Another day following our egos in their eternal power struggle...
Even in the smallest
things we do, it seems evident. That urge, that desire: to excel beyond the others, to be superior, to prove
oneself right and the others wrong. In a sense, of course, it is one of the things that make humans so
incredible. We strive against the opposition, pushing against the resistance, inventively, relentlessly,
sometimes cruelly, until we triumph against the odds. It's how we've explored almost every nook and
cranny of physical reality. It's how we've developed a myriad possibilities into a rich and diverse reality
full of art, music, literature, philosophy, technology and design. Ask around, we're a phenomenon of inter-
galactic proportions, all the aliens seem to think so, although they're worried we might not make it
through this next evolutionary phase without blowing ourselves up, and they can barely come near this hot
potato of a planet without getting a screaming headache because of all the electromagnetic activity and
frenetic brain waves. Maybe we had to be this competitive to get where we are, to survive the harshness of
the climates and the rigors of maintaining ourselves on this rock. But in the end these habits could also be
our undoing when we find ourselves all cohabitating a densely populated planet with limited resources,
and in our insanity we go down smashing each other over the heads with guitars in religious arguments,
running over our neighbors in a dispute about a few feet of land, or shooting our loved ones for the
channel changer.... Which brings me to the recent egotism fest that culminated in election day and the
subsequent deflated and inflated egos that result. Interesting, huh? A friend described it as "a mixed bag."
I'm glad that the republicans got a little water thrown on their impeachment lynch mob. I'm surprised they
elected a former pro wrestler in Minnesota. And I'm sad that the Human dignity Resolution didn't make it.
The Campaign for Human Dignity did a very nice job of being positive and encouraging unity, however, it
appears that the issue itself is inherently divisive. By promoting the issue, we are attempting to force
acceptance (or at least acknowledgement) of a certain concept upon some people who (for whatever
reason) find that concept to be utterly repugnant. Now we might see things differently because we know
that lesbians and gays can be just as good people as anyone else and that homosexuality is just another one
of the many ways there are to be human. The right-wing Christians say that homosexuality is some srt of a
disease that can be "cured." I have been wondering the question another way: is right-wing Christianity a
disease, or are they born that way? Is it reasonable for us to expect them to become cured of their evil
ways? If so, we would have a long job ahead of us, and we would be fulfilling their paranoia/prophesy of
persecution by threatening the very existence of their belief system. You know how critters get when
they’re threatened: DANGEROUS. Wars have been started over less. Personaly, I’d like to just forget
about the right wing and do my own thing for a while. But I guess I can do that since I cut my hair, sold
my VW bus, have white skin, and don’t trip their "Hippie" or "Faggot" triggers anymore. It ain’t fair,
never has been. The other day, I saw a kid with the letters "F.T.W."
tatooed on his arm. I remembered
when I had first seen it and found out what it meant. It was all blurred on the weatherbeaten, burnt brown
by the sun, sholder of a scrawny ‘Nam vet I picked up wheeling his wheelchair in the left lane of 6th
Street. I asked him what it meant. He glared at me through his square prescription sun glasses. "Means
Fuck The World," he snapped. Lot of people feel that way.
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