Diary of a Madman

The voices in my head are constantly shouting and driving me to the brink of insanity. Each week I try to write down what they are saying in the hopes that I may help some future civilization.

I often think of the Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs and how their mighty empires failed. Droughts and wars all took their toll. Then came the Spanish with their better weapons, but it was the Spanish soldier with smallpox who really finished off these indigenous societies. As for the Aztecs, all the thousands of human sacrifices didn't help them – it turns out that their god didn't really care. And, really, shouldn't they have gotten a clue? If you murder thousands of people to make your god happy isn't that going to hurt the economy? In modern America we no longer sacrifice human bodies — just human brains.

So, what is to become of the American empire? The disconnect from reality and the obsession of living for the present at the expense of the future are the two things that will do us in. We made it through the Civil War and Great Depression but I'm not sure we'll make it through the Debt Collapse and Climate Change.

Half of Americans don't even bother to vote and even less read, especially blogs. So, it's good knowing that I can say whatever I want, knowing that aliens or the next iteration of humanity are the only ones who will read my rambling thoughts.

So, to all my future readers, allow me to share some of my thoughts for this week:

Evolution, Intelligent Design & Climate Change

Oh, honey, please. How many times do I have to hear that evolution "is just a theory." In science, the word "theory" has a completely different meaning. A scientific theory is an explanation of the natural world that can be repeatedly confirmed or replicated by experimentation. Evolution has been repeatedly confirmed by many scientists over many decades. It's hard fact.

Intelligent design is something that Christian apologists completely made up to counter the growing evidence of evolution. There is not an iota of proof of intelligent design anywhere in nature. It's just an attempt to make the more intellectual Christians feel better.

And as for Climate Change denial, evolution denial, and general science denial, I would ask a simple question: Why are you believing some superstitious, Late Bronze Age, Hebrew goat farmers over hundreds of scientists, historians, and archeologists? When the Hebrews invented the current god they didn't even have the creativity to create one from scratch. Instead, they borrowed the war god Yahweh from their neighbors, the Canaanites.

No matter how much evidence I provide or how much debating I do, I know that I can never convince anyone to change their mind. Once a story is deeply embedded into most people they are unable to change.

Trump is Doing A Great Job

Granted, Trump put two conservative justices on the Supreme Court but other than that he has done absolutely NOTHING but Tweet a lot and create drama. When pro-Trump supporters tell me about how well the stock market is doing they are suddenly quiet when it takes a dip. When they tell me how well the economy is doing they don't mention the record monthly deficits that our government is racking up, caused in part by the huge tax cut for corporations. Granted, once Democrats return to power the Republicans will scream about the deficit nonstop. The only thing I've ever liked about Republicans is their fiscal responsibility, and they've even screwed that up. So, when a conservative tells me that "Trump is doing a great job" I know this is more about supporting the Trump cult more than anything else.

Brexit and Boris Johnson

Who is this Boris Johnson guy? First there was Trump in the U.S., then Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and now we have Boris Johnson in the U.K. What we are witnessing is a worldwide reactionary backlash to globalization and the human population explosion.

First, let me say that you cannot escape globalization. You can build walls and stop immigration but you are only buying time. You can build a wall around your country and isolate yourself but it won't work in the long run.

World population was 3 billion in 1960 and is now about to hit 8 billion. Humans are multiplying wildly and that is what's causing so much social disruption and environmental damage, which, in turn, causes more social disruption. People are scared by all the negative changes, caused by their own runaway birthing, and they turn to leaders who promise good things now, with no regard for the future, which is on a downward spiral anyway. These right-wing leaders assure the people that they can live in their Pollyanna, make-believe worlds while everything crumbles around them. But yet it's only temporary, and the anti-environmental policies of these leaders only brings things to a faster crash. Although I did hear Boris Johnson say he plans to address climate change, at least.

Decision Making

Our human society is where it's at now as a result of poor decisions. Major decisions are often made to favor immediate comfort over long-term wellbeing. In my own life I can see how my bad decisions have gotten me to my current position of being broke and single. There were decisions I put off because I didn't want to deal with them. In other cases, I made bad decisions because I didn't have all of the facts. Other times I acted impetuously. The same can be said for decisions made by our government and society as a whole. It's imperative that we have a U.S. Congress that is willing to make hard decisions rather than continually "kicking the can down the road." The two most critical issues facing us are the federal deficit and climate change. We need political leaders who will take courageous action instead of obsessing with reelection and oiling the squeaky wheels of their constituency, such as those fear-driven, paranoid NRA members.

Conclusion

My brain is full of thoughts, day and night. I daydream and think about the things I want most — good relationships, including romantic, and financial stability. And good health, and solid goals in life that I can work toward. I want it all, baby. But what I really want is to survive because that desire has been drilled into me through a billion years of evolution. I want to live. I want to be happy.

As far as long-term vision goes, I want to see a world where we respect nature, wildlife, and each other. I want to see the all-consuming rat race to make a buck come to an end. We all need to adopt a simplistic lifestyle and recover from our addiction to materialism.

Most importantly, we need to achieve sustainability both socially and environmentally. It's interesting that all the cold-weather nations seem to be so much more stable and sustainable. Perhaps because their populations are small, few people what to emigrate to these countries, and they are less religious. Certainly, they provide a blueprint for the rest of the world.


  Photo: Kelly Sikkema