Bullshit

I try to maintain a certain level of decorum on this blog. However, I am from Chelsea, Massachusetts.  This means I have the blessing of a certain amount of homely common sense, learned on tough streets among hard-working people. I can smell bullshit from far off, even though there were no pastures in my urban upbringing. 

I have written here extensively about patience and compassion. I thought today I should distinguish compassion, as I see it, from enabling dysfunction like a fluffy Liberal, the species that seems to dominate the Democratic Party in the U.S.. There is a lot of bullshit fostered by Liberals and Conservatives. That bullshit threatens to enable social dysfunction for the whole of human society.

One glaring example is the Rap music culture of the 1990's , which was embraced by urban Liberals with light-headed masochism. The enshrinement of rappers as cultural icons by music executives and consumers, despite the harsh homophobia, racism and sexism of their lyrics, belied the Liberal political bullshit of the Clinton Era. 

Bill Clinton, King of Bullshitters, was neither a Leftist nor a Liberal in light of his accomplishments, lauded by the Right. Welfare dismantlement, banking deregulation, don't-ask-don't-tell, bungled health-care reform. Mr. Clinton was exposed as a liar and a sexual predator. He has spent his retirement amassing a fortune in the company of the Trumps and the Bushes. He makes token photo-op appearances in catastrophe zones to keep his ego and public image bolstered. Yet, he is still revered in Liberal circles. That is indeed bullshit.

Washington, D.C., and surrounding Virginia-Maryland suburbs are the wealthiest parts of the U.S. by annual income. This is indeed concrete evidence that the American taxpayer is footing the bill for a political aristocracy, growing by leaps and bounds, like the bureaucracy of ancient Byzantium. And, these fat cats have the gall to lecture the citizenry on the need for tightening belts and becoming more self-sustaining without government assistance. This is intentional hypocrisy as well as steaming bullshit.

I am far from being a supporter of the Tea Party. They spout a lot of bullshit. That Rightist gang is just venting its jealous rage that the hacks in Washington have gotten to the trough in front of them. Their vision of a world with a vendor's stand in every suburban driveway is atavistic. Go to any open market in a Third-World nation and you will see the functionality of an anarchistic entrepreneurial society. Nice place to visit for its quaint charm, but I like living near a supermarket, where the food has been inspected for toxins. 

The Internet has enabled a certain dysfunctional double-speak in media. The mainstream, corporate giants of media are controlled by the Left-Center and Right-Center companies who own them. In the same browser, we can access every manner of extreme bullshit in blogs and Web sites like this one. Is there any wonder that the average American is confused, ambivalent and/or self-absorbed? 

Cutting through bullshit takes a strong stomach, self-education and perseverance. This too is part of the business of daily practice. Researching what I am fed by the media takes time, but it is well worth the effort in order to keep my mind focused on healthy thought. Accepting bullshit from individuals, groups or media is poison to the mind. It is the stuff of religious cults and extremist political movements. The Taliban, for example, is a cult of pseudo-religious bullshit. They are, in reality, a gang of armed thugs, a mafia. The same can be said of other groups, Christian, Buddhist and Jewish, who peddle religion to obscure their real motives. I put on my mental boots and pick up my mental shovel as part of my daily practice to clear the bullshit out of my way to peace and joy.