wow, I loved your comments for the previous entry and hope to ponder and respond soon, but first I've had this entry half written for a while now (and in case you wondered, this was not inspired by any recent comments) and decided to ponder and expound, sharing my opinions without really coming to much conclusion because my conclusion is that they are only opinions... being agnostic about most everything makes for an amusing loop, but being anything else seems to lead to a much more frustrating or unhappy loop so I stay amused in mine...

if that makes sense to you, feel free to explain it to me J

"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for
people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

~ Noam Chomsky

I may have posted the comment way down below before, but I found it in a temp folder and though it seems quite old, I am dusting it off and pondering it again and if I didn't post it already, well, never mind skipping it and if I did post it already, well, maybe you missed it... and as usual, I'm adding links found recently that have me pondering the veracity of our elected officials at the highest levels of government and other things that not only make you go hmmmmmm, but things that many people simply ignore or refuse to believe...

I seek truth, not mockery of one side or another of any thought process... I seek freedom of thought, open discussion of all issues, and an honest reading of all possible points of view... when I link a site (like the ones down the long column on the left, for instance), it is not always because I agree with what is on the site, it is most often because I found information or inspiration on the site that either amuses me or asks me to question accepted beliefs or challenges me to ask, could this be true? and that question is the single most interesting question in this life for me after, is this love? (yes, he says with a grin, I am an emotional being before I am an intellectual, but just barely sometimes)...

those of you who seek debate as welcome to use whatever techniques you would use in your debating, however you should known that I do not seek debate, I do not pretend to know what is right and rarely will find a thought I am willing to fight or die for, or even argue, simply because I am more interested in exploring the questions than I am in what is right, persay, at any given moment... after all, what we accept as right today could very well be proven wrong after more questioning... the world was once flat, the Earth was once the center of the universe, and humans were once not of equal value, after all...

so much of what we call knowledge is theory and even what we call fact is sometimes more theory than fact, from the sub-atomic particles of matter to the psychology of human behavior to what philosophy of government or economics or spiritual path is best (or right)... yet people will fight and die for their respective theories, for what they believe is right or (and this is the sad part) what they are told is right, what they accept as right and worth dying for without thinking much about it...

when is it right to enter another man's home and tell his children how to live?... when that man is evil?... what is evil?... how about if that man is abusing his children?... and what is abuse?... when is it right to kill?... and even if it is ever right to walk into another person's house and, by force and threat of death, change the way that person lives, what payment should we receive?... when is it right to take what is in someone else's house?... what is possession or ownership, really?... and does might really make right?...

I do not know...

I tend to lean toward the answers, in my own mind, that are freedom-based... answers that respect individual choice and do not allow one being to dominate or control another by any means... this is why I question religions and conservative philosophies when I read about them or and above all else, answers that do not judge, at least not any sort of final judgment that eliminates any possibility of change of thought and as close to an absolute as I can ceonceive or believe in, I initially, on principle, oppose anyone or anything that condemns or harms in any way...

I am most cautious when I am faced with such people or philosophies in the physical world... I suspect that any one who justifies killing, control by force, taking what belongs to someone else, or any such act that suggests one person is better able to decide how another person should live has ulterior motives... I think insecurity is not wise or safe basis upon which to base a philosophy or make decisions, yet it appears to me that the majority of human philosophies and power bases are based on insecurity, on fear, and even on greed...

and what I know for sure is that my perception of humanity is not necessarily accurate or right, so I remain open to alternative thoughts, conflicting explanations, and opposing philosophies... I review, when I have time, the documentation (that will soon become history as we know history) of human actions and justifications and ponder the possible real intents behind the actions, the real reasons at the core of the philosophical decisions...

in reading rense.com recently I found myself asking how we, a free country, can possibly be fooled by so many leaders at the highest levels... how our free press can be manipulated to the point where it seems unable to acertain enough facts to determine the truth in any given situation... the question when does criminal activity become ok? has long gone unanswered at the highest levels of government... the defense of national security seems too often untouchable, unquestionable...

publically, throughout history, this country, the USA, has bled and died for freedom as if freedom is the most important ideal worth living, that no number of human beings are too many to die if it is in defense of freedom... but is it really freedom we defend, or property?...

the freedom this country is much more limited than we realize and the people who benefit most from the freedoms are not the ones who are asked to fight or die in order to supposedly defend those freedoms... why are our leaders allowed to send your son or daughter to die in war when they can subtly avoid sending their own children?... how do we, in a country founded on the principle that all people are equal, allow a privileged class to govern and be exempt from some of the laws?...

freedom and equality are meaningless words without fairness... equality is a farce without balance... freedom is a lie in a world where some people can justify hurting or controlling other people based on thought, philosophy, beliefs, or ultimately, money and property...

slavery has not ended, it was just turned into bureacracy...

and in the end, many more people became enslaved by the few who hold power by controlling the paper rules that bureacracy is built upon... by controlling information, ignorance is maintained, knowledge is used to manipulate people...

and the people in power condemn other power bases, other countries in this world, for doing the same thing they do... in the country with a different or opposing philosophy, violent actions under the guise of national security becomes terrorist... in that other country, information that supports their different or opposing philosophy becomes propaganda...

I was reflecting on these seemingly contradictory, or maybe just confusing (at the moment) quotes on a site about a protest song sung by this guy (apparently he sang it just a mile or few from where I sit right now and I was doing something else that day... you can see the video here for yourself)... and he was banned from the University of Miami (an expensive private school that I suppose has the right to ban public protest and free speech... hearing about this, I was not unhappy to see their football team did not live up to expectations in their first years in the ACC, but that's besides the point)...

I applaud Ian (I think) and wrote the comment included below, clicking on the most recent post on his message board, to do just that... before I posted my applause, however, I read the thread of posts I clicked on... and other words posted there... some very Presidential... Eisenhower was an interesting Republican General-of-the-Armed-Forces President of the United States, ya know?... in any case, there were words from soldiers in Iraq, words from veterans of past wars, declared and undeclared, and assorted military skirmishes (or so they are called)...

there were a few Anonymous posts, typical of those who choose that user name, snarky and empty of meaningful or balanced thought, but I apparently clicked on a thread started by an anonymous poster who said that Ian's words and efforts were unneeded... unneeded, yup, interesting word... that's why I, in my own teasingly serious (and hopeful) way, mentioned him or her in my comment...

all this to say that I am not very political (I'd much rather fill the world with silly love songs than rage against the machine, but I've done a bit of raging in my time, he casually says)... though back in 2000, having just returned to Florida and life from hell, I wrote a few things about elections when I was in newsgroups a lot and was prodded for more thoughts than my head could contain at any given moment...

I have a simple mind, realy, to me it's usually simple and I prefer it uncluttered by blood stained rhetoric or complicated issues about which I can only confess more ignorance than knowledge (and certain uncertainty about truth or enough information to develop any sort of educated opinion or make any sort of informed choice)... that is why I do not think much about politics (or religion) for that matter... it hurts my head...

sometimes...

actually, I think what hurts my head is that people get so arrogant, self-righteous, and so certain they are right and have the answers about this or that and most of the time they are not willing to admit they are just guessing like the rest of us and nobody knows for sure the best way to govern or pray or live together in peace... what's worse is that there's no real discussion, there's just words aimed at each other like weapons and no real attempt at understanding... that's what hurts my head the most, banging into closed minds who are ready to condemn me for keeping mine open...

but then, that's mostly excuse (the hurting head thing)... my current loner life allows me to wander the fringes of culture and not become involved in any massive movements or beliefs systems... I am not a follower, I know what I believe to be right and wrong for myself, but I am not a leader and believe I have no right to tell you or anyone what is right or wrong for you... I believe in honesty without harm... any more is just window dressing or unnecessary complication...

still, I love words... I love communication... I love music... I love sharing... I love being agreement with others... I love understanding... and so I am pleased when I find a song I can agree with (pleased enough to leave that hanging participle or dangling preposition or whatever it is)... and I was pleased enough to think about the bodies bleeding or dead on the ground in a far off land, today and throughout history... and the screaming battle cries that have motivated humans to do despicable things to each other throughout the years on virtually every bit of soil and sea that we call this Planet Earth... and the real-world effects that war and politics and any leadership or power structure has had on human lives or our lives in recent history... and very briefly, this is what I wrote about that...

Applause for the effort, the words, the wong.

I mean the song (typos are embarrassing, but I usually leave them in because they amuse me and often give me reason to question my subconscious motivations and meanings, but that's besides the point). I definitely support the suggestion that you re-record the song for better clarity and distribute it as widely as possible.

I believe few people in the world today have enough information to make a truly informed decision about which party or candidate to support, for they all seem to go in the same direction. When was the last year the inflation rate went down, or the earned income for average Americas went up. When was the last year the gap between the rich and the middle class and the poor stopped growing larger? When was the last presidency that was not marred by some sort of social or economic scandle or blatent misrepresentation of facts? When was the last time the overall taxes we pay, the overall money the government takes in from our labors, truly went down?

Disillusioned, I am. Cynical, I am. Ignorant, I am.

On the other hand, I applaud efforts like Ian's. I applaud those who believe in a cause and are willing to stand up and do something about it. I do not believe in harming others (or the planet), though I respectfully I applaud troops that think killing is the right way to make the world a better place, even as I disagree and hope they don't think killing me would help. I do not applaud those who would tell you or me to kill someone else while they do not participate in the killing activity. When leaders put themselves and their loved ones on the front lines (as once was the case in war in human history), perhaps more truths will come out.

Your voice is needed, Ian. Every voice is needed.

Maybe Anonymous means unheeded (since the fact is much of the truth unheeded by most Americans of both parties these days in our daily lives), after all, the n and h keys are kind of close on the keyboard.

here's the thread I fell in on (for greater context and such)... and thank you for pointing it out to me... you can listen (maybe even hear)... you can see the video for free there too (which leads one to believe the message is more important than the money)... I will be looking for more from Ian and hope to find it...

and how was your day?

PS... heading to comments now, more tomorrow (there's always hope) J

. o O ( NOTES ARE THE NEW HAPPY PILL ) O o .
(just let me know you were here)