That Money, Money!!

 

Maybe money is not the root of every problem. However, when looking for root causes after peeling back all the layers of the onion, there you will often find money as the source. We humans have been accumulating stuff for thousands of years and somewhere along the way it was decided, "he who has the most stuff wins!" Stuff includes power, money and things. And greed was born. Here we are in 2022 facing the fallout from all that greed. 

- A crumbling healthcare system in the USA? A bloated and greedy health insurance system along with evil pharmaceutical giants who will gladly let people die if there's an ounce of profit in it. I think Evil is an appropriate word here.

- A political system of the people, by the people, for the people morphed into a system of the rich, by the rich, for the rich. Rule of law, human rights and opportunity for all be damned. Hint, hint- a billionaire on a non-life supporting world is not all it's cracked up to be. 

- A war in Ukraine started by a delusional Russian leader with complete disregard for human suffering. Our Evil arms industry is happy to keep the fighting going for as long as possible to keep the dollars flowing in. Peace is the last thing these evil bastards want! True of wars everywhere.

- Literally a dying planet (that we ALL live on) cannot begin to slow down our collective greed. You see, it's not just fossil fuel companies with black hearts. It is us. We cannot even imagine a world without cars, comfortable homes, jet travel, limitless spectacle, food brought in from across the globe and all the other trappings of "modern" life. I'm as guilty as anyone. We would have to have a complete paradigm shift in how we live to have a reasonable hope of turning the tide. That's the easy way. Nature will fix it. That's the hard way. Remember friends, the Earth does not need us. We need it. 

So... what to do? Leave the game to the extent you can. Drive less. Only take what you need. Love each other and grow a garden. Be the example...        

Russian Adventures

 

Russian war crimes in Ukraine are not much of a surprise given their recent history elsewhere. They are little more than an over-armed mob. Here is some reading material for background.  

The Post Soviet Wars Part I In-depth readings. 

The War in Ukraine is Just the Beginning 

Facing Resistance in Ukraine, Putin Turns to a Familiar Playbook: Bombing Civilians and thereby creating hatred's that could last decades. 

20 years of Putin in power: A timeline 

War Crimes in Chechnya and the Response of the West

Band of Brothers: The Wagner Group and the Russian State Background on Russia's "Peacekeepers."

*** Pointing out American War Crimes does not excuse Russian War Crimes***

The Will and Chris Show! Thought Flash

 

Never thought you would see something like this on this blog? Me neither... These two guys are not exactly "unpeople." But there are lessons here. Our two tier justice system is on display. If you or I whop somebody upside the head in front of cops, we are getting a ride downtown and will have to explain our actions to a magistrate. If these were two poor African-American men in a parking lot acting like this in front of the cops, who knows how or where it ends. They are famous and wealthy. Shortly after the above picture, Will simply goes back to his seat. Yes, if you think somebody is making fun of a loved one, you want to slap the shit out of them. But you don't. There are other ways to handle it. There's already much written about this. I like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's take.