An oldie, but goodie from several years ago. Nothing has changed.

"Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance, and barbarism must ultimately triumph."  Robert E Howard

I have enjoyed civilization, so I shall mourn its demise. And no, I haven't gone round the bend. Civilization is still breathing. But when it went in for its last physical, it was showing alarming signs of wear.

Like beauty, civilization is in the eye of the beholder. Not everyone views it the same. Some folks, such as the fundamentalist Islamists, are delighted with the social and cultural progress of their society, even if it stopped progressing in the 12^th century. And those purveyors of a socialist workers' paradise no doubt believe their dream world is the epitome of human development.

I'm hopelessly caught up in my own provincialism. I like the version of American civilization that I have known, that has evolved and thrived so well for the last few hundred years. As a society we have blossomed within its confines. Unfortunately, circumstances have changed, and American civilization, as we know it, is in decline.

Since my thoughts are limited to 600 words a week, please bear with me while I oversimplify things. I figure kids are born with only the makings of a barbarian. Then somebody takes them and educates them and trains them and turns them into something else, a civilized being. And if enough of the population gets turned into civilized beings, we end up with a civilization.

Education presents to the child's mind the tools with which to think, problem solve, and expand. Training provides the distinction between good behavior and bad. Training gives a moral context so people are constrained to live peacefully together, and education equips each individual to advance their existence, to make the most of their talents and their life. The mix of training and education, in varying proportions, determines the differences between civilizations. I like the mix we used to have. The new mix…well maybe that's the reason I keep smelling smoke.

I'm still oversimplifying, so hang in there. Fundamentalist religion-based civilizations lean toward training their citizens. The same proved true for the functional arm of socialism, communism. Education (thinking) threatens the leaders of such societies, so they limit it.

American civilization used training as a base, and then added education as the opportunity for people to excel. This was coupled with an economic incentive that rewarded excellence and extra effort, and provided for the highest standard of living on earth.

Our training used to come from individual families, and local churches and schools. And our education was also kept close to home. This worked well, for those who participated. Those who didn't were left behind. This is part of the natural order. But somebody set out to fix that, by giving up on the development of individuals, and concentrating on uniform training of the herd.

Local influence on citizen development is shrinking. Now training comes from the government, through the schools, to the child, and from those folks who run entertainment and media. When thinking gets in the way of the trainers, education is pushed aside. Education allows some to forge ahead, so in order to accommodate those left behind, it must go. That which benefits the talented and hard working has lost value, to be replaced by a system intent on producing an equality of mediocrity.

So our civilization is morphing into a 21^st century version of feudalism. That is, unless we are instead, overrun by the one mired in the 12^th century. 

5/16/12

His cat’s name is Diamond, but she apparently likes Kitty Cat better. Most good cats earn nicknames, and Kitty Cat is a good cat. Dad got her for Mom, he says. She used to keep Mom company. They were good friends, and Kitty Cat still goes to the door and looks into the garage whenever the car comes home, because that’s where Mom would come into the house. Mom doesn’t come into the house anymore, hasn’t for several years and won’t ever again, but the cat still looks for her. Every time the door opens.

Now Kitty Cat keeps Dad company. Took her a while, but without Mom around, Dad would do. He had always fed her and kept her box clean, so he was useful. Now she watches him eat and helps him read the paper.  She is Dad’s shadow.

Kitty Cat will run and hide whenever anyone else entered the house. Shy around strangers, she would say. After a while she’ll come to investigate, but only from a distance. She prefers her own person. This morning Kitty Cat walked up to me and said hi, and then rubbed her chin against my leg. And she let me pet her. I’ve known her for ten years, and she has never before asked to be petted by me. But her bowl was getting a bit low, and I guess she figured I could be useful for such things, so I put fresh food in the bowl, and she ate.

I don’t know if Kitty Cat knows that Dad is in the hospital. I don’t know what Kitty Cat knows about anything. She’s a cat, so her thoughts are hers alone.

Every morning, Dad turns on the hose in the back of the house and fills the birdbath so the outdoor neighbors can drink. Then you get to see the quail, doves, woodpeckers as they stop by. And Dad cuts the grapefruit in half, the ones that fall from the tree unused since he no longer can eat grapefruit because they mess with his meds. The scattered halves of grapefruit on the ground feed the birds and bunnies. And the birds and bunnies feed the coyotes, for that is the way of things. Three coyotes stopped by for water the other day. There is no sign posted to keep them away, so that’s how it is. Where water is concerned in the desert, everybody shares.

So this morning I filled the birdbath and cut up some grapefruit. The job must be done. And I pulled some of the weeds from around the barrel cactus, cause Dad asked me to do that the next time I visit. And I guess you can call this a visit. And I cleaned the filter for the air conditioner, and put more slices of my meat loaf in the freezer for when he comes home and he wants one for his dinner. Then it was time to go to the hospital and see that he eats his breakfast, and ask the doctor if they know any more about Dad’s future.

I’m an optimist. Not completely without justification, because my Dad was doing really well before he fell, and he is no quitter. So I’m operating on the premise that he will come home, to his cat and his outdoor neighbors, and his future. 

But I’ve never before had to pick up Dad in my arms and carry him out to the car to deliver him to an emergency room, so my hands shake just a bit as I type this.  And I don’t know what tomorrow brings. I like things better when I know what happens next. Always hated surprise exams. No time to cram. No time to get ready. Just show up and deal with it, for that is the way of things.

 That I can do.  But it wouldn’t be my first choice.

05/07/12

I really should stop doing this. Which this, you might wonder? Well, in this case I was wandering aimlessly around the folder in my computer that somehow hangs on to all those newspaper columns I wrote during that brief ten year stint as a “local interest” freelancer. Bumping into those archived random thoughts just gets me stirred up all over again.

The low angle sun filtered through a verdant canopy of trees surrounding our trailer on a quiet Saturday AM. Steam lifted slowly above the coffee cup waiting on the table next to the computer. A hint of breeze fresh off the sea tiptoed in through one window and out the other. The thick flannel shirt was a perfect choice. And the drum line of woodpeckers scattered through the forest lent short staccato riffs, pitch dependent upon the diameter of the dead trees they were ventilating.

A full battery in the computer meant I had some time to meander through the electronic memory, which frankly is much better than my own. I do this sometimes. Re-read columns I wrote years ago. Most I haven’t seen in a while, and many I don’t even remember. Some were forgettable, and perhaps I should delete a few, but I won’t. You should own up to your mistakes as well as enjoy the good times. Something over 500 essays in that folder, and they can’t all be good, but each once meant something more than just meeting a deadline. 

I haven’t read many of these columns since I wrote them. Like old friends, I am pleasantly reunited with a few memories. Others are like waking up in the quiet dark late at night, cold sweat and trembling, bad dream or bad reality. This morning I found one of these.

Remember early in the two thousands when Hillary Clinton morphed into a native born Yankees fan solely so she could run for the US Senate from the great state of New York? This was shortly after they had to drag her out of the White House kicking and screaming when her beloved hubby timed out. I hear you can still see the marks her fingernails left in the woodwork near the backdoor. The Senate would be her stepping stone to her birthright, the presidency. Hillary always wanted to be the czar rather than remain as Rasputin, the real boss but without the title. 

But in New York State, she would first have to defeat the odds on favorite, former mayor of the only city of note in America, Rudy Giuliani. Post 911 hero and all around charming fellow, Giuliani should have walked into the job. Except for that pesky prostate tumor, which forced him out of the race. Hillary trumped the empty suit that ran in Giuliani’s stead.

Anyway, I wrote a column way back then, a sorry tale of the fear and desperation I felt at the realization that Hillary would now have a real opportunity to become president. I figured she wouldn’t run seriously against Bush in 04, but that she would be a shoe-in by 08. And if she were elected then, we’d see major change in this country. A Hillary presidency would be my worst nightmare coming true. All those promises she’d make that were lies to the gullible designed solely to put the woman I called “The Harpy” in charge of this country. Socialized medicine, gun control, reckless foreign policy, more government interference in every aspect of our lives, the beginning of the end of individual rights and freedoms for the sake of “society”.  

You can imagine my relief when Obama beat Hillary in the primary before the 08 race. Rasputin was smote. The worst threat to freedom in decades defeated by that kid. I figured the worst he could do was parade forth the usual Democrat pabulum of government gifts to attract the union, minority, and lazy voters. What real harm could he do to the nation? 

And I went back to hoping that the Republicans would nominate someone, anyone who wasn’t a religious zealot or a total sellout to a few massive industries, so at least we could have had an interesting race. And they nominated another empty suit (and the biggest target ever made available for Media ambush.)

So Obama was easily elected, and he brought us socialized medicine, his virulent hatred of the Second Amendment, radical liberal justices to the Supreme Court, an anti-American foreign policy, and government intrusion with the intent to eliminate individual rights and freedom and assure his puppet masters enduring control over this country.

There may be a lesson in this. Be careful what ya ask for would be a start. 

The guy is run by the most corrupt political organization in recent memory, that mob that controls the cesspool of Chicago and thus the state of Illinois. His closest friends and advisors are radically anti-American, communists, racists, or crooks. And yet some voters still have not figured out why he set up our next few generations with debt that they will never be able to pay down. He has crippled the nation for the sake of short term political gain, and the harm he could bring with a second term staggers the imagination. 

In his mind, the new middle class will all work for the government, with benefits and pensions aplenty to keep them happy. These folks will ensure the perpetuation of his mob’s rule, right up until the money truly runs out. Then we get Greece. Here. Riots in the streets. Marshall law. Totalitarian rule. And no, Germany won’t try to bail us out. America, as only a fading memory. 

Yeah, but it was nice while it lasted.