I wouldn’t say that I am a result, but I was born during WWII. Fortunately for me, I was a long, long way from zinging bullets, stabbing bayonets and exploding bombs, unlike thousands of other babies who were born in the middle of that fiery holocaust. And, as I grew older unscathed by the horrendous violence of the war; the 50’s – a boyish carefree era; the 60’s – a young man’s fuzzy-drug, peace and love; all that bullshit era; the 70’s – trying to achieve the American dream (and I’m a fucking Canadian – how stupid was I); the 80’s – much the same abandon; still trying to get rich so I could sit on my ass by a pool sipping margaritas in some third world country when I retired – a high interest and lose-your-ass era; the 90’s – still with my head stuck so far up my ass I could hardly breathe era; and finally, the year 2000 and beyond – older and no wiser – the signs, omens of chaotic and utter destruction heading my way (no, not just my way; everyone’s way) will make all the World Wars and every war that has ever occurred, since man first slunk out of the mire and stood on two feet, look like a Halloween fireworks display. My God! If there is a God and a real heaven, one that’s supposed to be this huge beautiful place of perfection, I would think that it’s shrunk down to the size of a one-room shack by now – only a handful of people really belonging to such a place as magnificent as God’s heaven have truly existed. I’m not an evil man by any means but I know His door is slammed shut in my face and I don’t blame Him. Like an unseen poisonous gas, my silent ignorance like so many others has helped promote what this Earth has become today.
Many people have called me “negative”; a “cynic”; I “don’t count” since “I’m not part of society” and they may be right to a certain degree. But I don’t need to be hit on the head with 10lb. sledge hammer to know that I’ll feel pain. The reality is: as I sit dreaming up short stories and splashing paint across a canvas; the oceans are dying; the creatures of the earth are permanently disappearing; the forests are being laid bare; the lakes, streams and rivers are polluted and the very air I breathe is poisonous.
I’m a very stupid man that’s somehow floundered his way through life. And then again, maybe I’m not so stupid –eh? I brought my dinghy clear across Canada on top of a 3/4 ton truck to the base of Green Mountain and when the ocean starts lapping around our property, my family and I will paddle to a higher mountain. Strange; Mount Ararat (Noah's refuge from the deluge) is not really very high so clinging to Green Mountain may not be such a stupid idea as one may think; perhaps it will be the next salvation, the next place of refuge once the Earth is swallowed up again by the rapidly rising seas - and hey, since all the animals are rapidly vanishing, I can probably build a small raft to tie behind the dinghy for the ones that manage to survive.
It’s hard to believe that the world leaders have shoved the Earth’s dilemma so far up their asses; no wonder their views are so constipated and we’ve lost faith in them – they’re so full of shit, I’m surprised they don’t self-implode with the amount of methane they’ve got stored away in their tight-ass anal canals.
I’m not saying I could do a better job than our ILLUSTRIOUS leaders and I’m not really complaining because I’ve done my part to elect my share of them over the years, even though it’s always felt like a wasted vote; just a vote for big business and futility. I don’t have any happy answers to all the events that have amalgamated over the centuries and are still being haphazardly welded together as these letters hit the keyboard. Everything that’s occurred through the centuries has been shaped into an enormous hardened steel ball and it’s been rolling out of control down a very steep incline for a long, long time; its momentum cannot be stopped; not even by a superhero or an overpaid rock star, TV talk-show host or actor; cartoons, singing, adlibs and high-blown egos are only illusions and unfortunately, our world has been erected on columns of fakery with a Jell-O base.
But then what do I know – I’m just a negative, a cynic; not part of society – cheers –eh!
FACEBOOK COMMENTS: Sarah S: It is you and you are telling it like you see it ! ;) Be fun to see what if any response you get!
Len Sherman: Looking forward to hearing my Blog follower's comments.
sez...Exellent rant..Your rants are my rants. Your views are my views
ReplyDeleteand a monkey by any other name is still a monkey.. I do feel very lucky having grown up on the cusp of the devistation the human monkey has wrought. I rode in my Uncles model T. I helped him cut old growth timber in the mill in his back yard. I recall catching giant dungeness crabs just off the beach.. Walking Long beach with not a soul around. I don't think I'll be around to see the water rise but if there is an after-life I'ze gonna try my dangd'd est ta be a spirit cuz I would love to see what happens in the end... Good rant Len...
It was a rant indeed! And, it's nice to know that you have similar feelings - don't quite feel so alone in my views. You have some terrific memories as well Darryl. The places a person's mind likes to hang out has always intrigued me. Often, when I travel back in time, I can still see so much quite vividly but it's like a silent movie - I can't hear any of the sounds and the people that I once loved and knew so well - their voices and laughter are lost to me.
ReplyDeleteLen, when one takes the self-deprecating aspects of your rant and the idea that the 60's were bullshit out of the equation the sentiments expressed is shared by far many more that one might expect. Clearly there is a distinction between being deliberately misled and keeping ones head up ones ass because of that misdirection. Shame on them for their shenanigans; fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me is my motto.
ReplyDeleteI make no apologies for my cynicism; never have and never will. It has merit and is a considered and appropriate response. If it were not, I assure you, clowns like Harper (for example) would have been obituary material after the first year he was elected. That too, by the way, is a sentiment shared by greater numbers than one might expect and, if anything, it remains a compliment to the reserved nature Canadians are renowned for that it has not be made manifest.
Ironically, much of the environmental awareness I now embraced were initially decisions made as a matter of expediency dealing with situations totally unrelated to environmentalism. I could say the same for health-related issues.
Generally speaking, the one saving grace that seen me through it all was my art. It kept me relatively sane and whole in a world of predators hell-bent trying to bend, fold, mutilate shit and put their garbage on me/ the masses. Art gave me a means of self-expression; genetics provided me the makeup to see it thru. From where I'm sitting other than the minutiae of lifestyles we seem to see eye to eye on much.