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~ Finding, formulating and solving life's frustrations.

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Tag Archives: unity

When do we break the Elder Wand?

17 Wednesday Nov 2021

Posted by petersironwood in Uncategorized

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Tags

America, politics, questions, thinking, unity, USA

Questions for the people. 

Why do you suppose there is a right to free speech in the US Constitution? 

What so you see as the benefits of free speech? 

Is it OK to scream “FIRE!” At the top of your lungs in a crowded theater when you know there is no fire?

Why do we need a license to own a car? Why do we have to prove that we know both the rules of the road and how to drive? 

Why does almost everyone drive on the “correct” side of the road almost all of the time? Sure, it saves many lives and crippling accidents, but doesn’t it impinge on our freedom of expression? 

Is there a distinction between freedom of expression and freedom of action? 

Do you think people should be free to do whatever they want whenever they want regardless of how much it hurts others? 

When is it okay for government to restrict personal choices?

Who exactly would benefit from a Civil War in America? 

If there were a Civil War in America and the “north” won again, how should they treat those in the “south”?  

If dictatorships are such a wonderful form of government, why do so many people risk their lives in order to leave them? And, again, if they’re so wonderful, why do they try to prevent their citizens from leaving? Why do they suppress criticism? 

If a person says, “I am not a crook!” Does that prove he’s not a crook? How about if he screams it really, really loudly? 

When is it better to keep being conned by a con man and when is it better to admit you were conned?

Some of the media lean left and some of the media lean right. 

But nearly all the media lean toward the reporting of division and violence over the reporting of unity and peace. It’s understandable. We attend far more to things that make us afraid or angry than things that just seem pleasant. That means the advertisers who largely fund the media will push networks and newspapers and magazines to carry stories about division and violence. Is there anything that can be done? How much would you be willing to pay for news sources that were only funded by subscription and not by advertisers? 

At the end of the Harry Potter movies, when the major source of evil, Voldemort, is vanquished and Harry himself has the most powerful wand, what do you suppose he does with it? Why?

What would you be willing to change in your own life if it would mean your great-grandchildren would likely have a much cleaner, safer, and more beautiful world than if you change nothing? Would you be willing to pay higher taxes? Change your habits? Travel less? Elect politicians who care about the environment? 

Most scientists agree that climate change is real, exacerbated by human activity and that there will be disastrous consequences. But some people say it is a giant hoax. How can you tell which is correct? Why do you suppose some people might be motivated to say it’s a hoax even though it isn’t? 

Large International Corporations have a lot of power in determining policies in America (and in most other countries). They rely on and benefit from our roads, ports, broadband, educated workforce, electricity, police, fire departments. Many pay zero taxes. What they do pay is lots and lots of campaign dollars to politicians. Do you think this might influence politicians to do what’s best for those large corporations rather than what’s best for America as a whole? If not, what do you think prevents that from happening? 

If the majority of people in a state vote for a candidate but the people’s choice is overturned by a partisan state legislature, what do you think that would do to the quality and ethics of the candidates in office? How do you think the majority will react? 

Who would benefit from a Civil War in America? 

What do you think would happen to a baseball game in which one side consistently refused to abide by the umpires call? 

What do you think would happen to a basketball game in which one side consistently refused to admit that the opposing team had scored? 

How could a dictatorial head of state benefit by instituting policies that would actually increase the number of citizens who sickened and died from a deadly pandemic? 

How do you decide when it is the right time to break the Elder Wand?


My Cousin Bobby

Essays on America: The Update Problem

Essays on America: The Stopping Rule

The Myths of the Veritas: The Orange Man

The Myths of the Veritas: Stoned Soup

The Myths of the Veritas: Three Blind Mice

The Truth Train

The Loud Defense of Untenable Positions

Fascism Leads to Chaos

Author Page on Amazon

Come Together Right Now

30 Monday Aug 2021

Posted by petersironwood in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

America, Democracy, pandemic, poem, poetry, unity, USA

Photo by Patrick Case on Pexels.com

“But, Doc, she can’t be really dead.

It’s all most surely in her head.

This Pandemic’s all a hoax.”

Photo by Mike on Pexels.com

It’s not my style for telling jokes

Spewing lies and swill to kill 

(Oh, yes, oh yes, lies surely will!). 

A funny kind of funky freedom

To owe your soul to Tweedledum

And give your body to disease

Enslaved & doing as you please

Or so you think.  It’s so absurd

To disavow a doctor’s word 

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

But think that talk show hosts are sane.

“Don’t tell me that they rot my brain.

Aside from cash, they’ve naught to gain.”

Photo by Dmitry Demidov on Pexels.com

So, on we go to chapter four.

Where selfishness is de rigueur.

Those who scream the loudest score.

Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com

Democracy is shaken more

Than simply stirred. It’s time to pour

Your heart and soul into the fray—

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Or Nazi crews will win the day;

Ineptitude and treason sway;

As Putin smiles his work to see.

But we can still show unity. 

And touch a touch of sanity.  

Restore our sense of dignity. 

Photo by Element5 Digital on Pexels.com

Rebuild our country full of love.

Kick away the thrown glove.

See the land as though above. 

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad on Pexels.com

That we all differ? — That’s our soul! 

We must recall our journey’s goal. 

Diversity! It makes us whole! 

Outside forces force our hand

Trying to destroy our lovely land. 

But you and I and everyone 

Don’t have to play one for one.

Our common fight for freedom’s fun. 

And, one fine day, pandemic done,

We’ll all shun GRUesome treachery;

We’ll shun the grime of lechery;

Instead, adults will opt for good. 

We always knew we should and could.

You’ll be amazed what we can do:

When all of each and each of you

Together seek the light that’s true. 

————————-

Roar, Ocean, Roar

Imagine all the people

Opponent is not an enemy

Comes the reign

The only them that counts is all of us

At least he’s our monster

Plans for us some GRUesome

The isle of right

I can’t be bothered

Walkabout diaries racism is absurd

Walkabout diaries Life will find a way

That cold walk home

How did I get here?

That first time is so special

What about the butter dish?

The stopping rule

Where does your loyalty lie?

My cousin Bobby

Essays on America: Wednesday

The Truth Train

The Pandemic Anti-academic

Death Cultery on Parade

The Watershed Virus

Masklessness is not Manliness

Use Diversity as a Resource

Not-Separateness

Author page on Amazon

Come Back to the Light

07 Sunday Mar 2021

Posted by petersironwood in Uncategorized

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

America, light, patriotism, poem, poetry, truth, unity, USA

Come to the Light Side

The Bright Side

The Right Side.

Come join the Love Side

The Dove Side

Above Side.

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com

Eschew that Hades Hate:

Pretending all is Great;

Lying through your Teeth;

Playing from Beneath;

Adoring gilded Calf.

There is no Seed;

It’s only Chaff.

There is no Rose;

Your Garden’s Weed. 

The Path you Chose:

A King sans Clothes. 

It’s Long Past the Hour

To Douse the Light 

And Worship Brainless Power;

Believe that Might makes Right.

Our Evolutionary Arc

Turned Long Ago away from Dark. 

Photo by David Trounce on Pexels.com

Now we Stand

Upon the Edge;

It’s Razor-Thin; 

Will Cut your Skin. 

It was not Planned;

No Time to Hedge.

We Must be Brave

And Face our Fate: 

Return to Cave; 

Or Elevate.

Photo by Darren Lawrence on Pexels.com

We Green our Land —

Or Decimate.

To Beautify

Or Putrefy?

Tend the Gardens; Build those Spires!

Put out! — don’t Spread those Fires! 

We can Use the Help of Everyone. 

Lend a Hand; You’ll see it’s Fun. 

By Giving you will surely Find

Improving Muscle and your Mind. 

By Giving, you’ll Receive the Greatest Gift.

By Stealing, you’ll Create a Rift;

You will Set your Soul Adrift;

You’ll Live a Pointless Life of Grift. 

Come to the Light Side

The Bright Side

The Right Side.

Come join the Love Side

The Dove Side

Above Side.

Together we will Make Earth Green;

We will See the Stars Unseen;

We will Feel the Love of All. 

We will Whirl & Twirl the Ball

While Dancing on the Razor Rim.

We will Smile & we will Sing,

We will Make the Hillsides Ring.

Every Cup, we’ll Fill to Brim. 

Come back Over to the Light.

Come back Over; Truth will Win. 

Come back Over; Join with True. 

We need Red and White and Blue. 

Come back Over; Quit Vain Sin.

Open your Eyes; Restore your Sight. 

Come back Over to the Light.

Come back Over to the Light. 

Open your Eyes; Restore your Sight.

Photo by Dana Tentis on Pexels.com

———————————————-

Other Poems 

https://petersironwood.com/2020/02/23/piano/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/02/26/race-place-space-face/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/03/01/the-bubble-people/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/03/04/ambition/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/03/05/the-impossible/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/03/07/peace/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/03/17/the-truth-train/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/03/17/maybe-it-needs-a-new-starter/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/03/25/the-joy-of-juggling/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/03/27/the-most-serious-work/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/03/30/is-a-dream/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/04/05/imagine-all-the-people/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/04/13/life-is-a-dance/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/04/16/the-pandemic-anti-acedemic/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/05/08/snowflake/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/05/23/you-gave-me-no-fangs/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/05/24/blood-red-blood/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/05/30/screaming-out-a-warning/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/06/20/the-watershed-virus/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/07/13/who-are-the-speakers-for-the-dead/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/08/05/the-ailing-king-of-agitate/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/08/11/put-in-the-fool-put-out-the-fool/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/08/17/roar-ocean-roar/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/08/20/try-the-truth/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/08/23/listen-you-can-hear-the-echoes-of-your-actions/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/09/06/my-captains-no-captain/

https://petersironwood.com/2020/09/09/comes-the-dawn/

Author Page on Amazon

Take a Glance; Join the Dance

28 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by petersironwood in Uncategorized

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

dance, live, mortality, peace, poem, poetry, unity

Every once in a while, 

Every so often,

It seems quite worth our while

To take a glance 

At what is outside our 

Usual reference Frame, 

That habitual way of seeing

And notice just this once instead

The very essence of our being.

In truth, you see,

We are each a universe of miracles.

After 4.5 billion years of trying, 

At last, long last, we now begin, 

Begin

To understand what we are spying. 

We are a universe of miracles

Surrounded by a sea of miracles:

The cat beside me;

The chair she lies upon

While she licks her fur —

With her dampish tongue of bur;

The house that holds us both;

The computer that I type upon; 

The internet that links me 

To you

And you

And you

And you

All across our common miracle:

That Eden

That garden of green and blue 

That whirling ball, 

Of ocean, river, stream, and waterfall. 

That garden filled with flowers

Which the prism of evolution 

(Or creation if you prefer)

Has refracted into a revolution 

Of colors, shapes, and sizes. 

There are no greater prizes; 

Nor more wondrous surprises.  

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com

We are here. 

We are alive. 

Each of us:

Seventy trillion cells apiece. 

We are a universe of miracles.

The product of 4.5 billion years of trying.

Most of us — 

Cat be nimble;

Mouse be quick;

Human living in a house of brick;

Humans who have built the house, 

Every human being 

And every, every living being. 

Photo by Helena Lopes on Pexels.com

We dance this dance together, 

Don’t you see? 

The music never ends, 

The dance will morph around a billion bends. 

And every move of every player, 

Telegraphs its fireworks display 

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad on Pexels.com

Like a soothsayer 

Like a prophet, 

Like a sinner, 

Like a saint. 

Ever-changing, 

Ever-ranging 

In our planet’s spiral dance

Across the utter and unspeakable vastness of space

Across the everywhere of place. 

Take a glance.

I know we buzz as busily as a bee

With little time to contemplate eternity. 

But take a glimpse every now and then, 

You might be shocked at what you see. 

Look beyond the daily grind 

And you will find

Millions of kinds of minds 

Of creatures large and small

And that’s not all!

They are dancing each and every one!

In that great and magic dance of life!

On and on the music goes.

On and on the rhythm flows. 

On and on the mystery grows.

Just because our own brief turn will end at last. 

That doesn’t end that endless dance divine!

No matter how you moan; no matter how you whine,

The earth will sing and spin even when your life has passed

(So fast). 

Just take a little peek and you at last will see

You change, you morph, you flash. 

But, regardless of your cash

You won’t outlast infinity; 

You won’t outwit eternity.

Don’t plot & scheme to check & slay and fight & clash.

No, help our cousins on this great green spaceship earth.

Help make this dance more graceful, fine, & filled with mirth. 

Photo by Marlon Schmeiski on Pexels.com

You can dance your dance without destroying 

You can do your thing without annoying.

You have a million ways to thrill 

Why pick out one instead to kill? 

The sun is sinking red and low 

The wind begins to blow and flow

Into the pines who dance with love

Inviting air and water, dirt and sun,

To join her in her laughing life-long dance

“You too can join in all the fun!

Become a part of me and you’ll have won!” 

Take the time to take a glance.

The ordinary world we live in is 

Extraordinary in every single way!

Every molecule of it sings.

Every moment has its million miracles! 

Take the hands on either side. 

Across the world, the world is wide. 

We’re divided just as far as we’ve decided we can be.

This division shows a silly decision; 

Not an ever-fixed reality.  

When we see the truth, 

We will have won.

The truth

Is that we’re one.

————————————-

Essays on America try to make sense of current politics in America though many of the issues extend beyond American borders.

Here’s a link, e.g., to an essay about how it can be hard to change your mind. 

The Myths of the Veritas is a fictional series that explores leadership, ethics, and empathy in another time and place. Our tale begins as the leader/shaman of the Veritas tribe seeks an eventual successor so she devises a series of increasingly difficult trials that mainly test empathy.

Here’s a link to The First Ring of Empathy.  

You might find value in this attempt to catalog “best practices” in teamwork and collaboration in the form of a Pattern Language. 

Here’s a link to the introduction.

Here’s a link to the index of Patterns. 

Opponent does not mean Enemy

03 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by petersironwood in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Democracy, unity

Today when we were playing tennis the ball flew out of the court and rolled between the wall and the fence. No-one could get it out. Notice: I said “No-one” — but when I worked together with someone on the other team, he lifted up the fence an inch and I pushed it out with my racquet. 

Photo by Oliver Sju00f6stru00f6m on Pexels.com

Prior to Trump, I thought that’s what politics was like in America. Different teams working within a common framework. My opponents are not my “enemy” — and if the rules of the game are put aside and truth does not matter and whoever has the most power gets to demand victory no matter what the score is…? What’s the point of playing? 

Photo by Element5 Digital on Pexels.com

Self-quarantining in a fashion, I suppose.

Despite their fights, their fondness grows.

Don’t you wish that I could teach what each of us already knows?

How to hold a grudge forever and forever and forever and a day.

Instead, they seek and find another way to play.

Thank God we’re so much smarter, eh?



The Truth Train

A Profound and Utter Failure

The Isle of Right

The only “Them” that counts is all of “US”

The Declaration of Interdependence

The Myths of the Veritas: The Forgotten Field

Index for Pattern Language for Cooperation

Author Page on Amazon

A Tight Flock Unified by Division

18 Tuesday Aug 2020

Posted by petersironwood in America, apocalypse, COVID-19, family, politics, psychology, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#Cult, America, cognitive dissonance, conformism, cowardice, cruelty, Democracy, division, fascism, Feedback, GOP, life, MAGA, politics, Trumpism, truth, unity, USA

herd of sheep

Photo by Jose Lorenzo on Pexels.com

Does it seem odd to anyone else that — no wait. Hold on. I was about to say: “Does it seem odd to anyone else that the Trump death cult is only united by their devotion to Trump and the only common value in their “platform” is that they value hate and dividing people, not uniting people — and yet, they are completely unified. They are unified about division.”

abstract barbed wire black white black and white

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 
But then, I realized, in a twisted sort of way, this is actually logical. *Because* they are united in hatred and dismissing anyone different, they are terrified to stray from the pack. But what if they do it by accident? What if they see something that looks interesting or useful and head toward it? NO NO NO! They might be culled from the herd! (A fate that could literally be worse than death if they & Trump continue to destroy the rule of law). No-one in America will be safe. Neither red hats nor assault weapons will keep you safe from Trump’s predations which will include the same horrors that other cruel dictators have employed because they think it helps keep them in power and because they simply enjoy making others feel pain. 

woman in black tank top blindfolded

Photo by Thuanny Gantuss on Pexels.com

 
How can such a tight pack keep from disintegrating? By listening to Trump. To them, he is the ultimate authority on every single topic. In precisely this way, the entire flock knows exactly what to say (at least today; yes, it could change tomorrow, but they’ll be watching for his tweets again tomorrow or listening to Fox News to tell them what is real). They listen to the Oraclown and his reflection. 
IMG_9198————————-
For some reason, the real-world evil and treachery of Putin’s puppet always makes me think of these *purely fictional* stories about a child sociopath.
(Not suitable for children or people without a well-developed sense of values. To reiterate, these are pure fiction meant to illustrate how a sociopath “thinks.” For details about Donnie’s actual life, try his niece’s book:
https://www.amazon.com/Too-Much-Never-Enough-Dangerous/dp/1982141468
Donnie Plays Bull-Dazzle Man
Donnie Boy Plays Captain Man
Donnie Boy Plays Soldier Man
Donnie Lets His Brother Take the Fall
Donnie Visits Granny
Donnie Takes a Blue Ribbon in Spelling
Donnie Gets his Name on a Tennis Trophy
Donnie Gets a Hamster
Donnie Learns Golf!

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