Political in-correctness, part deux; the second 300 comments ;-)

                                                                                 -Hermann Hesse

So the question de jour: 

"Is political in-correctness, only a good way to rationalize rude behavior; by giving it an official name?  What does the role of political in-correctness play in the evolution of societies?  Why are people that make us look at 'normal' things in 'weird ways' such a pain in the arse?  Shouldn't we just discredit and run those kind of people off? You know, just let us wallow in vanilla crème? Can't they just shut up, and enjoy the American Delusion?"  (Opps!  That's  a few questions! ;-)

Some uppity smart people once proclaimed:

"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." (hint: The Declaration of Independence)

Then, later on, some equally clever....but less connected....person proclaimed:

"Welcome to Wombat-land!" (hint: Lisa ;-)

During the course of my recent mis-adventures through a 4,000 mile drive through our fair country (and Canada; which is sort of the United States these daiz ;-), I had the opportunity to camp alongside a former self proclaimed Hippie.  Puzzled by the apparent abdication of the 'hippie left' to the 'establishment' I asked him many questions.....

"So, Alan, they said my car would be fixed in a few days!"

"That's wonderful, Patrick. Where did the find the parts?  It's hard enough to find parts for my BMW at home, and yet out here in the wilderness of Promised Land, Pennsylvania they can get you parts that fast?  I'm impressed."

"I told them to cannibalize your car......but I thought you'd get upset.  So they are sending a new alternator via UPS......from Auto Zone, no less."

"Oh, you shouldn't use anything but BMW parts, Patrick......its just not done!"

"Don't worry; I'll live with the consequences, Alan.  Mine isn't all nice and shiny new like yours.....it has almost 165,000 miles on it.  It's a beater. I bought it used, and will just run it into the ground."

"How distasteful, Patrick...."

"Yeah, ok. So, tell  me Alan; what happened to "free love," the "Age of Aquarius,"  and "down with the evil establishment?"

"Oh, its still there.  We are just into other things.  I'm into 'sustainability technologies' now.  That's why we didn't have kids; we felt it was a huge waste of resources to raise a kid.  I bought a PC store when they first came out, and kinda got rich.  Then I did telecom internet access at a high level until 9-11; that was a wake up call, of what I was spending my life doing.....so I changed. I left Manhattan after that. My wife is a Mac expert."

"What did you say, Alan?  I could hardly hear you over the music on your boom box."

"Isn't it great!?  I have so many rock concerts to catch up on.  My wife and I go to all the music festivals we can.  Those we can't, and most concerts, we send people to tape the music; and I listen to them when I can.  Like on this few days here alone in nature!"

"Well, it kinda spoils the quiet environment we have here in the rustic area of the park; but it's interesting.  What band is that playing now?"

"The Grateful Dead.  Yeah, this is a nice place in the park.....been coming here for 40 years, every year like clock work."

"No way, they have to be Really dead by now."

"Nope, but close...."

"I was trying to hear what you were saying about sustainable technologies, but the music....."

"Damn!  I wish my Winnebago camper wasn't broken.  This tent camping is for the birds!"

"Alan, I was just....."

"My back is killing me, sleeping on the ground like this!"

"But, Alan....can I..."

"Want another beer, Patrick? Hey, since you are all Buddhisty; did you take that Chinese train into Lhasa yet?  They had a great article in "WIRED" magazine on that engineering feat."

"Don't start me on that ecological and cultural nightmare of a project, Alan. You can read my response to the article in the September issue.  I called it "Engineering Destruction."

"I am a charter member of WIRED, you know."

"But Alan, what do you think about......"

"That guitar riff is something else, eh?  Want another beer?"

"Seriously Alan, you are avoiding any discussion of depth.  What's up?  What happened to all the rabble rousers?  What happened to the "Woodstock" mentality?"

"You know, I've been to them all.  The last one was a mess though. Doubt they will ever hold another one."

"What happened?"

"Well thousands of kids came, with stars in their eyes and about $100 in their pockets for a long weekend of concerts, free love, and fun.  Like the old days....  But the organizers prohibited bringing anything into the fields, so they had to buy drinks and food all along....cuz you couldn't come and go. A real 'captive audience,' as it were.  It was a hot and dry week, and they sold water for $4 a bottle, nasty little personal pizzas for $19, beers for $10 each, and so on.  By the last day, the kids had had it.....and went on a rampage.  They stole water, trashed the vendor's booths, and just made a mess. Ruined the whole thing."

"Damned kids!  What-ever got into them?"

"I dunno. I just don't know what the world is coming to, Patrick.  It just isn't like it used to be.  Want another beer?

"No, I have to go look for firewood and get ready for dark. You were smart to bring yours."

"Yeah, bought half a cord.  Just enough for 3 days, have it measured out just right."

"Well, I found enough for myself; but there is this cyclist guy with his wife and a little girl, and I told him to stop by and we'd help him out.  It's late, getting cold and dark; and they need wood.  Oh, here he comes."

"Dude, you got wood?"

"Uggh, yeah for you I do. Alan, you have any to spare?"

"No, just enough."

"Oh, ok.  Well, come on to my site; I have some extra."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

"No problem.  It's not right to leave folks cold and in the dark when you have something to help them.  Right Alan?"

"Can't hear you Patrick, am really into this tune....Later, guy."

"Yeah, later...."

(End of transcript of aged hippie lost in material-land....suffering from internalized "Capitalist-pig-a-phobia."

Your computer screens will be returning to normal in a few minutes. Patrick gave up trying to get ex-hippie to see his 'new' real self)

Patrick's Invitation:

Welcome to the Twilight Zone of our present lives......help us try and figure out why it's so painful, and therefore unpalatable, for many folks to deal in reality.  In Gather-land, like many places in our world, we Wombats try to persevere despite the growing sense of unreality.  Our goal?  To get published, be heard, and make positive changes in the world.....and to have a few drinks along the way ;-)

We know the core 'cause' of this dis-ease is self-a-phobia.  As the unreality grows, like "The Nothing" in the movie "The Never Ending Story,"  the magic of life is drained away.....(http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/neverending_story/about.php) 

                                 It's a  feeling of time standing still, in a weird way.........

                                   .........like being in two places simultaneously..........

                          ........you are now entering the Twilight Zone of Wombat-land.....

                                                                        Beware ;-)

Hope?  Always, there is hope. 

Like Bastian in the movie, if only a small grain of sand/hope remains  the belief of magic/life will re-grow into the world we once knew.  But first, like Bastian's fantasy counterpart hero, we must face our true selves.....politically in-correct as it may be, or scary as it may seem; and believe, in ourselves.

We have become a 'culture' of "self-a-phobes".....made fearful of the fact that in reality we might not be 'perfect' as a Barbie or Ken doll image; or as rich and popular as a celebrity. 

We might have some weight, we might be balding, we might be woman, man, gay, lesbian, or another un-favored minority.  Therefore in this cultural  'Twilight Zone' we have been taught to despise things about ourselves....and internalized these 'defects' as deficiencies in who we are!  Made fearful of our true selves, and internalizing these fears so deeply that we don't see them even as we act them out....as all suppressed psychological 'issues' ultimately are.

As an example, many suffer from the malaise of internalized homo-phobia, and rather than heal their image of themselves, play it out on others. Cheap Trick, is not just the name of a band.....its a way of lashing out at ourselves, by using and discarding others.....sexually, creatively, and by whoring out their hard work. It is a dehumanizing 'activity' that stunts other's development; by wrongly medicating/numbing our senses to our true selves, and playing it out on others by virtue of our denial.  There are many 'self-phobias' that are internalized; that lead to self hate and the negative consequences.....internalized homo-phobia is just easier to explain.

 In Gather-land,  Wombats are the exception......therefore, while politically incorrect, they are the most constructive and un-fear-full.  In Gather-land, therefore, they are the Twilight Zone.

Supposed outcast contest losers, they produce prolific threads of commentaries.....running on and on; expanding forever outward.....exceeding all those many contrived threads and articles in volume, quality, and duration.   Why? Because the magic lives in each true Wombat. 

What is a Wambat's cause then?

To spread their apparent alternate reality by doing.

By being.

By defying the 'conviction of the day.' 

To boldly go where men have gone before, but have forgotten.

To write real and heartfelt literature......of great, or of merely passable, quality does not matter.

To be one with their "wombat-ness!"

"Ommmmmmm"

:-)

***********************************

Footnotes:

From Wikipedia:  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Zone)

The TWILIGHT ZONE is described as another dimension.

It is "a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind",

"a place of things and ideas",

"between the pit of Man's fears, and the summit of his knowledge."

The twilight zone, in a nutshell, is the mind and imagination of man,

where any thought can become a reality.