How we see ourselves

We see things through the prism of our culture. American culture, as reflected in the plots of our popular media, has some seemingly universal tenets. I challenge you to test and deny the presence of the tenets. Take any American movie, book, television show or even the politics and see if they apply. This is the message we send to the world.

·       The end justifies the means

·        Unshakeable belief in self righteousness

·        I must win, therefore you must lose

·        Greed is good and capitalism is divine

·        Wealth is a confirmation of “godly” favor

·        You must be White to win

·        All non-whites desire a White women

·        White males are superior

·        All non-white females desire a White male

·        The only country and culture that matters is America

·        The only way is the American way

How we see things matter. How we see ourselves matters even more. The world is evolving and we are blinded by our culture.

America and much of the industrialized world is focused on its aging populous. They are ignoring the younger generations, both here and throughout the world. It is a demographic that feels disenfranchised by capitalism. The austerity initiatives affect this demographic most. America is capitalism's high priest. It is the icon of distress. Today we are inundated with images of anti-Americanism in the Middle East. This ignores the growing anti-Americanism among our “allies” and the rest of the world. It ignores the growing anti-establishment traditionalist sentiment here.

The downside of today’s international mass media is the capability of displaying the real America. Not just the one carefully marketed to the world. The unregulated diversely of media puts forth American foibles for all to see. It paints America as the land of Oz. There is another reality hidden behind the curtain.

The world is closing in on the American cultural fortress. Since 3/4ths of the world is not Caucasian, how long will the American tenets survive? The largest potential markets are in Asia and Africa. They will develop to create content based on their own culture. That content will gain prominence and be exported. It will cause the American world wide cultural invasion to reverse. It will result in the American tenets becoming passé in our own eyes. 

Repository for the Unknown

Do you remember one of the last major scenes of the first Indiana Jones movie in "Raider’s of the Lost Ark"? In the scene a wooden box is being wheeled in a dark warehouse. The camera pulls back and reveals a vast warehouse filled with wooden crates. The wooden box is destined for oblivion.

The former television show, “The X Files”, was rooted in fact. As in any bureaucracy,  unknowns encountered that present no solution or reasonable hypothesis, have their circumstances chronicled and filed. The file goes to its own filing oblivion. The files are maintained against a time when a better understanding might be available. The X Files was based on taking a fresh look at some of these cases with a more open mind.

Today it would seem that the best approach would be to digitize these files and apply “data minding” tools. The effort may point out connections that escape conventional analysis. However the more bizarre, the more likely the files would be top secret and allowed viewing by only selected eyes. The other condition that would restrict access would be circumstances where potentially controversial blame was assigned. As always, secrecy is the enemy of understanding.

Another modern approach would be to "crowd source" for answers. This supposes you could get around the secrecy. The retained unexplained files over the last hundred years have probably grown to be a great volume. I imagine the mosaic of circumstances represented in these files suggest "reality" is not as conventional wisdom would have us believe. If you question reality, then by definition you are questioning religion and culture. These are two things sacrosanct wherever you might be in the world.

I think the files will point out a more fundamental truth. That we suffer from a "god" complex in believing we can fathom the intricacies of creation. Understandings derived from the files might force us to come face-to-face with an uncomfortable truth.  That human intellect is only so capable and there is a deeper realm we simply lack the intelligence to ever understand.  

Why so much smoke and mirrors?

I can understand the fear of the Business Chamber of Commerce and its adherents about the notion of climate change. Doing anything about climate change represents an expense and reduced profits. Not acknowledging it at all avoids all this. I wonder are they really that blind as to the reality?

Always follow the money. The richest 1% will have “a heads up” on the reality of climate change. If they are taking it serious, then they are quietly buying large segments of piedmont land [higher and away from low lying shores] as a hedge against rising sea levels. The value of such land will escalate with rising sea levels. This presupposes a continuing warming trend and other conditions remain the same.

Let us look at the other scenario. There are persistent rumors that the ocean convection current that warms the northern hemisphere is slowing. The warming trend today accelerates arctic ice melting. The breaking away glaciers dump massive amounts of fresh water in the arctic ocean. This creates a change in the salinity of the water that provides the engine for the convection current. Suppose the convection current reaches a tipping point as a result of the salinity change and just stops. The northern hemisphere would be plunged into the perpetual winter of another ice age. Imagine constant snowing for decades. If the richest 1% takes this seriously, they are quietly buying vast stretches of the southwest closest to the border, ON BOTH SIDES! This land would be temperate for a period of time as the ice age takes hold. It will become very valuable.

The message is watch the  richest 1% and “do not listen to what they say, but watch what they do”. Look for tremendous land purchases by Byzantine corporations and hedge funds that obscure the actions and real owners.