Imagine-ish (Un-Lennon-y)

I know a lot of Portlanders will disagree, but I don't mind this kind of summer at all. Overcast and cool in the morning and sun breaks in the late afternoon suits me just fine. We haven't hit 90 degrees yet, while seemingly the rest of the nation suffers under The Magnifying Glass O' The Godz. As I type this it's 63 degrees at 10 a.m. and a high of 82 or so expected for the entire week. Nice. The weird thing is that under overcast skies the greenery is more radiant than in sunlight. I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for that, or maybe it's my imagination. Regardless, it's cool.

Know what I wish? What I really, really wish? I'll tell you what I wish, what I really, really wish. (This is blatant blog entry padding; sue me, I'm a bit rusty). I would like a law requiring that all political ads be relegated to ONE television channel and ONE radio station. This way those who believe that political ads provide the tools needed for thoughtful political discourse may have a station or channel on which they may listen to or watch all the microphone-gnawing and feces-throwing they could want, while the rest of us are spared. Out of necessity and in the spirit of fairness, these outlets would be immune to Neilsen ratings and public outcry so that no charges of bias may be entertained. The only requirement I would dictate is that the one station and one channel serve ALL parties. You want mud-slinging and fear-mongering, be prepared for a two/three/more-the-merrier-way street. Equal time for everyone, but out of earshot of the rest of us who actually realize political ads are NOT reliable avenues to the truth. The Discover Nought Channel. Have at it.

Pardon the rant. Blame it on my recent re-reading of Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers, which, unlike Paul Verhoeven's entertaining (yet so loosely adapted from the source material that it's kind of like that Star Trek episode “Mirror, Mirror”, where it's Opposite Day and Spock has a goatee so you know he's bad...but not REALLY that bad after all) movie of the same name, is a novel of socio-political philosophy all dressed up in battle-rattle. Let me be honest, I read this book for the first time at 14 years of age, and after reading the last page I flung it across the room. My spoiled American teenage mind was appalled with what seemed at the time to be a jingoistic rant (plus not enough bug shooting!), and the world that the author limned struck me as a sort of totalitarian Hell where individual freedoms weren't tolerated. All the stuff about discipline, and duty, and responsibility for one's actions went right over my head at the time. I found the idea insulting and even scary because I knew that there was no room in that kind of society for the likes of me.

Man, what a difference age and experience makes. Heinlein's Starship Troopers Earth is a stern one and doesn't suffer fools or the selfish gladly, but it's orderly and efficient and the citizens and civilians (the privilege of citizenship is bestowed only upon those who have served in the military or in some capacity of public service, and wins them the right to vote and hold public office, whereas simple civilians cannot) know their place within it. There are some analogues in the modern world. Singapore comes to mind, with it's government's insistence on public standards and cleanliness.

Don't get me wrong, I think individual liberties are important. My objection is that they're too often taken for granted, and too few of us exercise the discipline it takes to wield those liberties judiciously, to bear in mind the greater good. It's a bit like juxtaposing the Wiccan exhortation “An it harm none, do as thy wilt” with Aleister Crowley's more base “Do what thou will shall be the whole of the law”.

Am I boring? No, I'm not running for office. What Groucho said.




The Bike Commute Challenge is coming up. I'll probably do it this year, but no one at my place of employment rides regularly so I won't have a team per se. I participated a few years ago, but can't for the life of me recall why I didn't in subsequent years until now (well, I do know about two of them; I was in Albuquerque). Anyway, if anyone in Portland and surrounds reads this thing, please consider dusting off your bike (or buying one, or borrowing one), and get out on the streets. Usher in the Autumnal Equinox by doing something excellent for yourself and for the Earth.


The "kingdom of Heaven" is a condition of the heart - not something that comes "upon the earth" or "after death."
-Friedrich Nietzsche