If I only knew then, what... the fuck...

Everyone wishes they "had known earlier," or could do X over... well here we are in "do over" world. We have a chance to stop ANOTHER war for oil, masked as a humanitarian crisis and a "fight for democracy"... laughable. We have a Presidential election coming up with Trump, Corporate Democrats, and Bernie Sanders... let's see if Americans with EVERY FUCKING fact at hand, knowing intimately who and what they're dealing with, can make the right decision this time around. Seriously, if we can't do this basic thing, I'm becoming a geneticist so I can create a future generation that is radiation and toxin resistant, or a programmer/roboticist to create AI that can survive space travel... otherwise we have no future.

I thought Nuclear Apocalypse was too cliche

Trump is now talking about giving nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia...a country that floats on an ocean of oil, with endless, open, wind-swept spaces, bathed in sunlight...and they need NUCLEAR power to secure their energy future? On top of that, let's look at their ideology and determine if they have the maturity to handle nuclear technology...they are a THEOCRATIC MONARCHY...they have barbaric and draconian laws, they oppress women, people of -any- sexual orientation...they are, right now, involved in a genocide in Yemen...they take away documentation from immigrants so they can trap them in the country and use them as slaves, etc., etc., you get the point.

Okay, the answer is obvious... and yet, here we are... Trump is still President despite EVERY indication he is dangerously incompetent AT BEST, if not outright opposed to all reason... Okay, that too is obvious... and yet, here we are with CONGRESS able to remove the dangerous idiot... but they are too busy enriching the already absurdly wealthy, preaching endless war, sexually assaulting people, and generally also being dangerously incompetent... Okay, so that is AGAIN no secret... and yet, here we are with a PUBLIC able to put intelligent, capable, people in office... oh wait, they are too busy waging war on imaginary threats and demanding we build impossible solutions to those imaginary threats, reviving white nationalism, voting against basic necessities, endlessly consuming resources, and watching reboots that ruin everyone's childhoods... I've heard of "turtles all the way down," but how did we end up with "dangerous idiots all the way down"?

I don't know how to end this on a positive note, so I'll just say if you're even mildly intelligent, run for office, build your wealth, influence the influential...whatever it takes to get this ship under the control of rational and benevolent forces.

How To Protest

Recently, people have been protesting based solely on passion...and I'm sorry to say that is the wrong way to do it. A protest is a focused pressure on the system, it must be succinct and unbreakable. Save the in-fighting for the discussion groups, save the preaching, etc., when you show up to a protest, you must all have the same voice, the same policy agenda...shoulder to shoulder and solid.

"Work Ethic" Neurosis

    While we all agree that a healthy work ethic is a great thing...I think the way it's being portrayed in society today is so distorted. First of all, a strong work ethic is only "good" if what you're working at is good... to correct the religious meme on this subject: idle hands don't do the devils work...busy hands doing the devils work, do the devils work. This problem is compounded by the fact that the values promoted today are self-interested and tribal. This is further compounded by the fact that only work that the wealthy and powerful demand is properly incentivized. In the US, there are virtually no sources of funding for the public good...public banks have been destroyed by money interests, and politicians will not tax the wealthy or push initiatives that help the average person, because they ARE, or are beholden to money interests.
    When I look at all the people who claim to have strong work ethic and demand it of others...they don't have strong work ethics at all...they are simply laser-focused on solely improving their own situation and they misinterpret that dedication to self-interest as work ethic. Meanwhile, they accuse everyone else of being lazy, only when someone else refuses to do something THEY want. We don't have a work ethic problem, we have a problem with aggressive, self-interested people trying to coerce self-determined people.
    Keep an eye out in your own life, see if this is true for you as well.