Okay, so…

If an alien came to earth to do field work, she/he/it would immediately think we were all stupid beyond belief.  If she looked at the books that are out there, the talks on TED and all the other things, that NEVER STOP TELLING PEOPLE HOW TO LIVE, she would beam back up to the Mother Ship and tell the crew, “These animals aren’t worth researching.  How about looking at mice?  They seem smarter.  Mushrooms?”

Having been around since the just after the dinosaurs looked up and said, “Oh, no.  It’s coming right at us. Duck,” I can only assume that people have become not only more unable to think for themselves, but apparently they can’t live without someone telling them what to do.

I’m thinking the wagons moving west across the open plains, didn’t carry books on how to get your kid to sleep, how to PLAY with your baby, or anything else.  No books on communicating with neighbors, bridging gaps, or whether carbs were good or bad.

What happened to us?

I was talking to a pediatrician years ago and he said, “Parents can’t think anymore.  They are constantly calling for the dumbest reasons.  Things everyone should know.  It’s as if they’re terrified and think they will do something wrong and their kids will be scared for life.  The phone never stops ringing.”

It’s not only that.  People read books on social skills, marriage counseling, written by authors who have probably been divorced, Secrets, Creative Visualization, How to treat your dog.  One author was able to find his soul mate four times.  Married, divorced and rinse and repeat.  He was popular for a long time.

I’m bad with dogs and books won’t help.  I can’t be alpha dog.  If my dog was on the couch, I would be sitting on the floor.  My cats were always on the chairs and couches and our whole family was on the floor.  So, I’m really a tough person with people, but not animals.  I could read a million books, and it wouldn’t do any good at all.  If a dog jumped down  and said, “No, you sit there,” I tell the dog that it was okay and that she should take the couch.

I can’t see our ancestors EVER dreaming about not knowing how to live, or what to do in pretty much any situation.  My grandmother had dogs and never thought she didn’t know how to HAVE a dog.  She never once said to me, “I wish there was a book on how to have a dog, or how to talk to you.”

When did people lose their self confidence?  When did everyone start to believe that they didn’t know how to live?  Cave people, who had a pretty limited skill set, never thought they didn’t know anything.  They didn’t sit around wondering when antibiotics would come onto the scene, when their larynx would change and they’d be able to speak.  They knew what they needed to know in order to survive, or they learned pretty fast, just by living.

Cave women got pregnant, didn’t take vitamins, or do much of anything but walk a million miles across the earth, then stop to have the baby, get up, if they didn’t die, and keep walking.  I can only imagine what they all thought when the first baby was born.  “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!”

How to speak up at work, How to talk to the anti’s, or the others, or those people, or these people, or ___________fill in the blank.  There’s a book to teach people how to do every little bitty thing.

Seems weird.  Like seat belts and helmets.  Those are new things.  Before they arrived, we all lived and never thought about being strapped to a seat or wearing a helmet.  I’m not saying those things are bad, I am saying that before people were able to make money off of those things, a billion generations rode in cars and on bikes and never had either one.  We are getting crazier and crazier, more and more dependent on others telling us what to do and how to do it.  And OTHER people are getting rich because we’re being more and more unable to take care of ourselves.

People go to socializing classes, so they can actually SPEAK to another person.  There was never a time that I can remember, when people needed a book for socializing.  And you know what?  I don’t think we’re any better because of it.  All the books are doing is making people think that whatever THEY ARE DOING is wrong, or not good enough.  It’s stealing self confidence and peace from humans, draining their common senses and leaving them afraid and lost.  But maybe that’s just me.  Or maybe it’s being done on purpose to make us weaker and more easily MANIPULATED.  It’s also making others rich.

I think past generations were much better able to cope with life, no matter how hard it was, and it was HARD for a lot of them.  Living through wars and The Depression.  Life has never been a piece of cake.

Kids used to be free to play, not registered in activities until they had no time for themselves, or their imaginations.  No one had to teach us how to play with our friends, or dogs, or anyone else, and you know what…if kids had problems with each other…THEY worked things out by THEMSELVES.  That’s how everyone learned to live and get along.  We learned how to compromise, or fight, BY OURSELVES.  We learned it by LIVING and not by ratting anyone else out.

And we all only had one voice.  Not a single person I ever knew, had an inside voice and an outside voice.  None of us were that insane.  We also had books.  The books we read had chapters.  We did not have chapter books.  Again…we HAD BOOKS.  That’s what they were called.  WE, even as children, could see that there were CHAPTERS INSIDE THE COVERS OF THE BOOKS.  The dumbing down of children.  Seriously.  Do people have so much time on their hands that they have to change what we call things?  A book is a book, whether it has chapters or not.  If a kid opens it, that child will immediately know if there are chapter in it or not.  And so, will the child’s parents.

“Do you have chapter books?”

“Why yes, sir, THIS IS A BOOKS STORE AND BOOKS HAVE CHAPTERS! HOW MANY WOULD YOU LIKE?”

I look at the titles of some books that pop up now and then and wonder how rich the authors are getting by telling people how to put their children to bed, in 300 pages.

“LOOK IT UP,” seems to be the answer to everything.  Google it.  Why?  Doesn’t anyone know anything anymore?  Take a chance.  Lay the kid down.  Some poor kids slept in a dresser drawer.  It’s NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL UNLESS YOU’VE LOST CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE.

I think we’ve lost something very important. We’ve lost the ability to think for ourselves, forgetting that the so called “experts,” not only lie, but they aren’t really experts for anyone but themselves and even then, they fail.  Always remember Dr. Spock apologizing to the entire country, for thinking he knew what it was like to raise children.  Once he had one of his own, he said he was sorry for all the things he wrote in his book.  THE ONLY BOOK we had.

Maybe by asking someone else, people can blame them if things don’t work out.  They can forego personal responsibility and just say, “Well, that’s what he said to do, so it’s not my fault.”

It just seems so strange.  We all grew up wild things, I mean the dinosaurs were gone and no one had a phone that wasn’t attached to a wall.  We turned out pretty good, if you ask me.  All of us were, and still are, able to think for ourselves.  We all put our kids to bed, our dogs were happy and fine.  None of us worried about carbs and I only knew one person who had braces, because she really needed them.  Was it better then?  Sure seems like it. No one was afraid, that’s for sure.  And even if we were, we just did what had to be done and that was that.

Even as kids we had to decide what to do, since our parents ignored us.   We weren’t precious then.  We were simply the next generation of a billion kids who came before us, including our own parents.  Everyone seemed to realize that we were all babies once and the earth was over crowded.  We were expected to behave in certain situations and other than that, we were on our own.

One thing I do know:  As a kid, I got to read really cool books and not a single one was picked out by an adult, or about how to live my own life.  I am forever grateful for that.  They didn’t kill the love of reading when I was a child, the way they kill it now.  We all read for fun.  We were never forced to read horrible books about the holocaust, dead parents, abused children, or anything else that came from a list written by an adult.  We got to read whatever we wanted to read, and we KEPT ON READING because of that.

Today, the stats say that kids out of high school and college never read another book in their lives.  I don’t blame them.  They kill the love or reading by forcing kids to read things they don’t want to read.  They kill poetry and a lot of things that have to do with the arts.  Kids who have the creativity and love of beauty taken from them, make better slaves.  Nothing happens by accident.  It’s done on purpose.  They can’t break everyone, of course, but they do kill those things in most kids, whenever they can.

I can remember my grandson hating the books on the reading lists he received in grade school.  He always picked the SHORTEST book, since the subjects were all horrible.  He never reads now, except for classes.  I told him not to read the books his teacher gave him.  WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO FIGHT BACK, YOU KNOW.  I told him to read something else and write a paper. But, of course, he wouldn’t do that.  Brain washing works that way when grades are held over your head and the punishment for not obeying is fast and harsh.

I wouldn’t have read a single book on any of his lists, silver seals on the cover or not.  Books are like perfume, not all scents are for everyone and no one wants to wear something that smells bad to them.  Those books all smelled bad.  Miserable, sad, horrible books.  I was so angry and I still am.

I went to Chicago public schools and had the run of the grade school library.  It was fantastic.  I never stopped reading, because I got to read books I loved.  Thank you Chicago.  I may not have learned math, but I wouldn’t be sitting around doing division right now.  I do, however, sit around and read.  That library is burned into my mind.  When I walked in one of the doors, AHHHHH, it was like heaven.  Thank you to every librarian who sat behind the desk.  Thank you to every grade school teacher who let me read whatever I wanted to read.  You have my undying gratitude.  I know it’s a little late and that you’re all with the dinosaurs now, but still.  Thank you.

Yeah, it really was better back then.

Okay, the dinosaurs probably wouldn’t agree, but still…

 

 

Chicago…

All Chicago Public Schools will be virtual, at least in the beginning, and maybe for the entire year, depending on how they feel the safety situation is.  Kids are testing positive, so are teachers.  Apparently teachers were talking about striking (again), because they don’t feel it’s safe to bring kids into class rooms.

Catholic schools will be open.  Kind of like the people who won’t wear a mask.  They showed a classroom with tables pushed together and chairs all around it.  Right next to each other.  Not a good plan, at least not right now.

Many of the suburbs have closed grade and Jr high schools for the entire year.

The problems are enormous, to put it mildly.  I feel bad for everyone involved.  They have to get computers and internet service to low income kids and the logistics are, well, difficult at best.

 

College…

I just found out that one of the big colleges around here, will no longer accept credits from two-year Jr. Colleges.  They want the MONEY for all the classes.  So they will not accept English, etc., from those colleges.  They would rather kids take out loans that can sometimes never be paid back, than let them attend Jr. Colleges for the basics.

I hope no one goes there any longer.

Looks like they are going to close schools in Illinois and Ohio until September. This year is pretty much shut down. I’m thinking other states will follow suit but, of course, I have no idea if that’s true. Meanwhile, my grandson is out partying. They are also going to close bars and restaurants, except for take-out…because the kids won’t stop partying. They are also telling people who can, to get their kids out of daycare. My daughter’s friends, daughter has a fever and she called the doctor but he won’t give her a NUMBER to get tested. Apparently you need a number to get a test. He said to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, if she does have it, she can be spreading. The Health Care System is not set up for things like this. It can overwhelm the system and people who are sick, for other reasons, may have a difficult time getting treatment. It’s kind of a mess. But my point was, school might be over for this term.

Image

Okay, so…school killings

So, eight more dead in school shooting in Texas*.  The solution…have SWAT bring kids to school in armored vehicles.  School would be a bunker with no windows, of course.  One door in, one door out, SWAT at the entrances and exits.  Camera’s on the roof, no trees or shrubs within 10 miles of the building.  Kids would be frisked and x-rayed in the lobby, their books and backpacks searched.

NO MEIDA COVERAGE for shooters.  NONE AT ALL.  Some people kill to get famous, get attention, or see themselves on TV.  If coverage is necessary is should be one line:  8 killed in school shooting in Texas, and THAT’ it.  Anymore than that and we are feeding the ego of the shooter and giving violence loving people what they want to see.

We could try to change the society in which we live.  Raise kids to be respectful of EVERYONE.  Actually do something about bullies and crazies, instead of constantly talking about them and adding meaningless rules to the school agenda that do nothing at all to stop what’s going on.

But we aren’t going to do any of those things and kids/teachers will continue to die and people will mourn the death of their children and things will stay exactly the same.  Home schooling may come into vogue and that would be catastrophic in so many ways.  Socialization would die a quick death and kids would be isolated and crazier than ever.

The kids who kill should not have had access to guns and kids shouldn’t have to wear bullet proof backpacks, not in a civilized world, at least.  Parents shouldn’t have to wonder if they will ever see their kids again, when they put them on the school bus, or drop them off.

The violent and moronic men/boys/whoever, are getting more and more power and people are hiding and shrinking away, instead of doing anything about gun control and strange kids with strange behavior.  Kids who are weird enough that other kids notice them.

The kids from the last shooting, their rallies, marches, pleas, can now be joined by kids from this school, and the schools before them, and the schools where shootings will take place in the future because we continue allow guns  to be part of our culture.  We allow bullies to bully and do nothing about either one of those things.

I don’t know if you noticed but lots of kids are dying in our never ending wars, in schools and we are adding up the numbers for suicides.  I think that should tell all of us that something is wrong.  When you’re child can’t be in the yard alone, has to be monitored constantly, because of predators I would think that would be a strong indication that something is REALLY wrong.

I’m not sure how bad things can get but I think we’re going to find out.  While we destroy our resources and life in general, we have no one to blame but ourselves.  I don’t think the best is yet to come, unless that “best” time is millions of years away and seriously, who can even imagine that we will make it that long.  No one, right?

Another thing…after a certain amount of dead kids and teachers, people will stop being shocked.  They will simply accept student deaths as a normal part of life (some are probably already doing that).  We won’t think anymore about kids getting killed in school than we think about war being part of our lives, and the kids who die on foreign soil.  We will come to believe that a bunch of kids and teachers being gunned down is no different than our sons and daughters being killed in  the illegal wars we are fighting.  Part of everyday business.  We don’t rush to read how many kids died in Afghanistan, or anywhere else.  We have assimilated all that boring stuff, and now it’s just background noise, unless your kid is over there, or will be soon, or unless you child has already come home in a body bag.  Same with school shootings.  We’ll get used to them, already are, and soon no one will even talk about, them except in passing.  Because we are used to death.  love and worship it, no matter it’s form.  It’s only the one’s who no longer have their child who notice, while the country continues to look the other way,  while we never demand that our government do something about guns control, or anything else.  The NRA owns part of the government.  The NRA gives MONEY to those in office.  Money is more important than kids.

So, only 8 more dead.  Not a big enough number to tip any scales.  No kids from important families, with money or power, were in the lot, so what’s going to make those people demand any changes?  It’s not happening to them, after all.

Just another day, unless you’re making funeral arrangements, that is.  Just another bunch of dead kids in a culture that cares more about guns than they do about life.

*I don’t watch the news or read the papers.  It’s pointless.  I found out about this incident because somehow it popped up on my phone.

What if…

Felicia, ( http://myvoyagethroughtime.wordpress.com/), told me about a program on Netflix called, InnSaei: the Power of Intuition.  Look it up, since I can’t seem to put the link on here.  Anyway, the program taught me a couple of importnat things.

First, there is a difference between reason and purpose (they did not address reason in the program, this is a personal thing).  My daughter never wanted to make art because she didn’t know what it was for.  To her, it didn’t have a purpose.  She always said, “What are you going to do with what you’re making?”  I told her that I didn’t know and that I wasn’t making it for any reason at all.  So we were talking about two different things.  Purpose has a goal while reason can be for no reason at all.  I don’t need a reason to do what I do, write what I write. It has no real purpose, other than I feel like doing it.  She can’t understand that.  Everything has to have a purpose in her life.  If it doesn’t have a purpose, there’s no reason to do it, or keep it.  So reason and purpose can go in the same direction but mean entirely different things.  I NEVER think about purpose, I do things for no reason.  I don’t care about purposes and she does.

So, here’s the thing.  What if we had a Global Human Purpose. (GHP).  What if, as a species, we decided that we had a common purpose and we all (worldwide) worked toward that end.  As far as I can see, we do not have any purpose at all, not as a group, not as individuals.  I never believed that we had a purpose but what if we make one up.  What if we all got together and decided, as a PEOPLE, to stop violence.  We could agree on  an agenda (a simple one, that’s for sure, since everyone has different problems) and then make it happen.  See, I never, until this morning understood the word purpose.  I don’t use that word.  I don’t write that word because I never think about that word, or what it means.  So, this program got me thinking about it (the word purpose was only said once or twice at the very end of the program).  I still won’t use the word because it doesn’t work for me, but I can understand it if it’s used in a much bigger picture.

Second, the program spoke about what we have lost over the last many years (intuition).  So here’s the thing about that.  In other countries (America wasn’t mentioned) some schools are teaching children how to get in touch with their intuitions.  That’s what the program is about…the loss of intuition.  The teachers are trying to teach children to go inside themselves and calm themselves down.  To get in touch with their inner selves.  They are also trying to teach them to put themselves in the other person’s position, to avoid conflict and foster understanding.

One teacher was using The Three Little Pigs as an example.  She asked the children to look at it from the wolf’s point of view.  Some kids said he was just hungry, or even starving, and that he wasn’t bad.  But here’s the thing about that.  They understood the wolf’s point of view BUT THEY DIDN’T TALK ABOUT SOLVING THE PROBLEM, WHICH WAS: HOW TO SATISFY THE WOLF IN A WAY THAT WOULD MAKE HIM NOT WANT TO EAT THE PIGS.  One girl said maybe he could eat fruits or vegetables but they did not focus on solving the ONLY real problem there was.  How to settle the conflict so that both sides were satisfied.   THAT is what kids are never taught in schools.  That’s why we don’t know how to get the idiots out of Washington.  That’s why we NEVER  KNOW WHAT TO DO.

We don’t teach children how to work on their own behalf, or work to change the system, or the world, because that is dangerous  and threatening knowledge to have and the guys in power and the status quo will not allow it.  We can’t teach them because no one ever taught us.  We can read about things and try them out but it won’t make a difference if we’re the ONLY one learning it.

So, these schools are teaching conflict resolution and they used one boy as an example.  He learned how to control his anger.  He taught himself (through what he learned at school) how to calm himself down.  Because of the example he set, his father felt bad about his own behavior and is trying to learn from his son.  The brother breaks this boys toys and instead of fighting the boy goes into another room and talks himself down.  They didn’t say his behavior had any effect on his brother.  He seems to be the poster boy for this issue.  No other children were mentioned with regard to changes in their behavior.

So, I’ve said it before, schools do not teach us how to fight against our own government to protect ourselves from what they do to us.  But they don’t teach us how to solve any problems at all.  They punish kids who are out of line, they do teach them a new way to see.  Punishment, labeling and control, that’s what education is all about.  Adults fight because they were never taught how to do anything else.  They were not taught NOT to fight.  Fighting is conflict resolution for many.  Video games, films, all media is about fighting.  Who would go to a movie to watch people sit and breath, or quietly talk to each other until they solve their problem?  No one, that’s who.  We teach FIGHTING, in every way imaginable.  We watch it and learn from it.

So, not everything needs to have a purpose.  Something things are done for no reason at all and have absolutely no purpose at all.   But see art is all about INTUITION.  That’s why it is not at the top of the pyramid in education.  Intuition is another dangerous thing to the power players and to the status quo, that’s why it is not celebrated and encouraged.

I still think having a GHP is a good idea.  I mean, think about it, there’s like six insane guys pushing billions of us around.  Well, now that I wrote that, I have to ask: who are the insane ones, them or us?  There are more of us than there are of them.  Breathing and speaking quietly to the idiot in DC won’t stop him from being an idiot and destroying everything.

We have to face the fact that we are running on the hamster wheel, or acting like trained seals, because we are.  We are letting the bullies take our lunch money and no one is stopping them.  No one taught us how to fight the IMPORTANT battles against THEM.  But we can teach ourselves, if we want to.

Anyway, that’s what I learned today.

 

Kids, Life, the Play and the aftermath…

“Mr. Mark said the play was a success and we can help a lot of kids with the money we made.  The librarian gave us tons of books and the bikers picked them up and are sending them to kids who don’t have anything to read.”

“That’s wonderful.  You all did a fantastic job and I miss the mice.”

“I think they miss you too because no one carries them around all day long, or plays with them as much as you did.”

“They’re just so cute.”

“Some of the parents loved the play and some didn’t.”

“That’s to be expected.”

“Mr. Mark said not to worry about those who didn’t like it because they’re Republicans, and they like the status quo, whatever that means.”

“I think you were all amazing.”

“Thank you.  We all had fun but the principal said he was portrayed in a very negative light.  He’s not so bad.  He has a terrible job.”

“I guess that’s true.  He has to meet certain standards set up by the state and there’s not much he can do about it except quit.”

“It seems as if there’s way to many things that we can’t do anything about.”

“Definitely.”

“I think we should do something about all of those things.”

“Have at it and bring your friends.”

“Sandra said she thought the play was great but there was nothing in it about father’s leaving their kids and trying to take their dogs.”

“It wasn’t that kind of play.”

“That’s what I told her and the gym teacher hates you.”

“Bound to happen.”

“She said she doesn’t make us dress for gym and those things only happens in high school.”

“Thought I’d just stick it in there so you would be ready for it in a few years.”

“I told Sandra that I wasn’t going to be her law partner and she said I wasn’t strong enough to give up my life to help kids and dogs.”

“She might have meant that you didn’t want to give up your life to work all the time.”

“Maybe.”

“There is a possibility that she will change as she gets older.”

“I hope she doesn’t get more angry.”

“I mean she may find that she wants to have a life as well.”

“Oh.  That might be nice.”

“A lot can happen between now and when she’s grown up.”

“I guess.”

“Spring is shoving winter out.”

“It’s light longer.”

“It is.  Warmer too.”

“I’m going to go over to Steven’s.  We’re building a fort in his backyard.”

“Take cookies.”

“Okay.  Love you.”

“Love you too, Baby.”

 

Kids, Life, Politics, School, Teachers

“Our teacher is leaving on Friday.  Robert threw up on her new shoes after we all said we didn’t want to study flax anymore.   She said she hates being a teacher more than anything in the world.  We’re getting a substitute until school’s out.”

“Well, maybe you’ll like the sub and have fun.”

“Probably not.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Most of the teachers don’t like kids very much.  We never do what they want us to do and no one cares about what they have to teach us.  So I guess we’re all disappointed.  We hate the books they want us to read, so no one reads them.  We like some things but most of what they say is boring, so we don’t listen.  We don’t believe that the things they say have anything to do with real life.  Kelly said we don’t need geography because we all have a  GPS and can find anyplace.  The teacher said that wasn’t the point but we all thought that it was.  Sidney asked why we had to learn math when our phones had calculators on them. And too much has happened since the classics were written.  No one want’s to read those books anymore and they won’t let us read what we want to read.  We want to read Harry Potter and books about magic and they want us to read about death camps and sick kids.  So we don’t read the books they give us.”

“You read all the time.”

“Yes, but not for school.  Sandra brought the whole class Chocolate Frogs, from Harry Potter World.  They were good.”

“That was nice of her.”

“Everyone thought so.”

“Schools need to change to keep up with what’s going on in the world.  Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s good , especially if no one cares about it any longer.”

“We tried to tell her that.  We tried to tell her we’re bored and the stuff she wants us to learn isn’t interesting and no one cares about old wars and guys on horses.   And it’s all a bunch of lies anyway.  People are asking the government to take down the statues of their old relatives because they owned people and were bad men, so why should we have to read about them?”

“I agree.  We need to start a more progressive school of our own.”

“Can we?”

“Probably not.  But maybe we could start an after school club.”

“I think everyone would be happier out of school, once it’s over for the day.  No one really likes it except for Kathy and Jack.”

“Why do they like it?”

“Their parents make them like it.”

“Ah.”

“They can’t go out or have friends.  They have to study all the time.  We all feel bad for them.  They feel bad for themselves too.  We don’t know why school has to be so boring.  Why can’t we have other people come in and talk to us once in a while.  People who have actually done something that we are trying to learn about?  Our teacher tries to teach us everything but she never did any of it,  She just tells us about the things she’s read.  Jose said he doesn’t know what language the Spanish teacher is teaching us but it’s not Spanish and he should know, since that’s his first language.  That’s a problem with education.  We all know our teachers don’t really know anything.  Everything is too slow and takes too long.  Some of the kids in class know more about the subjects than the teachers and they should be able to tell us about their experiences and what things feel like, at least some of the time.”

“I think that’s a great idea.”

“They buried Sandra’s father.  She said she’s glad it’s over with and that her dog is safe.  Her mom bought a new bedroom set and gave away everything that her father liked. or left behind,  except for Sandra, I mean.  Her mom is keeping her.”

“I figured.”

“I’m going to write books on how awful the educational system is.”

“Good idea.  I know some books you can read about that very subject.  Wonderful books that made perfect sense but did nothing to change the way children are taught.”

“”Why not?”

“Status quo, Baby.  The rich, white guys don’t like change.  Scary if a bunch of educated people find out what they’re really doing.  They want everyone to be stupid, so no real changes will be made.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I am not okay with that.”

“They why aren’t we demonstrating about it?”

“It won’t help.”

“How do you know?”

“Tried for years to get things changed.”

“We need to try some more.”

“Draw up a plan and we’ll make it into a petition.”

“Okay.  I’ll talk to the other kids.”

“You will.”

“Maybe we can change one school at a time.”

“Only time will tell, Baby.”

“Love you mom.”

“Love you too.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earth…

Pixabay

I think this is what it’s all about.  Earth, and everything on it, is just a child’s toy.  I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, I’m just saying that we don’t know that it’s not true.  Maybe someday she’ll get tired of playing with us and shove us in the back of her closet, or down a black hole…and won’t THAT be fun!

We are a wee dot hanging out in space.  A science project for who knows what?  Maybe we’re just an accident, here because of the molecules that got together in the ooze.  I’m okay with that, just not with what we did to the planet.  Perhaps we’re like the bread experiment, the one where you put bread on a plate and watch it turn green.  We could have been put here to see what we would do and when the experimenter saw us starting to go bad, she lost interest and walked away.

I wouldn’t blame her.  Not at all.  How boring we must be.  Like playing with toy soldiers or plastic people in dollhouses.  Seriously, people have MASSIVE ADDICTIONS TO EVERY DRUG YOU CAN NAME AND EVEN THOSE YOU CAN’T, because they want to escape from this place, from their lives, the boredom, the work they don’t like doing, from debt, kids, spouses, badly written books and french fries that are served cold, or not crispy enough.  I mean, think about it.  Kids are drug addicted at an early age, with Ritalin and any number of things that make kids sit still when all they want to do is RUN AROUND.  They are used to taking drugs.  I don’t think it will be long before pot is available in high school cafeterias.  Escape…escape…lots of people watch 90 hours of TV a day (yes, I do know that there are only 24 hours in a day but watching TV that long makes a day FEEL like it’s 90 hours long).  Colorado will eventually sink to China, with all the potheads lining up to get their fix, every morning.  Don’t drink and drive, but bars have parking lots.  Coke, which killed my nephew, heroin, which killed another one and a friend of mine, you name it and it’s available.  Available to those wanting to escape, GET HIGH.  Getting HIGH is simply a metaphor for rising above the misery, that passes for a lot of lives.  To rise above, to get away from what’s below, to reach for the stars, something that surpasses what a person has.  Drunks wake up from being passed out and think, “Ah, one more day I don’t have to think about.”  Sure, not all of them say that but there has to be a reason people drink until they can’t think, or until they kill themselves.  Personally, I’ve never met a drunk who was happy with his life.  Pain pills aren’t only for physical pain, there are a million drugs for mental anguish.  People who seem perfectly normal, show up for work, do what they have to do, smile, and all the rest, might be drug addicted.

A friend of mine who was on Speed, didn’t sleep for three days.  She asked me how she looked, smiling and twitching.  She looked like a nightmare on Any Street.  Black circles under her eyes, jerky movements, skin the color of, well, all I can think of is ashy.  She eventually died from heroin.  I liked her.  She was a nice person, when I first met her.  I don’t know what she ware running away from, exactly, but I hope she’s happy wherever she is.

If you’ve noticed, kids who aren’t being abused, are pretty happy.  Then they are put into schools, run by the state, or church, and the serious brainwashing and insanity begins.  FOLLOW THE RULES, SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN…and so on and so forth…just like the work they will do for most of their lives, unless they are radical kids, who want to hit the road, or become artist. The kids who will be labeled troublemakers, losers, behavior disordered, and kids who may be disowned by their families for being,  “out of touch with reality.” You know the ones I mean, the kids who “don’t fit in,” won’t give up their inner passion for a desk job and a couple of kids.  That’s when things start to fall apart…when kids are expected to kill their inner selves to be like everyone else.  We force them to do that, so how can anyone be surprised when adults are addicted to anything that will make them forget what they gave up?

We continue to  screw up, kill creativity, for obeying the rules.  We’re wrong, you know.  This isn’t how things have to be.  It’s the way the people who control the herd want things to be.  They have convinced us to destroy our own kids, just so they will not go against the status quo.  Drugs stop people from fighting back.  Stop them from looking at what’s happening around them.  Drugs are becoming more available all the time, because the government doesn’t want the herd to wake up and make a fuss.  That’s the truth, you know.

It was done to you…if you were a trouble maker.  If you refused to stop drawing on your english book, you were just trying to save yourself.  Be happy about that.

Outstanding, honest and true speech against education…she’s fabulous.