12:54

I just watched Twenty-seven fly out the window, out the window and over the trees. Now Twenty-eight comes in, pulls up a chair and begins to sit with me for the next year. We talk about the coming year and what lay down the road and just around the bend. But Twenty-eight knows the future no better then Twenty-seven and all the years that came before.

Twenty-eight. 28. Toowenty ate.

Sark

No, that is not the result of a seal and shark mating together. It's a real place (an island) off the coast of Britain. Every once in a while, when i'm up for learning something new, I will cruise over to Wikipedia and read their front page.

Today there was a link for Sark (something about feudalism being abolished). As if feudalism still existing in a Western country wasn't strange enough I found this piece of recent history about the island. I'll just cut and paste it straight on to this entry.

One-person invasion attempt

"In August 1990 an unemployed French nuclear physicist named André Gardes attempted a singlehanded invasion of Sark, armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The night Gardes arrived he put up signs declaring his intention to take over the island the following day at noon. He was arrested by Marc Nemeth, the island's part-time police officer, whilst sitting on a bench, changing the gun's magazine and waiting for noon to arrive."

Now that is funny.

Quiet Desperation

Athens is ablaze. For the last three days “rioters” (as the media likes to call them) have taken to the streets in massive protests as a response to the murder of a 15 year old by two police officers.

I am intrigued by any protest, riot, direct action, etc. The media generally shows only one side of the story and usually attempts to utterly trivialize any kind of civilian uprising. Only government run (and civilian funded) armies or police forces are portrayed as justified in their violent actions. If a civilian acts out violently in any way towards a government sanctioned force they are automatically deemed an “insurgent” or “anarchist”.

All of that said I would like to go on the record in stating that I do not endorse violence as a viable solution to any problem. It appears as though violent governments and the agents who are paid to peddle their violent world views have devolved in such a way as to strip themselves of their ability to listen to anything that is not delivered in a violent manner. They live and operate violently and respond only to the language they most often speak: that of violence.

In watching some of the raw footage from the protests in Greece I notice that the cameras are nearly always trained on the “violence” being done to “private property”. The destruction of inanimate objects such as windows, dumpsters, atm’s and the like are what the media trains their cameras on. In societies that value property over people this makes sense. To destroy a corporations property is to destroy its soul.

For many of these protesters the felt helplessness against entities much larger and more powerful then them is nearly palpable. In most countries decisions that dramatically affect the lives of citizens are usually placed far beyond the reach of said citizens to such a degree that when the opportunity arises to let the collective voice be heard it often explodes from within in a fit of violence and rage.

I know all about the jackasses who see protests as nothing but an excuse to “f some shit up!” I am not talking about them. I believe there are many disillusioned citizens around the world that recognize this: there is a worldwide system in place that sees the citizens of any given country as nothing more than labor to be exploited.

When this system comes to your country, your city, your town and your home you feel it. It influences everything from the way you view your own life to the lives of those around you. This system comes to cripple your town, your family, your relationships and your community.

After the system is firmly in place the sense of loss is felt deeply, and often subconsciously, by those who have grown up in it.

In all of this I am reminded of the popular Thoreau quote that goes, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” This quote is pulled from an essay Thoreau wrote called “Economy”, in which he observes that most men are slaves to their work and enslaved by those who they work for.

It is with this perspective in mind that I often view violence against a government system as an act of desperation. An act of quiet desperation made loud.

Step Outside (Your Mind)

“Sometimes we live no particular way but our own,
And sometimes we visit your country and live in your home,
Sometimes we ride on your horses, sometimes we walk alone,
Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own.”

Eyes of the World; Grateful Dead

Recent sites I’ve been perusing:

Digihitch: Think no one hitches anymore? Here’s a whole community of folks that share their hitching stories, warnings, tips and support with each other.

Road Junky Travel: Ever thought of living in a van down by the river? Well, you’re in luck because there are plenty of people that do live in vans (but not always by rivers) and love telling about their experiences.

Dropping Out: At my friends house they have this old snowboard mounted on their wall with the phrase “Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out” advertising itself in raised letters across the length of the board deck. Ran Prieur has an interesting essay written on this exact subject.

The counterculture in any culture has always intrigued me. Curiosity has been a constant companion throughout the entirety of my waking years.

Peace (And The Lack Thereof)

In JFK's "Strategy of Peace" speech given on June 10, 1963 he had this to say about the United States involvement in helping to bring about world peace:

"What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children-not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women-not merely peace in our time but peace for all time."

Today a treaty on banning cluster bombs has been signed by over one hundred countries. And, to no one's surprise, the U.S. government has refused to sign the treaty. I specifically say "the U.S. government" because I can tell you that I am one of many U.S. citizens that vehemently disagrees with this governments decision to not sign the treaty.

It saddens me to realize that a government as oppressive and violent as the one that rules over the U.S. is often seen as some kind of worldwide representation for what it's citizens believe. This government, for the most part, does not represent me nor my interests.

This is, in large part, why I choose to stay as far outside of this system as I am comfortable with at this point in time (that comfort level is being expanded on a fairly consistent basis hence allowing me to venture further and further away from the insane ideologies that many Americans have allowed themselves to believe in and live by). My hope is that I will one day be able to live my life as a complete outsider (within a community of other outsiders) of the despotic government and hollow culture I am surrounded by.

The journey continues...