CHANGE OF SUBJECT… I’ve got writer’s block. I’m not sure exactly what that is, since it would be farfetched to qualify me as a writer, but damned if I’m not sitting here already a day late on my deadline, with the minutes ticking by and all I’m seeing inside my head where the ideas are supposed to be is daydreams, fantasies and frustrations (I think I used to go to a bar named that). I’ve got a slew (slough?) of papers scattered around me with information that many hardworking, dedicated business owners would like me to share with y’all, but you know what, sorry, I can’t do it.

Life is too busy in this “modern” world. Everybody I know is buzzing around in a continuous state of hyper-activity. That old phrase, “human doing” as opposed to “human being” really hits home, especially with me, especially today. I don’t mind ramping it up periodically, but the key to life is varying the tempo. Trying to go all out all the time just messes up the internal time-keeping mechanism, takes us out of rhythm with the natural universe and weakens our adrenal glands.

How did things get so sped up? It’s like they say: “I’m fed up with sped up.” Who’s responsible for our society’s ever-accelerating drive towards mental meltdown? Why are so many things seemingly beyond our control, and who the hell is controlling them? Why can’t I watch something on television and not be able to see a scene that stays on the screen for more than a fraction of a second? What are the connections between rampant stimulant use (starting with sugar, through caffeine and on and on) in our drug-deluged, lemming-like culture, and society’s decreasing ability to calmly, peacefully and patiently interact.

I was reading in National Geographic about the increased dependency on coal in the US, China and the rest of the world, to provide energy for the world’s growing energy dependence…coal. Coal. I was flabbergasted. Naturally, our country leads the way in the regulation of the despicable and varied byproducts of coal mining, so that “we” may proudly ignore the seedy, insidious realities of “our” own abuses. Needless to say, much of the rest of the world, especially in the depressed regions so readily available for corrupt oligopolies to bribe and bully their way to unregulated resource-raping bliss, expands the gargantuan output of misery, toxic waste and societal poison.

We’re losing our minds people…and it’s happening really fast. We’re on the way to a future that looks like all those depressingly gray, lifeless depictions in films made over the past 25 years. I want to see one contraindication to make me feel that greedy, power-crazed narcissism might give way to something more cooperative and kind.

The simplest paradigm available to determine our near future is the history of every “civilization” built upon this globe, regardless of the races or the time periods. Every one of them ultimately crumbled under their own weight. One fascinating aspect of modern day history making, is the added component our marvelous technology provides. We may be fortunate enough to actually witness the downfall of the very civilization we helped to create…in fact, we witness a bit of it every day, although most of the real decay is kept hidden from us by the media arm of our corporate captors.

We are lied to every second of every day in ways that are highly evolved, using methods carefully crafted after years of scientific method. Our psychological makeup is continuously manipulated and reshaped by forces in society with our best interests the furthest things from their collective mind. The perpetuation and expansion of the power base of an inversely proportionate minority of control freaks is catapulting us all to the brink of systemic collapse.

GRIM PROSPECTS… I know the anthem all of you who already drank the Kool Aid have begun chanting, about how technology will take care of all our problems. That’s a good one. You keep repeating the party slogan while the gates come tumbling down around you. Oh yeah, the gates. They don’t work silly. You can’t hide behind gates. You can’t do whatever you want, regularly violate natural laws of decency, disregard and disrespect your fellow humans, greedily stockpile mountains of resources just for the sake of owning them. No one can do that indefinitely. When society’s rivers overrun, gates won’t hold them back…nothing will. Madness sweeps away everything.

And it’s madness we are courting, madness we are signing lifetime pacts with, madness driving the bus carrying us all into the future. What will that future be? How can we redirect the torrent of self-destruction that is barreling towards us all?

Man, this column is dark. I’m sorry, but every once in a while I just get fed up with how many things around our world are disappointing in their intent, their execution and their outcomes. It’s one thing to attempt progress with a noble intent, reach for some innovation, then realizing when and if it might be harmful to society and reshaping it in a conscientious fashion with the greater good in mind. But to repeatedly use cover-ups, bribes, extortion and other abhorrent means in order to carry on is simply criminal behavior.

The worst part, for me, is the daily charade we all partake in, either happily going along completely ignoring all signs of disease within our societal system, or even more prevalent, the total ignorance about what is happening around us…I don’t know which makes me sadder.

I know I’m just screaming against the wind. The forces at work right now in our world are so colossal, so pervasive, so far-reaching, that it is probably impossible to redirect them. I’m afraid we are witnessing the latest phase in our world’s ebbing and flowing evolutionary progression and, unfortunately for us all, we’re in a major downward cycle. I hope I have good seats for the finale.