This was an e-mail that I also shared with the folks over at DailyKos and it was relatively well-received. Once again, I post it here also because I can and I want to. It's cathartic and therapeutical and you'll just have to read it to fully understand...ok?
On my main source of information (DailyKos) they have a tradition called a "GBCW" diary. It stands for "Good-Bye Cruel World" and it is a way for a person who is known throughout the "community" to let the others know that they are done writing and commenting and reading about all of the stuff that is going on that effects everybody. You know...The real news that the "MSM"(Main-stream media) does not report on due to corporate($$$) influence, blatant bias and out-and-out propaganda purposes.
The truth is out there but, unfortunately, too many of the complacent "American Idol"/FoxNoise(News?)-watching flock that make up the vast majority of our population are painfully unaware of it. After all...do you think Bush and his criminal gang could have taken this country in the truly terrifying direction that they have without a lot of complacency from Joe & Jane Six-Pack?...the flag-waving, yellow-ribbon on the SUV-driving crowd that enabled this catastrophe of historic proportions?
Due to this constant influx of real truth and not the kind packaged and sold through the BoobTube and other corporate-owned media people tend to burn-out after a while. It's just too much to take when you really stand back and think about it. Some people withdraw completely, some come back after a while and some have more complex reasons for wanting to "back-off" for a while.(Sign-up under a different user name...known as a sock-puppet so as to maintain anonymity, for example) I myself am writing this e-mail from an alternate account that I was forced to set-up when I realized that the rogerdaddy@verizon.net e-mail address at the top of my resume allowed potential employment prospects to simply "Google" rogerdaddy and realize the extent of my political beliefs with a few simple clicks. In the predominately right-wing, conservative community I presently reside in that is certain job/career suicide. I don't know if that is the reason that I have been passed over for any number of the 100's of jobs that I have applied for but I'd be willing to bet it hasn't helped. But I digress....
This is definitely NOT my GBCW diary in any way, shape or form to anybody in the reality-based community that I currently participate in. Quite the contrary, it is my way of saying goodbye to any and all who think it's ok to SAY that things are screwed up but "what can one guy really do about it? Yeah, I'd love to help out those poor people...just make sure it's N.I.M.B.Y.(Not In My Backyard)"
I've decided that I AM going to do what I can do to help out the poor people, the downtrodden, the forgotten, the homeless, hapless, helpless masses that were simply unfortunate enough not to be born into wealth & influence. Hell!...I've been there and could be there again, as could so many others. Yes...I know, we've all heard the wonderfully inspiring stories of the occasional "misfit" who finds his way in the world by kissing the right ass at the right time while working their butt off. So why don't all the other people who "work their butts off", sometimes a lot more than the aforementioned fortunate soul, get equally rewarded? Because if that were to suddenly happen on a massive scale to all deserving parties the top 5% in our economic class structure would be forced to actually work for a living in order to continue with their obscene lifestyles instead of letting their "money work for them".(Another grotesque euphemism for "keep the money in OUR pockets") $$$=Power & Power=$$$...they have it and they will kill so they don't have to give it up. It's as simple as that. If the vast majority of the human race continues to live in abject poverty?..."Oh well, must be God's Will. I guess they need to be saved so they can find the material over-abundance that we have. C'mon, God wants you to be rich!"(while ignoring the doomed "heathens" who haven't heard or don't believe in the gospel according to Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and the rest of the snake-oil salesman referred to as "Evangelists"...Yikes!) I plan on making enough to get by with my wife's help and if we happen to become financially secure I won't feel a need to "give it all away"...just some of it. I'm not counting on it, simply because I now know too much. I can guarantee that if I ever do have enough $$$ to buy the latest over-priced electronic gadget or vehicle that I will have already figured out several ways to spend the money in a much more meaningful way that benefits all...I don't care about "keeping up with the Jones" and I am eternally grateful for that.
By the way...I think I'll apply at the Dept. of Justice or Gov. Palin's "administration" in Alaska. I heard it's rather easy to get in if you know the right person and sell out...nevermind if you're actually qualified for the job.
W.W.J.D? Oh, I can tell you what he would do. Right now he'd be in Iraq helping to dig babies out of the rubble of a collapsed building that was bombed by our "Nintendo" pilots. He'd be in Darfur making sure that another child is not raped, tortured, slaughtered or starved to death to further the cause of a few religious wing-nuts. He'd be on the streets of every major city in this country, and every other country, sleeping with the people in their cardboard boxes to understand where they come from, why they're there and what he can do to help them overcome their situation and become productive members of the human race. He would do what is right...not what profits him the most. That is why he is one of the greatest teacher/philosophers in history. That is also why he is NOT the son of some imaginary god who would have a man slit his own son's throat in order to prove his love for him(Abraham)...a god that would claim to love all of mankind while threatening to throw any and all who would stop to question ANY aspect of his existence into some fanciful "Lake of Fire" to live in torment and agony for all of eternity. If that is the "God" that people refer to when they call on him...they can have him.
I myself have decided to pursue truth...real truth...tangible, physical, concrete truth that makes sense and can then by used to help people out on this planet at this moment in time. I don't know where I am going when I die, if I'm even "going" anywhere. For all I know I will make a wonderful meal for a lot of happy worms and the cycle will continue. Maybe I'll come back as something else and the cycle will continue that way. Maybe there is a gigantic "Orb In The Sky"....sort of a Universal Creator that will finally fill in all of the gaps and it will all "Make sense". We could simply be some sort of alien biological experiment that is rapidly coming to it's conclusion. We have no way of knowing and a lot of people refuse to come to grips with that and the result is any number of man-made religions that seek to explain it all by using fear, intimidation and sanctimonious pronouncements of "Our way our the highway" that serves to keep the majority of people "in their place"(ya know, barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen, for example) while continuing to invest all of the Power=$$$ in the few who seem to think it's their destiny to make all of the rules and tell the rest "what's good for them".
I guess I need to try to wrap this up in some meaningful conclusion before I am accused of simply rambling for rambling's sake. I am genuinely sorry if I have caused any sort of uncomfortable feelings, thoughts or emotions in some of the e-mails that I have sent you guys in my attempt to do my part to get the real gospel out...the one that wants all people to live in harmony regardless of their race, creed, color, religious beliefs or political leanings. What is painfully apparent however is that some people, particularly those who feel that their's is the only "Way, Truth & Life" simply cannot accept this for, to do so, they would have to accept that what their particular holy book claims to be right would, in fact, be wrong. How can christians accept muslims if their way leads to hell and vice versa...blah, blah, blah. "I guess we're better off if we bomb them back to the stone age!"....yeah, it's a great comfort knowing that our leaders truly feel this way. They won't admit it, of course, but all of their public pronouncements regarding our ridiculous "War On Terror" could only lead a reasonable, intelligent person to one conclusion: They are very disturbed people who need professional help and should not even be managing a Mc'Donald's restaurant serving food to strangers, never mind the fact that they could push the "Button" anytime they choose to...so long as they come up with an excuse that is plausible that they can sell to the American public.
It is with all of this in mind that I vow to not send anymore e-mail correspondence that is political/current event in nature. It simply does me no good to keep banging my head against a wall of indifference or condescending pity due to the fact that I am the "black sheep" of the family who has all of these "addictions", "issues" and "problems" that he is "refusing" to address...or whatever other psycho-babble that Mom may try to resurrect to pigeonhole me into some sort of pre-designed label.
If you wanna talk about sports I can't promise you that I won't decry the exhorbitant $$$ that is given to a fortunate few who can hit a baseball with a piece of wood...if you wanna talk about the latest new gadget to hit the store shelves in the never-ending pursuit of material happiness I can't promise you that I won't simply dismiss this as more cheap crap foisted upon the average consumer so they will forget all about what's really going on for a while in order to play with their latest "toy". As I'm sure you can tell by now...everything relates to how the vast majority of the population is getting screwed...if only they would pay attention. Family updates would be cool...especially if it's something serious that I can offer sympathy, compassion or an ear to listen...if need be. Actually I consider myself part of a much larger family and I intend to help ALL of my brothers and sisters...of all colors, backgrounds and beliefs.
I don't know when I will talk to you guys again. It could be today, tomorrow, next month, next year or "God" forbid, never. I don't wish for that nor do I wish for anything bad on anybody who might disagree with my point-of-view. I'm not going to hell and you're not going to heaven, or vice versa...or whatever. But we will meet again...I promise you that. In the end we can only be who we are and that is all I'm trying to do. I guess I'm really standing up for myself this time.
Thanks for listening...if you did.
Peace, Roger/Scotty/Scooty McD ; )>