It Gets This Baaaa-d, That's How Baaaa-d is Has to Get!

Thinking has a downside.  It really does.  There’s something like a dark tunnel that comes over the horizon after riding a train of rational thought a ways down the tracks. There are several whole segments of society not at risk of ever finding out about that.  Generally, any of the groups of fervent believers in any sort of ‘magical thinking’ are not likely to take logical thought to any point too far.  They can’t afford to. If one lives in a house of cards, don’t leave the window open, please no fresh breezes of honesty.

‘Magical thinking’ is a misnomer, of course it’s actually magical believing.  Belief doesn’t require a factual basis, it only means buying into a good story, regardless of its proximity to the truth.  These several groups in society are zealously evangelical in their attempt to make reality conform to the story they’re inhabiting.  The degree to which they harshly impose their story on others only depends on how much power they wield.  Right now, they control the legislative branch and have a good hold on the judicial.

These seem to be reincarnated witch-burners, they epitomize the Sheepness behind the blog name.  If I could reach in and tweak their simple little Sheep brains, it would become my full-time vocation and my life’s mission.  They’re not to blame for all our woes, because the rest of us play a supporting role as acquiescent or apathetic Sheep.  Stupid, violent sheep are easy to pick out of the herd, but why they are then tolerated within the herd is another question.

Stupid, violent Sheep will never find this blog.  They get their political views from Rupert Murdoch via Fox news, or from the NRA via their toothless cousin Billy Joe with the Confederate flag baseball cap and the spit-stained overalls.  Or, their analytical expert may be the hairdresser, who heard her boyfriend say said that his brother-in-law told him that he heard there was no such thing as global warming - the gummint’s trying to pull the wool over on us sheep agin - baaa...

note: The aforementioned dark tunnel is just around the next bend and it really is no fun at all to go inside.  I’m going to suggest that you can still “Have a Nice Day! :)®” if you don’t read beyond this point.  

The dark tunnel that becomes apparent after thinking a while starts with a feeling that there’s something fishy going on here.  Actually, there is a malaise that has a hold of society on many levels that has the same root cause.  We do what we can - as often as we can - to distract ourselves from following this troubling line of thought.  (In fact, almost all of modern day life is devoted to avoiding it.) Following the causes for that unsettling feeling will - sooner or later - develop into a full blown realization of our existential conundrum:  this lovely little planet just ain’t big enough for us.  

If we were bacteria studied in a lab, our species’ petri dish would be over half full of us, the medium would be over half-consumed.  We’re past the peak and on the downhill slope of our curve.  If you want all the depressing details, check out this link:

http://pastthetippingpoint.ca/node?page=1

The essential, founding story of this country is merely the latest chapter (written with accelerated pacing) in the larger fundamental human story as it has unfolded since the time of the introductory chapter entitled, “the Garden of Eden”.  The other title “the Neolithic Revolution”, somewhere between 50 to 130 centuries ago.   Either label refers to the same evolutionary development where we switched from hunter-gatherers to farmers-herders.  

This gradual change for our species resulted in a lifestyle of permanent settlements, after having followed migratory herds around in nomad fashion for the previous 200 - 500 millennia.  It is - in fact - where we went wrong.  We took a gradual wrong turn, but it makes a better story if we say it happened in a climactic moment because of a Villain.

Fast forward to the 19th and 20th century A.D.  The theme of this chapter would have us believe that we can grow indefinitely: resources are unlimited, the environment is too big to be impacted by humans, whether we are three, or six or nine billion.  This story line says this is all God’s Creation, given to us to trash out however we wish, because we are incredibly special.  We were made in God’s image and given this piece of paradise, except that one of us told a lie a long time ago and now we’re all doomed until we’re saved at the very end, just in the knick of time.  So, no worries.

The human species is essentially parasitic. We are the apex predators of all food chains, the ultimate invasive species.  If parasites have a plan B at all, it is one based on the hope that another host will come along just as this one is consumed.  We’re going to need a new planet pretty soon.  Some experts are guessing it will be within one or two generations.  

The real conundrum isn’t so much that the time clock is ticking for us, but rather does it do any good to point this out.  Can human nature be changed before dire circumstances   force it, or before it’s too late to make a difference?  

At this point, well inside the tunnel, the train seems to slow to a crawl.  ‘Really sorry about ruining your day.

In a post in the near future, I’ll get the train to back up out of the tunnel and point out a possible different set of tracks.  It has to do with the question:  Did we take a “wrong” turn? i.e., was our path inevitable?  Stay tuned.