OSAMA BIN-there done that!

Pardon my cleverness with the title. Well, really though, its not clever. Its the kind of thing you do if you don't want to make friends. Nothing worse than a person playing with his words. Now, let's get down to business. Osama. Has been off the radar for quite some time. What's the deal? I heard today that apparently he is hiding in some hills in Pakistan. Must say, sounds much more luxurious than a hole. Saddam planned badly. I'm not into this whole war discussion, 'is it right? Is America just fighting for oil?' I can tell you right now. It's not right, and yes. Knowing that doesn't actually change anything. Contrary to what many argumentative people may think, drilling your views into someone else's face does not only fail to convince them but also fails to accomplish anything, apart from helping you sleep at night. So I hope this keeps you up. Wait just one minute. Here I am, drilling my opinion. Have I become what I've always hated? Is there a point in me asking that? There we go, I've done it now. There is nothing worse than self-conscious writing. For those who have read 'Enduring Love' you will know  what I'm talking about.

Back to the point. War in Iraq/Afghanistan/Oil grab. Why, after so many wars, after televised wars, with such a widespread consensus that war is bad, do we still fight? Without getting political, I am going to approach this from another angle. Story telling just may well be the most important thing to human beings. We think about our own lives in a series of events, much like a story. We tell each other stories everyday, 'Today, this old guy didn't want me to put his groceries in a bag. He pulled them away and yelled "No!" I wasn't trying to be Hitler.' we go to the movies, we read books, we think in terms of plot. What I am trying to say is that story telling is an innate human quality that validates our lives. It gives perspective. Now, war. Let's look at George Bush's options. 

1. No war- Let's say everything goes perfect and he ends his term as President in an unprecedented era of peace. No one will really notice. They'll be complaining about something else. 'Too many homeless on the street.' The year 2109- History class:

The teacher says, 'Today we will be studying the world issues at the start of the 21st century.'

The young male student replies, 'Why? Can't we study a period where something interesting actually happens? Like the Vietnam War or the Australian Nuclear War leading up to its complete annihilation in 2065.'

The name George W. Bush won't even register in that students mind.

2. War! You know the story. That history class in 2109 will have something to talk about and the name George W. Bush will go down in the dictionary, defined as being, 'The most ill-equipped person to be voted into a position of power.' As the USA in this period will be known as, 'The country who voted George W. Bush into power... Twice!' Anyway, that's all immaterial. What's important are the many speeches he made. May they bring laughter to people for many generations to come. The point is he will be remembered. 

It's like your own life. Do you want to get to the end of it and say, 'I led a peaceful existence never fighting or arguing with others'?

 Most people would say no! you want excitement, ' I nearly died 7 times! I went on massive road trips, got drunk, wrestled a guy from Cuba! yeah, that was fun!' You know what I mean? People who live completely static, peaceful existences don't write autobiographies. People like Gene Simmons and Werner Herzog wow us with their crazy stories. Here's my formula:

Life= conflict + resolution.

That's all it is. A series of conflicts followed by many resolutions. The reason why we keep going to war is the same reason why you manage to find some conflict to resolve everyday in your life. girls are very good at it. They can dig up things to complain about from a cold, July morning 3 years ago. I joke. I am just saying this idea is a prerequisite for happiness. Its part of being human. And hey, back to those anti-war hippies. They've found their conflict and they're loving their efforts for resolution. I can't take that away from them. Just as they can't take away my thoughts about them. 

So, pretty much, I'm saying, 'Life is going the way it should be, because that's the way it goes. It doesn't need to be changed but it still needs people to want to change it.' On to my next point. What's the deal with people talking about humans sinning against nature? Sure, we build massive buildings, cut down trees, invent new miracle drugs but aren't we just as much a part of nature as anything else?

We have evolved to the point we have because nature has led us this way. Nature has led us to having the ability to screw with nature. Therefore, this is nature at work. Its not like we have that much of a choice in the matter. Sure, lets not invent something, lets slow the speed of technology, but we have the ability and desire to do it. Then again, we also have the ability and desire to want to stop ourselves from doing it. So, humanity is hypocritical.

Here we are again, the end of another blog. What does the future hold? Death? Life? Climate change is worrying still. Again I come back to it. Copenhagen? Will the world's leaders do anything? I say no, not much anyway. Maybe the subject for another blog. In conclusion, the more technology advances, the more we become aware of our mortality. Does this mean we are just more afraid of the end of the world, or simply, God planned our awareness to coincide with the end of the world? That's cruel.

Adios!

The cynical man in the back corner