PEARLS FROM----S.W.I.N.E.

One genius thing my father taught me was, when you are trying to learn how something might work, "Ridiculously imagine it exaggerated to it's naturally extended end result" that way you can pretty quickly figure if what you're thinking is worth trying out at all.

Another genius thing I learned came from Italy's Leonardo da Vinci. When asked how he sculpted such a beautiful horse from a single piece of marble he replied, " I just kept chipping away at everything that didn't look like a horse."
One more thing, for the record;
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Written in 1887 by an Englishman "Baron" John Emerich Edward Dahlberg Acton whose parents named him, not having ever heard of my father's theory on the exaggeration of something to a ridiculous end!

I bring these things up because it has come to my attention that there has been rampant criticism, just lately, that the SWINE blog never offers a "positive solution" to issues!

Now, that right there demonstrates a clear misunderstanding of the whole notion of the above stated genius, and the mission purpose of SWINE in the first place. "Seniors wildly indignant about nearly everything."

That an issue needs a "positive solution" may be THE ISSUE!
Critical comments by SWINE need not be made at all if the simple genius of the generations past were better understood! If one does not understand that, then pause to reflect for a moment on the phrase "pearls before swine"

HERE IS WHAT SWINE IS ALL ABOUT AND HOW THINGS OUGHT TO BE.
Too much stuff is big and getting bigger! Stuff is getting too big to manage, too big to be understood, too big to be trusted. Too big to be any good for anyone at all.

Stuff needs to be smaller!
Power more diverse.
Liberty needs to be held in many hands.
For example:
There is a place outside Portland, Oregon called "HAPPY VALLEY." A decade ago you could go to Happy Valley and picnic on a hallock of freshly picked strawberries and watch horses, cows, and sheep frolic in the meadows, while birds chirped and winged their way through this magic little land.

Happy Valley now has about a bazillion people inhabiting it. It has a neighborhood association, chaired by one or two "do gooders" who are dedicated to the "happy-ness" of the occupants of the valley. They are assigned by the developers, and politicians, who work for the bankers that built all the houses, that were sold to people in China as collateral for loans so we could go on living the good life and the American dream. Nothing there now has the least little bit to do with happy!

SWINE chips away at everything getting bigger.

Let's do some ridiculous imaginative thinking and see what happens.

Before I was married I used to burn steaks outside on the grill as much as I could. I microwaved oysters when I had them, and boiled crabs in a pot down at the dock pretty regular. I deep fried shrimp in tempura batter for a whole house full of company as often as I could afford it. I used just about any excuse or occasion to justify this practice and made a hell of a mess in the process. I was at LIBERTY to do so.

I am now married to a wonderful woman who does not like spending a lot of time and money making a hell of a mess of everything, everywhere, all the time, and doesn't like seafood or red meat at all!
I don't indulge in those extravagances anymore as I am not so much at liberty to do so. However, I defer to this limit on my personal liberty for a much greater good. Together we have a wonderful and more prosperous life than I could ever have had alone.

So exaggerate for a moment many things that come together for the bigger picture and greater good with Liberty increasingly marginalized as a result.

Say you take a Man and a Woman into consideration. Add a little girl, then a little boy into the mix. As time goes by along comes a dog, and then two more puppies, and a stray cat starts calling your house home. Then the banker says you can get a bigger home for all the family if you just sign here. Then you get a "BIGGER BETTER" full time job. Oh, and then, if you sign some additional papers, which you have to do anyway, you can have a car, so you can also drive to the part time job you need to buy the car in the first place. You need to drive yourself to that first job because, you need to take care of all the world that needs you in its life way beyond that big party time that served steak and seafood regularly.

KEEP GOING, USE YOU IMAGINATION!

Then along comes a company hiring folks who know how to get contracts to work for the Federal Government. They claim they can handle really of a lot of essential services that you need because you haven't got time to do them yourself because, well because.
Because, there is the little Village and the City and the County and the State and commonly held ownership of the Corporation that you need to help pay dividends and taxes to help support the Federal House of Representatives and the Senate and the President that hire a huge staff that all work as a team benefiting you and your wonderful life. Now, half of all the people in the United States of America are acting on your behalf; each one taking away a bit of your original Liberty.

A compromise for the greater good EXAGGERATED TO THE RIDICULOUS!

There is a point where this gets really ridiculous, and the power of those wielding control over your Liberty becomes bigger, more powerful and more corrupt than you could have ever imagined it would.

It is in this effort that these inevitable realities become "at issue" and that SWINE must just keep chipping away.

Somewhere the beauty, will emerge in between the simple things and the compliicated, recognized, without zealous reverance to a big unchiseled reality.



WHEW! THE END


This weeks blog has been brought to you by:

HOT DOG TRAVELLER
Who reminds you no animals are harmed in the manufacture of this very fine product.

and by

GENERAL CHOW
Who simply ask you to open a can of this fine processed food product and give a piece a chance!