A couple years back, we gained some puppies. We already had 2 dogs, the puppies were somebodies "gift". We live in the country, a mom and pups ended up under our porch, when she saw us, she took off and we had puppies. Fortunately they were old enough to be on solid food. One big dish was good enough for all seven, but did cause consternation for our 2 older dogs. As the pups neared a year, we had progressively found other homes for all but 2. Now we had 4 canines. Feeding became a ritual with 4 distinct separate distant bowls. I emphasize distant because if they got closer than say 3 feet of each other, growling began. Without intervention a genuine serious fight would follow. Dog owners know all this and if you are willing to pay the vet bills to establish the hierarchy let'em work it out. I prefer to keep the peace. The point is, dogs like most animals will kill to get and keep food.
People are more civilized than that right? Go to Darfur or Samolia for 6 months and come back alive before you answer the question. Currently we fear the housing market crash here in America. If in the most unbelievable worst case-scenario the Dollar goes the way of the Dodo, some wise individuals will have foresight to store food in secure places in basements and such. This will be the life future of their family.
What will you do if your food stash is secure in the crawlspace and gun toting thugs threaten to enter your home to take what you have? Will you kill for food?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Can't cope with reality? Destroy it!
How many of you remember John Lennon? While I am no particular fan, I liked a couple songs, I remember his tragic death. His killer lived a delusion of being John Lennon. The fact that a real John existed, conflicted with the delusion, so I read, and that drove the killer to pull the trigger. The ending of a real person so that a fantasy could comfortably exist.
I just read about two Canadian and one British aid worker who were killed by Taliban gunmen. The aid workers were offering food and education (such a hostile threat), for such they were struck down. They were likely in the way of someone's delusion, just like John Lennon. Let me theorize. In the fanatical schools of the Taliban, all Westerners are evil, "the great satan". The image of the great satan is hard to hold up against people who offer you food. When the woman that gives books to children, and then teaches them to read, is pointed out as the corrupter of youth, the practicality of the real person in your neighborhood makes the words of the preacher seem kind of hollow.
When the reality around you challenges your delusion, there are two choices. The first choice is to surrender your delusion. The second is to destroy that which challenges your delusion.
Of course America is not free of delusions, we have our own racism, culture wars, and self-righteousness. After we have kneeled before God and confessed OUR sin, then let us learn to prove the Taliban wrong and love our fellow man.
I just read about two Canadian and one British aid worker who were killed by Taliban gunmen. The aid workers were offering food and education (such a hostile threat), for such they were struck down. They were likely in the way of someone's delusion, just like John Lennon. Let me theorize. In the fanatical schools of the Taliban, all Westerners are evil, "the great satan". The image of the great satan is hard to hold up against people who offer you food. When the woman that gives books to children, and then teaches them to read, is pointed out as the corrupter of youth, the practicality of the real person in your neighborhood makes the words of the preacher seem kind of hollow.
When the reality around you challenges your delusion, there are two choices. The first choice is to surrender your delusion. The second is to destroy that which challenges your delusion.
Of course America is not free of delusions, we have our own racism, culture wars, and self-righteousness. After we have kneeled before God and confessed OUR sin, then let us learn to prove the Taliban wrong and love our fellow man.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Trouble with 1-800-FLOWERS
A gifted advertising group came up with a great pitch to increase FTD's sales with the 1-800-FLOWERS. That way a guy did not even have to stop in to a flower shop, be bothered with selecting an arrangement, it was delivered for him, all on the credit card and his only question was "IT COST HOW MUCH ?!?!
I bear no ill will against a good company and a successfull campaign. I only mourn the loss of genuine human touch. All some guy now had to do was dial the number. Dial the number, back before cell phones, before touch tone, the phones had a wheel on the face that you turned to select the num...never mind.
It created a detached effortless way to say, "Here, I'm busy, so I let someone else do it, I just paid for it". How romantic. Hopefully it went a little deeper than that but much of our 20th century American society's mentality tracks on that same wavelength. Rather than get personal we would rather donate cash to a corporate entity that will handle the dirty work to leave us free to pursue our self interests with a relatively clear conscience. Perish the thought of actually touching a "needy" person ourselves, it might interrupt our schedule, or make images in our memory that don't comfortably go back on the tidy shelf.
In the books of Moses, the was a festival of booths, or "sukkot". It was to be a reminder that they were once wanderers, living in shelters, a time to be humble and have kind thoughts toward those who must still live in shelters.
Who of us can say that in a year or two from now, we might not be living on the kindness of friends and strangers. MAY THEY BE AS KIND TO YOU, AS YOU WERE TO OTHERS.
I bear no ill will against a good company and a successfull campaign. I only mourn the loss of genuine human touch. All some guy now had to do was dial the number. Dial the number, back before cell phones, before touch tone, the phones had a wheel on the face that you turned to select the num...never mind.
It created a detached effortless way to say, "Here, I'm busy, so I let someone else do it, I just paid for it". How romantic. Hopefully it went a little deeper than that but much of our 20th century American society's mentality tracks on that same wavelength. Rather than get personal we would rather donate cash to a corporate entity that will handle the dirty work to leave us free to pursue our self interests with a relatively clear conscience. Perish the thought of actually touching a "needy" person ourselves, it might interrupt our schedule, or make images in our memory that don't comfortably go back on the tidy shelf.
In the books of Moses, the was a festival of booths, or "sukkot". It was to be a reminder that they were once wanderers, living in shelters, a time to be humble and have kind thoughts toward those who must still live in shelters.
Who of us can say that in a year or two from now, we might not be living on the kindness of friends and strangers. MAY THEY BE AS KIND TO YOU, AS YOU WERE TO OTHERS.
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