THE DUDE IS NOT IN....

[Rev Dave Man]

Fuckin A man, that's a bummer.  Everyone is getting all uptight lately with the state of the political climate and I'm over here just trying to ignore it all.  I have to stay away from tv news, the newspapers and pretty much most of social media. 

    There was a time when politics dominated a good portion of my life and unfortunately for me, I found out why they say "ignorance is bliss".  Now when people ask me questions regarding politics, and what is really happening (because 99% of what is shown in the media is either complete bullshit, or is something that has been fabricated by "the people behind the curtains" to further their own agenda) I simply tell them that the best gift I can give to them is blissful ignorance. 

     Quite frankly, I wish I didn't know a lot of the shit that has been brought to light, but alas, I am trying through meditation and my daily Dudely walk to forget it all.  I will not abide any more of their bullshit.  They can continue the game without me.  I no longer want to discuss politics (especially with those that only think they know what's really going on) or any other negative bullshit with people.  Sorry for the rant, but I just had to get it off my chest.  Now it's time for my morning meditation, time for me to sit quietly and listen to the chirping of the birds and wash all the bullshit off of my soul.

    I am no longer a participant in the game of divide and conquer.   A wiser feller than myself once said, "The game is rigged, and the only way to win it is to refuse to play."  So, with that sage advice, out to nature I go to meditate and remove my mind and spirit from the bullshit.  Sorry, but the dude is not in...leave a message. 

[BikerDude]

It's gotten ugly because the nature of people's political leanings has changed.
It's become identity rather than beliefs.
That's always a bad thing.
It becomes irrational.
The most pertinent comment I've heard about this came from Matt Taibbi when he noted that people commitment to a political party has become most similar to people commitment to a sport team.
When is the last time you talked someone out of being a NY Giants or Minnesota Vikings fan?
Ain't gonna happen.
That kind of mindset is not a good thing in politics.
It opens the door to all sorts of bad behavior because positions and behavior are irrelevant
People pick a side and stick with it no matter how fucked up they prove to be.
They demonize the "other side" and people go on a crusade.
This is how you get to the really bad stuff.
Nothing changes.

[Rev Dave Man]

WOW!  I had been using the sports metaphor in relation to peoples' devotion to their political parties for decades.  This is the first time I've ever heard anyone else use it.  That makes me happy to know that their are others out there who recognize the real problem.  George Washington himself once said, "Political parties will be the downfall of this nation". 

I have used that same metaphor to tell people that align themselves with their party that they could be shown undeniable proof that their party is involved in utter atrocities and they will find a way to justify it.  They will do that for two reasons, one is because of their blind allegiance to their party and/or sports team, and two because they don't want to admit that they've been duped or that they've allowed themselves to be tricked, lied to, or somehow swindled. 

You are indeed a wise Dude BD, and you have wise friends.  I will abide the advice I was given.  I will continue to refuse to play the game. 

[BikerDude]

In almost every political debate that you encounter online both side "make their case" by criticizing "the other side".
That is the problem right out of the gate.
The fact that there are "sides".
The game of politics in this country has been about dividing all of the people who essentially share common interests.
You can't represent the interests of the 1% with 1% of the votes.

Lately I've determined that there is a very strange thing that seems to happen over and over when people become frustrated.
You find this weird alliance between everyday people who feel powerless and the very very powerful.
They find themselves with a common enemy. But the everyday people don't seem to perceive motives very well.
People resent the intrusion of Government into their lives because they don't see Government as helping them in any real way.
And at best being an impediment. This is not unfounded. On the other hand the very powerful resent the restrictions that Government imposes because it tempers their amount of control of others. Ironically for the most part the control that they would otherwise have over most "everyday people". It seems like somehow this is the perpetual motion machine that leads people to gleefully reject the notion of representative government in favor of something a whole lot more totalitarian. The fact that it seems to be almost subconscious and it happens over and over again makes you wonder if people don't just have some inherent need to be "ruled". Don't get me started on how religion plays into this shit.
It's some weird ghost in the machine that manifests it's self over and over and in the end leads people to subvert their wills to whatever constitutes the most powerful force. It's this intersection of resentment and power that gets the whole juggernaut rolling. And once up and running it is fed "red meat" which people gladly devour.
I mean at the very least I've never understood how the "blue collar" segment of our society are convinced to vote over and over again for the idiot sons of the extremely rich.
G W Bush, Mitt Romney, and now Trump. It would seem to be a tough sell but it happens over and over.
And in defense of it, almost without exception, people will start by criticizing the "other candidate".
How is this not an obvious shell game?
I'll admit that none of them are going to magically see any real candidate that represents them but how do they gravitate with such intensity to the one who is so unlike them? And barring a miracle simply cannot have their interests in mind.
The working class have 2 ways to power. Representative government (which they take no part in and in fact reject) and labor unions (which have largely disappeared today). That's it.
It's not going to happen any other way.

When I try to be an optimist I think of it like herding cats.
The "Powers that be", the ones who filter all of our choices set it up so that people really just have one choice.
Decide to be good to each other or damn yourself to eating shit up the road.
Fly paper. A rat trap. Maybe there is wisdom at work.
Eventually they will lure them all to one place on the premise that the end is coming and gas the whole fucking mob.
Of course the fuckers flip the switch themselves thinking they are offing the rest of humanity. Rat bastards!

Nah! It's a fucking cluster fuck at best!

[Rev Dave Man]

The big problem BD, is that both parties are the rich.  There isn't anymore "one party is for the worker and one is for the corporations".  The problem is the 2 party system.  The game is rigged, both parties are in on it and we are the ones who suffer.   Choosing between Trump and Hillary was tantamount to choosing between herpes and a gunshot wound to the belly.  They are both exceedingly rich, exceedingly evil and exceedingly corrupt.  It's a scam, a big giant scam.  Anyone who says it's not is deceived.  If you or I worked at a job that paid $175,000 a year salary, and after 6 or 8 years had a net worth in the tens of millions of dollars, we would be in jail.  Yet that is what our US Senators and Representatives do every single day.  How do they ALL do that?  It's either a giant scam, or they are the most brilliant minded investors ever to walk God's green earth.  Which begs the question, if they are such geniuses, why is our economy so fucked up? 
I don't know man.  I need a drink.