Thursday, December 18, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
NeueNihilism
In a nutshell nihilism is the philosophy that existence is meaningless or nothing. I myself have always found this philosophy to be pretty bogus and irrational. It seems that it is not applicable to the real world, or is it?
I recently have been thinking a lot on this idea of nihilism. It may not be all that irrational. I have an (most likely not original) idea of Nihilism that makes a lot of sense to me, and guess what fellers... 'ol Chasey-poo is gonna share wicha!
My hypothesis is existence has no meaningless within itself. It has no pure meaning alone. Just being alive in in this world has no sanctity. There is no sanctity of life itself but its the goals, desires, and consciousness of a person that has meaning, not merely existing.
This comes a lot from the idea that a fetus is not a person and there for has no right to life. A person that desires not to live anymore has no right to life, unless those desires come back and give the being meaning again. My idea of nihilism is one that can be changed from situation to situation or person to person or being to being. If there is no meaning, existence doesn't give it any, its just there.
Existence has no meaningless within itself. Only the desires and self-consciousness of a person can give it such meaning but without that it would be nothing but dead air. In this sense, nihilism works and is applicable to real life. In this sense, nihilism makes a lot of sense... to me anyway.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Is God really all that moral?
The first thing I find confusing is when I see fundamentalist Christians say that they live their life directly to the bible and announce that the entire bible is truth to the last letter, I don't think they read at all much less the bible! There are things that are preached in the bible mostly in the old testament that are upright disgusting, the the kind of things I would not find as moral teachings. Then on the other hand I see liberal Christians and educated theologians that know the bible and discard what they feel is immoral and embrace what is moral to them. If our morality really came from that religion then why would you have to discard what you feel is immoral from the book that you base your religion on? Why not just discard the bible completely for ethical teaching if you already know that rape, murder and genocide are bad and keeping promises, giving blood, not raping, and caring for ones elderly mom is good. Why not just accept that humanity is naturally good?
Why? I feel that our morality is a product of natural selection. A society that ran rampant killing, raping, stealing, and engaging in cannibalism most likely didn't last very long and if they embrace those ideals now most likely will not stand the test of time. Killing doesn't do wonders for procreation either. Plus isn't it an insult on humanity to say that the only reason we are good is because of fear of god? That insults me! I feel that our species is rather advanced and is capable of thinking and having educated thought processes. I am here to say that you are not born unto 'sin' and you are born unto innocence. You are capable of making critical decisions about morality and you are part of an ethically advanced species that thrives on those standards. Thats the positive thinking of a humanist atheist. Not the negative thinking thats in root for a totalitarian slave driver known as Yahweh.
Ethics are not a set of rules. The 10 commandments are immoral in their selves. No one needs to make decisions based on a set of ancient rules that if broken will end in certain death. Decisions should be made after much thought and critical thinking. Think of a decision that will create the most happiness and the least amount of suffering, plus take into the account the desires and potential happiness of others. Of course in a regular days time you will not want to or have the time think about every possible outcome of every decision that can be made in a given situation. Thats why you should keep in mind a standard moral principle that can be applied to most situations in your daily life. Listen to your intuitive thinking, i.e. killing is wrong most of the time, lying is wrong most of the time. If you find a situation that tests these principles then apply your critical thinking skills and act accordingly. There is no room for religious influence.
Therefor religion is not needed in moral thinking nor is it recommended. Use your human intuitive thinking for your daily moral principle and your critical thinking for every thing else. Faith leaves no room for critical thinking and therefore not be practiced.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Out Campaign
Richard Dawkins is a widely known Scientist and self proclaimed Atheist. The OUT campaign is a campaign on his site about the words atheists "coming out." I find this to be a wonderful thing to do but easier said than done. This is for one reason in one word: family. Growing up in the bible belt of North Carolina its hard to let people know I'm an atheist, because I just want to live my life with as little drama as possible. I'm not going to pressure anyone in Atheism if that's not what they want. I'm let them know why I'm an atheist and hope they will accept that as my opion and well I will accept their religious views as theirs. That's not the case, Christians set out in life hoping to make everyone Christians, I know this first hand because I grew in a Christian household. This process is called witnessing. My family would disown me if they knew I do not believe in the idea of a personal God. Its something I will have to face on my own I guess and when I'm ready, I know that sparks will fly and they may stop sending me money every now and then too :-p Who knows, it may go over well. I will do it when I'm ready.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The God Delusion
First Chapter of Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion"
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Zeitgeist
Everyone should at least watch this once. I really liked the beginning about religion but it kidna loses me with the conspiracy therories near the end. but anyhow what it anyway! Just do your own research okay?
www.zeitgeistmovie.com
PS Its our editor Max's birthday today!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A Short "NO!"
SAY NO! To Oppression
SAY NO! To Censorship
SAY NO! Banning Books
SAY NO! Totalitarianism
SAY NO! Total Control
SAY NO! To Sarah Palin
I have a gut feeling that having McCain and Palin in office would result in a one party fascist regime. Her views just reek of bigotry.
Don't put us trough hell, no matter if you are right or left wing. We are lucky to have two wings because a one party only has one wing, and everyone knows that a one winged plane will crash, and hard.
I know this was short but it had to be said.
Long live free-thinkers!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Hardcore: The Unseen Safe House
A bare room with nothing in it but space in the morning. This room would most likely smell of old people or whoever used it last, maybe a birthday party of some sort. The room later that night after all the ruckus would smell of body sweat. The air would feel dense and humid and lonely once again, after all the ruckus. The everyday passerby sees the show as noise pollution. Some see it as a place where their kids would learn about fucking and drugs. This is the people that we consider to be the bad crowd. We want to keep our kids in school and church. If they aren't accepted it is their own fault for being so non-social. They use sarcasm and cynical remarks and it drives the normal kids away, this is why they are not accepted. These hardcore punk shows are just their path to self destruction, prison and suicide. That's what its told in the above ground anyway.
The hardcore scene has been alive, dead, and fighting for surviving in the minds of the American youth since the late seventies. It has always been what most people see as the junkies. Music that the criminals listen to and make. Tattooed low-lives that do nothing but scream angry songs about murder. This is so far from the truth its insane. Hardcore and punk shows have been the true safe haven of the non-socially accepted for years. The sad thing is that most teens are socially unaccepted. The even sadder thing is that allot of these kids never even hear of hardcore and think hardcore is just another word for metal and the only metal bands they have heard of is the bigger bands such as Slipknot and Disturbed which is told to them as the devil's music and such which is only a selling point for bands and most of the "nu" metal bands are just as corporate as the groups they claim to be against, but that's another story.
I'm not going to get into the history of hardcore and all that jazz. Its not the time for that. I really want this post to be more on a personally level, my own experience in the hardcore scene of the early 2000's. For me I found this music scene all own my own, with the help of some gracious friends and mostly self experience. My parents were and still are avid free will baptists and do not really listen to any music at all. I was picked on from kindergarten through eighth grade and didn't fit in at all. I didn't relate to my parents either (even though I was afraid of what hell was told to me to be and I went to church on a regular basis). I went to my first show with my friend Adrian in early 2002. The show was Zao, Unearth, and Stretch Armstrong. I saw a sort of unity in the crowd. This laid back yet energetic crowd that seemed to know each other. The bands were fine with just hanging out and drinking beers with the fans, but not as rock stars but as nearly best buds. I've never seen anything like it.
At hardcore shows it differs from rock shows and metal shows like a Pantera concert because even though some people drink, its not like everyone just go for getting plastered and acting a complete asshole and fucking some under aged slut and all her friends. You don't have to worry about some long haired drunk fuckhead trying to mosh. Rock shows seem to be these dingy nasty "sex, drugs, and rock n roll." Hardcore is "high fives, stage dives and hardcore." I have been to a few other genre shows but hardcore is where music seems to matter the most. Where music is the key ingredient, rather than just background noise to getting drunk and hitting on chicks.
Not until hardcore really did mix with metal and some of the more metal heads came out thinking it was just the same thing. The ideas clash and down hardcore went to just violent slug fests between the rival moshers. Boyfriends kick the asses of drunk old men. Straight Edgers take offence to some guy spilling been in their faces. See even the more anger fulled tough guy hardcore did seem to have this positive underline to their shows and show respect at the shows even though it was allot different from the more punk influenced "posi" hardcore of the mid to late eighties. Don't get me wrong I fucking love a great metal band as long as they are extremely talented and take the time to really think out songs. I'm really picky with metal. Bands like Between the Buried and Me who originated around the hardcore scenes of Raleigh now have tons of disrespectful drunks going to the shows and their shows get very violent and allot of fights break because of the clashing.
But now we go back, posi is seeming to be the new cool. I'm fine with that. When I think of a hardcore show I think of the good times, the sing-alongs. I think of my friends, the smell of sweat and salt. I think of how the outsiders don't get it. I think of how we are looked on as the junkies. I think of how I am not that junky. I think of how non of us are. I think of morality and respect, and how these virtues are avid at our shows. I think of how open minded everyone is, how no matter who you are, you are one of us as long as you have fun and show respect. I think of how I see people for the first time in their short lives, being themselves.
Thank you for listening.
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Long Run
This post may seem a bit different than other posts I have posted. It is about relationships and love. It is not negative nor am I complaining about some system. I am simply talking from the depths of my thought process about how I feel about our significant others.
I feel long distance relationships work better than close ones, at least for the first stages of the relationship. This kind of relationship is only for those who are truly in touch with themselves, fully aware of who they are as a person. This said, long distance is not for everyone. But for those that this applies to, can flourish with a ride of a relationship that will surpass any connection with any other human being you ever meet.
The basic reason this kind of relationship flourishes, in my opinion, is the fact that most of your relationship relies on conversation. I don’t believe in love at first site. But I do believe, if one has had many engaging conversations, and have connected in a way that makes them feel comfortable before actually meeting in person, then I guess it would be love at first site even though they have already been talking for months. This is how it was for Amber and I.
We talked for hours about whatever. Our conversations ranged from music to movies to farting. We didn’t even have to talk much sometimes; sometimes we didn’t really have much to talk about but just knowing the one person that makes you feel one is only a “you there?” away made us feel safe. We first talked for the first time online around June of 2004. We first talked on the phone around September 2004. We first met in person in October 2004. We stated our 4 year (in October of this year) long relationship in October 2004.
You can really tell when you have found the person you really connect with, when you can go through really tough times and still be able to find things to talk about, laugh, and be happy about. “Through think and thin,” I’ve heard that so many times in hardcore songs and in marriage vows but its so true. Only when you truly connect will you stay together forever. Sex is not everything; looks aren’t everything. Sex and looks are always a plus, but will they get you happiness forever and a healthy long term relationship? No is the answer. I am lucky to say that I have a beautiful girlfriend that I’m happy to have a family with, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. This is the part of the post we all say: “awww!”
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Why Don’t I Have A “H.U.D.” In My Eyesight?
People sure do rely on the statistics too much. I myself was once guilty of this. The Statistics are not an accurate measurement of human nature. Actually no measurement is accurate. We are not computers. We do not speak in binary. We cannot be measured in numbers as a robot can be configured.
This brings me to my meat. My big daddy. My mother of pearl. My real sausage ball. I was told that statistics say that media violence affects people as a whole and not all people but as a whole. They said this is a fact because we can see it in numbers its something we can measure. I’m sorry but the human mind and actions cannot be measured. We are such a diverse culture on earth that nothing is constant. Everyone knows to have a successful science experiment you have to have a constant!
The even more specific of topics here is video games. I play “first-person shooters” or FPS video games. These games are very violent even with out blood (which usually gets a teen rating rather than mature). They help me with aggression and work stress and stress in the world at all! I have a lot of friends that enjoy the FPS. If this statistical accusation was true then myself among many other of my friends would be trained cold blooded killers that killed without mercy or remorse. This is not true. We are not cold blooded killers and I know of millions upon billions of earthlings FPS players who are not cold blooded killers but love to play these wonderfully violent video games.
Somebody once told me that what we did in videos games is what we would do if there were no consequence. Of fucking course it would be! Now let me explain what “no consequence” really means. No consequence doesn’t mean just no rules of government. I would still have a conscience, and a gut for morality without government and a respect for mankind. How do you think government got started. Human kind figured out really quick that killing everyone just for the sake of killings didn’t do very much for pro-creation. No consequence goes deeper than that. Without consequence means we have a world where people didn’t really die. It means when we die we get to start over and over and a recent checkpoint or manual save. It means that if we get hurt it only takes a bit from our health meter and we can replenish it by eating first-aid kits.
This of course is not reality nor is it even possible. It is only possible in the virtual safe haven of video game violence. Remember the gun was invented before the television, VCR, DVD player, and the X-box.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Low-Pay, Shit-Covered, "take-it-in-the-ass" Bitches We Happen To Be
The Job system in North Carolina is so fucked to be point blank. I have to live in government housing and use other government resources for income because I only make enough money to pay the bills and not even that since we get help from HUD for rental assistance. All this is great when you need it, but why do we need it?
Why do able bodies like myself have to go to extreme measures to live? It’s because of the economic travesty in America. North Carolina is a right to work state, which means an employer doesn't have to have a reason to fire you. They could just feel that having an even number of employees and that would be easier to count. I don't know but they don't have to have a reason.
I was fired from a company out of Waynesville called Haywood Vocational Opportunities. This company makes medical drapes for hospitals all over the world. They also own a small sign shop that also does metal engravings such as plaques. The sign shop is called HVO Signs and Engraving. I worked there from October to December of 2007. It was an okay job, I got good pay. I did have to deal with some bullshit from other employees though, which worsened the longer I worked there. I was required to have at least and Associates Degree in Graphic Design, but I was offered the job anyway. The funny part about this is I was the only one there with any education in graphic design at all. Every time I’d correct someone’s design flaws I would be ridiculed. I was told to forget everything I learned in design school because the real design world is not like that. Everything I learned was turned upside down by these no-designing sons-a-bitches. I know that the design world is exactly as brutal and thought provoking as design school makes it out to be and more. These people at HVO lived by the rules of symmetry and filling every space on the page with swoops and stars. Bigger is better in their book. I live by the rules of asymmetry and simply: less is more. Aside from our different views on design I was fired for another reason, so they say.
I used the Internet that they provided us to make a blog and portfolio called Chasography for my design work. I made my first post circa the 13th of December and was fired on the 19th. They found this site out to be a "personal business." They made it out like I actually made money from this and on their time. I was fired immediately and without any warning. After my firing I was denied unemployment benefits. I was offered to rebuke this but the hearing was called while I was working at my new job, which I didn't get until the end of February. Since I was fired in December and didn't get another job until February, we were kicked out of our apartment and lived with my fiancée’s parents until May. Is this justice?
Can this happen? Yes it can and there is nothing I could do about this; North Carolina is a right to work state. Plus how fucking hard it is to find a job that will pay the bills doesn‘t help. I do not have that job; I make around 300 dollars a month. I think it’s really shitty for the fact that the hardest most grueling and despicable jobs pay little and the more air conditioned desk based jobs like designing pays more. Further more you have to have money to go back to college which I don't have. You have to move to a bigger city for to-do design jobs which is out of the question right now. The common blue collar working-class boy is shit on day after day. I clean up after people who can't even shit in the toilet and make it in without getting it all over the walls. This is the employment system of North Carolina, and most likely the whole Goddamn country.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Contradictions of a Generation or: Why I Now Consider Kurt Cobain to be the best Anti-Hero of the 90's.
I have been spending the past few weeks doing a few different things: reading a lot, going through an existential crisis of identity, going to my Grandfathers funeral, and trying my damnedest to figure out something of any value to write here in this blog that Chase has so graciously set up for me to be an editor of. And while I don't know if this can really be considered a post of any value I think I may have finally had a breakthrough in most unlikely of forms: Kurt Cobain. But before I get to that let me backtrack a little bit: most of the reading I've been doing is the book "Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth" by David Browne (which I recommend to anyone who has ever been interested in the old New York underground art movement of the late 70's through the 1980's) which has started to make me feel nostalgic for a version of the 80's and 90's that I never experienced. I grew up in the 90's and I got to hear a lot of the bands that were performing on the top 40 radio stations but I never got to experience the wonders of the grunge movement, or the excitement of going to the first Lolapalooza tour, or to listen in amazement to the sounds that Sonic Youth and Nirvana were making with their most popular albums that were coming out at that point. I'm old enough to remember all of those things, but not old enough to say "I was there when Nirvana broke big" or "My friend brought over this really good album called 'Gish' by some band called Smashing Pumpkins" but I can revel in the fact that there was this show on MTV called Total Request Live (or TRL for you purists) that boosted the sales of *NSYNC and had the number three spot reserved for the band Korn when they released their "Freak on a Leash" video.
But I digress. The other book I've been reading off and on for the past few days is a collection of dramatic work from the author Samuel Beckett. Beckett was a published poet, author, and playwright who would often write in the style of existentialism (which for those who don't know states that all things in life lead to one inevitable conclusion: death). His work has been some of the most challenging and well written things I have ever had the pleasure of reading and his philosophy is one that greatly influenced me in writing this entry (for no other reason than because I needed to find someone who could kick my lazy ass out of bed and make me leave my mark on the world). While at Target the other day I happened upon the movie "Kurt Cobain: About a Son" and decided to buy it along with the documentary "Grizzly Man" (which I also highly recommend) because I had heard good things about the movie and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Throughout the film we see numerous locations throughout Washington state and hear an audiotape of an interview done with Cobain before he died. Throughout the narration he shares many stories about his childhood and his family life and how he came to meet a bunch of people who would inspire him to form a band etc. The movie was pretty good with some moments of great insight to the man that most people have elevated to the realm of martyrdom. For the record I am not one of those people, but I can't deny that because of the Sonic Youth book my fascination with the myth that surrounded not only Cobain but all of Generation X has once again been rekindled; the idea that there was a large group of 18- 20 somethings that were so pissed off at the establishment set up by Ronald Regan and George Bush Senior (and to a certain degree Bill Clinton) that they had too find creative ways of expressing themselves to protest the bullshit that the establishment was piling on top of them (the 1960's anyone?). The reason I call this a myth is that the movement only last for about six or seven years before it imploded on itself, giving way to the whinny bitch movement of Nu-Metal and subsequent rise in pop radio hits that were so upbeat and friendly that they brainwashed a whole new of generation of kids. The people who were prevalent in the movement promised to be our undying symbols of protest and change through out the country, giving hope to all the disenfranchised youth who had lost their place in the world. This brings me to the one and only Mr. Cobain and his glorious contribution to the world.
Cobain represented, for most of the Gen-X crowd at least, someone who had grown tired of the corporate lifestyle that was taking over America's youth (and still is); the lifestyle that tells the kids how to dress, what music to listen too, where to go to get your morning cup of coffee etc. and Cobain hated all of it... especially when he became part of it. There is a classic Rolling Stone cover that has Cobain wearing a shirt that says "Corporate Magazines Still Suck," his attempt to justify being on the cover of a magazine that represented everything that he hated at that moment in time. The only problem was he probably didn't hate it that much at all, sure he was pissed that he had sunk to the low of dumbing the world down even more but at least he was getting paid to do so. In the film we hear a snippet of an interview where Cobain talks about the pressures of putting out a new record and then goes on to say that he would gladly take a check written to him by the head of the label. Granted he said that because he was wanting to put some money away for his daughters' future, but the scene acts as a glimpse into the true meaning behind Kurt Cobain: he was a human being who was no better or worse than anyone else and had been just as brainwashed as the kids who were going to see him in concert. Cobain came to represent everything he was railing against when he first got into making music, that part everyone knows, but what no one really thinks about is the fact that it happened to him in a very Orwellian way. He was systematically broken down by the very system he hated. He came to love corporate America just as much as Winston came to love Big Brother at the end of "1984." I may be exaggerating a little, but not by much, Cobain was very much the prototypical anti-hero because of what he came to represent in later years. Gen-X imploded on itself by 1998: most of the people in Gen-X were starting to go to collage or graduating from it and going out into the real world, they would trade in their flannel shirt, ripped up jeans, and Doc Martin boots for a three piece suit. They would move out of that dingy, dank apartment and move into a two story house in the suburbs with their girlfriend or fiance and have a few kids. They would go on to become successful business men or women and forget about all the idealism that they had growing up in the time of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam. They would all go on to become yuppies and their kids would grow up listening to music like Korn and Marilyn Manson who will someday become the music that they look back on and wonder where all the good music went. And their martyr, their man upon the cross, the man who was the voice of a generation shot himself in the head to die for all the sins they were about to create.
And all the while I'm here feeling nostalgic for the version of the 90's that I never had, never will have, and will never exist again. Next time I think I'll talk about the nostalgia that I have for the 90's I do remember.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
What A Let Down
Obama has been running a Really dumb campaign lately. It is a let down to all the people that thought that his false hopes where true. Since my last post he has gone back on taking big money for his campaign. He states that he will not be able to compete with McCain but as of any one who cares and would vote for him another tv add is not going to sway us and make us change our mind. People that are going to vote for McCain are not going to vote for Obama. This is a though shared by many liberals, and to me to shoot for swing voters is dumb. We need a truly liberal president. One that would never bring Hillary Clinton along. We voted him in over her for a reason and its upsetting to me to see that as soon as he has the nomination he turns his back on any promises that he has made. The Fact is we need to take big money out of the election nothing will change until this is done. As Americans we have a responsibility for our government, and to let it get out of hands like this says nothing more then our forefathers have let us down and we have to make this right. The fact is i am still going to vote for him like many other and i ask you to as well because if we give the presidency to McCain is to nuke to world our self's. If you vote for a man well knowing of what he has done like bush, you have that blood on your hands. We all do if we voted or not for letting that go on in the white house for so long. Not standing up and taking America back. Its almost like to claim yourself patriotic now is to align yourself with a bunch of right wing bible thumping fanatics. But no where not like this, but when you get in that little booth you voted that way. Let a mad man control our country for 8 years and start wars, make bad judgments, say outlandish things in public with out any repercussions towards him. I don't know, but i do know Obama is the lesser of two evils. I just don't know how much less. That bothers me. It bothers me that we have taken our freedoms and flushed them down the toilet and let big business control our government. In my last post i stated that i hope he is honest about his words. I like many people was in the haze of hope that he gave us. Now i just feel dumb for ever putting faith in anyone that could win the democratic nominee.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Stunt the Growth for Ignorant Superstitions
Recently in Haywood County the bill was passed for liquor by the drink. This is a great thing for drinkers and non-drinkers alike. For one, I can get a whiskey with my meal if Amber and I go out for a change. For another, we will get better restaurants that have bars and couldn't come to Haywood county because we couldn't sell liquor by the drink. It always seemed like we had to drive 40 mins just to get to the closest non-censoring record store(via not walmart). Now we will be getting a best buy and more restaurants to make Haywood county grow and the economy with it.
What was stunting this growth? Nothing more than a Christian foundation that alcohol was evil and no one ever should drink it and If anyone does they were going to hell. They also thought that no restaurant could come if there were to sell it. What is this prohibition? Not quite actually...I think Its all about face. Its all about the goody fronts that these hypocritical bible thumpers put on. They put those "vote no" signs in their yards just for show. Just so their church cousins don't think bad of them, but they just like everyone else want to go out and have a drink, but don't tell preacher brown! I bet, they are out fucking their sisters and their kids right now. You know the bible thumpers are really the scum of the earth, and the preachers kids and the bullies and sluts in the schools.
Fuck That! Give me a Maker's Mark on the rocks please!
Cheers!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Delusional Love
Love is a scam. I've decided that "love," in its conventional sense, is nothing more than a creation of man, much like God. Gordon Gekko had it right when he described love as nothing more than something than an idea that was created to keep people from jumping out of their skin. People live their lives in search of love, in search of that person that will make them eternally happy. The problem with this is that they overlook the true person that will make them happy and that is themselves. There is no point in looking to anyone, other than yourself, for happiness. As of late, I've almost given up on the idea of finding "love" because it would do nothing but hinder the glorification of myself.
There is something to look forward to, but it's not a necessity, but the problem is that it's different than Romeo and Juliet's definition of "love." It is what I refer to as inter awareness. It is, essentially, two people that totally understand themselves, understanding each other but in the form of a relationship. Inter awareness replaces love. You can have inter awareness for friends or for significant others. What I'm looking for, and have been for quite some time, is a woman that totally understands herself and when she meets me, will understand me and we can connect on that level. This level is higher and more complex and intimate than any "love" that some idiot thinks they are experiencing. I'm discussing the notion of a higher level of affection based on logic and thought, not of emotion, which is what traditional love is based on. One could call inter awareness logical love, but using the L word is bastardizing a great concept.
Granted, when I meet a girl that I experience inter awareness with, I will tell her that I love her, but that's only brevity issue. But let's analyze "love." It's collectivism. We are talking about a concept that people claim they are experiencing, but is it really? I have no right to tell someone what they are feeling, but let's look at what love typically involves. First and foremost, it is about emotions. Illogical feelings that cause people to act irrationally, what is the appeal in this? I'm sure it feels great to experience "love" with someone but trying to enforce your will on someone and attempt to control them seems counter productive. I'm discussing the idea that throwing your reason to the wind and letting emotions take the reigns is ridiculous.
Because I care greatly about someone does not mean I want them to live by my standards. This is a typical interpretation of "love." One attempts to impose their views on religion, politics drugs and alcohol, amongst many other things when they are in "love." This is simply ridiculous. If someone is getting fucked up on drugs and alcohol constantly, then leave them. It is up to the individual to make decisions about substances and not up to their significant other to change them. Just leave them and find another person that holds the same opinions about substances, or someone you can tolerate with their intake.
Inter awareness is beyond all of this. It's just about respect, understanding and a connection. Some may say that is what love is about, the problem is that they don't respect, understand or connect with themselves. This is much more important and what one must do to experience inter awareness. It has nothing to do with emotions. Emotions will flourish when they are ready, with inter awareness, but this is a type of affection that is based on a logical attraction, not blind love.
Blind love is just as ridiculous as blind faith. Love is just as ridiculous as God. They are both fake, made up ideas. Humans made up these ideas because if you focus on love and God, then you will not focus on yourself and it's another hit to the individual which will dismantle collectivism. Love fades, people's emotions fizzle out but they stay in these bullshit relationships because they are comfortable, but here's something that doesn't sound so pessimistic: logic doesn't fade. It will always be there and if you have a relationship based on logic and respect, then it will feel fresh, always. You will not be trapped in something that drives you insane and if you want to bail, then that person should understand because they understand and respect you.
I'm not able to reform society, government, or religion, so I know I will not be able to change the scope of relationships, considering most people put so much emphasis on emotions, but this is what I will do with myself and it just makes sense.
Discard love when you discard God, it will be more liberating than you could imagine.
originally published on Liberty and Individualism
Barack and Roll
I do not know what it is about this man, but Barack Obama somehow is seen through all the bullshit. This man came from nothing and compared to his running mates was an underdog. Almost to the point where even now if your watching Fox News they still only talk about the Clinton's. But as we all know Fox News has not been known for telling the real stories from time to time.
This is my opinion on this, if he wins he will be the 44 president. If you do the math on that it over 200 years for us to put a black man in the office. That means it has taken this long for our society to get over hate, which this is a big step for us as a nation. It truly is. In public opinion he does well. He did a lot of good things in his career and is trying to shake it up from what i can tell. There something in the way he speaks to the country as a whole and unifies them unlike anyone has in a long time. He points out the basic facts that everyone sees, that we as a country have a ton of short comings and need to change the way to think and do business if we're going to survive for our next generation.
I really like the fact that he has made it a party rule to not take money from lobbyist. I don't think the mass public understands how big of an issue that is. Lobbyist take away from our views and our beliefs because they are backed by "big business" and pay a ton of money to not let the general consent of the public get in the way of there goals. Honestly any politician in my opinion that takes money from lobbyist should be removed from office. There's a name for that it is called a bribe, and last time i checked that was against the law. But this somehow gets pushed to the side and not talked about. I do not think that this is how our government should be ran. It makes me fucking sick to think this is how we have let them get control of our life and our government.
To me it is not patriotic to sit aside and let this shit happen. You can claim that you believe in our country but if you voted for George W. Bush, you sold out our fucking country. For what? What have we gained since he has been in office. A shitty check was cut in half if you actually work that just put the country in further debt. When it comes down to it, I think most Americans wouldn't mind paying a little more on there taxes if it meant that they would get health care when they're sick, if they where hurt and couldn't work they could get help and still live like a human being, I think everyone deserves that right. It's a human right, that's why his donations are a good idea. It says that if you believe in what I say then give a little money, $5 bucks, whatever you can. But it brings a bigger idea in that we have control, it puts it back in our hands, and this is proof that it works.
Americans can think for themselves and no matter what is said on the networks they are starting to see through it for what it is. This gives me hope. That all his campaign is about HOPE. I think our country can use a little. I haven't heard anyone else offer us hope. I'm not saying it going to be easy but it's at least something to work towards. He has got my vote! I just hope he is for real about what he speaks.
Q&A with I Was Totally Destroying It
First off I saw these guys at the Cats Cradle with Cursive and they took the show best band there by far. Sorry Cursive don't get mad at me if you read this! But i had to get a chance to take to them before they are gone on the road for the summer and this is what i got. Probably one of the nicest guys I've ever got a chance to talk to.
Can we start with
your names and what you each play?I'm John Booker
and I sing and play guitar, Rachel Hirsh sings and plays keyboards, Curtis Armstead plays guitar,
Martin Anderson plays bass, and James Hepler plays drums.
How long have you
been a band?This band came
together in January 2007, so we've been together for about a year and a half
now. James and I had been playing together for a couple of years before that,
and the rest of the band were from some of the bands that our old band played
with at that time. When that band(En Garde) called it quits, we called on these new
friends to round out the new lineup.
I saw you guys with Cursive at
the Cats Cradle, since that show how would you say that your fanbase has grown?Our fanbase since the Cursive
show in May 2007 has grown from "nothing" into "something"- that was our second
show ever! So we didn't really have a fanbase at all at that point, just friends or fans of
our old bands who came to the first show. It's been a fantastic year or so,
getting play with some great national acts, and all the best bands in the
Triangle. We've been lucky enough to play with amazing local acts and expand our fanbase by stealing
bits of theirs!
What would you say your influences be in the
music you make?We all have so
many bands and artists that have influenced us- I think one big one that we can
all agree on is Superchunk. We're all big fans of the local history
of music in general- all the greats- Polvo, Archers of Loaf, Hellbender, Spatula, and
so on. I listen to SO MUCH music and it all has influenced me- some of the
biggest and most important names would be: U2, The Beach Boys, The Cure, Rocket
From The Crypt, Foo Fighters, Brian Eno, The Sea And Cake, Motion City Soundtrack, Zwan, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Jon
Brion, Spoon, The Outfield, Huey Lewis & The News, Elvis Costello, The
Pixies, Saves The Day, The Who, Motown, Jazz- that's barely the tip of the
iceberg. Curtis and James agree with me on most of that stuff- the 3 of us have
very similar tastes. Rachel is into all that, and a lot of more recent quirky
indie rock, and lots of classical music- and is also HUGE on 80's music, as am
I. Martin's faves are 70's icons like Springsteen and Neil Young. But seriously,
it goes way beyond that too- believe it or not, I listen to tons of ambient
music, krautrock,
lots of experimental weird stuff- as much as I listen to embarrassing pop hits!
When you write a song how is it done do you come up with music first
then the lyrics or do you normally have an idea for the song already in your
head?This can get
complicated- Rachel and I are the primary songwriters- initially- and then the
rest of the band adds their spice on top of the general idea. People tell me the
way I write is fairly unusual. I used to do what most people I know do- come up
with guitar parts and riffs and throw them together and then eventually write a
melody on top of whatever you have there. I still do this sometimes, but I find
that process can make the melody suffer and seem secondary- and since we are in
a lot of ways a "pop" band, I think the melody is the most important thing. So
most of the songs I've written for this band start with me holding a guitar and
strumming a first, random chord, that fits the vibe I am aiming for at that
time. Then a melody starts coming out of my mouth and I find the chords that
follow the changes in the melody. I find the changes that please me melodically
for a verse, a chorus, a bridge, etc- and throw it all together. Sometimes I'll
write a backing guitar part that I hear melody from as well. That's generally
how I write the pop songs that I bring to the band as mostly completed ideas,
but lately it's been changing. Rachel has written a lot more songs for our
upcoming album- she is a lot more of the "normal" approach of coming up with
chord sequences or riffs and then putting a melody on top later. And some of our
best songs happen when Rachel or I have an idea we can't finish and bring it to
the other person, and it's a very collaborative effort with us finishing the
songs 50/50. Those are really the most exciting moments, and there's a lot of
those on the record we're about to record this summer.
Any funny
stories you would like to share from the band?Hmm- none that come to
mind right off the bat- but I'm sure I'll have tons by the end of this summer-
after our 3 week US tour, recording for a month straight, and Rachel, Curtis and
myself moving into a house together next month! It's gonna get nuts!
I see you have a us tour going on now with quite a few states on the
bill how did you go about setting it up?We decided to do a
June/July tour back in January- we mapped out how long we could be gone and
where we wanted to hit. It's a very ambitious quest for a first tour- we're
going all the way to the west coast and back in under 3 weeks. It hasn't been
easy booking it, and nothing like this ever goes exactly as planned, but we've
been really lucky with some of the shows we've gotten. Basically we just booked
it using connections we have from our past bands or people we know in the music
world somehow. Our California shows, for example, I was able to book because I
lived in San Francisco for 4 years and played in a band there- a lot of my old bandmates are still
playing there, so we're playing with their current projects, and other friends
on that coast from my time out there. Other shows we were able to hook up
through exchanging shows with bands that needed help here- we met a great band
this Spring from Idaho who needed our help with an NC show- so we hooked them up
and they are helping us out with Idaho- a state we otherwise had no idea how to
book. It's a lot of networking and just staying in touch with people you meet on
earlier tours you've done. We've been lucky to meet a lot of rad and helpful
people over our musical careers.
You are as of now unsigned is that
correct and if so is there a label that you are looking at?Yes, we are
currently unsigned. There are a couple of beginnings of things with labels
popping up, but really nothing to speak of at this point. We released our first
album ourselves, and it was great and I've done it many times before with other
bands, but our goal is to record this next album this summer and shop it around
to record labels throughout the fall. We've got a few big names working with us
on the production of this record, and they plan to help us with the label
shopping process. Who knows how it will turn out- the music industry is very
strange right now. It'll come out at some point, even if we just end up self
releasing again, but we want to pursue these other options first and try to find
the right home.
What bands are you planing on playing with on the
tour?We're playing with
a handful of bands I haven't heard yet, but some things we're really looking
forward to are: playing with Ryan Ferguson in San Diego- he was in a band a few
years back that we all love, called No Knife. We're also playing with our
friends Max & The Marginalized in Los Angeles, and my old bandmates goofy but
awesome new hard-rock side-project band, Leather Feather. haha. We also are looking
forward to seeing our new Idaho friends again, the band Finn Riggins. Oh, and a rad
band from Ohio called The Story Changes.
There are a lot of bands that
have came out of Chapel Hill how do you feel being kinda thrown in there with
some major bands so soon in your career how do you feel about it?Like I said
before, we are huge fans of the history of the Chapel Hill music scene, it's
what we were raised on- Martin was so inspired by bands like Superchunk that he and his
friends started their own local record label, Trekky Records. The rest of us started bands of our
own. James and I have been playing in the scene for well over a decade- we were
lucky enough to be in cool bands in the 90's that got to hobnob with a lot of
the rad bands working at that time. And of course the tradition continues of
amazing local artists- a lot of the shows we play half
energize-me-to-play-better-and-even-more, but sometimes they make me just go
"damn, I'll never be as good as so-and-so's band!" It's a slightly competitive, incestuous,
creative melting pot and we're just happy to be a part of what's going on. I
think it's safe to say that the songs stand for themselves around here.
They are going to be playing a ton of show coming up. You should go check them out!
There Myspace link is http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=148830077
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The War On Drugs
Noam Chomsky states that the term war on drugs is an example of synecdoche "simultaneous understanding" referring to operations against suspected producers, traders and/or users of certain substances. What this means is we are the enemy. The war is on us much like W's war on terror. To them anything that is done against the grain so to speak is not going to be allowed in our society today. Honestly this is not a society i want my children to grow up in in fear because in the past years we have seen how worse it has gotten and us the community has been taken out of the equation.
When was the last time they put it to a vote for us to choose and this goes with many things like gay marriage. I think we should have this right. But there's a reason that they wont let us have it. There a reason that if you have over an ounce its a felony. The same reason that people with a felony can not vote. What they afraid of that they have to take away peoples basic right of free speech. If we took half of the money out of the war and put in into rehabilitation programs for drug use to me that would be beneficial to society in a whole. Instead of just letting that part of society fall down into the cracks. They should call it was it is the war on the lower classes and as long as they can keep the system like it is and keep the money into big business and and the government and do what the do best as in worry about themselves instead of what we put them in office for in the first place us. They're quick to forget about the people that have placed them where they are.
This makes me angry, it does. Last year I was taking my girlfriend out to dinner and I didn't leave my stuff at the house like I should of. I was driving in Smithfield, N.C. I got pulled over for what they said was a tail-light being out and not thinking that they where lying i was polite and did not fight with them. With them say that all was well and I wouldn't get a ticket they forced a search on my car. I was not speeding. I was not doing anything and I didn't have a tai-llight out. Knowing that I had Nicole with me I didn't fight I told them where my weed was, I got arrested for possession of over a half of ounce. When they took me to the police office the lead cop showed one of his fellow rookies and the rookie snatched the bag out of his hand and ran to his fellow officers and showed it to them calming that they never seen anything like that before. Is this the war they had in mind. They got really excited about it for wanting to keep it off the streets from children. Is this the protection that we need. Who will protect us from the police when it come down to it.
After the officer retrieved the bag from the officer he calmed that i wouldn't have to go to jail because it was only two grams over the half ounce mark. But there hollow promises did nothing as he said it there was a female officer sitting there after what she did with the guilt on her face know i would go to jail and what they did was wrong. I was pulled and forced a search on because i was at the wrong place at the wrong time and they felt like picking on someone. Over time she will learn not to feel that guilt to hold it back because this is how we are training our officers of the law. This is what our tax dollars are going to. We pay for this whole system and have no control over it I think Its time for change.
Do You?
Monday, June 9, 2008
The 1st Whack
Think to yourself that you know nothing at all, you were in a coma from the moment you were born until you were 20 years old. You learn to walk and eat and shit and piss all in a white room. Then you are let outside not telling you anything about whats to expect. A thunderstorm arises and you see lighting strike a tree and then almost instantly thunder cracks so loud and intense that it shakes the ground. You are scared out of your mind and Don't know what to think so you assume that the sky is angry thing you see a bright ball of light. That must be vengeful being that is angry with you, you begin to worship ball of light and bring it much scarifies to keep it happy with you so you do not fall subject to its wrath.
Sounds ridiculous right? Well this is the first try, a philosophy we like to call religion. Religion is our first try at explaining the unexplainable before we knew better. The ball of light is no god but a ball of intense heat and gas that our solar system surrounds and the lightning is just molecules attracting and repelling.
I was once a believer in these irrational ways of thinking. But I now know better. What I don't understand will be a mystery to me until I or someone finds a natural explanation. No assumptions. Without this religion, religious violence would only be but a mere memory. That would be a day of peace I do believe.
When I say, "I am an atheist" I mean I do not believe nor accept any religion now, past or future. I do not believe in any spiritual teachings or superstitions at all. No ghosts, no spirits, gods or angels. I may read about them, watch movies about them, but we all enjoy fictional writings don't we? I find it funny when I see the sections in bookstores "Religious" and "Religious-fiction." Wouldn't all religious books be religious fiction?
The next whack is science and educational hypothesizing. Don't just make up what you think the reason of the unexplainable. Let it be a mystery until it is reveiled as a fact.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Free Speech Machine
Free speech, it is a right that is so often looked down upon. As Americans, as a democracy this is a very important right. As Americans we can say what we want when we want where we want an there is nothing that anybody can do about it. A fellow American can kick us out of their bar or make us leave their store, but the government cannot arrest us for what we say or think.
Free speech is one thing that keeps us separated from the totalitarian governments setting us apart from oppression. This is what this online zine, blog, newspaper, or whatever you would call is for, I'm just going to call it "a free speech engine." Every thing that you can think or say is worthy of being thought or said, just for the simple fact that it is your own. The word copyright is misconceived by most. Once a thought is thought by anybody it is copyrighted at that instant, but of course there is no way to prove it without buying a document saying such information.
Bottom line, use your right for speech and thinking, it will make you happy to know that you cannot be told what to think or say ever again. You will never be the same, I promise!
