Posted on April 9, 2010
Here’s The Mail, It Never Fails
I didn’t write anything yesterday, because I simply haven’t had time to get everything accomplished and something had to slip. This week, I chose Coquetting Tarradiddles. Next week, I’ll choose something else. However, since I am not without compassion or at least a work ethic best described as Puritanical, I can’t let a week slip by without posting two new entries. So, while this is a little late and sort of recycled (and because copying-and-pasting an e-mail takes all of five seconds), I’m making amends today by posting my response to an e-mail sent to me by a very close friend whom I both respect and admire, but that can be insufferably stubborn about her own wrongness, sometimes. In her e-mail, she sent me a link to a recent column in Pravda titled, “American capitalism gone with a whimper” – it’s entertaining. Go give it a read, then come back here and bear witness to my impassioned rant response:
Ok, I’ve read it – and meh. It’s a tabloid paper, so nothing that exciting. (ed: It is not the same Pravda most people think it is. The “real” Pravda shut down in 1991. The new Pravda launched online in 1999 and runs stories with headlines like, “Killer UFOs hide in lakes“.) Still, some the points are valid – except that they don’t take history into account. Obama hatred is nothing more than anemic political theater, just like Reagan worship. History proves that the STATUS QUO is maintained, regardless of who is in power – and, for decades, the status quo has meant exponential corporate growth at all costs. That’s American Democracy in a nutshell: Oligarchy under the pretense of democracy, and the people don’t care because they’re all manipulated into righteous indignation by “their side” to be furious about the “other side” – when it’s all the same. Poor people stay poor, the myth of a middle class pervades, and barely-solvent households operate under the sad delusion that they are actually wealthy or middle class when, in reality, they are nothing more than one, perhaps two, paychecks away from abject poverty. Meanwhile, the top 1% of the population controls the VAST, overwhelming, and massive amount of the wealth that neither you nor anyone you’ve ever known will ever get anywhere close to. The American Dream is bullshit.
It’s all theater, designed to make people FEEL like they’re doing something, when nothing could be further from the truth. Passing e-mails around, posting angry status messages on Facebook or even attending protest rallies accomplishes exactly NOTHING. Those activities do, however, make the people participating in them at least take comfort in the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from thinking that they matter, when the miserable truth is that they are merely pretending to participate in a political discourse that they couldn’t be further removed from if they tried. Real action requires real risk and sacrifice, but Americans are so complacent and terrified of losing their security that they will never risk anything, especially not en masse.
Hate the government? Want to make a stand and show Washington that the people are in charge? REFUSE TO PAY YOUR TAXES! It’s that simple. Don’t pay. Instead, send the IRS a letter explaining why you refuse to participate in a taxation system you believe is wrong, unfair, and will lead to Armageddon at the hands of an Obama-shaped Anti-Christ. If all the angry citizens took ACTUAL action, then the government would likely yield – but nobody wants to actually RISK anything. No, it’s better to just play with the simulacrum and not have to worry about things like consequence in the form of fines or a little jail time. Blah.
Change only comes from the people enforcing it, not simply demanding it through impotent forms of protest. Take a risk, make a stand, and give your voice meaning by putting everything on the line for what you believe in. Anything less is masturbation.
Want some books? 'Course ya do!
NOTE: I know times are hard and yeah, I need to make a living too, but if you want to read any of my books but can't afford to buy them right now, hit me up.
I'll take care of it.
Humor | Nonfiction
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Have you ever lived through an experience that was so humiliating that you wanted to die, but when you tell it to all your friends, they can't stop laughing?
Have you ever made a decision that seemed like a good idea at the time, but you're still living with the hilarious consequences years later?
If so, then grab a snack, get comfortable, and prepare to have all of your own poor life choices seem just a little bit more bearable.
You're welcome.
Short Stories
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The nine stories of rage and sadness collected here range from the most intimate of human experiences to the wildest realms of magic and fantasy. The first story is a violent gut-punch to the soul, and the rest of them just hit harder from there.
Those who tough it out will find a book filled with as much hope as despair, a constant contradiction pulling you from one extreme to another.
Life might knock us down, over and over, and will the beat the ever-loving snot out of us from the time we're old enough to give it attitude until the day we finally let it win and stop getting up.
Always get back up.
Gaming | Nonfiction
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This isn't just a book. It's a portal to other worlds where there be magic and dragons and hilarious pirates. Okay, not really. But this book is about those portals, except they're called video games.
The Life Bytes series of books take a deep dive into one man's personal journey through childhood into kinda/sorta being a responsible, competent adult as told through the magical lens of whatever video games he was playing at the time.
Part One starts way back in 1975 and meanders down various digital pathways until, oh, around about 1993 or so.
If you're feeling nostalgic for the early days of gaming or if you just want to understand why the gamer in your life loves this hobby so much, take a seat in your favorite comfy chair and crack this bad boy open.
I'll try to not be boring.
Horror
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What you are about to read is not a story. There is no beginning, middle, or end.
What follows is nothing more than a series of journal entries involving shadow people, sleep paralysis, and crippling fear. It’s not pretty, it doesn’t follow story logic, and nothing works out well in the end.
You've been warned.
I'd have to disagree that complaining about the government is an "all or nothing" activity. To be sure, the "all" that you suggested isn't really going to do anyhting, either. Sure, it'll land you in jail, but at that point your voice is more or less silenced. You voiced your opinion through action and that one action prevented you from fighting another day. Sorta pointless.
Any why refusal to pay taxes? While obviously one possible course of action, it's certainly not the most effective. REAL protests would involved guns and Molotov cocktails, right? Your suggestion is lacking if the point is real action and not masturbation.
And what if your standard were applied to everythihg in life? How would you measure up? The line at It's a Small World is too long? Don't complain about it. If you're not willing to shove your way to the front and remove the kids from the boat, you don't have a point or a backbone. Out of butter for your toast this morning? You know what to do. Lock and load.
Speaking of, the fact that your suggestion of refusal to pay taxes isn't really going the distance (see "McVeigh" for that), one might argue you haven't put 100% behind your criticism and it is, in fact, maturbation.
Just had to offer another possibility…..
Mike