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Apr

Can We Cut Out the Unnecessary Services and Gratitude That Contribute to Fear?

Categories: Concerns and Alerts and Uncategorized
Tags: app, cellphone, charge, code, convenience, danger, data, economy, editorial, fear, fee, finance, gratitude, handling, influence, influencer, insurance, law, military, money, opinion, personal data, police, propaganda, protection, restaurant, service, shipping, tax, technology, telephone, theft, thief, thieves, tip, uniform

***

Oh. Let me start by saying…

Thank you for your service.

Who or what am I thanking…and why? No one, at the moment. But, those words get thrown around quite a bit and almost seem expected when in the presence of certain people. Yet, the same could be said for non-human things that perform similar…services. And, as technology changes in certain directions, we may be pressured to say it in those directions instead of human faces.

Think about this.

Military troops perform certain actions we call service, and we’re prodded to thank them for those services. We don’t know exactly what they do or did. But, we’re told it’s for our protection, our safety. Well, God bless and thank those people for keeping us safe…..from what exactly?

Oh. Sure. You can think up some things that you’re not facing yourself. War seems to be the common one. But, I bet if you actually went “on duty” with some of the troops, you’d see things differently. And, you’d know the truth…maybe. [I’m not even sure the troops know the whole truth, and that’s why so many suffer after serving.]

But, you see…we’re thanking people for “services” without any knowledge of what service they perform(ed). [And, you may feel pressured to cough up money.]

Imagine being at a restaurant and just finding a plate of food. Then someone walks by in a “uniform,” and you reach out to say, “Thank you for your service.” You don’t know if that person did anything to prepare that food. You don’t know if they were just in some back room getting freaky with another coworker instead of helping a customer. You know nothing…except that they’re wearing a uniform. [And, maybe they stole that uniform.]

[Don’t even get me started on thieves and murders who misuse uniforms.]

So far, I’ve just scraped the surface of questionable service, just the more common perspective of analyzing the military. [I often find myself questioning the military.] But, what about so many OTHER “services” we are forced to contend with and the fees that go with them? Yes. Now, you’re getting a clue. Right? I’m talking stuff that often comes with paperwork and phone calls. Services you just don’t even give much thought before you comply, only to hear later about bad luck stories which only create more doubt and fear than you already have. You’re an easy target, and so many take advantage of that.

There is SO much talk about “protecting your personal data.”

[Even if you live “off the grid,” surely you hear some of this. You may think you’re smart by staying “offline.” If you can handle every aspect of your modern life without any dealings with one of these pathways that seems risky to personal information, I salute you…and wonder how you do it. There sure seems to be plenty of pressure to get in line and submit information and other things, one way or another.]

But, why should we need to protect our data when we aren’t doing anything intentional to endanger it? And, why should anything we do to protect something cost money? If I shield something with my own body, is that costing me money? And, what exact amount of money is going to guarantee what I want to protect will be spared from destruction or theft? [I don’t think anyone has a good answer.]

Sure; we may need to buy something made by someone else to improve our defenses. Back in “the day,” people would invest in armor, shields, etc. to defend themselves. If you’re roaming the countryside, some vandal might try to assault/rob you, and it’s good to be protected. But, isn’t it better to make those decisions/investments without fear of what MAY happen? If you’ve never had a problem with vandals on your road trips, why stop now to buy something you’ve never needed? And, if you take a hint/warning and make a better path choice, couldn’t you avoid the problem that would otherwise require investing in better protection? Also, if you acquired the proper knowledge/skill, couldn’t you gather your own supplies and construct your own protection?

[Instead, we’re teaching people how to code and cheat everything under and beyond the sun.]

[Insurance companies all over the place will be flailing their arms, right now. How inconvenient it is to have to make wiser decisions when you could let someone else, at cost, manage those issues (and still not adequately resolve all concerns).]

Once you start investing in what COULD happen, you give up control over reality and living in the moment. Are we always supposed to live in fear of the unknown? Don’t therapists (get paid to) curb such fears, telling us not to project what is not actually there?

[And, insurance companies make it their business to get you thinking about them. So, I guess, being afraid of “what if” helps…er, pays someone. Do therapists ever thank insurance companies? I wonder.]

Isn’t this like “growing up” and ceasing to tremble at the thought of what might be lurking in the dark or under the bed?

If you are using personal data to achieve something, why should there be any obstacle course or threats lurking in the shadows? If you go to your refrigerator to get something to eat, do you need to defend yourself from fridge pirates and gobble-ins? [See what I did there?]

Why does it seem like every basic function we want to perform is threatened by something we must then fear…but not fear if we invest in things that “protect us.” We are being steered like cattle into scary situations for no damn reason other than the benefit and profit of the “mongers” who do this crap to us.

And, before I get into more of the little or not-so-little things we contend with, I’ll address the question that’s bound to pop up.

Well, what can we do about all of this?

I wish I had an Einstein-worthy answer that resolved everything. It sure would cure my fears. I really don’t know what can be done to fix the big problem. I just know there seems to be as many people out to cause a problem as there are those who wish to live without one. And, it’s also possible that there are many of us contributing to the problems of others without intent simply because we’ve been coerced to go along with various procedures. Your compliance could be giving other people grief.

My fear wouldn’t be nearly as troubling if I had and saw more people acting with confidence (not exaggerated), being friendly (not flustered or rude) and doing what needs to be done without submitting to those things that I suspect (if not know) are contributing to the problem. Seeing someone do something you just know is going to cause more distress is like living a nightmare. And, my life has been riddled with nightmares. [Sweet dreams? What are those?] If I was with someone who was living life wisely, even if they were working hard at it instead of relying upon all the latest conveniences, I’d probably sign on with them and forget what’s troubling so many. [I wish I could say being a farmer was the solution.]

I will say this. Convenience seems to be a HUGE contributor to the problem. Whenever someone says their service to you or their product/invention is convenient in any way, proceed with caution and do not be swayed by the reduction of “you need to do something to make this work.” I’m sure many of us would rather go without work, without laboring at anything. From the dawn of time, humans have been crafting tools to reduce work and strain on the body. But, we’ve shot past the simple tools that are the bones of physics lessons and gone right into excessive ways to manipulate people. We’re putting the screws and levers to each other instead of that stone block we want to move.

[Yet…the opposite of convenience shouldn’t be torture or any form of manipulation. Just because something isn’t as convenient as it could be doesn’t mean it has to be troubling or abusive to the mind and/or body. We don’t have to feel mistreated or heckled for doing something “the hard way.” You might say this is like doing math on paper next to some jerk with a calculator. They do the math in a fraction of the time and then stick their tongue out at you, saying something unnecessary and cruel while you deal with your equation(s). Can’t we just do the math, use our brains effectively and efficiently, and not be taxed or intimidated?]

Technology that should be making communication and cultural interaction more…er…convenient…has become more intimidating and taxing than it ever should be. And, every aspect of life seems to be getting steered right into the digital unknown and bringing various financially-laced demands (like a masked thief with a gun) with it.

We’re told to protect ourselves, yet we’re getting “held up” by faceless people doing the very thing we’re supposed to avoid.

—-

Hey. You. You’d better protect yourself from ____. Now, hand over five percent of your money so nothing bad like that happens to you.

—-

Insurance. Service fees. Shipping and handling. Fees for things we failed to notice or read (sometimes because forms and policies are written by wordy individuals who get a sick thrill out of making pages exhausting and cryptic). [I often get accused by family for being one of them…but that is not my intent. And, I don’t get a sick thrill out of confusing or vexing anyone.]

There are those services and fees we SHOULD be aware of and consciously repaying…and then there are probably way more that we don’t know and shouldn’t have to face or fear. When you work with someone, face-to-face, and they do something for you, you may feel inclined to repay them somehow…and that’s how it should be. But, to pay someone for something you don’t know they did for you…that’s like a child hustling a parent for money before they do a chore.

—-

Can I get five bucks? I’ll mow the lawn for you. I just need five bucks, now. Why? Just cuz. You know I’m good for it.

—-

That kid could easily just go get a snack or do something he/she shouldn’t be doing with that money. You don’t know…unless you throttle them for more information and wreck the bond you have with that person.

[Now, imagine that “kid” is someone sending you a notice that says you need to pay a certain amount of money to get something you want, including an amount for something you don’t fully understand. They COULD just say you owe one amount…but why stop there when you can vex someone with other fine print and things that magically get people to cough up more money for things they don’t understand? You’re not just paying for the service/object you want…there are other “fees” you need to address which go with getting what you want. This is “convenience” yet not convenient for you but for those who collect the money.]

Insurance companies make their business out of WHAT IF, which is so often the thing therapists and sage individuals continually tell you to avoid. Well, how can we avoid pondering the “what ifs” if we are roped into insurance policies? They say the policies, which require constant supply of money to maintain (and, too often, to get the things we need them to do, which is too often additional money, not the initial/scheduled cost), take care of those “what ifs,” so we don’t have to worry. But, we still worry! And, crap still happens which sometimes doesn’t get resolved so easily by the insurance we fund. [Crappy service. Right?]

[Lawyers advertise their services like vultures waiting for someone to be hit with a financial problem, promising to make resolving the problem easy and “free” (until they win for you). I’m sure there are decent, respectable lawyers who truly want to serve people and improve order. But, there are others who suck up commercial space and time with what I can only imagine is rubbish. Can you imagine driving down a road and seeing some guy in a suit waiting on the side for you to have an accident? As soon as you do, they rush in with a briefcase in hand and papers to fill…for your benefit…right? As if.]

What makes matters more complex is that we have gone past the age of dealing with people face-to-face, rolled right past “snail mail” and fallen into the zero-gravity space of internet business. We’re interacting with others we cannot see, sending all kinds of data across the void, not knowing who may receive or intercept that information along the way. I don’t think there was nearly as much risk of someone raiding a mailbox to mess with others when we only had envelopes and boxes to process our needs. I’m sure there were a number of thieves who did their best to break into mailrooms and vaults where financial papers were stored and addresses could be put to vile use. It’s this latest digital era that’s really opens the doors to the unknown and people seemingly trained to do us harm.

A computer (or similar device), one that requires the internet to reach someone, some business, you need to get what you want (and, lately, sometimes just to function as a sensible computer), has the potential to be very helpful if we know how to operate it. But, instead and more likely, we operate it somewhat blindly and fumble, at times, with what’s supposed to be so easy. And, as so many spend increasing amounts of time with such technology, they (we) seem to be getting…dumber. [It doesn’t take a genius (or idiot) to tell you getting dumber makes you more open to threats and those who would take pleasure in troubling you.]

Again, you may want to avoid this technological hazard. And, if you are able to live completely free of computer usage (and dealing with forms/fees beyond your comprehension), I salute you. But, it seems like an uphill battle to get past and resolve this concern. I don’t have the solution. I just know something needs to be done, and I’ll get to more of the WHY, soon enough (though it should be apparent in what I’ve already been saying).

There are schools (and surely “training programs”) that teach people about all the wondrous things you can do with computers, including the things we should never be doing with computers. [Oh. But, you can get away with it and put it to your advantage…it’s so tempting.] And, with so much being pressed to perform on a computer, whether you’re a user or someone paid to do something with a computer, that technology has become the new playground littered with bullies and peer pressure, so much unnecessary intimidation taxing our minds (and bodies). People are taught how computers can be so convenient and helpful…and then some, who either were born twisted or get twisted by bad decisions, use that knowledge to mess with and rob people.

Remember what I said about you possibly contributing to the problem? You could be part of the problem if you let some offer that brings you money sway you into signing or doing something that ultimately troubles other people (or could even come back to trouble you). There are forms (and policies) you likely fill out that promise “refunds” and other forms of money which you may be working (or laboring) to earn…then get taxed…and somehow get some back, which makes the whole taxing thing just a little confusing.

—-

Hey. You owe me ten bucks. Give it, now. Okay. Now, here’s two bucks back. Why? Call it a consideration. Now, the next time you have twenty bucks, give me ten, and I’ll give you five back. See? I’m saving you money.

—-

WHY is all of the above so important? Well, if it isn’t obvious, when we give up control of our own lives and let these various policies and money-laced procedures lead the way, we cease to exist, we give away our souls and become batteries of some system. [I’ve previously written various pieces on how humans can be batteries.] We might as well be jugs of fuel if we don’t take account of and control of our lives. We’re taught and told things that give our lives meaning and value, yet, at the same time, we are too often de-valued by things that confuse and pressure us to comply.

I could ponder this all day and drive in circles, trying to get a firm grip on the situation. I realize there are elements in play that all mix and, in some way, either respectable or vile, try to make sense of this existence.

Order

It’s a not-so-fancy synonym for peace. When no one is making you feel threatened or uncomfortable, when everyone seems to be getting along, there is order.

There are people who want order (not the kind you place to get something you want) and those who either opt to or are enlisted to produce order. And, in order to achieve that sense of order, actions are taken which, unfortunately, don’t appeal to or make everyone happy. [Why? Why can’t order please everyone? I suppose some could bring up that line: You can’t please everyone. But, wouldn’t true order do just that? And, how does anyone please everyone?]

People talk about “living in balance” or “a balanced life.” But, that balance seems to always be in question. Other species continue to be a subject of concern. What do we do about the insects and wildlife getting in our way?

Economy

Economy is just how people in control (or who take command) and seeking order attempt to establish greater control and/or order. If people pay and trade fairly, they won’t fight or cause other trouble. By the sound of the word, you’d think it was for the benefit of all. By definition, it deals with the distribution of wealth. Well, why does wealth have to come into any equation?

I think “wealth” is part of the problem because it seems to instill thoughts of greed. If you have wealth, if you have control of some source of value (maybe all of the oranges), why part with them? Why share with other beings? What is it about “wealth” that does this to people? If we used a different word, like resources, maybe we’d be more considerate. Resources sounds like something we all should have. Wealth sounds like something one person stashes in a vault for eternity. If you have a wealth of safe drinking water…I imagine plenty of others are dying of thirst. Is that a pleasant thought?…you having all of the safe water, alone? When do we reach a point when we realize there is benefit in sharing resources? [It’s harder to share wealth, I imagine, because then it ceases to be wealth. Things lose perceived monetary value when everyone has them. But, that doesn’t reduce the OTHER value of those items.]

If we say Economy deals with the distribution of RESOURCES (versus wealth), I would say we are far FAR from having an adequate system of properly, fairly sharing. And, what’s extra tragic is how some places are flooded with resources and not necessarily greedy people in control of all of them, while other places are starved for those same resources (while, possibly, being “rich” in other resources).

Distribution is definitely a problem. But, money isn’t solving it. Money just delays people from being helpful when they feel they should get more for their assistance. If you didn’t have to think about money, if so many people weren’t pressing you to make and then give away that money (which still doesn’t guarantee you get all that you need or want), you could focus your eyes on the real resources and maybe consider helping to distribute them.

This is sort of like dealing with a “natural disaster.” You COULD get kind people to lend a hand and help prevent tragedy. But, it would cost money, because people have to step away from their money-managing lives to do something else, something that isn’t paying them. And, it would be risky to help, which goes against the insurance plans and such that people agree to pay. [Why would anyone take a risk if it’s going to cost them more, later? Suddenly, being helpful in a crisis becomes uncomfortable, intolerable, because it comes with a financial threat.] There is probably enough ____ to resolve the crisis, but there is so much added and potentially unnecessary pressure to consider the “cost” before providing or delivering what is needed. When we require money to make the world go around, being helpful becomes less convenient and almost impossible.

Sadly, I don’t think anyone, yet, has a good sense of maintaining an economy. There is too much temptation to take more than is right and cheat the system. If you’re not stealing, you’re the victim of it. That does not sound right, in my mind, for what economy should be. [Personally, bartering has always sounded better than dealing with money.]

When we place a value upon and give people a need to amass money, they turn away from the true purpose of getting what is needed. When people start believing amassing money is important, they seem to do anything they can to get more, which sounds like crime. Yet, it’s not the money that’s doing anything other than intimidating or troubling others. Money itself isn’t feeding you or keeping you alive. It’s just a tool of the economy someone has been trying to use to establish their idea of order. Money could go up in flames, tomorrow, but there will still be natural resources and a need for them. [Money is sort of an illusion standing in the way of equitable sharing of resources.]

Convenience

Some might say this goes back to the Garden of Eden. The “forbidden fruit” was so conveniently placed and held so much “wealth.” Convenience is a deceptive path to an easier life which too often is abused or misused. What is convenient for one will likely be inconvenient for another. Your convenience could upset another person or species. It’s convenient how we can claim land and drive out the native population. It’s just as convenient for insects to invade your home or some other wild animal to threaten your sense of peace and order. In a way, convenience is our human excuse for getting our way. It sounds very comforting…but at the expense of others. Yet, to give up convenience…wouldn’t that make life torture? Or, just labor?

Control

Control is a shade of Order, laced with Convenience. Order itself is not always convenient; you often work to establish Order. But, when you have Control, you can conveniently command Order (but that doesn’t mean you’ll easily get what you want or satisfy what is likely a ceaseless growth of want). Ironically, positive/motivational speakers (and modern “influencers”) are good at provoking you to “take control of your life!” And, rightfully, we should. But, how does one take control without affecting others? Thus, are we taking control of our own lives or tangling the strings of others?

Controlling parents are looked down upon for doing some questionable things to maintain their own sense of Order. Some, if not most, do what they do just to ease their own minds (and, often, dismiss responsibility). Parents can enjoy the things they like to do alone if they can just get their kids to stop making noise and demanding food. [So, why did you become parents?] Some people get infected with the notion that only they know how to do something right…and then whip that into the hides of their children.

People take roles/jobs that come with a certain measure of control. Their job is to help establish order. But, I think, too often, the drive or element of money is what makes decisions instead of a genuine desire to improve the peace of all living things (not just other humans). Even if you take such a job with good intentions, there are countless others in similar positions pressuring you to bend a certain way to get something they or whoever they serve wants.

[Is that sensible Order? Who is really in control of anything? How do we maintain control without upsetting a peaceful sense of order? Or, how can we stop trying to control and co-exist in peace?]

Population

We seem to have little to zero control over the size of any population. If you attempt to establish control, you’re an inhuman monster. But, Population is the driving force behind most if not all of the above. Quantity of living things (as well as the non-living stuff we accumulate) impacts decisions we make. It affects how we hoard or feel free to share resources.

[If you have a sandwich and are with one other person, you might feel kind enough to split that sandwich into two. But, if you have four other people around you, how can you all get enough of the sandwich to feel content?]

Other species go about daily conflicts, battles and wars of their own kind, under our human noses. We neglect to see what is happening as we process our too often financial concerns. But, they’re out there, competing for resources and eating each other. In a way, that’s what we’re avoiding and trying to avoid. Yet, that would seem to be natural order, in some sick, twisted way that only upsets the modern human stomach.

I’m not saying we should live exactly like other (savage) animals/beings, but is it possible even those other species wouldn’t seem so savage if everyone was able to get what they needed?…if communication and distribution was clear and fair?

[Now, we have to take into consideration that some species, no matter how some humans may protest, are meat eaters and/or eat other species to survive. I don’t think it’s possible to steer every species into a “vegan” lifestyle. And, if you did, I am sure, eventually, the plants would get a brain and revolt. And then, what would we have? A discussion for another day! That’s what. None of us decide what species eats what, no matter what you think you can achieve with science. And, if you attempt to mess with nature, you get nasty side effects, anyway.]

Bringing this all back to its initial point, we are being treated like cattle with bottomless wallets. We are living in fear that is not our own. It’s one thing to live your life, encounter something that is naturally a threat, experience fear and deal with it. It’s a whole other thing to have others prod you with their sticks, constantly, and tell you to do something OR ELSE. Those pressures to comply and submit funds you acquire however you get them are only complicating and depleting the very lives they want to milk.

So, there’s a bit of irony for all of you greedy manipulators. You are killing the cows you want to milk forever by injecting them with fear. Yes, fear can make a cow cough up milk…but it won’t always or likely be the best milk. When people feel good about what they are doing, they are more likely to perform better. An athlete afraid of hurting someone or his/her self is not going to perform with confidence and will likely get injured…then think about what that injury will do their financial security, not to mention functioning as a human being.

[Then, if you can handle thinking on yet another level, you take into account how certain people make their business, their means of profit, from managing people’s fears, their woes and concerns. And, as other people become troubled with the need to make money, they look for jobs. Sometimes, those jobs seem only available at businesses making money off of people pressured to pay to avoid the things they are coerced to fear. Wherever there is a job someone is less interested in taking, there is someone in such dire need of a job that they will get steered toward and take it. So, now, you have people subject to fear working for what I can only call “fear mongers.” Either the employees become like their bosses and start injecting others with pressure to cough up money (for their personal obsession to amass money/wealth) or labor away just to get through life, trying to ignore what their jobs are really doing (if they even know). That is a really tragic, messed-up vision of economy.]

Isn’t there a better way to get what you need and not intimidate/confuse others? Fear is merely the weapon of bullies who take sick pleasure in watching others wail and/or suffer. I don’t know what breeds such sick mentality, but it exists. [Some would call it evil.] If you benefit from others getting confused or scared (or hurt), I don’t have any nice words for you. You’re just wrong. Maybe it starts out as a fun prank. But, if you keep at it, you’re a monster, and not the kind people seem to be turning into cute collections.

I don’t have a concrete or satisfying conclusion to this statement. So, I’ll just leave it here for your consideration. Food for thought. Now, help make this world a better place for all. Please.

Jun

Living the Caged Life

By writingbolt Leave a Comment

Categories: Concerns and Alerts, Confessions of the Rabbit Kind and Uncategorized
Tags: angel, bird cage, bust, cage, family, father, influence, mother, parent, parenting, parents, personal, philosophy, prison, psychology, statue

***

I’m not quite sure where to begin with explaining something that cripples my small branch of the family. It’s not drug-related, unless you count collecting as a drug. It’s not exactly abuse but is a sort of repression/oppression. And, it’s almost eerily apparent in a literary way. My parents have a habit of displaying figurines, dolls and busts elaborately dressed in suffocating spaces. Most unsettling are the busts and little angel figurines displayed in black metal cages. One is a bird cage housing a woman’s head made of plaster. Another is an obelisk housing three little ceramic cherubs which curl into balls on the floor of the structure. Caged life. Imprisoned feelings/desires. This is the symbolism my parents choose to consider art and perfectly normal in their home. Now, if I was to craft such things and think them normal, I would whole-heartedly expect someone to object and question me. But, if I address my parents about their decorative style, they will brush my thoughts aside until I walk away. [Well, so much for time with my parents.]

I bring this up because it’s like a bit of tragic literary genius, a means of turning how I have matured/aged into a metaphor. [And, if you know me, you know I enjoy metaphors.] Yet, I take no pleasure in writing about it and have no plan to craft a “bestseller” around this; there will not be another “Flowers in the Attic.” But, that’s how life has been with my parents, trapped, caged, restrained and crippled with fear, intimidation, false information and deception. All of our blessings and potential is trapped in a pitiful state, unable to flourish.

Any success we may find is quickly clutched and sucked back down into disappointment by a mother who can’t handle something outside her vital control. Anything my mother doesn’t personally direct and document in her files she will tear apart; she will bring it down because she doesn’t understand or benefit from it.

My father spends every moment torn between his own creative and social desires and avoiding the wrath of his chosen life partner who throws a fit every time he steps away from her to be with someone else. My mother lives in a box and chooses to be oblivious to the rest of the world; yet if you tell her she is oblivious or in denial, she will throw another fit and deny everything as if she was under interrogation by an FBI unit.

What’s additionally tragic is how the ways of my parents have imprinted themselves on us, their children. While other families might see their kids grow up and take off on their own to break the chains their parents may have worn, my siblings and I don’t do as well. A few are lucky to have found mates who helped financially distance them from the curse. But, the relationships have not exactly been solid and/or reassuring. The rest of us (myself included) struggle in many ways to take flight and feel comfortable in our own skins, at a time when people like me are being slighted by the insane amount of focus on abused minorities and people going through sexual migrations (and deviations).

The rest of the world has these people on a stage, receiving TLC and every avenue opened to them. I have never fit in a particular noteworthy group but–classified as plain “Caucasian”–I seem to be expected to fall in with a wealthy crowd who makes their own way through family connections, through legacies. Well, there is no grand family legacy nor role models to give me wings.

So, if you were to meet me and wonder why I don’t achieve more or have more in my life, and if you didn’t so quickly become uncomfortable and drift away, you might see and understand…and maybe even pity my situation.

And, on that note, I stop writing because I don’t have a good way of ending this piece. I feel compelled to just ramble. And, I’ve done enough of that in my life.

May

Be Socially Aware, Not Socially Overwhelmed

By writingbolt Leave a Comment

Categories: Concerns and Alerts and Uncategorized
Tags: awareness, charity, crime, denial, editorial, emotion, family, influence, internet, media, news, overwhelmed, personal, psychology, PTSD, radar, response, responsibility, social, socially aware, world news

****

Among the failings my family has, there is the habit of absorbing unnecessary information and reacting poorly to it. The people responsible for television and all that comes with it can rub their hands together and gloat because my family eats it up, hook, line and sinker. Oh, we may deny the effects of television, but they are happening. ‘Nothing good, either. So, if that’s your intent, congrats. You got us.

Local and world news programs cannot avoid reporting matters that are devastating and vile, far more often than they can report good, helpful news. In fact, strangely enough, if something good is reported, it usually comes with a website or code to scan to get more information some other time. Oh, the reporters could be more useful, but they don’t have the time. No one does that with bad news. If there’s bad news, you’re going to hear some part of (not the whole, never the whole) of it. And, there is no link or code to scan that will tell you more than what the internet and broadcast TV already license and allow. Everything’s bad…except for one tiny kernel of good news from some Samaritan who helped the victim of a car incident. But, the rest is horror stories and crimes of all kinds, as if this world is no place to live.

Well…

Are we not still living?…in it? Are we not still alive.

Let me ask you this. Do you live better knowing how many lives have been destroyed by monsters and fools? Or, do you get through your day better by having people you know are good at your side and weeding out the crap? I’d vote for the latter. Right? I mean, that’s not what I am sufficiently able to do…because the people I deal with are the sort who watch all the crap and react poorly to it, my family. Such is crappy luck.

But, you, you who function and find some measure of success in your lives…whether it’s good family relations and friendships (which seems almost mythical to me) or financial (oh, so many financial dealings going on around the world, stirring up trouble for one group or another). You productive souls don’t absorb any of this talk about the horrors of the world; you’re probably working in the area and ignoring the scenes.

There isn’t a day when some member of my family presents a case of something they saw online or on TV which grinds their gears and makes them an emotional tornado. And, me, completely unprepared to adequately process all of that anger and other emotion, is left to paddle against the current to stay afloat in my own troubled head. It’s not right. I feel like I’m surrounded by piles of garbage being ignited by jerks with cans of oil and matches; I just about put out one fire, and another dozen are going up behind me. I’m not a god, and none of us should feel like we have to play one.

When I finally take a moment to consider the local and world news being televised, something starts to fester and boil in my brain…starts to come into perspective.

We, the humans of this planet, are in a state of denial of responsibility, as well as a state of “static” information overload. A majority of us WANT something, perpetually, but are not getting it and are not taking the proper steps to GET it. I think of all the historical movie footage I’ve seen and would be inclined to think this wasn’t the case before my time. [Then again, surely that’s what happened with the Pilgrims and the “Indians.” The Pilgrims wanted and they took and made the “Indians” suffer.] But, IN my time, I see more and more people getting angry and pointing fingers rather than doing something positive to make improvements. And, rather than improving one’s own life by making healthy decisions, more and more are making unhealthy mistakes and then having the audacity to blame others.

I may even be guilty of doing this myself! But, all I can say is it’s not my fault, alone. I’m not denying complete guilt. But, even I can only take so much blame before I self-destruct, which isn’t fair. I wish I had a better grasp on my own thoughts and decisions. But, try as I may, there are influences from family and authorities who tell me what I can and cannot do, even if I have a measure of decision-making power. It seems my power is still not sufficient to make a sensible, happy life for me. And, while I may not be the most charitable, I like to think I do my part to heal this world, to make peace among those who would rather self-destruct or harm another. I do my part to put out the fires of temperament and dry the “uncontrollable” tears when the mourning becomes obsessive, compulsive and/or obsessive-compulsive.

Now, trying to get all of this talk back into some more sensible focus…

People are too busy getting mad and pointing fingers to get things that need to be done…done. It’s not a particular political party’s fault, nor the fault of a particular president. And, the televised and internet news isn’t helping. It’s just gasoline on the fire!

We^^ need to tune out the news outside of our realm of influence and let the journalist and whatever they choose to call themselves figure out what else they can do to “make a living.”

———

^^Let me clarify this. “We” refers to people who do not have exceptional wealth and networks of people to make things happen that other folks find bewildering because they’ve never had such “power,” such influence, myself included. I think all of the reported news should be shown only to people who CAN do something about those matters. There’s a drug or immigrant crisis at some country’s border? Get those in charge of that department on the line to deal with it. Don’t show the stories to general communities and call it clarity or transparency, unless you’re also showing the situation being resolved in a humane manner…which you’re not. No one is. No, it seems more…conventional to depict things going wrong and people making horrible mistakes which leads to other hardships and misery, a vicious cycle of crap.

The military and government are so “hush hush” about so many matters, yet the news tips the rest of the world off to just enough to cause confusion and chaos. Is it any surprise those who partake in government and military affairs then take crooked action or suffer some mental breakdown? Nope. It makes total sense.

When a married couple is on the verge of divorce, there is usually a measure of secrecy in play. Someone is up to something and not saying anything to the spouse. Undermining behavior is afoot. The demolition squad is planting explosives at the foundation. It’s about to go down. Neither partner wants to talk about what’s going on, but something will leak out, eventually. And, it won’t be a happy ending. Something wasn’t being dealt with in a more healthy way; thus the only solution in sight is to pull the plug some unpleasant way. You don’t want to deal with it. I don’t want to deal with it. We can’t deal with it. Shut everything down. Oh, but there is baggage…and fallout…and PTSD.

———–

You want the important news?…the news that’s going to really impact your day, your life? Talk to your neighbors. You want your area to improve somehow? Work with those neighbors to make it happen. And, by improving your own “garden,” you’ll be helping others stay out of your business and improve their own areas, ideally, so we all improve. You see a mess? Clean it up, if you can/will. Don’t just point and fuss.

If you prompt someone to do something, to help, don’t fuss so much about HOW they do it. Be glad anyone did anything to help. And, if the help not good enough, I guess you have to do the job, yourself. Just don’t stab the other person, the hired help, for being lousy service. You hired them, didn’t you? And, if someone volunteers, and you accept the help, well, we all do what we can. Right? None of us are flawless superheroes…are we? Because I’d love to speak with one of those, right now.

If I had the proper tools every time I went for a walk, I’d be collecting garbage other fools dumped along my path. I cannot take responsibility for littering (because I don’t), but I can help pick things up…even if I’d rather not, simply because it sickens me to think anyone would litter the way they do, and it shouldn’t be my job to pick up after the rest of the world…but that would surely happen if enough people who like to gossip saw me picking up the trash.

They’d say, “Hey! You like doing that? Great. The job is yours.” [And, I’d dump a big smelly load right on that loud mouth.]

I may not like it, but I know my area would look and feel nicer if more people like me, at least, thought to collect the trash and dispose of it sensibly. [I wish I could do the same with verbal trash going around. I’d like to stab it with a stick and stuff it in a dumpster.] I cannot correct those who litter; I can’t dish out a punishment for the crime, even if I had the authority, without hurting the innocent in the bargain. That’s the same sort of problem that would happen in my school days; you could punish everyone because no one would come forward to accept the blame and take his/her punishment. Yet, those with power, money and other influence could just as well dodge the punishment and look the other way; they can pay to ignore and dismiss.

[Isn’t that just sick? We may not take a certain responsibility/duty upon ourselves, but we’ll trust and/or appoint others to take it just for those who have the power to shrug off the duty and stir up trouble, simply because they can, because others give them the resources and authority. Yet, if we took every task upon ourselves, self-governed, I wonder just how long it would take for the whole human race to implode and destroy each other. Sure, certain pockets of humans would get along great, but too many others would compete, thrash and dominate out of unrestrained emotion, like primitives, like savages, just because the conventional system of order, which had been raising them like cattle for so long, suddenly vanished. It would probably make Mark Twain and any other survival-of-the-fittest theorist nod with satisfaction, saying, “I told you so.”]

Did someone in the neighborhood get shot or hit by a vehicle? How might that affect your area? Did you know the person? Can you console the neighbor who lost that someone? Can you help in some other way? [These are just possible questions. You and I need to find the possible solutions and make them happen.]

If someone gets hurt in another part of the world, or even a distant part of your own state or country, what are you going to do? Send money? Fly out there and help those affected by the tragedy? If you can do that, well, aren’t you just amazing…or too generous and risking your own lives to help others. I just hope that money or other resource is put to proper, good use. [And, that’s an issue for another argument on some other day.]

————

Charity is good, but charity that leaves you blind to your own suffering is…well, dumb. And, charity that is deceptive, taking money but not following through with promises made is absolutely immoral and criminal. If you are not a corrupt charity and you cannot follow through on your promises, you’re not much help. Are you? You’re just a costly good intention. Nice thought, but can you be more helpful some other way? Stop taking donations and maybe pick up a tool that could help or donate time, talent and energy. [I say this and hear myself pointing fingers. Sigh.]

The rest of “us” can only feel helpless and go down some unnecessary emotional paths. For many, it doesn’t take much to light up something to smoke or have a drink, simply because of a little emotional distress caused by information received.

One other point about charity: You cannot throw money at a problem to make it go away, even if you’re stinking, filthy rich. You could pay someone a fortune to do something for you and still be disappointed by the help you get. Money didn’t make it better. Taking responsibility and doing the best we can to help each other is more effective. [Let that much process through your already troubled brains. Accept what happens, good or bad. Odds are the result won’t be perfect…but can you live with it? If not, can you make it better? And, if you cannot, that’s as good as it gets, for now.]

You want to help poor, suffering animals? Adopt one. I said ONE! Not fifty. And, raise it like the child you don’t already have. I said like the child you don’t already have! Don’t adopt if you’re juggling a brood of your own. Adoption isn’t some trendy can you feed coins and call it done. It’s about treating someone outside your genetic pool like family, whether that someone swims, flies or walks on land with two feet or more.

————–

I think of my school years and how gossip could drive inappropriate behavior and really screw some kids up. There are kids who become spectacles and ostracized because of changes and hardships in their family become skewed public knowledge. That news didn’t directly impact the rest of the school. But, because it got out in some inaccurate capacity, it started a buzz which got fingers pointing and provoked a number of unhealthy consequences.

How sad is it that someone who experiences something (and I say that in such vague terms because it seems anything anyone experiences or faces can become a powder keg of emotional and social conflict) cannot adequately deal with that matter without someone else hearing about it and stirring trouble? Why can’t news get out and spark sympathy and contribution instead of negative talk, drug abuse, violence and/or other scandals?

Let’s go back to my title…

Be socially aware, not socially overloaded.

How can you be socially aware without being overloaded?

Well, think of a radar station. A radar that picks up too much information causes any system attached to it (and anyone at the controls) suffering. Signal jam. System overload. ‘Can’t get a clear picture. If there are too many “blips,” you cannot pinpoint anything. It’s that whole seeing the trees in the forest analogy. Do you see individual trees or just a bundle of green over brown/gray?

The radar works just fine within a certain range and limit of variables. So do our brains. You cannot hear every radio station at once without going mad. You cannot enjoy a single radio station until you tune the dial(s) and clear the signal. If something disturbs or obstructs the signal, you only hear part of the transmission and probably get a bunch of agitating feedback. Suddenly, a solitary form of entertainment becomes fuel for more conflict. [Now, I think of all the old family TV shows in which the father comes home from a day job that wears him out just to get mad and attack the rest of the family when the TV is malfunctioning and making him unhappy.]

Even some of the trending violent crimes would make more sense if the criminals had clear and focused radars. These are not incidents in which one assailant targets one singular source of their discontent. These aren’t serial criminals. Instead, they are nuclear meltdowns, inappropriately managed (not to mention inappropriately nurtured and supported) individuals, who operate on overload and out of distress. Someone didn’t adequately deal with something sparking inside these individuals, didn’t put out the fire, so, left unattended, the quiet cinder becomes a bewildering blaze. And, some, I would not be surprised, could be affected by others who are overloading themselves with what they take from television and the internet.

Why does every situation in the USA have to be the fault of the Republicans or Democrats? Are you kidding me? If it was just the fault of one party or one person, as so many arguments these days seem to suggest, we could just go to war and kill all the offenders! Right? As if. Hello, American history? Does the Civil War or just about any revolution ring any bells? War isn’t solving anything. Neither is segregating. And, sadly, no pride fest can resolve the conflicts still arising in matters of gender and equality.

It’s not a party or gender-choice problem. It’s an excess-of-incomplete-information and poor-education problem. It’s a not-telling-the-whole-story problem. It’s a lack-of-taking-responsibility-upon-oneself, instead of ordering someone else to fix the problem…problem. And, in general, it’s a poor-cooperation and failing-to-be-humane-with-each-other problem.

Well, Tommy the Democrat won’t do it. So, why should I, the Republican, have to do anything? I don’t wanna! But, it’s totally Tommy’s fault!

No. It’s not. And, while I’m fussing about Tommy, I’m not doing anything to improve this situation…or any situation.

Now, I’ve rattled on long enough. Let’s all find a way to clear our heads and get to work on saving this planet from ourselves. Yes. You heard me. ‘From ourselves. Turn those eager-to-point fingers inward and see what improvements you can make. [And, I don’t mean purely cosmetic.]

As the band Green Day once said, we shouldn’t “subscribe” to television (or the internet), lest we follow in those unpleasant and confusing footsteps to our own demise. “For that’s enough to irk you.” [At least, I think that’s what they said.]

I realize I’ve said all of this on an internet platform. Well, I wish I could reach all who read this in a more personal way without overloading myself. So, to be fair to what I’ve said and you, if anything I’ve said doesn’t affect you personally, you have my permission to dismiss it…even if that makes you look wealthy, ignorant and arrogant. I am merely choosing this portal to send out my message. I pray it serves a good purpose. That is all I can do.

Dec

Sorry, Non-Binary People; You Are Not Special

By writingbolt Leave a Comment

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: binary, childbirth, fad, female, gender, generation, influence, male, man, mating, non-binary, number, number one, one, procreation, relationship, they, trend, type, woman

***

That’s right. You might want to be called “they” and separate yourself from every other person who has coped with their sexual identity, whether they’ve had to hide in a closet, endured bullies most of their lives or had no trouble rising to the top of society because they were blessed with that potent human gene called influence. You, non-binary claimers, are not special.

And, you cannot be without gender and non-binary…because I am non-binary. I am a non-binary heterosexual man who definitely is a hair, face and breast man with not much interest in waistlines or butts, a strong slant on the height of potential partners and a slight foot fetish that comes from working in a department store’s shoe department.

How can I be non-binary AND all of the above you say?

Let me break it down for ya.

Binary code is ones and zeroes. So, if anyone is non-binary, that must mean you don’t want to be a zero and cannot feel sufficiently top of whatever class you choose to attend. You are not number one, the best, in your chosen field.

That about sums up myself. I don’t want to be a zero, even if some people tell me I am one. I’ve wanted to be number one for a long time. But, after a few decades of failing to achieve that status, I’ve come to the conclusion it’s okay to be number two…or four…or seventy-seven.

So, I am non-binary. Just not *that* non-binary (the one that is supposed to mean I’m neither male or female).

And, I guess, that makes most if not all humans non-binary.

If you think of yourself as a zero, you’re such a tool that you’d rather be a brick in the wall than an individual who should be respected for your unique composition, even if you might fit into various categories like nerd, jock, tea fetcher, mistress, jon, jerk, moron, etc.

If you *think* you’re number one, shut up. Your ego is glaring. [I know…because I once had some of that ego, after accepting too many compliments about my intellect.]

And, if you *are* top of your kind, craft or profession, whatever that may be, aren’t you lucky to possess such influence.

In all infuriating honesty and my personal opinion, this whole non-binary thing is just another “woke” moment and TikTok trend; it’s an ice-bucket challenge someone started to show they have sway. I know the feeling…I just have yet to have that amount of sway. I do not have thousands of followers. I cannot lead a Nazi army to WW3. My mitochondria–or however you spell that–are not that abundant. [But, I am sure my boys can still swim. I just keep them out of the public pool.]

Ten years from now, there will surely be another trendy way to identify oneself which will draw another crowd and infuriate anyone outside the submission line. And, I’ll be there (unless my time here, in this mixed-up, not-quite-right world, is done) with a different amount of hair, ready to groan, again.

Tell me. If you’re not ANY gender, how do propose to ever mate? I suppose, if you were homosexual, you’d have to adopt or use an “artificial” method. Is that how it works for you? If you’re a non-binary…uh…”they” with a snake between your legs…you adopt? And, if you have a clam between your legs, you get a turkey baster stuck up your crack and filled with man jelly?

Wait. A non-binary person accepting man-jelly into their non-gender outlet…which would technically be a female organ, if the rest of the world has any say…and doesn’t see the gender stamp on any of that?

Or, do non-binary folks expect to die sterile and alone? Are you so withdrawn from the–I know it sucks because it’s uncomfortable and too often mean–modern world that you’d prefer to die in a box, alienated from the rest of the world?…unless, by some global movement, everyone turns non-binary, the way vegans wish the world would stop eating cows and other animals?

If you need a ray of hope in this hot mess I’ve just slung at you, perhaps, you are the future. Perhaps, in some distant future, when humankind has given up on marriage and sex–ha–they will convert to non-binary beings and asexually reproduce…in a lab or some transporter incident which turns some into fly-people or crab-people.

I tried.

Happy holidays, whatever you are.

Dec

Are You in Good Hands? The Many Faces of Insurance Fraud

By writingbolt Leave a Comment

Categories: Concerns and Alerts and Uncategorized
Tags: bully, bullying, cattle, economics, economy, fee, fees, fraud, free, gratuity, identity, influence, insurance, personal data, protection, retail, sales, spam, spam calls, theft, threat, threats, vampire

****

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “insurance fraud.” If you have not, you must be one naive piece of meat living under the luckiest rock in your swamp. Insurance fraud is often regarded as something a “citizen” does to collect money they did not deserve/earn; a misuse of an insurance plan for which they acquired access; the equivalent of breaking open an ATM like a piggy bank. But, there is another kind of insurance fraud that keeps so many under a blanket of fear and/or paranoia. It comes in a colorful package with some person or creature trying to be a witty mascot for the branch of a money-sucking business, trying to tell you how easy it is to feel safe and protected, as long as you sign up with him or her. Just hand over your information; hand over your resources, your assets, and they will protect you. They will even throw in a cute blanket or wireless device to continue melting your brain.

Why do I feel like the only person on this planet seeing the problem?

Everyone I know seems unable to resist or stand up to the system that is draining and caging them.

I am sure I’ve discussed this, before, so I don’t want to repeat myself. Use those key words. Scroll or dig through my archives of postings if you’re really interested in reading more. But, I have my doubts about anyone bothering to do that. So, I’ll save my finger strokes.

What prods me to speak up, now, is the overwhelming sickness I feel after too many commercials for “protecting your personal data” and promises of privacy, if you sign up with this or that “protection” company. SO many damn ads for protecting your privacy and personal information. Why? Why?

Why is there any threat?

You know what this sounds like? Bully insurance. Pay the bully so he doesn’t take your lunch money while bruising your body. Reduce the potential punishment by caving to fear and mindlessly handing over some of your money (and information).

Don’t you see? You use your “personal data” to do so many things in this modern world. Ever since human beings first had photo IDs, they became a requirement to do something. Now, it’s similar information being entered into some sort of computer to verify you are who you say you are when you want to access/buy/sell/experience something. Your information is like your legs or arms; you need them to do basic things. And, you are being bombarded with ads from businesses telling you how unsafe your information is without them.

That’s bullying! [Or, crappy business…like a delivery service that can only use a van that leaks oil or gas to make deliveries and then charges customers for patches to cover those leaks instead of finding a more efficient and effective way to do business.]

Those businesses are threatening to break your legs, indirectly. You don’t know they could or would break your legs. You don’t even know if they could be thieves trying to drain your bank accounts and other resources. But, you also don’t have any guarantee they would do you any good, other than that colorful, trying-to-be-witty character acting on your viewing screen. [That feels so strange to say, being a child of television, someone who only knew commercials as TV entertainment as a kid, not something you skirt around on every little wireless device you can find to distract you from living in the real, natural world we occupy.]

Another variation of the bully-insurance scheme comes from the internet-driven phone companies promising to deal with “spam calls,” which is similar to PC internet providers and other companies, found online, offering software to deal with “pop-ups” and “malware.” Why do the threats exist in something created by humankind to act as a gateway/service? Some humans seeking, hired and/or trained to cause mischief are sabotaging the service pipelines.

That’s not even theft; that’s vandalism or arson. The criminals don’t benefit from upsetting business, communication, research or whatever else you might do online…unless they can be hired to use those weapons on selected targets and then hack computers to get some sort of assets. That’s insane. That’s ninja tactics, hiring petty thieves and assassins to steal assets.

Just imagine trying to buy food from a food truck and having to pay pathway fees to ensure you reach the truck without being assaulted by wild animals and thieves, as if any truck vendors could provide such protection…unless they also hired the thieves and set the wild animals loose to threaten you.

Where are the animal control people and police to deal with those threats? Why do the customers of one business have to pay the people who deal with the bullies outside that business? If a thief robs a store in New Jersey, New Jersey police should apprehend the thief and deal with the situation in whatever just fashion they do. Someone pays the police to do their job; I suppose some of that money comes from state/federal taxation. Should the store that was robbed in one state be charging customers in every other part of the country/world to cover the cost that store pays their local police for protection?…even if the store suffers property damage and other crimes the police cannot adequately prevent?

If a business is charging customers fees to ensure/complete business while secretly covering costs for things like police protection, wouldn’t it be more honest to say customers need to help pay the cost of business protection? Not protect themselves against the thieves/bullies? And, if a business (or medical-services office) cannot adequately protect the privacy and information of its customers/clients (probably because they are coerced into putting everything on a computer database which is easier to crack than a steel safe, once you know how to code/hack), what sense is there for the business to continue? Why put everyone at risk of both paying more money and losing their identities/safety by depending upon faulty man-made machines? Does it make sense to store your most precious possessions in a glass house? No.

[By that logic, are we all doomed to collapse and shut down because there is always someone threatening to ruin our lives/businesses? Is this some twisted version of survival of the fittest or just a lack of bully control?]

[Maybe, instead of “passing the buck” and expecting paid individuals to do so many things for us, even if/when there is nothing to be done, we could live our lives on a need-to-act basis and work together to ensure everyone has what they need. If you can help remove a troublesome hornet nest, apply your talents for the gratitude of those you help, including yourself if you make use of the location threatened by that nest, not for a fee. Then you wouldn’t waste time, stress and money on “what if” costs, on insurance schemes. But, that sounds too overwhelming to fully put into action. I understand. And, going with this logic, there would be no police or animal control services, I suppose. We’d have to be our own police and learn to safely relocate bothersome/threatening creatures.]

——–

So, I could start a business and pretty much charge any price I want to rack up sales by scaring customers into paying “a little extra” for “services” that supposedly benefit them, when, in reality, there might not be any threat, at all; or I cannot prevent the threats but try to reassure the customers by selling them “protection.” No. That last idea wouldn’t work…because paying for something that doesn’t sufficiently do the job advertised only keeps customers from rioting if I can offer a second, “better” plan for even more money that offers more protection. Eventually, I’d have to provide full protection…or lose my customers.

If I *can* provide full protection from threats, at a cost, doesn’t that give me some kind of control/power over the threats? Doesn’t that give me the freedom to operate, to direct, those threats? Why do I need to charge my customers a protection fee, at all? If my business is blocked by an angry hornet’s nest, it may not be easy to relocate. But, can I honestly milk customers to pay for removal or screening of that nest? It seems a little deceptive to charge a protection fee to deal with unexpected complications, especially if I could find a no-added-cost way to deal with those complications. And, if those complications are caused by criminals, where is the justice system to deal with them? Why should customers be forced to pay for crime? I thought crime doesn’t pay.

I suppose, to some degree, all businesses experience upsets and expenses they need to cover, somehow, and may resort to higher prices (to cover the cost). But, wouldn’t it be more honest to deal with such things at the time and place they occur? It’s one thing for a shop to ask for money to help pay for the safe removal of a wasp nest threatening customers from safely reaching the entrance, a wasp nest that might not have formed if the shopkeepers kept better watch over their property/area. It’s another for a chain of shops or online hub/site to charge a regular fee for dealing with those threats when they arise…and expecting that “emergency fund” to be used responsibly.

If customers are expected to tip and pay added fees for “potential” services (meaning services that may be needed, not services rendered in every transaction), that saps the satisfaction of being a customer and will likely reduce the customer supply, whether or not customers cave to pressure to get what they think they need.

The same could be said for shipping and handling fees. That’s the most common fee you’re likely to hear about in all of your online shopping. But, many businesses will eliminate that fee, especially if you spend a certain amount of money. Why? How? How can they eliminate what is otherwise a fee? Because, most likely, the fee is worked into the “retail” price you are paying for your lot(s). You’re not saving anything except a few lines of print on a receipt. Does it make any sense to pay $5 for shipping and handling for one small item but no shipping and handling for a $50 item? If you had to ship that larger load or more expensive item, wouldn’t you have to pay the post office/shipping company more than you’d pay for the lighter, smaller load? Anyone who has ever sold/bought something through eBay knows the truth. Yes. A bigger, larger load costs more to ship. [Thus, there is no such thing as free shipping; just a dip into inflated retail prices to give the illusion of saving money and deceptive pressure to spend more.]

That’s as batty as Daylight Savings Time giving or taking time from you. You’re not gaining or losing anything, just shifting the clock back and forth. If you spend a dollar and get a dollar back, later, did you lose anything? Temporarily you say? That sounds lame. Does that mean someone is going to charge me a DST fee to cure my frustration with time shifts? Is the cure for jet lag the next insurance scheme for travelers as they travel more and cover greater distances, perhaps even further into outer space?

——–

Now, if you’re like my family and just about anyone else I’ve met, you’re likely to shrug and just go along with this. It’s just the way the world is; just go with that flow. And, if you are, well *fark.* Good luck, cow(s). Cattle on.

But, me? I remain skeptical, distrusting, paranoid (if you must call it that) and just plain agitated. This is a bully scheme. I’m well versed in bully mentality, from a victim’s perspective. And, I’m sick of it. I don’t stand for it. I don’t bow to bullies. I punch them in the face and make those Goliaths regret ever sneering at little David. But, this is one bully I cannot defeat alone. At least, I don’t see the way.

Maybe you can help me. That would be nice. Because, right now, I feel very lonely, like the only person not turned into a zombie after one of those video-game/movie disasters. And, like you, I feel forced to accept something that isn’t safe or right. I don’t like it, one bit. I don’t like catering to bullies. Yet, without anyone to back me up on this, I see no other way (to live). That’s truly sad because it fosters thoughts of deception and theft instead of noble, respectable human decency. It doesn’t make me a better person. It tarnishes what my life could be, the legend I could leave behind in history books.

Imagine Abe Lincoln being unable to credit himself with freeing slaves because he was too intimidated by bullies to put his plan into action. He might have lived longer and avoided being shot at that theater. But, countless descendants would be limited to slave labor, even now, if he didn’t sacrifice himself, in a way. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry about anyone misusing his personal data. Right? He just had at least half the divided country against him, threatening him, not unlike every year in the USA, with the “red states” clashing with the “blue states.” I don’t think Lincoln saw the end of the Civil War (nor did the Avengers in those Marvel Comics). It’s still going.

Let’s get these monkeys off our backs and take back comfort in knowing things like our “personal data” isn’t something we should fear losing or being seen by the wrong entities. It’s ours, like DNA. If thieves are going to take and misuse it, then why do we have to have it, at all? Why expose ourselves to danger that could ruin us?

Is personal data the equivalent of walking around nude, just waiting for something to pinch or violate our most sensitive and private body parts? Would a woman want just anyone to walk up and grab her boobs or stick something between her legs? Would a guy be okay with some snide jerk walking up to him and playing with his “junk?” NO WAY!

Here’s another good question. If thieves are so easily able to access and misuse people’s personal information, what does that say about the services/businesses allowing them to do just that? Where is the security preventing the thieves from misusing “personal data?”

When someone steals a credit card, shouldn’t the thief have to show a valid ID to verify they are the person using the credit card, considering the card is linked to an account which is only for the individual named on the card?

Better yet. Why have something like a credit card, at all? Why give thieves the opportunity?

Well, without credit cards, or, at least, cards reserved to the individuals named upon them and the paperwork that goes with them, we’re back to stick-up robberies in which thieves just pick pockets for cash and things they can sell/pawn. We’re back to physical theft, you could say. Is that so bad?

At least, when you need to spend “precious” money, you deal with a person, face-to-face. You know who’s helping (or not helping) you. You can better evaluate the situation, not just pass off the “troubling stuff” with a wave of a hand and a few long strings of numbers and passwords. You’re not paying to protect what you use to pay others for what you need…that’s a tongue-twisting nightmare of madness.

Some might say, they’d feel safer using that credit card at home or wherever it’s convenient. But, are you safe? And, if you are, then why the ads trying to scare you about your “personal data” and all of the “read this privacy policy,” mile-long business-jargon nonsense? I don’t want to spend the next hour or more reading all of that. No one does. Who knows what is hiding in the fine print. Who knows what’s not in there to guarantee what we need. Who wants to be associated with someone who tells you, in a blunt way, they are not reliable and may steal from you?

[The credit card and online transactions work as long as everyone plays by the rules and pays fairly. But, fair pay shouldn’t require added costs and contracts that more often get ignored than read just to bleed more money and stoke the cold blue or green fires of uncertainty. The credit card, like the internet, could be a convenient portal for business, for interaction, so all of us can get what we need. But, like the internet, credit cards and other forms of business that somehow require/use “personal data” are being misused and making everyone who is not otherwise “protected” suffer.]

Some retail chains pressure employees to promote their own credit cards like cigarettes used to be advertised. I once went to a pool hall (billiard balls) where cigarettes were offered in exchange for handing over some “personal data.” That was crap on multiple levels, the hustle for “data” in exchange for filling the public fun space with toxic smoke and risking countless lives; a misuse of an otherwise recreational venue/business.

If your business is so reliable and worth our investment (in you), you don’t need to taunt or trouble anyone with talk of privacy and securing data. No good restaurant or grocery store says, “Watch out for those wolves at the door; they might eat you…if you don’t buy our special wolf-removing armor.” That’s shady business talk. That is crap. If their business is endangered by wolves, they need to protect themselves or relocate.

In their own way, businesses threatened by “wolves” at their doors are being bullied. And, yes, as good people, we should help them.

This sounds like an old Western. Imagine a grocery store or oasis in the days of the “Wild West,” being threatened by outlaws with masks and guns. Townspeople cannot get what they need because thieves are holding the resources hostage. Who will stand up to the outlaws and secure safe business for the townspeople? In those old stories, some surreal hero would step forward and turn the outlaws into either vulture food or jail turds. But, that sort of thing doesn’t happen in “the real world,” does it? [Not when every potential “hero” seems to need “your buck” to be of service; not when everyone is turning into a private business that needs to protect him/her self from every angle.]

Another way to look at what’s going on is to imagine a world full of vampires (or zombies, if you prefer that crap). If you’ve seen any vampire shows/movies, you might see one not-very-threatening character pondering what the world would be like without mortals upon which they can feed. If everyone was a vampire, there would be no hunt, there would be no fear, there would be a bewildering number of hissing, craving monsters questioning the value of sucking blood from another blood sucker. In essence, I think, the population would collapse upon itself. That’s sort of what is happening with the global economy. Everyone, from a young age, is being prodded to sell themselves and sign up with some form of paperwork nightmare that either steers them toward some sort of financial success or ruin.

No legend tells the story of a vampire’s victim. Heroes might be vampire slayers. But, no one, as far as I know, has told the story of the vampire victim who just goes on living after an attack or who becomes a mindless blob of flesh and bone (after being drained repeatedly). There is no story for that. It’s just…the end…for that person. The vampire gets the fame and, often enough, becomes the figure lusted for by the prey.

So, some people are choosing to be the vampires (or are “cursed” with the power) and choosing to keep everyone else around as prey for as long as that lasts. These “vampires” are not looking out for each other or spreading good human behavior. They are not working with everyone else to keep the world going. They may pitch all sorts of good intentions to get some tax write-off, to deflect some other, larger predator. But, they’re not better people than anyone else…they’re just more inclined to hustle. Is that survival of the fittest? Are the “prey” just…un-fit?

Success or ruin isn’t based upon some plan you sign or small lizard you call your best friend. It comes from something deeper, in your genes. There is a cosmic force at work, even if you don’t believe in a god. There is something in this universe which makes some people more fortunate than others. I don’t see any scientific way to get a grip on or control that. It just is what it is. Some of us are more driven to hustle others. And, some of us are more prone to be…well, naive cattle. But, the way things are, everyone seems open to being cattle to someone else. I would like to believe there is a faction who is neither hustler or cattle, but even with the number of charities and such I’ve seen/heard about, I am not sure who is truly kind and intent on helping all humans, anymore, including myself.

If we don’t retain a grip on our senses and resources, the real thieves of this world are just going to turn us into batteries they can use up and discard. I don’t want to be some idiot’s AAA. Neither should you.

Your life story isn’t told in personal data and receipts. It’s not a few online video clips viewed by a dozen or even thousands of people. It’s worth more than that. And, it doesn’t require being bullied, being intimidated and prodded to doubt in a way that drains you…like a vampire.

Now, I apologize if this was too much for you to read in one sitting. It started out a quick whim with just a few lines worth expressing. But, the more I thought about what I was writing, what makes me so frustrated and angry…and discouraged from living my life to its fullest, the more branches my brain sprouted. I hope this mass of thought serves a good purpose.

Oct

The App Biz Hustle; Everybody Dance With Me

By writingbolt Leave a Comment

Categories: Concerns and Alerts and Uncategorized
Tags: app, application, artificial intelligence, cattle, confusion, distraction, fear, Force, freedom, hustle, influence, pie chart, privacy, scam, scheme, security, smart device

***

Hi. I’m a pleasant voice hired to speak with you about a new “app”
that was just released for free trial (and later sales). My goal is to instill fear and confusion with my words, hoping you will submit and buy the “app” I am pitching, which was made by some guys who just graduated from college and are working out of a garage.

This “app” offers you a dazzling pie-chart-displaying service which is intended to offer reassurance from the fear and confusion I just injected into you. Fear of what you ask? It doesn’t matter (delicate laughter).
But, for example, do you hate hearing the phone ring every hour or at times when you are involved with other business and/or people? Thanks for supplying that time-sensitive personal information which will now be passed on to my employers for future programming adjustments and more annoyance for you. Enjoy our repetitive ads and spam calls until you submit to our payment plan.

Now, once I have your approval to pay so much per month, you will no longer have to worry about anything my employers could do to you. What can my employers do to you? It doesn’t matter (delicate laughter).

But, for example, do you hate hearing the phone ring every hour or at times when you are involved with other business and/or people? Thanks for supplying that time-sensitive personal information which will now be passed on to my employers for future programming adjustments and more annoyance for you. Enjoy our repetitive ads and spam calls until you submit to our payment plan.

And, to add even more reassurance, please, continue to enjoy this slide show of people smiling and enjoying unrelated activities, during which one or more people are holding a “smart device” which could be using our “app.” Thank you for purchasing our “app” and continue to financially support the young college graduates of your planet; this is what all that money invested in a higher education affords.

As long as people keep pitching “smart” devices as the only not obsolete way to interact and do business, you have less and less freedom to decide what you do with your lives…and money. And, it’s really your money that matters to us, not your lives, which are worthless. But, don’t listen to that; watch this montage and listen to music we bought from a poor artist for a nickel.

Background singing voice (to end this commercial): “And, I think to myself…what a wonderfulll worrrlllld. Oooh yeaaah.”

Oct

Happy Thoughts Are in Short Supply

By writingbolt Leave a Comment

Categories: Concerns and Alerts and Uncategorized
Tags: CD, cranberries, depression, fame, financial, happiness, happy thoughts, influence, instrumental, money, mood, motivation, mp3, music, popularity, sex, sexual

***

Unable to sleep the other night, I decided to go through some CDs I have collected (much the way someone would go through “vinyl”, except I don’t have one of those dusty fabric/cardboard boxes stashed by a bookshelf). I desperately needed some music to clear my otherwise troubled head. But, in my quest for happy thoughts, I, instead, found volumes of what can only be described as heavy, deceptively creative persuasion to do greater harm to oneself. [I’m not going to say the S-word. You get what I’m saying…or not.]

I transferred a few songs/tracks to my computer for future projects I might compose. And then…I looked over the majority of music I have gathered…and saw only misery, self-torture.

Rare are the gems, like Ingrid Michaelson’s “The Way I Am,” which is a happy-er love song with a reassuring vibe (not lustful, deceptive or vengeful…yet there are a few little lyrics which don’t agree with me). Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” is a rather personal and bitter pill to get over a bad relationship, despite its light, swift and upbeat notes; it is a great piece for exercising (good “cardio”). He has other somewhat upbeat songs, but they tend to drag me into mourning past relationships; some have a distinct “blue” tone (though he made a whole album about a yellow-brick road and often wears red-tinted glasses). I knew a woman who didn’t want me to listen to Elton John because it would only remind HER of a past relationship that failed. [How do you stop listening to music you sort of like just to please someone you want to remain good company?] Katy Perry has a few songs which definitely help keep you moving, and she’s a Scorpio Rat (year)! Some would say that’s a self-destructive type.

I remember, vaguely, how I acquired the CDs. The ones I went through last night came from a sort of yard sale; someone was discarding their previous misery, and I didn’t realize that. I just saw CDs I didn’t already have which had tracks I knew were played in movies and/or on the radio. Why I felt I had to acquire these, I don’t know.

——-

And, that, right there, is a sign of humanity losing its way. When you purchase something that doesn’t have a definite personal value (not simply filling a void in your life), you are hurting yourself and, eventually, others, as well. [Yes, Cranberries; what’s in our heads?…the zombies of humankind.]

The Cranberries are a key example of misleading record sales which, in a way, are similar to misleading “bestseller” books that don’t deserve that title for any reason other than a publisher mass-producing them for sale. If you know the most famous songs put out by the Cranberries (circa 1994), there are two semi-romantic, semi-upbeat songs and one “power ballad” which is very emotional and particularly angry. Their fame was built around those three songs. I never heard any of their other tracks on the radio or in any movie. But, the happier two “hits” were definitely in movies (I recall).

Countless CDs (and other album formats) are sold without adequate (prior) sampling. And, even if you get to sample the music, do you really get to hear the whole songs before you buy? Thirty seconds of a song too often leaves out the lousy part(s), which is just as deceptive.

There are many, many bands and artists putting out songs that speak to “youth” (or “teen angst”) and stimulate dark thoughts; so if you wonder what makes a kid go do something shockingly violent, it’s not just a lack of sound parenting, weapon availability or recreational drugs…it’s likely the music in the air. In fact, one of the bands I like (which I’ve grown to admire for using easy-to-understand lyrics) lost its lead singer some years ago. Poof. Dead. A father…took himself out. Why? Have you listened to his (band’s) music? It’s actually tragic, angry, depressed, violent. I question my own interest. But, like I said; they speak clearly…and I can relate. And, that scares me, just a little.

——–

If I try to pick out a collection of music that makes me happy, I seem to struggle with the task. But, not because I’m depressed or angry at the world. It’s because musicians don’t really put out happy songs, anymore! If you find a remotely happy song, it’s:

A) Dated (from an era when people were drenched in drugs and puke-worthy colors). Those songs are maddening because they use lingo that no longer delights and seem to have zero grasp on reality. [And, back then, there was just about as much sexual and racial upheaval and ignorance as there is today.] In order to lift someone up, you need to be able to grip and lift their weight. If you ignore the weight, there’s no lift.

B) Suggestive, meaning there is a sexual, financial or drug-related element which is foolish and dangerous. If the song’s answer to life’s problems is to get drunk, blow cash or mistreat a potential sex partner, that’s not helping anyone. It’s just more trouble.

C) Instrumental. Now, this isn’t terrible. But, even instrumental music has its limits. One, I can only listen to the five or so happier instrumental pieces I’ve found so many times before I feel like I’m trapped in a horrid retail chain (or an opera, where the language is foreign to me). And, two, without helpful lyrics, I’m, again, back at that place where the “dated” songs send me. It may feel nice for a moment, but it’s not helping me get on with my life nor appreciate what I have (which, to be quite blunt, isn’t worth writing a song about…not a pleasant song, anyway). I don’t need a fifteen-minute symphony that has two minutes of familiar joy and thirteen minutes of sedating filler.

Speaking of instrumental music, there have been some pieces, among those I recently sampled, which have GREAT, powerful instrumental tracks and good vocals (including the Cranberries and Nickelback) but questionable and/or unclear lyrics. If I could strip away the negative, confusing voices, I’d actually have decent music for meditating and stoking creativity. I suppose this is the challenge/problem that has existed ever since I first “tasted” music. There are countless songs that have a pleasing beat yet questionable and/or lousy, repetitive lyrics. It’s a real shame because the artists behind the instruments get slighted by their leader, potentially turning a whole album of work into rummage-sale refuse.

Now, if you have any brain cells left and remember the 1980s, you might say I’m blind to that decade and all of the joys it produced. [Or, maybe you are a child of the 1970s and addicted to disco.] I know the 1980s well. And, sure, there are a number of stimulating songs which can prod you to dance. But, other than love songs (which need not apply to a life void of happy relationships, for now), I don’t see much of a difference from the music of later decades. Some of the songs I grew up with were deceptively suggestive (if you could decode the subtle–and some not-so-subtle–lyrics).

So…

In short, the majority of music available to me has become like untreated, brown water, sitting in a puddle, tempting me to satisfy my thirst, taking advantage of my low defenses.

I also don’t think true, lasting friendship exists or is endangered. [If you say you have it, just ignore me. And, aren’t you just one of the lucky few.] If you make a friend, something takes that away from you…love/marriage, school, a job, war, a plague/disease, etc. Friendship is like a balloon; it only looks pretty and stays afloat for so long before it disappears.

And, love, if you are so fortunate to find it, is too often misused and misunderstood. If I can say I’ve known love, it exists, like friendship, in tiny pockets of memory. I retain moments I shared with someone I never grew to hate; they left me, but their value remains. They taught me something. They got me out of my comfort zone and helped me learn/try something new. They inspired me.

Yet, just like those who clear out old CDs/music, I continually need to dump the emotional baggage that crowds those valued memories. And, I realize this habit will likely compound (hinder) future relationships…because who really enjoys hearing the stories of past friendships/love that go with souvenirs your new partner refuses to discard? I know someone who keeps albums of photos from past relationships; what good does that serve except remind her of happier times when her present disappoints? How can you say you do and fully love someone if you can just as quickly dive back into the past to relive a romantic highlight from what fell apart (and learn nothing from that past)?

I guess music cannot help me (either), right now.

Was there ever a time…? Will there ever be a time when helpful, happier music outweighs the dark temptations? Isn’t there more to enjoying life than inappropriate sex, violence, greed, waste of assets and drug use (including alcohol)? Or, are those of us who haven’t “indulged” just wasting our time? Perhaps, we should “get on with it” and die sooner (rather than invest in one more “insurance plan”).

What’s in YOUR head, reader? [If you’re already a zombie, I probably won’t get an answer.]

Sep

The Electronic Enemy of My Mental Enemy Is My…

By writingbolt Leave a Comment

Categories: Concerns and Alerts, Confessions of the Rabbit Kind and Uncategorized
Tags: advertising, animation, cartoons, change, childhood, commercial, Dick Tracy, discipline, friendship, growing up, horror, influence, maturity, news, parent, parenting, relationships, scary movie, television, Warren Beaty

****

Don’t ask me why, but I’m hearing Warren Beaty deliver that line from Dick Tracy, when he says, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” And, then he goes on to rattle off a few other possible combinations to the lock rattling in his detective brain.

You may have heard the expression, before, too.

Well, I’m starting to think that line is key to my relationship with television. [Or, maybe, I already started to have this feeling, years ago, and just need to scratch the itchy matter, again.]

When I was a child, TV was forced to be my best friend. I wasn’t a very socially liberated kid. I had a mother who kept me on a very short leash and a father who had no patience after a long day at work to be the sympathetic mentor I desperately needed. Neither gave me confidence to interact with other kids. So, I was “permitted” to sit in front of a damaged family TV and keep myself out of my parents’ way. And, for a while, that was just fine…until I spent so much time in front of the TV that my mother insisted I needed to mind the electricity bill and go outside, once in a while…but don’t go so far that she can no longer detect my presence with her surreal psychic power of awareness (which apparently has a limit of one suburban block).

In short, my youth was a colorful, wild ride of promotional animation, shows bent deceptively selling toys and comic books. There were also the occasional “adult” shows which prompted my “early maturity,” though I remained smaller than most kids in my class until I was just about a legal adult.

There were a few incidents, typically involving my older brother, in which TV became a nightmare. I’d been exposed to a few things definitely unfit for children with active imaginations. Scary clowns, dolls with eyes that glowed red, a madman chasing his wife and son with an axe, a kid opening a drawer of knives before stabbing his mother to death, a famous musician turning toward the TV to reveal scary eyes and cackle, young men drinking blood and eating maggots, etc.

My brother’s failing memory claims I used to laugh at scary movies; if that were true, I must have been wearing a monkey mask and defending myself against the true terror on that screen. But, the way I remember it…I was so terrified by blood-thirsty man-eating fish that I couldn’t cross a blue rug in my own bedroom (a rug I was forced to keep in place to cover a burn which my parents would repeatedly use to confirm their right to be angry and not trust me). I had to have my brother lift me into bed to avoid being devoured by what surely lurked in that rug.

During some of my most traumatic years, my high school disaster, television left me feeling like a troubled drug addict. I was losing sleep and unable to concentrate on schoolwork. I tried my best to continue enjoying my “friend,” especially when I continued to fail at establishing good friendships at school and couldn’t talk to my family about the problem…because they were either never quite “available” to talk or claimed/proved they could not relate. When family conflicts arose or school gave me a panic attack, turning to TV felt like popping open a bottle of pills and gulping them down or jabbing myself with a needle just to release the “pain.” I began to feel guilty (like Adam and Eve taking the forbidden fruit) when I turned to TV.

As adulthood was finally opened to me…at least, according to law (not necessarily in the minds of my restriction-crazed parents)…television became an increasingly hazardous drug addiction. While others turn to alcohol or any number of other recreational (and typically illegal) substances, I clasped onto TV for dear life. I practically prayed to the TV to spare my sanity from the family that refused to understand and respect me as a person and as an adult not nearly ready to take off on his own (for obvious reasons). And, the more I tried to continue enjoying TV, the more I was made to feel like a junkie and a freak.

[There’s more to this second chapter of the story, but it’s a bit of a touchy subject. In short, I was trying to also protect my investments much the way I was told to respect the investments of my family…family who now thought they were free to treat my investments any way they chose, even when I wasn’t home to see what they did. Had I done that as a kid, I’d have a permanent tan on my bottom; enough said.]

I didn’t notice much of a change in the quality of television, between youth and adulthood. Commercials changed a bit. I was able to watch more adult programs without missing the jokes; I could finally understand most of the humor used by Bugs Bunny and his pals (comments that made no sense to me as a kid). But, in general, TV was still the same influence it was in my youth, an inspirational friend. [Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Yada yada.]

And then, IT happened. 9/11. It might as well have been D-Day at Pearl Harbor. Something definitely changed. Heck, the whole world started to change…and seems to keep changing after that event, not for the better.

Actually, TV in the USA didn’t drastically change until 2008, when “antenna TV” got an eviction notice and was replaced (to some extent) by “signal boxes.” [Pardon me if I turn into a conspiracy nut at the thought and wonder if shady military operations are not involved.] But, it’s quite likely 9/11 was the flip of a crucial switch in the hands of those who hold the most power/control.

After 2008, television not only started to lose its charm, replacing “live studio audiences” and laugh-track-nonsense with “reality TV,” it started to lose its voice, completely. When “rabbit ears” and dials were all I had to tune a TV, you could put up with a little static noise and fuzzy picture. But, with the new “signal boxes,” suddenly I had to put up with losing even more of the picture and hearing either nothing or horribly broken sounds.

Imagine having a real, human friend who suddenly could not speak clearly with you, as if they suffered a horrible brain/physical jaw injury. That’s what my relationship with TV had become, living with a horribly handicapped friend. [Some improvement (I say sarcastically, in case you cannot hear the tone).]

Around 2009, coworkers started saying they no longer looked at commercials; they relied on their DVRs to skip the ads. You can imagine the panic advertising agencies must have felt (and still feel, if they still exist), knowing the growing audience was no longer interested in watching their work. So, it seems reasonable–yet tragic–for commercials to dwindle and falter into repetitive cycles of maddening proportions. Just as just about every fun treat in the world gets reduced at inflated cost, what were once cute, colorful ads in a wide variety (though dominated by one monopoly of a brand) become a handful of concepts no one needs to see a thousand times a day.

But, the true ugliness didn’t become apparent until after 2012 (when the Mayan calendar says the world supposedly ends). It was around then that drug ads became more common than ones for toilet paper and restaurants. And, the restaurant ads that remained dwindled in variety, becoming what they are today. I think I can count on one hand how many restaurants still air ads on broadcast TV. [On cable TV, I see more ads for the shows on those channels than anything else, and even those repeat until you want to scream.]

[On that note, I’m about one step from strangling certain ad voices on sight, if the voice talents are ever so unfortunate to cross my path. Papa-John-Cee-Lo (or whoever that voice is) is marked for getting a pepperoni fist shoved down his throat; he can rot with a certain lisping lawyer who refuses to shut up and who plasters his face on every channel, every hour of the day. If a scummy lawyer can afford that, what does it say about the cost of airtime and whoever controls commercial breaks? Not to mention…why is the scummy lawyer allowed to be a “proud investor” in so many companies? If I was a company of any sort, I’d refuse his investment; he’s annoying and unsettling.]

So, lately, television, if I can still enjoy any of it, is like picking fruit from a questionable tree. Pick at the wrong time from the wrong place, and I’ll get stuck with something sour and/or otherwise unpleasant. And, even if I pick a good “fruit,” something typically spoils the moment…family, signal loss, annoying visuals…take your pick.

Don’t get me started on game shows. Okay. Too late; I’m starting. Game shows used to bewilder me, as a kid. I couldn’t understand how all the flashing lights and rotating platforms actually changed people’s lives. But, there was magic in play. And, the winners certainly looked happy. Microphones were–and still are–a bit of a mystery. [I’m still curious about them.] But, as an adult, most game shows become more and more dumb and foolish wastes of time with contracts and clauses that make you wonder how much joy really comes from winning. When I was a kid, I’d dream of being on a game show and winning some amazing prize or trip around the world. As an adult, people will tell me I should go on a game show…and I pause to question the idea. Sure, I might win something because I’d like to think–and they think–I would perform well on the show. But, during my pause, I start to wonder if there’s more to winning than meets the eye…because there surely is; it’s not as simple as turning on the TV and standing by a colorful wheel. You don’t just win a car and drive it home; you sign papers and accept the terms that come with collecting said prize(s). You probably have to pay taxes on your winnings; all of those other factors take a little bite out of the excitement (unless you’re oblivious, a “housewife” and/or already exceptionally wealthy).

All of the trips the game shows give away seem like restricted passes to visit locations reserved for those shows, as if you’d go on the trip and deal solely with people wearing the show’s logo, lest you step outside the permitted perimeter of what was awarded to you. [Oh, no. Don’t step across that line; you’ll have to pay separately for that.] The inflated prices (prize values) cover the excessively intensive private service you’re supposed to receive, if you like that sort of constant pampering/attention (whether or not you actually respect the staff) but probably don’t cover the tips that staff will surely still desire (unless tips are worked into the price of the trip…and then you might still feel awkward around the staff).

[I could just as well spend a fraction of the cost, go without the pampering and find something to do with my time rather than lounge around, stuff my face, get drunk and maybe “dance the night away” at some crowded, noisy club (or gamble). I’d rather explore wilderness, isolated beaches and ruins with a trusted companion than be pampered, return to a life without pampering and feel like I lost something when I supposedly won. If you already live a pampered life and win one of those trips…what’s the point? You are ensured an oxygen tank to keep you alive when you get there? There is no break from being pampered?]

I have never been a fan of “local news” or world news, for that matter. I’ve been more like a big kid most of my life, bent on cheerful entertainment, adding a little “adult edge” as I “mature.” But, as I…get older…sigh…I start to notice the news, more often, and see only horrible crime stories (unless there is a festival in town). So, as soon as I become aware of…that…I change the channel or tune out, completely. I don’t need to know about every shooting, bombing, killing or suicide around the world. But, apparently, my family does. Isn’t that…sweet; one more reason to spend less time with family.

Sigh. What happened to my “old” friend?

[And, without a good family relationship…or other friends…who am I left with other than myself? ‘Not a good situation to be in, people. If anyone says the word “therapist,” I’ll just bristle and tell you to zip it. Your therapist is never going to be a wingman (or friend who isn’t restricted to a schedule and price).]

I begin to wonder if, all along, TV was like the tree of forbidden fruit or the temptation that led me to taking the trouble-causing “bite.” Was it ever my friend? Or, was everything I thought good about TV just an illusion?

“The television dreams of tomorrow; we’re not the ones who are meant to follow, for that’s enough to irk you.” [Could wiser words have ever been sung?]

[And then, I think about all of the famous faces (actors, actresses and professional athletes, including those who compete repeatedly just to have a chance at the Olympics, which only gives them a brief window of fame…and fortune…tied to other hands all wanting their pieces) who have come and gone…people risking their lives just to avoid “labor,” some committing suicide when they can no longer take what that lifestyle choice gives them. So many souls throwing themselves into the hope of entertaining someone only to put on masks and pretend everything is “amazing” when some idiot is pressed to interview them, when the truth is anything but “amazing.”]

What are we doing, people? What are we all doing? [As Jerry Seinfeld once said, “We’re not men.” We’re (dumb) animals, no better than the sparrows in the bush, no matter what texts like the Bible say.] I’m both full of words and without words. I think we all need to go back to farming and cultivate our planet so we can live off the land without fear of competition fueled by the currently (and continually) failing government and economy. Forget TV and become real good friends (not reality-TV friends).

OR…we scrap the whole current mess and start from scratch. Tear down the dinosaur entertainment system and build something new yet appealing with a certain familiarity, so we aren’t traumatized by the change in temperature or water quality. Scrap commercials, lest they rear their ugly heads, again, like weeds…as tempting as it may be to apply my creativity to some really amusing ads. No more cartoons built around toy lines just to fill wish lists, auction websites and landfills with yesterday’s craze. Burn all laugh tracks and anything remotely artificial, other than special effects, which could still be used to dazzle and enhance programming. [And, remain cautious about falsifying reality, lest all minds become so warped that they can no longer grasp what exists around them…yet not so “pious” that we come out with another “comics code authority”/FCC to white-wash and pigeon-hole entertainment.]

Writingbolt's Creation

Posts Tagged ‘influence

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