Sorry, but I got to rant (and throw on a flame suit maybe)

[The Straight Story]

I can save you.

My party can save the world.

All is lost and doomed because of:

70's:
Overpopulation
Global cooling
Nuclear war
End of times/Armageddon
Russians

Today:
Global Warming
Overpopulation
Bird Flu
Terrorism
Capitalism
End of times/Armageddon
Chinese


Since I can remember, especially in the 70's (I was born in 65 so 70's were a bit more memorable) I have heard all about doom and gloom. From both sides of the aisle.

From mylar on apples causing cancer, to we are screwed because by 2000 we will have too many people. This does not include all the religious things in that same context (the end is near!).

Both sides each always have the believers and naysayers. Whether religious or scientific. Hell I was so damned scared in the 70's I had problems in school. Between race riots at local schools, to busing, to end of the world stuff from science and religion, all I did was worry and stress. So much so I missed some school off and on and in was in dire need of psych care.

The world WILL end someday. The sun will go out. The universe will collapse. Nuclear war could break out. The list goes on and on.

Today it is two main things I am hearing (not including the religious side of things) - Terrorism and global warming. Vote for me or you will all die. I can save you!

Religion was right really in some ways. Mankind sucks and will fuck us all up someday. A worthy prediction IMHO. We don't need the wrath of god to do the work (and I think part of that was a metaphor) we will somehow do it ourselves.

In the meantime, I am sick of all the fear I have heard all these years from people. You are going to die if you do X, cancer if you do Y, world ends if we do Z, and so on. We got everything going on from supervolcanoes to meteorites to bird flu to global warming to terrorism - and oh hell the list is too long and would take me all night to talk about the fear peddled about all the time.

Today there are people starving. Today someone in a rest home needs a friend to visit them. Today my wife's parkinson's is a little worse and she needs a friend to talk to. Today the mother of some autistic kid needs some relief.

Ignore the dire warnings? No. But take em with a grain of salt. Because today is the only day you have. Someone, somewhere, today is suffering - and I don't look to my government to make it better, that is my job as a human to do. One I have done damned poorly I might add.

Look busy, Jesus is coming. Not just a funny bumper sticker, but has a ring of truth. The end could come at any time - and when it does come I hope I am spending it in some meaningful way helping my fellow human alleviate their personal suffering. Shame on me for not doing more.

As far as fear peddling. Well, there are plenty of people living in hell and fear right now that need us.

I am not ignorant of the big picture and it's doom and gloom. As noted I have been hearing that for years. What I have not been seeing much of is the personal suffering we can do something about today. Solve global warming or cooling - good. It all takes years and massive effort out of my reach. Solve the real hell someone is going through today? Well that I can work on myself and do something about.

Find someone you know and give em a hug. It all starts with us. And don't worry about the world ending and how it affects you so much - someone's world is ending as I type this right now. Someone is dying, someone is homeless, someone needs a friend.

Somewhere, I am failing someone. I hope they know I am sorry for such, and I hope they know that I and others are trying. I get so wrapped up in my own life and needs I ignore those of others. Kind of like global warming and how we all want others to change but not us (well not all of us of course, generalizing here).

I cannot, and will not, expect my government to solve problems alone. I got room for a homeless person at my house, I got time I could devote to visting old folks, I got some spare change I can send to starving kids.

We could all do more. As for me, I am starting with my sorry ass self. Not on a political scale, but on a human and personal one. Social problems are ones we can face and fix. We are not doing enough - and I am just as guilty if not more than anyone else.


Guess I am just ranting now too much. Sorry for that. If you were offended by words, take em with a grain of salt. We are all on the same side - humanity's side. I don't care who is office in that regards - because I cannot hide my own failures to do more behind their failures.

Peace out my friends. I am going back to my beer and talking to my buddy who is in Afghanistan right now, trying to beat the heat and avoid the bullets. Again, if I offended you please accept my apologies. Just venting, and not meaning to beat down anyone.

[Webster Green]

1. You make it sound hopeless...

It may take years to turn global warming around, but there are plenty of lifestyle choices that individuals can make that will help.

Do you have a worm box?

[The Straight Story]

2. I think it is not hopeless, but the opposite in many ways

All I hear is doom and gloom on a huge scale, have for years now.

To me the real doom and gloom is real and here now, on a personal basis for many daily.

A little more focus on those issues, from us all being personally involved, will go a long way to making it all a better place for us all.

[Webster Green]

4. Surely you've heard of multi-tasking...

It's not about hopelessness...quite the contrary. We're sounding the alarm and calling for action.

Just because the right-wing portrays us as all about doom and gloom, doesn't make it so.

Trust me, progressives, and especially DUers, are capable of tackling more than one issue at a time.

[The Straight Story]

5. I would agree with that

But am concerned at all the attention given one thing, and the fear it pushes, versus the many things and the fears people have of today.

It saddens me that we, as a society, are so caught up in the main fears (terrorism/global warming/et al) that we don't do enough to publish and focus on the day to day suffering we can fix.

[Webster Green]

6. And I would agree with that...

Most people are struggling just to pay their bills, and pay little attention to anything else.

It is sad.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Despair doesn't help. Neither does sticking one's head in the sand.

Global warming is a real problem. But the human mind is a formidable force in the universe, particularly once it's unshackled from rigid more-of-the-same thought patterns and mindless things-that-go-bump-in-the-demon-haunted-night, invisible-men-in-the-sky-who-don't-want-you-to-have-sex-before-you're-married superstition.

We got ourselves into this mess. We can get ourselves out. But pretending it's not a problem won't solve anything. Besides, we as a planet are addicted to a finite, environmentally destructive resource to power our shit. We need to address that, the sooner the better.