"Sometimes there's just not enough rocks"

[Coventina]

I'm not much of a fan of the movie "Forrest Gump."
It's just too contrived for me.

But, that is a great line from the movie, and it's always stuck with me.

Right now, I feel like there's not enough rocks.

The last twenty five years I've felt like everything I used to believe to be true has fallen apart.

My country is not the country I thought it was.
My family is not the family I thought they were.
All of human civilization is sleepwalking to extinction, taking much of the biosphere with it.
Critical thinking is considered a negative.
Intellectualism is something to be sneered at.
We are lurching back into the Middle Ages.
People are openly bragging about being racist, sexist, homophobic, and ignorant.
All while the world burns.

I'm so angry, I'm throwing rocks, but the targets are too big and too far away, and they don't give a damn about my anger and frustration.

I know I need to just abandon hope. There's no babysitter who is going to come and fix things for us.
If we can't do it ourselves, we will perish.
Right now, it's not looking good.
All things pass. Including our species.......

I just need to convince myself that throwing rocks is doing nothing but wearing out my arms.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. Plant a ginkgo tree. Or a dozen.

[Coventina]

2. unfortunately, they won't grow where I live.

But, I do give significant portions of my income to environmental causes.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. That's scary ...

You're not living in an active volcano or the Daiichi power plant in Fukishima, are you? Might be worse danger than running out of rocks!

Extreme examples of the ginkgo's tenacity may be seen in Hiroshima, Japan, where six trees growing between 1–2 kilometres (1⁄2–1+1⁄4 miles) from the 1945 atom bomb explosion were among the few living organisms in the area to survive the blast. Although almost all other plants (and animals) in the area were killed, the ginkgos, though charred, survived and were soon healthy again, among other hibakujumoku (trees that survived the blast).

The six trees are still alive: They are marked with signs at Housenbou (報専坊 temple (planted in 1850), Shukkei-en (planted about 1740), Jōsei-ji (planted 1900), at the former site of Senda Elementary School near Miyukibashi, at the Myōjōin temple, and an Edo period-cutting at Anraku-ji temple.[56]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginkgo_biloba

[Coventina]

6. Well, I looked it up on Arbor Day's website and the tree is listed for zones 3-8

I'm zone 9-10.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

9. Got one in a flower pot

It's been potted for nearly 20 years, waiting to be put in the ground. I procrastinate a little sometimes.

[Coventina]

10. LOL! n/t

[Earth-shine]

3. I am an atheist, but I believe in the Christian serenity prayer.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

[3catwoman3]

5. I detested that movie. It asked for way more...

…”willing suspension of disbelief” than I could muster.

I share your feeling of wondering where the hell I am living. So much anger, so much rudeness, so much aggression.

I’m 71. When I was a kid, learning and education were respected. Science was downright revered.

It’s like being stuck in a really bad movie that won’t end, and willing suspension of disbelief is again failing me.

[Coventina]

7. When I was growing up, "College Professor" was one of the most highly respected professions.

Now it's one of the most vilified.

[Caliman73]

15. Remember that it really isn't.

It is loudly criticized by a small but very powerful group of people, and their motive is fear.

When authoritarians want to take over, the first things they attack are the free Press, Teachers, and students. Reality does not comport with Conservative and authoritarian ideas. Our species flourishes when it searches for knowledge and facts upon which truths can be built. We are not stagnant, but we can be fearful of change. People who want to "rule" are especially afraid of change and knowledge.

I would venture to say that "College Professor" remains a highly respected profession among most people, but there is a small but loud strain of anti-intellectuals who value knowledge for themselves, but want to hoard it because "knowledge is power". They try to discredit anyone who will dispense knowledge to people they feel do not deserve it.

[usonian]

8. Ballots not boulders.

https://democraticunderground.com/100216969633
GOTV Resources. MONDAY JULY 25 UPDATE.

https://democraticunderground.com/100216969656
Positive Things we can do. Fighting Facts, and ENCOURAGEMENT! My Best Links. UPDATED AND REPOSTED.
YES, ENCOURAGEMENT

https://democraticunderground.com/100216969676
MESSAGING MISSIVE. MIGHTIER THAN EVER.

I try to focus on the positive.

Aren't you Buddhist?
The Buddha predicts dharma-ending times (like right now)
And Bodhisattvas arise from the earth to turn people from their self-defeating delusions.

I see the living beings in the six paths,
how poor and distressed they are, without merit or wisdom ...
how deeply they are attached to the five desires,
like a yak enamored of its tail,
blinding themselves with greed and infatuation,
their vision so impaired they can see nothing.
...
they enter deeply into erroneous views,
hoping to shed suffering through greater suffering.

And isn't that exactly what we see today?

I choose the Bodhisattva path in these troubled times.


For the sake of these living beings
I summon up a mind of great compassion.

[Coventina]

11. Yes, I am Buddhist. I am far from being good at it at times like this.

Thanks for the timely reminder.....



If ever there was a time of mappo, it seems to be now.

Or, at least this is a time of personal mappo for me.....

[usonian]

13. I'll chant for your strength and happiness. I'm too old to waste a moment on negativity.

[Coventina]

14. I accept your loving-kindness with gratitude.

And learn from it.

[pwb]

12. We recognized trump was an asshole and beat him. Keep that

in mind. We Won. With Woman as angry as they are all over the country I expect even unexpected Democratic victories this fall. Everything you listed has not gone unnoticed and will be fixed. IMO. I may not be here for it but enjoy being an early part of the correction.

[LastDemocratInSC]

16. There's a statistical term for what you're describing:

"Regression to the norm"

Self government, democracy, the concept of the citizens being the sovereigns of a nation and giving their consent to be governed, and defining the form of government, is a historical aberration. Kings, czars, family dynasties, tyrants and maniacs of all kinds have been the norm for a very long time. Our nation was a fresh start of government based on the founders' experiences with the dysfunction of government in Great Britain and Europe in their time. The fact that the Atlantic Ocean provided physical separation from Europe gave an opening for the fresh start.

What we seem to have today is an effort by many to use democracy to subvert democracy, to create a political auto-immune disease that, in the end, provides a path back to the old ways of doing things - the regression to the norm. We already have oligarchs who wholly own politicians and control political institutions by the appointments of judges, agency leaders, etc. They would like to eliminate the expensive need to hide their efforts and take their "rightful places" at the top of the heap and get rid of the democratic rabble the way Mr Potter wanted to get rid of Bailey Savings and Loan.

Given that a significant part of the population openly speaks disdainfully of self-government and pluralistic culture, the fall of "E Pluribus Unum" may be on the horizon. I sincerely hope that we can find a path to restoring the national confidence that we need to keep what we have.

[Hekate]

17. 🌸