Military

The problem with the military mind is its lack of ability to see its narcissism. It can only see war as necessity to justify its oppression and brutality. Peace keeping, another term for oppression of demands for human and economic rights by the poor and undereducated, in the 21st century can be achieved without hundreds of thousands of exploited underclass citizens being amed with lethal weapons.

The military-industrial (corporate) complex needs to process these underclass men and women to control them, disable them or route them into underclass jobs after their service. If they were not controlled in this fashion, they might well form an army of revolution against the status quo.

This is the old reality behind armies and wars.

If wealth were not hoarded and passed on by the rich, there would be ample financial resources to spread peace, rather than just keep it. Schools, clean water, healthy housing and more could be afforded to the poorest of our brothers and sisters worldwide. Armies guard the rich at the expense of the poor. Armies, like the violence they perpetrate, are evil without exception.

Pseudo-science

I recently heard an award-winning writer, a pseudo scientist, on the radio. This man, whose educational and practical background is based in literature and lecturing, has based a wealthy career on sensationalizing natural science findings. The old geek-freak method of selling entertainment, couched in the pretense of sophisticated science presentation. Apparently Yale University is quite adept at turning out this brand of expert. Look at President Bush, for example.

Real science is difficult, like real practice. It takes time and dedication. The kind of time and dedication that precludes most serious scientists from becoming media celebrities.

Real practice is like real science. Dressing up in robes, burning lots of incense, collecting icons and altars, quoting from religious sources with sanctimony, these are all the trappings of pseudo practice. Real practice requires education, thought, quiet, planning, and discipline. Real practice takes place in every moment. Real practice cannot be sold, taught or promoted. It can simply be formulated and lived by each practitioner.

Prejudice

There is a lot of talk, just talk, about racism in the US media this week after Barach Obama defended his religious friend and advisor, Jeremiah Wright.

Prejudice and bigotry based on race, ethnicity and religion imply ignorance on the part of the prejudiced. Prejudice and bigotry lead to mindless and routine discriminatory behavior based solely on visual criteria. Actually, bigotry based on economic class is rampant in the US and nobody wants to discuss that at all.

Discrimination is another matter. Discrimination as thought is human and intelligent. Without discrimination in each moment of our lives, we become stupid victims of naivete and stupidity. This is the tragedy of rote political correctness.

Careful observation and investigation of the realities of racial subgroups and ethnic cultural groups is called science. Sociology, behavioral psychology and anthropology are examples. To walk into certain neighborhoods or group-specific settings, whether they are black, brown or white, would be simply idiotic for anyone who did not take time to research and understand the dynamics of those areas. Therefore, there is a need for looking at people in specific group contexts as a matter of self preservation.

Barach Obama shows the consciousness of someone who has struggled with these issues his whole life. As a gay man, I have also struggled with these issues my whole adult life. I have had no choice as an intelligent human being. I have tried to behave in a way open to individuals, despite their color or ethnic markers. Rarely, I find individuals who are capable of stepping out of their assumed markers of identity to meet me half way to mutual understanding.

Practice is hard. It is not for the stupid, the enraged or the cowardly.

Clintons

I am amused by the current Presidential race here in the US. I applaud and support Mr. Obama's vision of change.

After all is said and done, Ms. Clinton is the wife of the man who is basically responsible for the last 7+ years of bumbling fascist government in the US. Yes, while some diehard Democrats still cling to Mr. Clinton's aura of charm and worldly intelligence, those of us with memories who follow politics understand that his sexual indiscretion and lack of cogent support for Al Gore gave us the coup d'etat in 2000, without which there would be no Iraq War or bankrupt treasury leading to the oncoming depression of the US economy.

Perhaps the Clintons think that we are all too stupid to figure out that they cynically took some pleasure in these events. Perhaps Ms. Clinton thinks us too stupid to realize that she needed the last 7+ yrs to get up to speed with a legitimate political resume with which to seek the Presidency. Perhaps the Clintons think us too stupid to realize they ae not 'Centrist Democrats' but self-serving 'Slightly Leftist Republicans'.

It is my practice to be wary of politicians...all politicians.

Dialogue

I recently experienced an informal educational meeting with several peers. The meeting was moderated helpfully by one of us. We each gave a time-limited presentation, which was then critiqued by the group. After my presentation was critiqued, the moderator added a final observation and suggestion. He said, "After each critique, you responded to the person's observations about your presentation. I would like to to not respond and just be silent after feedback."

Naturally (for me), I responded and was basically told to shut up. Had the moderator asked me not to respond to him, I would have gladly granted his wish. I realize now that being told to do something against my hunger for dialogue angered me.

I have to say that the enforced silence and the subsequent anger were helpful experiences. My practice entails making difficult experiences opportunities for learning. "Make poison (anger in this case) into medicine, like the lotus in the mire," to paraphrase the Buddha. There is always a new venue where I can be a novice. This is the excitement of the mind which is open to learning in every moment.

We

We the people have allowed our planet to become our sewer. We the people have allowed corporations and corrupt politicians to tell us that evil is good. We the people have killed and plundered in the Middle East, in Viet Nam, in Cambodia, in El Salvador. We the people foster the misconception that killing under the pretext of war is honorable, when we bow our heads to the military. We the people allow gang violence to exist in impoverished slums by allowing the politicians whom we pay to not do their jobs. We the people allow vandals to deface and destroy public accommodations and private property by not holding the parents of these vandals and negligent police responsible. We the people encourage overpopulation, poverty and stupidity by supporting the folly of reproductive rights without reproductive responsibility. We the people are the cause. We the people are the only solution through practice and right action.