A dear friend of mine died this morning.  When death enters our lives it comes as a gut punch even when you are expecting it.  And when I became aware of his death I too died a little.  That’s how it is with the rare and few friends that we have; we lose something when we lose a friend.

It comes slow, the grief and the realization that the face of that friend will never grace our doorstep again.  It is natural, this grief, just as natural as death itself; but, it is never easy and neither should it be.  We have, our ancestors have, spent eons fighting the illusive scythe of death and some of us still do.  But we will all lose to death’s inevitable appearance in our lives.

My friend would not have me grieve too long, and so I raise a glass of single malt to the skies and to his memory and to the memories that he has given me; those I will always cherish.

“You realize you loved how the light waned through the kitchen window in winter when afternoon gave in and let night flood streets with cold, with dark that swallowed shadows.”

-Dream of the Leaving, from Asleep Beneath the Hill of Dreams

Chris Ransick

It is no secret that the US of A is in shambles, at least politically speaking.  Due in no small part to the lack of leadership that has been the norm for quite some time, but also to the motivation(s) of political leaders and their followers on both sides.  That there is a problem is not a question.

But what to do?  To continue to roll our eyes or feel the surge of anger well up in us as we see the face of our nemesis’ is to offer no solutions; but, we must be realistic…don’t we?

Solution One

Talk rationally to the other side.

Yes, but “the other side” is often ideologically rather than policy motivated and unable to converse rationally.  There is no talking to someone who is incapable or unwilling to argue rationally about things that concern not only them, but a society of people.

Solution Two

Regulate and educate

Yes, but morality cannot be regulated and determined by law.  Yes, it is against the law to murder someone, but such extreme acts are often predicated by extreme beliefs and/or feelings that exist outside of social norms, i.e. law.  Furthermore, do we really want to censor thought and speech no matter how deplorable we find it?

Solution Three

Liberate and emancipate

Yes, but personal freedoms always come at the cost of social freedoms and visa versa.  A society will not hold up under pure Libertarian principles and individuals become invisible within pure socialist societies.  There is a balance to be struck here, but that is a political discussion.

Solution Four

Take responsibility and quit being lazy

A popular solution no doubt, but taking responsibility within a system that is created to undermine individual progress is futile and why try?

There are deplorable situations and people in this world; let’s just be truthful, but the solutions to our political problems do not include these situations or people.  Any solution will be policy rather than ideologically based, reliant upon critical thinking skills, able to liberate driven individuals and emancipate an obviously broken system and allow for all parties to take responsibility for their actions no matter the consequences.

The plans we make shifting through our thoughts and looking towards tomorrow

Breaking waves take the sands of the shore and watching nightfall as each hour passes us

The time broken into the boxes that we carry them in and all the while we dream

Smells of defeat and victory cloud our minds as we brush them aside for something that is not there at all

A blank slate to be filled with wishes and thoughts and processes and words and intentions and tidbits of ideas and pieces of lives never lived

Blank stares and amazement as we run dry and seat ourselves in the old worn chair waiting for another day

In philosophy there is a concept called ‘metaethics’; in short, it is the concept that there is such a thing as morality, but it does not define good nor does it define bad.  It is simply an acknowledgement that there are such things.

Some people try to differentiate good from bad by their actions, and in doing so incur the wrath of others.  Conversations sometimes go like this:

“I’m a vegetarian.”

“Oh…so you have something against eating meat.”

“Yes.  I don’t believe that it is justifiable to eat meat given the local and global consequences of doing so.”

“So you think you are better than me.”

It might be the case that the vegetarian does think she is better than those that eat meat, but it might just be that she is trying to act morally.  At some point it has become an offense to try to act morally.  But there is a caveat and it is fallacious.

The offense is that one is trying to act in such a way that does not coincide with one’s own ‘morality’.  Doing good, even if it is being done incorrectly, is at the very least doing good.

Perhaps those that are offended need to take a closer look at their own metaethical stance; how they are going about trying to do good?

If we want change in the world we must change ourselves.  A simple, perhaps overused, phrase that holds the secrets of our dreams and our hopes.  Put down the phones and look up.  Shut the car in the garage and ride your bike.  Go for a walk…in another country.

Need to lose weight?  Quit eating so much.

Need to be happy? Find what makes you happy and pursue that.

Change will come no matter if we make changes or not.  We will change no matter if we decide to or not.  Run, do not walk, away from the thought that everything will stay the same.  It will not.  It does not; and it never has.

Want to see the world?  Start planning and go do it.

Want to become a better person?  Figure out how and live accordingly.

Change is always hard and it is not always for the best, but it is inevitable.  Make the best of it, and make the best of your life.  There’s no other time than now.

Life.  Life is not special, but what is is the awareness of it.  We are aware that we are alive and we are capable of understanding, of thinking about that awareness.  This is what is special.

We are caught up in the evil of the world, and there is much evil in the world.  In order to change this evil, however, we must become aware of what we are doing with our lives.  This evil has power over us as long as we give it power; as long as we live a life of routine, of acceptance of our own routines, evil wins.

It really is that simple.  There is no secret here; change does not come from the top, it does not trickle down.  Change comes from individuals deciding to break from routine, deciding to break from the ritual of work, buy, fuck, sleep.

We do not have to be born, work, and die.  We can be born, live and become exhausted with a smile on our face and memories in our heads.

To live life, we must break the routine.

Sometimes it helps to be honest.

(writing coming back soon)

Sometimes philosophy offers answers, not just questions.

Impossible obsolesence.