deathpoet's blog: "Daily Rant"

Going to stick with the Vonnegut theme. In the very dark irony, "Mother Night", the main character leaves us with the following quote, which in essense could be the summation of the theme for the entire story, "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful of what we pretend to be." For those of you unfamiliar with the story, the main character in the story is an american living in Germany before WWII. He is recruited by the american armed services to act as a spy. He is told to become part of the nazi propaganda machine and do radio shows for them. During the shows he is to pass secrets vital to the americans in code. The main character agrees to do this in part because he is a coward and this allows him to help the american war effort and in part because it allows him to appear to be a nazi and therefore not offend his nazi wife and in-laws. In becoming a propagandist, the american's plan, he is widely successful as an american spy and greatly aids the american war effort, but; alas, he is widely successful for the nazi's as well and his show is largely responsible for gaining the german people's compliance with the Hollicost. At the war's end, his service to america is recognized and he is not charged with any crimes but he is hunted down by the newly created Israel and put on trial for crimes against the jews, hence the quote. Think about this. What are we encouraged to be? How are we encouraged to give silent compliance to actions we have to know are morally outrageous? How many times do we fail to voice our opinion because we fear that we will be ostracized for it? How often do we allow phony "historical" or "nationalistic" analogies coax us from doing or saying what we believe is right? Do you use "too busy" or "too big" to prevent your involvement? Do you believe the news? Do you deign to experts and athorities? As americans, we have become a people of quiet collaberation. It's easy and we wipe our conscious clear with a "not me"/"I didn't do it" mentality. But, the very fact that we participate in agroup consciousness that does nothing but wait for 4 years to pass makes us an accomplice. A good friend of mine passes of responsibility by saying, "We don't live in one of those red states." To which I say "Who fucking cares!?!" The fact is that all of us are part and participants in a culture that allowed such ignorance and malipulativenes to be considered for election and than like a battered woman went back to the batterer a second time. If we are not actively and vocally pursuing a different mind set, not just in ourselves, not just in our freinds/family, but with each and every person we converse with everyday, we will be given just another extension of this same thought process in 2008 and in the future. It is often said that two topics to avoid are politics and religion. WHY? In europe people talk these topics all the time. We are encouraged not to because we have a history of rebellion and if a people converse on these topics and come to a commonality and learn respect of one another's opinions and find areas where they agree and areas where they can meet in mutual compramise then the government/religion cannot control that people. So I say argue away. Do it in bars, in clubs, in gossip circles, in bed, on the phone with telemarketers, everywhere anyone you speak with. The revolution can and must begin with each and everyone of us and not a shot need be fired; JUST THINK AND SPEAK!!!!!!!! DP

Kurt Vonnegut may have said it best, "There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason to hate without reservation, to imagine God Almighty hates with you, too." and yet the party of the administration in power continues along this misguided course as it steadily reinforces its mentality of group think as we head into the next "presidential election". This week a great deal of hoopla was made of Rudy Guilianni picking up the endorsement of Pat Robertson and his goon squad. First and foremost any good Italian New Yorker should be absolutely embarassed that such a man and his cronies, who have traditionally shunned/bashed italians, even want to whoo him let alone endorse him. Fred Thompson was strutting his endorsement from the RTL party on tv this morning. Again, why would a "true conservative" want the endorsement of a one issue party whose sole platform is the invasion of privacy and government control over individual behavior. The answer folks is quite simple, religious, in this case christian, control of polotics. Beginning with reagan and continuing even more forcefully with our current dictator, there has been a overt siege on the seperation of church and state. This is not a slow and steady erosion, this is an all out attack with sledge hammers and explosives. Really this rant should apply to all religions, and even to those who lack religion, because no single groups beliefs should reign into or over the political philosophies which conflict, comprmise, and ultimately legislate in ours, or any, country. Theocracy, or state mandated atheism for that matter, damages the democratic process because it brings with it certain preconceived prejudices from all sides, those for and those in opposition to these notions. For example, I do not like abortion, but I am not narrow minded enough to believe that my "feelings" should prevail as law. Laws are not necessarily there as codes of moral enforcement, tell me what's immoral about speeding. And morality can be woefully subjective in the eyes of the law anyways. Hence one is not charged with "killing" they are charged with murder because killing in self defense is not a crime. Laws are more often than not based upon mores and tradition and evovle to fit the culture, hence the forward progress of civil rights laws, that is, until this current administration. So i say let's annoy the christians. Not harrass or hurt but annoy! If you know any, associate with any, let them know their religion is fine just keep it out of our politics.

This blog will probably resonate more strongly to the 40= crowd but I think it speaks to everyone. And please don't think I'm saying I had to walk to school uphill both ways and wear shoes made from a bear I shot for breakfast, I'm not, but: something has changed in the basic core structure of american culture and I'm not talking about the war and I'm not talking just post 9/11. Growing up, small town upstate NY, there was a different sense of who we were as a people and as a nation. Threre was, for lack of a better word, a sense of optomism I'd say up until about 1978. If you remember, the economy fell, but we always knew it would get better, human/civil rights progressed slowly but steadily forward, we had protested a war and, for the first time, young people had not kept quiet and remained in the background. Music and the arts experienced a rennissance of a sort. Rents, even in NYC, were realistic and the average working family could buy a home on one person's paycheck. If things went bad people spoke up. Voter turnouts were still well above 60% and the basics in schools were not set up to gear a student towards a career but instead to educate the MINDS of our youth. That's all changed. The economy is terminal and has been so for years. We are rolling back human/civil rights, not just legally but culturally. The hippies betrayed us and today's youths do not question authority they buy pre-packaged Mcdonaldized rebellion and fail to see that they are endorsing the very machine they believe they are raging against. They have no voice and they, and more importantly their parents, sell their voice to the cheesiest bidder. Music and art have become generic and radio sucks! Two income families struggle to make ends meet and forclosures have reached record highs. When things are bad we don't take a stance we waffle. Voter turnout is approaching an aneamic 40%. Worst of all a corporate mentality of uniformity now permiates the schools and education is measured by standards that force teachers to fail in educating students minds/souls(not in a religious sense) The kids themselves have no sense of who they are or what they do. (otherwise please explain why one would spend "mad dough to look ghetto." answer me please) The answer to all this is a permeation of corporatism in the mentality of the average american. No real questioning, no rocking the boat. Fear is their weapon. Fear of being different, of suffering, of losing one's home and possesions, keep us in line. We are far closer to being a facist state than we ever were at any point in American history. Be afraid. Be very much afraid. DP

I know if anyone actually reads this, this rant will cause me some grief but I just got to say it. Can anyone really support the troops without supporting the war? What is it we're really saying when we purport such a proposition? I can understand people saying that they would rather not see young men and woman in harms way or having sympathy for the ones who die or are wounded but to believe that you ca support the troops without supporting the war is a dangerous fallacy. I have to admit I am fearful of writing this. Opposition to the war in this country has brought about a suspension of rights and an equation to treason, but; my father, who passed away last year, was a VERY VOCAL opponant to the war and the Bush administration policies and he was a Decorated COMBAT VETERAN of the Korean War. It pains me when I hear that the troops are defending our nation. PEOPLE PAY ATTENTION!!! We did not go into Iraq for this reason. Does anyone remember the WOMDs??? There were none. We toppled another country's government and set about creating chaos. This is a mess and our young people are being killed and maimed in the process! Why is it few ever mention the loss of life on the other side? Why is it we call those opposing us insugents? If America were to be invaded tomorrow, would you not take up arms against the invaders?? I sure as Hell know that I would oppose any invader trying to change my way of life or impose it's rule of law over me. You, each and everyone of you, has to take a clear stance. If you support the war so be it and if you oppose it so be it. But to waffle, to straddle the fence, is to support the war and all that comes with it. That is not just the injustices taking place in Iraq but anywhere abroad or here within our borders. The Patriot Act (clever name), the illegal wirtapping and surveilance, and the 'outing' of opperatives (illegal) who do not support the administration. Apathy is the #1 enemy to freedom and democracy, not guns and bombs. Going with the flow, refusing to see how each and every individual voice can and will effect the events taking place today is complicity to the very crimes being ptacticed against humanity! DP

Well, I've been wanting to do this for a while now. Have a place to rant and rave and do what Deathpoet's do best... not write poetry. For the uneducated and unintiated a Deathpoet is not a goth (if that term is still used) poet, but a critic of life. Thoreau was probably America' first and greatest and we have marched down through history from him. So all you emos, screamos and goths, I'm not your long lost papa waiting to welcome you home, I find you guys amusing, and even share some of your interests but it's not who I am. Thoreau said "men, even good men, often serve society as men of wood." He was talking about the lack of thinking nad questioning we do as a people and feared that we would "as likely serve the Hell as Heaven.", and folks that was in the 18th century when life and info traveled at a slower pace and was not as easy to manufacture. What I see today that frightens me is the ease at which we accept the illusions created for us. We allow ourselves to be distracted (but ladies by no means stop posting nsfw pics, what else is there to live for) by anything. We engage in the most addictive and narcassistic of tendencies and pass judgemnet on others and their ways of life. Think about this, those we see as terrorists are seen by themselves and their people as soldiers, those we see as soldiers are seen as terrorists by others... sorry it's the way it is. So that's me. Here to point out those little inconsistancies we commit and rationalize on a daily basis. I hope to piss a lot of you off, that means I made you think. I hope to stir the pot and make some of you think, and jugding by most of the pages I've been too, not many of you do, really not sorry for that, sometimes the shallow need to have a little water added to save them from drowning in themselves. DP