Would they uncancel the Chicks?

When some of the MAGA finally realize the abyssal depth of their leader's moral dicrepitude, and decide they don't like having been lied to, I wonder if they can go back 20 years, decide they didn't like being lied to by George W. Bush and rethink their misplaced disgust at the Dixie Chicks calling him out on it.

It takes courage to speak truth to power. 

It takes courage to admit you were wrong to yourself.

It takes courage to admit you were wrong to the world.

It takes a lot of courage to admit you believed in someone who was so obviously full of bullshit, like realizing you're the last person in middle school who believes in Santa Claus. You want to be cool, and pretend you didn't once you realize you got what everybody else had already figured out. No one wants to appear gullible. But what's the alternative? Continue to pretend to believe? Make up a conspiracy theory?

It takes moral contortionism to keep trying to defend the overt corruption and ethical trainwreck that is DJT.

It takes cowardice to know it in your heart his level of depravity and remain silent.

The World Needs Smart People and Good Leaders

 There's a lot of news about the future of the work with all the AI talk. One thing is for sure, at least for the next generation or two. The world is still going to need some really smart people, savvy about life and fluent with technology and AI. Another thing that's been made painfully clear -- we need people with a moral compass, people who understand service.

It's not necessary to go to college to really challenge your brain, but the thing about college is that many people are there to get smarter and to learn deeply in a subject they want, so they environment makes it easier to nerd out. It's a good place to expose yourself to a mindset of strong work ethic for true understanding, if that's what you want. (Yes, college is also populated by people who are there because they think their parents want them to, or to "get a good job", but you don't have to let that stop you -- just hang out with the ones who are trying to get smart.) But maybe the bigger reason most of us need college is because the structure and organization, along with the monetary "skin in the game" of tuition supports those of us with less discipline to follow through and actually learn. 

With the advent of AI, it's going to take a conscious effort on the part of the student and the college to provide the your brain with all the intense exercise it needs to reach your optimum smartness. Remember, being smart is the product of knowledge, processing, and intelligence. We don't always have a lot of control over our natural intelligence, but we can take what we have, feed it a lot of knowledge, and work it out until it gets as smart as possible. (That's how those of us with a little less intelligence can become smarter than those with more.)

And I'll say one final thing. You can be smart, but if your emotional intelligence and spiritual development are stuck at a 7th grade level, like some of our current administration, you can see the incredible damage it can cause. The power (and technical acumen) needed to change things can be used for good or evil. WE NEED MORE GOOD! 

Math Lessons - Just the Population to Death Ratios.

Using 9/11s as our reference, since Americans of my age can fully recall the magnitude of what that meant. And after October 7, it was a comparison mentioned frequently in the press.

In 9/11, 2,977 people were killed. America's population at the time was around 290 Million people. So the ratio of Americans to those killed was 96,500, or around 100,000 Americans for each person who was killed. Let's use 100,000 for general comparison purposes.

October 7th killed 1,200 according to the US Department of State. Israel's population is around 9.5 million. The ration of Israelis to those killed was 7,916. Let's say 8,000 Israelis for each person who was killed. Compared to 9/11, by this measure, it was 12.5 times worse. It was like 12.5 9/11s.

Since the Israeli offensive began, 40,000+ Palestinians have died in Gaza. The population of Gaza is around 780,000. The ration of Gazans to those killed is 19.5. I'll round it to 20 Palestinians for each person who was killed. Compared to 9/11, by this measure, it was 5,000 times worse. Compared to the October 7th, it was 400 times worse. If even half of those were combatants (most likely way less than half were actually combatants), it was still 2,500 9/11s or 200 October 7th's.

The numbers are close enough. They're just numbers. There are other factors that are important. 

American Civil War: Population of America vs Casualties: 31,000,000 / 620,000 casualties is 50.

Anti-Virus Software Update Fuckin' Microsoft and McAfee.

 The race against bad guys in software is so frustrating! Everybody KNOWS how much pain it causes to the individual, the organization, and to the whole damn world. How does Microsoft let another company (McAfee) make a buck by expiring my OS software protection and needing me to re-up a subscription for monitoring and preventing malware?! I mean, you want me to be loyal and paying for this OS ecosystem, how can you allow yourself to be vulnerable like that?

One of my greatest incentives to go in with Chromebooks when they came out was the lower threat of virus bullshit. I have no memory of any malware issues with any of the Chrome ecosystem products I've used over the years, and I know that's no guarantee of future freedom from fuckery, but one thing is for sure. That is a huge factor in my business choices. I remember it also being a major decision point when deciding between Apple and PC. 

Microsoft, fix this with some of your hundreds of billions of cash. Invest it in doubling your cybersecurity force for the basic platform and stop making a third-party interrupt my attention by having to decide whether I need them to help you keep your OS safe! Am I the only one who finds this amazingly short-sighted and obtuse? Microsoft, your future is in the balance (as it always has been). Why not bring that important consideration into your asset column instead of "scary liability." Stop making me want to dump you!

What's with this goddamn foot?

 Thursday just after lunch, my foot started hurting just upfoot of my index toe, mostly on the top. It felt at first like the bones just got out of whack, like a tendon got slipped over to the wrong side. It got progressively worse as the day went on until I was limping. Tender to the touch on the top, it hurt now, even when I wasn't walking on it. I was sure it was a hairline fracture in one of my metatarsals. My upcoming trips were going to be tough. Googling it let me know I'd probably have to wear a boot or special shoe, and would need to give it rest, and it could take six to twelve weeks to heal. Crud, I was hoping to be hyperambulatory in the Bay Area and later in Japan over the next 4 or more weeks, and was counting on riding my bike to work over the rest of summer school, keep off any more weight gain for all the good reasons. By the time I hobbled to bed, I figured I'd go to urgent care right after work tomorrow (Friday), and get started on taking care of it, and be lame for my trips. When I got up, it was the same -- my morning ablutions were slow and I filled 5 dixie cups of water and put them in the freezer anticipating having to ice the area in the upcoming days and weeks. I drove to work, and my slow painful walk to the bathroom before the first bell was slow. Would the students notice my condition? By the end of first period (of four), it seemed to be getting better? By third period, I wasn't really limping anymore, and though I could still feel it, it was clearly improving. And now, tonight at 10pm, it's normal. I can still register a sensation when I clamp down on the area with my fingers, but no, it stopped hurting. From being certain I'd be having to take ibuprofen and ice to get to sleep to being a hundred percent. What the hell?

We Deserve the World We Get (Climate Version)

 When we evolved on earth, with its climate and biomes, we were one with it (and still are). It was dispassionate which is another way of saying it is harsh and bloody. Everyone lived a life of serenity and terror, toil and joy, triumph and death, birth and pain.  And lately, like within the last few millennium, the same is true for a lot of us in a lot of ways. A select (not fortunate) few are spared much of the trauma and drama because of the economy of scale and specialized economies afforded by money and trade. But still, around the world, and for all time, much of humanity still struggles to survive, and often doesn't. 

Although to tools exist to give all of humanity a lot less toil and a lot more joy, we don't think it's that important that we share it with those without the tools. 

It's ironic that we have put the human habitability of the planet at risk just in time to develop the tools to put it back into the realm of sustained future habitability if we choose to. Ironically those tools we used to threaten us are the same ones we've become so enamored with that we can't give them up to save the species. I guess the part that feels unfair is the people who make all the decisions for the world will suffer the least as they sentence the lot of us to a Mad Max future. It only feels unfair because we choose to value peaceful comfort instead of feral excitement.

Can people ever choose what to value or are shackled to the defaults of their historical lot and upbringing? Tearing our situation down to the basic reality, we're animals with no moral mandate -- merely the biologically engrained urge to survive (which looks really weird in a modern, 21st Century abundant economy). And, (so interestingly!) our biological development also gave us this overactive cerebral cortex which give (some of) us the ability to transcend these urges if we so choose. Or if we're so inclined by personality and cognitive ability and personal preference, to transcend them internally.

This world we bequeath to our progeny is going to be rife with a lot of change. Some of the affluent will surf through it until they die, some will be brutally tossed around in the tumult, and some will drown. Our habit is to lament dangerous and damaging elements in life instead of preparing for them and dealing with them. 

We Deserve the World We Make

 To be sure, we are all individuals and deserve our own just rewards. And so shall we reap them often, and sometimes not. 

We desire for ourselves and our kin and so we leave our neighbors with less. And we strive for riches and so leave the others poor. And in this unhealthy balance, so shall we capsize the vessel. You've overbalanced a canoe (well, some of us have, but you can imagine, or just view a YouTube of one... you get the picture). And yes, we're all in the same boat - Lifeboat Earth. But even in the rich countries, we see the symptoms of crumbling. There are always signs if wear and tear, as in any lived-in house. But statistically, the trend is clear. We're seeing the results of our systemic selfishness, and it's scary. Not for me, I'm always up for some huge trauma. But it seems like most Americans prefer a stable peace.

In my 7th Grade science class, I make it clear that the most important thing is kindness. "What wisdom is greater than kindness?" asks Rousseau. What anything is greater than kindness? After almost 57 years of watching the world from my TV screen and bare eyeballs and computer monitor, it gets clearer every day. We, as a species, are not that good at collective kindness on a global scale. One on one, lots of us do pretty well (and lots don't). But if we refocus our efforts, expand our vision of who and what is in "our world" (because even if we don't see it, the whole world is affected by us and our collective action), if we reward this and the next generations for kindness, we're going to all benefit from that in the same way we are suffering from our current lack thereof. 

Buddhist meditation has many methods and objects of focus, one of which is to beam lovingkindness out into the universe. I don't for a minute believe that those mystical rays actually do emanate any more than God allows YOUR team to win the Superbowl over all the other people praying for THEIR teams. But I do believe that the practice affects the behavior of those who practice it, and the effect of their behavior does, indeed, emanate out into the world. Just as prayer and the belief in prayer and the belief that others are praying for you can bring peace and affect people's behavior and mindset in a way that results in divine outcomes. And in that way, practices that induce people to pray, meditate, spend time with the holy spirit that is in us all as sacred denizens of Earth (along with other animals and plants) is useful and makes a difference. 

As we let those practices languish, as people leave their churches and benevolent orders, as they distance themselves from communities of all sorts, as we withdraw from in-person activities because it's SO DAMN EASY to sit at home and chill with the compelling entertainment of movies, games and TV, we weaken the communal fiber of the world. Back in the day when more of us needed each other for survival (think Pilgrims and settlers), we were able to progress rapidly in every measurable way. Yes, we often treated each other (the outgroups, like Native Americans or African slaves) horrendously, even as we succored our chosen brethren, and we were able to move past the most egregious of those behaviors. But we are still finding ways to "other" groups of us, and we suffer the results with unrest and higher levels of homelessness, certain types of crime, and a pandemic of deaths of despair. We even get to use those new groups (that we create through our lack of kindness) and blame them for our collective failure to love our neighbor. 

When we fail to temper the benefits of capitalism with restrictions that check the dispassionate liabilities of capitalism, we end up where we are. In the first slumping stages of a true plummet of society. Like I said, no skin off my back. I'm an oldie with a broad and deep tolerance for discomfort. But if we can find a way to spread the riches of capitalism to the foundational workers that make it possible, we strengthen the whole system. 

I know competitive politics is one of the driving forces of othering, finding a common scapegoat, and this flies directly in the face of lovingkindness. What's the real solution? The trait that allows people to think it's OK to amass enough wealth for thousands of people, and not use it to buoy up the working class needs to be directly addressed. If you believe selfishness is Gordon Gecko Good, you're normal, and you're morally bankrupt. Justify it any which way you want (legally, economically, existentially), but there's part of you that knows it's one of the root causes of crime, addiction, and poverty. And it eats your soul. You can tell yourself, "Who needs a soul when you get another Lambo?" But you'll die without the golden fleece, without drinking from the Holy Grail, and of course, you'll not make it through that eye of the needle. Not that you need to, but of all the goals to strive for in life, looks like you picked the wrong one.

Old Age Wisdom or Not

 How can a person so smart be unwise? I've noticed that smart techno bosses, when they reach older age, can renounce former mindsets. It's fine, because we need the blind exuberance of running with an idea to make the progress, which has shown to be ultimately pretty dangerous, and maybe even unmanageable, and perhaps not that progressive in terms of humanity, like "the humanity" of humanity. Look at the first big one: The Industrial Revolution, which led to the obsession around growth (without necessarily always of hardly ever thinking of the consequences). What brought us this remarkable enabling industrial complex lead to awesome warfighting capability and the biggest catastrophe yet in human history (WWI & II). Its technology supported landing on the moon and the next big revolution: tech. Which now is both helping and harming us. It's saved billions of lives and it has led to some disturbing trends which could potentially bring it all down in 2 swell swoops. The first is climate change, and the second is AI/Social Media and it's unpredictable influence on politics and government. When we stop trusting the government for real (we're like 20% there?), the termites could eventually weaken the foundation enough to have it crumble. Or is conflagration a better metaphor, once we reach a criticality. If we even last long enough to reach the theoretical Singularity of AI. 

So that's the background, but let's turn the perspective back into the everyday life or normal humans. Wisdom makes it pretty clear that a life well lived doesn't depend on any of those things, and people go on living their normal, regular, amazing lives despite all of the cataclysms impinging on us from the macro world. The final calculus for a life well lived, though with considerable variation on this theme, is having satisfying interactions with the universe that make us feel human. For most of us, it's probably our friends and loved ones, the close cadre of our people. For others it might even be their moments in nature or with their animals and pets. For some, it might be how they see their work has touched people's lives, but I'm guessing those people are most affirmed by the special, individual interactions they have with the people, their fellow humans/ animals, that have benefited from their service, and that might be what they need for their deepest, most meaningful life experiences. For everyone I've ever heard talk about it, it's those personal connections (even if it's with "nature" or "the Universe" or their version of God) that, in the end, we value most. That really mattered and matter to us.

Spending time with our dear people, sharing ideas and thoughts and feelings, some music and food. Playing games and sports, and hanging around and hugging and loving, singing and dancing, making art and sharing it... We can do that, and have for millennia, without any of the machines of modern life. Medicine can lengthen and enhance those meaningful interactions, make us feel better for longer... But even so, we don't need a phone or a car or an extra three feet of counterspace to get what we really want out of life. Let's consider that universal truth deeply, and let it wash over us and permeate and saturate us until we really get it now, before we have to reflect on it as we face our mortality in our death bed or when the fire is outrunning us. Let's take a day now and sit with that idea until it forces us to reprioritize our calendar, and tone it down so we can drift off in the end with no more regrets than we'd have if we died today. 

Tater Tate and Allen Mundy by John Hartford Lyrics

Bluegrass music playin' in the park

Bluegrass music pickin' way past dark

Bluegrass music it don't butt in

Don't need an amp, and don't plug in

Bluegrass music that's where it's at

Hey let's hear it for Lester Flatt

Joe Sturd and Pete Rowen

Mack Wiseman and Melvin Goin

Stoney Cooper and Earl Sneed

Bluegrass Music is what we need

It is a Tater Tate and Allen Mundy

Earl Scruggs and Junior Husky

Bill Monroe and Betty Fischer

Don and Earl and Curly Cifer

Norman Ford and Douglas Dillard

Patsy Clemin, Jay and Jesse

JD Crow and Little Lord Fletcher

Francis Gray and Big Joe Green

Jackie Felton Don Mckuen

Doctor At--- and Doctor Harris, 

Sam Bush and Johnny Barton

Curly Fox and Curtis Brown

Roy Ossen Howdy Forseth

Charley Monroe and the Lewis Family

Eddie Hill The Louven Brothers

Carter Ralph and the Stanley Brothers

Uncle Josh and the Brewster Brothers

Bobby Sudder and the Osborne Brothers

Rudy John and the Frewer 

Grandpa Jones and ---

Curt Magee and Eddie Awkuff

Bobby Sloan and Charlie Waller

Lonnie Pierce and Allen Shelton

Dale Slate and Jim Buchanan

Little Roy and Lightning Chance

Monroe Fields and Ronnie Reno

Clarence White and Candy Baker

Roger Bush and Buddy Edmonds

Uncle Dave and Byron Burle

Gene Goforth Bad Burton

Ron Russel Randy Scruggs

Gordon Terry and Doc Watson

George Croon and Loyd Loren

Don, Brown and Carl Storey

Chuck Taylor and Mitch Dean

Mike Belford Stoner Haven

Nate Bray and Raymond Fairchild

Dave Hollen Roy Husky

Bill, Kieth and Jim Roony

Del McCrory David Christman

Ricky Skaggs and Tony Rice,

Ronny Stullman Ever Lilly

Billy Ray and Wilma Lee

 The feels. We don't say that anymore -- that was so 2019. But words aside, the idea is universal. There are times when they hit us. It makes it almost impossible to be thinking bad conspiracy thoughts about people. For me, it stops the judgments and puts me in the situation of whatever I'm exposed to. 

With the feels, it's about a connection of some sort to someone else's experience, and I join them there. It's the compulsion of empathy. Yeah, I could resist and steel myself against it, but why? Why? I'm so used to my own feeling main-drag most of the time -- why NOT take a few minutes to let myself see a different view of life from another's...eyes? Hypothalamus? Amygdala? 

I'm convinced that if we could sit on a big sectional with a decent sound system, have someone from the other side of opinions play their favorite high school play-list, and talk over the thoughts and feelings that they bring up, that this ridiculous othering and demonizing of the "enemy" would disappear with a few sessions.

This isolationist, echo-chamber, anti-speech immersion common today is the opposite. It lets the thought leaders (influenceers/ pundits/ talking heads/ pecuniary exploiters) corrupt the truth by sticking to their one-sided righteousness broadcast, which, of COURSE, is so much more common-sensical then the other side. When you don't have to feel anything but your own (baser) sentiments amplified and stimulated and emitted, and then radiated out with laser focus against whoever is not [us], of course that's going to excite that default "I'm good, aren't I?" desire. 

When you get a chance to FEEL the sentiment of someone foreign to your sensibilities, it's weird at first. Because there's a this disturbing sense that they have a point, like there's a legitimacy to their perspective, based on their life experience. And sometimes even their deep study of facts. But you've spent the better part of [a decade? lifetime? few years?] simply trying to contradict their thoughts. Yuck. That's just stupid when you realize that, at the core, the intentions are the same: Everyone should get a fair chance to live their lives as they like, free to be who they are and act as they believe is the best for themselves and their family. Yes, it's not that simple in the details, but fuck the motherfuckers who don't acknowledge that we all want the best for ourselves and the long-term prosperity of our country for everyone between our shores. Start with that. And stop disparaging the others' motives (unless they're bigoted), if you must have your "others." (I get it, it's easy to forget I am you. Easiest thing in the world. And, of course, utterly true.)

Journey Plebe Summer

A Journey story. Plebe summer, the day before second set was going to take over...The firsties from first set was trying to instill the fear of God in us, telling us that as tough as they were, second set was going to be ten times worse. We had been flamed on all day, especially the last hour, and they let us know how disappointed they were. We were all out in the passageway, braced up against the wall, and they were fed up with us. They were screaming at us, we weren't ready. "Everyone, go back and get your bayonets and your newspaper articles and be out here in 5 minutes!!" They were apparently not satisfied with our daily knowledge (conversant with two newspaper articles and a boatload of other trivia) and we expected to have to... I don't know -- hold our bayonets at arms length until our already drenched white-works had another pint of sweat dripping down? So we chopped back into our rooms and grabbed our bayonets and newspapers, checked each other over, and chopped back out. When we got back out in the passageway, there, by everyone's door was a pizza box, two liter bottles of Coke, and a watermelon. One of the firsties had brought his speakers out in the passageway and started blasting "Stone in Love" by Journey. We were given carry-on, and of course the bayonets were to slice up the watermelon, and the newspapers to keep it clean. The surprise of what we expected contrasted with the joy of relief, release, and accomplishment was intense. I would feel it again at graduation, getting my wings, and finishing up SERE school. To this day, that's the song lifts me up. "Oh, the memories never fade away."  That was 11th Company. Did everyone do that? I'm curious.

Interest Rates and Inflation

 If you want a simple understanding of this, it is not going to happen. The forces affecting the economy are so many and so varied, that it is an art as much as a science. Some effects happen in a few weeks, some in a few months, some over a year, and some decades or generations. And all those are pushing and pulling in different directions and on different sectors of the economy.

Trying to answer directly and simply would necessarily omit a lot of the nuances and subtleties, and feel really unsatisfying. And even the experts disagree on how things might turn out if you raise prime interest rate a little more or a little less or not at all. 

Raising the prime rate (which is what the Fed does) cascades through the banking lending system and effects certain markets pretty fast (like housing since mortgage rates follow the prime rate -- sometimes quick, sometimes laggy, and sometimes even LEADING the Fed's actions). That affects certain behaviors with home buyers, which indirectly and later will lead to rents changing, and it can affect other big purchases like cars (where you need loans). The prime rate also bumps credit card interest rates, so people will want to (but may not be able to) spend less on their credit cards, so maybe they wait for other middling purchases like appliances or furniture -- slowing inflation on that sector). BUT, inflation makes people want to buy SOONER because if they wait, their $800 they have in the bank can buy the dishwasher today, but the same one might cost $900 next year.

And all the while, energy prices (which impact inflation and every other sector as well) are affected by other influences throughout the world like hurricanes, wars in Europe, OPEC actions and reactions, bringing refining capacity up or not... Energy prices affect how much people have left over after their gasoline and electricity bills, which are NOT tied as closely to the prime rate.

And of course there are seasonal effects, supply chain snafus still finding their way back from the pandemic (and still being effected by China's "No COVID Policy" which shuts down various economic centers in a chaotic fashion), and literally, the price of [tea? wheat? rice?] in China.

But overall, raising the prime rate can slow things down, eventually enough to get inflation under control (hopefully) without causing too painful of a depression. Because, in the opinion of most economists, runaway inflation and stagflation would be even worse than a depression.

I'm no economist but I've spent a few years reading Business Week, Forbes and the WSJ, and listen to Marketplace every afternoon on the way home from work and it lets me know how much I don't know, and how much of it is "best guess" work by the people actually making the decisions.

September 19th, 2022 Latest Musings

 I'm running into the beginning of the end for my potential to contribute to the world in a way that makes me feel like it mattered. I don't know if it will matter -- by making things better (cause it might make things worse, whatever that means), but I don't know if it won't, either. We can't know. I just have a feeling that more people better understanding their world is a net positive.

Understanding the world -- which could include a few different major ways (modalities) of understanding:

• My relationship with and role in this world.
• How the world works. (Various parts: physical science, social, who am I, how do I live and behave in the world, why things are including people and my relationships with my fellow travelers and with the universe).
• What's important to me, to those in my circle and community, and to the current and future generations of humans.

I have  a feeling that the more people who can appreciate being alive and aware, for its own sake, the better they can cope with the other interesting events and challenges they encounter during their lives.

I really think the greater number of people who see the world as a place and time they can make other people's lives better, and their own along with it, and their own because of it, each of them multiply the betterment for others as well as themselves.

Living potently

 I was thinking of myself and my middle school students, and the time we waste on screens. I don't like it for me or for them. Since this life is finite, it keeps us from those things that make life feel really good.

Sure, some time to relax, decompress, shut-down after a tiring day is also healthy, within limits. And it's the limit. It begs the question: then what SHOULD we be doing when we're done relaxing and with our day job, which for me is teaching and for the students is learning.

If you've ever done something important, you can feel it. When you work hard to help someone who needs it, there's a feeling -- have you felt it? When you're trying to pay the bills and feed the family, and you're working for that, you feel it. When you're cultivating your garden knowing you're going to eat the fruit of your labors, you feel it. It's affirming. When you're building relationships with your colleagues at work by collaborating on something and heading out to a happy hour on the way home, it feels like you earned it.

Filling up the days with things like that, along with R&R when you need it sets up a healthy mental place to be. The soul-nurturing activities of being part of your world, working to be an important part of it, and taking your own time continuing to do things that honestly cultivate your soul -- it builds up your sense of ownership of your life and connection with the world, you can feel that you belong.

When you don't do those things, but spend your time not doing those things, the opposite is true. The sense of potency and meaning are far away and there's a drifty feeling, unmoored to anything that really matters to you, and that doesn't feel good. It's not bad every once in awhile, but if that's one's main thing, it sets you up to be tossed about by the vicissitudes of life, instead of anchored to the key elements of your purposeful existence. 

Incels and femcels

 More of a symptom of the unexamined appropriation of the typical societal norm. Why would anyone in their right mind just adopt beliefs without challenging them for their utility, health, effectiveness. 

When you're sitting there deciding on your purpose in life, are you adopting one that is full of shit? As if your purpose was to mate with a handsome man, have a beautiful, normal kid, make a million dollars a year, own lots of things and die? Of course not, shut the fuck up. Who wants to live in that world where that's some kind of goal? Those things happen to people, but what to what end?

Get out of your head, sit your ass down and start from the basics. Your purpose in life is to discover your talents and joys (both), go ahead and develop and engage in them in a way that offers the people of the world, or the world itself, your service.

There is nothing more beautiful and attractive than someone immersed in their natural abilities, doing their best to help out the world. People want to be around that and work with that and celebrate that. Along the way, you'll be running into like-minded people, get to know and love them, and get to bask in the coolness that those relationships bring. You can hang, do some things you all like to do, and then if something romantic happens, great! And if it doesn't, you're having an amazing time with awesome people living the dream. SHUT UP about not having the thing that everybody ELSE wants or says you should want. Fuck that noise. You define your own life and world on your terms and stop victimizing yourselves in lives of stressful depression.

Little Seed

 Little seed, sown under some loamy soil, let the water soak through your porous skin and start your starchy core. Let the suns warm shine wake your sleeping germ. Push out your first shoots and roots, and drink the moisture quick, and with oxygen mix and stir the stem, send up your tender leaves to seek the light of life. Breath in the carbon gas and work your magic chemistry to power the green machine that transforms the dead to live, and grow and finally to bloom, to dry and drop another little seed.

The Bigger Picture

 I'm seeing it too -- the predictions about how our changing climate is going to cause a lot of change to everything. I believe it will. And that doesn't scare me even a little. I still think we should go all out with our efforts to do what's possible to slow down the inevitable in homage to the principle of causing the least harm to the greatest number of people (sort of the contrapositive to doing the most good to the most amount of people). Slower change means more time to adjust and adapt, and less strain on every system.

But here's why I'm not scared. Already in the world there are millions living through the hell we envision, any hell we are capable of envisioning. Millions. There's a real, non-zero possibility of me (or you) running into some situation that would rival sort of existence we imagine when our minds conger the scary scenarios of our climate future. 

But why I'm not scared? Because we have this life, as has everyone else, to face whatever challenges and struggles life throws at us the best we can. Whether it's personal or the whole community or the whole world, we will live through heartbreak, we will watch loved ones die, we can suffer our own disease and injury, our parents, and sometimes our children, will suffer. And like the billions before us, we'll do what we can to live, love and cope with our lot. This is OUR life, this is our world. It's no worse for any given individual than war is. It's no worse than a painful, slow death by cancer or COVID. In whatever future collective and personal battles we'll face, we'll find ways to keep ourselves entertained, to make the most of what we're confronted with, and carry on trying to survive, just like now. 

I'm motivated to somehow be part of the solution and always have been. The only difference might be which problem is facing me now. It's not the Soviets, which seemed the biggest problem when I was a kid. It's not the 1970s energy crisis any more, with our national malaise (thank you, Jimmy Carter -- you were right). And it's not so much COVID anymore -- the only thing standing in the way of us having beaten that down already is our political choices (who'd'a thought?). So, our situation may seem more dire or widespread or high-stakes than it has been in the past, but that's just our lack of perspective and limited vision making us think that. I'm pretty sure some Civil War era folk may have thought the same thing, along with the Michican Indians when Cortez and smallpox brought them down. What civilization and colonization did to Native Americans is no greater than what we've done to the world with our fossil fuel and polluting society. 

We'll be OK, like we always have, like we always will, because we're alive and kicking and we make of our lives what we know how to. Which is exactly what we've been doing this whole time so far. And, in the unlikely event that we extinct ourselves (whether it's global habitability or human fear causing the breakdown of the current order), then it's a shame and still OK, just like our own death.

WWTA* Say? Jesus' take on vaccine scoffers.

[I'm imagining a Christian on their judgment day, meeting their maker (or duly appointed representative). I'm assuming you can't, like, talk shit to Jesus (or God, or St. Peter, or whoever is the acting bouncer to the afterlife) and they'd just be like, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." No, I'm assuming he can see inside your heart, all the way through to your most authentic soul. I hope so, because if They're judging you for an eternity of heaven or hell, it better be legit.

And He's paging through his little record, and he pauses, looks up and says, "Oh, you decided not to be vaccinated?"

And you say, "Yeah, I didn't think it was really that effective."]

Jesus: But, I know you heard the testimony of the doctors and the nurses who said they were burning out in the COVID care clinics and hospitals. And you saw that news report where the ICUs were getting full and some people where actually being turned away because they were full, and so some of them died. It says here you heard that on the radio. And that 90%+ of the patients were unvaccinated -- you knew that, too.

You: But, I didn't believe it.

Jesus: Um, I can see through to the bottom of your soul, and you clearly thought that there was a possibility it could be true. After all, why would all the doctors and nurses caring for people through outrageous hardship be lying? I'm looking at your soul again, and you actually DIDN'T think they were a bunch of whiny babies. You thought there might be some truth to it. But you wanted to ignore it. Can you explain?

You: Forgive me, Father for I have sinned.

Jesus: You know that I told you love your neighbor, take care of the sick, all that? You had ONE JOB! Well, two, but that was the main one.

You: But they tried to make me do it and take away my freedom...

Jesus: Yeah. No. There were months where it was just encouraged. You didn't take advantage.

You: But there were serious side effects. I read it on the internet. It was rushed through.

Jesus: Did you forget who you're talking to? You maybe could convince your friends you believed that, but I TOLD you -- don't BS me.  You know damn well that the rare side effect was utterly trivial compared to the ravages of COVID. You saw the intubated patients. I warned you to have no other Gods before me...or did you forget that? You put your fear of needles and the inconvenience of getting two tiny arm pricks ahead of the lives of your neighbors. What do you think I should do with you? Just say, "Great, ignore my main rule, go on into heaven, enjoy," when you thumbed your nose at my "Love your neighbor" thing? 

You: Well, what can I do to make it better?

Jesus: Not much there on Earth. You're dead now. Maybe you can explain this: You didn't pray to me for guidance on this issue. I mean, dude! I was rejected, tortured, and crucified by my people for YOU. And you can't face a tiny needle? Or the exceedingly rare potential side effect? If you HAD prayed to me, what do you think I would have said? 

You: To get the shots.

Jesus: Mm. Do you want to know how many people you were responsible for killing?

You: Not really.

Jesus: Right. You don't. But does that really matter? You could have been one of the unvaccinated people that contributed to the 100,000 extra deaths, easily preventable. I'll just tell you: some. You killed some. Oh, and you killed some doctors and nurses, too. The work got them, some of them to COVID, some to suicide. Can you imagine if everybody was like you? It would have been millions.  Go sit over there. I'm going to let you sit with your decisions for awhile before I tell you what I'm going to do.

[1000 years later...] 

Jesus: OK, I made up my mind. You're going to have a discussion with each of the people who were killed by people like you, who decided not to get vaccinated knowing deep in their heart that they should. It could take awhile. And when you're done, we'll have another chat and go from there. This is your chance to make up for being a CINO (Christian in name only). You want to continue or just head on down to hell?

* What Would Thomas Aquinas Say? TA would sometimes entertain hypothetical religious ideas.

Syllabus

Did YOU ever read the goddamn syllabus? Fuck that, just pay attention in class, do your fucking work, and get help when you need it. Listen, write that shit down in your planner. Take care of your damn business and try to LEARN as much as you can. Shit. Oh, and don't forget to have fun.

Worries

Worry, like anger, is harmful and not productive. Don't do it to yourself. It's a mental kick in the balls. It's the emotional equivalent of poking yourself with a pin. Most of us wouldn't take an lemon peel and squeeze it into our open eye. Don't do the same thing with your scary thoughts.

If you're religious, for God's sake, follow your faith's teachings. They all preach surrendering your worries to God. But that's easy to say and hard to do (for a lot of us). If you're not religious, consider getting one, or fall back on your reasoning mind and preferred wisdom philosophy. They can often fill that hole in your sole. 

Replace your hand wringing with useful actions that address in real life whatever (the hell) you're worrying about.

Worried about your kids getting COVID at school? Educate them about all the things they need to do to prevent the spread of COVID for themselves (and others). Or, home school. Or take advantage of your school's (district's) distance learning option. 

Worried about climate change? Prepare yourself for the possible results: simplify your life, minimize your physical assets for easy mobility if you have to move. Train yourself for survival in the world you imagine might encounter. 

Worried about something else? Think of a solution that will prepare you for possible eventualities, write them down, start taking action and put the pieces in place to deal with it. Whatever your worry, there are knowledge resources to help you get a handle on the solutions.

Upset over some great wrongness in the world? Get involved in the solution in a real way (outside your online world). You can still use your social media to be active, spread awareness and find organizations to work with. But if you don't actually GO THERE and work with people in real life, and spend the time and effort, and/or money, you're not likely to allay much of your worry.

For all these human challenges, remember that at all times in human history, people have faced problems just as bad. Imagine being a Jew in WWII Germany. An American living in the Civil War South. A slave in any of the slave countries. A current Uyghur in present-day China or Rohingya in Myanmar. How about a Black Plague peasant? Most of us live in amazing security and luxury, and many of us in tolerable comfort. When it's our time to struggle, then struggle we will to the best of our abilities. Here are some general tips that best prepare you for ANY potential future:

• Make friends. Be part of a community that you contribute to and rely on in times of trouble. 
• Develop your faith or philosophy that helps you focus on the important tasks and find peace when times are tough. The daily/periodic practice of religion can really help with this if you don't have your own practice that keeps you centered and at peace.
• Plan and prepare, work and build for anything that troubles your thoughts.
• Make friends with death, your own and the death of your loved ones. Spoiler alert: they all die in the end. In American culture, this is not a normal practice, but it should be. Find resources (books, people, etc.) that can help you if this is not something you're comfortable with.
• Be smart. Stay educated. Read and listen broadly and deeply in many topics that give you general understanding of how everything in the world works. Talk about them with other smart people to help process and own your knowledge. Practice doing new things (crafts, building, fixing things, different sports/ activities, hobbies, technologies, interactions with different systems).

Those things help you with general well being and keep you young. The collateral benefits of facing your worries with action is you can often eliminate the cause of the worries. Acting is learning, too. 

In any case, shut-up your ridiculous worries by getting your pusillanimous ass in gear to vanquish them to your personal historical dustbin.