Tag: Environmentalism

WildernessPunk:  Ten Years

For the handful of people who have followed my journey, or are at least aware of it, in two days I’m going to have my tenth anniversary of leaving the Illusion of what most consider ‘The Real World,’ behind me. April 9th 2016 was the last day I was allowed to work at the job I’d had for over twelve years. I was fired because certain lies were leaked to the paper. In a way, this was alright with me for it was harder to make a proper presentation at my former place of employment after I was set up and hit the floor hard. At the time losing my ability to see my young boys, have access to any of the possessions I spent decades accumulating, and have a stream of decent income sent me into a spiral of struggle, oscillating between camping in the forest, couch surfing, and traveling when able.

Although WildernessPunk would officially begin four months later, in truth it had begun the day I’d lost my job three days after already losing my boys and everything I owned. Sure, I still pay my taxes for goods and I’m back to driving a car presently, but in many ways I turned my back on trying to live a normal life ten years ago and set out on my own trail. This path, after years of terror and torment, did lead to me gaining complete custody of my boys and getting married to a woman better than I ever imagined a person could be. So yes, I am no iconoclastic writer living in the forest on the fringe of civilization, (Anymore) my children attend schools and I shop at Albertsons. I admit, as much as I’d like to deny or avoid it, I’m part of the culture, an American culture which values blood over food, and money over common sense.

As the belt of overpopulation and climate change tightened around our gluttonous country we had two real choices. Embrace the future and channel tax dollars into alterative energies and shift to human focused funding or double down on the last of a dying system.

One favored old money and the billionaires, so I guess we know which one the appointed fascists picked. The only thing which surprised me was how quickly we started killing people so we could steal their resources. This leaves me to wonder; if we are doing this now, while things are still clinging to the illusion of a status quo, what will our government be like if we really start to run dry on resources?

I’m sure we’ll find out before another ten years has passed.

Funny how my experience which began ten years ago has mirrored our country’s experiences in many ways. Ten years ago, our normal was replaced by trashy hate and blatant lies much as my personal life was.

 After Covid we returned to some level of normalcy but there was always the fear of the madness and blatant hate lurking in the background, ready to pounce. With the aid of the villainous billionaires, a raging hate filled narcissist was able to convince the majority of voters that hate was more important than prosperity and racism was more important that billionaires stealing their dreams, while making their own more bloated and grotesque.

So where has ten years of lies and hate gotten us?

Murder, war, genocide…sounds like I’m reading someone’s holy book.

As supplies run short and the climate turns more once fertile farmland into desert, I have a feeling that lies about who one should hate will lead to more wars and murder, while those who can, steal for those who can’t fight back. I suppose the real question is, are we going to bounce back from this? Will we get leaders willing to spend money on people and renewable energy instead of fear, thievery, and death, or is this the beginning of the new us?

How do you feel about this being the new you? Is the death of hundreds of Venezuelans worth lowering our gas prices by ten cents for two weeks? How do you like being part of the infrastructure of this country who bombs babies for billionaires?

I know I’m not keen on the idea and I hope we get a swing back to rational. Remember we just have to keep as much of the truly real world, and by this I mean our biodiversity, alive until the lights go out. Even if we don’t make it, maybe some of the animals can, and I’m more inclined to vote for them.

Check back in with me in another ten years. Who knows maybe we’ll all be WildernessPunkers by then.

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You can grab more WildernessPunk or find out how it started at its main site here.

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WildernessPunk:  Within the Evil Empire

Looking back at my younger days I think I was sixteen when I first began to become enlightened enough to know most of what I was presented with was manipulation, lies, and undue sense of temporal importance. During college, my Anthropology degree exposed me to the swath of horrors the US and the rest of the more developed world inflicted on the underdeveloped countries. By the time I reached a Punk Rock crescendo in 1992, while publishing my underground Zine C.H.A.O.S (Collected Humans Against Outdated Systems), I was around twenty-five and I decided that many of the larger US corporations, and the government which was owned by them, were more evil than not.

Funny how they attempted to keep those things hidden back them.

Not anymore.

But what do you do when you live within an evil empire? Some things like funding Israel, invading Middle Eastern countries so we or they can oppress people, and the like, have always loomed over us. Things are no longer half hidden deals made by the elite behind closed doors, we live in an age where you can see how vile and dangerous our country has become on an hourly basis.

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I’ve mentioned before that in an issue of C.H.A.O.S I predicted when the environment degrades to a level which effects profits and resources become scarcer, the rules would change. The government, and the money which controls it, will no longer bother playing nice. Instead of investing in green technology or funding schools instead of soldiers, they will lock themselves in their mega-mansions and refuse to change a game they are winning. The billionaires and their sick-o-phants have chosen to bleed every drop they can from the plants, animals, and peoples of this planet until it wastes away. Even then, the military will protect them so they can live off the corpse they created as long as they can.

This article is not about exposing the horrors of the ultra-rich, that’s already been done. Instead, I am asking myself and you… what do we do when we are living within a country set on the edge of becoming an actively evil empire, both without and within?

I mean this on a daily basis. What should you do now? What should you do tomorrow? What is it alright to do on a casual basis? Is it okay for me to post funny memes on Facebook or should I be trying every minute to fight back against the system which has threatened to do their best to transform the people they don’t arrest and kill, into little more than employed slaves staring at screens and hoping we can still afford food next month.

There is something to say for the “Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down,” contingent. “I not going to let them ruin my life,” is a worthy sentiment. Certainly, we should keep and cherish the moments we get to spend in nature, and with friends and family. We must remember what we’re fighting for and what normal is. Also maintaining a sense of humor, even through the worst of times, is a noble and powerful thing.

Yet we also must avoid ignoring the tragedy of our times and treat this as a, ‘New Normal.’ As the environment starts its death throes, and this is hurried along by data farms, all of us will have to define our own New Normal. Clinging on to our past assumptions and lifestyles like some half assed versions of the elite which are roasting us while they prepare their bunkers, doesn’t seem like a long term solution.

But is harping on it with daily memes to people who mostly agree with you doing any more? I get the need to make a statement about how much it sucks to see the world screwed over by assholes you wouldn’t let into your Dungeons and Dragon’s game, but is this any better than showing people food pics?

If I decided I wanted to do something to fight back and posting memes wasn’t the way, what would I do? Political action? Fight like tigers against a gerrymandered system to let in people who won’t grow the military but will let it remain at its ponderous size, while hiring more police, and still only using fractions of our wealth to provide for the people living on the edge? The poor get a bandaid while as the climate, health insurance, and economy grows worse there will just be more and more poor and homeless as AI erases jobs and tears through the environment.

Protest? Besides some cool drone shots on CNN have the two biggest protests in US history stopped us from killing people in Venezuela? Has voting kept someone who we 100% knew was evil out of the White House?

So what can we do?

How about everything we can. Spread the word. Make people think. Outside of your own bubble would be best. Don’t preach to the converted use guerilla tactics to spread ideas. We live in the information age but if people’s eyes are whitewashed by propaganda it doesn’t matter because they don’t have a chance to see reality. They need to have a chance to find it out themselves.

Perhaps Truth could be the new conspiracy theory. People can research unseen web sites and discover…oh wait. I didn’t know that was real. I never looked at it this way before. No one has ever told me about this.

Maybe stickers would do what algorithms can’t. Perhaps it is time to stop living and arguing online and through talking heads and instead, be in the same room and engage. That guy might be wearing a MAGA hat, but unless he’s more than a millionaire we’re all going to be swimming in the same flash flood in the next few years.

Personally, I give the US about one more year, maybe fourteen months.

Time to do two things. Fight for every inch you can and get ready for the real battle to come.

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Dak is ordered to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s in love with one.

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WildernessPunk:  Data Centers and Scrolling to Death

When we speak of the dangers of Doom Scrolling it is usually involves the psychological damage to the individual and our culture. Some worry about the time and money which may be wasted binge watching streamed shows while nothing is accomplished other than increasing your waistline. Others speak out on the economic impact of services like Amazon who horde consumer spending profits while local businesses are destroyed,

However, all these things have a darker more hidden aspect which is rarely discussed and this is the use of Data Centers. It is hard to track the number of Data Centers in the US because Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft, and a few others do their best to keep the plants undiscovered. They rightly fear that if the truth was known about the real costs of these facilities even Americans might consider changing their habits.

All the You Tube videos, streamed movies, music, catalogs of endless products, and so many things we adore are all kept ‘live’ in these data centers. Most of us enjoy our online fun…but at what cost?

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The cost we pay for these Data Centers is almost beyond human understanding. Just one small Data Center in Nebraska, for instance, uses the same energy in a year to provide electricity to 400,000 homes during the same period. The percentage of total energy use in the United States by Data Centers rose 9% in the last 10 years bringing it currently up to 12% of our nation’s total energy use. The introduction of AI is estimated to raise this energy need more than 10 times bringing from 7.5 Kilowatts per hour to 85 Kilo Watts per hour. So depending on how things could work out, we could be looking at the need to create 5 times as many Data Centers as we already have so they can drain 60% of the energy we currently produce within the United States. In other words, we’ll have to produce about 50% more than we currently do, just to support AI and Date Centers.

Such things as green energy we acquire from hydroelectric dams, solar, and wind farms become a side note and won’t even cover half of this requirement while leaving 100% of our normal energy requirements untouched. Things like solar panels on your own roof have zero effect on this energy burden. Yes, they power the electricity your television, Alexia use to run, and charge your cell, but that is just the smallest fraction of the energy these services require to bring you data from the cloud.

For example, things like printed books pay off their energy production requirement in the first ten minutes of reading an e-book. Depending on how fast you read, a six hundred page e-book costs the same amount of energy and resources to print 20 books which can be reread, shared, gifted, inherited, or resold.

If pollution or the effects of Climate Change matter to you, then you should keep in mind these centers currently emit 300,000 Kilograms of greenhouse gases and pollution an hour. Again, if the AI cost ups this by the estimated factor of 10 we are looking at 3,000,000 KG of pollution per hour or 26,280,000,000 KG a year. This makes any sad attempt we might try to lower Greenhouse gases laughable. How can we expect to lower anything when the introduction of AI will create over 26 Trillion KG of pollution which wasn’t even there 15 years ago and this is just centers in the US. Any benefits you created by taking public transportation to work are erased by streaming a two hour movie or scrolling 20 minutes on your cell.

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The horror doesn’t end there. The real danger, the true threat to many of us, in our decade long drought ridden regions, is the amount of water these Data Centers require. Currently Data Centers use a million gallons of water daily or 1.83 billion gallons a year. If we assume the ten-fold increase AI could require we are looking at 18,300,000,000 gallons a year. Places like Los Vegas, Pheonix, and Tucson will become ghost towns as the water dries up, property values sink to pennies on the dollar, and a fifth on the country’s population becomes climate refugees.

If you think there is an economic gain for the communities allowing these Data Centers to come in rob them of their water, increasing their energy bills, while droning 24/7 loud enough to rattle windows, think again, for some states are giving them up to a billion dollars in tax exempt discounts while they only hire around 100 employees from the area.

What is the answer when conserving energy, water, and controlling pollution becomes useless? The world was barely concerned with Climate Change before and big tech drove a dagger through the heart of any attempt to keep it under control and AI requirements will finish the job.

Look, I get it. I’m still using the internet too. I am currently a big fan of You Tube, my kids stream shows, and I hate to say it, but I love listening to music on our Alexia, while I cook. You are reading this online article, I posted, on a screen and before you got to the end it undid any savings you created riding your bike to the grocery store or using an energy efficient dishwasher might have saved you.

So what is the answer, sell your Alexia, toss your cell phone into a river, and see if you can still find a blue ray for sale? I don’t think we have the ability or self control to do a lot of those things. However, keep in mind any use of AI is a stab through the environment’s heart. It isn’t cool, it’s criminal. All things done offline should be rewarded and admired. Do as little online as your sanity and employment will allow you to get away with. Lastly realize moving any practice that wasn’t online to online is not an advancement toward anything except ensuring our culture’s quickly approaching destruction.

Author’s note: I know I threw out a lot of facts and figures I gleaned from multiple sources and failed to reference them. I looking to do a deeper dive into the source material and perhaps produce a more detailed article on this subject in the near future which will include references.

Thank you, I’m off to prepare a Role Playing Game for my wife which will create a zero carbon footprint and requires no online assistance. Prepare yourself for you own future and…roll initiative.

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Dak is ordered to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s dating one.

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The Top Ten Easy Ways Everyone Can Help Protect our Environment

1. Only Read Real Books.

Reading a 400 page e-book using roughly 40 times the energy as reading a printed book and printed books can be reread and shared.

2. Grow a Garden

Even vegans use 60% as much energy as the most carnivorous consumer due to transportation and growing costs. Growing a garden is the best method to combat this huge cost of food production.

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3 Engage in Silence

Many of us now feel we need a podcast, music cranking from an Alexa, or a YouTube video blasting all the time. Intelligence, personality, and peace grow in silence. Also, any streamed media uses a huge amount of energy.

4. Do Whatever it Takes to Minimize Wasting Food

In the US it is estimated that some families waste up to 1/3 of the food they buy. This hurts their wallet as well as the environment. All the food the US wastes could feed Mexico and the energy used to create it could fuel 100% of the energy needs for three Tanzanias. (Also save roughly a 1000$ per person a year.)

5, Have Driving Free Days

If we all the people in the US pledged to not drive at least one day a week we would save 4 billion dollars a month and roughly 50 billion a year.

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(Low ball estimate of 5 dollars a day x 4 = 20$ x 200,000,000 drivers = 4 billion$ or for you about 40$ a month and 500$ a year. No driving = sometimes as much as 3,500 a year. I didn’t drive for 19 of my adult years so 66,500$ or about 4 x what I paid for my last car.)

6. Make a Compost Pit

Any veggies you throw away have their nutrients wasted while it creates more greenhouse gases. Instead, you can make a part of your yard full of bountiful life or, of course, use this nutrient rich soil in your garden.

7. Find a Hobby Which Can Use Recycled Products

We’ve all heard of the three Rs, but what about doing these things ourselves? Preserve veggies with old jars, make art out of items once bound for the landfill, start plants in plastic containers, or my personal favorite, make Dungeons and Dragons scenery out of former trash.

8. Try to Order Things by Delivery as Seldom as Possible

I know this is a hard one for some people, but remember if you really needed something you would already have it. Plan all your future requirements so they are gathered in one trip, preferably on your way to do some other tasks and not some giant truck running 20 trips after the crap has already been shipped across the Pacific.

This goes the same for ordering food delivered. These days it costs almost twice as much as it would have if you picked it up on your way home or about 10 times as much if you made it yourself. It is also wasteful and horrible for the planet. If you shop once a week just think of each Door Dash as doubling your carbon footprint for getting food on the table.

9. Find Hobbies and Pastimes You Can Enjoy Without Wasting Resources

Not everything in life must be streamed. Social media, Netflix, online video games have huge energy costs. Our ancestors didn’t need any of this crap to be happy. Do things for fun which help the planet instead of hurt it or buy things with one and done costs, like printed books, board games, horseshoes, cooking, and bike riding. Watch out or you might even burn a few calories and get some muscle tone back.

10. Don’t Use Artificial Intelligence

AI wastes a huge amount of energy to use. Create yourself, educate yourself, come on you are better than this.

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Dak is asked to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s dating one.

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WildernessPunk:  The Mask is Off and Fascism is Here

When I was about 16 I came to the realization our government was not to be trusted and acted accordingly. I also became an anarchist of sorts for I certainly made my own rules on what was appropriate and what wasn’t and strived to live by them. About 8 years later, I had learned more about third world exploitation and read a great deal on what fascism really was/is. In 1992 I wrote an article called Friendly Fascism in issue 7 of the underground zine C.H.A.O.S or Collected Humans Against Outdated Systems.

At the time I believed the United States was a country controlled by Fascists and would be Fascists, but back then they kept the mask on. Democrats wanted you to think of them as the party of humanitarianism and Republicans just wanted to keep government small, almost like anarchists, right?

I also knew, and I know I’ve dived into this more than a few times, that once the environment started to collapse and there were less goods for more people, the governments would turn to Fascism and do everything in its power to make sure the mega-rich could still enjoy their luxurious lifestyles while the world slowly suffered and burned.

What I didn’t expect is how quickly the mask of normalcy would come off, get tossed away, and burned. We went from getting checks to help us survive Covid to masked military invading our cities in less than 4 years.

But do you believe the United States is Fascist? Do you think the Dems will lick em’ in the midterms? Is the USA going to bounce back in a few years and inflation will chill while Generation Z starts a new middle class and begins buying up homes?

Well in case you are on the fence here are the eighteen signs a country has become fascist, all of which the United States has adopted.

Eighteen Signs You Live in a Fascist Country

  • Using Secret Police
  • Denying Reality with Constant Lies
  • Controlling Media
  • Normalizing Corruption
  • Rejecting Election Results
  • Controlling Education
  • Using the Military on Civilians
  • Appointing Incompetent Loyalists
  • Rewriting History
  • Ignoring Due Process
  • Labeling Minorities as Enemies
  • Using Fear to Gain Power
  • Replacing Science with Ideology
  • Accusing Others of Your Crimes
  • Protecting Criminal Loyalists
  • Normalizing Political Violence
  • Suppressing the Vote
  • Erasing and Faking Government Data

Think about it, really think about it. If a government is doing eighteen of the key forms of Fascism, is it Fascist?

I’m going to say yes.

I guess the question is what are we going to do about it now? Lots of people are doing many things to fight against it, but posting memes doesn’t count. Being depressed doesn’t count. Bitching and moaning doesn’t count unless you do something afterwards.

The people in the country and most others must come to some realizations and do it quickly.

  • Is the environment going to become more plentiful? No.
  • Is the middle class going to grow? No
  • Are the ultra greedy going to give what they have taken back? No.
  • Are huge percentages of the population going to suddenly wake up and turn on the overlords they idolize? No.
  • Is someone coming to help you? No.
  • Are we in trouble? Yes.

When the tanks come riding into your town are you going to be able to ride it out? When the neighbor’s children ask you for your food can you say no? When your son is drafted so we can steal the resources from another country, are you going to hide him?

I wish I had answers but I’m not sure I do. Trying to buy land with water somewhere sounds reasonable, but not everyone can do that. If they catch you living free and autonomously they will come for you if they can.

In the book, Replace the State by Sasha Davis, he strongly suggests one of the best ways to fight against a corrupt state is to develop local communities, families and individuals who can work together and help each other. Fascists can always triumph over the individual. Joining together, creating reciprocity, and doing your best to survive off the grid is a powerful first step.

A second is unplug and I mean from everything as much as you can. Not just social media, but e-books, video games, GPS, apps, and streaming. Do things with your hands. When AI takes your job and the national guard are patrolling your streets wearing masks and carrying rifles, what’s going to matter more, how many hits someone else’s meme you posted got, or that you made a better awning for your garden?

Step up, stand tall, and shout out.

We can survive this and maybe our grandchildren will be riding horses over the seas of grass.

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Dak is asked to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s dating one.

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The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective People

I recently wrote a piece called The Seven Habits of Highly Annoying People and I felt I didn’t get enough pushback, so I figured I would take it up a notch, while bringing the topic closer to Steven Cove’s famous book. It could be fun to just reverse what he proposed, but I figured it would be superior to shoot for something more original.

There are many things which could make a person ineffective, but I’m trying to avoid wide concepts like being lazy, wasting time, or not having real goals. Each of these subjects could be a different article or a book. I’m going for a bit more specific and things one could improve without therapy, medications, and a life coach.

  1. Procrastination

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say, I waited to the last minute and everything turned out better.Part of the creative process is coming up with what you need but then thinking about it, reviewing it, and making changes before you present the completed project. None of this happens if you do something last minute. The one thing doing something important at the last minute accomplishes is a high chance you won’t be able to complete it at all.

No one is impressed by seeing you waiting to the final moment and cramming. If you are doing something for them, it just looks like you don’t really care and its almost worse than doing zero. Nothing says love more than wrapping some Circle K chocolate on the way home to your anniversary.

2. Unprepared

Sure, when I was twenty it was alright to be invited to a friend’s place and find a sink full of dirty dishes, no beer in the fridge, and the only thing to eat was a spilled bag of chips in the middle of the table we needed to use. However, we should get back to showing a little class or maybe just showing off. What are you waiting for, to turn eighty and have half as many friends? Put you best boot forward and try to wow people. Don’t wait until people show up and then ask them to help you move chairs like it is a privilege to be at your place, because if you haven’t prepared, it isn’t.

Face it, people don’t want to leave their home these days. Going over to your place might be more of an obligation than a prize, so don’t fuck it up and sweep the damn floors and have some soft fucking cheese for Yig’s sake.

Saying I’m a Martha Stewart fan would be like saying the Ramones liked long songs, but there was one thing she said about hosting events at your house I took to heart. She stated everything should be done before the day of the event. If you are shopping and cleaning right up to when people walk in you feel dirty, tired, and perhaps full of resentment because these people made you work so hard. I do not care if it is a BBQ, birthday party, or hosting a poker night, be an adult and have everything prepared in advance and there better be ice in that damn cooler.

3, Don’t Listen to Experts

If you think you already know everything, I’m surprised you’ve read this far. Why would you need to read this article, watch a YouTube video, or get a book on the subject.

In this world of micro specialization, unless you are sitting on the back of a yacht, I find it almost impossible to imagine there isn’t thousands or perhaps millions of people who knows more about a subject than you. Perhaps you know 90% more than a person, but they could still open your eyes to their take on that last 10%.

No one can do it better than you? Why? Do you have some magic powers you haven’t shared? Being someone who wants to start something from zero because they know better, is like people who want to write a book but don’t read.

4. Base Your Ethics on Magick and Superstition

Religions, I’m calling you out. You aren’t some sort of de facto concept the unbrainwashed need to consider.Face it, religions are all just larger cults. They engage in Magickal thinking. People were created with Magick. Magick controls our lives. There are Magickal Gods which take our Magickal souls to a Magickal place.

Can I sell you folks some Magic Beans?

If you are basing your ethics on religions which said slavery was acceptable, like the big three Abrahamic religions, then you’ve ground to a halt before you started. Quit being a cave man. The Earth is round and rotates around the sun and your sky daddy is about as real as a hydra, unless it is to All-Father snake Yig who, by the way, said your God is fake and he is the real creator of the universe.

Prove me wrong.

5. Distance yourself from the Natural

Remember what Froggy said in Repo Man? “The more you drive the stupider you get.” I think this goes for most technology, or at least unhealthier. Each machine or device we possess removes us further from the natural and probably does its best to keep your extra pounds on.

Once you could have quietly found a meditative state raking your leaves while getting some fresh air and maintaining upper body tone, Pah, where is the fun of doing anything which doesn’t create more pollution? Let’s get a loud ass leaf blower. It burns fossil fuels, wisps away the natural environment plants need to thrive, while making all my neighbors miserable. What a win, but I saved forty minutes. Now I can scroll Instagram for two hours!

If there is such a thing as Magick in this world, it is held in the bosom of nature. The further we remove ourselves from this interaction the more psychosis will develop. Healthy minds and bodies need to embrace the outdoors.

6. Base Your Beliefs on Emotions Instead of Facts

The world isn’t a wish factory. Just because you want something to be doesn’t mean you get it. Are you a billionaire? No, and if you somehow are, fuck off. Does wishing something was true make it so with anything else? Money, health issues, family relationships, employment, does it change just because you wish it so? Why would the rest of the world do so?

  • You don’t like GBLTQA+ so that makes it wrong.
  • You think immigrants in the US commit more crimes than MAGA supporters so it makes it so.
  • We can give the ultra-rich our Medicare money but your life will still get better soon.
  • We’ll lick them next time guys. Countries aren’t spiraling toward danger. Politics will solve these problems soon. Everything is just the same ol, same ol.
  • Animals and the environment are not in danger so let’s put in a pool, fly all over the globe, and shut down the EPA.

How can anyone expect things to work out when they turn a blind eye to what is real. You may not think its true but reality can give you a slap down no matter what you believe.

7. Spend your time watching other people make money

Every time you watch a movie, binge a television show, scroll through Facebook, or indulge in YouTube you are just watching someone making money, or at least trying to, while you erase a few hours of life and fail to burn off a few calories.

Video games are pretty much the same. Sure, they are fun but you are paying for their new car with the hours of your life, and when you are finally done, they are a bit richer and you are closer to death, a little poorer, and a tad more out of shape.

Some people try to create for themselves or maybe think of a new project which could make some positive change in their lives, while others just burn electricity watching other people live their lives instead of improving your own. Other’s experiences and imaginations aren’t yours. Shut of the glowing rectangle and make create your own scenes, situations, and adventures.

Thanks for listening and may all the magic snakes bless you.

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Dak is asked to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s dating one.

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WildernessPunk: Mule Creek

Been a rough week.

Years from now this will just be a crazy week we vaguely remember, except for the families of the people our president illegally murdered to help bury the largest protest the US had ever seen. For us now, we are living it. Should we be angry and fight against the polished shoes of fascism, or should we be clinging to our personal norm?

Still, what can we do daily? Does reminding our closest peeps what a shitshow our country is on Facebook each day matter? Is it preaching to a choir or just beating people on the head? “Guess what, the administration is evil.”

“Yeh bro, I think we know.”

No one hasn’t made up their mind by now. If you find someone, I’ll by them a beer and then Title-36 them.

Instead of planning to topple my regional headquarters of ICE, I’m prepping to take my boys up into the mountains surrounding Mule Creek New Mexico, so I guess I’m sticking to norms, unless going to Mule Creek isn’t normal. I suppose I’ll figure it out.

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Yeah Mule Creek wasn’t too normal. Funny thing about the internet and maybe AI. I Youtube searched for Mule Creek New Mexico. First hit was the top 10 restaurants in Mule Creek. I stopped watched halfway through because A) I have already seen enough to satisfy any normal appetite and B) I knew it had to be non-sense and it was. You can’t even get a warm glass of water there. There were also videos about Obsidian Ridge. I saw no evidence of such or anything approaching a road or sign. So much for the innerwebs I guess. With AI it’s just a well of BS now.

Better news was finding a forest of tall ponderosa trees just begging to be camped under which I can get to from my doorstep in the scorching desert to a tent spot in less than 3 hours. So better than Flagstaff and with, even better, no Phoenix to drive through. After that we ran into forest fires and problems, but if I wanted to bum people I out would just get you to think about where our country is headed…oops.

Let’s circle back to what a normal person is expected to do when your government is evil. In my eyes it’s always been pretty fucking evil, the curtain is just pulled back now. Some people say tRump has riled up hatred, really? We never had hatred before. Have you heard of the KKK, indigenous genocide, how about slavery? Please, we must face the facts, about one in three people are, well sorta, fukin evil. Either that or so easily misled and brainwashed, it has made them follow an evil paradigm.

How do we fix this? Can We? Education and travel usually work well, but I’m sure you noticed the Make America Evil Again gang is doing everything they can to condemn education.

Still, is converting the misled what we should be doing? It might seem fun, but it is a lot of work and mostly doesn’t work. When you are sitting in your home it’s hard to engage with what you could do to combat the growing fascism in the USA. Should I turn down the thermostat, paint a sign, or write my congressman? Screw it, I’m making a sandwich.

But again, is this what we should be doing? Am I still allowed to post a pic of my cat when our county is behaving in an evil manner and destroying lives right in front of us? I bet you think the Germans living under Hitler should have been doing more than talking about the weather. Should I fight back or is my mental health and my family’s where I should focus my efforts?

Am I asking too many questions while providing no answers?

I guess it comes down to making sure we remember what the decent parts of life are. The world could be looked at as a swirling cauldron of hate and misery, but it is also full of hope, love, and beauty. There would be no reason to fight if there was only the shitstorm.

Sometimes living well is the best revenge. Show people your choices led to a fulfilled life and assisted you in raising healthy children. Lead by example and remember Talk – Action = Zero.

Things we can do to help save the World, our County, and our Sanity:

  • Research how much energy/waste your habits and hobbies cost and act accordingly
  • Buy less and boycott billionaire brands
  • Compost and grow a garden
  • Dumpster dive and reuse instead of buying new
  • Support local
  • Do your best to waste as little food as possible
  • Tackle political issues in a one on one manner in person
  • Pretend your cell can’t get online
  • Wake up at 6am each day
  • Avoid the internet and social media
  • Determine your sleep needs and then stick to it
  • Point out evil when you see it
  • Live like a Warrior fighting for their future
  • Don’t embrace hate
  • See beyond the binary talking heads of politics to the real issue
  • Do everything and anything you can which isn’t plugged in
  • Fuck AI

Just a few ideas. What do you think? Did I miss something important to you?

See you behind the dumpster while I’m loading discarded pallets. 

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Dak is asked to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s dating one.

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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.

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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.

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You can grab a little of my fiction here

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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

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