Symphony to the insanity of humanity..........

This link goes to a little film, with accompanying musical tones, that pinpoints every nuclear explosion from 1945 to 1998.  Listen and watch with astonishment.  It takes around 15 minutes to compress 53 years of derangement.

A small history lesson....................

The annual narcissistic and self-congratulatory orgy known as the "4th of July" is essentially finished for 2010, except today (July 5th) is the work holiday for many employees since the actual day of July 4th this year fell on a Sunday.

Most of us would have a difficult time reciting language from the declaration being celebrated.  Here is a quote from that declaration (the He refers to King George of England): 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

 Hmmm......such language makes a different sort of July 4th observance or viewpoint understandable.

The local newspaper distinguished itself by running multiple "stories" (propaganda disguised as news) about heroic servicemen, etc.  A replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall was in town for July 4th, no stories referenced the needlessness of that tragic conflict (Ho Chi Minh was as likely to present any threat the the United States as was Saddam Hussein).  Nope, jingoism and self-congratulation characterized what passed for "news".

Now we have arrived at my favorite part of this holiday, the ending of it (until next year).  Oh, by the way, a number of the celebrants seem to be perplexed about certain factual details.  For those unsure why there might be a question about the appropriateness of the holiday, this post might provide some enlightenment.

Koyaanisqatsi…..from the Hopi language

I wanted to name the blog Koyaanisqatsi, but decided that appropriating a word from the Hopi might simply be another instance of taking from Native Americans that has been typical of the white European way of behaving.

The word itself is rich in meaning…..according to Wikipedia one Hopi language dictionary defines it as: “"life of moral corruption and turmoil (re life of group), life out of balance". It is the opposite of suyanisqatsi "life of harmony"”. 

Life out of balance succinctly summarizes my take on the majority of the culture of the United States and most of the hierarchal, free reign capitalistic societies on the planet.  Many (not all) of the Indigenous cultures of the world seem to embody  ways of living much more conducive to sustainable and life satisfying existence than do “modern” cultures.

It actually wouldn’t take much to do better than any society that appears to have as its greatest measure of success that of being most effective at satisfying greed.

I plan to use this blog as a repository of information and thoughts about society, politics, education and whatever else might occur to me.


By the way, there is an excellent film, documentary sort of, called Koyaanisqatsi, that is scored by Phillip Glass which does an excellent job of visually and aurally capturing some of the spirit of what is meant by the notion of Life out of Balance.