Monday, April 16, 2012

A Strange Thing

I find that the media is always seems amazed when someone famous dies... Whitney Houston, 48; Davey Jones, 66 (of "The Monkeys" fame)... and their, the media that is, silly take on Life seems to have spread to the rest of us. The media, or the people behind it, seem to have convinced Americans that staying in "school" (not talking about professional training, which is ever so worth it) until 30, marrying at 40, having your children with the aid of petri dishes and test tubes well into your 40's will leave you enough time to see to it that the kids are properly raised and have you properly seen to financially... while you live happily and healthily to a ripe old age irrespective of your personal habits regarding smoking, drinking, drugs (both medical and other), and eating/obesity... and never mind all of that pesky evidence to the contrary.

We have stretched out the life span a bit... but it seems that our health-span might actually be contracting (having lived in South Florida these past 15 or years, my experience with the "elderly" is not all that positive, but that's another story).

Never mind that the Kings and Queens and great Generals of history were barely out of puberty... we want to imprison young men for having sex with young women... we want to imprison young adults for consuming alcohol... we tell people they are not mature enough for the responsibility of marriage and family until their ovaries and testes are hardening into little walnuts... and then we tell them they will all live happily ever after into ripe old age and that the government will take care of them. During this time we imprison people for drug use, because its bad for them, while subsidizing their food addictions/obesity - because that is good for them? (The same element that came up with Prohibition keeps coming up with more and greater ways to fill up those prisons they love so much.)

Having an abortion makes you brave and (my favorite) "empowered". Rejecting the unethical and immoral nature of abortion MUST mean that you are some kind of bible thumping lunatic AND anti-women. Noticing that the Liberal political policies enacted since the Civil Rights Movement has destroyed the African American community makes you a racist. Noticing that our military budget, energy use, demographic trends (not what you think... I am talking about the baby bust, not the proverbial "population explosion" which had nothing to do with fertility, which has crashed in the West, and everything to do with life-span extension), are the natural outcomes of Keynesian/Liberal economic policies means that you are some kind of radical (reactive?) subversive.

This is our media... and we have allowed them to lead us astray.

But dying at 66 is a "tragedy" and dying at 48 after a lifetime of immoderacy is somehow shocking. That 24% of Middle Aged American Women are medicated with anti-depressants in order to cope is also shocking... to who? Reflecting back on a life of aborted children, divorces, and a family forgone for the sake of Oprha's vision of empowerment? WTF did we expect from that set of circumstances? "Happily ever after"?  (I will save for another post the Media's (Oprah's?) many contributions to the this very sad and disturbing statistic of anti-depressant use.)

Ah, but its a beautiful morning... with a firm eye on the clock (I am in my 50's), and a smile on my face and a song in my heart, I am going to enjoy a nutritious breakfast followed by some good-old-fashioned manual labor/exercise... perhaps a swim and then a romp with the kids on the trampoline... because Life IS good (and beautiful), even though short... and denial of that fact will only make it shorter.

But Denial is the stock in trade of the American Liberal Media... and that is A Strange Thing.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, you really got a lot of good stuff in there!

But now, don't go breaking your neck (knocking on the coffee table) on the trampoline.

Stephen B.

Anonymous said...

The media just keep telling the big lie over and over again. Somehow, a satisfactory life is only to be gained by having a hot shot career to feed the ego and afford all the crap they tell you you absolutely have to have. Everything else in life should be subservient to that goal, especially for women. Contrary to their propaganda, the Left has made it all about power and money. It is fascinating how often those things the Left decries are exactly the things they promote. They are all about isolation, dehumanization and consumption. But, I digress.

Greg, you have figured out, as I have that happiness lies in the people you love, and not in the crap you collect. Ego thrills are nice, and I have a job that I like. But, I work to live, and for the benefit of those I love. Ultimately, family is where it's at.

Just watched a movie called "Young Adult". Every angry young feminist should watch it. Most probably won't get the point.

Regards,

Coal Guy

A Quaker in a Strange Land said...

Not to worry Stephen B... my trampoline time with the kids is a muted affair... but ever so hilarious..

Coal Guy:

As a couple of "elder statesmen" we seem to see things in a similar light... the French have an excellent saying:

"Life is half over before we even know what it is."

Indeed.

Anonymous said...

An update on fed, debt, and other financial stuff....You've all probably seen this before, but maybe not...

Did you know that in 2011, The Fed purchased 61% of the total net Treasury obligations that were issued? Prior to 2008, the amounts that the Fed would purchase were negligible at best!

http://www.economicnoise.com/2012/04/06/how-the-country-dies/

I didn't know it was *that* bad.

Nor did I know a lot of other data points at that link were as far gone as they are either....then combined with basic things like obesity, and other socials ills....Wow....just when one thinks one kind of has a handle on where we are...!

Stephen B.

tweell said...

Our news media has been in the business of selling lies for over 100 years now. It's become more obvious with the Internet and near-instant fact-checking, but it's been there all the time.

The previous media moguls realized that they needed to provide some truth so that the lies would be easier to swallow. Now we have journalists instead of reporters, and 'news' invented from their imaginations. They also aren't doing so well financially, as more and more people stop paying for the privilege of being lied to. The media still has great power, but it's shrinking. As their coverage drifts further away from reality, it will continue to shrink.

Anonymous said...

Tweel,

That's what the SOPA/PIPA thing was about. It would give the government the power to shut down any website where copyrighted material was posted based on complaints from copyright holders. No hearing in a court of law would be necessary. One copyrighted picture could be used to shut down all of blogger.com for instance. That would be that. No recourse. This would make it virtually impossible for any website that allowed users to post to remain in business. The MSM would then be the only voice left. Those laws were only tangentially related to copyright protection. Their real purpose was to limit freedom of speech.

Regards,

Coal Guy

Anonymous said...

I just want to share about the stuff happening in Stover, MO. A community poisoned, city engineer and mayor now felons for long term conspiracy concerning water, a working police chief charged with a felony, voting machines tampered with, and the little guy(federal witness) bucking the system, who’s girlfriend died because of the water. The community is trying to keep everything secret while persecuting him. Look at Stover MO topics, signs @ pallet company. We are just questioning what is happening here. Grand jury indictments set for 20 years without being served, the witness has been unprotected, his animals hung, life threatened, criminally set-up, and basically put through hell. Please help question this and get the word out. This is a small community plight that should be every State’s Citizen, State Representative and Senators concern. Please help us...