We all need that certain someone....

We all need that certain someone in our lives. Someone nice and funny and intelligent...well I've been fortunate enough to meet this person and establish a correspondence with her. Lucky for you all, she has a blog. Let her regale you words of wisdom, love, compassion, and humor.
We, the King, hereby decree that thewildadventuresofdiathedragon.blogspot.com is an incredible blog and you should go and read this blog like right now seriously right now I am so excited I threw English convention out the window and started writing a run-on sentence seriously go check it outttttttttttttttttt!

We're not gonna take it.

We love to protest, don't we? Protest the evil! And the good! And the in between. Protest the men and the women and the children and the sick and the healthy and the dogs and the cats and the rats and the bats and the theists and the atheists and the gays and the straights and the rich and the poor and everyone else! Oh look! Something I find distasteful! Let's talk a bunch of shit about it and then post a picture about it on Facebook. Oh look! I got a like on my status about how much it totally sucks that some people can't get water! I totally did a lot. Oh, I'm so good at photoshop. I will photoshop devil horns on some guy I don't like. That'll show him! That guy, you know him! Yeah, that guy from that one group that has different thoughts than I do. That group...you know that group? That group I feel has no right to exist on the basis of them not agreeing with everything I say. Oh? That man is is not tolerant of other people or their opinions? FUCK THAT GUY! What's fun to protest? The corporations! Yeah they're so evil and rich! What is a corporation, anyway? Doesn't matter, it's an evil sounding word! It reminds me of boring old men in suits I wouldn't look good in! Let's all go to a park and not really do anything and be very unclear about what we want. Let's ruin a park. Let's sing songs and hold hands until the evil corporations stop being evil and corporationy. Let's make some clever signs and scream into a megaphone. Let's not shower and make people. What will we call our movement? Occupy! There you go! And fuck the church as well! What will be our symbol? A Guy Fawkes mask...That'll work. What was Guy Fawkes famous for again? Whatever. We're young and edgy and we want to be mad at something. But wait...I'm tired. I want to take a shower. I don't want to do this anymore. Where is all the change that was supposed to come from us playing guitar and holding hands and holding up peace signs and middle fingers simultaneously? Ugh, this is so frustrating! What's the bandwagon these days? Russia? Oh goody gumdrops, I have tons of funny designs I can make on photoshop! This will be much easier! I can protest Russia. The country...not the people, because let's be honest, I don't know jack shit about them or their country. Then again I did watch some James Bond films...Okay, I can incorporate that into my photoshop designs...no, not incorporate. That sounds like corporation! Nope, I will protest the whole nation and talk shit about it and all its citizens and make a bunch of points about how I, along with my country, am better than Russia and Russians. What can I do? Write Putin a letter? Damn, I don't know Russian or German (he speaks both fluently). Oh wait, it's a sovereign nation and they do not answer to me. What am I protesting again? Doesn't matter, it's Russia! Fuck them in general and boycott them! Let's not buy any of their stuff like...uh...what do we buy from them? Uh...fuck it. Boycott the country in general! Boycott snow  and cold weather! Boycott the letter "R." Should I go to Washington and protest in front of their embassy so that the Russian government can not care about what I think in close proximity to their building? No, I don't feel like it. Should I go to San Francisco and protest in front of their consulate so that they can not care about what I think in close proximity to me in nicer weather? Nah. Oh wait! I can always post some semi-witty post on my tumblr! CAT! DRINKING VODKA! RUSSIAN VODKA DRINKING A CAT! SOVIET RUSSIA JOKES WITH A SOCIO-POLITICAL SLANT REGARDING BIGOTRY AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH! CAN I HAZ FREEDOM? MORE CATS! MORE VODKA! MORE PHOTOSHOP! MORE RUSSIAN! LET'S TAKE DOWN THE THING THAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND! Damn, I am not satisfied yet! LET'S THROW A PROTEST WITH GIMICS LIKE PAINTING OUR FACES AND INCORPORATE...er...I mean...use...yeah use...THE HAMMER AND CICLE IN SOME WAY, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NO MORE SOVIET UNION, NOR HAS THERE BEEN SINCE 1991! LET'S HOLD IT AT A LOCAL COLLEGE CAMPUS AND DISTURB A BUNCH OF PEOPLE INSTEAD OF DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! Oh gosh, my ego is getting a really good stroking. Let's bitch and moan about something we cannot possibly hope to change so that we wouldn't really have to do anything. Let's distract ourselves from doing something that may actually help someone, somewhere. Because I am an artist and volunteering at a nursing home or a soup kitchen is beneath me. *Exhale*

Russia's rising Libertarian party

     In the midst of the unorganized chaos of Russian politics, there seems to be some sort of hope creeping over the horizon. Russia is facing the possibility of a Libertarian party entering Duma. It has been enjoying a steady growth and has reached the mandated quota to officially become a recognized political party. Finally, a voice of reason piercing through the befuddlement! Right? Well, not exactly. 

     First of all, it’s going to be an up-hill battle getting the paperwork done. Things will have to be done; things a libertarian would not be proud of like bribing government officials. That’s just how the game works. They have to pay off the right people, and make sure those people move things along, for Duma is more of a night club that charges admission than a political entity. To infiltrate and destroy the beast, the hopefully soon-to-be party will have to play by the very rules it aims to eliminate. I gather that they would not be particularly proud, but they would have to do what needs to be done.

     So let’s say that they would get past the first hurtle. Let’s say that they would be a recognized party in Duma. Let’s even take the leap of faith and imagine that they manage to win over the support of a public that only knows and wants authoritarians to be their mommies and daddies. Winning public approval will be a struggle. The party will have to grow considerable to make any big, long lasting splash. The movement they have now will have to stand the test of time, which will be difficult.

     But let’s say that they make it into Duma and grow their supporter base. Let’s say that they pass that hurtle. They will have to face their most daunting challenge. That would be to stay legitimate in Duma. 

     We think that our congress is corrupt. With crony capitalism running amuck, it is easy to forget  that in other countries, corruption is even more rampant. It is easy to forget that not all the other countries are like Singapore. Russian corruption would be impressive, had it not been so destructive. It has turned the country into a commodity; a money making business. To be part of Duma is to be a member of its share holders. The citizens are the assets.

   

     As you can imagine, this does not fit well with a libertarian view, and it is difficult to argue that our heroes are going in with the purest and most noble of intentions, but the danger of corruption is very real. Power corrupts and that is exactly why we have Libertarians. It must be very scary going into government as a person who believes in limited government and knows the corrupting influences of such an institution. 

     Do not get me wrong, I have a profound respect for Vera Kichanova and the rest of the hopefully-soon-to-be party, but they have never experienced real power, and their true test is still at hand. 

     This is, of course, not to say that there is no hope for Russia. I believe in them. After all, it is impressive for them to even gain the recognition they have thus-far. I have high hopes for them. I think we all do. We want to see them succeed, but the odds are not looking good. Then again, maybe it really is time for Russia to have a proper revolution. Maybe Russia really is starting to figure out what freedom is. Maybe they are right about to come to the logical conclusion of their more than one-thousand year journey, starting with asking Rurik to rule over them and ending in empowerment. This is, of course, a possibility. Or they will crash and burn and be remembered as a noteworthy, yet untimely attempt at bringing freedom to a place which was not ready for it.

     No one can really know what will happen, but I think that it is fair to say that it will not happen very quietly. Putin will probably--no, definitely try to stop them. The other parties will as well. The Russian media will blow up a storm. Then, the world media will catch wind of this and spread the word. People from all corners, near and far, will start to have opinions, both informed and otherwise. Everyone loves a good controversy. 

     Anyway, after some time, the world will probably find something else to be excited about and things in Russia will continue to happen. Marx may not have had the best approach to economics, but he did get one thing right: if a people are oppressed for long enough, then they will revolt. So if the “revolution” will not happen this time around, after the party climbs out of the rubble of its own failed attempts, it will regroup and try again at a more opportune time. I suppose the trick is to not be buried in too much rubble. They have to be very careful not to turn into the very beast they vow to slay. It would be a real shame. 

Schuld Spiel

So yeah, I haven't been her in a while. Sorry about that. Anyway, I was doing some thinking and you know, I really feel sorry for Germany.
I know the nation itself has a suspect past, but think about it from the point of view of the Germans. They have to live with guilt. If they stop feeling guilty, the guilt is beaten back into them. They feel guilt on a very personal level for something they did not personally do. They are not Hans and Fritz and Johann. No, they are other people's past.
The bigger issue is that they won't be able to keep peaceful for long. After being so repressed and told not to be happy and proud for so long...after only ever being able to be ashamed for something they didn't do for generations...after being so angry at themselves for so long, they will one day revert to antisemitism. Some day in the future, they will be very angry at the Jews and the rest of the world. "Why do we have to be made to feel guilty for something we didn't do?" Well, that's a very good question. Why? Why do they have to be held accountable for something they did not do?
I'll tell you why. It's because we cannot get it through our thick skulls that Germany does not exist. It's an idea that spans from Mitterwald to Flensburg and from Saarbrücken to Görlitz. It's something people have just agreed upon. It's not like countries are naturally occurring phenomenons. No. It's not like there are herds of schools of Japan fish swimming about next to the massive Chinas that roam the planes of Asia.
No, people kind of got together roughly around the time of Emperor Otto I. There is no physical thing. Just people, and at best, land, infrastructure and ink marks on some papers; but the main issue is that that is what a country really is. It's ink marks on a paper.
At the same time, we feel the need to label an entire nation of people responsible for the decisions of very few people.
The really fucked up thing is that we usually ascribe this to the nation as a whole. Not even the citizens that were simply there by an accident of their own birth and actually suffer are free from the guilt.
So let's go further back. Back to 1918. The world went into an armistice and Germany was asked most decidedly to pay reparations. But here's the problem. Germany doesn't have money because it doesn't exist. Germans, however, do exist. Germans with whatever money they have...Germans who did not want the war...Germans who did nothing but be born.
But no, they were punished into poverty. They printed out Deutschmarks like there was no tomorrow. Their economy was tanked and a certain someone with a toothbrush mustache came along and took advantage of that. And we all know how that ended.
So now, they can't hang their own flag proudly just because we're too busy chasing shadows.

Peace and love, but not necessarily

Peace and love are great. There's no greater joy than to be with the people you love dearly, just having a peaceful evening by a fire, by a lake, or anywhere, really. As you sit together, the thought of turmoil doesn't even enter any of your minds.There is no reason for it. Love is, in fact, a very powerful thing that everyone responds to. As the phrase from a Russian song goes, "It may not be them, for I do not know them by their faces, but when I tell them 'Salaam,' they turn around and give me a nod of acknowledgment." It's a very lovely peace held together by the bonds of love and friendship, and as silly as it may sound, this relationship can bring societies out of the rubble of their notorious past and rebuild nations.
So it's great when people are at peace because they're friends. It's so satisfying. But wait. There's more to it. What happens when that friendship goes sour? I think we all have seen how bitter it gets when two long-time friends have a falling out. Usually it's not a very graceful fall.
Can you imagine the absolute shitstorm that would ensure? That is the sort of violence and conflict that reduces societies to rubble.
So there's that. But what other kind of peace can we depend on? We live in a world where lots of people hate other people. Are we all screwed? Nope. Just look around. I remember staying with my aunt in Boston one week and every morning, like clockwork, these two decrepit bastards would come out onto their respective lawns and engage in the most intense staring contest you'd ever see. I asked what the problem was between them, and my aunt told me that the reason for their face-numbing scowls was that one of them is a Jewish democrat (So basically just a Jew) and the other is a Mormon republican (So basically just a republican.) They absolutely hated each other on principle.
After a bit, I began to realize that this wasn't such a bad thing. Sure, it's very self destructive, but when it comes to everyone else, we're all fine. Property value wouldn't suffer. The neighbors wouldn't be woken by the loud sound of sirens from ambulances and police cars. There is, by most definitions of the word, peace, as it exists between two people's noses; not their hearts.
The really funny things was that they actually felt like they were in the midst of an epic battle.
Even still, they quietly sit there, each man on their own side of their own fence. They're having a mini cold war. And there's nothing wrong with Cold Wars. They're cold. Not hot. A cold war is comparable to two women who wore the same dress to a cocktail party. They'd be mad and they may snicker at each other, but it usually won't go past that.
When it really comes down to it, the most sustainable peace is when you hate someone but are too invested in your own wellbeing to fight. It's when you say "Gosh, I'd kill you but I don't want to ruin my shirt."