DAMN THE TORPEDOES (and a small portion of the population)

Ramon, a good friend of mine from college, noted the other day that we keep time now by the death toll. Grim, but true. So many people. And the numbers will continue to rise. I've seen on social media, and in real life, people arguing over the numbers, as if if it were only say twenty thousand dead, that would make it ok. That if maybe only a million people got sick, and only, when it's all over, maybe 40,000 died here in America, then it would be cool to open up on the early side of things. I just don't want to here that. Of course, I do and will, but enough already. People are sick and dying. It's a global pandemic. And we are at the beginning of what will most likely be another Great Depression. No way around it. It seems, if we just said "Hell with it, torpedoes (and a small portion of the population) be damned, we're opening everything back up tomorrow", that we would still be screwed as far as the economy goes. I mean, oil closed yesterday at negative $37 a barrel. Meaning, if you could get to where ever it is they actually sell barrels of oil, you would be given $37 to take a barrel. Kind of tells you maybe things aren't so good in the market. So yeah, we are in for some Hard Times. But we've seen hard times before, as a nation. We had a Civil Freakin' War. We had the Spanish Flu. We Fought World War One, World War Two, and had The Great Depression in the middle. In the grand scheme of things, we, as a nation and as a species, have dealt with some serious shit. And we got through them all.  And, as far as I can tell, we didn't get through all those horrors by having better access to hair salons. Or more beach parties. No, we got through them with love.

I think that's the first ingredient you need to make it. Love. Love of life, of your fellow human being, and of yourself. Once you get Love, you move on to courage. Courage to take care of those things you love, regardless of the cost. And once you find that courage, you bid adios to Fear. And once you do those three things, miracles happen.

Feel free to call me a hippie, a commie, a Californian. I take all those as badges of honor anyway. I
dig it. It's groovy. Not that I am perfect. Far, far from it. Of late, I have struggled with great anger and dismay at what some of my fellow Americans, and global citizens, have been doing. Lashing out at one another. Marching with signs demanding hair cuts, massages, and who knows what else. Not following social distancing, or wearing masks. And then there's the current administration, who seem more and more like a death cult of some sort. Like those mutant people who live under the ruins of NYC in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, who worship a nuclear bomb because, well, they're nuts. It saddens me. So many lost, lonely, angry souls who seem to be desperately clinging to ideas and programs that have clearly failed, on a massive scale.

We are on the brink of a depression because the system has been weakened through greed. Want of money is indeed the root of all evil. Pick a problem in the world, and it almost always comes down to greed. Desire for more, even if it costs others. Some folks think that having more than others sweetens the pot.

Well, fuck that. Those days are over. Time to rise up. As I was taught in high school biology, we must adapt, migrate, or die. We're not quite ready to move to another planet yet, so migrating is out. Death isn't really a desired option, so scratch that. Adaptation is the only option left.

Let's do this thing.

And also, let's keep the post office. It is way cheaper than Fed Ex, DHL, and UPS.


Here's a song. It's the Beatles cover of Mister Postman.