Category: 2024

During My Lifetime so many things have changed, and so much remains the stubborn old same! These past two weeks I looked at a very few of those changes from My Perspective. Here goes!

During My Lifetime I wore a Mini Skirt, a Midi and a Maxi depending on what was au courant at the time. Fashion is one of the things that has changed almost with every season. I remember, though, how my Mother and Aunts used to dress up in their Suits, Little Hats, Gloves and Dainty Purses when we were all taking a Plane Trip in the early Fifties! At that time, too, Passengers were treated with the Utmost Respect! Nowadays, most of us, especially Economy Class, are shepherded like cattle onto those planes, and squeezed into seats that we barely fit in while paying exorbitant amounts for such dismal service! Quite Offensive! Also, Nowadays People travel in Shorts, Jeans, T-shirts and Sneakers, or Flip-Flops! We have gone During My Lifetime from clothing that was Stylish, Chic, Tasteful and Well-put-together to Cheap, Tasteless and Shoddily made! In some cases Slutty, if you ask me! Tsk! Tsk!

Also During My Lifetime our Food has gone from being Healthy, Natural and Organic to Industrial Manufacturing, Production, Warehousing and Ripening of Fruits and Vegetables with artificial lighting rather than sunlight rendering them tasteless and odorless, while the pre-packaged foods are filled with all sorts of Toxic Substances in order to enhance the taste, to provide longer shelf life, to freeze well and to make Humongous Profits for the Industrial Food Manufacturers while increasing the Seriously Adverse Effects of these products on the World’s Mental, Emotional and Physical Health! This is Irresponsible, to say the least! I read this article and guiltily realized that we were having tilapia for dinner that evening! Though we try to use Organic Everything, occasionally we bypass our own rules! This article, amongst others that have been published, decided it for me once and for all. Organic! No Exceptions!

As for the World’s Climate, During My Lifetime it has gone from slowly getting harmful to becoming the Life Threatening Situation that it is in at Present, and the Global South, which contributed the Least to our distressed climate, will pay the Biggest Price and Suffer the Most for that! It is already happening!

Moreover, our World Population was around Two and Half Billion Humans in 1950 and is around Eight Billion Humans in 2024. This is an Increase of Five and a Half Billion During My Lifetime! This is staggering!

According to Forbes Magazine there are 2781 Billionaires in the World who are worth 14.2 Trillion Dollars. There are 800 in the United States Oligarchy, 473 in China, 117 in Russia (and we still call these two countries Communists?), 200 in India and the rest all over the world. Also, there are 59.4 Million Millionaires from all different nationalities going from the Richest to the Poorest Nations. Check them out here.

Let me ask you: how then can we not provide adequate and minimum housing, health insurance, education, food and clothing for ALL the World’s Humans? I am NOT saying that we should eliminate Rich People. There will always be economic strata in the world: rich, middle class and poor with all their variations. But it would be hard to convince me that we cannot provide MOST Humans with the Minimum Required for a Dignified Existence. Greedy and Unconscionable!

Also During My Lifetime and going from World War One to the Present, there has been a constant barrage of Wars all over the World that have been much more Lethal than any during the preceding centuries. The reason, of course, is that we have been able to manufacture Military Instruments of War that are more advanced than they had ever been and, therefore, much more Lethal. From Nuclear Bombs to IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) there is a whole range of arms at our disposal. There are also Incredible Profits by Nations and Arms Dealers – some Legal, some Illegal – made from trading in this weaponry This, too, is staggering!

President Macron was speaking at a European Union Economic Event and saying, amongst other topics, that the US and China threaten the European Economy. Having just finished re-reading MindSet, a book by John Naisbitt who wrote the Brilliant Megatrends and Megatrends 2000, I remembered a joke he mentioned and that I am herewith paraphrasing: An exasperated NATO Secretary General asked God when that organization’s capabilities will improve. And God answered: maybe with the next Secretary General’s tenure. Then another European Official asked God: when might Europe have an effective Foreign Policy, after which there was a looooong pause and then God said: Not in my lifetime! I thought this was simply hilarious! I say that because from My Perspective not Europe and not the United States seem to have any effective Foreign Policy other than Colonialism, Hegemony, Arrogance, Militarism and Dominance!

Simply listening to Genocide Joe and Worthless Blinken who are beyond any doubt complicit with Israel – especially during this War of Vengeance on the Palestinian People – and the rest of the Politicians in the United States from the Left and the Right twisting themselves into pretzels over this anti-semitism business without differentiating between anti-Israeli Government Policies and hate speech is inane and nauseating! Even Jewish Holocaust Scholars and Jewish Historians, are themselves saying that conflating the two is unacceptable, with some of them going so far as to say that what Israel is doing is Genocide! So, too, do Supporters like: Jewish Voice For Peace, Not In My Name, Rabbis for Ceasefire and so many other Jewish Humans! And, it is obnoxious that the Beautiful Young University Protestors are being Used for Political Ends by Slimy Opportunistic Politicians who are themselves disgraceful and disgusting! What a despicable spectacle they put on! That we are Allowed to criticize and bitch about Any Government or Leader, but not about Israel is definitely the Ultimate Discrimination! Sadly, and I’m sorry to say that things are getting worse by the day! To put it all In Perspective: ALL our outdated and racist international organizations, all the world’s governments, systems, methodology, rules and regulations are sorely in need of a serious and drastic overhaul from the top down, because knee-jerk reactions, bandaids and wars have not, and will not, solve the myriad problems. This can only be achieved by national, as well as international negotiations, cooperation and compromise from all the world leaders! Thinking of this made me laugh and repeat God’s words: Not In MyLifetime!

Some time ago I wrote about how the Legacies of some of our World Leaders would look in the future, and it wasn’t flattering. Now, I find that their Legacies would be even less flattering as they fumble around with no regard for the future except from their passé war-mongering (the US has hundreds of bases, outposts and forts strewn all over the damn world!), hypocritical and colonist mindsets and that same old way of managing a World that is truly in a disastrous situation. However, it might be more hopeful and interesting to Imagine how it might be around fifty years from now? Let’s say, the Year 2075? Our present day Leaders in all of life’s arenas, as well as the talk show host schmucks, would have been, thankfully, gone by then, and people would be looking back at their time through history books, blogs, podcasts, magazines, movies, reruns and such and wondering what the fuck was wrong with their brains that they screwed it up so badly? By then, the Gen-Xers – should the Planet survive until then – would have become the Elders, some of them having been in the lead throughout their adulthood whether in the Political Sphere, or in Corporate Headquarters, or in any other Leadership Position. I want to Imagine that they would have moved Humanity quite a bit forward and towards a much better direction than the one we are in right now. As for the generations after the Xers they would by now be Leading The World, and it would be a much more Peaceful, Equitable and Just World. Imagine With Me how wonderful that would be! It won’t happen overnight, but it Will happen!

Should you need a supporting argument for what I am stating herein you only have to witness what is going on in our vaunted academic world. Our young students from all faiths, genders, ethnicities and social status are Protesting! May their Protests become a Pandemic! They are creating a ruckus across this nation, and it’s spreading! Their overt message is in support of the Palestinian People and against the War of Vengeance that is happening in Gaza and the West Bank. Rightfully so! However, their underlying message is that they are fed up and disgusted with the way Politicians are running Their World – because, it is Their World and not anymore my generation’s. They are worried about their Freedoms, their Rights, their Climate (simply read about the flooding rains in Kenya, Tanzania, Dubai and other Gulf Areas), the Quality of their Water, their Toxic Industrial Food, the Inequality, Injustice and their Precarious Futures! From Greta Thunberg to Columbia University and on to the thousands upon thousands clamoring for Politicians to come up with Real Solutions and not Bandaids! It is absolutely wonderful!

Moreover, every day we hear of more Employees signing up to join Unions and standing up to Corporate Executives wishing to stand them down. Not happening!

This aside from the Absolutely Pathetic and Inept Rishi Sunak, as one example amongst many, with his: Ship The Immigrants to Rwanda fantasy, our own Agenda-Driven Political Leaders and their nonsensical Immigration Debates and Inane Hearings that go nowhere, plus passing horrid laws that prohibit the Homeless People to pitch their tents and shelters in parks and other places. Where should they go? Kill themselves? There is not an ounce of Compassion, or Commonsense in their thinking!

My Very Smart daughter, who never listens to the sensationalist, corrupt corporate media chooses instead to listen to Smart podcasts. She told me about one that was a discussion of the book: Limitarianism by Ingrid Robeyns. Here is what some of Amazon’s write-up is on this valuable book:

“How much money is too much? Is it ethical, and democratic, for an individual to amass a limitless amount of wealth, and then spend it however they choose? Many of us feel that the answer to that is no—but what can we do about it?

Ingrid Robeyns has long written and argued for the principle she calls “limitarianism”- or the need to limit extreme wealth. This idea is gaining momentum in the mainstream – with calls to “tax the rich” and slogans like “every billionaire is a policy failure”- but what does it mean in practice?

Robeyns explains the key reasons to support the case against extreme wealth:

• It keeps the poor poor and inequalities growing
• It’s often dirty money
• It undermines democracy
• It’s one of the leading causes of climate change
• Nobody actually deserves to be a millionaire
• There are better things to do with excess money
• The rich will benefit, too

This will be the first authoritative trade book to unpack the concept of a cap on wealth, where to draw the line, how to collect the excess and what to do with the money. In the process, Robeyns will ignite an urgent debate about wealth, one that calls into question the very forces we live by (capitalism and neoliberalism) and invites us to a radical reimagining of our world.”

End of Amazon’s write-up.

And I say: Yes, and Yes! I say to Ingrid Robeyns and to all writers, whistleblowers, activists, podcasters and on and on who are addressing this very important issue, because, if it remains unaddressed the “Storming of the Bastille” will be coming! I promise you this!

As for Genocide Joe, Worthless Blinken and their Foreign Policy playing footsies with ruthless corporations that pad their campaign wallets; promising Human Rights to All which is a Delusion and, Aspirational at best; and their parroting of every false word uttered by the Israeli Government thus exposing the blatant Double Standards and the Hysteria that is gripping them as they see their Colonist  Hegemony Crumbling, and the Entire Global South on to their Hypocrisy!  They are an embarrassment to Moral Authority! That they are now portraying Ukraine and Israel as the Defenders of World Civilization, Freedom and Democracy is absolutely pathetic, deceitful and untrue! Fuck the International World Order, because it seems that we are at a boiling point and headed for a World Showdown! If so, it will be a tragic testimony to the World’s Unifying Institutions – supposedly! – Their Declared Principles, the Politicians managing their affairs and ugly – very, very ugly!

Meanwhile, our wiser grandchildren are looking on with disdain, disgust and frustration! But, their time is coming to dismantle this Fake World Order and to establish a more Authentic, Honest World! More Power to Them! Yes Indeed!