the big us Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Revolutionary Misfit

On the Need for a Bigger Boat

December 23, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

I once heard the quote…

Capitalism rewards the owners of capital.

I’m not sure where I heard it. But it is true, isn’t it?

Throughout human history we’ve rewarded the hoarders of capital with luxuries that the rest of us can hardly imagine.

It’s like what Chris Rock said recently, “if poor people knew how rich people [live], there would be riots in the streets.”

I was thinking, wouldn’t it be more appropriate, rather than reward capital accumulation, that we reward people according to their impact?

That is, we create these luxurious experiences, but then only allow those who’ve impacted humanity to the greatest degree to enjoy them, from time to time.

Because the problem with trying to live an impactful life is how to do that and still just get by…to make a living…to put a roof over the head and food into hungry dependent mouths.

And maybe even indulge in a luxury or two, from time to time.

There are guys like Scott Harrison of charity:water who seem to have figured it out.

So, I guess it’s not impossible.

But, it’s damn hard.

And, really now, does that make the slightest bit of sense?

For the richest of the rich, the oft maligned 1%, to be grossly rewarded for their exploitative excellence.

While the rest of us can barely afford a decent one-week vacation every 365 days?

They are the ones raping and pillaging the planet, grossly underpaying labor, and concentrating all the earth’s stores of wealth into fewer and fewer hands…

They create, by sheer effort, the situation of the haves and the have nots.

And we reward them for that?

And they decry any attempt at reallocating that wealth downward in the slightest degree as being contrary to the hallowed laws of capitalism.

As if those laws were brought down from Sinai by Moses himself.

At certain times in history wealth has indeed been allocated downward, but it always takes wars, depressions, and other horrible human calamities for that to happen.

Why?

I guess we just live in a broken world.

We look for material solutions to our problems.

And the human impulse, when it comes to stuff, is bent towards greed.

We look upon all that bright and shiny shit and want more, more, more…

Capitalism tells us that we can have more…

Hell, we can have it all!

So we strain and strive to accumulate.

We focus our efforts on the need for a bigger boat, because we’ve been deluded into believing that in it we’ll be sheltered from all of life’s stormy woes.

No storm (or shark) will be big or strong enough to capsize my personal Titanic.

But then that tiny unexpected iceberg appears and tears a whole in our expectations.

And down we go…

Capitalism, or at least the strain of it that has run amok, has planted the idea in the mind of our society that the bigger boat solution is the only one that is realistic.

So we sit back and allow “our” capital, the capital that the earth offers to all of its inhabitants, to just flow like a river and concentrate directly into the hands of…

the Koch brothers.

But the reality is that there’s only one boat, or one planetary ship, that we’re all doomed, or blessed, to be riding on…depending on your perspective, I guess.

It’s developed a few holes in recent decades and is rapidly succumbing to the risk of capsize…

What are we going to do about it?

The Koch brothers reassure us not to worry…

they’ve got it all under control…

But they’re the very ones making the holes.

Should they really be rewarded so handsomely for that?

image credit: lacountyfed via Compfight cc

Tortured Logic

December 10, 2014 by costaricaguy 1 Comment

It has now become painfully apparent that the CIA, in pursuit of Bush administration war policy, used torture as an accepted interrogation technique.

And lied, wilfully, to the American public about the full extent of said use.

Now comes the scramble, mostly on the right, to justify that…

to make it OK.

But many of us know that it’s not OK.

If it were, then why the painstaking attempts at covering it up when it was taking place?

I saw the Bill O’Reilly talking points clip in which he says, “it is morally correct to [use torture] to protect innocent lives from barbarians.”

He justifies the use of torture because he knows people who lost loved ones in the 9-11 attack.

Now let’s consider that for a moment…

We, meaning us in the U.S., aren’t alone on this planet.

We’re not the only ones who’ve lost loved ones in war.

In fact, there are many who’ve lost them at our very hands.

So, does that mean that the Iraqi version of Bill O’Reilly would be correct in saying the same thing…

that it’s “morally correct” to use torture against Americans?

No, of course in that case it wouldn’t be.

Well, then according to what tortured logic is it OK for us to use it?

There is strong evidence that torture does not “protect innocent lives from barbarians.” That the only thing it does is extract words out of the mouths of its victims in order to make the suffering stop.

Even Senator John McCain, a man who knows a bit about torture, said as much.

So, why then, did the CIA persist in its use? Why would they sacrifice our values for no real useful purpose?

Perhaps, retributive justice?

You see, back when this was going on, our collective anger at the rest of the world, especially the Muslim world, was at a fevered pitch.

We wanted blood.

It’s kind of like when Michael Brown’s stepfather yelled to the crowd, “burn this MF down!”

We were collectively yelling, “burn those entire MF’ing countries down!”

Do whatever it takes to exact justice on those who had the gall to attack us on our own soil.

That anger was understandable, both in the Brown case and in the 9-11 one.

But it doesn’t justify lawless action…and that’s what torture is.

Why?

Because torture offends common human decency. We just don’t treat other human beings that way…regardless of the circumstances.

There were times when it was commonplace…but we recoil at those barbaric times. In fact, just hearing about what was done in those “dark prison” dungeons is revolting, isn’t it?

If you say not, then you need to go see a professional about that.

I’m pretty upset about this torture report. What upsets me even more deeply is the reaction, or lack of reaction, of many towards it. It’s as if it really doesn’t matter.

We got rough with some bad guys, so what?

You see, the “so what” is, IMHO, that the very fact that some would justify torture as being OK when it comes to us…but a horrible war crime when committed by anyone else…points to a serious problem in the American mindset, at least the one held by around 150 million of us…

This idea of America being so “exceptional” that the rules just don’t apply to us.

That’s a dangerous concept for anyone living outside of our borders.

One that might make them not like us all that much…

perhaps even want to destroy us.

In fact, it’s a mindset that makes the world a more dangerous place for all of its inhabitants.

The very fact that we think the rules are suspended when it comes to us, lends to a mindset that devalues other people.

That the idea of “all men being created with inalienable rights” really only means, all “American men.”

But we know that’s not true, right?

At least I hope we do.

This torture report could potentially be the dawning of that realization.

The dawning of the concept of The Big US.

image credit: Shrieking Tree via Compfight cc

A System that Breeds Apathy

December 2, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Our society is currently based on a system that breeds apathy and complacency.

How?

I can best use myself as an example.

For the longest time I was convinced that money was the answer for everything.

If I could just make enough of it, well, then everything would go right with my world…the world.

How much was enough?

That’s a question I could never seem to answer to my satisfaction.

I did make some money…by some standards, a lot of it.

Did everything go right?

No, it didn’t.

And then something happened to me.

The realization began to dawn that money wasn’t the answer.

That money could not bring happiness…

to me, or…

to the world.

The indigenous cultures that our western capitalistic-minded ancestors displaced…

in their insatiable quest for land, gold and slaves…

knew very well that money wasn’t the answer. In fact, they didn’t even use it.

They knew that happiness comes from being part of a tribe consisting of individuals who don’t frantically seek their own well-being…

but the well-being of the tribe.

But we dismissed them as savages and just, well, kinda brushed them out of the way of our development.

Now we’ve reached a point in that development where it’s becoming apparent that something’s wrong with this system.

That something’s wrong when your life is reduced to a constant need to produce just enough of those little green papers adorned with pictures of dead notables…

to barely eek out a living.

The thought of taking care of a tribe,

well, that becomes a preposterous idea.

I’ve got to take care of me…and I’ve got my hands full just doing that!

Leave the taking care of others to people who have the whereabouts to concern themselves with that sort of a thing.

Leave that to the 1%’ers who we often see trumpeted in the media for giving back…

when in reality only a handful give a tiny fraction back in order to salve their aching consciences….

aching because of the gross luxury of their existence…

while some have nothing but a hole to shit in.

I saw a bunch of right-winger Facebook posts the other day admiring Donald Trump for giving 25 grand to the marine who was held in Mexico.

Trump giving $25,000 to that guy is like me giving 25 cents to a beggar on the street.

While both acts are laudable, they’re not worth going viral about.

We need more compassion than that to save this world.

After this dawning of my impact consciousness I began to feel the pains of the problem we all face when considering a life of impact…

How do I make a living?

Ah, the paradox of our system.

The answer to that question can be so daunting that we just give up on the notion.

We become apathetic once again…

We’ve got to fight against that inclination.

We, the 99%, are the ones who are going to change things for the better.

I can assure you that we cannot afford to leave it to the Donald Trumps of this world. The system works too well for them.

We can’t be apathetic and kid ourselves that we can leave it to the ones who are the very source of the problem.

The time to act is now.

Let’s get busy!

image credit: jonathan_franzone via Compfight cc

On Being a non-Political Spiritual Person

October 23, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

A while back I wrote a post about being an NRSP (non-Religious, Spiritual Person).

This morning, I want to expand that a little, to the realm of politics.

For some, politics and religion are basically one and the same. So, in that sense, this post may risk redundancy.

But, in my mind, there is at least a subtle difference in the real world, if not the one inhabited by habitual watchers of the Fox News channel.

When I say non-political, I don’t mean abstaining from involvement in causes that have political impact. Many great changes in our society came about as a result of that…the Civil Rights Act of 1964 immediately comes to mind.

No, on the contrary, activism is a good, even spiritual, thing to get involved in…it’s a vehicle for impact, for sure.

What I’m getting at is this “game” of politics that we enjoy playing perhaps a bit too much. The one that presupposes winners and losers, like any typical sporting event. Except, in this case, people and planet are at stake, not championship trophies, or rings.

The game that pits the blues against the reds. The one that’s the frequent source of vitriol seen in Facebook comments and Twitter feeds. The one that propels the status quo. The one that assures nothing ever gets done in the nation’s capital, or in the capital of your state.

The one of political ads claiming that the Ebola virus is the greatest threat civilization has ever faced, while continuing to deny the scientifically proven planetary threat of climate change.

I tend to stay out of political arguments. Now, is that always the case? No, I sometimes wade in gently, if I feel that things are being said that defy logic and common sense.

But it usually only results in getting called names, like libtard. Not sure where that one originated, but you see it a lot lately.

The heat of hateful political discourse has been turned up to unbearable levels since the election of Barack Obama as the first black President of the U.S.A.

Why is that?

No, I’m not about to play the race card. So, please read on…

Obama has been a politically polarizing figure like no other. There are some who think he can do no wrong…others that he can do no right…and a few in the middle.

I believe the middle is the safest place to be, unless you feel the need for gang affiliation. Because it’s those on the fringes who always seem ready to rumble and rip each others throats out.

And it’s those fringes that represent the zones of political discourse experiencing the most rapid growth.

That’s too bad and actually quite threatening because we need change in our society, now like no other time in my lifetime.

But if all we can do is disagree, sometimes solely for the sake of disagreeing and feeling that euphoric high of rightness (which some equate to right-eous-ness), then we shouldn’t be too optimistic about positive change happening.

The rich will keep getting richer and the poor poorer and more alienated from the idea of the American Dream…

The “too big to fail” Corporatocracy will continue to control the economic and political system for their selfish benefit in the name of capitalistic freedom…

And the weather will keep getting hotter and weirder, species will continue to disappear, oceans will rise, storms will rage and the human race will rapidly head towards the next great event of planetary extinction.

I don’t believe the answer to our problems will be found in any political argument.

I rather believe that it lies within a shift in the paradigm of thought.

To one that recognizes that we’re all in this boat together…

the reds and the blues…

the us and the them…

And really the last thing that matters is what your voter registration card might say.

And, no, this is not an admonition against voting, ala Russell Brand. After all, we can’t just sit back and blame the politicians…they’re just puppets and we hold the strings that pull them via that important constitutionally granted power.

It’s an encouragement not to participate in the game of polarizing political discourse.

To be a non-Political Spiritual Person.

To take the politics out of discourse and turn all that into discussions of mutual benefit.

image credit: Truthout.org via Compfight cc

A Suffix that Sucks

September 16, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

Lately my mind has been over-preoccupied with visions of “re-patriation.”

Needless to say, new ones (i.e., ideas, visions, etc.) have been kinda crowded out in that process.

But, thankfully, I have my good old stash of CRG posts (all 612 of them) out there to be used on occasion for spare parts…

I’ve received a few comments on various posts over the years that attempt to label me as one of those nut-jobs who leans towards socialism, or even communism.

Hell, some will quickly label you that way as soon as they find out you voted for Obama.

I believe some might get that impression because in the past I’ve mentioned the likes of Che, or Sandino in a favorable light.

Actually I really don’t feel qualified to judge the ways in which men choose to govern themselves.

I simply call it like I see it.

I once observed the world through very restrictive lenses…

Back then, if you didn’t believe in my Big Three C’s of Christ, Capitalism and Conservatism (the Republican political brand) you were doomed to the fiery depths of hell.

When you grow up in a particular place and associate only with particular people, you tend to have views about the world that are “in line” with your environment.

That’s understandable.

But almost invariably as soon as one ventures out a bit further from the fold, new vistas of thought and perception open.

Especially if you’re a person who isn’t content to just take in new experiences sensorially…

and not allow yourself to venture into deeper levels of awareness.

You may refuse yourself that luxury because of being so anchored in your traditional experience of life.

You’re content to play the role of outsider looking in.

But then there are those adventurous types who open up their hearts and minds, becoming a part of their experience.

I’m definitely one of those types.

And I’ve become a part of the Latin American experience.

I’m still a gringo, no doubt about that (I get reminded of it frequently), but I’ve come to empathize with the feelings that Latin people have towards my previous paradigm that would have quickly condoned capitalistic imperialism as being “the will of God.”

It isn’t.

And all that leads not to the conclusion that I’m a socialist, nor a communist.

In fact, I don’t believe that any particular brand of ism, meaning a scheme of government, world-view, or religion, has it 100% right.

In my humble opinion, ISM is a suffix that sucks!

You see, when folks believe that they do (have it all right), problems occur, resentments are fomented, wars are started, people are oppressed and slaughtered and humanity is generally brought a notch lower.

I don’t have the answers and don’t mean to pretend to.

I don’t believe anyone does.

But I do believe in a few things.

Like being compassionate and open-minded and trying to understand why people believe and behave differently and not condemning them for doing so.

I also believe that we’re all connected.

That there’s some force outside of our understanding that is in control and has given us a purpose and that it’s not to pursue our destruction (that word “our” implying and encompassing a sense of connectedness with each other, the natural world, and the universe).

Too often the isms lead us down that road of mutually assured destruction.

Usually it’s because we become convinced in our hearts and minds that “we” are right and “they” are wrong.

But that just isn’t necessarily so and until we can begin to grasp the idea that no one’s completely right and that we’re all in this (boat) together, I’m fearful that we will go on destroying each other and our planet.

I believe that most of these ism’s, world views, religions, or whatever you want to call them have some element of good in them.

The “good” that works for the common benefit of the entire connected world.

Maybe we should just focus on that and disregard all the rest.

image credit: phill.d via Compfight cc

9-11: A Day that Went from Bad to Worse

September 11, 2014 by costaricaguy Leave a Comment

This post first appeared in the CRG blog on September 11, 2010…

I was in Hawaii on September 11, 2001. The time there is 6 hours behind that of the east coast of the U.S. So I groggily answer a call around 4:00 am from an employee of Live Oak Capital (my former company) that informed me that the U.S was under terrorist attack. “Huh,” was my foggy brained response. And right after that (as I began to awaken, perturbed by the call), “is this some kind of a joke” (or something to that effect). Flipping on the tube I found out quickly that no it was definitely not a joke.

I always get mesmerized by these 9-11 anniversaries when we relive each and every second of that fateful morning. Surely there has never been an event in world history that was as carefully documented and broadcasted live as 9-11. And each and every videotape serves as a precious reminder of just how vulnerable even the greatest superpower can be.

What is always most inspiring on these days of remembrance and what always tends to make one a little prouder to be from the U.S., is the level of courage and selflessness on display that day. Political, ideological, ethnic, religious, or economic differences ceased to matter. For a brief moment, what mattered most was preserving life. And many lost theirs in the attempt.

The decision by those courageous “average joes” (who in reality were anything but) on flight 93, who in an instant, as soon as they figured out exactly what the five hi-jackers were really up to, decided to put an end to their plot, is heroic beyond words that I am capable of expressing. Likewise the courage of N.Y.C. police and firefighters who stormed into those burning buildings and then up those stairwells to hell, is also hard to describe with mere words. And then there were the ordinary citizens, caught up in something they certainly hadn’t planned for that morning, who simply helped one another.

I heard a quote today that came close to offering up at least semi-adequate words.

That the 9-11 tragedy showed us the worst of our enemies and the best of ourselves.

Some would use the event of 9-11 to provoke hatred. I would rather remember it to inspire love, love of country, but also love of humanity. That is what will conquer evil.

Yes, 9-11 was a day that went from bad to worse, but on that day a country went from great to greater.

MikeJonesPhoto via Compfight cc

Connect with RM