok. Now, as I was saying, we are going to imagine something. I want you to imagine you're driving down the highway. There's not much traffic out on this nice sunny day. It's a nice big highway. Three travel lanes on both sides of the median. By the way, it's a median. Not a comedian. Not a medium. A median. I can't tell you how often it's called a comedium. 

On this highway you're just bebopping along in the right hand lane. (We call that the granny lane in the trucker world). Your favorite song is on and you're jamming out, proud of yourself for sounding EXACTLY like the lead singer and not missing a note. All is right with the world. Maybe you're on your way to the beach. Maybe you're off to pick up your spouse for a weekend getaway to an awesome bed and breakfast. 

Up ahead, just off the travel lanes, on the shoulder you see a car. Back in the day people would stop to help change a tire or something but this is the modern world and you've got more important things to do. I get it; I'm usually on a schedule myself and I never have time to stop. Besides, it could be a serial rapist or something and I'm way too pretty to take that risk. 

As you get closer you see someone sitting in the grass away from the car that has its hood up. Cool. They must be waiting for AAA or a friend to come help. Thank God for cell phones! 

As you're looking over at them because, let's face it, we are curious creatures and can't help looking, what you don't see right away is the guy in front of the hood trying to figure out what all that steam is coming from. That's when the 6 year old boy or girl standing next to Daddy jumps away from the blown hose. It's a kid and not as careful as it should be. WHAM! This child tripped in her or his excitement and fell into the roadway. You've just hit this kid!!  It bounces up the hood and over the windshield in the time it took you to get your foot off the gas pedal at 70mph. As you literally stand on the brake pedal this small kid is plummeting back to earth from the impact. You've killed an innocent child. Was it deliberate? Of course not. But that child is still dead. 

Equally bad, the poor girl or boy started to fall but their dad had quick reflexes and had already started reacting. He saw the risk and jumped to save his child. He pushed her or him to safety and took the impact himself. Right in front of those eyes their father's body is destroyed and he's dead. 

Why? How'd this happen? Why did I deliberately talk you through this? Right now you may be absolutely appalled at what I just put your imagination through. If you're like me you think in pictures as well as words. In that scenario I have to make the victims faceless because I do have kids and a heart. 

Calm down for just a second and take a couple quick breaths. Shake it off, we know it's not real. But, let me ask you a question so I can answer a couple of the ones I just asked you. Be honest with yourself when you answer this...

How many of you, as you were imagining this, simply checked your mirrors and changed lanes as you approached the car on the shoulder? Be honest. Did it cross your mind? 

We see emergency vehicles on the shoulder and we grudgingly get over at the last minute, if at all. But if you see a broken down vehicle or an 18 wheeler, do you get over? Why not? Because it's not legally required? 

I see this every day. Many times I, myself, have had to pull to the shoulder to tighten straps or fix tarps. There I am between an 80 foot long vehicle with flashing hazard lights (we call them four ways) and cars zipping past at 70+ mph. Sometimes even other big trucks zipping past. Literally within a foot or two of me. One misstep, one thousandth of a second of someone not paying attention and my kids are orphans. And all they usually have to do is move over one lane. 

Think about it folks. How hard is it to just move over a little? One life ended, another changed forever. In the blink of an eye. 

Many of you will forget all about this imagination game, hopefully to never be reminded by a real life scenario like that. Some may change their driving habits just a little. Remember, though, this is a fictional story. Some people call what I do "art". Well....life often imitates "art".  Drive safe. 

"My Trip To The Zoo"

The other day I witnessed something that made my mind swim temporarily. Surely I'd blacked out and had a Twilight Zone experience. That's the only logical explanation. Before I tell you about this I'd probably better play a flashback to a different time...

As we've discussed before I was a fairly unruly kid. I'd pretty much raised myself until I was about 12. Even so, I knew certain things to be absolute truths. I'd seen them in practice and knew the benefits.  I'd seen other kids out with their parents and saw how those kids treated their parents and other adults with some modicum of respect. Periodically I'd seen them start to mouth off and catch a whack to the head. Even with my own parents and other elders I knew to keep myself reined in. Self preservation being a strong motivator and whatnot. 

Then we have recent times. Here I am witnessing a kid of about 10 telling, what I presume to be his parents, that he wants a new iPad. The word "new" indicated to me he already had one. Lucky bugger. I've got what is basically an etchasketch with tin cans on string. My internet connection is clearly "sketchy" at times. (Sorry, that pun was irresistible). 

The fact he wanted one didn't surprise me. The fact he practically demanded one did. Here we are at the mall and this kid starts berating his dad when he was told "not right now". Seriously?! Even I wanted to smack this kid. He's yelling and cussing and making "spoiled brats" look like monks. 

Once they finally got "Lucifer's mini me" calmed down (yes, I think there was Holy Water involved) I got to thinking and paying attention to people. Which is probably not something I should do because I end up writing these posts. By the way, going to the mall, for me, is the equivalent to most people going to the zoo. So I decided to think of it like a field trip to the zoo. Here's what I observed...

At the food court I stood in line to buy a straw. There were three animals ahead of me and they all ordered in a similar fashion. Which was "gimme a number XX", "I want ___", "I'll take ___". So on and so forth. When it was finally my turn at the register I said "yes, I'd like to buy a straw please". I got a quizzical look and "um, you want something to drink?". No, thank you, just a straw. "Did you want something to eat?" Good grief, how hard is it to buy a straw? "No. I really just want a straw. Thank you for offering though." Maybe he thought I was homeless and wanted to feed me. He directed me to where the straw dispenser was located. I left fifty cents on the counter by the register and headed over to get my straw. 

On my way to the straw armory I looked around at the tables. There were animals eating and there were signs of other animals having eaten. The feeding area was littered with tables that held trays of wrappers and partially eaten foodstuffs. Messy creatures, these things. A scant 3 feet from a waste receptacle was a trash laden table. Perhaps an animal had eaten there that lacked the ability to throw away their waste. Was it an armless animal? Maybe it had eaten its fill and was so full it could barely muster the energy to make it back to its den? Dunno. I wished I could spot this mystery animal. 

Fortunately, the keepers were diligently cleaning up after "messyosaurus". Clearing tables and throwing away trash I could almost hear them cursing the animals. I didn't have time to loiter; there were more animals to go see. 

I wandered toward an exhibit called "Hot Topic". That sounded interesting. Along the way I noticed more animals walking around talking on cell phones. Some must have had trouble hearing for they were talking quite loudly. Oh, the fun conversations they must've been having. Apparently, though, these creatures lack the ability to speak and focus on walking at the same time because I witnessed plenty of them nearly running people over as they walked. And there were 2 speeds to these things, like 2 completely separate groups of animals. Since they weren't labeled I called them "meanderers" and "sprinters". There was no in between speed. And every animal seemed oblivious as to whose way they were in. 

Once I arrived at the "Hot Topic" my senses were all assaulted at once. There was a cacophony of some mating call over the speakers, oddities walking around with more metal than robots and clothing with sayings I can't repeat without blushing. Surely this was the "wild animal" exhibit. It frightened me. 

I quickly departed before determining if they were carnivorous. I needed to seek safety. Then I heard it again. "Gimme that jewelry right there. And I'll take that one too". It seems that's the common vocabulary. 

That's when I realized why little Damien's behavior was the way it was. It's not his fault. It's these animals' natural speech. No longer do they say "please", "thank you" or any of the other polite words and phrases they used when I was a kid. 

When I was growing up I had noticed that the elders of the pack were able to discipline the offspring. Maybe they can't do that anymore. So rather than evolve into good elders they just learn that it's ok to terrorize other members of the herd with rudeness and loud speech. Maybe the elders grew weak and lazy. I'll have to look into this farther. Just at that time my alarm went off telling me it was time to return to the Asylum. They would be locking the doors soon because dark was coming. I couldn't afford to be locked out overnight and left here with the animals. I hurried out to return to the Sane Asylum. No way was I going to be left here with these crazy animals. 

On my way out I pondered. What happened to our polite society? Where did we go wrong? Why are all these animals so self-absorbed they can't even clean up after themselves or treat each other with respect?

The Weight of the World

The weight of the world

   When will man ever be satisfied with his own existence?

   This is the question that Harry asks to himself out loud every morning. Harry gets up at precisely 6 am. each day and prepares his morning nourishments. Then he walks out onto his teak deck over-looking the forest. 

   Harry is a genius. 

   

   Ever since man has had a whim of his power and prowess of the land, he has sought conquest: conquest of other men, other living creatures, and himself.  Modern man fights disease, enforces the rule of law, builds technologically complex structures and because of all this, man seeks to re-create himself as an automated machine in the form of A.I robotics.

   

   Harry lives in this modern world. He is a large integral part of it: the constant development of mans knowledge to further enhance the reach of the human race. Yet Harry gets up every day and asks himself a troubling question. He is concerned that man is going to far, that mankind should stop the march of progress and just be happy with what we’ve got.

   

   Harry is a savant, young, brash when required, and gentleman when not. He easily moves from the laboratory to the boardroom with the comfort only afforded to a modern guru. Harry knows that he can control man and change his behaviors, thereby affecting the future actions of all mankind. He also knows that the wars, greed, sexual over gratification, and hypocrisy will continue no matter what he does. The playing field will alter a little, robots will fight other robots, but in the end it will only have value if other humans die. Humans seem to cherish life precisely because they know that they can destroy it. Humans feel powerful knowing they can remove the ultimate reward, life, and in doing so constantly test their will to cherish life.

   

   The essential battle that takes place in the minds of humans each and every day, of each and every human being, is this: Who must I conquer today in order to survive tomorrow?  The survival is not just the physical form but the idealism inside of each and every human being. Humans do find others who agree, and they live together because they all support a designed survival plan. Sometimes these groups are large and well organized. The power of these human organized groups is impressive—albeit to the members of that group—but there is always a need to increase membership for the survival of the group, and that is where conflict among humans always finds a spark.

   Tomorrow Harry will get up at 6am, make his morning nourishments, walk out onto his teak deck, and ask himself the same question. Then he will go downstairs get in his Tesla and leave for the office.  Harry is many things, but he will never be able to answer the question that he poses to his great mind each and every day.

© copyright Artemis J Jones