Rethinking Life

Questions and more questions…

“How many other planets do you think we’ve destroyed before we got to this one?” he asked.

“Well, there are a gazillion planets, so it might not seem like many in that context, but probably a lot.  A couple thousand, at least.  I think it’s what we do.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do we constantly destroy everything?”

“We’re insane.  I thought you knew that,” she said, closing her book.

“Do you think that when we aren’t looking at something it disappears?”

“Some scientists and gamers think that’s true, but I don’t know if it is.  We are currently sitting on the second floor so I’m assuming the first floor is still there holding us up, but maybe it’s not.”

“Do you ever think we’ll know the truth about anything?”

“If there is a truth how would we recognize it?  I think the only truth that exists, is  personal truth. Of course, we have no way of knowing if our person truth is actually true. Look at those who are following the psychopath for president.  I’m sure they think that what they believe is true, but those on the other side, would disagree.  Truth is what you’ve been taught/conditioned to believe and what your brain looks like.  Conservative brains have enlarged fear centers.  They are afraid women want too much freedom and they believe they have to stop that from happening.  They are afraid that people will unite and they will no longer have power over them, and the ability to keep them divided.  Our truth is that freedom and personal power is a good thing.  They would disagree, since it’s not their truth.”

“Do you think the universe is real?”

“Maybe, for the moment.  If we want it to be.  No one knows anything for sure, because there is no such thing as for sure.  It might just be a hologram.”

“Life is confusing.”

“Life is ridiculous.  It doesn’t make any sense.  Why would beings be born, spend their lives growing up, leaning, working, and then fall apart and die?   What’s the point?”

“Experience?”

“For what purpose?” she asked.

“Just to know what it’s like, I guess.”

“Yeah, no,”  she said.  “It’s a terrible set up.  No one in her, or his, or it’s, right mind would design something like this without ulterior motives.  I mean maybe there’s a better game on another planet, or in another solar system, or universe, but this one is doing it’s best to kill itself and believe me, no one will miss this place.”

“That’s really negative.”

“Seriously?”

“I mean I see your point but there are some good things about this place.”

“I’m listening.  Start with war, rape, starvation, school shootings, bullying, battering, violence of all kinds, extinction on a massive scale, the killing of the forests, our lungs, by the way, poisoned food, and…”

“I get it,” he said, dropping into a chair.

“I don’t think you do.  An entire world has been brainwashed to follow the instructions of a few who are bent on killing them and they just do as they’re told. They work until they die, and they never fight back, even when their children are sent to foreign places to be maimed or killed, by someone else’s kids who don’t want to be there either, while the men who started the killing stay safe.  HOW is that possible?  People work and are taxed until their last breath, so the rich can live well, while others work two jobs to have enough food to feed their families.  Brain washing, a bad matrix, a game made up by someone mad killer?  I’m not sure, but there’s an entire group of ugly men that just told women that they can’t speak, sing, or make eye contact with any men but the one’s their own house.  The women are covered from head to toe and cannot show any skin because MEN are unable to control themselves sexually, at the sight of any skin, or the voice of a women.  My solution is to blind the men and make them deaf.  That way they would never be tempted at all.  Why is it a woman’s problem that those idiots can’t control THEMSELVES?  Oh, right, they hate women and can kill them anytime they want to.  The women can be STONED to death, just like in the good old days.  In the seventies, the women looked just like we did, but some male said no more and the women didn’t rise up and kill him.  They should have killed him.  All the women should have gathered, knowing that a lot of them would die, and then just killed the men, in order to save themselves and any future women.  Once the men were dead, the women could take off their covering and wear mini skirts once again, if they wished.  They could sing all day long and do whatever they wanted to do. And, they could stone men to death who objected, so the men would know what it was like to be on the other side of hatred and constant fear. Here’s the other thing.  Why isn’t the rest of the world trying to help those women?  It’s because the women don’t control oil, or have money, or make deals on drugs or arms?  They are just women, so no one seems to care what’s happening to them.  Because of their gender they will live in dark silence until they are murdered, or forget how to make a sound, or even see their own bodies in the sunlight, and that’s okay, because they are just women brutalized by ugly men.  It happens everywhere, it’s epidemic in the UK and well, America too.  But really, men are the only one’s who can stop male violence against women and they don’t want to.  You can tell they don’t want to because women are being raped, beaten and murdered all the time.  But I digress.

In America the government used to answer to the people, and then they didn’t.  The people had to agree to let the government do certain things, and then they didn’t.  Little by little our freedom has been murdered in front of us, while we all stood around and did nothing. So, here we are fighting each other, instead of the morons we let do this to us.

When the prisoners were released from the concentration camps, in Germany, they tore the guards to pieces. They killed them, while the soldiers who freed them watched the guards who had tortured the prisoners cry and beg for mercy.  Mercy?  Really?  Do unto others came true for them.  Of course, not everyone was punished or killed, some got high paying jobs in America and other countries.  Shame on all of us.  The point I’m making is that the bad guys can be taken down, usually at a great cost, but it can be done.”

“You have a lot of anger.”

“You just noticed that?”

He grinned at her.

“I think women were made to kill the bad people but we forgot what our job description was.”

“More violence?”

“It’s the only thing some people understand.  Witch burnings, lashings…  You know the menu.  Are we supposed to just stand there and let men do what they want to us?”

“How do you sleep at night?”

“Really good.  Thank you for asking.”

“Do you hate me?” he asked.

“I hate what you stand for.  I hate patriarchy.  I hate male privilege, even my own privilege.  I hate that you don’t stop what men do to women and children and animals.  I kind of hate this whole game.  It’s too violent, like your video games that encourage all of you to keep being violent.”

“I forgot what we started talking about,” he said, frowning.

“You wanted to know how many planets I thought we destroyed before this one.  Actually, I hope we become extinct after this one, but someone will bring us back.  Some idiot who loves all the violence, suffering and misery.  Otherwise, no one would have to worry about being eaten for dinner, or killed because they got into the wrong elevator.  Having said all that, I do love Lake Michigan, even thought it tried to kill me.  I love summer and what’s left of the other living beings on the planet.  I love pizza too and ice cream, hot chocolate, Keanu Reeves, and chocolate.”

“Most of that is food.”

“What can I say?”

“Do you think there are aliens among us?” he asked.

“I think we’re the aliens but sure, there are other aliens here as well.”

“What about grilled cheese and fries?”

“Love them.”

“What if when we die we can’t have food anymore.”

“No chocolate, dark, salty, just so delicious?”

“I don’t think dead things eat, but I’m not sure,” he said.

“Maybe they eat better than we do.”

“One never knows.”

“That’s a fact.  We don’t know anything.”

“This place could be a utopia.”

“I used to think that was a possibility, but I gave that up,” she said.  “People have been killing each other from the beginning.  I think there will always be people who are jealous, crave attention, never have enough, want to dominate everyone else, you know, like the convicted criminal running for president.  He just needs a big mirror in a padded cell with a sound system that plays cheering all day long, and he’ll be happy.”

“His staff of one could give him numbers of how many people were in the crowd cheering,” he laughed.  “What about cats?”

“They do their best to teach us but they can’t stop the insanity.  I can’t imagine what this place would be like if cats weren’t here.  Dogs too, so don’t get all doggie defensive on me.  All animals can be loving if they have the chance.  Okay, maybe not hippos but most of the others.”

“This conversation made me tired.”

“Everything makes you tired.”

“No everything,” he said, yawning. “Don’t you think it’s weird that people don’t think about the fact that any second they could be dead?”

“Our brains won’t let us do that.  The game is set up so that we don’t notice things like dying when we walk out the door, or even when a crazy male could destroy the entire country and our own armed forces would turn on us and kill us, if he told them to do it.”

“I shouldn’t talk to you as much as I do.”

“You could always get a place of your own.”

“I’m your brother.  I’m not ready to stretch my wings just yet.”

“You just don’t want to pay any bills.”

“That too.  But I’ll order dinner and pay for it.”

She smiled at him.  “Good thing you’re my little brother.

“I know.  That really works for me, doesn’t it?” he chuckled.

“You’re such a brat.”

“But you love me.”

“Do I have a choice?” she asked.

“You always have a choice,” he said.

“That’s not necessarily true.”

“Let’s talk about something fun,” he said, quickly, avoiding another long discussion.

“Like what?  What’s fun?”

“This,” he said, flinging a throw pillow at her.  And the fight was on.