A conversation with myself

This post is somewhat eclectic in thought pattern. I promise to expound on the topics I bring up here:

A few days ago I sat at the Central West End Metro station at an active construction site, listening to the clinks and clangs of hammers and running machinery. It caused me to think about the current economic turmoil and all of President Obama's (our) plans for job creation. But, for what?! Just so people can make money? Why? Money is only worth something because we (people) SAY it is. Even when it is backed with some tangible resource (pounds sterling), that mineral is also only valued by people who made up a figure of its worth, by weight. Even with the value of money, in the United States it is usually spent on something that gives one little improvement to quality of life and is, more likely than not, something you bought to impress people, some who you may like and most of whom you probably don't like.

We go throughout our lives working so hard! I ask why we live like this. You know, I have always envied the life of a (domesticated) dog. He never has to worry about where his next meal is coming from... He can sleep most of the day... If he has a good owner, he gets to play a lot and be active... And the kicker is, he can do his business anywhere outside and his OWNER cleans it up for him. Dogs don't worry about money, nor do they try to start wars on other continents because they want the resources there (Iraqi freedom my ass!)

This example just illustrates simpler lifestyle. A lifestyle probably very similar to that of one we left in the ancient dust of so many cultures that came before ours. Our practice of what Daniel Quinn calls Totalitarian Agriculture is one that is not sustainable in any sense of the word and will ultimately lead to our demise if we continue to follow this course. I will explain a law called the law of limited competition that will explain why it's not sustatinable, later.

This is not just about global warming or cooling, or whatever is actually happening with our atmosphere. It is about the stress level that plagues the collective psyche of people of our culture. It is about the way we interact with our environment, locally and globally and more importantly how we interact with the creautres of our planet (ourselves included), flora and fauna. This is about taking care of the place (the Earth) that is taking care of you. Our robbery of the resources of this planet is an abomination. And not before God, because that is not what this is about either. I'm not even sure "God" exists, but that is a story better left for a separate post, some other time.

We need to change our minds about how we get food, first. Then maybe we can change our minds about what technology is good for, i.e., healthcare and innovation and what technology is maybe not so good for, i.e., military industrial complexes and fuel-burning transportation.

We can power our electrical grids with solar power alone, if we tried (I will explain this in more detail later as well) and its done right. We also need to replant a lot of the plant life we have devoured over the years and redevelop the thinking behind the way we define our community structure. Let's start with these ideas and see where the conversation goes. In the meantime I will suggest that all of you read the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn if you are at all interested in what I am saying here. That book opened my eyes to a theory that had to do with a lot of things I already knew, but couldn't articulate as a complete set of thoughts.

Out.