CAPITALIST INSANITY

"If a man has an apartment stacked to the ceiling with newspapers we call him crazy. If a woman has a trailer house full of cats we call her nuts. But when people pathologically hoard so much cash that they impoverish the entire nation, we put them on the cover of Fortune magazine and pretend that they are role models." - B. Lester

SHOES AND FEET

It is sometimes said that the man who has no shoes feels sorry for himself until he meets the man with no feet.

True enough.

But I have noticed that those most fond of this saying usually have a whole closet full of shoes and would love nothing more than to silence the shoeless.

FEAR AND JUDGEMENT

There are people for whom danger is simply danger and provokes fear.  But there are those for whom beneath the fear of danger is fear of the authority of judgement.  And these people live in fear and joyless paralysis.

TOP 10 REASONS WHY SPIDERMAN IS MY FAVOURITE SUPERHERO

1.     Unlike Batman (a.k.a. millionaire Bruce Wayne) Peter Parker is not a member of the 1%.  Seriously: somebody from the 1% is going to save us all?  I don't think so.

2.     Spiderman has at least one shameful secret: his irresponsible behaviour allowed the death of his gentle Uncle Ben and the tragic widowing of Aunt May.  Spiderman fucked up, just like the rest of us.

3.     Spiderman acquired his superpowers by being bitten by a radioactive spider.  Hell, that could happen to anyone -- leaving hope for the rest of us . . .

4.     Spiderman's mask has no mouth.  Just two huge eyes.  How cool is that?

5.     Look:  Superman is from Krypton.  Not that I have anything against immigrants, but they do tend to come here and take the best jobs . . .

6.     Peter Parker is even more neurotic than I am.  How can I not be sympathetic? 

7.     Think about Batman again:  a Bat cave, a Bat computer, a Batmobile, a Bat nuclear reactor, an oh-so-jejune sidekick and an old-style English butler.  A bit much, don't you think?  These things cost money, and a lot of it is very hard on the environment.  Spiderman goes it ALONE in a bargain basement lab where he CLEANS UP AFTER HIMSELF.

8.     Spiders.  How cool is that?  But Green Lantern?  What is that supposed to connote?  Environmentally sound lighting systems?  Very nice.  The bad guys are shaking.

9.     Swinging from a thread takes grace and style.  Flying is just a creative cop-out.  Really.  I mean, after that there's nowhere to go but to "invincible" status like Captain Scarlet.

10.    Considerate Spiderman lives with his aunt and keeps a protective eye on the old lady, even though she is a perpetual guilt trip and drama-queen pain in the ass.  On the other hand, Superman spends his spare time in his lah-di-dah "Fortress of Solitude," brooding on his tiresome existential angst, no doubt.

IN CASE YOU ARE CURIOUS ABOUT MY TWITTER ICON

It's a painting called "The Pillars of Society," by George Grosz, a major artist of Germany's Weimar Republic

AND SPEAKING OF WHAT SOCIALISM REALLY IS

Here is a link to a brief Youtube of Noam Chomsky explaining how the word "socialism" has been screwed up, and what it actually means.

I really can't stress how important it is to get the word out.  In the West, particularly North America, we are born and raised in a climate which tells us that if we abandon capitalism we can only go to what the bourgeoisie call "socialism," and that this "socialism" has something to do with the old Soviet Union.

One of capitalism's major lines of defense is to bugger up even the words that would help us to think of an alternative.

YES, I KNOW, THERE'S NOT MUCH HERE YET . . .

but this blog is new.  I'm just getting it up to speed and trying to figure out how to use Twitter.  Stay tuned . . .