vicarious Meta-experience

For the past several years, I've been mostly convinced that the shit is going to hit the fan in my lifetime. I feel like I'm sitting in Rome, watching Nero play his fiddle and biding my time until the Vandals tromp on through.

Athens fell from grace because of their dependence on imported wheat. The most notable turning point was the Sicilian Expedition where the invading Athenian army was obliterated.

Environmental collapse and mass extinction are all but unmentioned in the press. The unimaginably huge AIDS epidemic in Africa is page 17 news and safe sex in the States is no longer the norm. Syphillis and AIDS are gaining a new stronghold in promiscuous American subcultures.

Wasteful vehicles are bought when they're not ridiculously needed. I met a single mother who rides her bike all the time, but the majority of able-bodied adults I know do not. The gap between the rich and the poor in America is insane, not to mention the gap between the first and third world.

The undenably finite oil reserves are going to run out someday and all the research I've seen says it will happen within my lifetime and probably within my youth. Meanwhile, culture is headed towards more waste, not less, and current activism isn't winning over hearts and minds fast enough to reach our populist leaders, let alone our corporate whoring ones.

Whether the science pans out or not, survivalism is starting to look like the only way I'll ever meet even a fration of my life goals of living a life with love, morality and the pursuit of self-actualization. Seeing as how I've been grooming myself for a career of academia, activism, literature and technology, I'm not exactly sure where to go from here. It appears that the last thing the world needs right now is another technopundit.

Do I burn out quick and fast as a peaceful activist martyr? Pursue love? Ignore the world and hope it goes away? Start stocking up on canned goods?

Well shit. My first instinct after reading this type of stuff is always to go back and read all the contradictors' posts so I can feel safe again. I'm the rare someone who actually cares about this stuff and I really want to stick my head in the sand.

I guess the self-actualized thing to do would be to go to the big Dick Cheney "Clean Energy" protest going on this afternoon. If Nero's going to play, I want to hear the music and feel the heat of the fire.

Yeah, sure!... Just like "Amelie"... This is, if only Amelie could juggle a 12-ton locomotive while simultaneously whistling the tune to "Mexican Radio"... Sure...

The Future, Conan?

• Lawyer arrested for wearing Peace slogan t-shirt at the mall where he bought it.
• If this law passes, the word "terrorism" will officially have no useful definition. Block traffic? You're a terrorist, off to life in prison with you! Cheat on your high school algebra exam? You're a terrorist, off to life in prison with you! Bootleg music? You're a terrorist, off to life in prison with you! Hang out with anybody that does any of these things? You're a terrorist, off to life in prison with you!
• The guys who bitch the most about paying for social services run up the biggest fucking debts.
• Remember, though, this is the postmodern age. There's no reason to practice what you preach.

Mmm... Anti-war activism, humor, theater, sexual innuendo and a history lesson all rolled into one event. Or, actually, 620 events in 38 countries.

Incidentally, ladies, if you do decide to boycott having sex with any warmongering males in your life, you might want to consider visiting this site. Or, you know, uhm, you could just give me a call.