Questioning of The Corporate State

in my lifetime it's only been
the pundits like Chris Hedges
the outlaws like Hunter S Thompson
the outsiders
who have questioned the
corporate oligarchy that
America has become

so if you're an egoist
Donald J Trumps your man

but if you're compassionate?
here's a liberal
independent
socialist
73 year old
Jewish guy
for you

I was a baby boomer
and thought the revolution
would be led by the young

but Bernie Sanders?

the young follow him
on the internet
what they call the millennials
the new generation

and now the slander will begin
namecalling
commie
crazy
bullets of words
and maybe
actual ones?

power is intransigent
sick
entrenched
corporate
uncaring

what happens now
reveals
how sick
our democracy really is
how sick
we really are

here in...
The Great American Spiritual Desert
   

The American Dream

 

What is The American Dream? Where can it be found? Is it in the Porno-Pop Culture of  Fame? Does it reside in the Shimmering-Limelight-Illusions of Hollywood? Or is it entrenched in East Coast Wealth passed down from Generation to Generation? Is it in the Get-Rich-Quick California kinda dreamin' ? From all the land grabbin' to The Gold Rush to Silicon Valley? Is The American Dream captive of all those bouncing balls in the Powerball Lottery machine? Is it in our hopes for the Next Generation of Americans? Funny that American Dreaming seems always to be on the surface, but the thing about it that isn't so funny is The Native Americans had a dream too, and we extinguished that one. Replacing living, as one with Mother Nature, with some kind of Sadomasochistic Rape & Bondage Theme, a movable feast of fetishes, power, and greed. A dream turned into a nightmare, for these days we have begun to realize we gotta start dreamin' like the dream we extinguished, or the livability of Mother Earth is doomed, and we, along with it. Funny? Not so funny? What they call Global Warming has made even The Hippies of The '60s seem on the right track. The American Dream has to turn from the exterior world of things, which we have surely abused, into the interior world of values, which we have sorely neglected.

 

Now the deal is dreaming is an interior kinda thing and sets up how we relate to reality. Our dreams make sense of the way we live and tell us about the world we live in. Dreams tell us who we are. MLK saw that The American Dream in this kinda way, and his was a dream of interior values. The American Dream of acceptance and equality.

 

The American Empire is crumbling 'like matchsticks into one another' to quote Dylan, who as the Poet Laureate of The '60s was not kind to The American Dream. He got inside her and tap danced around, as Dylan always said, he was just a song and dance man. The only revolution is a Revolution of Consciousness and The Psychedelic '60s pointed to the fact that everything is alive, connected, whole, and sacred. Living is being. The moment timeless. Such dreaming can take us ever deeper into The River of Life. 

 

So are we as Americans going to continue to let The Dogs of Capitalism, psychopathic international corporations, define The American Dream for us? Dumb us down and market her as a shallow whore of consumption ? Will we continue to let the religious dogmas that gave birth to Manifest Destiny, and dominion over all, continue to blind us to the fact that everything is alive and deserves it's place under the sun? Will we forever dream so shallowly? Fitfully? Tossing to and fro? Well? The Smart Boys in Las Vegas always put their money on The Capitalists when they place their bets. The Hippie Way is such a long shot you can always get good odds on that one. Me? I think The American Empire is gonna fall because we were dreaming the wrong dream. We did have a chance in The '60s to start dreaming a different dream, a dream of interior realities, but the intrinsic value of what the young were saying to their elders in those days was ignored, and only met with control, disdain. Thought always trumps love in this World of Illusions, a realm where Maya readily grows and flourishes. It's like this world is supposed to be fucked up. What can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's Law.

 

So what do you want from this life? What's going to fulfill you? How do you see The American Dream? How do you see things? What do you dream of? It's all about the individual you know. Societies are only as strong as the character of their citizens.

 

There are two links posted below, one is a Wikipedia link to The American Dream, the other a talk given by Krishnamurti. Are we gonna end up like Willy Lohman saying: "I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been."? Are we gonna jump in The Red Shark with our lawyer and head to Vegas from The Polo Lounge, ignoring all the bats along the way, searching for The American Dream? Are we gonna be as accepting as Huckleberry Finn? As loving as MLK? What's it gonna be?

 

 I believe that Americans these days see The American Dream as an interior kinda thing, spiritual values over materialistic accumulation, so to speak, but you rarely get that from the media. Like old Norman Rockwell up there painting his portrait it's a question of how we see things? How do we see ourselves? America needs to take a good look in that mirror. We need to see ourselves as we actually are, because The American Dream may be dead and buried upon the grounds of Robert E Lee's old home, resting by The Potomac River. Arlington National Cemetery. We have to dig her up and breathe new life into her.

 

We need a new American Mythology. One that's alive in the moment. Not the one entombed in the plastic of Disneyland. 

 

 

 

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,

I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.

Hey! Mr. Tambourine man, play a song for me,

in the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you.

 

Then take me disappearin' though the smoke rings of my mind,

Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves,

The haunted frightened trees, out to the windy beach,

Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow,

Yes to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free,

Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,

With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves,

Let me forget about today until tomorrow. 

 

Bob Dylan

 

 

 

 How can we dream

 The American Dream

 unless

 American Mythology

 wakes up?

 

 

 

Mother Earth

has set

the clock

ticking.

 

 

 

 

The Great American Spiritual Desert 

 

         "Las Vegas is the savage heart of The American Dream." Dr Hunter S Thompson

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream#History

From February 6th through the 9th 2013 on Kinfonet....The Krishnamurti Quote of The Day.....gives account of the 5th Public Talk given in Ommen, Holland on the 12th of August, 1938. Just hit.....'next quote'.....and over 4 days you get the entire talk. 

    http://www.kinfonet.org/krishnamurti/quotes/desire-cannot-exist-by-itself-it-must-always-be-in
 

Democracy versus Capitalism

   Another school shooting. Another American Mass Murder, graded on the amount of indifference and carnage, weighed in upon the scales of fame, and now, the POTUS says that this is unacceptable and we must change. Change what? Gun laws? Mental health programs? The fabric of American community? How deep must the change go for such atrocities to end?
  When democracy finally realizes that capitalism has no values, with the exception of the more, and that our capitalist culture is what denigrates our personal relationships, and the fabric of community, maybe that would be a start of some real change. These days it seems as if all the functions of capitalism, of management itself,  have turned on American society. The financial crisis of 2008. Shipping manufacturing jobs overseas. Capitalism seems to value labor only as a commodity and fails to realize that consumers and employees are essentially human beings, much more than functions and commodities. Americans are citizens, and it's democracy that allows every corporation the right  to exist. Democracy has the ability to pull the plug on any capitalist venture, but our representative government has been bought wholesale by capitalism, ruled by their narrow interests, all covertly administered by corporate lobbyists. Even banning assault weapons is a law we passed that was washed under the bridge.
   Change? Our society is based on competition, individual relationships of mutual usage, all based on greed, on wealth, on fame, and such a social compact has it's very foundation resting upon such violence. No wall streeter went to jail. George Bush is a war criminal and nothing at all happened to him. We started this country on the genocide of the Native Americans and the enslavement of other races. We're the only country to drop atomic weapons on another people. We have a deep history of violence. We're even killing other peoples children with drones, but these days Corporate America not only feeds on the other nations of the world, but on it's own people. Violence seems to be 'the flowering' of who we are. To change that demands more than outlawing assault weapons, requiring background checks, and upping the scope of community health services. Such change requires a change in the way we see ourselves, a change in the way we live.
   You have to find this out for yourself, for there are no political or religious answers. All the people of the world are more than employees, more than consumers, more than accumulated wealth, more than fame, even more than citizens. What are we? We all have but a short time upon this earth to ask these questions, made even shorter by corporate environmental degradation and poisoning: what we call Global Warming. What is the answer?
  

~~~Success Implies Brutality~~~

   Our stomachs demand that we kill to survive~~~as this Remington painting Hungry Moon reveals. It's a sorrowful part of living within the violence of space-time, as the second law of thermodynamics applies to all systems. It is the way it is. All things must pass~~~they are temporary~~~and~~~death is at the end of everything. But in our temporal existence here on earth where all in the end is impermanent~~~do we have to be so ruthless in our accumulations? Do we not see ourselves in our fellow man? Can we not take what we need and leave the rest? Hunter gatherers like the American Indians above were much more sane than my fellowman these days~~~for thought and mankind's inventions~~~have brutalized us more than we can imagine. Some tribes of Indians had no word for~~~sacred~~~for everything was sacred to them. The culture that I grew up in looked at everything as an object~~~to be acquired~~~and used. Is everything living~~~or dead? Krishnamurti put it this way~~~the essence of control is suppression. We suppress the life in ourselves and in others~~~all to try and hold on to what by nature is impermanent. Much dark humor in this. Fragmentation is insanity. Thought is destroying the planet. And we think of The Indian Lifestyle as savage.

~~~A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand~~~

"House Divided" Speech by Abraham Lincoln


   Does today's Class War compare to The Civil War? Will there ever rise such a man as this to appeal to~~~The Better Angels of Our Nature~~~or will politicians forever more be bought and sold by the powers that be? How does the denial of personal freedom compare to the social denegration that springs from~~~economic and environmental destruction? Who can live peaceably together with slaveholders~~~or~~~corporate entities that have no social responsibilities? Is democracy for All The People~~~or~~~is it a Tattered Quilt of states rights? Was it really~~~North vs South? Is it really~~~Democratic America vs Corporate America? Blue vs Grey~~~or~~~Red vs Blue? Today there are Two Americas~~~the haves~~~and the have nots~~~and i don't believe we'll ever be blessed with a man such as this~~~to unite our house divided.

21st Century American Class Warfare

   The Gipper was an anti-FDR of sorts~~~a traitor to his own class~~~and when he dissolved the Air Traffic Controller's Union and fired them all~~~Michael Moore may be right~~~that was the beginning of this class warfare we see these days~~~and~~~the pilots and baggage handlers and all the co-workers and colleagues of the terminated employees~~~should have seen what's coming and gone on strike~~~right then and there. That didn't happen~~~but~~~let's face it~~~corporations have no values regarding social responsibilities~~~and~~~their disregard for the impact that their actions have~~~as to the destruction of the environment~~~reveals how little they really care about anything~~~other than~~~extracting more of whatever they want out of what is and into their pockets. The Corporate Mantra~~~is only one word~~~MORE. And now the modern day christian pharisees have Reinvented Jesus into some kind of political animal and mixed him up with a bunch of psychopathic businessmen and politicians~~~all in a power grab to take back~~~what~~~The New Deal~~~established. Damn~~~the rich are~~~never satisfied~~~they seem to want it all~~~and not one of them did any jailtime for fincially trashing the american economy.

   So what's to do? I say that The Representative Democracy that this country is~~~take back the power it once gave to corporations. YEAH~~~take it back and neuter those son of a bitches~~~like cutting the balls off  an aggressive and violent animal. Oh~~~they'll cry~~~we're leaving The United States of America~~~for friendlier foreign shores. Let them go~~~see how they like it~~~and~~~we as a democracy can fill the vacuum that they leave with private enterprise that is socially conscious~~~and green~~~that~~~provides jobs to support the life within our communities~~~and~~~values all that is~~~what we all share~~~and~~~is a part of~~~this life we live together.

   Corporate America screwed with the middle class's largest investment~~~their homes~~~and made money playing with people's investments and retirements and lives~~~damn if they don't even play the fuel price futures game on us time and time again~~~I guess they think it's fun. Corporate America values~~~itself~~~more highly when it drops many of it's workers from it's bottom line~~~they really don't care about all the people that they touch~~~when they're not needed they're just excess capicity~~~deadwood~~~and only the people that are a part of their lifeblood~~~their cash flow~~~THEIR MONEY~~~count in their equations~~~of and on~~~life. Corporate America doesn't give a shit about our communities~~~about Mother Nature~~~and~~~the environment~~~in which we all live and move and have our being~~~they only care about their own.

 And so it began in Wisconsin~~~and what Spiro Agnew called The Silent Majority~~~are silent no more~~~but~~~where will it all end? With~~~Plato's Society~~~wise and financially divested men~~~required to be a substantial representative part~~~of every~~~Board of Directors? I don't think these Rabid Dogs of Capitalism will so easily be muzzled~~~and it's gonna take an army of lawyers~~~to cut their balls off~~~in the courts. America is gonna have to sue these bastards into submission~~~environmental damage will bankrupt them all. So~~~let them put their tails between their legs~~~and take their personally degrading system of values~~~and head on off to somewhere in~~~The 3rd World~~~because their toxic value systems~~~won't hold up~~~anywhere. Societies that have~~~no intrinsic values~~~are only impermanent castles~~~built within and made of ~~~the sands of time. They have no foundation in reality upon which to stand. 

   The Corporate Oligarchy~~~will try to dumb us down~~~and~~~rally their minions~~~and~~~lay the big guilt trip~~~on all of us. Hey Corporate America~~~lighten up~~~your ball sack will heal~~~and you'll be better off for it~~~dontchaknow?~~~the division of power and transparency of all actions~~~are both~~~The American Way! 

    So let's turn THE LAWYERS loose on them~~~for their articles of incorporation~~~as they now stand~~~are~~~untenable~~~and~~~we simply can not afford to live~~~like this. Real Estate~~~overvalued and overbuilt. Financial Mismanagement~~~wtf derivatives and crazy assed futures. Union busting. Media control. Commercial propaganda. Dumbing down the host society~~~and all manner of manipulation.

   Wake Up America~~~there are so many more of us~~than~~~them. The Gipper sold you on~~~It's Morning In America~~~but~~~Dylan says~~~it's getting dark~~~almost too dark~~to see. 

   Let's Sue The Bastards.  

  

If You Were An American Indian What Would Your Name Be?

HALF RIGHT, founder and sole member of The Nobody Tribal Nation, out standing in his field

"Yeah, go ask Half Right and we'll figure out which half he got right." I can hear it now, and as this is a 'mea culpa' of sorts, it is funny how we 'miss the mark' on some very basic stuff~~~or~~~as Dylan put it (from Blood On The Tracks): "Images, Big Ideas, and Distorted Facts." Hell~~~all thought is limited~~~just some thoughts are more limited than others~~~or~~~as my friend Charley used to say to me all the time: "Thinkin' thinkin' the same Stupid Thoughts." When I was young I thought that technology had the inside track on Truth~~~the early days of TV and all that imagery and attributed meaning~~~probably the way kids now days view Facebook and Twitter and all the rest of it~~~but? The description is not the described. The word is not the thing. Imagery is like sunlight flashing off the watertop~~~a very shallow affair. Thought is just an abstraction. Oh I learned how we live here in The Great American Spiritual desert~~~how we judge one another~~~think ourselves different~~~how we see ourselves as better than the rest~~~but there are more similarities than differences among All of Us~~~All Human Beings~~~past, and present. This world that we live in is A World of Illusion~~~Maya~~~and it's impermanent too. My culture schooled me in illusion. And what is The Truth? About This Life? Life is All In This Moment~~~eternity ever flowing in The Now~~~and it's up to each of us to Live In The Here and Now. That is where All Life Is~~~the past and future are just fictions of thought. Be Here Now. Awaken In The Timeless Moment~~~for all is One~~~connected, whole, alive, sacred~~~and One. Listen to The Spirit with All Your Heart~~~and the funny thing is, like me~~~you'll still only be Half Right. But if we all truly lived so transparently together~~~we might get it more than Half Right :)