I wish I could take credit for the following piece because, although I don't necessarily agree with it's entirity, I identify with it's premise (not to be confused with apathy)....
I'm happy to tell you there is very little in this country that I believe in. Listening to the individuals who comment on political, social, and cultural issues, I notice most of their material reflects an underlying belief that somehow things were better once and that with just a little effort we could set them right again. They're looking for solutions, and rooting for particular results, and I think that necessarily limits the tone and substance of their message.
I don't feel so confined. I frankly don't give a damn how it all turns out in this country - or anywhere else, for that matter. The human game was up a long time ago (when the high priests and traders took over), and now we, as a country, are just playing out the string. And that is, of course, what I find so amusing; the slow circling of the drain by a once promising species, and the sappy, ever-more-deperate belief in this country that there is actually some sort of "American Dream," which has merely been misplaced.
The decay and disintrigation of this culture is astonishingly amusing if you are emotionally detatched from it. I have always viewed it from a safe distance, knowing I don't belong; it doesn't include me, and it never has. No matter how you care to define it, I do not identify with the local group. Planet, species, race, nation, state, religion, party, union, club, association, neighborhood improvement committee; I have no interest in any of it. I absolutly love and treasure individuals as I meet them, I loathe and despise the groups they identify with and belong to.
So, if this sounds like advocacy of a particular political point of view, please reject the notion. My interest in "issues" is merely to point out how badly we're doing, not to suggest a way we might do better. Don't confuse me with those that cling to hope. I enjoy describing things how they ARE, I have no interest in how they OUGHT TO BE. And I certainly have no interest in mending them. If you think there's a solution, you're part of the problem.
Lest you wonder, personally, I am a joyful individual with a long, happy marriage and a close and loving family. My life and career have turned out better than I ever dreamed. I am a personal optimist but a skeptic about all else. What may sound like anger is really nothing more than sympathetic contempt. I view my species with a combination of wonder and pity, and I root for it's destruction. And please don't confuse my point of view with cynicism; the REAL cynics are the ones who tell you everything is gonna be all right.
And if, by some chance, you folks do manage to straighten things out and make everything all better, I still don't wish to be included......
-George Carlin
Joe - You mentioned two key points that I'd like to address. Maybe it was never the good ole USA. Ya think?...I think we can all agree the US needs help and needs to clean up the country, nuclear weapons help protect the land and its people but it doesnt make kids or adults good caring people. As mentioned above, I truly, honestly believe this country is beyond repair. I wish I didn't, but I cannot fool myself. If you take the hypocritical atrocity that is the US goverment, corporate swine and greed, the decay of our educational system and family unit, and factor in the disgusting multiplicity of our population growth, you have an incredibly powerful (and lethal) potion......IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN FOLKS....Oh and yyz, yeah....over choice of what ficticious being to worship, and a 20 mile piece of land.lol.....now that's some funny chit. Classic.
[This message has been edited by Junior44 (edited 05-18-2001).]
