[101] Howard Roark And Jesus

Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 9:03am

“Look, Gail.” Roark got up, reached out, tore a thick branch off a tree, held it in both hands, one fist closed at each end; then, his wrists and knuckles tensed against the resistance, he bent the branch slowly into an arc. “Now I can make what I want of it: a bow, a spear, a cane, a railing. That’s the meaning of life.”
“Your strength?”
“Your work.” He tossed the branch aside. “The material the earth offers you and what you make of it…

There are a number of paragraphs throughout this book that resonate really deeply with me. I had a rush of thoughts after reading this and am going to try and work them out.

It’s been a common theme in my recent discussions with people, the meaning of life. The conversations are destined to glance from love to God to some other cliché and misunderstood concept. You won’t find it surprising that when I talk with the religiously inclined I get some version or another about how life is about worship, surrender, and faith. I think that what these people are holding up in such high exuberance is so artfully masked its led to every reason we can surmise to hate existence. Why is God praised? He created the cosmos, He lives forever, He is eternal peace and love, He is every answer, He is the means to His end. He is the effortless worker. People are not deterred by the atrocious acts He commits in the bible, because it isn’t about said atrocity, simply that He Is doing it. When’s the last time you can say you have been completely the person you are during some endeavor? When has life felt effortless and fluid? The unwanted and unnecessary stress of beleaguered minds wondering what the future holds, how their engagement was read, and why they acted in a way they can’t define. I feel that this lack of definition only stresses those with the wrong focus. This maddeningly obvious condition that makes you feel guilty and condemned after being put into words.

Let’s take a look at the Jesus story. His life was about his works and miracles. No one would ever dream of feeling like an equal separated from the flock. His most famous “act” was to die on the cross and forgive you of every sin. The most brilliant and selfless move of the miracle working teacher was to forgo what he was doing and allow himself to be martyred. Here’s where it gets interesting. Howard Roark is the character in The Fountainhead who is the quintessential martyr, in a sense, for the almighty I. He gets battered, mocked, and screwed over by almost everyone. All of it leaving him indifferent to them all. He doesn’t forsake his way for the sake of appeasing others. He doesn’t compromise and doesn’t care to hold any power over them. Every structure that is put up by him is magnificent for one reason, the fact that he designed it. What does the Jesus story tell us in light of this? It tells us to give up. It says to sway to will of fate and God. Our purpose is not in what we stand for, it is in that we stand for God, accept his gift, make of ourselves an offering. Only through subservience will we be allowed live forever and bask in the Light. Riddle me this. The God who seems to dwell within the character Roark, an atheist none the less, that sees the magnificence that can be achieved in creations emanating the human spirit decided the only way to instill and redeem humanity was to sacrifice it?

Those who crafted what Jesus would be were ingenious. Jesus gave up. Jesus was allowed to doubt the insatiable Will. He was granted the privilege of not just being the martyr for our sins, but also for the thing we feared the most; the will to conceive of something so perfect it would cast upon us the fear and loathing that comes with comparing it to reality. Jesus denies us reality, and therefore denies us any chance to understand the kind of will depicted in Roark’s character. Every job you could be doing, every testament you could be making, every mark on someone’s life that signifies that You, this person here and now was here, proud, and acting in the only way possible is erased. While Jesus was giving handouts, someone was working that much harder to say look what I can do on my own. Look what I can stand for. How can you mourn the death of a God? When you mourn the death of your soul and your will. When you watch the epitome of hopes and dreams suffocate and bleed out, you’re the one that can’t breathe or move. The whole reason his drawn out suffering death is endlessly praised is because people have become so disillusioned about who they are that all that’s left is to idolize suffering and death. They want to map their pathetic lives onto his works and call it saved. They want to transfer their pain as if it isn’t theirs to have, as if they didn’t earn it and can’t handle it. The most masterful maneuver in all of this, is that you are promised the type of fulfillment and joy that a character in a book about selfish magnificence would make you jealous of. Do you not see how hopelessly backwards the Jesus story is? He is the ultimate contradiction of any kind of God what would work to put him here. Our works, our story, and our will do not have to die in order to be recognized for how important they are. Deny this, and live in the hell you’ve created.

It is through the work that people do to exemplify this spirit that they live forever. There is no place for sympathy or excuses. You are not measured by how sorry you can feel about what you’ve done.

[100] Killer Times Dawg...Killer

Monday, June 23, 2008 at 9:10am

I have this feeling going on, and I think its stemming from a couple different things, so I’m just going to write until I’m not writing anymore.

I’m reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, and all I can say is it is the most amazing book I’ve ever read. I can’t fully put into words what goes on in my head as I read though this book, just this overwhelming sense of awe that someone can portray so beautifully ideas I thought were either dead and ill construed, or lost amidst the infuriating simpleton facade fueling baneful existence. Obviously I’m ordering anybody who reads this to read the book as well. Non-negotiable.

George Carlin just died. This I find crappy because I rather enjoyed his standup and basically agreed with everything he’s ever said. He was a role model for speaking out about the ludicrousness exhibited in religion, and a purveyor of simple and direct talk. I still am in the middle of When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops. It’s funny because I spend a lot of time thinking about death. I already know I won’t cry when my family starts to go. I get this worried feeling not about death, but about what people are missing out on before they die. I don’t mean sight-seeing or grand accomplishments. I mean a sort of mindset. Well, not even a sort, just The mindset. I hate to sound redundant bringing up the theme of excuses, but it feels appropriate. When someone denies themselves the opportunity to think or do something because of some formality or taboo, they’ve denied what defines the human spirit. Be it the confluence of billions of years of evolution or the imposition of some divine thing, recognizing and affirming the “I” has been the non-stop force spearheading every advancement. I’ve been saying for a while that I think people should be more selfish, if only to be more honest. That’s one of the things I love so much about The Fountainhead. Simply put ideas than I can ramble about are unraveled and expressed masterfully.

I just watched a little clip from Fox News, if you can call it that, about some new faith healer. Why? Why are we beleaguered with such drivel. I swear I’m waiting for the hour long special about the pink giraffe some news anchors daughter put on the fridge all by herself. They had some other woman on there saying in so many words that she didn’t want to offend the preacher, but there are so many people who’ve been shown to be frauds in the past that she was still going to remain skeptical until the medical records became forthcoming. This is a bigger problem for me than the wasted time airing the preacher. Why do you feel the need to say that you don’t mean to offend someone you know, I know, and everyone with common sense of faith knows, is full of shit? Why take two minutes amidst your bullshit formality and cordialness to say that you’re a Christian and you have faith, but you’re not that crazy. When you say you believe in the power of faith, you just mean to the extent that it makes coincidence feel like they were meant to be. The power of god is so strong that you bumped into that cute guy at the coffee shop, but healing a broken arm is just way out of His league. I think if the news was dedicated to reporting every new or hardworking organization dedicated to advancing human knowledge and welfare, it would inspire and enlighten people to do the same. How about some news about CERN or specific debates and discussions about upcoming presidential policies. All you hear are fabricated conversations and puddle skipping stories about lost dogs or how to lose weight.

I’m sick of being bored all the time. I can’t find the right kind of people who can appreciate what it is to have fun. Simply being around people you refer to as friends, is not fun. Hanging out at White Castle creating an extremely random and hysterical scenario involving Black Castle, GRAW 2, and gold window frames….well you had to be there. It’s when you can make times that your laughing so hard that you can’t breathe you know you’re having fun. This is perhaps why I’ve never been drawn towards the whole alcohol and drug scene. I literally have so much more fun in remaining coherent while I stumble upon a laughable character or exciting situation. Though the new and exciting experiences are not forthcoming at the moment, I remain a firm believer that there is always something worthwhile you can be doing that doesn’t involve slow suicide. I think it’s bread into society that simply being involved in social activities, no matter what they are, sends out how friend worthy you really are. Everyone look at me I’m fitting in. That’s another thing I love so much about this book. It shows that person to the extreme and parallels it with struggle of genuine will. Bah, I’m sure there’s more to say, but this started off random and is ending prematurely anyway.

[99] Short Thing On Joyse Meyer

Friday, June 20, 2008 at 6:35am

I watch this Joyce Meyer ministries in the morning because I never sleep, and I can't tell you how many times I wish I was in the room to refute some b/s statement she makes. She goes "People always wonder, Oh what am I going to have to give up now that I've become a Christian" to which she lists, depression, loneliness, sin, anger. Since when are you only a pathetic depressed person if you are not a Christian? People are so blatantly insulting its beyond even feeling angry. She goes on to say that she couldn't find a reason to get out of bed because the world is just so messed up with all the fake and deceitful people. I think if that's your mentality then stay the hell in bed. If your working a platform from your depressing outlook on life, what kind of message is that? My life would be shit if I was doing anything else, so it must be the best thing ever. Okay.

"There is no other savior." They say this over and over. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light. Why? Because Jesus said he was the way, the truth, and the light. There is no other way. Jesus said so. He even wrote it down in the bible so we could remember that he did in fact say it. The most annoying thing about these kinds of people is how frequently they talk and talk with nothing to say. No one is learning any history or facts about "Jesus" they just get to hear about some old bitch’s life and how the voice in her head motivates her to stay the razor blade. Long drawn out analogies about some learning point from their lives all boiling down to some bible quote appearing on the screen. They say all these things that are technically true, but add nothing to the analogy or truth of what their saying. For example, "dollars are green!" don't you understand now? There’s money in the bible, the bible loves nature!

"He that believes in me has everlasting life." I don't want everlasting life. I barely want ten minutes with nothing to do. "You must be born again." This is obviously another place they needed to interpret and extract because I think the following would die the more you pressured people to crawl back in. "I believe there are millions of people that watch this program every day." This is something you don't have to believe, just ask your producer. Another place where they blur factual knowledge with what they can "believe." God “offering” his love seems weird. You don’t offer love, you just do it. When someone rejects it, the last thing you want to do is burn them forever. Well, with a healthy sort of love I mean. It always kills me that right after you pray with them, they have something you can buy that will help you understand your personal connection with God all the quicker.

It always bothers me to see thousands of idle hands raised in the air, just sitting there like lazy sacks of meat.

[97] Too Angry For A Title To Matter

Monday, June 16, 2008 at 12:56am

Great Nick, you’ve challenged me to think outside the box now disappear into your little notes section of facebook and don’t’ make it personal.

People infuriate me. Every reason I am the way I am comes from how I see people struggling with how to relate or explain themselves. It’s why I have a handful of “friends.” It’s why I just don’t give a fuck about apologizing for what I say and do. I reflect the kind of respect I see people giving to their opinions and lives. Why am I the radical one for asking someone to make up their mind about whether the world was created in 7 days or not? Why should I have to ask that question in the first place? And even afterward still get to be the pushy asshole atheist who can’t just “let me believe what I believe.” After a “conversation” I just had I can only say that it doesn’t take a religious lunatic or “steadfast” Christian to say and do the exact same completely frustrating and nonsensical maneuvers in response to surface scratching questions. Like I knew I had it in me to make people cry, but I didn’t think it was because I could ask them questions. It isn’t just with never happened religious conversations either. I just read a note from someone who says they don’t really know anything about the candidates, but doesn’t like war, yet wants to vote for McCain because, well she doesn’t know, but wants her vote to count, but isn’t really interested in learning about health care or taxes. AHHHHHH!!!!! Also, she doesn’t believe in global warming no matter how much ice they say is melting into the ocean…..

I’m so unbelievably pissed. The main reason my system in the last blog wouldn’t work is because there are people so unbearably nonchalant about their ignorance, that if they were become fully aware of just how unbearable they sounded, they couldn’t hold they’re idea that “you believe what you believe, and I believe what I believe” so deeply. And what’s a more devastating travesty than that. To have to forego the long fought for excuse that has dragged them through their faith for so long. If it would evoke even the slightest tinge of anger or frustration from you seeing someone walking around the mall with a sign saying something like “All niggers are baby aborters” you might be able to understand just how angry I am hearing the same damn things that don’t make any more sense than that, over and over and over and over, never moving anywhere are making me. Your first thought isn’t “How great freedom of speech is, right on guy!” You aren’t so happy that his belief makes him happy and so motivated to just get out there and share it. Hell, you might find it necessary to go up to him and try and explain just how devoid of logic and harmful that view is on society. Why the fuck am I the bad guy? I’m fully capable of just being a belligerent ass who’s only goal is to come up with the most inventive ways to offend and belittle, and yet I don’t. I get words put in my mouth, people tell me they’re being attacked, I get all this protest when, if I had it my way, I’d just post video links and entire books instead of talking at all. That’s all my “belief” system is coming from. Those are my “opinions.” It simply does not matter how you feel then. You don’t believe in the big bang, you see how the evidence supports it. I don’t believe the earth was created in 7 days because I’ve had an elementary education, not because “it’s just something to believe in that makes me happy.” I literally just want to fucking scream when we can’t even pretend, not even pretend for the sake of English and logic, that we’re talking about the same fucking thing like days being days.

I refuse to give up. I will not allow tears and hurt feelings stop me from trying to help people see that it is NOT OK to just believe what you believe and answer questions with “well I can’t really explain it.” It is not okay to think that a prayer you’ve been asking to come true for years finally happens on your deathbed is a miracle. It is not okay to DENY GLOBAL WARMING for fucks sake! All of this is wrong. Patently wrong! Not because “I SAY SO” or “I REALLY DEEP DOWN FEEL THIS WAY.” I am literally ashamed to be part of humanity.

7 comments

Updated about 5 months ago

Daniel Noah Robbin wroteat 3:20am on June 16th, 2008 I reported your note because it made me cry and question my beliefs and existence. Oh, Nick, I hate you so much! Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 5:10am on June 16th, 2008 And I thought I wouldn't be able to laugh tonight, thank you sir. Delete

Cara Zimmerman (Chicago, IL) wroteat 1:51pm on June 16th, 2008 Well hey sorry for writing what I think. It wasn't meant to make you mad. Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 2:12pm on June 16th, 2008 it just confuses me when someone says they don't like violence and war, but will vote for the candidate who wants violence and war Delete

Daniel Noah Robbin wroteat 3:15pm on June 16th, 2008 But that candidate would be anti-abortion and gay marriage. Those are the issues that will turn this country around. I don't care if a candidate is against war and corruption. If he doesn't wear an American flag pin on his sportcoat, I'm not voting for him! Report - Delete

David M.L. Jaffe wroteat 5:37pm on June 16th, 2008 I love your point of people voting just because they want to. Especially Hillary's feminist supporters. They're holding grudges because Obama won, and are trying to band together to vote for McBush. Oh wait, he doesn't give a SHIT about women's rights. Roe Vs Wade? He wants to get rid of it. He calls his wife cunt on camera. The war, which many feminists absolutely disgust? He loves it and wants to go to war with practically every country on the other side of the world. And yet these feminists support him because Obama beat Hillary. Seriously? If you know about candidates, and you share their beliefs, then go for it. If you have no clue, and want to vote to be cool, OR vote for a candidate that doesn't care about you just because you're holding a grudge against the more sensible candidate, gtfo. I'm hoping Obama can get this country back on track. Maybe he'll turn it around enough that I might like living here instead of planning on moving to Europe once I'm well off, money wise. Report - Delete

David M.L. Jaffe wroteat 5:38pm on June 16th, 2008 And whoever denies global warming is a complete and utter dumb ass... Not trying to sound mean, but uh, take a look around the world's climate shifts.

[98] Expounding In Detail, Such Anger, Alone

Monday, June 16, 2008 at 5:33am

Hell is other people. I start to hate life when I talk to people. Now I understand why I talk to people. I’m trying to find some reason not to hate life with them around. Science is not a belief system. Evidence matters. Science is not a belief system. It is the how that matters. It is where the why’s are coming from that matters. If you hate gay marriage because the bible says so, then the answer to how you could hold such a view is “the bible says so.” It doesn’t even matter that the bible doesn’t say so. All that matters is that you get to believe what you believe. Understanding that being gay exists outside of our species, beyond what you feel about it, independent of a holy book, and within the confines of knowledge about the natural world, does not mean you “believe” a damn thing about gays or gay marriage. Your understanding is not your beliefs. When you confuse the two, problems arise. This is why religion, faith, and belief in a god are harmful. Your religion teaches you that you are not supposed to understand things about the god who’s supposed to be influencing your daily life. Your religion says that you don’t have to justify your faith and at the same time can tell you just how wrong the others have it. Your religion is either lying about one thing, or contradictory. It is dangerous to justify things on faith. The 9/11 bombers had the faith that they were acting on behalf of Allah and would go to heaven. According to the rules of being a martyr, they would get to take their families along with them. They were completely rational in their decision. They acted on behalf of their happiness. This is their “how.” How can someone fly buildings into planes? They can have a belief system that tells them they will be eternally happy in heaven, and have the best intentions for their families in mind.

All the things that didn’t matter with their faith: The feelings of anybody else. The impact their decisions would send through the world. The knowledge we have about the Koran’s origins. The passages in the Koran that are in contradiction. Faith is the most self-serving, ego centric, knowledge defiant, logic crippling, overly touted, and ridiculously excusable notion to ever befall our species. When you say you have faith, you literally are saying “I’m doing this, believing that, saying this for no reason.” I believe because I believe. I hate war because war should be hated. I’m not gay because I’m straight. God loves me because the bible says so. I feel this because I really do in fact feel this.

I’ve never asked anybody for anything more than to explain themselves. I’ve never asked someone if they could play the role of religious apologetic. I’ve never asked them to read every single thing I have. I’ve never even asked them to care. All I’ve ever done is ask questions. When I try to explain the difference between the “how’s” of science and religion, I’m not preaching a sermon. I’m not on a pedestal of absolute truth. I frequently ask people to prove me wrong or stop me for clarification. What happens instead is, amidst an explanation a comment gets snuck in or a paragraph explaining to me why my analogy is bad. Every single time I’ve asked direct questions I get a response telling me where that question is coming from, or why I shouldn’t ask that question, or how that question doesn’t relate to the topic, or them asking what difference would their answer make. I think people are running from something they don’t even recognize. It isn’t hard to put a religiously minded person into a logical corner from which “that’s what I believe” becomes their escape. What happens when those that aren’t that “religious” by their standards and seemingly don’t carry the baggage, yet still believe in god? They find themselves at the same logical standoff, but don’t have the same kind of reinforcement. They’re move is to go on the offensive right back. What are they defending in religion, nothing, so here comes their view about why you shouldn’t be asking what you’re asking or who you should really be talking to. After all, their belief isn’t hurting them and they get along with their friends, so it must not be hurting them either.

It is harmful, disingenuous, and plainly backwards to practice using “I can’t really explain it” and “that’s just what I believe” as answers. You don’t do this in practice. Your daily lives are not talked about in metaphor. When someone asks what you want to eat, you don’t come back with “well there’s this feeling in my stomach, I think it might be hunger, there are so many kinds of food out there, perhaps something like fries, but not really fries in the “fry” kind of sense, will subdue it.” When someone tells you that’s hunger and potato wedges are up your ally, you don’t reply “Well, I think it’s the spirit of Hungreesha and I respect that you wish to try potato wedges on me, but I really truly believe I’m really supposed to eat something else. Why must every conversation about a god or people’s belief be handled like this. This isn’t even outlandish. Watch for the immediate parallel. What do you believe? “Well I have this feeling, I think its god, despite all my other feelings that have different labels, I think it’s the holy spirit, but not spirit like ghost haha, and the bible is the only place that makes it real. Hmm, maybe that’s happiness combined with confusion and excitement, and I can show you other books have similar themes “O no no no, I believe its Jesus so don’t even bother with science and historical parallels.” Why pretend that there isn’t a reason we have school systems designed to keep everyone on the same page? Math class isn’t 2+2=4 on Monday and 2+2=7 on Friday. Verbs stay verbs and nouns stay nouns in English. Almost every school agrees that you should have gym and computer class. Is this because they “believe” 2+2=4 and that gym will help you stay healthy? NO, HELL FUCKING NO. They KNOW for a reason INDEPENDENT of their BELIEFS that math follows rules and exercise improves your body. You don’t pray for the answers to a test, you LEARN, i.e. get more informed, get more reasons for your actions, understand where your coming.

There is a SCIENCE behind math, a SCIENCE behind fitness, SCIENCE behind language, and a SCIENCE behind beliefs and belief systems. When I ask you if the world was created in seven days, here’s a list of wrong answers. Yes, I don’t know, what is a “day” really?, day meant something different then, what do you mean by created?, seven to god could be billions to us, what does it matter? There is one right answer and it is NO. NO NICK, THE WORLD WAS NOT CREATED IN SEVEN DAYS. I SHOULD BE INSULTED THAT YOU ASKED ME. Science is not the body of absolute perfect knowledge that you should always turn to for every question you could ever ask. Science will not tell you if there is a god independent of space and time because science deals with the natural world and everything in it. This means, you, me, plants, animals, chemicals, miniscule quantities, the vast universe, feelings, brain waves, what it means to be gay, why we would invent marriage, what shoots off in our brains when we say we’re in love. Proposing a scientific proven, re-provable, independent of what I think or believe fact, should not feel like I’m attacking your belief system. If that is indeed how it feels, you’ve set yourself up to feel victimized by the real world. It isn’t me trying to make you feel bad. I don’t get my rocks off making my friends cry or getting headaches in conversations. Let this one thing if nothing else be clear, science is right because of how it goes about explaining our questions, not because we believe in it, not because it was ordained by Science, the god of peer review. Science is right because it makes predictions that come true. Scientific truths can be found all over the world independently by anyone with the tools to find them. It has to stand up to the scrutiny and is not able to run from questions or throw its arms up because it doesn’t like the answer it got. It doesn’t stop when the answer isn’t immediately forth coming. I “believe” that science is our only method, ONLY METHOD, that will lead us towards understanding and truth because of its track record. I read about new innovations and new breakthroughs every day. It’s miracles can be seen by EVERYONE. I can feel directly influenced by someone’s hard work and care. Someone who’s played by the rules of progress. These people aren’t looking for handouts from Jesus when problems arise that they don’t yet understand. These people don’t excuse their ignorance with what they “believe” they should and shouldn’t know.

“We aren’t meant to understand what god’s plan is for us. “ This fatalistic, nihilistic, and hopeless view on life is what I want abandoned and destroyed. This kind of thinking would have kept us praying to the sun because we never understood disease. Were we meant to know how to make atomic bombs? I’m sure part of god’s loving plan for us was to learn how to epically destroy millions of his beings in an instant. Who are these people telling you what you are and aren’t suppose to understand in the first place? If it’s so hard to understand god, why the hell do they just know so deep in their heart that it was in fact this god that made some miracle come true in their life? When you pray to god for something to happen in your life, this is what you’re doing. “God, I know there are starving kids and suffering people all over the world, but can you please just say fuck them for a little bit longer and make sure my life goes how I want it?” “God please change everyone’s free will and rearrange the cosmos to play out like my petty little insecure human mind, who can’t understand you, wills it to be.” Instead of talking to yourself FUCKING DO SOMETHING. Stop with the I wish, I hope, If only, one day, when I die, who knows, that’s just how things are, don’t worry…and go out, get an informed position, get off your ass, learn something. Make a fucking change. Stop pretending like it is okay to sit back and let life rape you. Don’t say some bullshit to me about how things matter or won’t make a difference and then go study for your test because you secretly know god isn’t going to put you in the class you want. Don’t get a job or save for the future because no matter what, things are playing out how they are supposed to. Never think before you speak or worry about anything because your just a gear in a machine of confusion, you’re not hurting anyone.

Belief in god is what makes you comfortable, and proud no less, to spout out contradictions within inches of each other. Faith allows you to lie about what really concerns you in life. Religion gives you a massive body of like-minded individuals to perpetuate the garbling of your thoughts and utterance of absurdities. If you believe the only answers that matter, or are real, are ones you’re going to get after you die, then kill yourself. You can be happy that your just doing what he already had planned for you. It says don’t kill yourself in the bible? Start stoning your kids then, isn’t it obviously spelled out? I bet those become metaphorical stones then. If god is this grand obvious being then you’d think I could get one single sentence out of any believer that couldn’t come from a nonbeliever. You’d think the fountain of evidence overflowing for god would spill out of their mouths and shut me up. That’s my prediction. The overwhelming magnitude of his love and truth will just slap me in the face from some true believer. I’m not hopeful. The awesome power has now cried, given up, wanted to run away, toyed with me, and remains in state wondering what my malfunction is. If you don’t know why lying to yourself is harmful and don’t understand how large groups of misinformed people can influence public policy ergo your life and well-being, then keep asking me why belief in god is harmful. If telling kids an all loving god is sitting idly by for every hurricane, tornado, and earthquake isn’t harmful to what they’ll think about love, tell me what is. Of the 200,000 years we’ve inhabited the planet, god sat with his arms crossed at all the sin and destruction and randomly decided after 198,000 years to add more death, or the worse kind of sacrifice, the coming back to life variety, and calls it mercy.

I can’t even see straight anymore wondering so badly how people think everything is okay “because it makes them happy.” Did you guys know that I “believe in nothing”, “real Christians believe” certain things others don’t, and that only “if you believe in the big bang theory” does Genesis propose any problems? It doesn’t matter that you can’t practice “believing in nothing”, that every Christian will call themselves “real”, or that there’s nothing to believe, only acknowledge, about the truth of a theory. It doesn’t matter if you can understand the direct and indirect harm it does. All that matters is what makes you happy. La-de-da.

10 comments

Updated about 5 months ago

Billy Bowman (Bloomington, IN) wroteat 9:56am on June 16th, 2008 Before i read further i have to stop you. This line "Verbs stay verbs and nouns stay nouns in English" is just plain wrong. Language is about as clear cut as religion. Verbs and nouns are sometimes both, and sometimes they turn into adjectives and adverbs too. And sure there are rules about how to conjugate them, but fuck the rules if i comes before e when there's a c involved!!! Y is a vowel, sometimes. It's hard to say when it is and when it isn't. Ain't used to not be a word, but it is now. Ok now back to what this note's really about.... Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 10:04am on June 16th, 2008 Damn, you got me Mr. Bowman. Delete

Billy Bowman (Bloomington, IN) wroteat 10:04am on June 16th, 2008 Also i have to disagree with this: "Science is right because it makes predictions that come true". Science doesn't, to my knowledge, predict anything. It makes observations, and records them. We can observe the reaction of two chemicals, say sodium and water, and it will explode. That's not really a prediction so much as an observation. Science can make models based on evidence we have, but no one will tell you they are 100% accurate. Report - Delete

Billy Bowman (Bloomington, IN) wroteat 10:07am on June 16th, 2008 "I’m sure part of god’s loving plan for us was to learn how to epically destroy millions." I like your use of the word epic here. Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 10:12am on June 16th, 2008 Actually Bowman you don't have me on the science making predictions. That's one of its strengths. When a model is proposed it is with certain assumptions and predictions in mind. When the test is run and those predictions come true, it adds to the reliability of the model. The way certain particles will react or appear at CERN for example is what they are hoping will help define dark matter. Of course not every prediction is true, hence revised models and new hypothesis. I guess the easiest thing to point to would be evolution. Darwin's theory made predictions about lineage that held through in molecular biology and anthropology before the technology existed to show just how right he was. Delete

Billy Bowman (Bloomington, IN) wroteat 10:18am on June 16th, 2008 Ok now i'm done making smart ass comments and i guess i can think about the message of this note. Now I've been struggling with these issues you bring up for quite some time as you know, and have to decided to just stop caring, with regards to what exactly i believe. I can prove nothing either way, and while i find myself thinking there is SOMETHING of a higher power, i'm going to call it luck, or karam, or whatever comes handy at the time i'm blaming whatever happened to me. For instance, my wisdom teeth don't hurt at all of any religious fantatic would say 'Oh God has blessed you bla bla bla...' it was luck. Or i had a talented doctor. Or karma. I'm going with the talented doctor for the time being. I'll continue living my life based on my morals, and if that's not enough for any God that may or may not be, so be it.. The contradtction, lack of answers, and my constant disagreement with so much of what's in the bible has become too much for me. If god is as merciful etc. etc.... Report - Delete

Billy Bowman (Bloomington, IN) wroteat 10:27am on June 16th, 2008 As he's supposed he'll appreciate my thinking for myself, and not trying to be good based on what i might be punished or rewarded for. People need not get offended when you question their beliefs, and if they can't answer a question, then they damn sure need to figure out the answer before they can keep claiming to believe what the believe. All these methods of avoiding answering question 'it's what i believe, i can't explain it.' etc. would be unacceptable in any other part of life. I'd give examples but you gave plenty. If everyone were to base their ideas on facts and knowledge... how much simpler would the world be.. so many problems that wouldn't exist... You know, while reading these notes of your i have so many thoughts... but everytime i try to share them with you i lose them.... damn its frustrating... Report - Delete

Billy Bowman (Bloomington, IN) wroteat 3:54pm on June 16th, 2008 Ah excuse me.. i guess i misread and thought you said science makes predictions that always come true... i will agree many scientific predictions do come true. Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 10:30am on June 16th, 2008 What i do Mr. Bowman is read someone's writing with word up at the same time and type answers as I read. Either that our copy everything and type in a different color next to a line I want to address. Helps keep things focused for me. Delete

Billy Bowman (Bloomington, IN) wroteat 10:31am on June 16th, 2008 Hmm.. i'll keep that in mind next time. Except i'll no doubt forget...

[96] Fixing Every Problem In The World

Friday, June 13, 2008 at 5:55am

I have this view on life that’s pretty simple. Be happy. The only reason I’m so good at being happy is because I learn what I have to in order to see things simply. I’m going to try to apply this simple outlook to the major problems of the world and see if I can make them sound reasonable.

Global warming: the fact is we screwed up in how we decided run our cars and get our energy. Simple minded me says use solar panels, on everything. Hydrogen and water engines either exist or are at the brink of existing so replace or modify every old engine to be like them. The wind is free so put wind farms in all that grass next to fields. Flowing water turning wheels can power lights in cities, and does for some. Why isn’t it happening? People like to bark about the cost and I just want to say “look, if the atmosphere goes, everything on the planet does to.” McCain is talking about investing in nuclear power. There are worse problems with that than any of the methods listed, and considering he’s just Bush light I wonder how long it would take for that to turn into more weapons. From our intervention to the utilization of fungus and different bacteria we could deal with this seemingly overnight, yet the collective brainpower of some of the smartest people on the planet is not getting filtered fast enough into what I consider good enough results. (Edit: I have since rescinded my view on nuclear power and didn’t realize how many missiles were being decommissioned.)

Violence: Now even though historically violence is less than it ever has been, it is never going to be low enough for people living in gang areas or in warring countries. City and gang violence I say do the following. Go in with a massive task force and put them down before they can shoot anymore bystanders. We already see how this works in Iraq. More troops equals less violence. When your neighborhood has been gangster cleansed how many young recruits are going to look at the body pile and think twice about fucking with armored cavalry? I’m not a big fan of violence, but I say fuck them if they choose to be willfully ignorant about the, what would then be known consequence, of continuing down said path. Those fanatics who perpetuate war in other countries, massive world effort to save as many of the innocent as possible, then bomb the shit out of what’s left. Given people are content enough today with collateral damage, I’m at least proposing we move who we can out before the demolition.

Poverty: All those damn poor people. While I think a lot of it is their fault, I’m well aware there are plenty of people who are hard working and are still struggling like crazy. For those super poor street living people, take them to jail. I have a plan for them after they are there too, just wait. Those with meager incomes and huge families will take a little more work. First, if Jethro wants to have 17 kids and live in a shack, he’s getting a vasectomy. The kids will go to half way homes, again something I have a plan for. Not quite a jail yet not really freedom will be learning centers for these types of people. If all you know is how to work on cars, that will change quickly.

I feel I should take a moment to say, this is not a democracy. People will feel as if they’re civil liberties are in jeopardy and their freedom is being violated and all I can say to that is, your feelings are wrong. It has become overly apparent to me that people do not know what is best for themselves. They know how to survive and how to get along very-semi-well enough, but long term prospects for humanity look ever dim. That is my focus. No one gets hurt unless they choose to play that game. No one stays dumb or they don’t eat. Simple enough.

Jails: Most already do this, but I don’t feel it is to the extent of maximal gain. Everyone works. And I don’t mean license plates. I mean they are working like Mexicans to work on any and every task that can be taught for the better of the surrounding area. Those death row and lifers will be put to the task of learning the more complicated aspects of the current global problems, and will become extra brainpower focused on subject. Not like they don’t have the time. Those learning centers will be slightly less freedom invasive, but the expectations will in no way be lax. People will become smarter or they won’t eat. I think food is a big enough motivation for anybody to do what it is that is required of them. Those that are mentally incapable of doing such will not starve to death if I may quell any sudden outcries of cruelty.

Those halfway houses: The condition they are in today is atrocious. Kids just kind of existing with other kids in rundown shacks with overseers. My facilities would again be education oriented. Kids will be treated like they aren’t retarded and if they behave as such, that food thing kicks in. Minor debate can be held about the appropriate age to implement that. Parents can see and contact their kids, and when they show they’ve become smart/responsible enough, they can be reunited.

I think I should take another moment to talk about money. That’s the excuse over and over when regarding anything, absolutely anything that is new or different. I have this philosophy. If you can do a job, you can do it without money. Simple? Where’s the incentive you ask? Intellectual gain, food, aesthetic enjoyment, and freedom. I think there are enough people that appreciate doing something because they love to do it. Many doctors and teachers are not getting paid as much as some would think they should, but the job gets done anyway. Money for the bills is the concern. But the bills will be dealt with another way. Money for food, clothes, etc. which again won’t be an issue. Sooner or later people will learn to adopt that they get what they put into the welfare of humanity. This will only work mind you when enough people are contributing to the overwhelming basin of goodies for all. Someone somewhere has something you want/need and the same can be said about you. Being able to make those connections and understand the power of connectivity will be what frees people from thinking they are at the will of bills and must cling desperately to meager rewards.

Time: I spend a lot of time doing nothing. I recognize this to be a problem so how time is broken up will be another aspect of this. A number of hours will be devoted each day to reading. It doesn’t matter what people read, but one thing must be science oriented per week. In Spain everyone stops what they’re doing midday to just chill, why can’t we read?

I should make a note of my inspiration for this digression. First, Bee Movie which shows you how integral a seemingly pointless job that millions of others are doing is truly important to the whole. Second, watching ants which again falls close to the same concept. Third, my never ending fear that people will never understand whatever it is they want well enough to be happy. And forth, thinking about the types of civilizations Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist at U. of New York, has discussed.

Human interaction: Obviously people still get worked up about racism, curse words, etc. And those aren’t likely to go away. My approach is to use any curse worse, racial terms, taboo statement until they become boring. If I can say fuck instead of uh…, like, or umm and not even realize that it’s a “curse” word, I’m sure people can become just as desensitized to the stupid little things in language that cause such big issues. After that nappy headed hoes comment, It should have been played as often as Love Song by Sara Barreiles until people thought of the phrase to the same extent they contemplate “cat.” I don’t think words matter in any aspect removed from the actions they evoke from people. Take away the compulsory response, avoid the negative action.

Sexuality: People will learn to not be sexually repressed. In other countries people are either fucking in public or putting boobs in orange juice commercials. I think an insurmountable amount of stress comes from people who cannot express themselves in frankly perverted and touchy feely ways. This doesn’t mean it will be okay to just grope whoever walks by and slap people in the face with your dick. This does mean though that one night stands might be discussed over coffee or amidst some social gathering and a quickie in the break room won’t get you fired. When the air is clear to think, feel, and express those animal urges is out of the way, more time can be focused on more “productive” things. And obviously measures in contraceptives will take on a whole new light and sex education will be everywhere.

Drugs and alcohol: Legalize and prepare. Like with the cussing and racist crap, when its legal, the rush of being the badass breaking the rules goes away. Those that are truly addicted can get stipends, but will not be allowed to snort themselves into a coma. If you are going to drink, assuming the car is still the most prevalent way to transport people, there will be built in breathalyzers that disable the car from moving if your that impaired. Those things even exist already. Otherwise, drunk people walking or making noise are far less of a nuisance than dead people. Controlled environments can be set up for people wanting to “experiment.”

Religion: Will be dealt with as any other social organization. The second it becomes a hindrance to education or a threat, it will be obliterated. When a bill in, let’s say Louisiana, even hints of creationism in the classroom, those people will be thoroughly reconditioned. I can only say I don’t care what you believe as long as you do in fact believe a list of other things right alongside it. When a contradiction arises and you don’t make way to logical fact, you’ve given yourself an issue my system will be forced to deal with.

Now with anything, there will be cheaters and under-minors. Not everything can be dealt with without totalitarian fear and an all seeing eye. The whole point of having a system designed to provide ease of information and progress is to teach people that they literally are only hurting themselves when everyone else is playing along. This is not how it works in our society. Those that cheat win bigger than ever. Those that play the right kind of “game” in a given situation will have it pay out. Only when your about someone else’s well being can you understand what it does for your own. Having a planet to live on, being able to trust people to be smart enough to make good decisions, and utilizing the untapped potential of the idle human being are on my list of things important to a master race.

24 comments

Byron R. Turner II (McKendree) wroteat 1:13pm on June 13th, 2008 There are a lot of good ideas in that note, all we need is a dictator who would put this into effect. Report - Delete

Mickey Woods wroteat 2:00pm on June 13th, 2008 You do have some verrry strong points Nick. It sometimes comes across as a little dictator-esque, HOWEVER, as you said, we don't honestly live in democratic nation. Overall, though, sounds like a plan to me! Report - Delete

Billy Bowman (Bloomington, IN) wroteat 2:17pm on June 13th, 2008 Interesting solutions.. i like them. No way they would work with our current government though..... Report - Delete

Brian Morrow (Indiana State) wroteat 3:26pm on June 13th, 2008 Thanks for the 23% tax hike and pissing all over civil liberties... So much of this is just impossible! Just wait until I get to a computer... and you do know that lower-class culture is self perpetuating, right? Report - Delete

Byron R. Turner II (McKendree) wroteat 3:47pm on June 13th, 2008 BJ, I would glad pay a 23% tax high to fix the worlds problem. Hell I'd give a full years salary to fix all the world's problem. These solutions are not impossible, not feasible maybe. If only I was dictator of the world,lol. Report - Delete

Billy Bowman (Bloomington, IN) wroteat 3:56pm on June 13th, 2008 Psh.. if we eliminated congress we wouldn't have to have any tax hike at ALL... we may actually be able to cut taxes.... Report - Delete

Matt Bane (Taylor IN) wroteat 7:24pm on June 13th, 2008 Hey, you would fix all the worlds problems with this plan right? You say at one point in this rant that people don't know what's best for them, and that they are only good at surviving, but you go on to make a set of changes that would take away their right and ability to live their own lives, make mistakes, and have the freedom to be their own person (which is what they are the way the world is now, flawed as it is, PEOPLE- Human beings with emotions and thoughts and opinions) in order to solve global warming and war and other problems. So basically you would take away everything that makes life worth living to ensure that people would get to just survive. Report - Delete

Matt Bane (Taylor IN) wroteat 7:24pm on June 13th, 2008 Also, a little side note, with all of my opinions on the ethics of your ideas aside, I do not believe it would work. You can't just eliminate violence by exterminating everyone that you deem a threat. Even if you destroy everyone who "statistically" is more likely to commit violent crime or "genetically predisposed" toward violence based on research you would obviously conduct before cleaning up the streets, there would still be hate and anger between people that would lead to violence. While you tear families apart because parents aren't "smart enough" to raise their kids, the love they have for each other would lead at least the adults in the family to resist. Report - Delete

Matt Bane (Taylor IN) wroteat 7:26pm on June 13th, 2008 But you could always just invent some drug that eliminates all human emotion... we'd be better off without those damn brutish animal impulses after all wouldn't we? Then everyone would mindlessly obey and mankinds problems would be over, global warming would end, we would all survive. But at the cost of everything that makes us people and makes life worth living. You'd eb alive but never love a woman, never know the joy of fathering a child, and never create anything meaningful that you take any pride in. So thanks for ending the world's problems... Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 7:47pm on June 13th, 2008 Matt, this is a preliminary set up of a much grander scheme. The whole point of this plan is to show people that they aren't living their own lives. They are living as slaves to money, governmental control, and their untangled emotions. I'm not taking anything away from those that can prove through their contributions that they are indeed worthy to give the whole living freely value. If anything I would provide more reasons to make life worth living than people could imagine. I don't think "surviving" entails being some mindless zombie gear of a machine. I think in order to thrive and secure any sort of notable existence it will take a massive overhaul on what we consider the "right" way to be live as. Delete

Nick P. wroteat 7:53pm on June 13th, 2008 The plan is not to necessarily eliminate violence either Matt. I think you'd give me a little more credit about understanding how people behave. I don't believe there is ever an excuse from a "genetically predisposed" position because your genes don't make your decisions. Like I noted, violence is at an all time low in histories terms, I'm just shooting for as low as it can get. I don't think you can appreciate the effect really stupid parents have on their kids. It's not tearing families apart, its intervening in an all too common negative phenomenon. Don't get me started on what people consider "love" to be, especially in a dramatic family situation. To that I could only say again, your feelings wouldn't matter. I also noted that things would go back to normal once they proved they could take care of them. Delete

Nick P. wroteat 7:58pm on June 13th, 2008 Drugs that eliminate human emotion would only detract from what I want people to get out of life. I rather enjoy my contemptible animal impulses, and would live a rather meager existence without them. Global warming ending because people become zombies? I'm not sure how those ideas are connected. I never once said people wouldn't feel love, be able to have kids, and the whole point of the system would be to create as many meaningful and things to take pride in as possible. I'm glad you offered a strong negative opinion, but I feel I can either provide more clarification and/or you just took some points the wrong way. Delete

Brian Morrow (Indiana State) wroteat 8:11pm on June 13th, 2008 How the FUCK would you even survive without money? Please explain that shit because PEOPLE DON'T BETTER THEMSELVES BY BEING OPPRESSED, ROBBED, AND DOWNGRADED TO THE STATUS OF THOSE THAT DIDN'T OR COULDN'T!! Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 8:12pm on June 13th, 2008 Byron and Bj, again this is due to my lack of being as specific as possible. This culture would exist in different terms than taxes/money. No, in today's society, some of the stuff is not feasible, let alone given the contingencies of our government before any progress is ever made. When I mean change, I mean massive change and when people finally "get it" it will not take a dictator for it to perpetuate. The way our government is set up now, people piss on their own liberties. What bigger dick up their ass could the poor ask for when they voted for Bush? If anything I will be providing people with more opportunities to get in tuned with what their civil liberties are, and how to preserve them. You wouldn't have to be so ballsy in your profession in this society Bj, the things you want will have a knack for finding you. Delete

Nick P. wroteat 8:18pm on June 13th, 2008 Getting smarter, providing for overburdened families, and utilizing those who've chosen to end their own prospects for freedom or happiness is not oppression. You want to scream the word robbed at me? Being "forced" to put something towards the betterment of society is not being downgraded. I said it in the note. If you can do something, you can do it without payment. This is a simple fact that green paper does not hinder what I'm capable of anymore than it does anybody else. You are getting too caught up in the failings of our current condition and not letting the potential of what I'm proposing sink in. The closest I can draw any sort of analogy would be to point you in the direction of bees or ants. And before I hear any obvious retorts to that analogy, I would urge you to better inform yourself about both societies. Delete

Byron R. Turner II (McKendree) wroteat 2:05am on June 14th, 2008 You're right it wouldn't neccessiarily take a dictator, just mssive changes in our own government like you said. If it was up to me I would make it a dictatorial society, but that's just me (I would be high up in the food chain mind you, lol). Report - Delete

Brian Morrow (Indiana State) wroteat 2:50am on June 14th, 2008 Byron, what's wrong with being low in the food chain? I mean, 100% of the people (of course the margin of error.) are at the bottom whenever there is a dictator. What's so bad with getting bitched out of your liberties? And Nick, what are you doing right now to contribute to the working poor? Are you growing food for them, building homes, or knitting some sweaters out of the kindness of your heart? (LMAO) And people are just going to give away the wants of society just as they would the needs!? Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 3:07am on June 14th, 2008 Bj you misunderstand me again. This is my theoretical plan. I'm no humanitarian and would probably be subject to reconditioning myself. We all would. The working poor having just one more guy kind of helping them in our system wouldn't do shit enough in my opinion and your basically preaching to the point. Knitting sweaters, as fun as that is, doesn't help me nor them. In answer to your last question, yes. That is what the systems goal would be. Who capitalizes from electronics that cost hundreds less to make than buy? The "stuff" is out there, how we go about distributing it would be completely new. I'm not trying to be a martyr for something that people can barely comprehend at this point. What are you doing to not be poor? Is that honest or to the benefit of anyone but yourself? Anyone who argues against this line of reasoning automatically digs themselves a hypocritical hole. I never claimed to be above that hole, I'm merely proposing my ideas. Delete

Byron R. Turner II (McKendree) wroteat 3:27am on June 14th, 2008 Who says most people would have to bottom of the food chain in dictator ship. There are many examples of flourishing dictatorships. South Korea flourished from 1848 threw the 1980's with their dictators Syngman Rhee, Park Chung-hee, and Chun Doo-hwan.Singapore also thrived from 1959 to 1990 under Lee Kuan Yew. And the best example of all is Spain with Fancisco Franco who was greatly loved and served his country from 1936 to 1975.There are many other benevolent dictators. but whether I lived in a country with a dictatorship or a democracy I would still want to be high on the food chain. Report - Delete

Brian Morrow (Indiana State) wroteat 2:43pm on June 14th, 2008 I'm doing what I have to do to survive, that's my fucking point! I don't rely on shit from anybody else! Just as you say even, people are in control of their own destiny, and yes, people will fuck it up for themselves. And you're preaching hypotheticals, talking as if the system is foolproof like it won't be abused like some Pokemon cards... It's a dog-eat-dog world and noone's going to dumb themselves do to be another's worker bee! Haven't ya'll noticed Survival of the Fittest in nature? GTFO Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 4:20pm on June 14th, 2008 You’re not making any sense. You don't need cameras and tvs to survive. Unfortunately people do not realize that they are not in control of their destinies. I don't know how the system would be run because we have a world full of people like you have zero idea how a give a get given society would ever thrive. You did exactly what I thought you would do and said people would have to get "dumb" when every last thing my note is about is getting better informed and better connected. And again, they wouldn't be doing it for some dictator, that's Byron's thing, they would be doing it for themselves keeping the rest of the world in the best possible shape as a byproduct. It's survival of the best adapted, and we are obviously not adapted to deal with our many issues both inner and outer. If you want to preach how awesome being poor and hopeless we are fine, but stop arguing if you’re not going to address any of the real points me and Byron have given you. Delete

Brian Morrow (Indiana State) wroteat 5:02pm on June 14th, 2008 I'm talking of the differences of wants and needs and it's a giant fucking gap! You notice how lower class culture spends a good deal of their earnings on shit they don't need? BTW, the wall fell down in the eighties, so tell me where the Soviets got it right. In your hypothetical society of just needs and nobody even striving for excellence, how will their be progress? What will be done in the event of disaster/emergency? And you're ready to give up your possesions, the stuff you had to earn? Report - Delete

Nick P. wroteat 5:16pm on June 14th, 2008 What the hell are you talking about? You are arguing against the complete OPPOSITE of everything this society would stand for. The entire goal is progress, excellence, if not perfection. In the event of a disaster why wouldn't we respond the same ways we do now, but with more people, more focus, and quicker results. I again, never said ANYTHING about giving up your possessions and your pulling things out of the air to fight with me about. I'm not shooting to be a Soviet nor do I know the spending habits of the poor. Try quoting me or something so we talk about something I actually said and can back up. Delete

Byron R. Turner II (McKendree) wroteat 6:28pm on June 14th, 2008 Bj, I wish I had the time to write a full response to you but I have to work. Just to let you know the Soviets were Communist and no one has even mentioned this form of government in the debate and I'll tell you were the soviets got it right, they were able to pull a country that was completely in the shitter in to a world superpower, that's not to say they did in a perfect way or even the best way. But they did it none the less. Communism works well for countries that are in the shiter it stops working when the country has once again re stabilized and begins prospering.