Observations From the Spectrum

We are living in the Era of Jerks. A period of time that can be described only as selfish idiocracy for we have devalued the basic traits that seperate humans from animals. More specifically, the abilities to reason, think and ask questions to find answers to modern day conundrums.

Paul Newman’s Cool Hand Luke will be remembered for one line. What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate. This line is spoken by Captain before he beats Luke with a whip and just like the Golden Rule, it can be translated to mean something much simpler and offers a glimpse as to why we are in the mess that we are in.

The Golden Rule is to treat others as you want to be treated. To simplify, don’t be a jerk. Period. No one wants to live in a world of jerks and we have known this since the beginning yet we are in the Era of Jerks. Selfish people who care about no one more than themselves. I think at some moments we have to be selfish but as a rule, it’s probably better to be kind and live life with a smile on your face and a hand willing to help others.

Now, back to Cool Hand Luke and ‘What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.’ Globally and historically, what man seems to be the most proud of is that we are not animals. We have opposable thumbs and spoken and written language and all sorts of nifty tools and gadgets that no other species on Earth has the luxury of creating or using. Cars. Planes. Phones. Grocery stores. Imagine the animal kingdom if it was avec/with grocery stores. Monkeys would be fat and lions would be slothlike.

The animal kingdom is simple. Use what you need. That’s what it does. It’s a cycle of use and reuse. Humans are more complicated. Stupider in some ways as was Captain in Cool Hand Luke. What separates humans from animals is the ability to communicate. To solve problems without anger and rage and fighting yet we live in a world in which many humans solve their problems on Cowards Lane.

Cowards Lane is the place in which reason does not exist and violence is the normal course of action. Evry society, culture and nation has a Cowards Lane running through it and it is a sad place because it continues to spread and widen.

Whether through direct or indirect action, those that wield guns and weapons as a means of action to solve a problem live on Cowards Lane. They are nothing more than animals flinging shit at each other because they lack the ability to solve problems using the tools and language that separate humans from beasts.

Directly, these lesser humans are easy to recognize. They are those that fill the tabloids globally with silly random acts of violence against others. They are the shooters that shoot each other and those who go about their own lives minding their own business. They are the young, mostly men, who arrive at stress and challenge and resort to violence because it is all their brains can manage.

It’s the young man who meets a beautiful woman at the bar who receives a blowjob only to find out that the woman is transgender. Their reaction is guilt and shame and rage created by their own inability to use communication and tools to solve an issue, not a problem, rationally. They are rabid animals and should be treated as such.

In no other moment is history has sexuality been such a hot topic issue. The Greeks and Romans were having orgies for millennia as were the Indians hence the Kama Sutra. Yes, when you are in love and cheat, there is guilt. But no, there is no guilt in a young person being horny and finding release in the hands or arms or mouths of others. It’s natural. It’s human.

And these direct silly random acts of violence happen so regularly that they barely garner a prayer except from those who have capitalized on trying to maintain that these actions are tragedies. They are not. The tragedy is that we are not taking action to fix the problem with making access to guns a little bit more difficult and the access to mental health care free and plentiful for all. 

America, especially, does not have a gun problem. It has a mental health care crisis and this is top down. Our leaders, who we trust with our tax dollars, globally may look the part of aristocrats but are nothing more than Captains whipping the Lukes of the world through indirect action.

In 2022, war should not exist. We have no reason to kill each other directly or indirectly. No one wants to die. We all want to live our lives in a way that is free based on our interpretation of the Golden Rule yet we war with each other because our leaders are no more than monkeys forcing us to fling shit at each other.

War is the perfect example of humans not being able to use the tools that separate us from the animals. Diplomacy and reason. Our leaders are failures because they employ weapons and violence as a means to solve problems. This should not be the case. Any leader that does so should be removed from office like we would remove a rabid animal. That is how they should be treated because that is what they are.

And yes, sometimes we have to hunt down the rabid animal. Sure, life is not easy, fair or simple. But when we have it in our scope, it must be put down and/or removed from society, and certainly not allowed to reproduce. Yet we continue to allow humanity to evolve into a rabid species unknown to the planet as of yet. Humans killing humans just because.

There is no excuse for direct or indirect acts of violence. Those who support it are enablers and sick, not to be admired or praised yet here we are. A public shooter is admonished and a sniper is given a film and celebrity status. They are the same. Hands on the triggers pulled, killing those who don’t want to die.

Maybe we should try to find some new heroes and leaders. Those that do not have a desire or interest in using violence as a tool to solve problems. It does not work and will never work. All violence creates is more violence. Instead, we could just say hello to our neighbors and get to know them despite our differences.