WildernessPunk: Propaganda, Falsehoods, and Lies

I’m not setting out to write some whiny article about why I’m mad about being lied to or to point out how the United States’ government currently has a foundation built on falsehoods. Instead, I’d like to dive into why some people tend to believe all sorts of nonsense they are told, as long as it is spewed by the right pairs of lips, while others hesitate to make important decisions and use logic and critical thinking to attempt to ensure the choices they make are as sound as possible.

I think many people have experienced situations where a speaker is obviously spouting lies and spattering people with his toxic imagination. You, the listener, find these lies painfully easy to disregard as falsehoods, but crowds of people are cheering and discussing the fabrications as facts later.

So why does it happen? Why do some people swallow the nonsense with vapid glee, while others walk away scratching their head wondering how even a single individual could believe such inaccurate ramblings?

Reasons why people might believe obvious falsehoods

  • They respect the liar
  • They were raised in religious environments where impossible fables are accepted as facts
  • Lack of education
  • Apathy
  • Failure to research things they find important
  • The lie reinforces what they already believe
  • The lie reinforces what they want to believe
  • Failure to develop critical thinking skills
  • Not reading
  • Emotions and beliefs are seen as more important than facts
  • The lies reinforce types of hate which they feel elevate their self-worth by making them feel superior to others
  • The lies might help them make money or get a mate
  • They suffer from one or more forms of mental illness

With these causes in mind, we have a chance to understand why someone might believe statements which others find laughable dribble. Another aspect of lying which benefits the liar is engaging in a consistent approach. Could you imagine Barak Obama talking about hope and elevating the American people and then suddenly switching gears and diving into how he must flush his toilet twelve times? Yet when tRump discusses such ridiculous notions, it doesn’t mess with his flow of speech because it is just as worthless and stupid as the thing he said before it and what he will ramble on about afterward.

This would also occur in some places like churches. If someone just told you about how a divine being rained fire down from the heavens to kill hundreds of innocent people, and you believed it was true, why wouldn’t you believe this divine power was also concerned which bathrooms humans used? Since neither make any logical or coherent sense, they become equalized in their embrace of irrationality.

I discussed why people might accept lies, but while some open their mouths to be fed obvious gobbledygook by the shovelful, others discard such fabrications with ease. I could make a list of why this might be, but much of it will simply be the opposite of what I outlined above. Things such as having an open mind, engaging in critical thinking, and being well read are good starters.

All this is fine and good, but I think there is one attribute which stands miles above the others and this is the strength to accept you could be wrong about a subject and possess the ability to change one’s mind.

Think about how much better life would be for all of us if people could put their pride aside and not always assume they are correct on every issue. The jails and prisons would certainly have less inmates if the false sense of pride could have been removed from many people.

“I’m not going to stand for being disrespected!” Why because working at Jiffy Lube makes you infallible? “I’m perfect and can never be wrong!” Why because you got Cs in high school? Why is it so many people are bursting with pride over nothing more than being the 9,786,456,236th person to work hard during their life or make a family? “I haven’t read a book in five years and get most of my news from Facebook, but it’s inconceivable I could be wrong about anything.”

Where do such thoughts come from? Why do many of the people who have done the least have the most swollen pride? Perhaps all they have is the feeling I don’t take crap from anyone. Still not taking gruff isn’t the same thing as believing one is always correct, but at times they do appear related. Many have often stated the more educated in a subject you are, the more you realize what you don’t know. Perhaps the inverse is also true. The less you know about a subject the more certain you are right about what you know about it.

You can see this often during man on the street interviews where people tell you they are against things such as Critical Race Theory, but then are unable to define what CRT is.

So how can we solve this? I’d tell people to have an open mind, be able to admit you are wrong, and be open to changing one’s opinion. The problem is the people who can’t do these things won’t be reading this or anything like it.

The only real answer is for each free thinker to do their best to help a few people evolve to stronger ways of thinking as we travel on our paths through life. Most who need this advice will resist you, but you might help a handful of people along the way and one can hope they will pass these values onto their offspring and over time humanity has a chance to improve.

Remember less than two hundred years ago half the population thought slavery was acceptable. Some races and even woman weren’t allowed to vote until very recently. Every year the percentage of people rejecting primitive religions is increasing. Humanism is winning, but these things take time and there will always be backsliding and with the weakened environment creating more economic hardships for individuals and families, we might see a lot of two steps back.

As the environment collapses, the mega rich grab a larger percentage of family’s income, and fascists fight to control the people easily influenced with hate, the free thinkers have a hard road ahead of them, but this has never stopped the real heroes, and if you can put away your pride and admit you might be wrong about a subject, one of these heroes is you.

You can grab a Taste of my fiction here Can Dak be a detective and Anarchist at the same time?

WildernessPunk: Predictions

Alright, you alright?

Looks like before the crumbling environment takes us with it, the fascists are having a go so they can milk the cream out of this dying cow and enjoy the last drops before the flies start buzzing. Yet, whether you are pro tRump, or think he ushers in totalitarianism like an 80 IQ Hitler, this article will apply to you, although with a different implication.

During the 2024 election cycle the cult of tRump was fond of using their magical thinking to state Biden and the democrats raised inflation, let in a massive amount of immigrants, and did other actions which made it harder for US citizens to survive.

What I am going to do in this article is to create a baseline of data regarding some hot topics and two years from now we will compare the next administration and see where they measure up in the future compared to where we were in July of 2023. It might be harder to get accurate data in the future, but I will try my best.

Then, just for fun, we’ll compare a few current stats to some pre-covid tRump figures from 2019.

Prediction Categories:

Inflation

Unemployment

Immigration Numbers

Median Income

GDP

Violent Crime

Tax Rate

Hate Crimes

Off the cuff, I will predict all these figures will increase, except immigration numbers. The GDP and Median Income will decrease. All the noise about improving the economy were just empty words used to help tRump and the Republicans win. As soon as they gain control, the rich will grab a higher percentage of profits while they throw their followers under the bus. This will feed the fires of their indignation and lead to a big jump in violence.

Just for some preemptive perspective I will now compare the stats of my categories near the end of the last two administrations. Again, I use pre-covid stats to keep it fair so let us review how 2019 compared to 2023.

Note: When possible, I will be taking the stats from July in each of the respective years.

,

,

2019                                                  2023

Inflation                        1.7                                                     3.2

Unemployment             3.7                                                     3.5

Immigration                  2893                                                  2748 

Illegal Im.                      50,000                                               120,000

Median Income             31,133                                               37,585

GDP                               21,521.4                                            27,356.4              

Violent Crime                19 per 100,000                                  22 per 100,000 (2022)   

Tax Rate                        40.8                                                   40.8

Hate Crimes                  8,812                                                 13,857       

These are some interesting stats to look at. Obviously, Biden was not knocking it out of the White House parking lot here. Some surprises were more legal immigrants during tRump. Some bad news for Democrats would be the increase in Violent and Hate Crimes, perhaps some people were more inclined to commit crimes when their leader is not in office, but this is just armchair conjecture. Looking over some of the statistics sites I realized there could be some delay so if I want data from July of 2026 I might have to wait a few months or even a year, This means I cannot guarantee when the second half of this article will come out but hopefully you can still afford your WIFI by then.

.

.

You can grab a little of my fiction here

.

WildernessPunk: The Adult Quiz

What does it take to be an adult? If you think it only means being older than 18 then you probably aren’t one. I’m sure everyone has their own answer and definition. People with different backgrounds and ages would list off various requirements. This is not touching on how other cultures might view this transition.

In this article, I’ll be focusing primarily on the cultures within the United States and sticking to the outlooks of the people currently living here in this year of the Current Era 2024. Obviously, what made someone an adult in 1200 CE or 12000 BCE would be so different from what we view today we would be hard pressed to draw many parallels.

.

.

Instead of going over the outs and ins of being an adult, I’m going to jump into the quiz. Before I start there is going to be something on this list which will anger almost everyone who reads it. Perhaps some will think I give too many points for certain things.  Maybe there will be things I haven’t included which you think I should. In general, I am giving more weight to accomplishments over experiences. Going to Europe on vacation may help someone feel more confident and self-reliant, but I went to Europe as a child, and it didn’t suddenly make me an adult.

Something I’d rather not glorify is doing jail time. In many ways this might force you to grow up fast but I’m going to exclude this one. If you feel it is needed for you, give yourself 10 points for spending a few nights in jail, 50 per year in jail and a 100 for each year of hard time.

The instructions are simple. Just read through the categories and give yourself the indicated points for each of these things you have done. There will be a grading matrix at the end.

Finally, the Point Reduction section is optional but if you are comparing with another make sure you are each making the same decisions.

The Wildernesspunk Adult Quiz

Life Milestones

  • 200 Points for being in a successful happy marriage
  • 50 Per extra marriage
  • 20 Points for each divorce
  • 20 Points for each year you have taken care a child, for every child under 18, in your home
  • 10 Points per year, for each child you split custody with
  • 10 Points for being a step parent of a child who lives with you per year per child
  • 20 points for being a step parent for a child no longer living at home
  • 20 points for every year you have not lived with your parents
  • 10 points for every year you have lived outside your parent’s home without having roommates
  • 100 points if you own your home
  • 20 points per car you have paid off and still own
  • 10 points per year of your longest employment with a single company
  • Bonus 10 points per 10,000$ you are currently making a year
  • 150 Point for getting a PHD
  • 100 points for getting your Master’s Degree
  • 50 points for a Bachelors
  • 100 points for surviving being homeless
  • 100 Points for quitting each drug you were once addicted to
  • 1 point per hundred miles for the longest road trip you took without your parents (One way)
  • 2 points per night for the longest camping trip you have ever been on
  • 1 Point per 100 miles for the longest distance you have been away from home when you are not living with your parents

.

.

Creative Milestones

  • 10 points per year for the longest band/orchestra you have been a member of
  • 5 points for each additional band/orchestra you were in which lasted longer than a year
  • 20 points for each real art show you have displayed in
  • 20 points for each published novel
  • 10 Points for each self-published novel
  • 20 points for running of some type of creative group which has lasted longer than a year
  • 10 points for being a member of a creative group which lasts longer than a year
  • 20 Points for any serious acting/dance performance you have participated in
  • 10 Points for any creative project you were a part of per year
  • 10 Points for every thousand dollars you have made through a creative project
  • 10 Points for each sports team you have been a member of (after high school) for longer than a year
  • 10 Points for every thousand dollars you have made through playing a sport
  • 1 Point for every 100$ you have saved by building something yourself
  • 1 Point for every 100$ you have saved by growing your own food
  • 1 Point for every 100$ you have saved by repairing something you paid for
  • 10 Points per book for the average number of books you read a year

.

.

Responsibility Milestones

  • 100 Points for each tour in the military
  • 200 per tour if you were involved in armed conflict
  • 100 Points for helping a loved one through a serious health problem
  • 100 Points for helping a loved one through a serious mental illness or disability
  • 100 Points per year for helping a person with a disability in your home
  • 20 points for each year you have helped a child with college/professional school
  • 10 Points per hundred dollars you spend a month to support children who live outside of your home
  • 10 points per year you have been a successful pet owner
  • 10 Points per 10 miles you commute to work or run errands without driving
  • 10 Points for every hundred pounds less of a cardon footprint you create under 3000 pounds
  • 10 points for every month you went for the last year without ordering a product online

Point Reductions

  • – 10 points per hour for each hour on average you play video games each week
  • – 10 points per 100$ your parents pay for you in any manner each month
  • – 50 Points if you do not recycle
  • – 10 Points for each use of a restaurant over two on an average week
  • – 10 Points for each time you had to move over the last ten years

Grading System

Under 0               =  Can you at least take your own trash out of the basement

1 – 300                =  You have got to stop hanging out with the high school kids

301 – 600            = Don’t worry you’ll met a nice partner one day

601 – 1000         = Sorry I’m too busy to help you move again

1001 – 1400       = This is a nice place you have

1401 – 1800       = Cool Library, my friend

1801 – 2200       = So I’m looking for people interested in buying some land

2201 – 2600       = Can you give me some advice

2601 – 3000       = I’m proud of you

3000+                  = Who’s a rock star

.

.

 If you feel inclined you can check out one of my novels here and I guarantee Dak lives and exciting life.

.

WildernessPunk: So Great It Doesn’t Work

Does more advanced technology make your life better than the generation who died before they could enjoy it? Do you think you have it better than your grandfather or mother? “My grandfather may have owned a nice house on 2 acres of land, but I get to play Halo on my Xbox XII with my seven roommates.”

What is more important and what really does make a life better and more enjoyed? Don’t get me wrong, technological advancements can make your life superior. What we tend to think of as simple things like running water, electricity, trash pick up, and heating/cooling, aren’t so simple at all. Go back five hundred years and the richest king in Europe would still have none of these (maybe trash pick up). Go back a hundred years and maybe they existed but I bet your great grandparents didn’t have them.

When you think about it, we could have stopped there. Health and happiness would be possible and this would give us the free time to expand our minds and work on projects other than hauling water up a hill for seven hours. But like humans are apt to do, little advances kept happening. Common things like washing machines, garbage disposals, and microwaves went from being coveted to expected. Records became CDs which became Ipods and transferred to streaming. Phones went from something you needed an operator’s help with to a computer in your pocket.

As technology improved it took up more of our lives. Where once someone was saving an hour of labor by using a washing machine soon those hours or more would be spent staring at the original rectangle, television. I’d be willing to bet my next five tax returns that for the average number of folks in the country, technology takes up more time than it saves.

If I were to ask you what your baseline technology needs are? What would you say?

As mentioned before, water, electricity, trash pick up, and heating and cooling would probably make it on there. That would be my to go to, I have lived with less, often for years. But I’m asking you.

Are the following unneeded luxuries or part of your baseline needs:

  • Television with DVDs Only
  • Washing Machine
  • Microwave
  • Land Line
  • Garbage Disposal
  • Stereo
  • Streaming Networks
  • Horticultural Drip Systems
  • Exercise Equipment
  • Alea
  • Computer
  • Laptop
  • Cell Phone
  • Blue Tooth
  • Video Game Consoles
  • Adjustable Lighting
  • Online Shopping
  • Room to Room music controls
  • Digital Controls for all electronic devices

This is so high tech it doesn’t Work

I would like to discuss something else before we close. Let’s start with a personal event I’m still dealing with as these words group together. In the new place we moved into apparently a previous owner decided he should put in a drip system all over every part of the back yard. Sure, he could carry buckets to his plants or water them with a hose, but that might conserve water, he could enjoy the very plants he’s watering, or the work could help him burn off a few pounds and we wouldn’t want that.

So now, this advanced technology has of course broken down to the point we have to shut off the water to the whole house or have a water bill which would cost more than a Whole Foods shopping spree. So the technology is so advanced nothing works.

It used to be a replacing a car stereo was a simple endeavor. Hell, I even did it alone once. My CD player died recently and I was informed, due to the dashboard computer system in my car I have never personally given any attention to or used, it would cost 2,000$ to replace. Again, wow this technology is so good it will never work again, nice job. (My solution was the buy a 50$ boombox and just play the CDs on that.)

When I was a kid, my turntable broke and I fixed it with a rubber band I used for my braces. Try doing that with an Alexa. My wife got a new job and wasn’t able to access her paychecks for months because they only put the money into some weird bank system which she tried to set up a few times and it failed. Wow it was so high tech she could work a job for 60 hours a week and not get paid for months, that’s some really impressive technology. So advanced no one can use it. Smart.

I bet if I asked you might have a few stories you could add to this list.

What would happen, if a hacker shut off the grid or the web goes down. I guess we won’t have phones, television, or music or at least most people won’t. Personally, I still have 500 DVDs, so if the grid ever goes down, I’m going to open up a solar energy movie house, so if you guys want to see some classic horror movies you had better start saving your canned goods now because it will be one can per showing. Just like in A Boy and His Dog. Hey, do I have that movie? I’d better get it before the grid goes down or none of us will ever see it again.

But don’t worry you’ll be able to find me by the sound of my blasting cassette tapes.

Alex Bone

.

.

If you like cyberpunk dystopia tales, please take a second to look over my Skinjumper novel.

.

WildernessPunk: Bad Luck

Wednesday the 17th 2024 11:10 am

Almost eight years ago, wow, eight years, I set off on my exploration of reality and myself when I started WildernessPunk. One of my first posts was called Road Ripping. In it, I reveled in my new found freedom and set off with my father, in a rented jeep, to travel from Flagstaff Arizona to Montana, seeing parts in between, as well as going to Yellowstone with my brother and his family. In early August of 2016, I took my father to a secret campsite located west of Montecillo in the aspens where one could overlook the canyonlands descending into the deserts to the west.

We didn’t stay there long because we were bound for Moab and the Arches, but I did find my bear spear I had made many years before and had stashed there.

Do you think I’ll be able to find it again? Because that is our final goal. Not finding the spear, but returning to that site.

Strange to think eight years ago, I hadn’t seen my boys for months and now they never leave my side and will be coming with me to explore this mystic wonderland in the high forest of Utah.

I have been on many road trips and gone camping a lot since the day I last left my footprints there, but this is the most adventurous pushing the limit trip I have made with my boys in many years. No sidekicks besides them, we’re flying solo, just the AZ AB boys.

Currently I sit at the closed bar near where they’re getting one last tutoring session in before we roll and begin our road trip. We won’t be heading up to Montana like last time, but I’ll be starting from further south and making a few stops on the way before revisiting my old sight.

Will others be parked there having discovered my beautiful camp? Will there be anything left after eight years? I guess I’ll find out in a few days. 30 minutes to go.

Thursday the 18th 2024 6:50 pm

Soooo… I have suffered through a rash of bad luck so unexpected and odd it has become comical.

The new side mirror, which cost a full 8 Bennies to repair, jiggles loose and smashes into the fast lane of 1-10 after only traveling 40 miles. I’m then forced to drive through the rugged traffic of the 5th largest city in the US (Pheonix) with no passenger side mirror and only minimal rear view mirror use due to all my gear. The kids helped me push on for another 170 miles through 85 mile an hour madness and we manage to arrive safely to the wrong address, because we were given the wrong address. I correct this and we head to the other side of I-17.

Finding my Bear Spear in 2016

The night goes great, although the next morning I’m asked to help move two sofas, a heavy drill press, and a saw table. Nothing like giving yourself a chance to throw out your back before some camping. After driving another six hours, through parts of the Painted Desert, Navajo Nation, and Monument Valley we arrive at the hotel I unfortunately paid for in advance. The pool and ice machine are down, minus five points from the idea that booking things online is a good idea.

So instead of lounging poolside, I’m writing in our dinged up room. I’m not trying to bellyache and bitch, but sometimes so many things go poorly, it becomes amusing or perhaps a tad challenging.

But alike usual the good points outweigh the bad.

  • We get to see Kurt’s new place, all five acres of his river side paradise.
  • Before I can finish my first beer, we have already recrafted a new side view mirror. Booming!
  • A hike through the forest during off and on rain reveals the grandeur of the area and I’m happy I was able to pitch in some to help him get more organized.
  • We see a big toad.

Today I got to take the kids to an old school A and W soda stand in the dry town of Blanding. Blanding gives me a little PTSD because I had some bad luck there too, but we push through and then enjoy relaxing as we prep for the real deal, camping in the mountains on the edge of the Canyonlands.

Will my string of ill luck continue or will the arrival of my college buddy turn it all around? I suppose I’ll soon see.

Saturday the 20th 2024 7:50 am

Up in the mountains loving the beauty, but strangely the ill luck continues. Now I’m not trying to moan and bitch or complain, I’m just noting how an odd string of ill luck has followed us. Not enough to ruin our good times, but when you’re taking care of other people besides yourself and have greater responsibilities such things take a higher toil.

I suppose this is interesting to note. If I was by myself, I’d probably not notice half these things, but when you are a caregiver and have an audience, these events can strike a harder chord and slow one down.

So I’ll start with saying, I don’t think I will ever reserve a hotel online, which I haven’t already been to, ever again. It was supposed to be a chance for my boys and I to have some downtime and gear up between camping. Instead, we get there and

  • Their pool is down
  • Their ice machine is down
  • I get bitten by insects all night

They did have electricity though and we manage to enjoy a few movies. At least Stratton was happy because we saw two movies with boob-

7:32 pm

Oops lost my power where was I? Saying I recharged our things…

Again, I’m not trying to be a whiner, I’m just going to point out the how this strange string of ill luck continued to plague our team of adventurers, it didn’t keep us from having a great time, but it had passed through the comical into the downright odd.

I had only purchased dry goods in Tucson thinking I would get my meat and veggies in Monticello so they’d be fresh for camp and oops. All the food there was the opposite of fresh. The lettuce was rotting on the selves, and I kid you not, they were selling grey hamburger. Why they even put it out there instead of tossing it in the trash, I’ll never understand. A sad aspect of modern man. One can drive through cows for hours but somehow the people living around them have rotten men while the folks in the city who haven’t seen a cow for months have food ten times as fresh.

I’m not sure if this counts as bad luck, but sadly the Flagon Wagon did not have the strength to get us to the top of the ridge, due to the rugged shape of the road, so we had to camp at a lower spot instead of the campground I had made. I did hike up find and then retrieve my decade old spear, however. Oh yeah.

The opposite of ill luck was being joined by one of the first people I had met when I moved to AZ in 85, Rick. Rick is a truly Stalwart man, Not only is he a jack of all trades, but he’d help you through anything both good and trying without a complaint or needing to be asked, with a smile on his face the whole time. Also, he a Cochise Brother. If you know, you know.

However, our string of bad luck appeared to be contagious. My ground-score camp stove stopped functioning and then so did his. Having a better vehicle than I, Rick attempted to race back into town and buy a new one, but upon arrival, the entire passage into town was blocked by the Poineer Day, or as he calls it the Pie and Beer Day, parade and he had to turn around or be trapped for hours.

Making do, we cooked over the fire on a grill. Rick gave me a tarp since it was raining every two hours and I had left mine behind. But besides our more limited food options our ill luck wasn’t affecting us and we hiked, gathering rocks in the stream Bobby found, saw lots of cool animals, played half a dozen games, and had a great time.

It did end too quickly and we decided to leave when Rick did, because with all the bad luck happening, I didn’t want to end up being trapped alone there with two kids. I made it back to Tucson safely, after being stuck in a 4 hour traffic jam in Pheonix where they kept 3 lanes of the highway shut down even though there was no construction taking place on a Sunday when about a 100,000 people were returning to the city from the cooler north. I won’t discuss how stupid this is other than saying the people responsible should be taken out into the desert, beaten, and then forced to walk back into town barefoot.

What is the moral of the odd turn this adventure had? I think it would be, when ill luck, or if that is too much of a magical thinking concept for you, a string of unfortunate events strikes one, it can prove your character. Someone might complain, become grumpy, and let it ruin their good time. I’d rather consider it a way to challenge one who is living a modern life which, for many of us, is far too easy.

Speaking of pioneer days. Were our ancestors using camp stoves, refreshing in hotels, getting into traffic jams, or upset they couldn’t buy fresh meat on their way into the woods? Every single problem we had is something which could only have occurred in the last hundred years if that. Our idea of challenges is only losing a few layers of our insanely luxurious lifestyles and bringing us back to a more basic state.

Ill luck for them would be broken bones, running out of food, or becoming sick and none of those things happened to us. Our bad luck was only stripping away a few decades of opulence. Did I really care? No, it just makes for a better challenge and hopefully a good story. I also hope you enjoyed it and thanks for listening.

.

.

 If you feel inclined you can check out one of my novels here and I guarantee Dak lives and exciting life.

.

WildernessPunk: Heat Gave

A few days ago, I did an odd thing, an activity most people my age and living in this desert city would think half crazed. I had to drop off my vehicle, ‘The Flagon Wagon,’ at the mechanic which was roughly five miles downhill from my place, ‘The Bone Manor.’

This was more of an upscale place which would drive you back to your place if you needed them to. My wonderful wife would have certainly gone with me or picked me up as well.

For some reason, to be honest I wasn’t completely sure at the time, but I made no arrangement to schedule a ride or be picked up.

Was I trying to test myself? Perhaps I wanted to embrace the heat of Tucson on the hottest day of the summer. Maybe I wanted to see what it’s like for the sad homeless who can’t escape this town even when the heat radiates into a furnace where every hot breath entering your lungs brings you closer to heat stroke.

Most likely, it was a mix of all three.

Also, since I wasn’t going to have my car for a while, I stopped at a store and filled up my backpack, you know, just to make it easier.

I walked by dozens of homeless on my travels. A hard 90 minutes for me, but a long agonizing day for them. Yet even those 90 minutes came to call on me. The heat blasted off the pavement and baked me as I put some grit into my step. Soon I realized my usual powerwalking might get me in trouble and I had to slow my pace. Stay more in line with the tortoise, the chuckwalla, and the indigent. Each of us slowly moving through the waves of heat with only scraps of shade provided by the occasional cactus and gnarled mesquite tree.

How is it we can drive by the homeless on our way to the store, with money stuffed plastic and riding comfortably in airconditioned machines worth more than any ten of them consume in a year, without it crushing our spirit? Maybe some of us pass the blame onto those without housing. It is their fault, laziness, maligned lifestyles, and unusually hard luck has taken them down. Perhaps a few of us think they are getting what they deserve-reaping what they have sown.

Some people try to help. A donated dollar here and there. Donating time or money to agencies. Others even assist the homeless as a profession. Knowing these agencies, which our taxes pays for, helps reduce our obligations. “Someone will take care of them.” Whatever helps us rationalize the guilt as we cruise past them to buy more food and comforts or work at a place which helps insure we never end up like the poor bastards we zoom by.

My boys and I hand out Rice Krispy Treats when we get the chance. Nobody has ever turned one down.

It makes sense to see the homeless here in Tucson during the winter. If you lived in a colder region, why wouldn’t you try to migrate here? Why remain in a place which could kill you when you can enjoy mild days and survivable nights? But why are people still here now? This time of year, the heat can kill. Anyplace would be better than here.

Why can’t they escape?

Maybe they don’t want to.

A dozen species of mammals and hundreds of types of reptiles and birds remain in the southwest throughout the summer. The desert has been their home long before our hairy little ancestors discovered fire. Why should humans be different?

Shouldn’t we try to escape if we can? Like I said in the last article, only the ultra rich and some of the homeless poor are free to move as they please. Whether it is having the capital to do well… anything, or the questionable advantage of having no strings or ties to anything which could make us free.

I wouldn’t stay in northern Alaska over the winter if I was homeless, so why do they remain here? I pass by another cluster of homeless men. They ask me for a smoke but when I say I don’t have one they leave it at that. Perhaps they think I am one of them, but probably not. I’m too pale and don’t have the dusty sun scarred faces these men possess.

Like the half-arsed anthropologist I am, I continue, just dipping into the daylong blaze they consider life. Yet even this exposure thanks its toil. My ten mile a day bike rides in Flagstaff have become well prepared dinners and luxuries here in Tucson. It’s easy to say, I’ve never had it as good as I do now. I can eat well and possess the supplies to prepare for something like this which is a good thing for my older body begins to feel the pressure of my pack as I move through the building heat.

It’s supposed to reach a 112 today. Not as bad as some places but hotter than most. People talk about humidity and I know it can make situations more deadly, but there is still something about this ‘Dry Heat.’ There is a certain lifelessness here. Every plant you see is either dead or slowly dying. Fingers and feet turn dry and crack. Tempers flare and hot vehicles cover parking lots full of stains which the rains won’t wash away for weeks.

Before I reached the final nine lanes of traffic I must cross, I sense a tugging twinge. I feel the same as I did twenty or thirty years ago, but my body gives me a little indication it’s less happy about my trek. Just a little whisper of a quickened breath and shift in my shoulder. I’ve been trapped in the summer desert before and only escaped through careful strides and thoughtful rests.

Waiting for the light brings some relief but I’m sweating so much under my Stetson, I have to wipe my eyes clean every minute. After crossing, its uphill for about a mile all the while the cars rip by on the blacktop which pounds into me with its reflective heat.

What might the drivers think of me? Do they see me as a lonely man out in the impossible heat with all his possessions crammed into my heavy backpack. This was me eight years ago, but I bet it would surprise them if they discovered I now live in a house probably nicer than most of them.

Letting them move as they will, I’m forced to slow my pace as the heat takes its toll. I know a shady place to rest once the hill levels off and I’m almost back to my air conditioned haven. Businesses dot my side of the road. Dentists, real estate agents, and spas line up like kids waiting for the bus. Would they give me a glass of water if I asked? How often do they look out over their cold drinks to see tired men shamble by?

Pressing on, I reach the crest after the heat has almost beaten me and enjoy a seat in the shade. Close now. Perhaps half a mile to go. What if this shade was the best I could hope for? What if there were so many of us there was no room left in the shade?

The number of homeless will only continue to rise in this country and around the world as resources dwindle and the price of limited housing grows ever higher. Perhaps one day there will be more homeless than homed as the mega rich horde half of the world’s incomes and buy up all the land they can.

I’ll tell you what you see when you look out your window at the sunburned man on the side of the road. You’re seeing the future and baby for most people it’s going to be a nightmare we couldn’t wrap our heads around.

Sometimes I wonder if I should be doing everything I can every moment to prep for this with my family and friends or relax by being part of the last generation to enjoy a cold one before they are gone.

What do you think?

.

.

Thanks for listening feel free to add your take below

If you like cyberpunk dystopia tales, please take a second to look over my Skinjumper novel.

.

WildernessPunk: What’s Up

I was thinking about how I started WildernessPunk eight, wow, eight years ago. Back then I had lost my boys, my job and everything I owned. I was living out of my backpack and spending most of my nights in the forest. Also, back when I began writing WildernessPunk, it was more of a journal in many respects. I spoke of my daily trails and tribs as well as my numerous travels and adventures, for as I have often said, the people who enjoy the greatest freedoms are the ultra rich and the poor with no strings and obligations.

While I was thinking about how WildernessPunk was originally more personal, I wondered if I could make it so again, but then realized for the present, at least, it remains a poor idea. It isn’t like I don’t have loads of fun and excitement or at least I feel like I do, it just seems like, despite its high points, my life has drifted back into more of the mainstream. Yep, that’s what taking care of two kids full time will do to you.

This in turn got me thinking about social interactions. Have you ever had someone ask you, “Hey, what have you been up to,” and have a hard time answering? You feel like you’re busy and doing a lot, but when someone asks you for a highlight, you realize you can’t think of anything notable enough to answer. You end up scrapping through the last two weeks to try to find something new to discuss or a funny story to tell, but they seem lackluster.

I like to think of myself as a stand up, interesting, funny, and exciting guy. On the day to day, I’m always busy, rarely doing anything like watching television or the like except maybe the last hour of the day while I’m winding down. I haven’t played a video game in 23 years and have started new and continued with many of my older hobbies. I stay creative starting and finishing projects and attempt to help others do the same.

Still, the most productive day in the world can sound boring to your buddy.

AB: “I had a rocking day yesterday. I wrote seven pages and finished a new awning.”

Buddy: “Nice.”

Perhaps it comes down to, and part of me thinks this is sad, human interactions. Humans like hearing about humans. They don’t want to hear too much about a cool lizard you saw, or how you turned a sofa into a table, they usually find the argument you heard in the Safeway parking lot more interesting.

What is interesting anyway? I guess we all think different things are interesting. But even if poker might be one of your favorite things in the world, but you might still not want to listen to another ‘bad beat’ story. Let’s try to break down what might be the general things which most people could consider an interesting topic to discuss.

Ear Perking Topics:

  • Humor
  • Stories involving aggression
  • Relationship tales, but usually the worse the better
  • Bad luck and injury tales
  • Crime and drug stories
  • Politics and ‘us versus them’ rhetoric
  • And I guess I have to include sports

Think about what sort of things are popular on the various plastic rectangles we stare at. People like supernatural and fantasy shows, true crime, comedies, action, and drama. For most of us these things happen between never and rarely, except for drama and when it comes to our own lives, we usually don’t want it.

One might mention reality shows or all the social media folks just focusing on how great they are. However, things like reality shows are usually just showing the 30 minutes high(low)lights from 168 hours of filming multiple people. Influencers are just giving people 30 second soundbites before they head off to bury their heads in their plastic rectangles for the next four hours.

So how does the modern person overcome this lacklusterness? Being a good story teller helps. I can make my wife laugh by telling her what happened to me in the grocery store line. In general, there is not automatic solution but I do have a remedy of sorts.

I believe the more you do, and getting out of your home is usually better than remaining there for this, the more you have a chance of having something interesting happen to you. Think about it. How interesting is it talking to somebody about how you wasted the last few days of your life on a chair staring at plastic while playing video games, streaming shows, or binging social media. You might have seen a tight movie or really enjoyed a game, but how interesting are those forty hours of video games going to be for anyone listening to you describe it?

Compare this too real world experiences which are usually novel, sometimes exciting, and quite often funny. I’m not saying your trip to Safeway will make your friend laugh every time, but you’re probably more likely to view something weird there than sitting in your chair. Seeing the guy kick his cell phone down the produce alle might not be Game of Thrones, but it was something you saw with your own eyes and it was real. Truth isn’t stranger than fiction, but it does have a lower bar.

Thanks for listening, now go get some air.

.

.

 If you feel inclined you can check out one of my novels here and I guarantee Dak lives and exciting life.

.

WildernessPunk: Narcissism, Debates, and Cultural World View

With the first, and probably last of the 2024 Presidential Debates coming up, I figured it would be the appropriate time to dig into the roots of the situation the United States is finding itself in the midst of. In my opinion the voters choice comes down between picking an elderly man which can function given the right assistance and support but will end up being little more than a figurehead during another term. Or we can choose a self serving evil man with profound mental illness who, if elected, will be the oldest president at the start of his term.

Just to put it out there, I’ll choose spacey over evil every time.

.

.

I’m also just going to come out and quickly state, voting for a person who has attempted to cancel democracy is an evil act and no, your stupidity won’t absolve you.

But tell us how you really feel…

I’m going to back up a bit. I like debating probably more than the next guy, and I’m reasonable skilled at the art. Just ask the midnight crews around the campfire.  However, diving back to the story during the first installments of WildernessPunk, I have lived with an unreasonable narcissist with severe mental illness. Not trying to brag, no just kidding, it was horrible, a true nightmare beyond belief.

However, I learned something during this time, a technique mostly disregarded these days, the ability to not attempt or need to prove you are right. It is freeing to realize you don’t need to prove your point no matter how certain you are you are. This also becomes easier when you’re dealing with people who don’t answer to logic, truth, and reason, no matter how eloquently they are presented.

I might be happy to get into a friendly debate, but I don’t need others to think I’m correct. The world is full of too many illogical people (See WildernessPunk 1 in 3), and I don’t have the time or inclination to educate the corrupted masses. What could I say in fifteen minutes which nine years of evidence couldn’t prove?

So why are people still following the orange monster?

To even the most casual observer, he is obviously a very racist, completely self-serving narcissist. He has no loyalty to allies. No one can work with him for much more than a year. Listen, if you were single would you date someone like that? I know evil is a subjective, perhaps even a religious concept, but by all standard definitions of evil, tRump is a hopelessly evil person. There will be no insight or redemption for this man or anyone who follows in his wake.

So why are people still supporting this horrible candidate who stands against what the US and most religions stand for?

Instead of diving into the propaganda machines and social media, I’m taking another avenue, let’s investigate one of the primary reasons cults work on people over time. Many people who join cults come to a point where they might disagree with a new outrageous tenant or demand asked of them. They might have a severe issue with certain things so why don’t the cards all come crashing down?

One of the primary reason people remain in this disintegrating situation is because deciding the path you’re following is wrong means you have to admit you’ve been an ignorant individual who has made horrible choices for the last nine years and there is really nothing harder for a person to admit. “Not only was I manipulated and wrong, but I’ve been wrong for years and years.”

Could you do it?

Also keep in mind anyone who’s gotten divorced has done it and a lot of people have gotten divorced. Many have escaped cults as well, but they report this is one of the strongest reasons they stayed far past when they should have. Sometimes it was easier for them to double-down despite the ludicrous nature of the cult, than to have the courage to admit they have been played like an ignorant dope for years.

This brings us back to Ernest Becker and his theory of Cultural World View which I have mentioned before. It would state if, let’s say, I try to talk to a tRump supporter and explain to him how he is an evil man in the mold of Hitler, but with only a tenth the intelligence, they will not be hearing my wise words about why tRump is a racist megalomanic who uses the masses like slaves to attempt to get what he desires. Instead, they will become defensive, because since they serve tRump and have chosen him, an attack on their leader will be seen as an attack on them, their decisions, and their lifestyle.

It isn’t so much the man himself as their choice to attach themselves to him emotionally. Since their support of tRump is part of their identity, an attack on tRump is a personal attack on them. If he is determined to be the worst president in modern times, then by association they have become a duped fool. So, they will obviously fight dentures and false nails to defend their mired leader and therefore be the one who, “Sees it how it really is.”

So what is my point here? Perhaps if someone is disgusted by tRump but only watching Fox News, a little data could shift their perspective, but I’m not going to waste my time trying to point out facts to a person who has had nine years to decode something as painfully obvious as tRump is the evil villain in this comic book we attempt to call US politics. If nine years of daily stupidity, insanity, and evil hasn’t proved it, what will me wasting nine minutes do?

However, if it pisses them off and I’m rolling with an icy cold one, I might just do it anyway.

.

.

Thanks for listening feel free to add your take below

If you like cyberpunk dystopia tales, please take a second to look over my Skinjumper novel.

.

WildernessPunk: Choices

When it comes to freewill and choices, we have all heard the usual Nature versus Nurture debate. After working in the mental health field for a quarter of a century, I concede, many of our choices are governed by how we were raised and what we’ve experienced. But at the same time, even though I was raised by a feminist activist, I’m still often thinking… boobies!

It might be easy to jump into your favorite side of this debate and dig in, and don’t get me started on predeterminism, but I’d like to toss a third factor into this discussion. This third concept is Choice.

Let me back up a little first. Since I began the process of moving into what I hope will be the last place I will ever live, I’ve been binge reading two Jonathan Maberry series. First, during the fall, it was his Pine Deep novels, and since then I’ve been sprinting through the Joe Ledger series.

Then, when I’m in the middle of my 6th Joe Ledger novel, I find out JM is going to be in Tucson for the big University of Arizona Book Festival. Waking early on a Sunday, I head to the U to hear him speak on writing and designing villains. While speaking on how to develop an adversary for your protagonist, he mentioned he didn’t believe in nature and nurture as much as choice.

He explained one of his personal reasons why he thought this was true. When Maberry was young his father was abusive and beat him and his sisters. When he grew older, Maberry once asked his father why he’d been so horrible to them and his father had brushed it off by saying, “That was just how he was raised.” Maberry took this in and realized he had been raised the same way his father was, but had chosen not to be abusive, so in the end it remained his choice to follow this destructive legacy or break the dysfunctional mold.

In his eyes, nature didn’t make him an abuser and even though nurture could have, he still had a choice of how he would lead his own life and he walked his own path, which included never being physically abusive to anyone he cared about.

Of course this is just one man’s story, but I believe it shines light on an important point. If we had chosen to let nurture guide our hands what would the world look like now? Would we still be living in the dark ages, with people owning slaves, and women not being allowed to vote?

I think the speed with which our culture is changing has thrown the nurture argument under the electric bus. If humans never moved beyond what we’re taught, we would’ve never progressed to where we are now. People need to break away from how they might have experienced life to culturally and socially evolve.

Examples of mindsets we would all still possess if only Nurture controlled our Ethics:

  • Slavery is acceptable
  • Women are inferior
  • Children should be abused
  • The poor should be forced to die in wars against their will
  • No room for social and economic advancement
  • The poor can be ignored and used
  • Might always makes right
  • We need to worship various myths and believe unseen deities control our lives

I think we will find Nature is not much better. If we never evolved and made choices to improve ourselves and rise above our animal needs, we would see a world much different, and I doubt we would have advanced far enough to be able to engage in something as ancient as learning to herd animals.

Examples of mindsets and behaviors we would still retain if we let nature rule us:

  • Indiscriminate mating
  • Alpha male mating control
  • Food hording
  • Cross-male infanticide
  • No true language
  • No written language
  • No attempts at morals
  • No exploration
  • Slow/no innovations

Both lists could certainly go on, but I think you can see my point. In the debate between Nature and Nurture many fail to see our species and culture would have remained unable to advance if these were the only avenues we relied upon. Either we would have stayed in a prehuman evolutionary state, or we would be mired in our cruelest incarnations.

Over time it has been the forces of empathy leading to men and women making different choices than their forbearers which allowed us to advance beyond our more primitive animal state and our often barbaric and violent uncaring natures. Nature and Nurture may still influence, and at times control us, but as our species continues to advance and become more caring and free, it is the ability to make the right choices to socially evolve which will guide us to a better future and give us a chance to help all life survive on this overcrowded world we call home.

.

.

Grab my Cyberpunk novel here. Dak has been hired to chase down the Skinjumper clones, he biggest problem, he’s dating one.

.

WildernessPunk – Restless

I know I’m a lucky guy, an extremely happy guy. Sure, I’ve tasted defeat, drama, and trauma but I’ve pulled through, triumphed, and moved past obstacles which had once seemed one degree below insurmountable. I’m sure I’m not special in this. I would bet most of the people reading have suffered through similar experiences.

I’m not looking to dredge up old nonsense, instead I’m wondering why I’m feeling so restless and antsy lately. If you will allow me to wax personal for a moment, I have a wife sixty times better than I would have thought possible. Every day I wonder how such a fantastic person can even exist; let alone how I could be the one who gets to hug her. I have my children back and they went from traumatized and tortured to doing well and being happy most of the time. I have loads of free time to write, plant, get some carpentry in, and I get to game several times a month.

I’m living a life some people could only dream of, but why am I a little grumpy and oh so freaking restless?

Are there things I once had which I’m now missing? If there is it might just be silly things like writing in a tavern instead of my home or being inspired through homelessness and wanderlust. Why should I need things like waking up in the woods alone or driving through the desert with no destination in mind to ah…free my mind. And it isn’t like my mind isn’t freed. I’m writing this and not working in a coal mine or such.

Still, it’s there. Like an itch in the center of your shoulder blades.

Why, when I’m living the best life I’ve ever had, do I feel, as the 814 crew might say, a little slush core?

Self Imposed Suckage:

I’m going to discuss the past for a moment. Perhaps you can relate or perhaps you’ll think I’m more than a bit nuts. Either way, here goes.

When I was younger, I led a privileged life.  I’m certainly not from some ultra rich family, but I had what I needed.

Growing up I always wanted to be tested. I liked to imagine what would happen if I had to face down a bear or a serial killer. Of course, I was tested here and there. I liked to challenge myself. I made my own house in a swamp when I was a teen. I have camped out for ten days with barely enough food and have even run out of beer!

Still, I feel like certain times I have put myself in hard situations on purpose. I could have gotten a great job after college, but what if I tried Meth instead. I’m not trying to rewrite history, but for a long time I only allowed myself to date women who I considered losers because I didn’t want to contaminate a good woman and yep, that became quite challenging.

Punk rocks squats, homelessness, and psycho chicks aren’t an easy path, but I really think a lot of it was testing myself. I’d had it so good, I needed to feel a challenge. I wasn’t able to hunt a boar for my dinner or rescue my mate from cannibals, so I settled on going on a road trip with a bunch of broke unreliable people.

Is any of this making sense to you? Maybe you feel you’re tested enough. But I’m not talking about living from paycheck to almost paycheck or having a shitty job or a crappy partner. I’m looking into the real dirt in your mouth, lost in the forest, type of thing. Humanity can cause you more troubles than a thousand pages could illustrate and yes, human versus human thrills can build character, but there’s still a different type of challenge one feels when you’re in a situation where all the fast talking in the world can’t save you and no one is coming to your aid.

Life Testing Attributes:

  • More potent if you are doing it alone
  • Nature is the ultimate test
  • Naturally occurring tests are better than invented/mainstream challenges (Skydiving etc)
  • The less resources, the greater the challenge
  • Both mind and body can be tested

Am I restless because I’m not being tested? Yes, I know I’m tested every day still. However, I think there is a difference between passing the test to be at a certain place at a certain time day after day versus getting trapped in a downpour, in the forest, and trying to make a protective roof out of bark so your laptop isn’t destroyed. How they differ is that one is a test of living through the grind while the other is unexpected chaos which you might never experience again.

Some might argue human situations are chaotic. I could test myself by walking down an alley at midnight and only run into trouble on my eighty-fourth try. Yet this brings up the weakness of human interaction tests. A woman meeting a man for a first date is taking a safety risk, but she could live her whole life without such things going wrong, while nature is more consistent. Every time I hike the Canyonlands it’s going to be hard.

I’m going to give these three types of challenges names and provide a quick definition.

Civilized Grind:

Experienced differently by everyone but usually involves repetitive challenges such as attending work, caring for children, cleaning, shopping, paying bills, and other tasks which keep a household living safely and productively.

Human Friction:

Whether physical or emotional, when someone must overcome challenges brought to bear against them by other humans.

Environmental Challenges:

When one is faced with challenges beyond human control such as the weather, temperature, and the natural setting.

So again, does my restlessness stem fromonly being tested by the Civilized Grind and not enough Environmental Challenges? Human Friction can challenge one too, but often dissolves to mere bickering and splitting hairs over mundainia. Harder human issues lead to stress and more often than not cause more troubled feelings than victories.

As a father of small children and a loving husband, I think I’d hesitate to say, I deserve a weeklong vacation in the forest…wish daddy luck, if I screw up, I’m not coming back. Also, long solo drives into the backlands seem inappropriate somehow. I’m not just risking myself. Not to sound egocentric, but my family needs me.

So what is an adventure seeking, but busy and responsible, WildernessPunker to do?

Here are a few ideas I have thought of which helped.

  • Bring the party to me.

Figure out a few ways to supply enough action that a few folks are willing to cruise over.

  • Construct things on the cheap

Make supplies/objects for yourself with reused resources in an environmentally friendly manner.

  • Embrace your creative drive

Whatever it is, feed the fire of your creative goals, dreams, and projects.

These are just a few ideas which help me keep restlessness at bay, but I think I’m still going camping anyway.

Thanks for your time and remember to embrace the adventure.

.

.

If you feel like it, consider looking up my Cyberpunk novel. Detective Dak is asked to hunt down all the clones in New Cluster but is in love with one of them.

.