Category Archives: Blogs' Archive

I was out on  the balcony a few hours ago, on a rainy autumn afternoon, smoking a joint, which is the  reason balconies were invented, whether or not the inventor realized that at the time, when it struck me: nations are not a real thing.  Now, in fairness, this was not the first time this has occurred to me and I’m sure it’s not a completely original thought, but bear with  me here.

They are not real because the lines between them are just lines on a map and generally the border between one nation and another is something you can walk across, or maybe swim, or if you were a bird you could fly.  Hurricanes recognize no borders.  Sunlight recognizes no borders.  Contagious diseases recognize no borders.

They are only real because we have made them real, and accept, by and large, the laws about who can go  where and the traditions about which languages are spoken and all that.

It’s the same with money.  Value is real, things do have worth, which may fluctuate according to usefulness and scarcity, but paper and coin money is a total fabrication.

So, I started thinking about what is real and what is not.   Marriage is not  real.  You love somebody, and that’s a real thing, you live together, and that’s a real thing, you may have children together and boy, oh, boy, that’s a real thing.  The marriage contract, though, is like nations and money.  It means something because we all agree that it means something.
The days of the week aren’t a real thing.  Nature does not differentiate between them, and a volcano is as  likely to erupt on a Monday as on a Saturday.  They couldn’t care less if you want to work or not.

What about language?  That’s where I hit an impasse.  Obviously man invented, but it goes beyond “We’ve all agreed to accept it and it’s that acceptance that gives it  its meaning.”  Language is so much a part of our being that we couldn’t just sweep it away and start with something different.  I believe we could do that with nations or currency.
So, in this real v. unreal game, language is in a category of its own, language is on the borderline, language is our first step through the portal, the dividing line between the real, physical universe and the universe we’ve built over that one.

There’s what you mean and there’s what you  say and then there’s what it sounds like.  Most of us, in our everyday lives, are cognizant of that fact  and  go to  great lengths not to  say  anything offensive.  Then we apologize like crazy if we accidentally do.  Most people in public life, even more so.  You know, like  when they get an actor on a talk  show and they say “What was it  like  to work with _______?”  They never say “Oh my  fucking God, he was the biggest asshole I’ve ever met in my life” even though the law of averages states that that must, at least on some occasions, be true.
Donald Trump, however, is not like that.  He has no filter, and sometimes things come out sounding a bit off.  When he called  Mexicans rapists, he didn’t mean ALL Mexicans, presumably.  Likewise, in his comments earlier today, he didn’t say ALL NFL players were sons of bitches.  Just any of those who expressed their personal opinions, any  of those who object to the fact that police are murdering black people at a steadier pace than they are solving any crimes, and Colin Kaepernick in particular.
His fans will be supportive.  But, in another way, the statement reveals Trump’s extreme disconnectedness with American culture.  He suggested that  if any fans saw any players not standing for the national anthem, they should just turn and walk right out of the stadium.  Does he have any idea how much NFL tickets cost?
To tell you the truth, I don’t either, but I know  it’s a lot and I know that somebody who’s shelled out good money for a pair of them is not likely to turn around and leave before the  game begins just to make a political point.  People come to a football game to  watch a football game, not to dither over the national anthem.
Maybe, on the other hand, Trump does know how much NFL tickets cost, and just doesn’t think it’s a lot.  Because, you know, he’s really, really rich.  And an asshole.

A couple nights ago I wrote about Morgan Freeman, kind of defending him, because despite his lame ass ‘We’re at war with Russia’ video, I still like him as an actor and respect him as a human  being.

I meant to segue from that into one of my regular themes, which is that you have to separate the individual from their work, the art from the artist.  If you expect everybody in public life to be a good person, you’re expecting too much.  Look around.  Half of  the average people you know  are assholes in some way  or another, and there’s no reason at all  to think  that success, fame, or money would make anybody any less so.

After Charlottesville, in the wake of the furor to take down all  the Confederate  statues, I had internet friends who felt we should also remove statues of Jefferson and Washington, because they were slaveholders.

A few cities have canceled Columbus Day, and replaced it with Native Americans day, which is kind of token, and only 1/30th as long as black history month, but whatever.  I’m not against Native Americans having a day, or a month, or even reparations which they certainly deserve, but I think Columbus, evil, crazy, racist and ignorant though he was, is kind of an important figure in American history.

Pound was a Nazi.  Elia Kazan, an absolutely brilliant director from the McCarthy era, was a creepy scumbag who was perfectly willing (him and Ronald Reagan) to co-operate with McCarthy.  William Burroughs murdered his wife, or at least accidentally manslaughtered her with a gun while high  as a full moon over a pumpkin patch, Edison stole other people’s ideas, Picasso and Gandhi both treated their wives like dirt, and Abbott and Costello, believe it or not, didn’t like each other in real life.

Nobody’s perfect.  A few  days ago, a Facebook friend was  trying to convince me what a monster Freud was because, apparently, he was dismissive of child abuse.  Damn.

There’s nobody in life who  is above criticism, but let’s try to keep things in perspective.  Talent is not exactly the same thing as morality.  And we shouldn’t look to celebrities as role models, or else we’re going to be continuously disappointment.

Will we reach the singularity before we commit species wide suicide and take the  rest of life  on Earth with us, or not?  This was  a question that  took up  about a minute of conversation tonight at the  poetry reading, but I think it’s a real good question.

Of course, there are  many factors to consider.  First, what are  we defining as The Singularity, because I’ve  definitely heard  different definitions, but the way I’m defining it here is that point in  the future when we can just upload our knowledge, our memories, our  sense of self, into the computer where it  will merge and mingle (actually, I think the mingling version might be  a lot less  scary  than  a full  on merger) into a single, great, absolutely immortal species  mind.  Disembodied, sure, and some would say that makes it not worth it, but it is  immortality, along with a kind of omni-cognizance, so I  think it would be pretty cool.

Now, how close to that possibility is one question, and how close are we to extinction is the other.  I’m kind of an optimist on the second question.   There are some really bright people who are working on alternative energy sources, and how to restore the right  balance of  carbon  and hydrogen, and all sorts of cool, green stuff, bullet  trains and electric  cars, and so much, so  much more.  All it takes is a  sharp, sudden shift in the public consciousness and we’ll get that as soon as a developed and populated land mass suddenly  ceases  to exist.  So, yeah, I think humanity will take  it right to the  brink, because we’re stupid, but will pull  back  from the  brink, because we’re not  actually suicidal.
How far away is the  singularity?  Hell, I don’t know, but things do appear to be developing at a swift pace, both in  brain biology  and cybernetics, and each development feeds on the last in  a wonderful, cascading  effect, so I’m guessing 20 or 30 years, based on nothing.

I like Morgan Freeman.  I really  do.  I’m a fan.    I love ‘Through the Wormhole’ and have  never, to my  recollection, seen him in a film I didn’t enjoy.  Also,  he runs a bee sanctuary on his farm in Mississippi, and that is a very cool thing and indicative of a man who truly cares about the human race.

I also don’t have any objection to Rob Reiner.  I wouldn’t call him the most stellar director of all time, or rate him among the top 30 comedians of my lifetime, but I have been  entertained by him on occasion and rate him as a generally harmless sort.

Their recent joint endeavor, however, with Morgan Freeman narrating a short video charging Putin with trying to destroy the U.S. and saying “We are at War With Russia” was a bit out of line.

The U.S. is most certainly not at  war with Russia, nor should we want to be.  Come on, we’ve been in Afghanistan for more  than 2 decades, and haven’t won.  In Afghanistan, we’re fighting against a bunch of guys who  may have  guns, but that’s about it.  They don’t have an air force.  We lost to Viet Nam, a country that’s only about 1% of Russia’s size.

How is the U.S. going to deal with a country that can actually fight back?

So, it’s kind of crazy.  But, I’m not going to start hating on Morgan Freeman because of it.  Or Rob Reiner.  They’ve got  their political opinions, which I think are kind of ridiculous.  But, I’m still going  to watch ‘Through the Wormhole.’