We Don't Need Another Zero

There are a few things bouncing around in my brain these days. One being the old Tina Turner tune, "We Don't Need Another Hero," many thanks to Amber for that! But have you ever listened closely to the lyrics of that song? I can sing about half of the lyrics to half of the songs of the 80's but some of them I have never consciously considered as the poetry they are. Have you ever done that? I'm showing my age here but I've known songs for decades before actually paying close attention to their lyrics and getting their message. Ever hear an old favourite and go, "Oh, yeah! 'Your friends don't dance and if they don't dance well they're no friends of mine.'" That's so deep!

Okay maybe Men Without Hats wasn't the greatest example. But how about this:

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING
WE CAN RELY ON
THERE`S GOTTA BE SOMETHING BETTER OUT THERE
LOVE AND COMPASSION
THEIR DAY IS COMING
ALL ELSE ARE CASTLES BUILT IN THE AIR
AND I WONDER WHEN WE ARE EVER GONNA CHANGE
LIVING UNDER THE FEAR TILL NOTHING ELSE REMAINS

BOOM! I wonder when we are ever gonna change... We'll come back to this.

Another of the strands in old Duder's mind these days is something a great deal of people are thinking about: the Charleston church shooting and its perp whose name I don't need to type because of the resulting celebrity that comes with any such actions. We all know his name. Hell, we already know so much about this zero that we know he was treated to a meal by the police at Burger King. Hungry work, shooting people! I have yet to read the details of what he ordered for that meal but they are probably out there. Why do we want to know if this psychopathic kid who "wanted to kill black people" prefers Whoppers to chicken burgers? Here are all the details.

What we really SHOULD know is what Adreanna Prussia or Craig Nelson had for THEIR last meals. But we don't know who they are, do we? They are local business owners in the Charleston area that used their businesses, a bakery and a bar respectively, to drum up some dough for the families of the shooting victims. Now I know that these charitable actions can probably be used as tax write-offs and actually not cost the businesses anything. I know that Starbucks and other corporations donating to the cause are probably doing so for tax purposes. And because big business greases government and legislators to write tax laws so that things like this can happen, it's all part of the plan. So the REAL heroes are the people buying beer or cupcakes, but my point is, why don't we hear about this? Instead we get news of bad cops taking this multiple murderer out for burgers.

I understand the outrage of people when they hear that he complained of hunger and was given some BK to ease his suffering. He has brought a great deal of suffering onto so many people that maybe his punishment should have started with a few hunger pangs while the bodies of his victims were still warm. Call me crazy but I think perhaps this kid has lived a life without a lot of things that might have gone a long way to the avoidance of his crime, and three of them were hunger, suffering and punishment. I'm sure his upbringing, personality, home life, school life, the entire 21 year history of this young nothing will soon be a matter of public record, (if it already isn't), and although he is no better than the contents of a used tissue, people will ravenously devour every word of it. And I'm guessing that he has lived a life with little to no responsibility. He's a high school drop out with no job. Wanna bet he didn't do much around the house either? He was involved in drugs and tresspassing or breaking and entering I think it was. Could it be that idle hands, in his case, were the devil's playground and he was just so bored that he got into trouble?

I often wonder at the criminals who return to the scene of their crimes. The bombers who take responsibility for bombings. The kids who push the expensive knick-knack to the edge of the shelf and despite looking directly into the eyes of a parent warning, "Don't you dare do that," they dare to do that and push it off the edge knowing full well that there will be consequences. Then I hearken back to Psych 1100 where I learned that to some psyches the craving for attention becomes so strong that the differentiation between positive and negative attention is almost irrelevant. In fact I was recently watching the Dog Whisperer and he said something identical about dogs! In any case, human or canine, the absolute worst thing that can be done is to over-react and feed the craving for attention with hysteria. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think that Whopper, (even if it was a double), did half as much to feed this young zero's hunger than the news stories, internet fame, publishing of his manifesto, and pics of him burning the American flag and holding the confederate flag, and the many other examples of hysteria have done to feed this kids narcissistic desire for attention. And here I go feeding it again...

Maybe this kid is just a bad seed. Maybe his parents were very good at not over or under-reacting to him getting kicked out of school, buying firearms, getting into drugs and crime, burning flags, joining racist and violent groups etc., but I'm betting there could have been something done to nip this in the bud. And I'm betting that in a society more concerned with social issues than monetary ones, the parents would have had more time, education and ability to deal with their troubled child. And in such a society maybe the racial issues wouldn't be so bad or the firearms so readily available to coddled 21-year-old racially confused wannabe martyrs. I'm quite certain that in such a society his mixed up manifesto might not have been published on the internet where other young, confused, bored kids could read it and jump to woefully uninformed opinions. Or maybe it would have been. It just would have been seen by the well-adjusted, properly educated kids who read it as the pure sewer sludge it was.

Now they're saying that it's shameful how many people are using this terrible crime as a means to further their personal opinions and platforms, but I think this and all the other radically violent shootings around the U.S. need to be treated as an indictment of a broken society. And the sooner the better. It's no accident that most of these things happen in the U.S. and before these attrocities stop happening or even become less frequent, the general public and the media will probably become bored with them. What an incredible thing to say! There seems to be only one way to stop this downward spiral. The world doesn't need - AMERICA doesn't need another zero like this. What we all need IS a hero. We need people in positions in which they can affect positive changes that will make for more harmonious, less violent societies that aren't someone's private castle in the air or friggin Thunderdomes. We need more, scroll up, love and compassion and less greed and selfishness. But the people in positions of power in this world are bankers, CEO's and politicians. Either of the first two would be neglecting what is their feduciary responsibility to the customer or shareholder by exhibiting any kind of love, compassion or reason. And if you have read this blog more than once, you will probably know I have practically no hope for the third category either. In fact upon hearing the recent news of the bombing outside the parliament buildings in Kabul, Afghanistan and hearing that none of the MP's were injured my feeling was less of relief than disappointment. Terrible isn't it? But through many years of life and much research I have come to the conclusion that it's the same kind of people who rise to the top in all four of these areas. Banking, CEO's, politicians AND killers are far better off being anti-social psychopaths because that sort of personality fits the job description, or what the job description has become. It is perhaps the most depressing sign of the times that in all four categories anti-social, sociopathic, even murderous behaviour is treated by society as heroic!

I see but one ray of hope.

I'm going to give my eyes a great big roll and say something that millions of people have said to perpetuate all the problems that come from or are related to the corrupt corporations that most modern governments are: THIS guy seems different. He seems genuine. I believe he will do what he says. Ugh, I just threw up a little bit in the back of my mouth. But if I were American I reckon I just might buy one of these shirts and, yes, even WEAR it! Take a look at what he's saying and you won't find much difference applying the priciples to any country. We're not that different from country to country. We all want the same things and our governments, banks, and bazillionaires are making the laws, writing the rules and running our countries so that we don't get those things. I think we all want that to stop. At least those of us that are still in touch with reason. And I firmly believe that if we change just that about our countries, we will see a drastic drop in incidents like the Charleston church massacre and the kind of deranged mentality that lead to it. I believe Bernie Sanders' policies are good for the financial AND mental health of the U.S. and they will be modeled in other countries when they start showing results. Here is just a small taste of what I'm talking about:


Bernie Sanders writes on "family values":

When my Republican colleagues talk about “family values,” what they usually mean is opposition to a woman’s right to choose, opposition to contraception, opposition to gay rights, and support for abstinence-only education. Let me give a somewhat different perspective on family values.


When a mother has a baby and is unable to spend time with that child during the first weeks and months of his or her life, that is not a family value.

When a wife is diagnosed with cancer and a husband cannot get time off of work to take care of her, that is not a family value.

When a mother is forced to send her sick child to school because she cannot afford to stay home with her, that is not a family value.

When a husband, wife, and kids, during the course of an entire year, are unable to spend any time together on vacation, that is not a family value.

The Republican agenda for families is really an attack on everything that a family is supposed to stand for.

When it comes to basic workplace protections and family benefits, workers in every other major industrialized country in the world get a better deal than workers in the United States. That should be an embarrassment to anyone who wants to talk seriously about family values in this country.

I'm running for president because I will stand for real family values. Please join our campaign now to help make paid family leave, sick days, and vacation days a reality for every working person in America.

It is not enough, though, to simply oppose the Republican agenda. That's why I'm proud to tell you what I think is a true agenda for family values.

Every worker in America should be guaranteed at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. That is a family value.

It is insane that low wage workers in McDonald’s who get sick are forced to work because they cannot afford to miss work. Workers in this country must have paid sick time so they don't get coworkers or customers sick on the job. That is a family value.

Every person who works for a living must have at least 10 days of paid vacation. Making sure families can afford to take some time off, without having to worry about going broke -- that is a family value.

Let’s be clear: in terms of protecting the needs of our families, in many respects, the United States lags behind virtually every major country on earth.

Last place is no place for America. It is time to join the rest of the industrialized world by showing the people of this country that we are not just a nation that talks about family values -- but that we are a nation that is prepared to live up to these ideals by making sure that workers in this country have access to paid family leave, paid sick time and paid vacations.


This is scary to the few, the sociopathic, the well armed of the world and this is why I fear for Bernie's life if he starts looking like he'll be the next president, but if he does get elected, I admit, I will have a little bit of hope in politics and politicians again. And it will restore a lot of lost hope in mankind altogether.

FEEL THE BERN everybody!!!