Preface: Holy-camoly, I just noticed it’s 11AM, and I have things to do so I’m aborting this entry where it lies (and if you want an abortion horror story that I didn’t have time to blog about, read this nightmare fuel… the world can be a terrible place at times, and the theme of this entry is that we have the power to change that). No proof-reading whatsoever, sorry. Screw the possibility of reader comprehension. My blog is only for those that can read through the chaos of jumbled sentences, yeah elitism.
Unfortunately this news is probably “2012 Mayan apocalypse” hyperbole (and the article that reminded me is full of that — Discovery has a disappointingly rational and skeptical fantasy-killing debunking), but I sure am aesthetically excited by the idea that Betelgeuse — a star which you may know better as a ghost in a striped suit the right shoulder of the easy to identify constellation of Orion — is going to go supernova in the next year or two (or more accurately, six hundred or so years ago, since it’s thought ot be about six hundred light years away). I think because Betelgeuse is a pulsating star it’s difficult to exactly determine its mass, but a number of qualified astronomers think it’s on the brink of imminent collapse, which would result in a (most likely harmless) supernova that would appear to us four times the size of the moon, bright enough to illuminate the night sky far better than the full moon, and to be visible during the day as a “second sun” for a few weeks. Wow I hope I get to see that.
Visually it would be one of the most amazing astronomical events to happen in human history, and I sure would feel privileged to be alive for it. The last thing I can think of on this magnitude was a comet that passed through the sky around 3,500 years ago. It filled up a significant percentage of the sky as its tail dragged through the sky, and possibly looked something like this:
Holy New Age Batman!
Now you understand why the erroneously labeled “sun” symbol of the Aten cult only has rays coming in one direction. Here are some Egyptian cult pictures, and you can find similar symbols from other religions birthed of the exact same moment in history all around the world (for example the Chinese Lao-Tien-Yeh glyph). Look familiar?
Some authors (most obviously see Graham Philip’s The End of Eden) have linked the appearance of this comet to the sudden formation around the world of monotheistic religious cults — comet cults suddenly taking over from the dominant pagan animist traditions — and stretching a little, also linking it to a warlike period not only because of the visual shock of god visiting in the sky, but because the tail of the comet may have scattered complex organic molecules into the environment that acted akin to dumping a few tons of psychoactive psychiatric drugs into the water system. Interesting theory. A bit far out (and if you like this line of thinking, read more about it on the previously mentioned author’s website on the subject), and again, easy to debunk, but I like it, and I hope I live to see something similarly amazing.
I’ll pass on the religious hysteria and war though, thanks.
That said, when I see what happens in United States politics, I am sickened. Really sickened. I was reading about the ruined dystopian city of Camden, NJ, in The Nation, and here’s a scary relevant quote from the article:
Camden is the poster child of postindustrial decay. It stands as a warning of what huge pockets of the United States could turn into as we cement into place a permanent underclass of the unemployed, slash state and federal services in a desperate bid to cut massive deficits, watch cities and states go bankrupt and struggle to adjust to a stark neofeudalism in which the working and middle classes are decimated.
Anyway, the reason I’m sickened is because I read about the Republicans (and even some Democrats) doing everything they can to repeal the pathetically minimal yet still revolutionary “Obamacare” program that does stuff like protects those born with pre-existing genetic conditions, or the lower middle class who can’t afford decent healthcare, but aren’t poor enough to get welfare. They’re willing to completely cripple government in the process of stopping something that even the cruelest and most will-to-power among us should recognize as something that a decent modern industrialized nation does for its citizens. Basic healthcare is almost universally seen as a human right these days. And the kicker is that if the Republicans actually manage to repeal or de-fund US healthcare, the end result is of course not that those people don’t get sick. They still get sick, and they still suffer, but their treatment is more costly and the costs are absorbed by society in the form of crime and bankrupcy and debt — that’s right, debt. Cutting this program could add a trillion dollars to the deficit over the next ten years. And where does that trillion dollars go? To the rich. That’s the game these monsters are playing.
Two futures. Which one spent its money on bombs?
The part that always gets me is Costa Rica, which scrapped its military sixty years ago, yet somehow has managed to avoid being conquered. Because guess what? That shit doesn’t happen here. I would like to see America (and Canada) completely eliminate its military. I mean come on, what fool actually believes that there is going to be a ground invasion of North America? What, is Russia going to roll ten thousand amphibious tanks across the Bering Strait? Give me a break. It’s not going to happen. The cost of invading America would be astronomical, to say nothing of the fact that crazy second American hillbillies have armed citizens to the teeth and if a bunch of Afghanistan cavemen can fend off the most advanced military on the planet, I’m pretty sure said hillbillies can do the same. There is absolutely zero need for the US to have a military. At best they are a make work project and a way to funnel mountains of money into the hands of rich defense contractors. Perhaps they protect some American interests internationally, but come on — the negative effects and astronomical cost of the “war for oil” in Iraq has not paid off. There’s no way that the money spent protecting those “interests” (which are only interests for the ultra-wealthy top 0.1% anyway) is an intelligent investment for middle America.
It makes me sick that no mainstream American politician would dare say something so heretical.
It makes me even sicker that instead they have the play the charade of pretending to pray to some imaginary sky god and keep the lie of religion enshrined in US culture, as these The-Emperor-Wears-No-Clothes liars use the name of God to justify Big Sin&tm;, sin that’s so enormous and evil that only something as ignorant as religion could justify it. Anyway, I digress and I annoy Caitlin with what she calls “angry typing”, which I do admit can get very loud and clackity.
If US military spending was not cut back, but, as I propose, ended entirely, then suddenly there are a trillion dollars a year in savings. Sure, you could just give that money back to the public if you want to, but I think it would make more sense to invest that money back in America. Let’s say there’s a trillion dollars more in the budget. Of course you could give everyone in America healthcare and be done with the stupid debate on how badly the rich can abuse the poor below them. And all those people that are now unemployed soldiers? Don’t treat them like Vietnam Vets and marginalize them into bitter hobos like America is oh-so-fond of doing to its retired heroes, but give them jobs and have a new wave of public works across America. Think of the bridges and community centers and high speed rail lines and swimming pools and visions of the future that could be built with that kind of money to dedicate to making America a true shining beacon on the hill. With that kind of money invested in itself, rather than burned and squandered on war, America could be the greatest nation on Earth.
Or…
Idiocracy: Comedy or Prophecy?
Or should I say “profase”…?
Aw what’s the point in even considering the written word?
Oh, education. Right now Texas (which somehow finds the money to drop $60 million on high school football stadiums, oh priority) is talking about cutting $5 billion (about $1,000 per child per year) from their education budget. As “Comedy” news watchers know, that includes increasing class sizes to sixty students and one teacher, a size that guarantees that no one is coming out of there with knowledge or any love of learning. Oh yeah, and also getting rid of the last year of high school, so kids aren’t even qualified for higher education. Where is this going to leave America in twenty years when it reaps the results of this generation that’s had ignorance forced upon them? It’s truly frightening. Of course, if even small cuts were made to the military, the education budget could be doubled, halving class sizes instead, and instead of getting rid of the last year of high school, instead doing what some other first-world nations do — making university free to students willing to learn.
Think what a different place America would be if every person bright enough to do so was able to earn their science doctorate, or become an engineer, or whatever, and that even those who don’t have the brains or interest to choose that path fall into a work environment with dollars and jobs to spare, where Americans work hard to create a bright dream of a future.
Speaking of settling Mars, which I have done in a few entries lately, the cost of a one way mission to Mars — that is, a mission that settles Mars — is, according to NASA about $10 billion dollars. It’s actually cheaper to settle Mars because the amount of fuel that one has to bring for a return mission outweighs the supplies required to live there for a lifetime. Since 2001, the US has spent well over a trillion dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not a single penny of that needed to be spent. But look at those numbers. If only 1% — one fucking percent — of the cost of these pointless wars had been given to NASA, we could have settled Mars. What the fuck. If we actually invested in the future and gave all of that money to NASA then guess what? We’d have cities on Mars. We’d actually be colonizing another planet.
This isn’t some deep future theoretical sci-fi shit. This can happen. This is doable. We have the technology already. All we lack is the willpower to fund it. Humans could already be taking the first steps into colonizing our solar system and our galaxy. We can live the future. We can do it. All we need to do is take a realistic look at our desires for where we want our nations and our species to end up and choose our priorities accordingly. I mean, I’m not talking nonsense. Nothing I’m saying here should be hard to understand. Am I delusional that people really, when they actually think about it, can’t understand and at least partially sympathize with what I’m saying? Or is the political process so beholden to the will of the wealthy that the actual will of the people is irrelevant? It should not be that hard for America to choose a better future. At the end of World War II, America was the only industrial nation that hadn’t been bombed to shit, that had a functioning industrial base. Europe has spend the last fifty years rebuilding and getting back on its feet, but America has been in a position of unparalleled wealth and priveledge and advantage, and has nearly squandered it all on converting every human evil into cash for the wealthy. But it’s not too late. The dream is still there on the horizon I think.
Ahhh naw… what am I saying? War is so much more important.
Keep on investing in misery and giving a big fuck you to the dreams of humanity.
That’s my illustration for craziness. I made it late last night because I couldn’t sleep due to a cockroach crawling onto my foot at midnight, causing me to spend the next two hours vigilant and ready to crush the speedy bastard with a book. I never did get him and I’m pretty sure he’s hiding in my beard, having built a home there as I slept.
I need to get another radio show so I can yell this shit loudly at people, haha.
