the morning after

i'm waiting to hear the sanders supporters' reactions - much like the obama supporters when they learned that their candidate could not change the world single-handedly. it must be like waking up after you've slept with someone at a party... sweet talk and too much to drink, followed by that long, angry and disappointed walk home.

it's not that the candidate is not admirable; they are always better than what we end up with. but expecting a different outcome when the other side writes the rules is folly, and naive. of course they win - they own the game.

the winning move is not to play. don't accept the lesser of any number of evils; evil is not something that should be judged by degree. do you say that the monster who eats just 1 child is better than the one that eats 10?

they are a made-up thing, like money and priests. if we all stop believing in them, they will go away.

american culture

aside from the super bowl, america doesn't have just one culture; every region, state, and town has always had its own. if there is one thing that we have in common, it's that we are a nation of people who tend to do rather than talk, and we aren't very good at listening to anyone else - including other americans.

it's a monkey's paw: on the one hand, we've accomplished a lot because of that bloody-mindedness. on the other, we've reinvented the wheel a thousand times regarding things that other countries have figured out that we still haven't (like education). there are good ideas out there in the world. we used to use those and do them one better. now everyone else seems to be doing the cool stuff while we get laid off, fight over scraps, and insult each other.

other countries are taking our spot, and we don't seem to know what to do about it. it's like when 'japanese' cars started out-selling 'american' cars. remember that? everyone in michigan freaked, and you didn't dare park a 'japanese' car in some neighborhoods. but we figured it out - we have competitive cars again, and more 'japanese' cars are made here than in japan.

the only way things won't go down the toilet is if we stop picking at the things that separate us and focus on what binds us. we taught a lot of the world how to do it, and now they're eating our lunch (as they should, if we've taught them right).

we have to get smarter, and get our eyes back on the ball, or we're going to lose.

good clean fun

in the middle of the economy from hell, an inescapable bloodsucking war, and an uncertain future, a bit of innocence. for your enjoyment (and possible participation): improveverywhere.com.