The Soap Is Out Of Reach

The soap is out of reach.  I cannot bathe.  Raw nerves hidden under the flesh of my right leg scream their stabbing fire up from the smallest toe to the base of my spine.  I want to rip these nerves from their roots, slash off the leg, or numb myself to the point where no internal or external pain can be felt, however that may be possible.  The cold porcelain of the bathtub chills my skin while compressing my hips into the shattered vertebrae through the weight of my body.  An over ambitious use of traction may have broken my back, but that is not where my mind is going.  Right now, I just want to be clean.     

Friends tell me I am too young to be broken.  I do not see it as a matter of age or time, but rather a fact of existence and experience.  Merely a few years ago I was able to run, bike, swim, play ultimate frisbee, and dream of a better tomorrow.  The future was before me in whatever form I wanted it to take.  I knew I could be anything I wanted.  Now I excruciatingly exist in a world not of my making.  The dreams of a future, without the sorrows of the present, still haunt somewhere behind the web of bodily and societal deceit.   This was not how the world, and my part in it, was supposed to be.  Yet, I recognize that this reality is what I confront.  I am sure there is a way to deal with these problems, but right now, I just want to be clean.

College was filled with hope for the future.  I became an adult in a time when the Cold War was over, Vietnam was a vacation spot not a War, Iraq was a country America had vanquished when I was in Junior High School, and the worst national dramas were dress stains and a failure of nationalized healthcare.  My country ignored the rants of Saudi, Japanese, and most American lunatics who attacked with weapons of mass destruction while espousing and implementing massacres of organized religion and distorted political theory.  Our face to the world was occupied by greed, the rising value of our technology stocks, and a belligerence to anything that did not contribute to our personal sense of financial security.  After all, we needed and deserved bigger salaries, bigger houses, bigger televisions, bigger cars, and bigger serving sizes.  Oh how we consume!  Did this get us to where we are today?  I would contemplate this question, but right now, I just want to be clean.

The Republican Revolution came to power while I was naive enough to think it a fluke.  These WASP white collared grey suits promised protection from corruption, a government for individual rights, and a big tent party to attract votes.  Yet, within a short time of achieving power their lies, character assassinations and empty slogans once again became the commodity of politics.  The Supreme Court decided an election so that No Child was left behind at the same time no child was allowed to advance.  Science was attacked by the religiously fervent, who drunk on their power cut government funding to social services in order to have the White House sponsor Faith Based Initiatives.  Eventually, an internationally organized Faith Based Initiative of global proportions brought two towering icons of American economic might tumbling down on Manhattan and the five sided symbol of U.S. military prowess to flames in Virginia.  A field in Pennsylvania became a demonstration of the sacrifice true heroes offer when faced with a moral choice.  Would I have made the same choice?  I would like to answer yes, but right now I just want to be clean.

Instead of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people we confront a regime that tells us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and die.  From Congressional and Presidential action on Schiavo to bans on civil rights and cuts in social services, this government has invaded our lives as it espouses a diatribe of the values of the individual and an ownership society.  It sells itself to the highest bidding lobbyist of K Street and to a twenty-four hour media that thrives on conflict and the personal political views of corporate sponsors.  The revolution to remove the corrupt from power brought forth a Texas sized Hammer of greed, a thirst for glory without leadership sacrifice, and a war we cannot win.  Soon we will have a new justice to overturn our right to choose and all American’s rights to equality before the law.  Privacy and national pride are becoming notions of the past as we surrender our Constitutional rights to a vague Patriot Act and an Attorney General who dismisses the international law on torture as quant.   Can we clean this system?  I would like to think so, but right now, I just want to be clean.

When I was a child I was told that anything was possible.  I could be anything I wanted when I grew up.  I had dreams, like every other child, of being an astronaut, fireman and cowboy.  Then architecture came into my life, promising a personal path of creation, beauty, and civic development.  Alas, the War and Massacres in Bosnia haunted my days and terrified my nights.  Guilt about these atrocities in which I played no part drew me toward international relations with the hope that I could help save the world.  In my late teens I knew all of the answers and how to bring world peace.  I set myself on a path toward creating that utopian world.  I remember that naiveté fondly, but right now, I just want to be clean.

Through years of job insatisfaction at influential positions within the government, blink duration relationships to women who needed more maintenance than our under-funded inner-city schools, and a winnowing of our personal idealism through a constant barrage of cynicism in all media, the world has shown itself to be far less than we had hoped.  Our quarter life crisis have come and gone, and yet we are left with an existence void of meaning beyond the weekend trip to Wal-mart to bankrupt our local stores and communities while we increase our waistlines.  Can there be more beyond what we have seen so far?  A famous piece of ancient literature begins with the phrase “Empires wax and wane, coalesce and are strewn asunder.”  Has our Empire run its course?  Have we bankrupted our future by consuming more than we could afford in our present?  I would love to look into this, but right now, I just want to be clean.

One of my best friends, my brother, is serving in Iraq.  Other good friends have either gone, or returned from service there.  Many sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers will never return.  What of all the Iraqi’s who had nothing to do with Weapons of Mass Destruction or the contrived link to Al Queda, the innocent who are caught in this hell, what can become of them?  Our reasons for going to war proven false from early on we are told to stay the course, accept the losses, and hope for the best.  Can we tell the innocent Iraqi people the same thing?  Are they better off today than they were in the past?  They have their freedom from Saddam, but run the risk of being blown up on a street corner as they look for work.  I cannot measure the intrinsic value of these alternatives.  Will the Iraqi’s be as accepting as us Americans to their death tolls and insecurity?  I doubt it, but right now, I just want to be clean.

Trade deficits balloon on the same scale of the national debt.  Our debt and facadic personal prosperity is financed by other countries feeding on our greed.  We cannot secure this financial system from shock, yet we are watching this bubble grow to unsustainable proportions. 

The planet’s ozone layer disintegrates faster than the value of my dollar.  Some uberwealthy CEO’s steal from their employees to pad their short-term prison-sentenced estates.  Not all CEO’s commit these crimes, but those who have the right connections can escape with slaps on the wrist.  Will their campaign donations to our political parties secure freedom from prosecution or can justice be served?  I don’t know, but right now, I just want to be clean.

Where will my retirement money come from?  Social Security will not exist when I’m old enough to qualify for it.  My investments have been stagnant since the missing Crawford village idiot moved to Pennsylvania Avenue.  My company does not offer a pension, but at least I am lucky enough to have health insurance.  Can there be a future for me when my present is consumed by just paying for gas?  I want to think about that, but right now, I just want to be clean.

The soap is out of reach.  Originally warm, the water is beginning to chill my almost rigid body.  Aches of muscle overcompensating for disintegrating bone hinder my arm from stretching to the hot water faucet.  I attempt to envision a future that could be.  A hazy veil of pessimism and cynicism drapes over my eyes to obscure these possibilities just out of reach.  How can I break into that future?  I want to know, but right now, I just want to be clean.

As intractable as my personal obstacles appear, the hope remains that if I bend in just the proper way, can sustain just a little more pain, and reach beyond my comfort zone I can reach the soap.  I will grasp it with all my will.  If my will fails I may be lucky enough to find a partner to help me reach.  Brushing the soaps smooth texture on my soiled and pained body will sooth my ills.  My pain will continue to plaque me.  I do not know how I will get out of the tub.  Maybe my partner can help in that too.  Nor can I figure out how I will put my clothes on.  Who knows how to answer the imponderables of life?  At least, though, I could be clean.

Is humanity’s Genetic Code changing?

Recently, science achieved a major breakthrough in the study of genes by completing the map of the human genetic code.  This breakthrough may have taken place just in the nick of time.  It is now being contemplated that humanity may already have begun the evolutionary transition to the next species beyond homo-sapien.  Across the world there are fewer and fewer babies born every year with tails.  At the same time, greater numbers of children are being born missing the smallest toes on their feet.  These two obvious changes, and others that may not be as easy to detect, can be signs that humanity as we know it may be on the verge of meeting its successor.  There are many scientific studies yet to be done to confirm or deny that such a transformation is taking place, but if it is currently taking place how will homo-sapien man respond to this new species?

My argument is that the response will be very similar to how Neanderthal man encountered the introduction of Homo-Sapiens into their world.  This process took place in four stages.  First, there was no perception of a new species.  Second, there was uneasiness and conflict over resources.  Third, Homo-Sapien man prevailed against the Neanderthal.  Finally, Neanderthal man disappeared from the face of the earth.  I believe that this same course of action will take place, with a few variables thrown in to make things even more interesting this time around.  Some of these variables are the mental and physical capabilities of this species, the role robotics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and other scientific improvements have on both species, and the speed at which this new species develops.

First, it is my belief that homo-sapien man will not take lightly to the news that a new species is coming into being.  There will be groups that want to destroy the new species wherever it can be found.  These people will be supported by some governments of the world due to fear and a desire by some politicians who can use such an issue to inspire support for their unquenchable thirst for power.  The majority of homo-sapien man will greet the introduction of this new species with hatred, ridicule, massacre, and greed.  Luckily for the new species, there will be many homo-sapiens who do not participate in the pogroms and hide as well as protect the new species.  This will allow the new species to grow in number quietly for a long time.

Eventually, a critical mass of the new species will have developed to become a formidable enemy if attacked by homo-sapien man.  The new species will see man both as a threat and a partner since some men helped while others hurt them. 

Is America ready to move beyond the gatherer mentality?

As a nation we have done pretty well for ourselves.  We are the richest country in the world.  The power of our military is unchallenged globally.  Our cultural influences span the earth to introduce others to our value system and the products that commercialize our lives.  Through fits and starts our democracy grows and strengthens over time.  Yet, with all of these blessings we seem always strive for more.  Is this drive for extra necessary?

Driving through America’s suburbs one is most often welcomed by ever increasing sizes of homes as the newly affluent purchase square footage to demonstrate that they can live in a large house too.  Our food purchasing patterns are well reflected in the super-size mentality of food chains where individual serving sizes are more than enough to feed four people in most other countries of the world.  Our cars are big, our houses are large shells on small plots, and our diabetes rates are growing with the size of our servings.  Will we come to the point where we can realize that size does not matter as much as substance? 

The old arguments of wealth redistribution are as stale as the two day left-overs of our jumbo serving sizes we could not finish.  This paper is not meant to advocate a redistribution of wealth, or even greater foreign aid, but rather a personal recognition on the part of individuals that maybe after a personally satisfying level of wealth accumulation it may be worth moving beyond the gathering mode and into the offering mentality.  This philosophy relies upon individual choice and continues to reward hard work.  What it also rewards, in a non-monetary way, is the idea that there is more to life than just the size of our wallets, houses, cars and meals.  It rewards the willingness to offer the unused portion of our wealth to those who may not be as blessed as we have been in our lives.

Some will argue that all I am advocating is philanthropy, which already exists.  To a degree their argument would be correct, but yet it would not capture the true point of my advocacy.  I am saying that for each of us there is a certain point after which we just do not need more.  For some this point will be higher than others.  No one can tell me where this point is for myself and I have no right to tell someone else where it is for them.  Yet, when each of us, in our own time, reaches this point, what is left no longer serves a purpose in our lives.  Every new dollar after a certain amount is just not needed for ourselves or our children.  Every extra square foot on our homes is merely just more space to have to clean and pay for.  Why not just stop at a certain point and say, for the rest of my career I will now work for others.  I may not even have to work as hard as I did to earn enough for myself, but now that I have gathered that amount, whatever more work I do will be for the benefit of humanity.  It is a personal choice and a powerful message, isn’t it? 

There are people out there who already follow this philosophy.  There are others who never will.  I merely advocate that each of us look into ourselves and our needs in life.  We then use a few personal financial calculators to measure how to meet those needs.  Once we know what we will need, throw in a little extra for the unforeseen, and start stocking that away, we can begin to put a portion of our lives toward the common good.  This can be done in whatever way we personally see fit, whether it be through donations to non-governmental organizations, religious institutions, or even through voluntary work on causes in which we believe.  However we can help, in whatever quantity we can, will be appreciated by the recipients of this effort on their behalf. 

Our wealth and what we do with it is a personal choice.  I am advocating that we all, individually, or with friends and family, sit down to make that choice.  When we run the numbers and realize at what level we will be more than set for life, we will be released from much of the stress of always earning more and striving for bigger and better than what we need.  The remainder of our efforts from that point can be put toward improvement in our lives and the lives of those in all of our communities.  I ask you to run the numbers and decide what amount of wealth you will need in life.  From there I ask you to eat what you need and ask the restaurants where you dine to cut the serving sizes you leave on the plate.  I also ask you to look at the size of your home to measure the space you use and the space that feels empty to you.  If there is excess in your life then do with it what you will.  I imagine we can all find this excess.  Let us put it to good use.    

The Modern Democratic Party

Our defeat on November 2^nd is forcing Democrats to reassess what it means to run in today’s political system.  For many this analysis will conclude with the idea that we need to swing the party farther to the right, adopt religious overtones, and begin to appeal to all those who voted based on church affiliation and attendance.  Others will conclude that we need to veer far to the left in order to reconnect with our base and counter the rightward tilt of today’s Republicans. I do not fall into either of these groups.  I think the Democratic Party should camp out in the center of American politics and stand up for the issues that really determine the fate of our country.  We have to reinforce our stand on fiscal discipline, civil rights, appropriate sized government, war when necessary, free trade, and international engagement.  We have to be willing to lose a little of the left in order to gain all of the middle. 

            We’ve seen from the turnout this past Tuesday that Republicans can successfully use wedge issues such as marriage bans, gun control, and inherent fear in order to overcome massive budget deficits, poorly executed wars, and insecurity at home.  We cannot allow ourselves to become wrapped up in this dynamic.  As Americans first and Democrats second we have to realize that the future of our country depends upon us not playing their game, but rewriting the rules to win at our own.  America will be hurt far more by us succumbing to this religious fervor on the right than if we stand up to it to redefine what it means to be an American.  Our country’s founders specifically took religion out of politics in order to insure that our political system would not be controlled from the Churches.  If both parties start pandering to the Churches we will disavow their intentions and our independence as a nation.

            Instead, what I advocate is that we as a Party decide to change the rules of the game by which we elect our leaders.  I do not advance an idea of changing our electoral system, but rather a concept of changing the minds of the electorate.  We need to show the true value of fiscal discipline and become the party of fiscal restraint.  We need to reveal the benefit of free trade and become the party of international engagement.  We need to elect moderates to offices rather than hard-core liberals.  Only in this way can we really become the party of the center.    This is not a swing to the right as much as it is a claim of the center of American politics.  Extremism from the Republicans puts them on the fringe, not us.  We need to undercut their support at the trunk of the tree so that their branch falls off.

            Results of November 2^nd are disheartening and may turn many of us off to politics in the future.  We should instead look at this as an opportunity to undercut the Republicans and reveal them for the extreme they really are.  Only in this way can we reclaim the mantle of leadership and really stand for the values that will keep America strong.  Disciplined, moderate, non-religious leadership is what we need.  Politics is not about being right or winning.  Politics is about being right and winning.