I CAME IN FROM THE WILDERNESS

 'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm.

Religion is not (say again) is not where I would look for meaning and purpose but Dylan (Bob) seems to with Shelter From The Storm. He famously carves out lyrics that speak to us between the lines as profoundly as within the text. Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet from roughly 720 BCE who warned the nation Israel that God was going to punish them for their wickedness. Israel wasn’t the only nation that was on God’s sh*t list but evidently he had higher expectations for them that he did the Babylonians, etc. Dylan’s (toil & blood, blackness a virtue) said as much to me and shelter from the storm would have been wishful thinking. I don’t known why but the song reminds me of Isaiah’s dismal prophesy but it does. In it he (Dylan) holds out a shred of hope for a safe place to take refuge. 
Last night I dreamt an awful dream. Figuratively, the wrath of God was coming back around and I felt ‘void of form’ much like Isaiah must have in his dark days when Israel was misbehaving. In the year 2024 CE the world is a wicked place again. Israel is misbehaving again and the rest of the world is full of self righteous, evil, greedy people who justify lust by calling it Liberty. I take some comfort in the otherwise foreboding grip of old age; at least I got a good, long ride before God pulls the plug on our wickedness. Maybe I’ll succumb literally and miss the fall altogether. Now that’s a pretty grim dream. But trying to fill in the blanks with Dylan is like herding cats, you talk ‘smack’ and whatever the cats do will pass for obedience. I don’t put much stock in dreams; the subconscious is free to make up stories and sometimes it plays the ‘Herding cats' game.

MAYBE, JUST MAYBE

I don’t know how to begin. For me to weigh in on controversial issues seems too little, too late and who really cares what I think anyway. True, I write for my own benefit but I’ve gnawed on those issues for long enough I don’t need my own Cliffs Notes study guide. But sometimes, and this is as much about being old, approaching decline and I think all old people have to react to the impulse; sometimes you think maybe, just maybe, when I’m not around to speak for myself someone will wonder, “I wonder what old So-&-So would have said or done or thought about (whatever it might be).

It is going on two weeks since the shooting at the Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City. The rest of the world has moved on but it’s still in the news here, fueling a new out cry over gun control measures, or the lack there of. For the record, I own both long guns and hand guns and I keep them locked in a vault designed specifically for that purpose. Once upon a time I was a hunter but I don’t hunt anymore. I still have my fire arms largely to keep them out of circulation, haven’t fired one in over 40 years. But I understand from experience how guns can find their way into the hands of irresponsible folks and others who would wage violence.  

I trust my judgement, that I understand and appreciate the lure and the appeal that fire arms provide their owners. In my youth (U.S.Army) I qualified on the range with both 30 cal. rifle and 45 cal. hand guns. Several times as conditions required, we went back to the range and refreshed the firearms skillset. I never had difficulty hitting the target but I’ve never pointed a  loaded weapon at anybody; the very thought is disturbing if not repulsive. It’s not like riding a bicycle. If you want to carry a weapon it is crucial that you practice often. The consequence of diminished skill or lax rules of engagement is literally the difference between someone’s life and death.

Of 23 victims at the Super Bowl celebration there was only one fatality and I suppose we should be thankful there weren’t more but that callous reaction (being thankful) is symptomatic of the sick culture we take for granted. Shortly after gun powder and fire arms were invented (@ 1000 years ago) their design and primary purpose were focused on killing animals & people. Civilization has moved on but the design and purpose of firearms has not. Sometimes people us cars as weapons agains people (road rage, suicide, etc.) Even though cars have never been designed to do violence, it happens. Still, to operate a motor vehicle in this country you need to pass a test, have a license and carry liability insurance. Carrying a gun is a right that shooters wear like a crown while driving a car is a privilege to begin with. I mean really; do you need someone to explain the absurdity there in?

Regulations for the possession and discharge of guns have gradually eroded away in the pretense of Liberty. Government needs to know there are armed citizens who can hold them accountable (fight back). So when the smoke clears and the courts close the books on gun control, anybody, and that means anybody who wants a hand gun or a military, semiautomatic assault rifle can have one. All it takes is some money and knowing someone who knows someone who will sell it to you no questions asked, out of their house or the trunk of their car. The real insult is that the legal system does not enforce existing laws intended to keep guns out of wrong hands until after the shooting. After the fact, the courts punish shooters. The sick culture I spoke of is set on punishing shooters and literally ignores prevention. Sadly, there is no viable process to affordably, effectively curing a sick culture.

I will not labor through all of the reason and logic that would explain and debunk the rhetoric used by radical gun proponents. We all understand the analogy that likens the gun to a man’s penis: with a gun in hand one’s penis doubles in size. Men generally reject the comparison but what would you expect? We all understand (except for the Supreme Court) that firearm’s niche in the now culture does not equate to George Washington bearing arms or the need for deadly force in self defense today. I’m not interested in taking guns away from legitimate gun owners but when a 17 year-old can carry an assault rifle openly, along side of police officers at a demonstration, fire on (killing) two demonstrators (Kyle Rittenhouse, May, 2021, Kenosha, Wisconsin) and walk away free and clear, then this nation has crossed the line and become a 3rd world clusterf##k: translated (disastrously mishandled situation). In this country, in 2023 over 40,000 people were killed by guns. I would think a culture that holds human life to be sacred would squirm with that in mind.

Missouri’s governor simply extended his thoughts and prayers to the victims of the Super Bowl shootings and affirmed the need to punish criminals, thugs who spoiled the day. Thoughts and prayers are no more than piss in the wind, an inert dismissal, change the subject and move on. Punishment is a lot cheaper and more easily measured out than addressing cause but that moral failure is nothing new. Whatever else they may be, firearms are instruments of death by design and function and means of protection by partisan whim. The perceived need for protection is caused by the unchecked availability of more guns. As Pogo famously observed, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” I thought of an analogy for the situation. It is a long stretch but the corollary is profound. It goes; trees and being cut down against the law so everyone tries to think of a way to save trees and they come up with the perfect solution - more chainsaws. I’m afraid we will keep on keeping on, getting what we’ve already got. My opinion is irrelevant, an old man’s take on people killing people. So someday, who knows when; when the last bullet kills another innocent bystander, Frank has already taken sides and been written off as an old fool. 

SO MUCH POTENTIAL

  In college in the 1960’s I had several role models (if not mentors). One of them was on a mission, selling liberal education. I gobbled it up like a baby bird feeding in its nest and I’ve never had cause to regret that. Education is a life long endeavor. It is both the accumulation of skills and understanding as well as the process of critical thinking and open ended possibility. Education can flourish in the formal mode (classrooms and instructors) and the school of life experience. Formal schooling tends, I believe, to expedite and organize the learning; certainly in my case. My journey was at the time, non traditional. After high school I spent eight years in the school of life experience before immersion in the formal discipline. But the result has been a rewarding life that is fueled by a need to know everything about everything. Naturally, that need has never been satisfied but I would’t want it any other way. 
In my first semester I had a professor (mentor) who planted a seed: What is the definition of the word, ‘Potential’? He made it a point to tell us as a group and individually, “You have so much potential.” In his classes from year to year you could count on that little treasure showing up on quizzes and tests with regularity. The only acceptable answer was; Potential, a list of all the things you haven’t accomplished yet. Liberal education was not liberal in the social context, rather in the scope and process of exploring content, correlating ideas and making meaning. We didn’t have to be told that preparation for a particular career and preparation for living a full life are not the same and we were committed to the latter. Socially the college was about as conservative as one could be. But I had the benefit of eight years in the school of life and had just experienced the Joy Of Discovery. All of that Baptist hyperbole and conservative propaganda were easily dismissed. 
Another word I toss around is ‘capacity’. It is associated with measurement in terms of volume or the ability to perform a function. I have serious doubts and suspicions with human intelligence. People who know me well are familiar with my reservations, some even understand the complexity and give me space to keep on digging in that hole. In short, I think intelligence is overrated. Much of our behavior and decision making are governed by a part of the brain that is inaccessible to the conscious intellect. But we presume the conscious, intelligent part of the brain controls every choice and all behavior exclusively, because it is the only part we can access; sort of like the (read only) functions of a computer. From that perspective I reason that our brain has the capacity (volume & skill) for reason and logic to prevail but that is where common sense would steer us down a dead end. Humans respond to their emotional core (they decide) long before they weigh objective logic and decide what is reasonable or logical. This is my perception but it is based on some pretty compelling research. When it comes to using creative intelligence to solve puzzles (problems) and invent the better mouse trap the conscious cortex is amazing. But emotions tend not to be so invested with (things) and the frontal cortex can make magic; smart phones, chemotherapy, internet, etc. We are great problem solvers when it deals with things. But when it comes to issues of human interactions, emotions are really fast, incredibly powerful and influence behavior (decisions) before you can actually think about it. People would rather fight, even kill in some cases over who has control over women’s uteruses or over where to draw tribal boundary lines. 

Looking back at 600 words here, it’s not much but it may be too dense for others who don’t care for this kind of stuff. Most of what I’ve written in the past three weeks has been depressing and I cured it with the delete key. The world is full of bad news and getting worse. I don’t need to paint a picture to sense the gravity of cultural divide in the U.S.A. In the last decade racism, classism, sexism, unchecked nationalism and authoritarian leadership have gained a passionate following. I can’t get my head around the idea. In 1936 Germans wanted to make  Germany great again (MGGA). All they needed to do was (Ethnic Cleansing) eliminate the Jewish problem and conquer their neighbors who were obviously inferior to the Aryan (German) race. Intelligent Germans bought into it, saluted the kingpin and looked the other way when it got grizzly. The  pious residents of Auschwitz (the town) pled ignorance to what was going on at the prison camp and felt persecuted when they were required to help clean it up at war’s end. 
Russia has been pummeling Ukraine for two years for the sake of a self obsessed, authoritarian leader’s ego/ambition, and Israel is pummeling Gaza for much the same reason. The Jews are getting even. If they have to kill a million Palestinian bystanders trapped in the war zone to eliminate every Hamas fighter, then they should kill them all. I said it earlier, the news is bad and I get depressed. Americans are no better. We have a worn out leader whose time has passed but he still clings to the hope of reelection. His competition is another ( too old) authoritarian, demagogue leader who employs popular prejudices, false claims and exploits (emotional) fears to gain power. I thought my generation would move the world in a better direction but where we are now makes that expectation a cruel joke.
I am an old man who, like our current President, needs a nap after lunch and lots of fiber in my diet. I guess I am venting my feelings but I understand it is just my midbrain, the inaccessible part. It isn’t a decision, just a reminder; never in all of my memory has there been a time when human animals have showed so much potential.