Tag: Chris Hedges

Telling It Like It Is

But the second result of junk politics is more insidious. It solidifies the cult of the self, the amoral belief that we have the right to do anything, to betray and destroy anyone, to get what we want. The cult of the self fosters a psychopathic cruelty, a culture built not on empathy, the common good and self-sacrifice but on unbridled narcissism and vengeance. It celebrates, as mass media does, superficial charm, grandiosity and self-importance; a need for constant stimulation; a penchant for lying, deception and manipulation; and an inability to feel guilt or remorse. This is the dark ethic of corporate culture, celebrated by the entertainment industry, academia and social media.

Source link below

As the $hitshow of my beloved & missed #Americant enters yet another phase of greed-mongering galore in the aftermath of recent House Speaker debacle, worst-writer relaxes in the semi-retired luxury of shinny nothingness that is chronicling everything WORST. Obviously there are those who can do it better, dear worst-reader. For example. Chris Hedges. The only worst-question remaining is: who is gonna read Hedges and thereby have their world turned around?

Rant on.

-T

Link: https://scheerpost.com/2023/01/08/chris-hedges-americas-theater-of-the-absurd/

Loss? Yes. But It Ain’t Over.

Oh no, dear worst-reader. The You Tubes has disappeared Chris Hedges. What now?

Here’s a tag link to worst-writer’s posts where I say a thing or three about Chris Hedges. For if you’re not in the know, dear worst-reader, Chris Hedges has been–in his words–disappeared from the #interwebnets video service The You Tubes. Am I surprised that he’s been disappeared? Heck no. I was only wondering how long it would take once all them sanctions got going for all-things Russian/Putin. But that’s neither here nor there as I never relied on RT (Russia Today) for Hedges from the get-go. And I prefer to believe that it is RT that has been cancelled and it’s a bit tedious if not downright otherworldly for corporatism to put the effort into just removing the “RT” insignia from all those videos. The thing that matters is that I’ll keep reading Hedges, whether its internet posts or his books. He’s just too good to not read. Do I shed a teardrop over RT (Russia Today) being booted from The You Tubes? Not really. Do I consider it a form of censorship that six years of Hedges RT videos have been taken down? Maybe. The thing is, the people who I sometimes watched on RT all have the capacity (I’m sure) to move on to bigger and better things. In fact, I’m sure most of them are smart enough to know that even though RT was a decent springboard at the time, having it has a middleman to viewership is probably a bit old-fashioned in these times of gaining an #interwebnet audience. But what does worst-writer know about gaining an audience, eh?

Rant on.

-T

Link: Hedges: On Being Disappeared – scheerpost.com

The Lie Of The Respectable

It is always the respectable classes […] who are most susceptible to evil. To be intelligent, as many are, at least in a narrow, analytical way, is morally neutral. These respectable citizens are inculcated in their elitist ghettos with “values” and “norms,” including pious acts of charity used to justify their privilege, and a belief in the innate goodness of American power. They are trained to pay deference to systems of authority. They are taught to believe in their own goodness, unable to see or comprehend–and are perhaps indifferent to–the cruelty inflicted on others by the exclusive systems they serve. And as norms change, as the world is steadily transformed by corporate forces into small cabal of predators and a vast herd of human prey, these elites seamlessly replace one set of “values” with another. These elites obey the rules. They make the system work. And they are rewarded for this. In return, the do not question. -Chris Hedges, Days of Destruction Days of Revolt, Chapter 5, page 269

I’ve left out a bit of Hedges’ text because worst-writer doesn’t want to focus on Hedges’ “elites”. At least not the elites that come from #Americant privilege alone, e.g. Ivy League schools, privileged wealth, the right-wing, etc. Instead, the thing that interests me about Hedges’ words is how they could apply to the far-less than elite. I mean. Doesn’t the same apply to the seventy-four or so million who voted for former prez pee-pee-hair and all that has been revealed, opened up, blossomed since the election of Barry-O?

Oh worst-my what a worst-lie we live or die.

Rant (and quote) on, baby.

-T

The Freedom To Be Stupid

As I’ve always worst-said, dear worst-reader, capitalism shouldn’t be the political system. Yet my beloved & missed #Americant has enabled exactly that.

But how has your beloved & missed #Americant made capitalism its political system, dear worst-writer?

Well, thank you for the question, dear worst-reader. And the answer is simple:

KEEP ‘EM STUPID!

Then again, perhaps my man, Chris Hedges, can word it all better. See link below to a great piece of writing. But be warned: if you stupid (an #Americant), move on.

Rant on.

-T

Link:

The Great Scam In Full Bloom. Thanks #Americant.

whack job trump
Screenshot from the Interwebnets; and although it is a padded room, it also kinda looks like an airplane fuselage.

Does it matter that in all my travels, in all my years working for the man, in all those board rooms, sales pitches, project discussions, ex-wives, etc., I’ve never met a person that I look up to, admire or consider to be someone of talent or expertise. This, dear worst-reader, is the hell so many must live in. Well, at least the so-many that can realise it in the first place. But on that note I do die-gress.

There literally is no choice in this life, don’t you know dear worst-reader. Even if/when you leave your country (not for greener grass, of course, but just to fcuking leave it in order to breath) and expose yourself to other mindsets, culture, pu$$y and, of course, booze, there is no one out there to meet that is worth the effort. Perhaps this is a class (caste) issue. But let’s not make things too complicated. Eh?

Hopefully with this worst-claim, I’m not admitting to a/my false-God dependencies. I don’t want someone to look up to, to admire. No. I’m simply questioning the validity of wealth and power. Also. At this point in (my) life, it’s one of the things that really does busy my useless-eater worst-mind. Especially now that I’m well into forced early retirement and, of course, full dependency on the kindness of others and strangers.

At fifty-five years I have this one (last) question: How come I never met anybody that I look up to? Obviously there are those who I look up to but would/could never meet. In most of these cases I probably wouldn’t even want to meet those people. Looking up to them is enough. Or? I mean… What would I say to them? How would I even greet them? Should I curtsy? Indeed.

Short list of those worst-writer looks up to and would (maybe) like to meet:

  • Fidel Castro
  • Barack Obama
  • Christopher Hitchens
  • Steve Jobs
  • Sam Shepard
  • Trotsky
  • Etc.

Wait a sec. Of the short-list above, only one of them ain’t dead. Does that say anything about my age or my admiration and criteria for false-Gods? Nomatter.

The thing that motivated this worst-writing about admiration and false-Gods, is the article linked to below. It is yet another brilliant piece by Chris Hedges. And since I’ve read so much from him, I’m not actually keen on meeting him. Btw, I do admire Mr. Hedges. Wait. Maybe that’s not true. I actually had a dream once (right after reading one of his books) where I met Chris Hedges after our plane crashed. No seriously. It’s true. On a stormy night in July I was on a plane to Curacao  and it crashed somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic near an uncharted volcanic island. After the crash a few survivors floated to the island on part of the plane’s fuselage. Chris Hedges and I shared our glasses during the ordeal as his broke in the crash and I only had one lens left in my glasses. He was busy the whole time trying to either write something or read something. Indeed. He had better things to do than worry about having just crashed. I, on the other hand, was coming on to a supermodel that crashed with us–and didn’t need my glasses much. And so. Hedges and I didn’t talk much on account when he wasn’t reading or writing he was prepping for a boxing match that he was supposed to participate in on Curacao in conjunction with a US presbyterian church. Or something like that. So much for worst-dreams, eh. Anywho.

The article linked to below is brilliant. It’s brilliant because, well, as usual, Hedges nails it as he summarises not just who/what my beloved&misssed #Americant is/has become, but he does so in a way that I can totally relate to. I’ve been claiming for years not only that there’s no one in my universe worth meeting or admiring, but that almost anyone worth anything (in my universe) is either a disciple-wannabe or a victim of PT Barnum. Yes, that is a suburban hell up-bringing. Even those that have scraped by, by working for the man, some of whom I grew up with, are all so invested (vested) in that same upbringing that they are unable to differentiate mediocrity, mendacity and mental illness derived from the what/need of money money money. The fact that they have more consume-to-survive power than their neighbour and they’ve ALL done so according to the Barnum predilection: you either have to have-more or you have not–what else is there to do but live the false-life of: fcuk ’em. Yes. And so. Those who gave the world Barnum’s reborn corpse that is #Trump’s hair, this is your making–and I know you all are proud. Congratulations, suckers.

Rant on.

-T

Link that motivated this post:

How I Subverted The Sedition Act (Of 1918) Or Re-Read Chris Hedges’ “American Fascists”

American_Fascists

Thoughts after first read of this book here.

Obviously I’ve subverted nothing. I mean, come on. How can worst-writer, leader of the uselesseater union of the world and advocate for forced early retirement (as long as the women-folk and their feminism pay for it), subvert anything? Unless, of course, subversion is defined by how one throws stale German Brötchen against an unfurnished wall in order to measure the velocity of freshness. But all über-seriousness aside.

There has been another exuberant display of bat$hittery in my beloved #Americant. The display, for whatever worst-reason, made me re-read Chris Hedges’ book. The exuberance? A nineteen year old pre-perpetual man-child, i.e. a teenager with an AR-15, is yet another example of growing up in consume-to-survive meaninglessness run amok. Never before has born-to-die been so obvious. It’s what #Americant provides. Nothing. Nothingness. Nothing else. And then death by an almost cult following of the act of killing. Considering future perspectives of so many man-children and their trigger fingers, the new measurement of achievement in their useless lives corresponds to under-achievement. Which raises this question: what’s it like to live in a cult-of-death run by Haves so spiteful towards Have-Nots? Or. Put another way. The only way a man in #americant can find meaning is if he subjects himself in a slave-like manner to the whims of both biology and greed. Biology and greed, if you don’t know, are the main ingredients of mindlessness and/or WWE-TV.

Enter Religion.

When I refer to a nineteen year old, I’m obviously referring to the latest mass shooter in my beloved #Americant. As usual, the dumbed-down voting populace of the united mistakes of #americant will be no better informed about WHY these types of killings take place so it really means little to go beyond there being a nineteen year old with a military-grade weapon who can run around like all deplorables should. I, for one, am still asking questions about what the hell happened at the last mass shooting in Las Vegas. Not many answers there. And so. We’re all deeply ill-informed about HOW-WHY these things happen. Yet we are overwhelming informed about AR-15s and the fatness of Kim Kardashian (she is so disgusting looking I’m worst-surprised I could type her name). Btw, it’s never about how one can buy an AR-15 or gluttonous ammunition or extended magazines, etc. Nea. It is about something else. Go figure. But I digress.

“The decline of America is described as the result of the decline of male prowess.” -Chris Hedges, American Fascist

I guess I decided to re-read American Fascist because, well, criticism of the political right is the only way I know how to deal with this stuff. Indeed. After every mass shooting I blame republicans because of how they’ve perverted conservatism. I mean, I hated conservatism back in the day of W. Buckley. But at least Buckley & Co. weren’t totally bat$hit. Of course, without Buckley & Co. there wouldn’t have been Dubya & Co. and now President Stupid Comb-Over. Also. I don’t blame republicans because they’re the easiest to blame–especially when it comes to the free-for-all of mass shootings. I blame then because they are sore winners of the worst type. And when I say “winner” I mean winning in the race to the bottom. Congratulations, suckers.

Religion loves all.

For those stuck in the world of #americant bothsiderism, i.e. blaming both the Democrats and Republicans as equals for #americant’s ills, there is no rational discourse. These are the people who would like to be republican but are unable at a minimal level to see through all the craze. I suppose bothersiderists have speck of rational thought left–I’ll give them that. Yet, when I question bothsiderists I’m invariably faced with the issue of religion. Specifically the perversion of religion–which is best exemplified in my beloved (and missed) #americant through eyes of utter terror and fear and an ice-cream cone filled with pistachio banana chocolate and briefly named Daisy by the child carrying it. With that in mind, three things seem to intertwine in my worst-writer brain when I search for the blame.

  • Money
  • Power
  • Religion

Pretty simple list, eh? Keep in mind that the above list is not in any particular order. Also, obviously, the other side of the political spectrum lusts after the elements in the list, too. The difference, though, is that in my lifetime taking each one to new, higher levels via über-greed is the result of so much complacency or, as I like to put it: consume-to-survive. Of course, in the context of this post, the only item from the list that is truly relevant, and that which drove me to re-read this book, is religion. Not unlike the radicalised issue of abortion (or forcing women to be subjects of wannabe men-Gods), these people are not different than a mob with torches trying to hunt down a monster they don’t understand and will kill everything to get to it.

And so.

The man-boy that shot-up the school, killing seventeen of his peers, obviously wasn’t near money or power. But he was very and most certainly near religion. Now, I’m not saying that he was religious. I have no clue if he was or not. It’s just that when you don’t have money or power (or even if you do) then all that’s left for you is belief, faith, blind-will. To me, these mass shootings are all intertwined with the three elements listed above as utilised by men-boys who govern. When considering all the hate I feel for right wing politics, religion is the one that gets under my gander the most and it should not be given a free-pass just because someone saw a painting of a bloodied Jesus standing with a slit-throat lamb.

“Fundamentalism is the religion of those at once seduced and betrayed by the promise that we human beings can comprehend and control our world. Bitterly disappointed by the politics of rationalised bureaucracies, the limitations of science, and the perversions of industrialisation, fundamentalists seek to reject the modern world, while nevertheless holding onto these habits of mind: clarity, certitude, and control” -Karen McCarthy (as quoted in American Fascist by Chris Hedges.)

I’m betting that the WHY of these shootings is being systematically suppressed because the powers-that-be know full well that if words gets out about the true state of affairs of a once great nation that has so many mass shootings there will be mayhem of an apocalyptic scale never seen before–but wished for by religious $hitbags. Just read the last chapter of the New Testament. The difference to Biblical apocalypse, though, will be that the rich will finally have to pay. That is, Money and Power are tolerating Religion right now because the latter provides a brilliant filter, screen, airport security check–for the masses of Deplorables #Americant has become. For you see, dear worst-reader, by controlling the story, the narrative of a world where EVERYTHINGISWRONG, you control the meek, i.e. Deplorables.

“Since life has a way of not respecting these artificial lines, since ambiguity, inconsistency and irrationality are part of human existence, the only way believers can push forward is to pretend that these troubling aspects of our internal and external reality do not exist. They create a parallel reality, one that allows them to escape from reality-based world into world of their own creation.” -Chris Hedges, American Fascist

When you live a life of EVERYTHINGISWRONG where do you turn when the guns start slinging? Money. Power. Religion. You pay your money. You subject yourself to power. You fall for the Deity standing above you with his shinny halo and birch leather seat and a cock the size of your best mind. He tells you to contribute to his church and you do so. You reach in your wallet, digging into the forest within and you find a small toy out of your childhood that reminded of how things once were. How simple they were. Of a time when ice-cream didn’t feel so bad after it was consumed and excreted. The world you’ve created in your hiding place isn’t enough so you go deeper. Your wallet is big enough, it is empty enough. The green forest now brown within is a lost place and when you go to the next window to ask for direction you meet another salesman who tells you your credit cards aren’t full yet. So you switch from your wallet to your credit card. The forest within isn’t as greedy but it is as blinding. And the next methamphetamines fix is good.

“The hierarchy fears romantic love. Love, especially eroticism, in its most passionate, romantic form, threatens the iron control of the church leader. In Freudian terms, romantic love allows the id or the “it,” to be unleashed in a drive to satisfy uncontrollable passions. Restrain and self-control over these desires and passions are disarmed by romantic love.”. -Chris Hedges

I know it make no sense to go in this direction, but one thing that really struck me from my first reading of this book was Chris Hedges POV of love. Through out the book he refers to the act of love as an extension of God but also of people. He writes about how his father was accepting of gays and how homosexuality is not something to fear. I got the feeling that true love is embedded in Hedges’ religion as means of acceptance and tolerance. What a nice thing, eh! Indeed. Love. The way it should be treated/used/accepted. Of course, if one spent any time at all with deplorables, one also knows the vehemence against gays or even a wrong look at one’s wife. The insecurity of sexuality is rampant among conservatives. It’s as though Biblical fig leaves have become brain cells. And so. Perhaps there is a fourth element, sexual repression, that should join Money, Power, Religion. But for now I’ll leave it out.

Rant on.

-T

Links:
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedition_Act_of_1918

Another Night Of Not Finding You-Know-Who Or How I Beat It Before Turning Sixty One Last Time

Ok. Obviously there are better things to be done on a Friday night before flying to my beloved homeland Sunday morning. The only question that remains is: what the hell to do Saturday night? In the mean time, here another fabulous quote as I re-read a book.

“When individuals are finally emasculated and alone, bereft of the help of competing collectives, they cannot defend their rights or question the abuses of their overlords. When there is no other place to turn for help other than the world of miracles and magic, mediated by those who grow rich off those who suffer, when reality to an ideology becomes a litmus test for individual worth, tyranny follows.”

-Chris Hedges, American Fascists – The Christian Right And The War On America.

Rant on.

-T

Speculators Be Hanged?

Speculators at megabanks or investment firms such as Goldman Sachs are not, in a strict sense, capitalists. They do not make money from the means of production. Rather, they ignore or rewrite the law—ostensibly put in place to protect the vulnerable from the powerful—to steal from everyone, including their shareholders. They are parasites. They feed off the carcass of industrial capitalism. They produce nothing. They make nothing. They just manipulate money. Speculation in the 17th century was a crime. Speculators were hanged. -Chris Hedges

Source: Truthdig

Hyperlink in quote from moi.

Becoming What We Defeat

days of destruction days of revolt cover.jpg

The chapters of this book are titled Days Of…

  • Theft
  • Siege
  • Devastation
  • Slavery
  • Revolt

Each chapter of this book takes place in a particular city or town of my beloved #americant. Each chapter goes deeper than the previous into the negative of what makes a once great country no longer great again. And each chapter features characters that were interviewed by Chris Hedges.  But before I get into the good, first this. The only problem I have with this book is 1) other than the chapter Days of Revolt, it doesn’t really inform (me) about what is going on back home that I didn’t already know and 2) the comics–or as others might put–the graphic novel sections of this book–felt to me to be more in the way than on the way. I guess I’m not a fan of comics–sorry, graphic novels. But I am interested in reading and/or owning the graphic novel Watchmen–and I already own Maus. But I digress.

I read Hedge’s American Fascist and Empire of Illusion a few years ago. Since then I’ve been reading his articles on truthdig.com. Unfortunately, not much from his books have stuck with me. That’s not because of Hedges, though. In fact, I’m a big fan of his speeches that are numerous on youtube. It’s just that, well, I guess I’ve started to lose my intellect. Either that or I just don’t give a sh*t anymore (about certain things). I suppose, in a way, I can easily blame such a loss on the frequency that I visit my beloved #americant or the amount of stuff I read about it (her)–which has been quite a bit since my step-father past and my mother isn’t getting any younger and #eurowasteland politics bores the krapp out of me. Indeed. Each visit to my beloved homeland has been scarier and scarier and scarier. My most recent visit, just last month, set new heights regarding what can come of a nation suffering from something that is no less than pathological. America really is starting to look and feel like a land of zombies. In fact, I bought Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt to accompany the trip.

I managed to read two-thirds of the book on the flight to PHL and within the first few days of my arrival. Then I got sick as a dog as the weather in Maryland was worse than in Germany. I mean, I froze my butt off the first few days I was there. And it’s not that I’m not used to cold weather. I guess I’m not used to going from far north Germania, where it was warm, to somewhat southerly Atlantic coast Maryland and freezing my a$$ off. So. Yeah. I got sick. And then I got caught up in the all work I’m supposed to do when visiting my mom. It’s just that my sickness didn’t want to go away. Of my two week visit, I was out of it for almost ten days with the worst head-cold and flu that I’ve had in years. I ended up finishing this book when I got back to Germany. But, again, I digress.

By-the-bye, I got lost in Camden, NJ, once, which is featured in one of the chapters of this book, after I switched my Atlantic flight destination from Dulles Airport to PHL (from Frankfurt). Back then there was no GPS to guide me and I made a few wrong turns leaving PHL and the next thing I know I’m in NJ. Aghast! Other than the panic that ensued being a caucasian driving a rental car through Camden, I remember vividly the landscape of #americant that was nothing new to me. It was just another broken place. In fact, a city like Camden looked as familiar as the small coal mining town my step-father grew up in that has been decimated like any other with mine and plant closings galore. To me, these places are all part of Reganomics and neoliberal greed politics that #americants have been voting for–a world that I was able to get out of so many years ago. As I follow all the goings-on back home, it’s sometimes hard to have mercy on those who are obviously too stupid to see what they are doing to themselves. I guess, in a way, I saw it all coming–first hand! Camden, NJ, is everywhere in the US. It’s everywhere there’s an abandoned strip mall, more potholes than asphalt on highways, it’s in every dive-bar where jaundice drunks occupy the rundown churches as much as the rundown Walmarts and every–EVERYONE!–is screaming about making something great again. Yes. Everywhere.

With that in mind, this book didn’t do much for me on the learning front. Except for the last chapter. Indeed. The last chapter, Days of Revolt, saved this book because I haven’t read enough about the Occupy Movement that, to me, seemed to come and go as fast as a rational thought on #americant cable TV news.  On top of that, Hedges manages to make a connection that has been lingering in the back of my mind for years. When people ask me “why Germany” I usually just tell them it’s because of the girls and the beer. But sometimes I’ll break down and give them the real reason. It was the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 that brought me to my expatriation–because I was right in the middle of it. And it was not just the joy of living in the end of the Cold War. It was the fact that the idear of authoritarian rule was finally gonna end. In those days I never thought in terms of America being the centre of the universe–whether it’s great or great-again. To me, the idear of how the people in Eastern Europe were able to discard the authority of The Soviets without violence was beyond mesmerising. Never in my wildest childhood Cold War dreams did I think it could happen. And even though the whole movement didn’t start in East Germany, the fall of that Wall will forever be my beacon. And then there’s the connection I started to make–not unlike Hedges makes in the final chapter of this book.

A quarter century has passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Neoliberalism is rampant and unabated in the western world not unlike an opposite ideology was rampant in Eastern Europe thirty years ago. The result of having gotten rid of the authoritarian rule of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union hasn’t quite turned out to be what it should be. Or? In my worst-opinion, the west has become the thing we defeated. Hedges manages to see this in the last chapter of this book. And so. I’ve always wondered where are the revolutionists that would call out the West for what it has become. Is that revolutionist Chris Hedges? It might just be. Or was it the movement that came and went with the Wall Street Occupiers in Liberty Square, NY, in 2011? I don’t know. What I do know, though, is that there is a heavy irony when considering what #americant has done to itself and subsequently the world since the fall of the Soviet Union. Just look deeply at our response to September 11, 2001, including the subsequent largest government expansion since… And check out those bank bailouts and the amount of consumer credit run amok. And then there’s the recent election that has given the world Trump & awe….

Why has no one been able to see the connection to a not-so-distant past with all that has happened in this still somewhat young new century? Ok. At least Chris Hedges has seen it. I think I have too. So. What the heck. Let history repeat itself.

Good luck suckers.

Rant on.

-t

May “Deplorables” Haunt Her Forever

“College educated elites carried out the neoliberal assault on the working poor and now they are being made to pay. Their duplicity embodied in politicians like The Clintons and Barrack Obama succeeded for decades. These elites, many from east coast ivy league schools, spoke the language of value, civility, inclusivity, a condemnation of overt racism and bigotry, a concern for the middle class, while thrusting a knife into the back of the underclass for their corporate masters. This game has ended. There are tens of millions of Americans, especially lower class whites, rightfully enraged because of what has been done to them, their families and their communities. They have risen up to reject the neoliberal policies imposed on them by college educated elites. The democrats foolishly anointed Hillary Clinton as their presidential candidate. She epitomised the double-dealing of the college educated class, those who speak the feel-your-pain language of ordinary men and women who hold up the bible, of political correctness, while selling out the poor and the working poor to corporate power. And unless there is a resurgence of left-wing populism, which can only occur outside the democratic party, to defy the neoliberal order, we will cement into place an American fascism.” -Chris Hedges

Rant on.

-t

Yacht Fantasy, Retractable Keels And Why #Americant Is The Dream

keel forces
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Segeln_Gewichtsstabilitaet.svg

Woke up hot and bothered this morn. While walking the dog a local informed me that he’s never experienced temperatures like these in Bangelore at this time of year. As I worst-write this weather.com is saying it’s ninety-nine degrees fahrenheit outside. It actually feels cooler now than a few hours ago because there was no breeze at 8:30am. Oh well. The only thing that has kept me going since arriving here and sweating my ass off most of the day is that there’s plenty of cheap, cold beer, we have three A/C units in our apartment and I know that what I’m doing is for the betterment of humankind. Well, maybe not all human kind. How so, you ask, dear worst-reader? Well, helping humankind according to Tommi goes like this. A three year well-paid stint in India might just push me over that savings figure where I can actually afford to buy the thirty to forty foot sailing yacht I’ve been dreaming about for so long. The only problem is, I want/need a boat with a retractable keel. For whatever engineering reason, retractable keels are extra expensive. Why is that? Nomatter. The dream of a Seaward Hake 32RK continues. §Enjoyed yet another wonderful commentary by Chris Hedges during my post dog walk morning read. This piece (see link below), more than any other–including a few books of his I’ve read–communicates not so much the dire situation of #americant but instead a level of hidden, subtext-like optimism from Hedges that I’m not sure I recognised before. Perhaps Plato can have that effect on someone. What Hedges fails to grasp–or is unwilling to accept–is that there is a huge majority of people who have lived long or short lives for the greed disguised as The Dream. As someone who found a way out (The Dream) perhaps I’m also not one to comment about the morons and automatons that stayed in (The Dream). What is clear to worst-moi is that it is not a matter of the system crashing due to the behaviour of the few but instead the compulsive-behaviourism that lead the majority to a system that is The Dream. How do you correct this massive orgy of error that obviously gets so many people off? By quoting Plato? By blaming the 1%? By failing to grasp the reality of globalisation? I’m not saying that Hedges doesn’t get all that. Obviously he does. I, worst-writer, don’t deserve to wipe my nose with the tissue scraps this man throws away. Yet, for the first time, I think Hedges might be leading us (believers) astray. And that’s ok. He can lead me anywhere. Such admiration though doesn’t mean that the man might get a few things wrong every once-a-once. America is fucked because Americans have fucked it. All Americans have done this. We don’t just have a system of trickle-down wealth but also a system of trickle-up stupid. In my life time, I have yet to meet a person that was able to get out of all of this stupid, i.e. The Dream. By “out” I mean really, really out. How many generations of Americans–how many Americans–whether politically right or left–have participated in this system of stupid–of The Dream–to make it become what it is today? Gazillions? Countless? Your mother? Your uncle? Your once favourite sibling? This is not just a problem with banks and politicians. Americans had a chance to do something about everything for the past fifty f’n years. But the powers-that-be seem to always come up with something to divert any real chance of change. Whether it’s supply-side economics (Reaganomics) or an economy based on real-estate speculation. Every time the cycle goes to shit Americans fall for some other form of stupid. Whoever is running this show, if you ask me, give them a fucking hand. The greatest nation in the history of humanity is nothing more than bunch of greedy dickheads who all want to be kings and queens and inheritors of golden stupid. I mean, come on. Let’s get real here. Only stupid could fall for Reaganomics, Dubya, the patriot act, banking reform, etc. Things are so bad that you can’t even see it anymore. So close your eyes. The Dream’s better that way. Why should you care about anything else? How could anyone with a conscious since the 1980s actually participate in fixing what’s so obviously broken? If you have a job/career, if you work for the government, if you have a mortgage and kids… You’re colluding. And so. There is no fixing The Dream. There is only starvation while government or policeman or credit collectors come to your abode and force you to know that you’re no different than the poor around the rest of the world. As sad as it is to consider what happened to the small towns and cities in America (see article below), it all pales to the reality of the people that shop at walmart, that watch faux newz, that voted for Dubya twice and now are confused by Trump, Cruz and Obamacare–or what war really, really is. I guess, what I’m trying to get at here is that there are forces at play in The Dream not unlike the forces that act on a sailboat under (wind) power. This is why it’s so difficult for Americans to realise what they’ve done. The system has been heeling wildly since the 1980s throwing off the willing and unwilling sailors of The Dream. But the boat still looks good. So does the blue water. Even if the boat finds some calm it eventually heels wildly to the other side. Water is pretty blue, look at those horizons and a sunset is half of Mickey Mouse! The forces that act upon a boat are the forces that should have been studied–but only I studied them–but instead you watch reality television, charge up credit cards because it’s the only way to show that you are part of The Dream, consume en masse legalised narcotics in the form of prescription drugs, etc., etc. Hedges knows all this and I’m probably nit-picking at this point–and getting to personal. So let me close with this. Hedges believes that somehow people might be able to right a wildly heeling ship–if he explains it all to them. And he may be right. But here is what he doesn’t get, what he misses. Nomatter what you do to keep the ship sailing there’s always the issue of its direction. With that in mind. Keep sailing to The Dream #americant. You’re almost there.

Rant on. -Tommi

Link that motivated this post:

Batsh*t Blue Collar WWE And Failupwards College Grads. A Love Story.

 

american-flag-wwe

As the GOP deservedly cracks and crumbles this holiday election season, I’m wondering if liberals or those still capable of thought should take a stand on all this hitlerism and fascism krapp that’s being thrown around like a volleyball at a sorority party where new recruits are required to prance around for frat boys with big cars and new iPhones so that once the girls get their degrees they can stay home and raise brats. But on a lighter note. Obviously #americants are screwed and Chris Hedges nails it by putting blame on the elite college educated post-Reagan that have turned a once great nation into a crapshoot. But there is one thing Mr. Hedges leaves out of his article–and worst-writer is here to provide. The GOP that has been supported by voters since Reagan is not comparable to Weimer Germany or the tribal craze that lead to WW1&2. The GOP has been supported by big and little people who want one thing and one thing only: to buy krapp. That’s why I call it: #americant the land to be free to be stupid where you can consume-to-survive (among a few other things) till your entrails pop out from which you can clay-animate your favourite unicorn. Of course, there is a problem in the unicorn pastures these days. Since #americant can’t make krapp any more, what’s left for it to do? Well, according to Reagan and supply-side economics… this is what’s left. I mean. What’s going on right now is what’s t left–it’s what happens when you elect batsht. Yet, it’s so much more than a batsht election year, isn’t it? Now that Reagan batsht has run its course and there’s nowhere left to go, i.e. religion’s not the answer, neoliberalism’s (as answer to the failure of supply-side-econ) not the answer, and we can’t afford furthering wars-of-choice, is it appropriate to bring #eurowasteland’s recent history into the fold? Keep in mind, what is it exactly that all those college grads that Hedges mentions actually learned? And so. Enter… the consume-to-survive WWE-TV crowd plus all those angry college grads that have to eat their shoes for breakfast. Talk about a batsht! Or. Talk about unicorn pastures of mindfuck galore. What you have right now is a stupefied voting constituency that is so clueless to anything–especially world history–that I am not afraid to ask: is #americant really capable of embracing one of two things #eurowasteland ever gave humanity, i.e. fascism? (The other, btw, in case you’re confused, dear worst-reader, is communism; both of these are a subcategory to the main thing #eurowasteland gave the world: greed. But I digress.) And can this embrace happen all because the WWE-TV crowd plus angry college grad numbskulls and their purchasing power has been diminished by their own doing? Seriously? Maybe, just maybe, there should be some level of consideration to what Trump is doing to the political party that gave rise to this situation, which, as far I can tell, comes out of one of the two parties. With that in mind, worst-writer does not make false equivalencies. And one more thing. Lewis CK’s sophomoric attempt to communicate to his audience (college grads?) is just more proof that this crowd is probably not capable of underachieving at the level of past #eurowastelanders. All-in-all, this craziness might turn out to be a godsend on account what Trump is really doing is bringing down the republican party–that gave us Reagan and the minion/morons that follow(ed) him and subsequently the political mindfuck pastures unicorns are drowning in right now. And so. In conclusion. I say let the freak-show election process play out because I still have faith in #americant–WWE plus college numbskulls n’all. Just saying’. Rant on. -Tommi

Link that motivated this post:

Feminism vs Emancipation

eat cherries
“You can leave your hat on.” -Randy Newman

Today a few thoughts on another movie (Fifty Shades of Grey) I won’t see. This post is NSFW. Or maybe not. Good luck.

Every generation has to have its own mainstream how-to fuck film. I say mainstream because the porn industry isn’t really a how-to fuck industry, although that’s probably a shame on account it does provide a lot of obviously needed information on The Carnal. (Seriously. Where would #americant be without porn? Childless? Fewer lost boys? Women walking around with donut glaze on their faces? Etc.) But then the question becomes: since so much porn is being consumed why is it that most young people still don’t know how to fuck and thereby, for all practical purposes, require how-to films? Could the answer have anything to do with misconstrued morality? Puritanical shame? Or how ’bout this:

Romantic-love should die?

Indeed, dear worst-reader. The reality is, romantic-love has run its course and it’s time to move on. Seriously. It would help humanity a great deal. Just drop it. Get rid of it. Be done!

That said. I have nothing against romance (and sex) as a transaction–which is all love is these days as defined by its culmination: marriage. But I do have a problem with going against nature. And. Fucking is nature. Making love is… anti nature. Or maybe not.

Which brings me to this part of this attempt at opening a can of worms: What’s with the debate on marriage rights? You know. We shouldn’t be debating whether or not one group can marry and another can’t. What we should be doing is getting rid of the institution of marriage outright. Obviously, in the wake of the past hundred or so years, as an institution, it is an utter failure. Get ride of it. By doing so, we can kill two birds with one stone. Offing marriage’s head could finally save the children. It could also save females from themselves. Be done!

Oh yeah. I was worst-writing about romantic-love in the context of feminism vs emancipation vs porn all motivated by silly films. Wait. Or was I…? Nomatter. The how-to fuck film of my day was called 9 1/2 Weeks. A silly bourgeois cinematic romp where a female couldn’t decide what to do with the confusion that arises between (her) biology and the inevitability of husband hunting–which often gets confused when the libido takes the first step off the cliff (great job Kim Basinger). And when I think back on that movie the only thing I can remember is the confused look on my then girlfriend’s face regarding her puritanical upbringing juxtaposed with being raised in the wake of 1960s flower-power and being fed cherries on the kitchen floor while wearing fancy pyjamas (or the like).

Did you know that romantic-love has no purpose? It used to have a purpose. Back in the day when Das Volk loved feudalism, birth entitlement, aristocracy, monarchs. Oh wait. We still live in those times. Nomatter (again.) Something about getting daughters from wealthy houses to marry into other wealthy houses where the groom wasn’t the best match or vice-versa was the only way to play the patriarchs game. Today that game is the same but played in the vein of the same-difference. Marriage, and by default romantic-love, as an institution, still provides the patriarch rulers the mother teat. And he sucks joyously upon it. So go and fight about your silly marriage vows. When you give-in to institutions it doesn’t matter what you suck on. Doom is neigh.

Ok. I’m confused. And I’m way off subject. The subject is how-to fuck films and why they are so stupid. It has nothing to do with porn and exploitation as Chris Hedges so rightfully points out (see link below). What it is about is what Mr. Hedges misses. The reality is how-to fuck films are about something much deeper. They are about the mindset of the indoctrinated human female who is either Barbie or August Ames*. The confusion the female, the child bearer, the mother faces today, now that porn is mainstream, must be horrendous. Yet so few females voice anything above and beyond what they themselves have trivialised by exploiting romantic-love which can only lead to the transaction of marriage which ultimately leads to the mass silliness we have today–half of which all end in expensive and child ruining divorce. And so. Maybe there needs to be an alternative to the fiction that we are forced to make real that is romantic-love and maybe that alternative is buried deep in the subtext of how-to fuck films. Or maybe not. Whatever.

And on a side note. Even though worst-writer doesn’t believe in much, you know, as in gods and mysticism, there is something in me that does believe in nature which means that there is a slight thought or three regarding the validity and/or possibility of reincarnation which in-turn makes me shudder at the thought that I could come back as a female. Aghast!porn cheap

Links:

Chris Hedges: ‘Pornography Is What the End of the World Looks Like’ – Chris Hedges – Truthdig.

Oh Look! People Are Going To See It Because They Don’t Know How To… | HuffPost

Rant on. -Tommi

*For kicks I googled something like “popular porn star” and her name came up. Seriously. I’ve never heard of her or seen her before. Really. Wow.

On Facts

The insistence on the primacy of personal opinion regardless of fact destabilizes and destroys the primacy of all fact. -Chris Hedges, American Fascist

Book vs Mirror

American_FascistsAmerican Fascist by Chris Hedges

After reading numerous Christopher Hitchens books, delving in various online resources featuring his firebrand contrarian POV, I realized something profound when he died. 1) The man scared the beejeezus out of me. 2) Not only is he the smartest and most well-read person I’ve ever experienced, but I quickly realized that there’ll be no one to replace him anytime soon. So unique is The Hitch. How sad, eh? Still. Look for someone to replace him I did. Sofar Chris Hedges is the only one I’ve found. But don’t get me wrong. These two authors are not comparable nor are they compatible. Chris Hedges isn’t even a contrarian. They are also not polar opposites. That said, I don’t want to get into Hitchens. More on him here and here. This post is about The Hedge.

Just finished American Fascist. Long time on my reading list; short effort to get through it. Hedges brilliantly chronicles the rise of what can only be considered uniquely American: Religious fanaticism in the name of a branded deity has reached preposterous proportions. As usual it all begins with two things mating to be one–and ever since I was a kid life was all about these two things. The first, of course, is money. Money is everything in America. There really is nothing else. There is no patriotism, there is no pride, there is no god, there is only your ability to earn and your ability to spend. Every aspect of American human-ness, if you will, is based on money. All American interaction with other humans evolves around money. And the list could go on. I hope that part of the worst-message is clear. So let’s move on.

The other thing that permeates the American experience is religion. In fact, you can practically exchange money for religion and vice versa. Hence the two are the same. Which means that when Americans prey, they don’t really prey to a god but instead to money. Without money religion would be nothing–without both America would probably be a utopia. (Big probably, eh.) In fact, if one of the two were absent, it would almost be a utopia. But here we are. We are stuck with both and that seems to be great. Reason? Money and religion result in a death society where you are either in or you are simply NOT. This is the culmination of the great American experiment. The irony of it all is that because of what religion has done to America, its demise and downfall is welcomed. Arms are open at this moment to the so-called god-fearing who pay all the respect they can muster along with paying all the money they can conjure to a lie and they love the death and destruction that go along with it. Indeed. America is pretty much nothing more today than a death cult with open biblical arms of promised and purchased redemption. From the religious fanaticism that gives us “christian” TV networks and talk radio and mega-churches to the political arena that is now nothing but a freak-show that thrives on human apathy which seems to be a fuel to its fire. But I’m getting way off-base here.

American Fascist is a pretty good read. At the least it motivates one to think–if one is so inclined–about the ills of fanatical religion. Even though I found myself skipping over all the parts that detailed Hedges experiences in whatever church or sermon, the parts where he writes his thoughts about it all are quite compelling. His voice is staunch and steadfast. He makes you believe that he knows what he’s talking about even though he is obviously a believer–and not only in god but in the US. Alone his life experience as a journalist but schooled in religion give him a unique armament to pose logical arguments to help one battle the demon that is American’t religious fervor. Hence, for my taste–bent from reading so much Hitchens–he could be a bit more contrarian. But read him more I will. And with that I digress.

Rant on.

-Tommi

State Sponsored Injustice

Been following the case of Jeremy Hammond? Or are you just another American’t following the butthole of the dollar that rules your measly life? I know. I’m being a bit harsh (for I, as an Expat, follow the butthole of the €uro which ultimately is the same stinky, smelly thing!) What gets me about Jeremy Hammond, though, is the potential relation to others who also attempt to partake in what should be justice but instead is a systematic relegation of injustice masked in the/a happy-face of corporate dysfunction and a society hell-bent on failing upwards. Wait. Pause. Breath. Let me rephrase.

The case of Jeremy Hammond is what happens when ideologues in the form of federal judges abuse their power because, well, they have nothing better to do. Check out Aaron Swartz to see where the same abuse of state power has happened before. Obviously there can be no justice in a country that lets fraudsters and two-bit criminals get away with blatant robbery, i.e. the bankers and all those that support the speculation state that sustains itself by the profits made from trading debt and selling out. And let’s not forget the war mongers and profiteers of the military industrial complex. Yet young people, committed to openness, fairness and justice above and beyond ideology, are sentenced to jail time for being awesome computer hackers.

worstWriter also can’t help but think about how people like Jeremy and Aaron relate to other hackers e.g. Edward Snowden. Is there even a relation? Indeed. Hammond’s hack certainly differentiates from Snowden’s hack. I’m still waiting to hear about anything really significant coming out of the stuff that Snowden released. And let me not get started on how Snowden is an obvious coward compared to Hammond. (What daddy did you run away to, Mr. Snowden?) Thus far Snowden has told the world what it should already know. Hammond, on the other hand, tried to reveal to the world how the powers-that-be rule the lives of the measley.

I’m sure Chris Hedges would disagree with me.

Rant on.

-TGS-

American Illusion 101

Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges

So. Like. When did the intellectual demise of America begin? Could it have begun with the invention of American morality? Wait. Focus. Two things in two sentences that are incompatible. Intellect and morality. I know, I know. To many, America was never really a mecca of intellect to begin with. It is a place of commerce mixed with playboys, a lot of ditch diggers and fun-galore. Hidden behind all that is morality. You know, “In God We Trust” is printed on the money and ironically is all that American churches are about. Combine moneyed morality with a populace of ditch diggers who all want to be playboys and the skill of mastering the shovel is all that’s left. For the new shovel, dear worst-reader, is the same as wearing a corporate badge or a flag on your lapel. Which means that you have to have an advance degree in shoveling, earn your spot of shovel opportunity first, and then go about your bidness of making a living while laughing (or choking) at those who never found their way to the shovel. Indeed, American morality plus intellect equals a melting pot of spectacle, triumph and… illiteracy.

Being a land defined by commerce and über-fun can be confusing. I mean, there is more to life than that, right? Plus, America is a big country. And we were all raised to believe that there is more to America than the deeds of Henry Ford, Thomas Edison or Joe Blow supporting the local little league team and everybody getting a paycheque. America was once a land of makers, of doers, it had a backbone, and it wasn’t afraid of its or anyone else’s shadow. But then something happened,  something drastically changed. That change was a realisation where, not unlike a cartoon where the chaser suddenly finds himself without a floor to stand on, we see a vast and empty chasm below. Like a baby just born we wiggle and wriggle, our limbs cold and dank, we are waiting to fall to the bottom where the difference between the 99% and the 1% might finally be clear. The only problem is, unlike that cartoon where the coyote returns to chase his speeding bird, we can’t return because we are all obsessed with the politics of playboyism and in God We Trust. Illusions be damned.

The book is titled “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.” Chris Hedges starts out by describing how WWE has changed from the day of portraying villainous Soviets or Iranians (cold war and hostage crisis) wrastling truth & justice to today where corporate CEOs “fight” down-on-their-luck wrastlers who have been beaten by the economy. Even though I haven’t seen a wrastling match in over thirty years that’s quite a shift in themes and characters. So dunce audiences still lap up this krapp unaware they are paying to stare into a mirror? What am I asking? Of course they don’t know. Further analysing the spectacle of what blinds America to reality, Hedges adds some great insight into Jerry Springer and Oprah, which to worst-writer are two shows that should, by law, be shown back-to-back 24×7 on their own channel. The channel, btw, should be called “You’re A Fucking Idiot Channel”. But Hedges doesn’t stop there with providing examples of our illusions and the spectacle that is: In God We Trust.

Let’s move on, dear worst-reader, to the darker side of American intellect and morality. It is the part of America that is hidden in plane sight. Chris Hedges focuses on gonzo pornographyand the detail he writes about it is at times disturbing. Keep in mind that Mr. Hedges, according to his bio, graduated from Harvard Divinity School. (The conflict of intellect and morality starting to become real yet?) Hedges details gang-bangs, facials and anal penetration and then connects it all to a young girl who is not very fond of having those things done to her. Surprised? I wonder if she reads In God We Trust on the dollars she’s paid. I mean, is there anyone out there who doesn’t know the obvious: porn objectifies women and frequent porn consumption probably indicates a deeper psychosis than just a lonely guy who can’t get what he wants from his wife. There were a few moments where I thought about skipping this chapter because I kept getting the feeling that Hedges wasn’t the right person to be detailing this stuff. He is, obviously, a man of great intellect and morality. You would think that with such capacities he would know better than to dwell in this subject. It just doesn’t seem necessary to be part of this book. But I pushed on through the chapter and when I was finished it helped me realise the books only fault. Hedges thinks that there is a connection between intellect and morality.

Titillation aside, there is one other thesis in this book that grabbed me. According to Chris Hedges, America’s demise started before Reagan. This comes as a surprise to worst-writer because Hedges says that the real problem started at the end of the Vietnam war, around 1973, and coincided with the first oil crisis. And even though I never considered it this way, right off the bat, I have to agree with Mr. Hedges. It makes a lot of sense to claim that our demise began even before Reagan’s rampant shop-till-you-drop mindset of the 80s set in. It was the the oil crisis that made America turn to credit in order to afford not only gas but everything else. Reagan simply took the next step in our consume-to-survive world and facilitated it all with government policy. Of course, the only way to make Reaganomics really work is to have a populace the lusts after not only porn but Oprah, Jerry and wrastling. But I still don’t make the connection Hedges’ makes between intellect and morality. Nomatter.

In worst-closing, this book is a great read–even though worst-writer thinks America’s problems are not about illusion but more about delusion. Hedges’ connection between intellect and morality also doesn’t work for me. And. If people want to watch WWE and porn, so what. Does Hedges’ morality also want to take away Mickey Mouse? Beyond that, I’ll go as far as to say that porn could provide a service to mankind that no bird-and-the-bees talk ever could. At the least, in an overpopulated world, the control exercised in the so-called money-shot or facial is a great way to add yet another layer of protection to coincide with contraception. The only bad side I can find of pornography and WWE is how one facilitates disease, the other means there has to be a faux newz network. But then again, could girls really get used to facials which would surely darken their princess illusion that there really is such a thing as romantic love or love-ever-after?

Rant on.

-tgs-