There is a problem in our country, one that is
long overdue for legislative action. This equipment that is available
to the general public rather than being restricted to police, military,
and government use, is responsible for countless gruesome deaths of
innocent civilians, including children. These powerful and
high-capacity pieces of hardware have no rational place on our streets
or in our modern, enlightened society.
I speak, course, of sports cars and powerful, military-style vehicles.
These “assault autos” cause a seemingly endless rampage of death and
destruction on our highways and in our towns, capable of destroying
anything they hit and powerful enough to break speed limits with ease.
There is no reason why any logical person, one not likely to use their
assault auto to plow through a school zone or as a high speed getaway
vehicle, should need anything so dangerous. All a person needs to get
to work safely on our streets is a small, 2-cylinder compact car that
can do little to no damage in an accident and cannot possibly exceed the
posted speed limit or escape a police interceptor or military humvee.
Why would anyone ever need to drive as fast or carry the same load as a
policeman or soldier?
Our founders, when framing the
Constitution, could not possibly have envisioned the insane speeds that
modern cars can achieve. Therefore they must not have taken advancing
technology into account when describing our natural freedoms and
specifically mentioned rights. They couldn’t possibly have been that
smart.
Never mind that criminals will gain access to and use
assault autos of their own, regardless of the law, in the commission of
their crimes. We don’t need to shoulder the weighty responsibility of
protecting ourselves and others, we have the police just a phone call
and a few minutes away. They can protect us all from the criminals, and
the government will forever and always have our best interests at
heart!
Let us surrender our fears and responsibilities to our
eternally benevolent and infallible government! So that we can
concentrate on the important things, on our bread and circuses.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Alcohol
Alcohol.
Is it good for you? No.
Does it make you more likeable? Not really.
Does it make you smarter? Hell no.
Can it help you meet new friends, or entertain those you have? Sure, why not.
Alcohol, like etiquette and manners, is a social lubricant. It helps smooth the way when groups of people gather. It can be at a race track, a restaraunt, or a random gathering on the street. When people's inhibitions are reduced or voided entirely, the person that emerges is often closer to genuine than however they choose to present themselves at other times. Assholes reveal themselves to be assholes. Nice people treat others better and try to prevent fights between assholes. Loud people can become louder, and sad people can become sadder.
Alcohol, almost unique among chemical compounds, has been distilled by nearly every culture millenia past, even in isolation. The Japanese have sake, Europeans beer and mead, and Amazonian and African tribes have drinks that will, almost literally, blow your mind. The same way that primitive societies developed bread, they developed alcohol.
Why?
As soon as societies began to form enough to develop agriculture and villages, there existed enevitable friction. You feel it every day, in the co-worker who you can't stand, the person on the street whose behavior annoys you in some inexplicable way. People are different, and some will always annoy others. This is a fact of humanity.
So one day a baker puts too much water in his dough, and in frustration leaves the pot full, puts a lid on it, and puts in on a shelf. He forgets about it, and a few months later a thirsty someone finds and drinks what remains. He spends the rest of the day trying to figure out what the hell happened, and how he can make it happen again. The rest is history. (As far as beer is concerned, mostly German history)
So these days it exists as it always has, a readliy available lubricant to take the edge off a hard day or a weird party.
Without it, I imagine we would be one of two places.
Either we would have advanced to a level of technology and personal enlightenment that cannot even be fathomed by science fiction writers,
Or we would have long since murdered each other, unable to deal with a myriad of annoyances.
In conclusion, alcohol is an ingrained and, for better or worse, irremovable facet of our global society.
And, particularly appropriately, I am writing this while slightly drunk.
Is it good for you? No.
Does it make you more likeable? Not really.
Does it make you smarter? Hell no.
Can it help you meet new friends, or entertain those you have? Sure, why not.
Alcohol, like etiquette and manners, is a social lubricant. It helps smooth the way when groups of people gather. It can be at a race track, a restaraunt, or a random gathering on the street. When people's inhibitions are reduced or voided entirely, the person that emerges is often closer to genuine than however they choose to present themselves at other times. Assholes reveal themselves to be assholes. Nice people treat others better and try to prevent fights between assholes. Loud people can become louder, and sad people can become sadder.
Alcohol, almost unique among chemical compounds, has been distilled by nearly every culture millenia past, even in isolation. The Japanese have sake, Europeans beer and mead, and Amazonian and African tribes have drinks that will, almost literally, blow your mind. The same way that primitive societies developed bread, they developed alcohol.
Why?
As soon as societies began to form enough to develop agriculture and villages, there existed enevitable friction. You feel it every day, in the co-worker who you can't stand, the person on the street whose behavior annoys you in some inexplicable way. People are different, and some will always annoy others. This is a fact of humanity.
So one day a baker puts too much water in his dough, and in frustration leaves the pot full, puts a lid on it, and puts in on a shelf. He forgets about it, and a few months later a thirsty someone finds and drinks what remains. He spends the rest of the day trying to figure out what the hell happened, and how he can make it happen again. The rest is history. (As far as beer is concerned, mostly German history)
So these days it exists as it always has, a readliy available lubricant to take the edge off a hard day or a weird party.
Without it, I imagine we would be one of two places.
Either we would have advanced to a level of technology and personal enlightenment that cannot even be fathomed by science fiction writers,
Or we would have long since murdered each other, unable to deal with a myriad of annoyances.
In conclusion, alcohol is an ingrained and, for better or worse, irremovable facet of our global society.
And, particularly appropriately, I am writing this while slightly drunk.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Money
Money, as I see it, is a means to an end. It's been said that money can't buy happiness, and this by itself is true. But say you can afford to eat well, to educate yourself or your children to ensure success later in life, or to take a relaxing vacation with someone important to you. The money isn't buying the happiness, but it certain helps provide the opportunity for good memories and to provide others a better life than they may have otherwise.
Lack of money can bring pain and suffering, though so can too much. Wealth is not a measure of happiness, just a measure of how much money you have. And if you have money, what does it do? You can spend it on things, invest it to make more money, et cetera. But it doesn't actually do anything.
Those who inherit wealth count themselves lucky, but happiness doesn't always result. So how are they lucky?
Those who earn wealth themselves through hard work and dedication often know the value of a dollar, and what things cannot be valued in dollars. Friends, family, loved ones.
People are what's important in life. A man can be measured by those he leaves behind, and whatever money he had is a distant second. Placing money over people is a sure way to lose sight of what is truly important.
Money is a tool, like a hammer or a saw, among may others we have developed since we came down from the trees. It can build, it can destroy, and it can sit unused in a dusty box. Like any tool, what matters is the person who wields it, regardless of amount. Money itself is not evil, nor good. It has no opinion on the subject.
Money is a means by which people interact. It's just a middleman in the ancient barter system, a standard value for time or goods. Without it we would, with a period of adjustment, simply proceed as human civilization has done before, trading goods and services directly. Not to advocate the abolishment of standard currency, of course. Anything that would cause the immediate devaluation of any currency would likely be catastrophic in other ways as well. Alas, Babylon for instance. Nuclear war launched the modern US into what was essentially a pre-industrial society without the benefit of pre-industrial skilled labor.
So basically money is a social lubricant. It helps maintain the machine of human society with reduced friction, though like any machine there is no chance of completely frictionless movement. There are wealthy bastards and poor saints.
If we as a species ever move beyond greed and self-centered action, then the world may indeed be a better place (I challenge you to define 'better'). But then I believe we would no longer be what we now recognize as human. Humanity (which will likely become a theme of these writings) is flawed and dirty, with stains of war and genocide, as well as polished surfaces of peace and achievement.
To believe otherwise is to deny ourselves the ability to recognize us for what we are: Human. Nothing more, nothing less. And really, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Lack of money can bring pain and suffering, though so can too much. Wealth is not a measure of happiness, just a measure of how much money you have. And if you have money, what does it do? You can spend it on things, invest it to make more money, et cetera. But it doesn't actually do anything.
Those who inherit wealth count themselves lucky, but happiness doesn't always result. So how are they lucky?
Those who earn wealth themselves through hard work and dedication often know the value of a dollar, and what things cannot be valued in dollars. Friends, family, loved ones.
People are what's important in life. A man can be measured by those he leaves behind, and whatever money he had is a distant second. Placing money over people is a sure way to lose sight of what is truly important.
Money is a tool, like a hammer or a saw, among may others we have developed since we came down from the trees. It can build, it can destroy, and it can sit unused in a dusty box. Like any tool, what matters is the person who wields it, regardless of amount. Money itself is not evil, nor good. It has no opinion on the subject.
Money is a means by which people interact. It's just a middleman in the ancient barter system, a standard value for time or goods. Without it we would, with a period of adjustment, simply proceed as human civilization has done before, trading goods and services directly. Not to advocate the abolishment of standard currency, of course. Anything that would cause the immediate devaluation of any currency would likely be catastrophic in other ways as well. Alas, Babylon for instance. Nuclear war launched the modern US into what was essentially a pre-industrial society without the benefit of pre-industrial skilled labor.
So basically money is a social lubricant. It helps maintain the machine of human society with reduced friction, though like any machine there is no chance of completely frictionless movement. There are wealthy bastards and poor saints.
If we as a species ever move beyond greed and self-centered action, then the world may indeed be a better place (I challenge you to define 'better'). But then I believe we would no longer be what we now recognize as human. Humanity (which will likely become a theme of these writings) is flawed and dirty, with stains of war and genocide, as well as polished surfaces of peace and achievement.
To believe otherwise is to deny ourselves the ability to recognize us for what we are: Human. Nothing more, nothing less. And really, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Trying something new
I don't know what this blog will turn into, what purpose it may or may not serve. It may end tomorrow, it may go on for years. It may be deep, it may be lighthearted. Maybe no one will read it. Regardless, I'm going to write things here.
To start off, I'll stick to the title topic. Trying something new is sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes rewarding, and always educational. It could hurt, it could feel great. But there is no way to know until you try. That's what I'm doing here. I've sometimes wondered (as I wonder many things) what would happen if I put my written thoughts down for others to access. However wondering and imagination can only get you results in your own head, so here I am, trying something new.
Should you read this? I don't know, honestly. I really don't have an opinion yet, as new as this is.
Will you read this? Well, that's up to you. All I can do is all I can do, and what you choose to do about it is your business.
What goes here comes from me, of that you can be sure. I may quote others. But what would take me 1000 words may have taken one who came before 10 words.
So if it comes from me, why the pseudonym? Winship Graham is not my name, but is important to me nonetheless. I could say that I want the hypothetical reader to evaluate my work without the distraction of having to attach it to a real person. But frankly I just don't want random people to know who I am. There are ways to find out, of course, and a few of you may even know me already. I'm just not comfortable with stepping onto a stage, regardless of size or audience, without a mask. Maybe I'll feel like taking the mask off someday, or perhaps the audience will begin to see through it as the performance goes on.
When and if that happens, it certainly will be trying something new.
So what goes here? Peoms, prose, a story or two. Deep thoughts, stupid jokes, leaps of faith and cynical analyses. Parts of me and parts of people I know. Mostly whatever I feel like at the time, though I will endevour to spare you from opinionated rants. Unless the reader agrees exactly with the ranter, they're usually just annoying.
If you're still reading, then congratulations. You may have found something that interests you in what I've written above, and finding truly interesting things on the internet can be a challenge. Or maybe you're still reading because, like me, you're trying something new.
To start off, I'll stick to the title topic. Trying something new is sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes rewarding, and always educational. It could hurt, it could feel great. But there is no way to know until you try. That's what I'm doing here. I've sometimes wondered (as I wonder many things) what would happen if I put my written thoughts down for others to access. However wondering and imagination can only get you results in your own head, so here I am, trying something new.
Should you read this? I don't know, honestly. I really don't have an opinion yet, as new as this is.
Will you read this? Well, that's up to you. All I can do is all I can do, and what you choose to do about it is your business.
What goes here comes from me, of that you can be sure. I may quote others. But what would take me 1000 words may have taken one who came before 10 words.
So if it comes from me, why the pseudonym? Winship Graham is not my name, but is important to me nonetheless. I could say that I want the hypothetical reader to evaluate my work without the distraction of having to attach it to a real person. But frankly I just don't want random people to know who I am. There are ways to find out, of course, and a few of you may even know me already. I'm just not comfortable with stepping onto a stage, regardless of size or audience, without a mask. Maybe I'll feel like taking the mask off someday, or perhaps the audience will begin to see through it as the performance goes on.
When and if that happens, it certainly will be trying something new.
So what goes here? Peoms, prose, a story or two. Deep thoughts, stupid jokes, leaps of faith and cynical analyses. Parts of me and parts of people I know. Mostly whatever I feel like at the time, though I will endevour to spare you from opinionated rants. Unless the reader agrees exactly with the ranter, they're usually just annoying.
If you're still reading, then congratulations. You may have found something that interests you in what I've written above, and finding truly interesting things on the internet can be a challenge. Or maybe you're still reading because, like me, you're trying something new.
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