Nature and the planet earth are the real masters. Our species is just here for the ride. When you consider our own stupidity, it looks like that ride will be short and violent. Other species have come and gone. Can someone explain to me why homo sapiens should be any different without getting into a religious/political argument? I rather doubt it. If you think that Jesus Christ is going to come in his white chariot to sweep up the faithful, well…

Thank you Chris for your message. You say so much of what I think but have a much better way with words.

as to the efforts of perfecting the school, they can only fail, from the pov of any one life, because change is an eon-long process, and we only are embodied for a blink of that ..

yes, do our part in the great game of perfection, but not to the point of being disappointed by anything that is not working …

because at that moment something deeper suddenly is available, to put one’s attention to finding the I that cares, that is frustrated, indignant, angry, whatever ..

life is a school for learning about the self, in short … allll of us are ignorant here, so of course the world seems imperfect … it ain’t, it’s doing its job nicely

When we run out of resources to support the endless growth paradigm, we will do what we have always done: go to war, and fight until there are ample resources to support the remaining population. That is basic human nature and obviously we are nowhere close to changing it. It is our fate, and as such we should embrace it. My only hope is that all the functionally retarded morons end up on the front lines, and that the bankers are their first target. And there you go, all problems solved. For a while anyway. Unfortunately the stupids and the greedies seem to replenish their numbers at a faster than average rate…

I very much admire your work on peak oil, and often link to it in my tweets. I agree with much of what you’ve written above regards American culture, but your take on the “global warming” scare is dead wrong. In my tweets I’ve posted much that disputes your assertions. I hope you find the time to follow up on that information.

Best regards,

mika.

It sounds fringe and alarmist to say that it is in our leadership’s best interest to keep the Whole satisfied with the pacifiers of material comforts and television. But that doesn’t make it any less true.

Independent thought takes painstaking, [sometimes] solitary commitment and the willingness to admit that you don’t know everything. It’s a quiet exercise that is built minute by minute, page by page. It’s boring (or at least presented as such) and it’s very difficult to extol its virtues in a country that celebrates plasticine people on vapid ‘reality’ shows.

Part of me thinks that you are preaching to the choir, while part of me thinks that the choir is growing. After a diet of mental Twinkies, at some point, the soul cries out for substance. Enough people capable of independent rational thought coalesce and the pendulum swings back.

Thanks for the post. M.

P.S. I loved your Jon Stewart reference. Spot on.