You cannot talk rationally with someone who is paid to do otherwise and you cannot talk with someone who is convinced they are right. Too often, people only want to get their point across without fully taking into consideration other points of view.
Every decision has a consequence and every thought an origin. Rarely can we say it just happened out of nowhere. There is always a somewhere and meaning is everywhere and nowhere all the time.

propaganda and medication

A little while back, I had one of those days in which something hit me. Indeed I was not expecting to get hit that day. But this was no normal day and this no normal strike. I was struck by a thought. Some call these things epiphanies; I'm good with that idea. Anyway, I was rotting away in front of the television and no matter what channel I switched to, it was a commercial for pills. I was channel surfing for what could not have been more than a minute and literally everything I saw was an advertisement for some kind of mediation. Having recently quit a host of medicine after consulting with my doctor, I became a bit frustrated. It was apparent to me that the masses of my society have been and are currently being indoctrinated with propaganda and medication. The booze was always there. The cigarettes were always there. But now we have an epidemic of pills as death rates among people of all ages have risen in all sectors of this country. The images I saw on those pill commercials suddenly were made clear to me. It was as if something revealed itself behind the images. What I saw made me investigate. After a period of time, I came out tired as hell, hungry as hell, and not knowing what time of day or night it was. Needless to say, what I read and what I saw made me physically ill. It scared the shit out of me. I no longer watch television unless it includes golf, football, or special reports on the news. The news itself? I wouldn't watch the news now if I received a check every two weeks. So, after over 30 years studying people and society in the U.S.A., I am learning more and more each day.

Now is the time for artists to rise up and create fabulous pieces of work that will inspire future generation's to not make the same mistakes as this one is making. Always in times of difficulty or uncertainty, humanity has relied on artists to represent them and the ways in which they see the world. Good art (who decides?) allows the viewer to see the piece from different perspectives which creates varying lenses from which to view the larger more relevant picture. Art reveals a story, our story, the human story. I look for art in all its forms. I see it everywhere, all the time. Is that simplistic? I certainly hope it is!

Every single person I have ever met from Australia has been super cool. I wish I could fly. Maybe one day I will have enough drugs in me to be knocked out for the entire flight. It's either that or someone just knocks me out before I get on the plane. I would drink through the flight, but I quit years ago. In any case, if you are reading this and you are from Australia, you are right on in my book and best to you and yours. Plus, you guys gave the world AC/DC!

I think it's cool to have a blog. In my mind, it's better than having to pay for therapy. I couldn't pay for therapy anyways. For too long I tried to stop the race that has always been running in my mind with beer. It worked for some time. No need to go further there. I guess having a blog allows a release of sorts. This release prevents me from doing all the wrong things.
I live through the employment of various lenses. Each lens has its own angles and colors from which I can view a situation. Just like the pen that has been lost for weeks is found three inches away from where you put your heel every night, so too are the answers we seek. We only need to try to understand a situation from every angle while taking into consideration all possible implications of any actions that may or may not occur as a result. But nothing is that simple. The emotion of man is such that once he is tested in his beliefs or actions, right or wrong, he will automatically disperse rhetoric from those emotional havens that have been fed over and over again by what he chooses to see and hear. These days, and I suspect it has always been, too many people are unwilling to not only hear another point of view, but also they call that view a lie without knowing anything about it. A persons inability to change is what stifles the progress of men.

When I was a kid, I stumbled upon a book my mother had stored away in her closet. It was called, "Nineteen Ways to Read a Person," or something to that effect. I read it and became interested in the subject. I suspect my mother was interested in getting ahead in her business. I remember she once told me that she always wondered what life would have been like were it not for her having children. I suspect she would have founded a successful business and made lots of money. Instead, she chose to mix the two. It was a delicate balance to be sure. I have yet to see a woman match her incredible work ethic and ability to keep things together when everyone around her is completely nuts. But that book has always stayed with me.
I've read more books on the subject over the years and then studied sociology and social psychology in grad school. I read as much as I can on the subject of reading people, understanding people, relating to people, effectively listening to people, conflict resolution among people, etc... The one constant, if there is such a thing, is the fact that when conflict arises and emotions are running high, people make mistakes. They can either be seriously honest and use that honesty as ammunition for the fight or they can make things up based not on fact, but blind emotion and/or rage which can have its roots based under the jealousy tree. Younger people tend to do the latter.
It's important to know who it is that is reading you. He or she could watch you from a distance or he could be straight forward, confident, and in your face. He could be a con who talks as fast as he reads people. These are some of the most dangerous people that are in our society. However, their insincerity always gets these guys in the end.

Unless one has been there, no book can make one fully understand. To claim knowledge of something without having the experience to back it up, it is difficult to be sincere with people. The only real learning that takes place anywhere is when ones ears are open and ones mouth is closed. The people who have to remember what they say are usually in what I call "dress rehearsal" at all times. Their true selves would not fit into the category they see as what is best for them. They know they have to play roles. To a certain extent, we all play roles in life. But when it comes to making money, people will say and do anything to achieve their ends... no matter who suffers. Take poverty, for example. Unless one has been flat busted, homeless, and/or addicted and scared, no book has enough words for anybody to know unless they too have been in that place.