March 18, 2003 - 12:06 a.m.
RANT RANT RANT, ok, better now...
You know what it sounds like when you run a tape through a machine too quickly - it gets warbled and jumbled and wierd and unintelligible? That's kind of how the world looks and sounds to me right now... Human beings weren't built with the capacity to withstand being so aware of the world around us - the media is a brain-melter. If I thought about everything going on every day, everywhere, and spent my life attempting to stay informed of all - I would go insane. I just can't. I can't be an observer/activist of the political, social, cultural, spiritual, commercial, natural and unnatural world all the time... I just have to do what I can to be happy - because a smile on a face is what makes a moment in anyone's day better just to be around...
I haven't really hung out with my buddy James since I pretty much told him he was lame for going on the news about the library contraversy... "oh, the government's so evil! They're taking our civil liberties! They have no right to know what books people buy or rent!"
Well, he wasn't too happy with my response: "Come on! Do you have a better idea? They're trying to protect every single person in the whole country! You take on the job then! See what you can come up with. Nothing is ideal in this world, so we have to just go with what might work. What's wrong with the government keeping a profile on people's reading habits? Unless you actually DO something fucked up - who cares if you're in a database, and some greasy old monkey in front of a computer knows that your favorite author is Dr Seuss. The information should never be used as evidence against someone, but it sure as shit should be used to raise a flag of suspicion... Seems like a pretty reasonable way for the them to try to prevent disaster..."
You have a better idea: let's hear it. Ooh! You just want the government to "leave you alone." Ha! Okay - they'll leave you alone alright - alone to face chemical and biological and weapons labs in basements and garages that no one knows about because the gov't wasn't allowed to know who checked out the book, "Calamity made easy: bombs, diseases, and other catastrophic foolproof recipes" by Satan Himself. Now, if you're just curious about those books - go ahead - read em, but don't get all huffy when someone knocks on your door. Unless you have a friggin lab in your basement, nothing bad is going to happen to you!" Aaaaaaaagh! I just can't stand it when people are so blind-sided to one radical perspective... I've listened to anti-everything - and everyone has a point. But there's a difference between ideas and ideals. Ideas may not turn out quite right, but ideals are absolutely dangerous... F*ck - why did everyone buy into the "us and them" mentality? Most of the people in law enforcement are there to protect their own families - and yours. So LET them!!!
(Yes, there is the dark side of the coin here, but this is MY rant, and I'm not going to spend another hour playing devil's advocate with myself... I'm sure there are enough people out there willing to challenge my postulations without me doing it myself...
I'm tired. Goodnight.
