Yeah, its been a long time since anything has been posted due to a very different summer bar season. Several things have happened this year that has made things different than in years past and I will go down the short list in short order: 1) People have less money to hang out (pick a reason why) 2) Bars have cut back on entertainment during summer (pick any reason) 3) More bars are going under and closing (politics, finance, etc. pick one)The whole of society seems to be falling into a vortex of ignorance and fear sparked by propagandists (Conservative Radio, FOX NEWS, Race baiting politicians, uncertainty about jobs, uncertainty about living the way you want and especially lack of opportunity).
We could blame the President, Congress, NeoCons from the last administration, Big Business, Agra-Business, Lobbyists and the Rich for what we now live like in the USA.
But as the late King of Pop, Music Icon and Entertainer Maximus, Michael Jackson once said, “lets start with the Man in the Mirror.” Most of us are under incredible stress, between having and keeping a job, raising kids, paying bills and praying to God no one gets hurt, sick or ends up in court. (No faster way to empty a savings account than to be involved with Doctors & Lawyers). So it is we who need to change our hearts and minds?
As Americans living in America we have always grown up believing and knowing we have the greatest nation, greatest life of any persons on the face of the planet. Our nation is first in technology, our nation is free, our nation rules and must rule the world (at least, thats what we were taught, that was the case 30 years ago).
But as the late King of Pop, Music Icon and Entertainer Maximus, Michael Jackson once said, “lets start with the Man in the Mirror.” Most of us are under incredible stress, between having and keeping a job, raising kids, paying bills and praying to God no one gets hurt, sick or ends up in court. (No faster way to empty a savings account than to be involved with Doctors & Lawyers). So it is we who need to change our hearts and minds?
As Americans living in America we have always grown up believing and knowing we have the greatest nation, greatest life of any persons on the face of the planet. Our nation is first in technology, our nation is free, our nation rules and must rule the world (at least, thats what we were taught, that was the case 30 years ago).
Now as we let our government strip our freedoms one by one, as government lets the financiers rip us off, and put restrictions on our own industrial growth, we are the ones who are to blame. We won’t do anything…or is it we don’t know how?
To be a citizen of the United States one must exercise his or her citizenship. How? First steal a day out of your miserable existence to find out where your Congressman or Congresswoman’s Office is hidden. Create a list of immediate concerns that you have (i.e. jobs, health care, illegal immigration, legalized marijuana – whatever) and waddle your big ass to that once hidden place and introduce yourself. (It’s even better when you can get friends to join in)
We have depended too much on our elected officials to do what we elected them to do in the first place, that is Govern. They have been bought and paid for by a lot of special interests none of which gives a fuck about you, your job, your health or your kids. The reason that “we” don’t go down to the offices of our officials and make it plain that they work for “us” is fear, an air of intimidation resonates from those in power.
You and Me have to get past the feeling that we are just one or two citizens and not let the gatekeepers in the Government offices use politispeak or condescension to make us feel insignificant.
To be a citizen of the United States one must exercise his or her citizenship. How? First steal a day out of your miserable existence to find out where your Congressman or Congresswoman’s Office is hidden. Create a list of immediate concerns that you have (i.e. jobs, health care, illegal immigration, legalized marijuana – whatever) and waddle your big ass to that once hidden place and introduce yourself. (It’s even better when you can get friends to join in)
We have depended too much on our elected officials to do what we elected them to do in the first place, that is Govern. They have been bought and paid for by a lot of special interests none of which gives a fuck about you, your job, your health or your kids. The reason that “we” don’t go down to the offices of our officials and make it plain that they work for “us” is fear, an air of intimidation resonates from those in power.You and Me have to get past the feeling that we are just one or two citizens and not let the gatekeepers in the Government offices use politispeak or condescension to make us feel insignificant.
Do not let your Government demean or humiliate you. (You may already have lost your job, healthcare, kids, self-esteem, or reason to live) Take your concerns directly to where it is best handled, if it’s the State then to State officials. If the Federal Government, start with Congress and the Senate.
As long as we sit on our ass and listen to CNN, FOX, CNBC or any other outlet and believe what we hear, we are stupid. I have long ago chose to question all I hear and almost nothing I see and anything said by a politician. I have gone on my own little expeditions to find the truth.
That takes a little time. But if you choose to let Rush Limbaugh, Keith Olberman, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Ed Shultz or even Lou Dobbs tell you what to think then you already have forfeit your citizenship.
In the words of the late Dr. Timothy Leary, “Think for yourself and always question authority.” You! Yeah You. You must take the initiative to find out “facts” and then act on them. Today you may loose your house, tomorrow you may loose the ability to by a beer, tomorrow you could loose your freedoms, freedoms bought and paid for in blood. You must be responsible for you and those around you.
Politics, Government and propaganda are not something I lightly comment on in a blog about bars, nightlife and the pursuit of happiness. But the reason why we don’t hang out as much is because the whole premise of socialization, which only takes place when people “socialize” is threatened when a group of forces want to make you little more than a slave. If we can’t get together for a drink where are “we” the people, people of different races, religions and beliefs going to get together?
I don’t give a damn if you’re a rabidly bigoted conservative or a bleeding heart left leaning socialist liberal, unless we take back our country through personal involvement and personal commitment we will become another broken power, like ancient Rome, like the British Empire of the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries “We, the People” will become a footnote hidden in the darkness of a doomed human history. American’s need to socialize with each other to share our America with each other.
The United States of America was founded by intellectuals, radicals, drunkards and profiteers who met in bars. The reason we have a United States is because the first armed fighting force organized for the United States existed before there was a United States…the United States Marine Corps was founded in a bar. The men recruited were from the bar. Not that we should talk politics in a bar, but we should talk to each other and confront our government.
Yes, go to Church to find God and salvation. Go to the bar to pursue God’s creations. Keep yourself from the insidious infections of hate and intransigence. Free yourselves from the divisive propagandists, the disciples of Joseph Goebbels[1] working at CNBC, FOX, Talk Radio, and even CNN.
Politics, Government and propaganda are not something I lightly comment on in a blog about bars, nightlife and the pursuit of happiness. But the reason why we don’t hang out as much is because the whole premise of socialization, which only takes place when people “socialize” is threatened when a group of forces want to make you little more than a slave. If we can’t get together for a drink where are “we” the people, people of different races, religions and beliefs going to get together?
I don’t give a damn if you’re a rabidly bigoted conservative or a bleeding heart left leaning socialist liberal, unless we take back our country through personal involvement and personal commitment we will become another broken power, like ancient Rome, like the British Empire of the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries “We, the People” will become a footnote hidden in the darkness of a doomed human history. American’s need to socialize with each other to share our America with each other.
The United States of America was founded by intellectuals, radicals, drunkards and profiteers who met in bars. The reason we have a United States is because the first armed fighting force organized for the United States existed before there was a United States…the United States Marine Corps was founded in a bar. The men recruited were from the bar. Not that we should talk politics in a bar, but we should talk to each other and confront our government.
Yes, go to Church to find God and salvation. Go to the bar to pursue God’s creations. Keep yourself from the insidious infections of hate and intransigence. Free yourselves from the divisive propagandists, the disciples of Joseph Goebbels[1] working at CNBC, FOX, Talk Radio, and even CNN.
Love your America.
Live it up.
RJ
[1] Paul Joseph Goebbels (29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. He was one of German dictator Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, eventually succeeding him as Chancellor of Germany, an office he held for only one day, carrying out one official act: sending a delegation to seek a ceasefire with the Russians. Goebbels was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism. He was the chief architect of the Kristallnacht attack on the German Jews, which historians consider to be the commencement of the Nazi violence culminating in the Holocaust. From Wikipedia the free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels
RJ:
ReplyDeleteI hear you and I'm on your side. Thank you for writing again, I missed you alot.
My problem is that I feel (sad but true) that I don't have the education or the ability to challenge our government.
I'm probably the norm for this country. Minus the fact that I am, in no way, lazy or living in a bubble, I don't have the ammunition to argue with some suit, who holds a position in some office somewhere in this county, about anything you mentioned. I'm not intimidated by the government, I know our representatives are mostly full of crap about everything they stand for and I also know that this country is going to "hell in a handbasket", so to speak, but what can I possibly do to change that? No job, no money, uneligible for social services, in debt, hungry (need I go on?).....I, as one citizen, am f*%#ed. I have no voice and my opinion is worth nothing to the politicians who promise to make it better for us. Personally, I love this country, it's my country and I would give my life for it even though our government could care less about the well being of its' citizens (especially after they get us to vote them into office, how gullible are we?) so what's the average person supposed to do?
This is a difficult subject for most of us. Day to day life is hard enough. Finding employment and trying to survive in this day and age is our first priority.
All I can possibly think to say to people is this: May G-d be with you". And to our so-called government: Thanks for all your "help" in these difficult times. Your citizens are suffering. while you guys are sitting pretty with your huge salaries, you're eating every day, driving nice new cars, sending your kids to college, living in nice houses, preparing for your retirement and are feeling very comfortable while sucking the freakin' life out of the little people. You remember us? You lied to us to get our votes and now that you are where you want to be, we, the people, are absolutely screwed. Again, thanks for nothing....come out and meet your voters, I'm sure they will buy you a drink or two, even though you suck big giant ass!
PARTY ON, WAYNE!!!! DRINK UP, JOHNNY!!!!
We're doomed anyway, might as well have a good ole time.
I don't know about realism or propoganda. The illustrations are very cute but Americans are not stupid. We are just desperate right now.
Support your local bars or you won't have anywhere to drink that is close to home. This means you will drive to an establishment that is not in your own neighborhood. You won't leave your vehicle and take a taxi home because this establishment is a bit too far and you'll be concerned about your car. What does this mean? Yep, you'll drive yourself home and put you and others in jeopardy, not to mention the DWI you might receive. Whatever, that's another story, we all get the picture. It ain't pretty, is it?