I once was comfortable being a regular guy, basically happy to partake in the American Dream and give a little something back for my good fortune. Feeling good to have faith in an imagined system was not an issue.
Living was not always synchronized but there were plenty of green lights of encouragement. When the light turned red, like a good neighbor, I slammed on the brakes. But today our cities have turned into a neurotic minefield of legalized extortionists and tweeting lunatics.
The sky may not be falling, but plenty of dead birds with liquified organs are.
Back when South Florida was built of oolitic stone on a respectable foundation of oolitic bedrock, one could bank on some semblance of fairness and the notion of a better tomorrow.
Problem is lately, the warranty on promise seems to have expired.
Today we have to deal with a culture of impotence and fanaticism.
Somewhere along the golden-brick road of progress we have veered off,
careening towards the concrete wall of urban singularity.
No one wants to admit the obvious fact that we are propelled by the status quo in the direction of dystopia.
I contend that Florida is more of an appendix.
While some regale in the resurgence of a conservative grip on the capital, I say it's not the size of the candidate it is the size of the war-chest.
When corporations such as BlueCrossBlueShield give hundreds of thousands for the new governor to have his private celebrations and at the same time raise the health insurance rates by 57% to residents of california, I know what Floridians residents can expect soon.
Elephants and donkeys are known for their members, one is mammoth the other is even bigger.
The last great naturalist alive, Peter Bread once described the End of the Game with the apt axiom "the bigger they come come, the harder they fall".
Afghanistan is known to be the "The Graveyard of Empires"
No amount of shock and awe is likely to change that moniker.
The daily tasering of my brethren is a metaphor of things already here.
We should start with Hollywood. As "funny" as these scenes are in films and TV shows, they are normalizing torture and we shouldn't stand for it. Next time you see one think about how funny it would be if it happened to you --- or a child or a sick person or any frightened citizen being shot through with 50,000 volts on the whim of a police officer, all of which happens all the time. Then picture how funny the scene would be if it was a billy club --- and ask yourself if there's really any difference.
While our newly alligned congress and idiots celebrate, the civilized world laments.
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A very powerful post. Well written and illustrated too. The photo of the older building next to newer construction is great! Where was that by the way?
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