You motherfucker. Coming for my already fragile peace of mind, with your short days and cloudy skies. I will do all the drugs and sleep through your bullshit. I will take to the cave and hibernate in the light of my UV savior, the grow lamp of love. You will not defeat me, winter. You will pass, and in the Spring when you retreat, frostbitten tail between your legs, I emerge renewed.

And a little pudgy.

I planned, and started, a deep dive into this subject with intentions of giving the essay its own page on the website. After further thought, I thought, what a giant waste of my fucking time.

That said, my friends and I have had lengthy discussion of these modern times, and this new modern censorship. We grew up during an era of fierce opposition to censorship. Progressive culture used to be the force that fought not to be labeled and railed against censorship in art. Thus, many progressives of my age demographic are taken aback by this new modern progressiveness that insists we all fit neatly into some demographic box (cis, trans, abled, toe-headed, left footed, wall-eyed, etc. etc.), and refuses to accept the difference between actual hate speech and artistic exploration.

Okay, that was a little snarky. Perhaps unnecessarily, but the crux of this writing is my gut reaction to "Cancel Culture" and stand-up comedy. Dear young progressives, please know that I support your efforts for a better world. The issue is, we can have empathy, and loving hearts, and be a part of the movement, and still laugh at unsavory humor. We laugh at ourselves. We laugh at pain. Many people prefer to laugh at the things that hurt them, myself included. That's just our natural reaction. We can watch a comedian tell crass jokes and understand that they are just jokes, while the real world problems still exist and have to be dealt with.

I've lost people to cancer and still laugh at cancer jokes.
I've lost people to drugs. Still laugh at dope jokes.
Lost people to old age. Still make fun of old people.
Lost people to car accidents. Still make fun of trucks. Wait...

I have trans friends and still understand there are trans things that can be poked fun of. I've had homosexual people in my life my entire life. Helped raise me and I love them, and in general the community with all my heart, and I still jokingly say things are gay, etc. I've had friends from minority communities my entire life, and understand that all of us have unfortunate stereotypes associated with our communities that deserve to be poked fun of. White people can't dance. Black folk talk during movies. Etc. Etc. I sure as fuck make fun of myself and my fellow cockasians on a regular basis. Yes, that's a dick joke race joke combo, and I'm not exactly sure what it means either.

What's at issue here is intent. Is the person operating with a hateful heart? Is the person trying to make an honest point, or a disingenuous one? Is the person simply teasing, because everyone deserves a little teasing. Please remember that art is an outlet for emotions. Haven't you ever wanted to, and successfully yelled, at someone you love? Perhaps even in public?

One more thought before my grand finale, just in case someone reads this drivel. The progressive community in the United States needs to recognize there is a ton of amplification of discourse aimed at simply keeping the argument going. The forces of evil in this world are genuinely trying to keep America divided. We know this for a fact. Much of the "Cancel Culture" discourse is being amplified on the internet by trolls (and their bots) with no other desire than to see the world burn.

In summary, what I'm calling for here is a little more understanding. Try to understand how your fellow progressive doesn't agree with you when you want a comedian banished for eternity because they tell a joke you find hurtful. I promise, I will try to encourage others to act with patience and understanding for your argument as well, even if I disagree. We are living through an era of righteous indignation, rightfully brought on by the grand exposure of a nasty underbelly in our culture. It's understandable that people are so amped up. There are powerful forces at play intent on keeping us that way. We've got to keep a clearer eye on the very real battles worth fighting. Disenfranchised communities have discovered a new source of power to wield: social media. Please operate with discernment. Please know who your real enemy is, because I promise you, it's not Dave Chappelle.

For all my ponderings on life as a force all its own, and the fates to which we are all bound against our will, predetermined by the insistence of existence, in this sea of ever changing winds and turbulent waters, I still man the rudder, I still raise the sail.

I see children who want to change their world, to save their world. I see “adults” who’ve done the damage, created the calamity, attacking the problem solving youngsters. Cowards. Liars. Cretins and curs, all of them, desperate to believe anything but the truth of who they are and of that for which they are responsible, the impending destruction of this beautiful planet and their own goddamn species.

I hold myself accountable. Not for all this wrong, of course. I’m certainly no powerful deity. Not capable of some grand gesture to have caused or to solve this mess. I’m just a man, a cog in a wheel made of billions, who ignored the writing on the wall to chase my own petty desires. And here we are now, so I will apologize.

Dear fellow humans, dear children, I’m sorry for what I’ve done. For my selfish participation. I ignored the call, like most if not all, to be a better version of myself. To be a creature of unabashed giving and devotion to others. And now here I sit, much closer to death than birth, immature illusions shattered, praying to a power I cannot define, praying the children will win. I beg your forgiveness young humans, though undeserved, and offer my soul to the hope you survive this mess we’ve created. Amen.

To all the children, it only gets worse from here, but there is good news...

I was on the way to work this morning remembering a loved one. This is an open wound, fresh and tender, and will most likely remain a little taste of daily sadness for the rest of my time here. I can accept that, and try to find the beauty in it all. The sweet, miserable beauty of unrequested existence...

And in the midst of this remembrance, I found myself pondering the acquisition of emotional wounds throughout our days, from birth to the grave. It's the cumulative effect of thousands of paper cuts that never fully heal, with each additional cut adding another little twinge to a lifetime of pain. There will be laughter and joy, and those moments may make this whole deal worthwhile if we let them, but the cuts are always there. They may even prop up the joy, increase the sweet relief that comes with a laugh, but the cuts are always there.

Still, I have good news for the kids, and it is such a simple act of mercy from the Universe, I don't know how I haven't stumbled on this realization before. The question of what took me so long aside, as I was driving and wondering to myself how I was going to put up with all this nonsense for another 20, or 30, or 40 years (If I'm lucky, right? Right?), the following connection finally dawned on me: The longer we live, the more hardship we're exposed to, the more pain we acquire, the faster we pass through this life. Each day seems like it passes faster than the last, and so on and so on until the sweet relief of eternal peace. So, dear children, if you're ever feeling down and wondering how you're going to survive all this madness, just remember, the longer life goes on the faster it moves. This ever accelerating perception of our individual lifetime may actually serve as a tool that heightens your moments of joy and softens the burden of grief. You're welcome.

My friend and I were discussing the sudden uprise of white nationalism, fascism, and their umbrella category, racism. Of course, this current unleashing of the racist hounds was not sudden. It festered and boiled over. But to those of us who were caught off guard when the boil pot blew its top, it felt sudden. Anyway, he and I were discussing the hopefulness in the idea that this was racism's last desperate gasp before the bulk of the human race puts a collective foot down and says those times are gone. At least in our lifetime.

It's only more  recently, during this bout of mainstream racism, that I've been exposed to this movement's direct correlation with climate change. Climate catastrophe will cause refugees, millions and millions of brown refugees. Ahhhhhhhhh! I mean, constant fear of evil gangs and corrupt third world governments already created a healthy stream of immigration, but when the Sea rises up and says, "this land is mine now," we're talking about entire populations needing a new, dry place to live.

I've posted about this before, but what struck me today and brought on this freshly crafted piece of excellence is this quasi-spiritual and metaphysical symbiosis between humankind and Mother Nature. We are genuinely living a disaster flick plot line. The only way the planet gets saved is if the good guys win and we take the world's major democracies back from the clutches of evil, racist stupidity. If the bad guys win, the planet is doomed and we all die. Of course, even if the good guys win, it may be too late. Thus, what we're really quite possibly witnessing, is the last desperate gasp of humanity.

Perhaps, and just indulge me here 'cause I am definitely trying to scare young parents, but perhaps all this current sociopolitical strife is the result of a species sensing its demise on a collective subconscious level. AKA, we know Mother Nature's coming for us and e'erbody's freakin the fuck out.

Conceptually, it seems natural the death of a species would be fraught with discord.

Traveling backwards through the future is an easy trick. The curse of the old, the fate of the young. A spell cast by Mother Nature that insists upon itself. You will stumble and fall and rise and succeed over and again as the circle completes, shuffling towards the grave, satisfied or aggrieved, and eventually bemoan the world as it is for a world that used to be. Life is a merciless port to shore for your soul. Death is freedom into the sea.

Then again, without life there would no fried chicken.

As my time sifts through the glass, moments of unadulterated joy come fewer and further between, and feel ever less-deserved. On the occasion when I do stumble across those brief, intoxicating moments of cosmic good will, my unfortunate mind quickly succumbs to the gloom, to the golem of hopeless reality haunting this world. The poor. The starving. The painfully dying. The never-had-a-chancers.

Where is their joy?

Maybe I'm being petty, but I'll tell you what sucks most about all these jerks using "God's Plan" to justify all their evil bullshit:

When we die and there's no afterlife, we won't be able to rub their noses in it.

We'll be dead. Which means, if you want them to get what they deserve, you kind of have to be rooting for hell. And of course, this means if hell exists, you're likely going to wind up there too for thinking all these nasty thoughts. Which I suppose means that you might get to torment those liars and hypocrites while in hell, but the whole deal still sucks because that means hell will basically just be what we already have right now on Earth. Accept, at least the bad guys will be suffering. I suppose there's that.

Today is Memorial Day. I’ve already done a successful tour of social media patriotism. I came back alive. Many were not so lucky. Luckily, we have today to remember our fallen. Please forgive me while I take offense to the entire charade.

We are in the middle of a worldwide uprising of bigoted nationalism, on the collision course for global climate catastrophe, and yet today will be filled with ostentatious pandering about freedom, sacrifice, more freedom, and of course, never-forgetism.

Let us never forget, our country has not fought a necessary war since World War II. That was about defeating a would-be global conqueror, who had already done some genuine conquering and was not going to stop. Every incursion since then has been politics or blatant imperialism. Many of our “fallen heroes” were simply out there protecting the freedom of economic exploitation in whatever region some rich dickhead decided there was more money to be made, and to that end, our “fallen” were definitely defending the freedom of rich dickheads to make even more money off of the United States Military’s multi-billion dollar budget.

To be clear, I certainly appreciate the freedoms we still have in this country in comparison to many other societies in this world. I genuinely appreciate the fact that many people have laid down their lives so that I may have my eight-hundred and fifty square foot castle, half an acre of land, Internet access, pickup truck, high mileage foreign car, multiple televisions, etc. etc. My great-great-great-great-great (or something like that...) grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War so that I might have this tiny slice of piece-of-mind pie. But on this Memorial Day, let us never forget all of the others who have died so that we might prosper.

All those foreign innocents killed by our weaponry, the citizens and their children who simply wanted the same things we want. A safe and happy place to live, love, grow old and die. All sacrificed in the name of our enduring freedom. Let us never forget the countless foreign workers, who’ve slaved in miserable conditions that have led to Bob knows how many deaths so that we might have all of the technology we deserve.

Let us never forget all of the animals and ecosystems we’ve sacrificed in the name of commerce and growth. Let us never forget those facilities that were built to replace nature so that we might have places to shop, as those facilities now sacrifice themselves to the future, an internet shopping jungle aptly named Amazon.

Let us never forget the Asian Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, and in general, poor people of all creeds and colors, whose lives were sacrificed in the building of this absurd capitalistic military industrial complex.

If I were to continue, and I certainly could, I’d be charging forth into beating the dead horse territory (Never forget the horse!). Thus, I will wrap this up with one last nod to my ever-enduring cynicism. Let us never forget the cynics, who forgo any opportunity to live happily in this country, nay this entire fucking world, in the name of truth, contempt, and Sisyphean wind-railing.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Three aborted fetuses walk into a bar. They would have been U.S. citizens with the opportunity for success, failure, paying taxes, and most importantly, consumerism. Instead, just as with their conception, their fate was determined outside of their own choosing. Lucky jerks.

While abortion rights have generally been the most divisive political tool of my lifetime, to my knowledge (and though I'm certain this is not original thought), I’ve never happened across the argument I’m about to lay out. Just recently, I saw information regarding the pro-life movement as a means of crowd control. The argument is logical, though I think it falls short of a grander motivation. It's true, forcing people to have babies they may not be able to afford, or simply should not have for any number of reasons, also helps keep millions upon millions of people subjugated by their financial overlords. And we know how our overlords get wet in their naughty parts whilst day dreaming about all of their delicious control, don’t we?

We sure do. But, I would argue the control factor is secondary to a greater lust. Yes, there is something that makes a capitalist monster's tits tingle even more than control: profit. In general, a Kingdom’s citizenry is its most valuable gross domestic product. That’s why the power players want those baby factories pumping the little shits down the conveyor. Money. So, while we continually point out the hypocrisy of the “right-to-lifers” who basically want to make sure every child is born, but don’t want to take care of humans that are already alive and need help, we need to stop being baffled by said hypocrisy. We need to recognize what a fantastic Trojan horse conservatism has built for itself.

Every baby born is an opportunity for those at the top of the financial food chain to make more money, including our government. First of all, child birth and rearing is big business. We all know this. Then those little shits grow up to be consumers and tax payers, just like you and me. Even if they grow up poor and stay poor, they still pay into the system in some form or fashion. The profit margins on the poor certainly aren’t as strong, but man, the poor sure are easy to bleed dry and dispose of.

Meanwhile, as we fight over abortion, the right hand if you will, no one will have time to watch what the GOP is doing with their left hand. It’s simple and brilliant. Even if Roe v. Wade is overturned, the GOP will just continue to convince their voting base the Dems are going to keep fighting for the right to kill those precious babies, which they will. And all the while, we the masses, whichever side of the fight we are on, remain this nation’s greatest gross domestic product. Rippin’ and runnin’, churnin’ and burnin’, spending, spending, spending, funneling that money all the way to the top, baby.

So, bring on those little consumer GDP babies. Each one is an opportunity for some douchenozzle like Jeffrey Preston Bezos or that robot Zuckerberg to take money from (let’s remember that the wealthy don’t have to be classically conservative to benefit from conservative rule…). Each new baby is a potential GOP voter and payer of taxes, and if they don’t turn out that way, just leave ‘em in the Pit of Despair.

Maybe there is some wicked Illuminati Billionaire Preppers Club getting ready for a climate apocalypse. I doubt 45 is in on the plans. Hims a tacky puppet him is. But, maybe a few of these ultra-wealthy global humanity board-game players realize the United States is about to shrink. If they want to comfortably survive climate catastrophe in their cushy Midwest bunkers, they don't want a bunch of poor foreigners banging on their doors.

Nope, nope. Best to keep them in their under-developed regions of the world where they will be easily wiped out by Mother Nature. The culling is the writing on the wall. Why try to prevent it? It's gonna happen anyway. Thus, fucktards scramble for enough wealth to make the I Will Survive team, while most of those that are already in the club appear to approach the oncoming madness with a, "Let's just make this shit worse and get the whole thing over with," attitude, like a coal-powered-yacht buying Slim Pickens riding a nuke.

Everywhere I go, I’m the problem. No less true today than the first time I had this realization over a decade ago. I’m the problem. Why? I’m not certain. Perhaps I simply take this entire situation too seriously.

I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church. Thus, I was indoctrinated at an early age that this is serious business. Life is serious business. We’re all in a battle for our very souls. Our very souls! An eternity in heaven or hell. Choose your weapon wisely. Maybe this is my problem. Apparently, I was highly susceptible to training. I was highly susceptible to feeling special. God chose me? Nice.

Now I’m middle aged and weary. Tired of hedging my spiritual bets. Tired of watching everything I was taught to believe in continue to crumble away. For the time being, to define the scope, let’s refer to the Golden Rule as the gist of everything I was taught to believe in.

With the Golden Rule, along with the rest of the loving teachings of Jesus downloaded into my fleshy brain goo, I walked away from religion years ago, probably around the same time I first thought to myself, “Everywhere I go, I’m the problem.” Of course, despite having walked away from the religion that helped train me into believing I was a spiritual being, I’m still formed by those teachings. The program files are still running in my brain goo cpu. My heart’s desire to be good, to do good, to protect my soul against an eternity of damnation, that desire still rules my existence. Again, I call it hedging my spiritual bets.

Back to point, perhaps I take this whole situation too seriously. I look around at a world that appears to have lost its collective mind. Even those screaming into the wind that none of this is as it should be have likely given into lunacy (at least on some level), in order to survive all this nonsense. I’m certain I have. Why Bob, why?
 

Despite my personal compulsion to stay engaged as much as possible, I have no qualms with escapism. In fact, for me, the pendulum must swing all the way from engagement to complete detachment, in order to maintain sanity. I assume this is common.

Will escaping move the world forward? On certain levels, yes, through the creative enterprise of particular escapists. On other levels, it's simply a necessary drug. A pacifier to ease the pains of cultural existence. Luckily, as far as we know and despite what some may tell you, none of this matters.

Time is not an illusion. It is a construct. A necessary construct for fleshy, mortal lives. This is, indeed, the end of the year on our Earth, no matter the amount of flippant jokes my cohorts and numerous unknown others prefer to make.

The year 2018 on Earth 1, or Alpha Earth, or whatever the fuck I choose to call the version of Earth at the center of my personal universe, well, our 2018 was relatively shitty. But, not as bad as 2017. 2018 saw a lot of wins for the good guys. A lot of losses as well. Such is life, I suppose.

All I know is, I can see and feel the sand sifting in the giant time glass that is our biological clock. There is more to be done. More work to get done. So, come to us 2019. Come to us bearing more time and more energy, and we will serve you with our efforts, for time is our only master. The only foe we can't defeat or hide from. The only lover that's never left.

Anyway, most humans suck, life on Earth is a dirty trick pulled on unsuspecting souls, there is no God, and all your heroes are full of shit. Thank Bob we've got art. Happy New Year.

Cheers,

-T.M.

PS - In all seriousness, let's kick 2019 in the dick. Happy New Year, for real.

I have a goat with a monkey on his back.....
The monkey stole the feet from a big fat yack.....
The big fat yack sat down in a crack.....
And the crack sighed, "Why is my life so black?"
And the Lord said, "Because you were a jerk when you were alive, so I put your soul in a crack in the ground, and now you are stuck with a big fat yack ass in your "face" blocking out all the sun, and he ain't got no feet, so I don't think he will be goin anywhere anytime soon. So maybe next time you won't be such a jerk."
And the crack said, "Next time?"
And the Lord said, "We'll see. Now stare at that yack ass."

I've seen immigration issues arise on several other versions of Earth, as well as on numerous planets outside our galaxy and universe (and entire plane of existence for that matter).

On most versions of Earth, I must unfortunately admit much of the xenophobia remains. However, on Earth 11, one highly industrious and extremely wealthy individual created an amazing solution. To my knowledge, it revolutionized the course of humanity. To be honest, from what I can tell, Earth 11 is pulling a lot of weight for the forces of good in the cosmic balance between good and evil.

Anyway, here's what happened. A billionaire, when confronted with the demonization of refugees attempting to flee horrible circumstances, decided to take matters into his/her own hands. His/her idea? A 100% renewable energy operated, agriculturally self-sustaining community in the middle of nowhere (AKA....all that fucking open land in mid-western United States).

He/she sought other altruistic wealthy people to invest and off they went. A city was built from the ground up. The billionaire negotiated with the government to chill the fuck out about all these scary ass refugees that were attempting to invade our country for the purposes of working low wage jobs and avoiding being murdered by drug cartels. Thus, the refugees were allowed the option to sign up to help build this city, their future home, in exchange for a path to citizenship and a life free from the tyranny of the lands they fled.

And they did. They worked their asses off to see a better future for themselves and their children (much like the first wave of outside settlers into the United States, except without all the horrific murder and stealing of land from natives). The most beautiful sight was the sense of ownership these peaceful humans took in their city's creation from the ground up. Was everything perfect? No. But eventually, a thriving metropolis of over a million people sat smack dab in the middle of what was once uninhabited land.

You may be asking, what about water? As you might imagine, building a 100% renewable city from the ground up required a shit-ton of scientific innovation (and yes...I've actually made shit-ton a scientific measure...I can do stuff like that). Anyway, rational limitations on daily water usage along with other logical sustainability statutes were established from the onset, but one of the greatest innovations came in the form of water renewal. The key was keeping waste out of the water! (A novel fucking idea to say the least...) Alongside that, the infrastructure of the city was built in such a way that all plumbed water was contained in a closed system, continuously cycling through a purification system. The costs and energy usage for cleaning the water would understandably be high, except for, you know, the city being self-sustained and powered by 100% renewable energy. It was a giant, healthy organism. A beacon to the free world. A light shined on the ridiculousness of all humanity's previous excuses for the horrible treatment of less fortunate people and the planet as a whole.

The city, named Futroplis (future + metropolis, submitted by 5th grader Danny Trate the Fourth) after a public vote, went on to be the home of a world renowned university. Professional sports franchises were established and quickly won championships. The world's most skilled chefs, doctors, and oddly enough, punk rockers, would call Futroplis their home.

The city was the greatest example of human engineering in history, and would eventually be named capital of the free world, though that came hundreds of years later when the global democracy was established, after the invasion of the Dougtonians from Borialis 15. Dougtonians are an alien race of bland features, super boring domestic lives, poorly conceived art, and an insatiable desire for militaristic conquest of other planets to compensate for all their shortcomings.

Anyway, it's a shame our Earth doesn't have any super wealthy altruistic people who could come together and do something like this. Yeah. A damn shame.

Oh, that wealthy donor on Earth 11? Her name was Maria. To my knowledge, she does not have an interdimensional twin on our version of Earth, so we're probably screwed. Hail Frump.

We're all fucking morons.

I love our many colors and our many cultures. There is so much to be learned from our differences, so much personal growth to be had in the discovery of something foreign from our individual make-up.

Unfortunately, our species was endowed with this baffling paradoxical nature, equally capable of hate and violence as love and understanding. I would happily sacrifice some of the wonders of our existence that are born of conflict to see us stop killing one another. To see evil no longer be a situational requirement of our lives.

Thus, I would be perfectly happy to see humanity evolve into a species of monochromatic unisex organisms whose prevailing emotion is empathy.

I’m weary. Here I sit with this privileged life, having only suffered minor - and often self-inflicted - hardship, yet I’m exhausted. Unfortunately, my exhaustion is not from the type of positive effort I wish I consistently put forth towards the betterment of my soul and this world. Rather, it is the type of fatigue that comes from overthinking instead of doing. From lamenting instead of fighting. From suppressing instead of coping. An underwhelming sense of dread.

The world has suddenly developed a dramatic love affair with fascism, authoritarianism, and racism. Let’s call the combined three-headed monster of negative ismry, suckism. I know, suckism has been brewing for a while, but the movement’s most recent leap into the mainstream has been a dramatic eye opening for all of us who were piddling along the timeline of our mundane existence thinking things were generally moving in the right direction, however slow that movement may have been. We’ve now come to discover what we can only hope is the last spastic gasp of this utterly vile aspect of human horseshit.

Of course, it really doesn’t matter if suckism gets eradicated (which it won’t), now that we’ve discovered our destruction of the planet is accelerating at an alarming rate of...acceleration (that’s right). It’s possible that if my poor behavior doesn’t kill me first, I may yet live to see humanity’s destruction on a global scale. Despondency invites itself to my home for dinner before the show. I tried hiding in the basement, but I left the front door unlocked.

I don’t want to grow old and watch the world die alone. I could still have a family. A partner. Children. Grandchildren if I’m lucky. Then I realize I’m not certain I could live with the guilt of bringing them into this world. I’m not certain I’m happy I was brought into this world. I mean, each and every one of us is brought into this world against our own will, then told to sink or swim. Some of us get thrown life preservers and some get chained to rocks, but none of us asked for this horseshit. Anyone who loves their life is basically suffering from Stockholm syndrome. How could I do that to someone else, simply hoping they are way happier to be alive than I am?

Oh well. Maybe I will get to witness society crumble as mother nature ravages humanity. Maybe I will get to take sides in the last great battle between human good and evil. If shit hits the fan soon enough, I suppose I could get into that. We would fight for the sake of goodness and hope in the face of impossible odds. We would have children in the midst of all this madness, as propagation of the species would once again be paramount. We would win the war, pay homage to mother nature and play by her rules, raise our children to understand the madness that led to this and endow them with the knowledge and wisdom not to make the same mistakes we made.

But I’m already so tired. So tired, and there’s work on Monday. There’s bills to pay. We’ll just have to figure all this other shit out later, when we have more time. When we’re not exhausted. Not so damn weary.

I probably just need some exercise.

In the age of the proliferation of the Bobdamned "Fake News" phenomenon, I beg all humans, please stop personalizing truth. As I sit here recording the history of countless creatures and species, my focus has been hijacked by the trials and tribulations of my Earth's era of 45.

Of course, the factors that allowed him began long before him and will continue long after him. The United States was well known for hyperbole and pop-culture catch phrases. The proliferation of the internet has only made those cultural personality quirks more...proliferated.

Anyway, I have grown as weary of the terms "my truth, your truth, his truth, her truth," and any other possessive addresses for truth as I have the steaming pile of dog shit that is the catch phrase, fake news.

Stop personalizing truth! Truth isn't yours, his, hers, or theirs. Truth is universal. Truth is truth. The idea that truth can be personalized is half the fucking problem with this entire fake news, flat-earther, I'ma believe what I want culture. Stop it. Just stop.

Truth is truth.

I wrote the short essay below in January of 2017. When finished, I saved the file and kept it to myself. Posting these types of writings to sites like Facebook has always been a tenuous decision for me, and I've discovered I typically regret airing my views after the fact, if for no other reason than you get a handful of people who already agree with you cheering for you, which isn't really the point. Of course, there's often the very common, one person disagrees with you in the comments section and instead of being able to then have a progressive, healthy back and forth with them, those who agree with you go on the attack and any possible healthy conversation falls apart. I've unfortunately been one of the attackers before, and I find the impulse maddening, though very difficult to ignore at times.
     Anyway, the reason I'm placing this now and not back dating this post to when the article was actually written, is to highlight the difference in my tone a little less than two years ago, as opposed to today. Frankly, like most of those who have stayed engaged in this madness, I'm currently exhausted. My patience is thin. I'm losing the will to try and reason with people, though it is just as/if not more important today than yesterday. I'm self-policing a bit, trying to remember that at the end of the day, I do believe most of these people that continue to support this absurd cabal of a White House administration have been duped, as opposed to being purely evil. The evil is there, yes, but most of the minions are just knuckleheads that need reprogramming.

So...along those lines...

The Trump Constituent Consistency Calamity

Recently read a book for work titled Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. One of the chapters dealt with the consistency principle. The general idea of the consistency principle is, for whatever reason human beings naturally crave consistency. Therefore, it is often human nature to stand by a belief despite all signs pointing to that belief being incorrect, out of date, completely insane, or even detrimental to one’s own health.
     This is what we are witnessing in regards to Donald Trump’s supporters. However, we also witnessed this in the primaries. Despite all the warning signs the HRC was a tenuous candidate, and that people who didn’t like her were large in number and had some legitimate complaints, her supporters simply doubled-down. - I’m not here to argue the popular vote win or the electoral college…the end result is the reality we are dealing with, and proves thru the science of “this is actually happening” that HRC’s candidacy was indeed tenuous - We saw the same thing with the conservative Christian community making every excuse possible for supporting a man who has cheerfully, gleefully, lived outside the generally excepted rules and regulations of Christian Dogma.
     I don’t bring this up to throw stones at Hillary supporters, or Trump supporters but to denote commonality.
     There is going to be a large portion of people who voted for Trump that are going to continue their support despite all signs pointing to the fact that he is screwing them. That is obvious. Understanding why they are doing so is important in combating this issue. It’s not because everyone who supports Trump is inherently evil or stupid. For many, it’s because they felt disenfranchised (whether incorrect or not…it’s how they felt), and chose to hear what they wanted to hear, to believe what they wanted to believe, and now in the aftermath it is human nature to resist admitting being incorrect.
     I have noticed Trump supporters continuing to attack HRC. Why waste the time? The election is over and she lost. Why waste the time? Because for many, at the end of the day, dislike for her was the only reason they voted for Trump. In light of everything he is doing/trying to do that sucks, they have to double down on why they voted for him, clinging to their disdain for HRC.
     The divisiveness within the general population only appears to be increasing post-election, which was likely expected by many. The problem with this is it only leads to the continual screwing over of the general population. The most recent statistical information I could find showed that 84% of this country’s populace is financially ranked “Lower-Middle Class or below”. 84%! FYI - It has been this way for a long time, whether government was dominated by Republicans or Democrats.
     Donald Trump has no interest in changing this. Please note, I’m not arguing that HRC did. I do think there are still politicians that want to do right by the American people. It’s just hard for us to figure out who they are. However, what is easy to figure out is Donald Trump does not have the little guy at heart. There are absolutely zero examples that he does.
     What else is easy to figure out, is that just blowing up the system is not the answer. The answer is the American people not taking for granted their right to be engaged in their own well being. We have the right to vote. We have the right to protest. History shows that when the American people get off their ass and insist on change from its government, it has been successful. We got lazy. Not everyone, but enough of us got so lazy we allowed our politicians to run amuck and the system to become dangerously polluted. It’s our job to police them, but instead we fight with each other, succumbing to the propaganda that allows those who would do us harm to continue their actions unnoticed.
     Thus, I would beg of my fellow man, my fellow 84 percenter, just stop. Stop screaming at one another long enough to realize we are all getting screwed. The levels of which some in the 84% have it better or worse than others in the 84% are minuscule in comparison to how badly we are all getting screwed over as a whole. Yes, I said minuscule, and not without an acute awareness to racial and gender inequality in this country. I don’t deny those issues or the desperate need to combat them, but that’s how much larger I think the grand screwing of us all is compared to the very distinct levels of privilege some members of the 84% have over others. It’s that bad. I know it’s easy for me to say…but it’s not without considerate thought or empathy for those whom I know I have privilege over. For example - the estimated 20 million who will lose health care if/when the ACA is repealed - that 20 million is of all creeds and colors. The refusal to raise minimum wage? That screws all creeds and colors. Refusing to deal with the science of the declining health of our planet? Hahaha says the money hoarding corporate sociopath, that screws everyone!
     If we change things at the top, it will filter down. AKA if we policed and selected our leadership better, which requires personal accountability of each citizen, I believe extremely frightening realities like the relationship between cops and the African American community would naturally improve. I may be wrong. This may be Pollyannish of me, but I believe it to be true. Better leadership would do everything they could to mend these wounds, not hijack the issue for political benefit. They would reason with those who don’t understand these issues are real, not call them deplorable.
     To those Donald Trump supporters that are not the least common racist bigoted wildly misinformed denominator, I would specifically beg of you: Don’t double-down. If your heart or mind calls into question the choice you made, change your position. You can do it quietly, without having to throw yourself at the feet of anyone. Just please don’t continue the fight for the sake of fighting. To those on the other side, fighting the oppressive nature of Trump and his ilk, I would ask that you remember it’s easier to get people up onto your wagon by extending them a hand. Telling them their stupid for not getting on will just make them hate your wagon.
     We are all the 84%, the poor fighting in the arena, bloodying ourselves for the amusement and benefit of the elite.

I suppose, first and foremost, we must affirm here from the beginning, racism is stupid. You would think this should go without saying, but apparently...

And it's not just an issue on numerous versions of Earth, folks. Flips and Flops, Van-Dammians and Staloners (...realities beget alternate realities, where dreams beget weird ass planets and peoples), countless other species throughout the cosmos have been scapegoating and fighting one another for generations.

It's super easy to focus on the obvious reasons racism is stupid. For example, billions of people across the Earth realize that quite a few wealthy jerks use race as a method to gin up commoners anger towards one another, so they don't notice the wealthy penis being inserted in them from behind. There are other examples, but I'm not here to focus on the obvious. I'm here to understand why racism is stupid from a more practical place of contempt, not peace and love.

The reason racism is dumb as fuck is because there are so many better reasons to hate someone. Hate them for killing, hate them for hoarding wealth and not helping the poor, hate them for condemning other folks who ascribe to a different religion, hate them for cognitive dissonance, hate them for not using their Bobdamned turn signals when changing fucking lanes (Seriously, fuck you people...).

So, to review, racism is stupid because there are so many better reasons to hate. Now, why is it lazy? Because with the plethora of better reasons to hate somebody, a short sampling of solid excuses listed above, choosing racism as your platform of assholery is just flat out lazy. All you have to do is keep your eyes open for 5 seconds in this world to have a better qualified object for your contempt than the color of skin. It's insane. Honestly, if you're too lazy to find a better target for your contempt, then I have no respect for your negativity. In other words, if you resort to racism as the grand outlet for your evil, well then, when it comes to being an angry, evil asshole, your pretty much a basic bitch.

So, put a little effort into being an asshole, a little elbow grease into your career as a hateful jerk, a little gettyup in your douchebag saddle. I'll show you how it's done: I don't care what race you are, but I hate racists. So, find a worthy source for your anger you ignorant, lazy pricks, and if you can't, then I suggest you just go fuck yourselves.

See how easy that is?

I don't have commitment issues. I commit to things all the time. Work, writing projects, art projects, financial commitments.

What I suffer from is a condition I like to call not-wanting-another-person-to-fuck-up-my-life-itis.