Kyle Rittenhouse And Why America Is No Longer The Land Of The Free

The case of Kyle Rittenhouse serves as a prime example of two incompatible truths. It simultaneously demonstrates why America must do something about gun ownership whilst also showing why it never will. I mean, what an abject shit show. All of it. You have the goons from BLM and Antifa on the rampage after another Police shooting, and then add to the mix an idealistic and naive "Young hero" who thinks he can ride into Dodge and save the day. Putting aside the fact that each person Rittenhouse shot had a significant criminal history, sex offences in one instance, and you have everything awful about the USA wrapped up in one incident. Surely Americans simply have to accept that when you have hundreds of millions of firearms in the hands of a nervous and jittery populace there will always be outcomes like this? Its what happens when polarisation and fear override reason and restraint. Be under no illusion, nothing will change in the wake of this. There isn't the will, nor the means, nor the strength required to do so. On any given day people of all stripes are getting caught up in gun related violence, and they live in a society that has gone too far down the rabbit hole to have any reasonable way of getting back. America is no longer the land of the free but rather the land of the the fearful. I wonder whether at the subconscious level it knows China will dethrone it as the most significant world power. I would argue this has already come to pass. While the West sleep walks towards avoidable catastrophe after avoidable catastrophe the Chinese government retains an iron grip on its own people, shaping an effective counterpoint to our increasing societal derangement. That's not me praising China, by the way. I just simply acknowledge that they are playing the game in such a way that will render them top of the tree. Looking further afield than the States, I suspect that the developed world is also at a real tipping point; facing real challenges around how we address the way in which technology is changing us. When more people want to become Youtube influencers than they do doctors and engineers then you know you're in a race to the bottom. But this blog today is about how one nation in particular is orchestrating its own demise. It lurches so heavily Left and Right, like a ship under the onslaught of vast ocean waves. The only narrative one of combat, the mood music one of division. That's not a sensible equilibrium; its how kingdoms fall. I simply cannot see a way out of this malady in the absence of leadership that can genuinely unify. Trump never wanted to do that whilst Biden lacks the cognitive functioning skills to do so. I strongly suspect he is President in the symbolic sense only, and that there are other forces pulling his strings. From the outside looking in it is grimly fascinating to watch a once great nation devour itself, but then perhaps that is just the way of things. Nothing is permanent except impermanance, meaning that the only true certainty is the manner of the actual demise. Its true on the personal level, and perhaps also on the national one. Its one thing to "Live in interesting times" as the Chinese proverb goes. Yet it makes for an uneasy watch.

The Man Who Knew Nothing At All

I am not a fixed point. I change. I ebb and flow. I am not beholden to any creed or system of belief, choosing instead to base my behaviour on a few simple values. Honesty is something i aspire to, even though i expect we lie to ourselves all the time. Self deceipt is acid to the soul and nobody is ever truly safe from it. I absolutely try to be as direct and real with others as i can, and occasionally my social skills come along for the ride. I am not a man of mystery, and i'm not trying to deceive you. What you see is really what you get. And because I change i might sometimes leave you a little perplexed. I'm not doing that on purpose, by the way. I'm just trying to figure stuff out. The older i get the more i realise that there's so much i dont know. I'm just fumbling around in the dark when it comes to eternal questions. I can't do conventional religious belief because that looks very man made to me. I'm open to divine possibilities and sacred spaces but I couldn't honestly tell you what that looks like. We've all had experiences that touch us in ways that are deep and profound. I'm most likely to experience this in nature. A night bursting with stars, a vision of autumnal perfection, the way in which it all fits together. One of the most complete experiences I've had was when i walked the Grand Union Canal back in September. The solitude in nature combined with observing the whole human ecosystem of the canal itself. Just a rucksack on my back as I went mile after mile, alone with my thoughts yet so aware that I was part of something larger. I'm just a man, one of several billion souls that currently inhabit our world. And what a world it is. Bruised yet bold, fragile yet resplendent, so large yet so insignificant when one looks beyond. Who knows what undiscovered miracles exist out in the icy void. The possibilities, the incomprehensible vastness of it. My mind is too small, my days too fleeting. What a privilege to have been on this journey at all. I'm very aware that this won't last forever, and since turning 50 i accept that what rests behind me likely outweighs what is ahead. This does not make me melancholy, but rather i am somewhat resolute. We all die and that is fine. As Christopher Hitchens observed there comes a day when we just have to make way. There are others coming through afterall. Sometimes I observe people and I hear them forever talking about what they want to do tomorrow. Holding out for some specific, perfect thing. An image of a young bird peeking out over the edge of a nest located high up in the trees springs to mind. Waiting. Hesitant. Holding out for the moment when all the stars align. A word to the wise, friends. There's only the now. And there's a life to be lived today. So take flight little bird. Those wings need to get stronger. Because when they are you can soar higher, further, and for longer. It's not all about waiting, you know. . .