THE SIMPLE TRUTH

Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire said: "Common sense is not so common." More than ever we need to prove him wrong.

There is no substitute for good information.

And sometimes you have to dig a little for the truth. I've already suggested sources like Democracy Now, The Real News Network, FAIR etc. Check them out.

But some truths really are self-evident. I mean, common sense often precludes the necessity for research when it comes to grasping what is (or should be) the obvious.

Examples:

-- There are many poor people in the world. Yet we have enough wealth and food to clothe, feed and shelter everyone on the planet if we distribute resources fairly. But we don't. That's injustice.

-- If we see clouds of poisonous emissions spewing out of industrial chimneys, we know that it has to go somewhere and that it can't be good for our health or the environment. We don't need to be scientists to comprehend that. It's a toxic waste product, there are massive amounts of it, and we see it going into the air that we all breathe.

-- We know our education system isn't what it should be. Our health care system is horrendous. Millions of kids across America (let alone the Third World) are going to bed hungry at night. We see all kinds of socio-economic and infrastructure problems all around us. We're told by politicians that it's tough to get everything into the budget. We have to tighten our belts. And yet we're taxed to hell while our government spends incredible amounts on military nonsense, bails out banks, and gives corporations tax breaks up the yin yang. It doesn't take Einstein math to work out that if our taxes were used sensibly -- and not criminally -- and the rich and corporations paid their due, things would be looking much better for the vast, struggling majority. You don't even have to crack a book to know this. Just look around you at who is doing well and who isn't. Look at where your taxes go. And look at your pay stub to see how much you ship to the government for them to use in insane ways.

These things are unjust and immoral. That's obvious. And if there is injustice and immorality, they cannot be justified as "part of the system." The system is inadequate and unfair.

My point: Don't accept pat answers. And don't be baffled by pundits and BS artists spouting a load of "facts" and assertions. If the very obvious, empirical data doesn't add up, something is wrong. That's just simple logic. No, it's even simpler than employing logic. It's simple observation. So don't be fooled into not believing what you see with your own two eyes.

Stick to your guns. Argue for justice. Refute the specious arguments and nonsense facts that work for the rich. Keep fighting; keep making your voice heard.

And remember: What we really need is fundamental structural and institutional change. The way things are run; the way things "work"; the "systems"; the distribution of wealth. Everything else is at the surface. Any positive change is a good thing. But we need to dig out the roots if we want to get rid of the weeds. After all, why should the world be run by a thin layer of elites who are milking the whole game for themselves? These bastards are the thieves of the planet. When was the last time you asked a burglar to sit down to dinner with you?

It will take time but it's already happening. The people who want a fairer world are in the majority!

So keep agitating; keep reaching out to like-minded souls. It will happen.

Take care,
Adrian

THE FLOODS IN AUSTRALIA

Much of Queensland looks like this. Including regions that have had 10 years of drought. (Yes, TEN YEARS.)

It seems there is never any shortage of disasters.

At this time, I'd like to send my very best wishes to everyone in Australia affected by the terrible floods. I'm sure the Aussie spirit will prevail.

Anyone interested in donating to flood relief should go to the Queensland Government's page. Queensland is the state hit hardest by the flooding, with a region the size of Germany and France combined under water.

When you look at ALL the evidence -- and especially trends in the weather and not just isolated events -- I fail to see how anyone can deny the threat of climate change and that we humans are causing it.

Honestly, it's at the point where anybody who argues that global warming is fantasy rather than a very real threat to our existence is a flat earther.

We are destroying the planet. That's science, not sensationalism. It's a not-so-gradually unfolding final cataclysm.

We must live cleaner and keep the pressure on our governments to improve all policies pertaining to the environment, to rein in companies that carelessly poison our air and water, and to promote and support innovations that lead us away from fossil fuels.

The clock is ticking. And it's starting to tick pretty damn loud.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at EDMUND BURKE'S ETERNAL TRUISM.

THE FOOD WE EAT -- PART 2: SOME FOOD FACTS

Here are some interesting facts about the food we eat, just to get the ball rolling. Each one has rather serious implications in terms of nutrition, the environment and more.

1/ The average American meal travels 1500 miles from farm to plate. (Ref. 1)

2/ One third of Americans get 47% of their calories from junk food. (Ref. 2)

3/ The food industry in the U.S. is enormous and employs highly paid lobbyists to ensure that both legislation and information coming from the government does not hurt, and preferably enhances, their business. (Ref. 3)

4/ "The current industrial farm animal production system often poses unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the welfare of the animals themselves, according to an extensive 2½-year examination conducted by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, in a study released [in April 2008]."

In the next few blogs I'll present brief, easy-to-read, bullet-point info on industrial farms, fast food, and bottled water. I'll also provide links to videos and other information for further reading.


References for above points:

1/ CUESA: The Center for Urban Education and Sustainable Agriculture
2/ USDA" Trends in the United States - Consumer Attitudes and the Supermarket, 2000. From the presentation, "Phytonutrients: Nature's Bonus from Plant Foods" by David Heber, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Medicine and Public Health and Director, UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
3/ Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, Chair of Nutrition and Food Studies NYU

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at THE FOOD WE EAT -- PART 3: FAST FOOD.

THINGS TO DO TODAY -- SUGGESTION #5

See how much electricity and water you can save by just being a little bit careful.
(Save the environment; Save money)

THE IDIOT CULTURE

Back in the ’90s, while I was still living in Australia, I read an article by Carl Bernstein (pictured) entitled “The Idiot Culture.”

Bernstein, you might recall, was one half of the Woodward and Bernstein journalism team that broke the whole Watergate thing in The Washington Post in the 1970s – the political event that is perpetually trotted out as a luminous paragon of the American checks and balances system.

Bernstein’s article made a big impression on me – despite the fact that it didn’t go nearly far enough in its analysis or criticism. (Bernstein, now 66, still talks on the subject at various venues.)

The thrust of the piece, as the title suggests, was that the Western World is hooked on garbage entertainment. Throwaway icons and shallow creativity. TV shows that woo the voyeur in us. Paparazzi snapshots of “stars” who just don’t matter. Mind-numbing pseudo news that weighs us down rather than lifting us up.

The whole “idiot culture” thing could be a thesis or a book, not merely an article. Actually it has been: Take for example Neil Postman’s deeply analytical book “Amusing Ourselves To Death.” Postman and his ilk – including lauded socio-political commentator Professor Noam Chomsky – posit, correctly, that public discourse – the things we talk about and think about – have moved from the somewhat meaningful to the painfully absurd in the past half century or so.

The net result is that we have become junk-info addicts who are almost completely distracted from the important issues that affect us, those we love, and our fellow human beings around the globe. More to the point, to a large degree we are no longer even aware of what is important. We have been fed sugar-coated rat poison and dragged out beyond the margins of true culture to whither and die, spiritually and mentally.

The simple point is this: If we don’t focus our thoughts and energies on learning about the real and profound problems our planet is facing, and on taking actions to remedy them, then we’re closing the door on hope. Like anything worthwhile in life or history, saving the world (literally) will only be achieved through true understanding followed by concerted effort.

There are some vital things we need to do if we are to survive. We need to change the way the world is governed; we need to see that poverty is put to the sword; we need to end the suicidal environmental degradation of our planet; we need to assign anything with the word “nuclear” attached to it to the archives. And much more.

That’s a lot of thinking and a lot of work. We really need to dig for the truth and see that that truth is served. And we are not going to find truth on reality shows or in tabloid magazines; in the pitiful tirades of TV’s political talk show ego turds or the endless mire of nonsense that clutters much of the Internet. And no, we can’t even turn to traditional news sources or the likes of Carl Bernstein. We have to go to more pure information sources. More courageous ones. And we must find similarly concerned citizens. But first we must want to apply ourselves and not seek addiction-escapism by sinking into the couch and praying to the tube.

While Bernstein was right to rail against our toxic non-culture almost two decades ago, he has certainly been a beneficiary of it. His work on Watergate and subsequent lecturing on “serious journalism” have given him (and Woodward) a kind of demigod status. In a sense, they have accrued credibility in large part because of the contrast between themselves and the lower reaches of the idiot culture. But that contrast creates a false credibility: They are merely at the "high end" of that culture.

The fact is, they – and The Washington Post – are still part of the timid/privatized media industry and are hardly daring in what they do. Nixon was just a twisted creep who made for a good story. He was relatively easy to axe. But where are these pillars of pious journalism when it comes to things such as COINTELPRO, Gitmo, U.S. imperialism, the exploitation of Third World economies, the rape of the world ecosystem, the real and present danger posed by nuclear weapons and energy, the severe lack of democracy in America, or profoundly dissecting their own industry? It’s easy to make a bit of noise about Jerry Springer and Paris Hilton. Taking on Rupert Murdoch or transnational corporations in any serious way is another matter. And that takes a courage far greater.

Do we live in an idiot culture? Turn on your TV and flip through 20 or 30 channels and you tell me. Are we idiots? No, we are not. But the people with their hands on the levers want us to act like idiots. Passive consumers of their faux information and unnecessary products. So far, we've been pretty much playing into their hands.

But we can stop any time we decide we're ready to.

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Thanks for reading and check back soon. In the meantime, check out www.democracynow.org for some brave and honest journalism. Yes, you can handle the truth.

Adrian Zupp

IF THIS BLOG POST WAS OF INTEREST TO YOU you might also like to read REMEMBERING SIMPLER TIMES or KIM KARDASHIAN NUDE VS. GAY SUICIDES -- WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT.