Vote 2020 – Democrat Vs. Republican

I’m not qualified to converse on this subject but I feel I must say something.

We are only a short time away from our decision to re-elect Donald Trump or chose Joe Biden to run our desperately divided country.

For the most part, I’ve always voted Republican for reasons I can’t really put into words. I’ve always been for Capitalism, Freedom, and the American Way. Now that I’m early-retired, I kind of really need affordable health insurance. Since the republicans have not properly addressed my need, I feel let down. Since Democrats are definitely pro-affordable health care, I feel pulled to the other side. Sure this is a selfish reason but that’s what matters to me right now.

The are far more complicated issues here though. We are at a major turning point in the history of our country and the winner of this election may seriously affect the direction we skew toward to create a new timeline.

My plan is to keep an open mind and weigh both sides equally.

I watched the Democratic National Convention. Well, I skimmed through it to watch the speakers. Not so much of the commentators who gave their opinions. I prefer to make my own opinions rather than be persuaded by others. Democrats talk a good talk. They appear to speak from the heart. They seem to mean well for humanity and the planet. Maybe they are serious. There’s a lot of idealism that may or may not be achievable. It sounds good and I like it. How could you not? Still, in reality, we are listening to propaganda so I take it with a grain of salt.

Before I decided to approach this with an open mind, I wasn’t going to watch the Republican convention at all but then I felt it would be a mistake not to listen to both sides.

I watched the Republican National Convention. There’s no doubt the Republicans talk a good talk too. Plenty of propaganda here as well. A lot of what was said made me feel a sense of pride for my country. Pandemic aside, the country really is strong, free, and home of the American Dream. I liked what I heard BUT there was a nagging feeling deep in the background that these speakers were motivated by something more than just their heart. Considering the number of lies we’ve heard from President Trump over the last four years, I’m a little jaded. I would like to vote Republican but I don’t necessarily feel that Trump is the right person for the job.

So at this time, I’m properly bumfuzzled and perhaps that is what they intend to prevent confused people from voting at all. How that helps either side, I don’t know but that’s the scuttlebutt.

There is still plenty of time and upcoming debates to either help me make my decision OR confuse me further. In the end, I WILL be voting for one of them.

Both sides are spewing both Propaganda for themselves and believable conspiracy theories about the other. If you are not confused, then you may not be considering all the facts. I use the word, “facts”, loosely since truth is both relative and indiscernible nowadays.

What I think we ALL really want is to be able to select qualities from both sides. There are many things I like about the Democratic Ideals and there are many things I like about Republican Ideals. The two-party system seems to be more of a hindrance than a benefit. There was a time when the parties worked more closely together. They shared ideals and compromised for the good of the country. Now each side seems to have an agenda and damn the torpedoes! This is not good. Not good at all.

I do want a strong and powerful country. I do want healthcare. I do want freedom for everyone. I do want equality for everyone.

In the end, I’m going to have to make a decision and, as a human, I am likely to make it selfishly. I’m getting older now and have no children. That makes me care less about the future of the planet. After 30 years from now, it can burn to a cinder for all I care. (The sad and lonely side of me actually wants it to happen as revenge on humanity for making me stay this way.)

I do want those 30 years to be in the manner of the American Dream. Tough call.

Unless something comes up that is more important than affordable health care for me, I’m probably going to vote for Biden. At this point, it seems to be the “sane” choice.

Don’t let all the crap keep you from voting. Make your decision whether it is for the good of the world or for the good of yourself. Either way, you HAVE to vote. It does matter. If the election results are too close, we are going to have a shit of a time. Pick your side and make it so.

After Death…

We all wonder what happens to us after we die. It’s pretty much the basis for all world religions.

Nobody has the answer because dying is rather permanent and nobody has ever realistically returned to tell the story.

• Do we Go to Heaven?
• Do we reincarnate?
• Do we evaporate into nothingness?
• Do we exist eternally as a bodyless spirit?
• Do we go to Texas?

Any outcome is equally possible since reality is what you make of it. I expect most people, Christians at least, go for the Heaven option to spend Eternity with their family members. That’s not for me. They’re very nice people but a lifetime is long enough. They will have to do the rest without me.

Buddhists prefer reincarnation. You can come back as a higher or lower life form depending on your proximity to enlightenment. I certainly don’t want to come back to Earth in any form. I can’t handle that again. Once is enough, thanks. Another planet maybe, but I have a better idea.

I’m already in Texas and I can’t recommend it. It’s big, hot, dry, full of people, and generally unpleasant.

Evaporating into nothingness is a second choice for me. I find it soothing to not have to expect anything to be happening to me anymore. When it’s over, it’s over. I don’t want to experience any type of existence, physically or spiritually, no matter how nice it might be. I find existence in any form to be tedious and I’ve had quite enough of that.

My number one choice would be, if possible, a body-less spirit with the ability to travel all throughout time and space. My first task would be to go back in time and observe Earth’s history first hand. I would especially like to spend a lot of time on World War II and see it from all angles. I would like to travel the planet and see it unfold from the beginning of time until its final destruction in 2032.

Once I’m done with the Earth, I will roam the universe to see other worlds. Other galaxies. Other civilizations. A Spirit Tourist. I’m pretty sure this will take up more time than exists in the universe. I will reserve the right to sleep for millennia at a time between experiences. When I’m done, I’ll evaporate.

That’s my plan when I die. And if I can’t do that, then I won’t care because I’ll be dead.

The Truth is Relative. Reality Bubbles and You.

It’s kind of scary. Knowing what is true and what is false is becoming extremely difficult these days. It’s nothing new though. Since the invention of Radio, TV and especially the internet, those in power have the ability to make us believe anything they want.

You would think that having the internet available to your fingertips would make it possible to research any topic and discover the factual truth. On the contrary, it is so full of unverified facts, opinions, and intentionally made-up stuff that it is impossible to decide for yourself. Even scientifically proven truths are easily made false by factual SOUNDING data that may be reverse engineered to appear to prove the opposite point. It has gotten to the point where you can’t even believe credible professionals.

People don’t want the real truth anyway. They are happy with THEIR truth. Once a person forms an opinion on something, it automatically becomes truth even if the facts prove differently. You will never sway them. I’m not sure what to call this. I’m sure the phenomenon is not new but it seems to have become quite prevalent lately. Is it stubbornness, laziness, or just plain ignorance? Maybe all three at the same time.

I know I’m not immune. I may convert my opinions to truths and hold them dearly. I feel that I often do it out of spite. I want my ideas to be the truth because Fuck You! Maybe that’s what everyone else is thinking. They actually, deep down, know it’s not true but they desperately want it to be true either out of spite or maybe in desperate hope for it to become true. That might explain all the offense going around these days. I know I am personally 95% full of spite. I’ve earned it.

Reality is perception. Firmly stick to YOUR perception and it will become YOUR reality. That’s fine and dandy but with 7.5 billion realities on this planet, there will undoubtedly be a serious quantity of Reality Collisions.

How do we fix it? I’m not sure. We can look at the big picture though. Overall, people need credible data to base their thoughts on. Even though fake news has been around ever since the news was invented, it used to be far more credible for the most part. Even in the early days of newspapers, they made up false headlines just to sell papers. This is a fact. (I’m pretty sure but how can you even know?)

Is there no way to have credible data without corruption by someone with money or an agenda? I don’t think it is possible anymore. Money talks. Money will get you anything you want.

Even if we got rid of money and lived in a world where everyone could have anything they needed so bribery would not be possible, there would always be a way to corrupt data. Blackmail perhaps. There’s always something you want but can’t get.

I think what we are watching unfold before us right now is the progression of human nature. Perhaps it is not just Human nature but the nature of intelligent life. Wouldn’t you think that on some far away planet where intelligent life exists, you would find the outcome to be eventually the same? Wouldn’t it be fun to have a TARDIS and go observe other societies?

As for our society, I don’t see a good ending. I can’t imagine any way to turn our destiny around. Well, not a realistic one anyway. I think the entropy here on earth is increasing exponentially and shit is about to get really real unless we can get a leader to appear and take control. (Obviously not Donald Trump. Or maybe it will be.) Otherwise we just have 7 billion people running amok and forcing their truth on others.

We used to keep our truths to ourselves and everyone lived happily in their own reality bubbles. Starting sometime in the early 2000s, people decided that their own bubble was not big enough and that other people’s bubbles were in need of adjustment which pissed those people off. That’s when things started to get screwed up. I know because I lived both before and after that time and I can tell you, the before time was not so screwed up. Do you think 911 (2001) kicked it off? Now that I think about it, I feel that it started in the 90s but didn’t become obvious until the 2000s.

So what might be a fix? It would have to be an unrealistic option. I firmly believe that depopulation is the answer. Even Bill Gates has been quoted as saying the world’s population needs to be reduced. It’s difficult to handle the concept but if we could reduce the world’s population by at least half, we could bring harmony back by reducing the stress on ourselves and our planet. Even that would only be a temporary patch. Reduce it to 1/4 and put in controls and we could be set permanently for a quality future.

I know you don’t want to hear that but think about it before you freak out. It’s highly logical. It might even actually be happening right now. The Covid-19 Pandemic is far from over. It is extremely likely that we may be living with it for another year, maybe two. By that time we might see a significant reduction in the excess population.

I do fear the virus, but the virus is good. In the end, we may be thankful. We may not personally see it but I can imagine a less-crowded, peaceful world where they will look back on our time and wonder how we managed to live like this. They might call it, “The Great Reset.” I’ll do my best to make it to the other side because I would like to see it for myself.

In the end, we either need to have one Global Truth or everyone needs to go back to their own reality bubble and keep it to themselves this time. Both seem unlikely so sit back and enjoy the show. I will.

Frustration Day

Sometimes the frustration takes hold of me and won’t let go. Today is one of those days. I just want to scream. The problem with screaming is that it doesn’t help if nobody hears you do it.

I’m thinking about all the people I know. Not one of them can help me. None of them have the quality I need. The frustrating part is that I know that the people I need are out there somewhere but I can not, for the life of me, figure out how to find them.

Frustration is the feeling of being upset or annoyed, especially because of the inability to change or achieve something. That is very non-Zen and it shames me because a desire is nothing more than a thought which is easily dismissed by the application of intentional thinking. It is absolutely meaningless. Yet it really pisses me off!!

Yes. I can make it go away. No. I can’t keep it away. It ALWAYS comes back like the most evil boomerang you can imagine. It’s a problem of Intentional Thinking versus Human Nature. It is a battle as old as time itself. It’s the Unstoppable Force versus the Immovable Object.

My only option is to bide my time and wait. Eventually what I need will come to me or I will die. Either way, problem solved. The hard part is in the waiting. It’s kind of like a prison sentence on death row. You are stuck there with the end coming at you and there is no way out.

But that’s OK. That’s the way it is. That’s the way it must always be. It’s the Human Condition. Don’t try to fight it. Just go with it. Let the river of time sweep you along to wherever it is going. Don’t struggle. Struggling just makes the knot tighter. Yes.

How selfish am I?

I consider myself to be a selfish person. Perhaps it is due to my lifetime of loneliness. Maybe my lifetime of loneliness is due to my selfishness.

I am not entirely selfish. I think my areas of selfishness are confined to money and time. I don’t like to share either of those. Time and money are the rarest elements on Earth. (next to love but don’t get me started on that.)

There are things I am generous with though. I give my help to anyone who asks. I even volunteer it quite often. Most people I know might consider me to be a generous person because I so happily help them fix their problems. I might appear generous on the outside. I really wonder whether people consider me to be generous or selfish.

The strange thing about that is that my helpful generosity is primarily due to my selfish desire to interact with others. The best thing I have to offer is helpfulness and it often buys me interaction for a short time.

I’m extremely selfish with money. I’ve occasionally given money to panhandlers and other beggars but more times than not, I tell them I don’t have any cash on me. For one thing, I’m not comfortable digging in my wallet in front of someone who might rob me. For another thing, I just don’t want to give it up. I do keep some change handy in the car and give that out but it’s not much. Perhaps it’s at least something. I don’t give big tips. I don’t donate to anything or anyone. I look for the cheapest thing. I always seek a free alternative if it exists. That might all have contributed to my early-retirement so selfishness can pay off.

I am also very selfish with my time. I don’t like time-wasters. There are a few things I want out of my time with you. If you aren’t fulfilling me then you are wasting my time. If I don’t spend a lot of time with you then take a hint.

How does one know whether he appears to be generous or selfish to others? You can’t really ask, can you? Is it more important as to how others perceive you compared with how you perceive yourself? I guess it depends on what you are trying to achieve. Are you going for popularity or morality? The strange thing is that I am going for neither. My goal is comfort.

If I am selfish, does that make me a bad person? Would God judge me as selfish considering all the people I’ve helped physically but not monetarily? After all, what is money? Would God even understand money? It’s an entirely Earth-based construct anyway.

When I die, I will probably bequeath all my leftover money to some charity or cause. That might count for something. It’s kind of like that “Angel Tree” thing they do around Christmas where you buy a gift for some kid but you don’t get to give it to him in person. What is that anyway???

Perhaps it doesn’t even matter since God may also be nothing more than an Earth-based construct as well.

I guess I’ll conclude that my generosity and selfishness cancel each other out and I will consider myself neutral. After all, Karma seems to indicate that I am doing well enough. I’ll stick with what I’ve got. It seems to be working fairly well.

Quick Book Review – The Power of Solitude

I’ve been reading a lot of books lately as I enjoy sitting naked on the front deck looking out over my retirement acres. It has been a while since I’ve reviewed one. I’ve kind of been not bothering unless the book has been exceptionally profound. “The Power of Solitude” is certainly profound enough to deserve a review from me.

It is a very short and inexpensive book that seems to be the Reader’s Digest style version of a complex idea. The authors have boiled it down to just the facts and presented it in an easy to understand format. Almost every paragraph is highlightable material.

Perhaps it is especially appropriate as we are all experiencing more solitude than usual during our Coronavirus quarantine. I almost didn’t write this review right now because I didn’t want temporary solitude to be confused with REAL solitude.

As a lonely guy who experiences solitude on a daily basis every day, 365 days a year, I found this book to really help me understand what I am doing.

In short, through solitude you realize what is really important in life. Get away from the constant buzz of humanity and you’ll find that you already have everything you need. Keep it simple and find your innate joy.

If you don’t read this short book then you are going to miss out on what life is really about. Read it now. You can thank me later.

Do priests really believe all that stuff or are they in on the scam?

Sometimes I like to do what I call a Thought Experiment. An idea pops into my head and I like to follow it and see where it takes me. Sometimes it is heavy and perhaps, as in this case, considered blasphemous by some. Still, please take this discussion in the scientific spirit in which it was intended.

This thought has occurred to me a number of times over the years so I thought it might be good to explore it further. I don’t have the answer but I can explore the question.

So are religious leaders for real or are they all in on the scam?

I often like to look at things as if I was an alien visiting Earth for the first time. What would they think of what they see here? Would they look at all the religious activity here and think… Really? Really?

Not just because they are so advanced and we are so backwards but what is the real motivation behind religion? From my understanding, there are two points.

1. To placate the fear of inevitable death.
2. To attempt to place moral being on the masses.

Consider that the Bible was written by men and edited by kings over thousands of years. Can we really consider that to be the Word of God? Hmm. I understand “Faith” but logically you should probably take it with a grain of salt.

An alien would probably see right through this having not grown up with the propaganda. Sure. It’s a great story and all. So was The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. There may come a time in the long-distant future where we worship the great Frodo who destroyed evil Sauron to save us from our sins.

Oh. Don’t get me started on sins. After all. Good and bad are relative. Are you really allowed to do bad things if you confess them to Sam who speaks to Frodo who forgives you and then you will go to The Shire when you die? Oy vey.

But about the priests. It’s a pretty cushy job if you think about it. If you fake religion to the people, they give you money and power. Not a bad deal. You don’t even have to pay taxes. Sweet.

What if the priests are snowed too. It could be the “Church” that only knows the truth. Whoah!

Sorry. I didn’t mean to piss anyone off. This is a Thought Experiment after all. Maybe it speaks truth. Maybe it’s blasphemy. “Truth” is relative too, after all.

Thought can be dangerous. Just by writing this, I should expect to have the Spanish Inquisition knocking at my door.

Sorry. Lost control a bit there.

Oops. I happened again. I let myself get out of control. Every once in a while, I forget the lessons in self thought-control that I’ve taught myself and I lapse back into a state of external frustration.

I apologize for all the recent angry blog entries. Though they are still 100% applicable, I am supposed to repress those kinds of thoughts so I can maintain my happiness. Repressing feelings may not be healthy but it works for me in the present.

Maybe it’s healthy to let them out every once in a while. It seems to be an effective outlet as long as you are able to recognize the dip in the sine wave and shut them down when they go too far. I woke up this morning and said to myself, “Whoah. You’ve gone too far.”

I have to admit that sometimes it’s kind of fun to “Go there.” I think it’s sometimes good to experience the human inside me. You sometimes learn things about yourself when you admit your true feelings and desires to yourself.

Thanks for letting me share them with you. Sharing them really helps. Smiles for now…

I’m not angry at you. I’m disappointed.

Those who know me are probably under the impression that I am angry with them because I have pretty much broken off all communication with them.

They might be wondering what they have done to piss me off.

On the contrary. I’m not angry. I’m just deeply disappointed. As a result, I’ve retreated to life inside my own little bubble where things are as best as I can make them.

You see, There are two things that I want from others:

1. Be a nudist with me. Experience the awesomeness of the sun on your body and travel to all the great naked places on the planet and have a great time.
2. Make me cum. I need sex.

Those who will not partake of one or the other, or preferably both, have nothing that I need and are wasting my precious time. I don’t like it when people waste my time. It doesn’t seem like too much to ask for one or the other. As Humans, I would think that everyone else would yearn for them just the same as I do.

Since 100% of the people I know are wasting my time, I prefer to keep it simple and keep to myself. I don’t hate you. You just don’t have anything I want.

Perhaps you think I’m fucked up and perhaps you are right but the heart wants what the heart wants and I’m getting too old for games. I’m not the kind of person who has the time or interest in lies and false identities. I am laying it out plain and simple. Give me what I need or leave me alone.

The root cause of mass shootings

It happens again and again throughout the years. A lone gunman goes on a rampage in a school, church or mall resulting in the loss of so many lives. It gets reported in the news yet nobody ever knows the reason it happened.

I can tell you why it happens and why people can’t figure it out.

Gun control is obviously not the answer because anyone wanting a gun will get one illegally. You can’t stop that. Remember when they tried to make alcohol illegal? That didn’t work did it?

People are starting to get close to the cause by making the basic connection to mental illness. Even though they are in the ballpark, they are only looking at the big picture. Regular people can’t go any deeper because the actual cause is foreign to them. They wouldn’t understand even if the shooter himself told them. It’s a concept that is beyond the comprehension of regular people.

So what causes a boy or man to snap? It all boils down to Loneliness. Did I just blow your mind? If so, then you are a regular person. You might say, “How can loneliness cause someone to commit such a heinous crime? That makes no sense. You’re full of shit.” In that case, you are part of the problem.

I’m not talking about the loneliness a male feels when his girlfriend leaves him. I’m talking about the Chronic Loneliness that a male who has never had a relationship experiences.

Loneliness is extremely powerful and years spent pining for companionship eventually turns to frustration. Constant frustration turns into anger. Anger evolves into rage. If the lonely person is unable to suppress the rage then it will eventually erupt uncontrollably like an explosive volcano. The person wants revenge and doesn’t care who he takes out because they are ALL at fault for going on with their lives and leaving him all by himself. Ignored and unwanted.

Yes. This mental illness is self-inflicted because in reality, the reason he is so lonely is due to his inability to connect with others possibly because of a lack of social skills, an event, or poor parenting. But that doesn’t matter. To this person, the world is at fault and someone has to pay for it.

Can this person help himself? Possibly but unlikely. Should he be highly intelligent, he might be able to self-analyse over the years and realize what is really going on and be able to suppress his rage and accept a lifetime of solitude.

Perhaps he is lacking in these skills. In that case, the eruption is inevitable.

What can we do about it? Lonely children need to get help when they are young before they have a chance to experience stage one: frustration. I recently read an article about a teacher who used a simple, positive, weekly questionnaire to help evaluate her students and identify the lonely children. Once identified, they can be assisted in learning the skills required to fit in before they become outcasts. This must be done at a very young age because as they get older, they will begin to resist and it will already be too late.

Can anything be done for older people? I believe so. As long as they haven’t already shut down, a lonely person is always open to friendship. It is what they desire most. It is human nature. It is especially hard these days to even notice a lonely person as we are so deeply involved in our little, personal lives and living in “Phone World” that we don’t even look around anymore. Look up for a second. See that guy sitting in the restaurant booth all by himself? No ring on his finger. He’s reading a kindle book on his phone so that he doesn’t feel lonely while he sits there surrounded by happy, social people. Perhaps you might talk to him. He might be an amazing guy who would make your life even better than you can imagine.

Lonely people can’t help themselves. They need you to help them. They are not asking for much. Just a little interaction to acknowledge their existence. A little attention goes a long way to prevent something horrible from happening. You can be part of the solution.