MUSINGS and other writing by Mark Kolke

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STOP THE INSANITY
Thursday, February 17, 2022
 
We all need things beyond the food, clothing, shelter, and necessities of life.
 
We must rethink this; all we need to do is look around our homes. We find so many things that have nothing to do with necessities. They are things – just stuff. And more stuff. And stuff piled on top of stuff – we have closets, cupboards, drawers and basements full of stuff. Stuff, stuff, stuff.
 
And when we do that purge to donate old clothes, or spring-clean to shed what we no longer need, or what is broken or worn out, we hoard so much – and then fill the void with more stuff. Our society, our economy, is predicated upon buying things we don’t need, getting a new better version of other things we don’t need, and we look out the window at someone’s new car, or garage, or bike, or outfit and we salivate over the notion of something new. Not all of us every day about everything, but collectively that’s what we do, and our media, social media, e-commerce and brick-and-mortar vendors need our spending. There is no effing end to its hold on us, its grip on our government, and our society.
 
And while we might ponder this, people halfway around the world have a shirt, pants, and a bowl of rice. Halfway around this globe, people shudder in the shadow of ridiculous military build-up on both sides of a turf battle, ready to annihilate each other.
 
The necessities of life we all need are the same, and it is insanity that we have such disparity of distribution that people wallow in excess while too many scarcely survive in obscure, invisible poverty and squalor. At the same time, leaders and armies stand ready to bludgeon each other any day if financial threats and bully-pulpit tactics fail; their only alternative then becomes a war over dirt. And a resource-rich country …
 
We have class warfare, economic warfare and real warfare around this marvelous planet every day. We aren’t content with a soiled and flawed paradise, we aren’t prepared to have lots of ‘ground under repair,’ and we can’t stop being collectively and individually stupid. When or where it will end is a ridiculous construct – it simply must end.
 
Strong men, women too, ruling countries rather than governing them is insane. We have too many fuses and too many despots running around with matches.
 
 
Reader feedback:
 
READY OR NOT
Cheering for you Mark! The fact that you are able to persevere in writing these columns every day is amazing! Thanks for bringing us a daily dose of inspiration or something to think about, KF, Calgary, AB
 
As the saying goes, ‘Mamas, lock up your babies’!, SB, Calgary, AB
 
 
 
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