Opinion/Editorial

A LOTTA STUFF GOING ON

Why do so many Americans identify a presentation about the reality of life, or about the presentation of unknown but obvious facts, as depressive? What about getting through life? What about that? What about this comfort thing? What about that? What about skewed and upside-down thinking to redefine “knowing stuff of import” with deep dark depression. Reality is reality. It’s called causality, by physicists…and that means stuff happening, as it happens. Stuff going from “organized” to “disorganized” is called entropy. In other words, those things that intelligent, semi-intelligent, or even accidental life put together all naturally fall apart without the constant attention of those entities. That’s the way the universe is organized or not….and that’s also why the planet would not be better off without humans on it. There simply would be no planet at all in the scheme of organized life, in the entire cosmos. If you were informed before you got into an elevator, that you should not get in the elevator because it might fail, would you be depressed with that information or the processing of it? Probably not, depending upon your perspective. In fact, you might just make it a part of your life pursuit to make sure the thing was fixed for other people to ride into the future. It’s all perspective and bliss…yes, bliss. Reach down inside, read the New Testament, read the classics of life and watch some decent television or movies (like ET or It’s a Wonderful Life, and more) and get re-oriented. Find your bliss. It’s in there alright, but you might just have displaced it. This life is a wonder you have been gifted, but only if you see it as a wonder. The very best view of it is from your knees; listening, hoping, learning and praying….so get to it.

Why are face masks unpopular, no matter what the health benefits so highly touted these days? Why, if people do wear them, do they get them off at the earliest opportunity? Why do people resist so intensely social distancing, up to and including not being able to go to restaurants and bars? Why is tracing a total failure in preventing the spread of the virus? All of those questions have the same answer. Comfort. People grow used to the way things are and resist change mightily unless brought to the edge of a gaping canyon of terror opening down beneath their feet. It’s uncomfortable, especially in the heat of summer, to wear a mask for any length of time. It’s lonely and denigrating to have to be kept away from the companionship and physical comfort of other humans. It’s lonely and bitterly disappointing to not be able to associate with others in places like restaurants and bars. Restaurants and bars are expensive ways to eat and drink, note that, but they exist anyway because of the unspoken social aspect of what they return to human emotional support. We are not, and never will be, together alone. We will be together in life or alone in death. I didn’t make that up and I don’t like the fact of its true existence any more than any of you do, but there it is.

Writing of discomfort and unfairness, why are the stock market and other financial analysts not being sent to prison for lying about those stocks and investments, while at the same time buying short options…and gambling the investments are going to go down? It is their predictions on the Internet and television that drive the stocks down. How is it that they can get away with this kind of outrage? They are stealing money from other legitimate investors and also hurting the value of companies, like Tesla. They do this all the time to Tesla. Note that Elon Musk has started making short shorts to illustrate the problems that Tesla has gone through because of this legal loophole. Why is it that only super huge investors can buy into first-day purchases of IPO placements? Regular investors cannot buy until the next day. Why is that legal? How is it that large investors can trade after the market is closed, and regular people cannot? If the country is going to be generically crooked, then how is it that there can be any expectation of honesty on the part of the rest of the public? Is Donald Trump here today as our leader because of this very apparent differential? Is his lying, being caught at it but never having to admit or pay for it, what we can all expect of the wealthy and powerful on into the future? Is there no way to confront this kind of stuff and do anything about it?

~~James Strauss

 

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