Hobbism
The philosophical system of Thomas Hobbes---especially: The Hobbesian theory that people have a fundamental right to self-preservation and to pursue selfish aims but will relinquish these rights to an absolute monarch in the interest of common safety and happiness

Damn!!  "The History of Mankind", past, present, and future---summarized.

These days most modern-day "monarchs" are celebrities, the wealthy, the politicians and officials, the media, and upper-middle-class suburbanite types.
Don't bother mentioning the police, now, as they're essentially the "hatchet men" for these modern-day "monarchs".

                                 Hobson's choice (revisited)
I noticed, as I was fixing myself something to eat, that anything I buy at the supermarket are items that others have predetermined should be made available for us consumers to purchase.
In other words, what's being offered to us are whatever SOMEONE ELSE has decided are what should be made available for us to choose from.

That is, they're controlling the narrative of "freedom of choice", counting on us to simply be passive and "accepting" of whatever's out there to choose from, however limited or monolithic the offerings.

When one thinks about "power tripping" they normally envision scenarios of strongarm-style physical force, threats, or coercion.  Or Draconian laws and penalties with strict enforcement.
Hardly ever does it occur to us that a great way for whoever's in charge to control people would be if said controllers "do all the work themselves" so as to better ensure the creation of an environment and social climate that fits their ideals, beliefs, criteria, and standards, leaving those they wish to control in a "passive" state, simply laying back and allowing themselves to be served whatever it is the "system" dishes out to them.

In short---one way to tyrannize the general populace is to assume a stance of "servility" so as to be able to control the "offerings" you present to them wherein the most pragmatic decision the controlled populace can make is to simply "take advantage of" what's being "dropped in their laps", of what's being made readily available to them.

                                              Adages For Today

Sharing means: "If your roommate sets the apartment building on fire you also lose everything you own and wind up homeless"


Forget all the cheap talk surrounding "racism" and "anti-Semitism".  Favoritism is the REAL prejudice.  Just focus on Favoritism and it'll automatically also include "racism" and "anti-Semitism"



Our legal system could stand to use less judicial and more judicious

Recent findings have shown that people who routinely skip breakfast have a greater risk of developing cardiovascular diseases


See, Virginia, there IS some merit in the coffee, banana, and donuts I start my days out with after all

                                            Various Musings

I can understand the demise of the printed press in light of the immediacy of the internet.
Take the weekly news magazines for example---their motto seems to have always been "Last week's news with next week's date issued this week"


I'm the kind of person who, if asked whether the cup is half-full or half-empty, would respond "What are you bothering me with this stupid shit for?  If it's that much of an issue for you then either finish whatever's left or fill the damn glass back up!"


Why would the average politician make such a great dog owner?
Because politicians are so well-honed at knowing how to "throw us a bone"

Yes, I live here .....or, maybe, I don't ......

One thing to be said about houses or apartment units---one never actually "lives" there.
You can't simply kick back, relax, and just LIVE.  You have to actually TAKE CARE OF your place of residence (even if you're single, no children, own no pets, you still have to take care of your residence the same way you would a kid or a pet).

--You'll find yourself providing janitorial services---cleaning, dusting, wiping down surfaces, scrubbing crud off of surfaces

--All maintenance services will have to be provided by you as well:  temperature/indoor climate control; arrangement of furniture, tables, indoor appliances and entertainment systems, lamps, etc.

--You'll find yourself a "curator" of a "museum" of all manners of written and recorded matter

--You'll find yourself working in an "office environment":  sorting through and filing important documents and records, filling out and/or signing forms and writing letters, with "in" boxes and "out" boxes

--You'll find yourself in charge of a "warehouse", with all kinds of products in storage for future use.  And constantly taking inventory and putting away or taking down "stock".  And "filling out orders" for future "stock" as well.

--You'll own and manage your own "restaurant" in which you're the cook, waitstaff, busboy, dishwasher, and customer all at the same time.  At least there's no tab to pay nor any tipping.  But you still have to pay for the food and "place your order" (but always in advance, of course)

--You'll find yourself in the role of "inspector", periodically checking your residence over for damages, flaws, defects, hygiene/sanitation issues, maintenance issues (concerning plumbing, heating/air conditioning, and major appliances)

--You'll provide your own "laundry services" as well:  either tracking down coin laundries, finding the right time to use the laundry room (if one is provided by management), or---in the case of homeowners or house renters---purchasing your own washer and dryer

--When you're finally ready to lay down and go to sleep you're then the "manager" of your own "self-serve hotel/motel

--Home owners and house renters:  you'll also have to be a "yardman" as well.  Remember, the grass won't cut itself, nor are the bushes self-trimming

It's rumored that Thomas Edison had servants to do his laundry, keep both his residence and laboratory clean, cook his meals, and do his shopping as well.
That's probably why he has so much time to focus on his experiments and inventions. 

                                                  Priorities

It's no trade secret that while digital technology itself is ever-improving in droves everything else is either stagnating---or even deteriorating.

It's because in order for anything to either improve or be well-maintained it has to be nurtured and enhanced continuously.

Whatever has highest priority in society, government, or business and industry, that's going to be what gets the most attention and focus from those in charge.  And, lately, what's top priority is no longer radio, television, literature, the recording industry, nor even the movie industry.  And it's not the railroads, the airlines, or the infrastructure.

All the main focus is on high tech and cyber-infrastructures.

Oh, sure, they're keeping all those other traditional elements alive for the sake of posterity and due to the fact they've made such a dent in western (and world) culture for so long their impact on us isn't exactly going to disappear overnight

...but, nonetheless, they're now being "maintained" in such a half-assed manner they've become, pretty much, a cheap imitation (and knock-off) of their former original selves.

                                                   What is truth?

Didn't Johnny Cash approach this subject a long time ago?

Considering the societies we live in are, essentially, socialist republics---that is, societies ruled solely by word of law---anything the lawmakers state in writing and have officially enacted is pretty much determined to be fact or truth (or at least collective gospel).

This means any society can "change" its own reality, history, morality, social construct, and just about anything else, with but a stroke of the pen.  Because in a socialist republic "The Law" rules over everything else.

What "happened in the past" will be whatever the official narratives SAY happened in the past (actual facts and reality be damned)
"Right" and "wrong" are purely subjective, prone to the whims of whoever's in charge and whatever they hold in highest esteem in terms of whatever they consider "proper".
What's "important" is whatever whoever's in charge decides is of highest priority.

Responsibility (revisited)

I find it amusing that the speed limit on one of the streets running through the Ohio State University area is 25 MPH.  College students never drive under 40 MPH as a rule.  The only time a college student ever goes under 40 MPH is after they've collided with another vehicle, almost run a red light, or nearly hit a pedestrian or bicyclist in a crosswalk.
They're among those who "don't have to be responsible", so they tend to be careless and insensitive/thoughtless in their ways and mannerisms.

I have this weird theory that the reason certain people are successful in life, or are able to simply glide along smoothly without being tripped up by a need for excessive self-consciousness due to "guilt trips" is because they're not bogged down by having to answer for every damn thing they do or say of a thoughtless or reckless nature or that would cause another certain hardships.
And without those obstacles in their way they can go about doing whatever it is they normally do without constant interference by others getting in their face over each and every infraction that results in their having "carelessly cut" someone else.

It's like this:
If Einstein had to answer for everything he said that someone else found "offensive" we'd probably never have gotten The Theory of Relativity, for he'd have been too distracted by "social contract" to focus on anything else.

Likewise, if Edgar Allan Poe had to register each month as a "sex offender" with the local constabulary for having married his 14-year-old cousin (including having to attend all the legally-mandated counseling sessions that accompany being put in such a category) do you think he'd ever have had a chance to get around to writing such classics as MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE, THE RAVEN, or THE TELL-TALE HEART?

GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!!

I don't know what it is with these folks who block doorways, hog aisles in stores and restaurants, take up the whole sidewalk when walking in pairs or groups.

We're not talking about 5-year-olds or kids in grade school.  We're talking people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond.

Didn't their parents teach them anything when they were growing up?  Like, when in church they and a sibling or two were spread out across a whole pew and their mom would call out "Hey, scoot over already!  Make room for others to sit".  Or, when going out somewhere and it was two or three of them in the back seat, and mom stopped off to pick up a couple more friends or relatives to join them, and she'd scold them "Hey, kids, there's still enough room for another back there.  Scoot over."

It's hard to believe anyone could live as long as some people have and no-one's ever told them "Hey, come on.  Move over already!" or "Hey, man!  Outta my way!" enough times for it to finally sink in they and their friends (or close relatives) are not the only ones occupying space on planet earth.

But, to this day, there are far too many who still don't know enough to "stand to the side so others can get through as well".

I swear ...

..."normal people"!  So many of them can be such megalomaniacs, can't they?

It's truly "THEIR world".

                                     Musing For Today

Whatever else one may have to say about the internet, one positive about it is the way one can find minds who are together, insightful, and have sound perspectives on various issues and subjects.

Somehow, face-to-face, everyone I run into is either a stranger, someone I "only do business with", or has some kind of authority.  Bonding of any kind, even intellectually, is out of the question.
The only concerns others around me seem to have are of a "scripted" jejune juvenility vein
...for example:  back in the '70s and '80s all anyone could talk about was "getting drunk" (or "getting high"), "getting laid", and "partying"
...these days it's a lot of "crusader" fare:  "ending domestic violence", "ending discrimination", "ending sexual harassment", "anger management", "curing cancer", "putting an end to alcohol and drug addiction", "putting an end to 'hate speech' and 'verbal abuse'", and the like.

Same type of insipid collectivist superficiality, different narrative.

The internet may have its fair share of iniquities, but often it can also be the only refuge for those seeking out some modicum of intelligent adult dialogue.
And I, for one, need something---anything---to counteract the inane dreck that comprises all the current social (and legal) narratives being heaped on all of us come lately.

So .....you think Mike Royko is a "writer".  Or, maybe, Will Rogers.  Or Lewis Grizzard.

Edgar Allan Poe.  Now we're talking about a REAL writer!

Just TRY getting through one of HIS short stories.  You're barely through Page One before you find yourself straining to comprehend a graphic description of the inside of a castle-size mansion wherein one of the main characters reside, rife with all manners of metaphor colorfully, fluently, and eloquently presented in utmost intricacy.

Not to mention a lot of the wording is dated, guaranteed to be baffling to those not well-seasoned in the styles of 19th-century slang and vernacular.

But, most of all----our attention span these days is a total "club zero".  Almost nonexistent.  And it takes not only total concentration but a strong aptitude for unbridled focus to even begin to have the slightest hope of ever being able to digest any of his works.

In the apartment building I reside in the manager's office is on the ground floor, next to the washers and dryers, in the same corner as the laundry room.
Of course the door is locked after hours.

Now, on the office door is a sign stating NO PUBLIC RESTROOM.
Now, is a sign like this really necessary?  I mean, the office door is either locked, or the manager is present and on duty.

Maybe the sign is still needed
...like in the event someone were to decide to pick the lock so they could have a look around the office after business hours, commit vandalism, theft, or simply help themselves to tenant files---at least they would still know and be aware that the office restroom itself is "off limits" to all outsiders.

Maintaining protocol is of the utmost importance, after all ....

                                      Musing For Today
I've heard (or read) that the reality we're living isn't an actual physical reality but, rather, a virtual reality.  And that most of those around us are but jesters and minstrels, not real genuine humans, but programmed biological Artificial Intelligence creatures, each "assigned" with appropriate gender, ancestry/ethnic background and identity, social class and the accompanying character/personality traits that go along with it, designated political affiliation, designated religious affiliation (including atheism), and displaying one of the dozen or so universal prototypical innate "normal" personality traits.

And that one-of-a-kind individualists (like me) find themselves alone as one with a mind of their own, "not being a 'carbon copy'", having their own personal standards, their own personal prejudices, their own perspectives (even on the current narratives).

Somehow I have no problem believing this notion.

The laws have my name on them.  The liberties, entitlements, and amenities have others' names on them.
As far back as I can remember I've always been, for the most part, excluded from being allowed to experience all the extra "perks" life normally has to offer most people.
It seems I've never figured out how to earn or acquire the large sums of money so many have, or to establish any close intimate ties to anyone as either a trusted confidant or lover, I've never had the opportunity or means to travel abroad, a lot of knowledge common even among the average person has been withheld from me for whatever reasons.

And the attitudes most people have towards me---the standoffishness, the condescending demeanor, the underlying paranoia (as if I somehow "pose a threat to" those around me), the tyrannical bossiness (as if I'm somehow "in need of constant restraint" even though I'm not one of those "aggressive" personality types)

...even when I make acquaintance with someone who acts decently and treats me normal---the same way they do anyone else---at first, even THEY will change their demeanor toward me and start "talking around me" and become less friendly.  As if someone intervened and intercepted, "informing" that person of my "standing", as if to prevent the possibility of anyone ever having a chance to check me out for themselves and make up their own mind about me.

It's like there are "universal gossips" whose mission if life is to keep the "socially undesirable" in their place and prevent them from having any place in their society or even in the world itself.

Only one question remains:  Are these entities of a mortal or divine origin?
Maybe it's that "Cosmic Trickster", engaging in a sort of "collective calumniation conspiracy" against select individuals---perhaps just for laughs or for its own macabre amusement.
It could simply be spirits with a sadistic sense of humor, silently infusing slanderous allegations into the subconscious minds of those who mistakenly assume such conjectures to be of their own intuition.