Prologue
Titles are introductory pitches that coax you to discover the writer’s intent buried in their text. The idea for this series occurred to me after reading several articles and opinions in an internet information feed. It’s apparent to me that America has no direction. We appear lost in a world of bigger, better, faster efficiency – The Wilderness. We’re at the mercy of our own devices.

We have more but appreciate it less. Which makes us want even more. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

We need direction.

America’s direction flip-flopped from world leader to follower until about forty years ago. I noticed that Americans were searching for order, a guide. We are wandering in a Wilderness like the Old Testament Jews.

The Jews had Moses. We have Bungles the Clown.

The Nation of Israel allegedly wandered in the desert for forty years when they departed Egypt. Our lack of direction became apparent at the end of the Eisenhower Administration. That’s when the political carpet-baggers arrived. They have been with us ever since. And, we’re still wandering.

It’s akin to post “War of Northern Aggression” south. There were grandiose promises, guarantees, handouts, more promises, and no real direction. In the absence of genuine leadership, Americans and people, in general, will even follow a clown.

What we do next as individuals or as a country is up to you. These chapters can incite you to action or completely piss you off. I sincerely hope it’s both.

“We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission, which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.” ~ Ayn Rand

~ Chapter I: Lost in the Wilderness ~

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” ~ Carl Sagan

We don’t seem to care about much anymore. We’ve given up on everything; our country, the economy, the world, and ourselves to some extent.

But we still have hope?

I have little interest in much of the crap going on with this disaster we’ve made of our lives. I’m worn out. Especially by this bastion of bullshit we call America. My insensitivity is based on the overwhelming negativity in this country.

Look, I realize that happiness doesn’t sell newspapers or increase advertising revenues. Good news doesn’t draw people to the TV or Radio. Advertising funds these billion-dollar organizations and allows them their unfettered power and influence. If happiness sold papers or advertising space, we’d all be some smilin’ Mutha Phuockas.

Ah, Programming!

Plato, the philosopher, not Micky Mouses’ dog, said: “The price of apathy toward public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” Plato lived from 428 to 348 BCE, about 2,400 years ago. It’s fascinating to think that an old man that lived 2,400 years ago could have insight into modern problems.

Ain’t history a bitch!

You should read it sometime. You might discover that the issues we face are not new. They are the same problems humanity faced from the beginning of time. I find our inability to learn and apply the lessons of history is a crushing disappointment.

Archaeologists estimate that civilization is about 6,000 years old. We’ve been taking notes – history – for about 5,000 of those years. Not much has changed, and the real bummer is that we haven’t learned shit in all that time. Oh sure, we’ve made almost everything easier, faster, prettier, and more innovative – except ourselves, but we’ve ignored the causes and impetus of these problems.

We face an onslaught of useless information designed to keep us distracted, under control and separate us from what we have. From where I sit, our elected and well-paid representatives intend to take what little remains and makes us wards of the state. It makes me want to flee to somewhere better, but where?

Of all the other possible places on this planet, America is still the least worse alternative. But, unfortunately, rather than the lesser of the evils, we have the evil of the lessers.

“The devil went down to DC looking for a soul to steal. He was in a bind ’cause he was way behind. And he was willing to make a deal…” – Charlie Daniels

… and the greedy politicians formed a queue.

But as bad as things are here, they are far worse everywhere else. As they say, the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.

Am I wrong?

The devil in this article is not Lucifer, The fallen angel of Light, but the Corporate Cabal that owns and runs this country. They are the devil incarnate.

I’ve nearly lost my give-a-shit several times, but then I remember my oath of enlistment from 50 years ago – to serve and protect this glorious country.

So, here I am, keeping my promises!

Problems are those inconvenient matters that interrupt normality, but our standard is all about problems in our case. It’s what we hear all day long.

My insights tell me that we are buried in the stupendous volume of information. We’re concerned with the minutiae and not the cause. It’s essential to know how things work but not necessary to understand the intricacies of each topic. Therein lies the value of classical education.

Classical studies are intelligently and purposefully designed curricula to guide you toward a broad understanding of essential subjects. I am proud to have survived the obstacle course called a parochial primary and secondary education.

We speak guardedly about what passes for education today. None of us want to appear on the FBI’s domestic terrorist watch list. I have grandchildren in the primary and secondary indoctrination camps. As Plato warns, this is the price of apathy.

It’s essential to know when enough is enough. We are barraged with too much information every moment of every day. So I have to make a conscious effort to disconnect from the media to avoid information overload, to clear my B-S filters.

The adjunct to quantity is the quality of the information. My chosen profession in technology has some pertinent sayings like “garbage in, garbage out.” It’s not too difficult to understand the intent. Yet trash is what we consume. There is boundless bullshit assaulting us every moment of every day from every angle. The agendas and motives are to perpetuate the lies of a moment ago. Then initiate the lies about to be told.

It’s all about our programming. Our inundation with information from the media is quite similar, except there are no filters. We are bombarded with manipulated data – it is all adulterated. Yes, I intended to convey that someone fucks with it before we see it. Is that too blunt?

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic, and/or military consequences of the lie.” ~ Joseph Goebbels

It’s easy to fall into a rut or routine. Watching or listening to the same channel daily reinforces programming, which is the intent of organizations that offer what we loosely term ‘news.’ The opinions and interpretations they promote aid this programming by supporting the messages that agree with the viewer’s political choices and leanings.

I can remember when reporting was subjective. If there were different sides, controversy, or opposition to the story, they were presented. These shows didn’t preach to the viewer. They didn’t tell us what to think and how to feel about each story.

Today’s news is all theater.

I believe we’re wandering in the wilderness, not unlike the Old Testament Jews. The Jews had the desert; we have a wilderness of our own creation.

Maybe that’s the perfect simile for this series.

Americans are wandering in a wilderness of apathy.

The Jews allegedly wandered the desert for forty years. Their leader had a message of hope to encourage them. The story recounts that he would never see the promised land even though Moses was told to guide them, yet he persisted.

God promised the Jews a nation they called Israel. God’s concern was for His children. Our promise comes from the Cabal. Their concern is wealth and power to the exclusion of all else, yet we persist. We hold fast to the lie of better days if we just stay the course.

We’ve traded God for disingenuous leadership.

In the 1936 movie, My Man Godfrey, about financial and social inequities, is a dialog between two’ forgotten men’; they discuss the promise that “… prosperity is just around the corner. I wish I knew where that corner was… one replied?

Around which corner is our prosperity?

We could fill the Grand Canyon with the promises we’re chasing. Each is built on the previous lie and expands the scheme to perpetuate a new lie.

We’re addicted to Hope. I’ve heard it referred to as Hopium – a narcotic version of belief.

Various religious texts from the Bible to the Quran contain or reference this passage in some form, “Hear this now, O foolish and senseless people who have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear…”

I’ve used it countless times. It deals with preconceptions blinding our views. But unfortunately, our addiction to Hopium blinds us to the truth that is right before our eyes.

We see but allow hope to obscure the reality. We hear but ignore it because it contradicts what we want to hear.

We ignore 5000 years of history and the sage advice of great and learned people attempting to warn us. Their experiences and understanding of causes could serve as an example if we would only listen if we would only learn.

Our solution is to find trustworthy sources and leadership because ours is sinking. Examine their past examples, track record of successes and failures, judge for yourself. But, be aware of the false prophets with grandiose and unfulfillable promises.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!

How long will we wander through our wilderness?

I think this final quote by Will Rogers sums this up.

“There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.”

Haven’t we seen enough yet? After all, we have 5,000 years of examples and a couple of hundred years of our own to reference.

~ Chapter II: The Problem with Hope ~

Desmond Tutu said: “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”

Rev. Tutu is correct in theory. Looking for the silver lining or finding that ray of light in the darkness is a reason to hope. But instead, America’s using hope as a crutch to excuse our inaction and ambivalence. Our negligence and apathy created this mess. Only action can save this country; American-style hope has no place in this equation.

That’s the problem with hope.

It’s not an excuse.

It requires action. Seeking and looking are positive steps to finding the solution.

You’re doing something, not waiting for divine intervention.

You’ve all heard the cliche, “There’s light at the end of the tunnel – but it’s probably a train.” That cynicism is born of an abiding distrust of our sinking ‘leader-ship.’

This reminds me of the Charles Shultz cartoon, “Peanuts.” Lucy Van Pelt holds a football, and every time Charlie Brown tries to kick that ball, Lucy pulls it away. Charlie Brown hopes Lucy will hold the ball this time, but… Lucy moves the ball every time, yet Charlie Brown keeps trying.

Name one program, policy, or promise by our sinking ‘leader-ship’ that has come to fruition, worked as advertised, or benefited this country.

No worries, I’ll wait.

As Mullah Omar said, “You have the watch; I have the time.”

Anyone? Anyone?

OK, None… Every one of these policies, programs, or projects are all self-serving, narcissistic, power grabs. Pure self-aggrandizement!

No, I’m not a pessimist – I’m a pragmatist.

Hope keeps us looking to the future to improve and grow. Hope keeps America from being defeatist. It makes us want to move forward. That’s a realistic aspiration. But unfortunately, our misplaced hope ruined this country, and hoping for our sinking ‘leader-ship’ to save us is deluded.

Could it happen? Could our sinking ‘leader-ship’ ‘right the ship of state’ and save the country?

Sure… Pigs might sprout wings, and monkeys might fly out of my ass…

I don’t think there’s much chance, but I do believe in miracles.

America’s illusion of hope comes from empty promises by a government zealously committed to seizing power by any means available. As Machiavelli said: “The ends justify the means.”

I’ve heard America’s hope referred to as a narcotic called Hopium, a drug that induces delusions and obscures reality by introducing confidence in quixotic ideals. Like all narcotics, it’s wildly addictive. It causes us to divert our attention from today for the promise of what could be, what may be. The Hopium addiction is so powerful we stop working and begin waiting.

“Trust me… it’ll all be better as soon as…”

Americans are addicted to Hopium.

Anyone with a checkbook or bank account knows that you cannot spend more money than you have; unless you use credit. But there are still limits, and there will always be a day of reckoning.

Yet we follow along blindly as our sinking ‘leader-ship’ drags us down with a $141.5 Trillion debt. Our sinking ‘leader-ship’ assures us that spending more money – money that we don’t have – will arrest runaway inflation, and we can spend our way to prosperity.

What in the hell are they smoking?

There’s an age-old military tactic called ‘Firing for Effect.’ The US Army artillery used this technique to determine the range of a target. The US Navy calls it a ‘Warning Shot’ or ‘A Shot Across the Bow’ of another ship. The US Airforce dropped dummy bombs to judge the cross-winds and conditions before an extensive campaign.

I called my bank to inform them that I would follow the government’s lead. I explained that I would purchase a $550,000 Rolls Royce. I was about to write the check that I expected them to honor.

They hung up on me. BASTARDS!

Isn’t that precisely what our sinking ‘leader-ship’ does? Spend more than we will ever make – with no way ever to repay or recover. We’re just ‘kicking the can down the road for future generations to handle. That’s some legacy for our future. We really do love you, and, oh, by the way, here’s a $200 TRILLION debt, Love Grandma and Grandpa.

My phone call to the bank helped me appreciate that our government has exclusive rights to ‘Do as I Say, Not as I Do.’ It obviously extends to our sinking ‘leader-ship’ who act with impunity, carelessly, above the law, outside the law. They have privileges that we mere mortals do not have.

I think we misnamed Washington DC. It should be called Olympus! Home of the gods.

Shortly after taking (I use – taking – intentionally) office, our new President Bungles the Clown signed (again, signed is a deliberately selected word) 77 executive orders erasing four years of prosperity and effective government. His signatures moved us from (canceled) near self-sufficiency to total dependence on the edge of oblivion.

We are now children of the Clown Prince.

Bungles the Clown hoped these presidential edicts would hasten the demise of America was now in full swing. All according to the Cabal’s plan.

America has fired up the Hopium pipe and puff away.

Nearly everything we purchase comes from foreign sources. Bungles the Clown created a supply chain crisis where there was none before, reinforcing the lunacy that is this administration. He’s not running the country; the Cabal is. Bungles the Clown is their tool and distraction. As long as Bungles the Clown is in view, we don’t see them – the Cabal.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Our oil comes from avowed enemies of our county. We sanction them with the right hand and give them cash with the left. (Again, ‘left’ is intentionally used) This proves the adage, ‘The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.

Maybe more correctly, the right refuses to stop the left’s power piracy. Midterm elections are coming soon. Then the tides will turn, or are we in for another season of inaction, ineffectual decisions, and public pandering punctuated with perpetual posturing and posing?

“Trust me?”

More Hopium, please pass the pipe.

Winston Churchill said: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Our sinking ‘leader-ship’ added – even if you have to create one. A few come to mind, like:

* Wuhan Pandemic

* Climate Change

* The Green movement

* Violent Crime

* Gun Control

* Border, what border? We don’t need no stinking border

* Out of control spending

* Racial tensions

* LGBTQ+

* Common Core Education

* Critical Race Theory

* Color over Character

* Ad Infinitum, ad Nauseam

Bungles the Clown is still signing our lives away. His executive order count now stands at 85, with 64 presidential memoranda, 213 proclamations, and 43 notices. Bundles the Clown is a fiat machine!

Please consider these rhetorical questions:

Are we better or worse as a country because of these actions?

Do you even know the impact of the 405 signatures?

Do you know what Bungles the Clown signed?

Do you think Bungles the Clown knows?

The common thread, brothers and sisters, is in that list above. Those twelve items represent a few unfulfilled commitments over the past 80 years. AND… we believe every lie because our sinking ‘leader-ship’ exploits our addiction to Hopium.

“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.” ~ Will Rogers

The Will Rogers quote above presupposes that we can learn from our mistakes. It also assumes that we will apply those lessons.

I’m afraid that our present circuitous meandering to a solution is evidence that we are categorically disinterested in acquiring such knowledge. Even though we’ve pissed on the electric fence, we failed to learn anything – Not one damned thing.

Before us is a junction, a decision, a choice.

Yogi Berra said: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Although this quote sounds rather inane, there is profound wisdom contained therein. As perennial wanderers, we are unaccustomed to making decisions. We’d prefer to have our sinking ‘leader-ship’ tell us which way to go and hope they’re correct.

Look around you and see how well this is working so far. Inflation is the highest in 60 years; fuel prices are at all-time highs. There is war in Eastern Europe, and the world is in chaos like never before. China is rattling its saber toward Taiwan, threatening to expand the CCP. Our sinking ‘leader-ship’ makes nice, so we can off-shore our manufacturing.

And, by the way, Bungles the Clown’s family has financial ties to the CCP.

Could this have any impact on our posture with this American enemy?

Yet we have hope? Hope for what?

We’re in a sinking ship, and we hope someone will plug the leak?

Hope isn’t necessary.

It’s an imperative.

So is action!

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote: “There is some good in the world, and it’s worth fighting for.”

The quote above implies action – fighting, not waiting. It involves effort, not sitting back, relaxing, and letting it all work out.

That’s American style hope – Hopium – laziness, let someone do it, we’ll hope for a change.

Roberto Unger wrote:

“Change requires neither saintliness nor genius. What it does require is the conviction of the incomparable value of life. Nothing should matter more to us than the attempt to grasp our life while we have it, and to awaken from the slumber of routine, of compromise and prostration, so that we may die only once. Hope is not the condition or cause of action. Hope is the consequence of action. And those who fail in hope should act, practically or conceptually, so that they may hope.”

Our addiction to Hopium destroyed this country.

~ Chapter III: Excess ~

Shakespeare penned a phrase in his play, “As You Like It.” “Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?” He intends that anything in excess is dangerous or can become harmful. So it is with information and lying, even freedom. We’ve reinterpreted this to ‘Too Much of a Good Thing,’ making it part of our vernacular.

It applies directly to America’s excess in everything. Everything in our world must be bigger, faster, flashier, and more excessive. America has no self-control, a trait we emulate from our sinking’ leader-ship.’ Don’t you think our sinking ‘leader-ship’ knows this and exploits it? Have you ever thought about the source of our proclivity for excess?

Read On…

Catching Wild Pigs: an arresting anecdote

A chemistry professor in a large college had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country, trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist regime.

He looked at the professor and asked a strange question during his story. He asked: Do you know how to catch wild pigs?

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line.

The young man said that it was no joke. You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn.

When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming.

When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again, and you put up another side of the fence.

They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.

The pigs are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat that free corn again.

You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom.

They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon the pigs go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America.

The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism. It keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time.

One should never forget two truths: There is no such thing as a free lunch, and you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

If you see that all of this wonderful government “help” as a problem confronting the future of democracy in America, you might want to send this on to your friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you will probably ignore this post.

But, God help us all when the gate slams shut! ~ [Excerpt from an email]

Quote for today:

“The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a living are now outnumbered by those who vote for a living.” ~ Anon

Fat, Deluded, and Clueless. This is our America. There must be some happiness in our country, somewhere. But as I said in Chapter II, happiness doesn’t sell papers or create demand for advertising. It doesn’t generate billions of dollars in profit. And, It doesn’t make corporations rich.

The previous chapter introduced Hopium, the narcotic of indifference and indecision. This addiction crippled America with false faith and unfulfilled promises.

Our addiction to myriad things follows the same four stages.

1. Experimentation

2. Regular or Social Use

3. Problem and Risky Use

4. Dependency

Look around you… What do you see?

People focused on the tiny rectangular screen their holding. Oblivious to everything around them. They are wandering, trusting their peripheral vision to guide them, to keep them safe from harm.

I can’t count the times I’ve had to swerve or brake hard to avoid an inattentive ‘cellphone zombie’ walking into the street. I’ve seen a few walk into a pole, lamp post, or parking meter. I’ve even seen them hit by a passing vehicle. What is so engaging that their focus is on the ‘altar of enlightenment’ and not personal safety?

Scan the restaurant or lunchroom, cafeteria, break area, or vehicle next to you. I’ll bet that 90% of the occupants have their cell phones on or propped up so they can read or watch the information flow. Check your coworkers’ desks as you pass. I’ll bet their cellphone are on and propped up in view. We’ve invented gadgets and gizmos that hold your cell phone in view as you drive. Are we so desperate for information that we sacrifice safety for a few bytes of data?

GOD forbid you should miss a text or news update.

At least modern GPS systems speak the directions, but those are equally distracting because your attention is not on operating the vehicle but on listening, watching, and navigating.

True to form, modern psychology has classified internet addictions or addictions to information into five groups.

1. Cybersex Addiction

2. Net Compulsions

a. Online shopping

b. Auctions

c. Gambling

3. Relationship Addiction

4. Compulsive Information Seeking

5. Computer or Gaming Addiction

Simpler terms identify it as Information Compulsion (IC).

I could have skipped to this section, but you should at least understand the background. We are addicted to information and the technology that enables and facilitates our compulsion.

We’re obsessed with knowing so we can impress people. ‘Too Much Information’ is a frequently quipped response when we don’t care to hear more.

Information inundates us from every direction and through every sense but smell. I’m sure someone will figure that out soon, as well. However, bakeries and grocers do enhance the aromas in their shops to entice shoppers to peruse a little more.

The barrage never stops… And we still want more.

Are we so emotionally insecure that we cannot be alone for a few moments? We cling to our altars of enlightenment for reassurance as Linus from the Peanuts Comics clings to his security blanket. And like Linus, most of us are rarely without that ‘altar of enlightenment and emotional support.‘

What have we become?

Welcome to the land of “FREE.” No one wants to work for, pay for, or earn anything. We want it for free. That’s Socialism’s promise. That’s the siren call of the Democrat Socialist Party. And it’s all a lie.

Everyone will be equal, and everything will be free. At least, that is how we choose to understand Socialism, and the Socialists are not arguing that point with us. We can believe whatever we want. That works in their favor.

‘Free‘ is the root of America’s evil. It is the primary reason we’re in this mess. If you recall the references to corn above, you should also remember the warning that there is no free lunch. There is a price for everything.

In Newtonian Physics, the equations are balanced simply as actions and reactions. Interestingly, life requires the same balance – for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every decision, there is a consequence.

We’ve lost sight of this balance. It will be our undoing.

Last but not least is rampant corruption. It’s hard to imagine any organization or department in government that is not corrupt. As I write this sentence, an overwhelming feeling of remorse rolls over me.

Am I that cynical?

Do I really believe that every government organization and department is unethical and venal?

Why, yes, I am, and yes, I do.

This unscrupulous government is after only one thing. POWER. Power is their excess. It is the most addictive narcotic ever discovered. There is nothing more powerful. There is nothing so all-consuming.

Robert G. Ingersoll said: “If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. Any man can stand adversity — only a great man can stand prosperity.”

We are sorely in need of some great men.

The converse of this statement is a compelling indictment. If most of the people in Olympus (Washington DC) are corrupt, they are all insignificant and do not deserve to represent us.

As the midterm elections approach, I ask you to consider the argument above. If we accept these people as our representatives, they should be the very best among us – the citizens.

Expecting a pint to hold a quart is foolish. When it contains a pint, it’s doing the best it can. Hoping the corrupt incumbents to become great people miraculously is deluded.
Being unethical is the best than can be.

“Barbarism recommences by the excess of civilization.” ~ Alphonse de Lamartin

~ Chapter IV: While You Were Sleeping ~

This morning, I was reminded of the story by Washington Irving called Rip Van Winkle. Rip sleeps for twenty years to awaken to a different world in the story. We’ve been asleep for at least that long, actually many times that twenty years. Many of you are still fast asleep.

Our sleep was not so much physical, although it might as well have been. We’re just too busy, too distracted with our daily lives. But isn’t that the way it always is? We’re too busy doing our jobs to do our job; As citizens, I mean.

John Lennon (the Beatle, not the political activist and leader of the USSR spelled Lennin) said, “Life is what happens while we are busy making other plans.”

We’re too distracted by now to worry about tomorrow. After all, tomorrow never comes, and, well, we’ll worry about that tomorrow.

Can you see the trap?

Rip Van Winkle awoke to a totally different community. His world changed drastically while he slept. A few Americans are awakening to a vastly changed country, which bears little resemblance to their recollections; this new reality is far different from a few years ago. Many are in stasis, an existence balanced between lies and confusion. You’re no longer aware of the construct in which we live.

Chapter III refers to balanced equations. Our lives are nothing more than an equation. We have a finite amount of resources, time in this case, to use or invest, and we have an abundance of tasks vying for those resources. It’s our responsibility to apportion that capital to the appropriate job.

What’s important to you?

What are your priorities?

Do you have a list?

How do you know where to spend your time?

How do you resolve priority conflicts?

Oh, by the way, your priorities will change. They’re not chiseled in granite, but certain things should be on the list. I mistakenly looked to the omniscient internet for some clues. Lincoln was right; you can’t trust everything you read on the internet.

The priority ranking depends on who and why. My cynical side says that most of them are selling something. My realistic side says that it is very personal.

Here are the top five from life coaches:

1. Health

2. Relationships

3. Security

4. Development

5. Play

Maslow’s Hierarchy says:

1. Self-actualization

2. Esteem

3. Love or Belonging

4. Safety

5. Psychological

These lists contain the same items in a slightly different order. The significance is that it is only relative to the reason for the list. The first list is pertinent if you view this from a purely personal perspective. If you view this from Maslow’s point of view, it’s based on needs.

My point is that Americans are unaware of why we do what we do; we simply follow Nike’s motto, “Just Do It!”

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” ~ Benjamin Franklin

But, even the best plans can change and should.

So, where on this list does our responsibility to our country fall?

How essential is your duty as a citizen?

While we were all sleeping, the bad guys walked into our country and took over. How they affected this transition is debatable. I think it began at the end of WWII. We imported Socialism along with the German Scientists we appropriated to shore up our “advanced weapons program.”

These scientists became college professors and community leaders. What better way to spread an ideological virus than through impressionable youths?

Are you familiar with the process called “Train the Trainer?” It’s a technique where the student eventually becomes the teacher… Think about that.

What are we teaching our children?

Who’s teaching our children?

Now we’re all infected and impacted. There’s no cure for an infectious ideology, wildly popular among acolytes and adherents. And… one that promises to overcome the evils of capitalism and endemic white supremacy and systemic racism. All of the efforts and gains of the Civil Rights movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s are voided. We’re back in antebellum America.

Author Ayn Rand states this idea quite well. “America’s abundance was created not by public sacrifices to ‘the common good,’ but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America’s industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance – and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way.”

Simply restated, Capitalism makes; Socialism takes.

Examining the insidious changes in the past seventy-seven years tells anyone who comprehends our history that we digressed significantly. But you see, that’s a tactic employed by the left. They create problems, then call them to your attention; they calmly tell you they have all the answers and a perfect solution.

My god… That sounds just like our government!

They create a problem. Then announce they’ve discovered this catastrophic instability or endemic obstacle. Claim they can fix it with a few trillion dollars, multiple new laws, and a few presidential executive orders. Sorry, we’ll have to temporarily suspend a few more of your liberties with no intention of returning them or ending the ’emergency order.’

Accepting this as fact for a moment, why would we pay the people who create the problem to fix the problem? I’ll try to simplify this for you. You call the plumber to your home. He puts a hole in your water pipe and then charges you to fix the hole he put in your water pipe.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” ~ Albert Einstein.

Doesn’t this describe our American government?

AND… we put these same people back in office time, after time, after time. Ergo… Most of you are still asleep. OR… the system that reinstalls these miscreants is corrupt.

The system is unequivocally corrupt, and we are unaware.

QED – The Bungles the Clown administration.

It only took two years to discover widespread voter fraud and anomalies.

* Pre-election tampering and misconduct

* Tampering and interference by federal agencies

* Political Party corruption and election tampering

Yet none of these perpetrators will serve time or even be required to answer for these crimes against America.

They use what our legal systems invented – something called plausible deniability.

Our legal system – the system our representatives created that allows them to tangle the proceedings up for years and years. By the time it does come to trial, the evidence is lost, corrupted, or irrelevant, and the accused all died of old age.

So much for a speedy trial and jury of your peers.

Where can you find 12 corrupt yet impartial people that are not already in the system?

While you were sleeping, all of these changes crept through the system, embedding themselves in our country like a tick in a hound dog’s ear.

Will we ever be the same?

Will America ever return to the land of freedom and equality?

Granted, we’ve had problems, but we didn’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater to solve them. Look it up.

Is it necessary to destroy the entire country to fix these problems? Maybe, but how will the interim look?

Have you heard of the great reset – where capitalism is abolished worldwide in favor of social equity – Socialism.

What about the “New World Order” under the aegis of the United Nations?

Here’s another dastardly post-WWII emergence ready to ‘fix the world.’ Their plans are already entrenched in world politics, especially America’s. Several Twentieth and Twenty-First Century presidents were or are huge proponents of the move toward Global Socialism. The United States contributes nearly 30% of the UN’s budget. We are their most significant contributor. Ok, it’s only $18 Billion, a pittance compared to the Trillions planned for The Green New Deal lie and pseudo-science supporting it. But, that too is part of their master plan for the planet.

I encourage you to seriously investigate and consider the cost and impact of this monstrous idea. But again, you’re sound asleep, worried about your other responsibilities.

Welcome to the New World Order, where a collection of nations who do not share our ideology or beliefs will control America and your life.

Beam me up, Scotty! There is no intelligent life on this planet.

It all happened while we were distracted by the incidental minor issues created by our representatives and our government. They kept our focus elsewhere.

Naturally, they had help from the politically partisan press, mainstream media, and tech industries, who produced and managed the necessary tempest in a teapot.

America fell in line while you were fast asleep.

The solution, brothers and sisters, is to wake up and recognize that the bad guys are already here and in control. Malcontents like me have been telling you this for the past eighty years.

Even a few presidents like Eisenhower warned us that our way of life was in peril.
He warned us about the military, industry, and congress collusion.

He warned us that our government could weaponize other departments against internal and external opposition.

Our slumber, inattention, apathy, and indifference jeopardized this country. We’re no longer in control’ we haven’t been for nearly eighty years, and every year our authority transfers to those who would destroy this country for their own ends.

Remember, Machiavelli said: “The ends justify the means.”

~ Chapter V: Countdown to The Acropolis ~

By now, you should know that I am very precise about which words I select and how I use them. This title is no different. The expected text is Countdown to The Apocalypse. That would be appropriate in many cases, but not in this one.

Instead, I intend reference to the remains of that Greek edifice in Athens. An ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. This collection we call the Acropolis was constructed in the fifth century BC, and the fact that it is still standing is a testament to Greek design, engineering, and construction.

The history of Greek achievement is recorded in various texts by multiple scholars from almost every era since its conception. It is a proud civilization that gave us the idea of democracy and which made significant contributions to philosophy, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, literature, and theater, to name a few. Sadly, the monument is a shadow of its former glory.

I hope you see the direction our FINAL chapter is going.

The simile and wordplay here are to draw a parallel to the impending end of America. Will history view America as favorably as the Acropolis? Will the chroniclers be as kind, as generous to our former glory?

The countdown is underway, and short of a miracle, it will continue to zero, at which time America, at least as we know it, will no longer be. It will resemble that pile of marble pillars on a hill in Athens.

Ours remains will be on Capitol Hill, in the middle of the swamp.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced on Jan. 20 that the hands of the Doomsday Clock remain at 100 seconds to midnight—the closest it has ever been to the apocalypse. The Bulletin meets every year to determine how much metaphorical time we have to avert catastrophe for humankind.

Historians tell us that the average empire lasts about 250 years. America is about 246 years old. According to history, I think our race is run. It’s disconcerting to think that I may see the collapse of the American empire in my lifetime. I hope I live through it. That all depends on the violence of the end. My great expectations are that we’ll go out with a whimper, not a bang. Americans are quite nonchalant about their fate.

I mean no disrespect to the millions of patriots that fought and died for this country. I know a few of them, and they have my thanks for their service and sacrifices. I am proud to be in your company – the company of heroes.

I am ashamed of our elected representatives. You have no right to call yourselves Americans. Anyone who would use their sacred trust to rob, cheat, and steal from the people you serve is unconscionable. You are a disgrace to this country.

And about the country, do you honestly consider Socialism or whatever twisted form of management your owners in the Cabal believe best to serve their interests is warped. America’s style of government was innovative and viable. It was not perfect, but it did work until you decided that you knew better in your infinite wisdom and understanding.

Your avarice crippled America. You bought kindred spirits, those greedy enough to turn against their country for a few pieces of silver and short-lived power. It’s truly fitting that these are the people who don’t know history, for if they did, they’d realize that they are expendable. When they’ve served their purpose, you will no longer need them. They are obsolete.

Congratulations to the leadership of America; you’ve destroyed the greatest country in history. You’ll be the congress who killed a country.

I can only judge what I see. Fortunately, I cannot see your heart or comprehend your motives. From where I sit, though, I am ashamed of your self-serving approach to the job you accepted as our representative.

These are terrible generalizations. Not all of you are complicit, except that you stood by as this happened. Your inaction allowed this. You knew it was coming but never said a word. Maybe you did, but the enormous power of the politically partisan press, mainstream media, and big tech -stopped the spread of accurate information.

There are other avenues…

There are different methods.

Now we can visit the shell of America, sitting on Capitol Hill. A hollow reminder of past glory and accomplishments. Not unlike the Acropolis, sitting on the rocky outcrop in Athens.

Now a proud trophy for the socialist conquerors.

Look for me. I’ll be the old guy with the sign that says:

I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN – BUT YOU WOULDN’T LISTEN!

Good luck – I quit!

Who is John Galt?

~ Epilogue: And In The End ~

The epilogue for this series is suggestions for the country, not that you will adopt them or even consider them. Still, it makes me feel better after criticizing America so vehemently. I’m a firm adherent to finding a flaw and fixing the flaw. I use this in my profession as a leader and manager.

Stated simply, if you discover a problem, you can find the solution or at least suggest one. But stop whining.

I charge my teams to follow a direct approach to our projects

* I expect you to be honest and open. When you find a problem, and you will find them, provide at least two viable solutions to that problem. We will discuss them as a team and select the best solution.

* You cannot raise a problem to the team without at least two viable solutions.

* If you don’t know – find out. You are a team of phenomenally gifted people. If you can’t figure it out, no one can.

* You always do find the solution – as a team.

The same holds true for America. We have already proven that together we can conquer any task we have a mind to conquer – ANY task. If we decide to fix our country, we can – if we do it together.

I’ve shredded America for all of its faults and foibles for the past several years. I’ve offered some simple solutions that could turn us around if that’s what we want to do. It’s nothing that anyone in our 247 year past hasn’t suggested. It’s in our constitution, the writings of our founders, and the visionaries that created this country. The tools to salvage this country already exist. We have to take the handle and use them.

As the rightful owners of this country, we must take control or abandon it altogether and learn the socialist doctrine.

Why don’t we make the changes?

It all comes down to some practicable choices.

Do nothing. This is the simplest solution and most probable. Just let this foolishness continue and accept the consequences of inaction.

Typically and traditionally the most American choice. You’ll sit back as the country crumbles around your ears and bitch the entire time, wondering why no one did anything. That approach got us in this mess. Expecting the people that create the problem to fix the problem they created is, well, pretty damned stupid.

The problems are deeply rooted and will take a massive effort. Why bother? There are too many people in power working against us. And what about the Cabal? They have more money than God. How can we combat them?

I’m sure there are other excuses. Then your decision is in favor of a Socialist America? OK.

Are you prepared for all that Socialism entails?

You have no idea, do you?

Get involved: Here comes the hard part…
Do you remember the power the “Tea Party Movement” had? Like them or not, they took the country by storm in 2009. That’s what it will take to recover control of this country. The enemies of this movement used the same tactic that the Democrat-Socialist Patry uses today. The mainstream media, the politically partisan press, and the tech industry all stopped this movement in its track with lies and the IRS.

The other alternative is an armed revolution, but we would face the full power of America’s Military.

The last and I think the best alternative is passive resistance.

Mohandas Gandhi freed India from the British Empire using this technique. No violence, just say no – peacefully and definitively.

April 3, 2022

~ The Author ~
Charles R. Dickens was born in 1951, is a veteran of the Vietnam war, for which he volunteered, and the great-great grandson of the noted author, whose name he shares.

He is a fiercely proud American, who still believes this is the greatest country on the planet, with which we’ve lost control and certainly our direction. He grew up in moderate financial surrounding; were not rich by any stretch, but didn’t go hungry – his incredibly hard working father saw to that. As most from that era, he learned about life from his father, whose story would take too long to tell, other than to say that, he is also a fiercely proud American; a WWII and Korean war, veteran Marine.

Charlie was educated in the parochial system which, demanded that you actually learn something, and have capability to retain it before you advance. He attended several universities in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, and chased the goose further to a master’s, and has retained some very definite ideas about education in this country.

In addition, Charlie is a retired blues guitar and vocalist – a musician. This was his therapy career. Nothing brings him as much joy as playing music, and he wishes that he could make a living at it… but alas… life goes on!

That’s Charlie… a proud, opinionated, and passionate American.