Status Quo

Wake up goddamn it!

I heard Carlos Santana say, "Everyday is a battlefield, but if you fight with anger in your heart, you're the problem. If you fight with joy, you're the solution." Amen brother! (By the way if you want a source of joy check out "Safiatou" by Herbie Hancock ft. Carlos Santana and the amazing Angelique Kidjo. If that don't make you feel good you have no soul. If you have no soul you needn't read any further. Damn it, this ain't for you.)

Santana hit it on the head, my minions. I would alter the wording slightly, "If you fight with hatred, you're the problem. If you fight with bitterness, you're the problem." In order to fully round out the concept expressed by Santana, it must be combined with an idea expressed by the incomparable Dr. Maya Angelou who said, "If you're not angry you're either a stone, or you're too sick to be angry. You should be angry. Now, mind you there's a difference, you must never be bitter...Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger, yes. You write it, you paint it, you dance it, you march it, you vote it, you do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it." You're goddamn right!

Take a look around, minions. If you're not angry you're either a stone or you're too sick to be angry. That is largely true. We must also include a vast percentage of the population that is too tame to be angry. We've been taught to be passive. "You shouldn't let that upset you. There's nothing you can do about it." Yeah. Right. Why should I get myself worked up about it? There is nothing I can do to change it. I'm only one man. But there is something WE can do about it. We could change things. We should change things. We all agree to varying degrees that things are pretty much fucked. Why aren't we angry? Nevermind doing everything about it. Why aren't we doing anything about it? Because it's too damn hard. Actually, it's not. Together we can accomplish anything, but we've been conditioned to make the minimal acceptable effort in all things. We don't want to rock the boat, because we could lose everything. All of our comforts, and shitty-little possessions, and everything we love could be snatched away if we don't stay in line and silently follow the herd. At least that's what the culture of fear leads us all to believe. We want shiny cars, and giant TV's, and a pretty wife without a thought in her head, and a rich husband with no soul, and perfect little children to whom we can never say "No" that a live in a big, beautiful house that appreciates in value at regular intervals. Right? They're not just wants, they're needs. These are the things you need in order for your life to mean something, and your life has to mean something, at least in everybody else's eyes. You can't do anything to impede whatever forward momentum you might have toward obtaining these things. They're the tangible evidence that you are good. The cost? Doesn't matter. You have to stay in line. You can't rock the boat. You can't object. You can't question.
..."all of your lack of aggression. Pull your skirt back down. Grow a set, man!"-Shawn Carter.

The status quo also seems to mandate that all of the reproducers need to recite the herd's motto, "What about the children? What kind of world are we going live for our kids?" If you're having a hard time reconciling how questions can be a motto, so am I. That's just what a bunch of pussies we've all become. Well, when combined with the fact that nobody bothers to look at the answer. I don't even have kids, and I'm terrified of the world we're leaving my niece and nephews, and all of the generations to follow. A world where the parents haven't told their kids "No." As a result, they never learn to deal with disappointment or adversity. Which means they'll never learn to overcome disappointment or adversity, which you do by fighting. Fighting those feelings of defeat builds the character that is needed to make your world a better place. The character you need to: question authority, to fight injustice, to stand up and shout in defense of reason in the face of an irrational mob, to fight with the joy that comes from the knowledge that we as a species are capable of so much more than this. The joy that comes from the knowledge that you have indeed left behind a generation better than yours, who can leave behind a generation better than their's, and so on until, many generations from now, humanity reaches our fullest potential, and accomplishes all of which we are capable.

Just the knowledge of the fact that such potential exists, and that we have only glimpsed it in: Newton, and Einstein, and Shakespeare, and Davis, and Lennon, and Pryor, and Kinison, and Bill Hicks, and Dr. Angelou, and Dr. King, and Malcolm X, and Beethoven, and Mozart, and all of the genius that has come before us, and has left a better world for us, is enough to fill me with joy I can barely contain. It feels me with joy in spite of the fact that we are falling immeasurably short of achieving this potential. That we're wasting it. We're just giving it all away. That is why we must fight! We must fight with joy of our potential success, and anger about our recent failures, but never bitterness. What other choice is there?

My boy Maynard James Keenan told us, "the only way to fix it is to flush it all away." We better hope he's not right. We better be ready to fight.

The Power of Genius

Wake up goddamn it!!

Watching the History Channel today I heard physicist Michio Kaku describe Eintstein in this way, "...that is the power of genius. The force of will to make the necessary mistakes to find the right answer."

Stop to think about that, my minions. Not with regard to physics, but with regard to life. Not with regard to geniuses, but with regard to all of us. "The force of will to make the necessary mistakes to find the right answer." That is a major source of youthful rebellion. "Don't tell me what to do. Let me figure it out for myself." Many children and teens feel this way, probably without knowing why. They are instinctively beginning their journey along the path to self discovery. Talk a the wisest elder you know. If you ask, they will probably tell you they were spectacularly foolish in their youth. They made lots of mistakes. Probably painful mistakes. As a diabetic I know something about this. People don't change until they feel the pain.
Looking back, I was an idiot and an asshole. I've made bad decisions. I've treated people poorly. I've made mistakes that still cause pain and embarrassment upon reflection. And I am much better for it. I learned from those mistakes, and that knowledge has allowed me to grow and move forward along the path the self discovery. Keep in mind that some of those mistakes can never be undone, and some of the wounds never healed, but I will never again inflict them upon myself or others. I haven't found THE right answer, but that is a journey with an infinite path. Pi is also infinite, but its application is infinitely useful. That is the principle we are talking about. With each new "digit", or piece of information, or wisdom gained your "answer" becomes more accurate. Put simply, with each mistake from which wisdom is gained you become a better and stronger person.

It is important to infer what is not stated in Kaku's observation. What becomes of those who lack the will to find the right answer? You already know. You see it everyday. They become the ubiquitous douche-bags that you encounter with disheartening frequency.

At this point I must digress to define a term you will definitely see me address at great length in the future, Generation Douche. We've had: The Greatest Generation,
The Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, and now Generation Douche. Not the most poetic monicre, but I'm not a poet. The importance of the definition far exceeds that of the name. These people are usually under 25 years of age. They are self involved. They do not think ahead. They are incapable of even perceiving their own mistakes, let alone learning from them. At 30 they will be the exact same person they were at 20. If you're having a hard time putting a face to the name, turn on the T.V. You can see Nth stage cases of this syndrome on almost every reality show. Especially those on MTV, VH1, and Bravo.

Now that you understand what I mean, you can observe that these people are the flipside to the Kaku's assertion. They are eternally 6 years old. They are raging ego. They are driven by desire. The desire to appear and feel cool. This disables the mechanism for growth by eliminating their ability to feel bad. If you are always cool and always right, you don't feel bad about anything you do because you can always justify it to yourself. Even if you can't justify your actions to anyone else. If people only change when they feel the pain, and Generation Douche-bags can't feel the pain, how will they change? How will they grow? How will they make progress along the path toward self discovery? How will they become a member of society useful to anyone but themselves?

If you are a parent, these questions are extremely important. Your child could be at risk to become a Generation Douche-bag. It is a natural instinct for parents to want their children's lives to be better than theirs. Easier. However, I must caution you against making their lives too easy. If they grow up knowing no possibilities other than getting their way, they will not possess the tools necessary to grow and self discover. They will always be needy. They will always be whiny. They may end up on a VH1 reality show. Is that a child you want to raise? Is that a result that is more desirable than feeling guilty about your child's disappointment at hearing you say "no" from time to time? As you answer these questions to yourself, realize that I am fostering self discovery in you, my minions. The knowledge is far more impactful when you come to it on your on than it would be if I spoon fed it to you.

If you answered "yes" to the last two questions, you might be a Generation Douche-bag.