The old adage, follow the money, applies to every situation which entails injustice and attacks against the rights and privileges that Americans take so much for granted.  There is no doubt that profit is the underlying motivation of the conservative movement, but perhaps more heinous is the ideological motivation that is behind it.

With a patriotic, a nationalistic, and religious ideology in place the conservative movement can justify their actions without having to retort to the truth: base monetary desire.

Make no mistake about it, the conservative movement that placed Trump and his administration into office is motivated by money, but money does not sell, ironically enough.  What does sell is ideology.  Both are powerful tools, money and ideologies, especially in the rhetorical realities of people who have the one and lack the other.

The conservative movement’s current stranglehold on this country is no less than a legal government takeover.  Money buys power, and power makes laws.  While the conservative movement is nothing less than a criminal movement, it is not altogether illegal.

The legalization of criminal acts is the beginning of the end for any country, as history will attest to.  And the legitimacy of the Trump administration and the conservative movement that supports it hinges upon nothing more than empty laws.  The emperor has no clothes, but it is becoming against the law to point this out.

IF we can simply put aside our differences we could create magnificence, the utopian ideas that so many before us have held, could become a reality.

IF we could somehow set aside our superstitions we could drop the heavy weight of guilt and fear, and ignorance would become the knowledge that we have spent lifetimes searching for.

IF we could turn our back on our selfish tendencies, we could cease to compete with each other for those things that come free: happiness, security, comfort and love.  We could evolve beyond our nature.

IF we would consume books and literature, philosophy and music, we could see through the fog of lies and empty promises, the darkness of fascism and the light of ideologies  We could leave the shoulders of giants and stand on our own.

IF we could accept our humble ignorance and shed our arrogant desires we could die in peace knowing that others after us would have all of this and so much more.

If only.

There are changes coming.  Don’t be afraid.  They will come of their own accord.  You do not have to do anything.  They come slowly and methodically and without our notice.

Change goes by many different names: progress, regression, passion, hatred, happiness, love, but one name remains consistent.

Inevitable.

We can choose to watch them pass us by or pretend that they are an illusion.  Or we can embrace them.  We do not need to do anything other than choose what we call them.

Change is the only consistent.

But nihilism is not the answer, nor is hope.  Life changes us and we life.  Change has led to life and change will take life away.

Change is the god we worship no matter what we call it.  Do not bow down, but use it to your advantage.

We have very little time to change those things we want to change.

Why(?) is one of those questions that we adults smile and chuckle at, joking to one another about the endless barrage of meaningless chatter that two year olds are capable of.

Why? Why? Why?

Why(?) is also one of those questions that are typically very difficult to answer. It implies purpose, something many don’t consider. Sometimes there are no answers to the question, why?  And because it often has no clear answer, or answers that we do not necessarily want, it is an uncomfortable question.

History is full of why questions, but history often cannot answer them because history is not a static art and cannot read the minds of those that have established historical facts (read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari for more on that).  Science does not consider why, but only how, but it often changes the answers that we believe are true to those why questions that we have asked.

And philosophy, the great approach to the why question analyzes and postulates with more questions, driving us from our comfort to the unstable heights of insecurity and Truth, the illusive concept.

So why ask such questions?

It is simple.  Because when we human beings cease and desist, when we turn our backs on curiosity, we cease to be people and become a mere species.  We are no doubt a cog in the evolutionary machine, but one that can perceive of its role and perhaps change its future without destroying the machine.

Ask why and find out where it can lead you.

Being a motorcyclist one is often told how dangerous they are.  A nurse friend of mine inevitably tells me of ‘horror’ stories and I have friends that call them suicide machines.  I cannot disagree, but they are fun.

Sometimes I point out that one can die of heart disease and stress sitting on a couch.

A motorcycle is freedom and adrenaline.  It is life and it is a challenge.  Last week a challenge posed itself and was answered.

Riding 1500 miles in under thirty-six hours, and doing it on a motorcycle.

Crazy to some and an inevitable gateway to more to others.  The scenery changed as did the people.  The gas stations are all the same as are the shopping malls.  What is the most important aspect of riding a motorcycle 1500 miles in less than thirty-six hours is watching the thoughts fly by as the highway is blur under your boots.

You have to have an iron butt to do this, but you also need a love of riding motorcycles.  You need discipline and you need to know your limits, but these are lessons that all of us need.

It’s just sometimes easier to learn them on a motorcycle.

There is a lot of stress in the world, to state the obvious.  But what is also obvious is that stress offers nothing and takes everything.  There are numerous so-called “self-help” books that concern themselves with stress and its detrimental influence on our happiness, but as the philosopher/comedian George Carlin once pointed out, self-help books undermine the very thing they propose: you are not helping yourself with a self-help book.

This leaves us with ourselves, at night, and in our quieter times, when we stress over those people, those situations, those inevitable times when life seems to be serving up a heaping helping of shit-pudding.  All the while, we might even stress over the lost time that we have spent stressing.  Vicious circles are like that.

Life is short.  It is very short, and spending it worrying about obvious problems without considering the solutions is truly in line with that famous definition of insanity.  Continue to sip coffee in the morning, turning to alcohol in the evening and life will pass us by quickly and brutally.  To be happy actually takes work.  It does not come freely and often comes at a high price.  But the cost of the alternative is even higher.

Remember, vicious circles can twirl in either direction.

The stress of it all.  The underlying anxiety of the state of the world, of work, of life, of situations, of decision made or not made, of age, danger, dying.  We wake up after a night of beating ourselves up; our minds alive with thoughts not our own.  We don’t talk about it, but it shows in our eyes.

The lies, the tribulation, the possibilities lost, the unrequited potential, the apathy.  It all tears at our conscious, our soul.  We drink coffee in the morning, and during the day, or after work, we drink to calm our nerves as thoughts re-enter our minds, our day is replayed.  It never ends.

That person that we know, the one that says the little things that sticks with us.  That news item that we couldn’t resist watching, the Facebook post that irked us.  The phone.  The fucking phone.  Texting.  We are alone and never alone and we watch as the world barrels down a one-way street towards a brick wall.

And each day, each hour, each minute time winds down and our live are shorter.  We forget how short life is, how amazing it could be for us.  How incredible it is and how worthwhile.

Happiness is the one decision, is self-forgiveness and is not battery operated.

The idea of home is one that is important to all of us, and it comes at a price.  Home can be the house that we live in, the people we live with, or the country that we were born in; most likely it is all of the above.

Like most ideas, the reality of home often does not live up to our expectations, but then again, our expectations are often unrealistic.  To be home is to be secure, safe, and yourself.  Home ought to be where there are people that we care about, that we love, and the country that we call home ought to encompass our social and cultural beliefs while at the same time allowing for others theirs.

There are those that would break in our homes, and there are those in our families that we do not always get along with, and it is inevitable that there are those in our country that we passionately disagree with.

But, to have a home we must somehow rise above these realities.  We cannot let the issues and problems that goad us, define us.  We must open the doors and enter our homes with an open heart, ready to defend it if necessary, ready to argue a point and listen to someone we disagree with, and we must hope that the beliefs of some in our country, no matter how immoral, can be changed and they changed in to better people.

We must be happy to come home, and if we are not then it was never a home in the first place.

Everything will be OK.

Things will work out.

Have something good to eat, you have a few friends, and somewhere safe to sleep.  Help someone get those things.

Get up and enjoy some coffee.  Watch as the sun comes up and go outside, enjoy the heat.

Pet your pet.  Kiss your best friend.  Stretch your legs.  Look up. Put your phone down.

Don’t dismiss the things that are going on, but don’t let them devour you.

Have some cake.  Smile.  And say hello to strangers.

Plan for tomorrow

Remember, life is short.

It will be OK.

The state of the United States is not good, and this is not a normal time.  Most of us know the details.  Stress levels are high and “the line” is nearing us.

This is a time when most of us need to know two things.

When to act and what to do.

Experience often dictates the answer to the first question and necessity often dictates the second.  When in doubt, ask questions.  What do I do is often followed by what can I do.

Do what you can when you act, and do the best you can.  It is time for good people to do good things.