One of 8 billion others

Who wrote all this? It is not the person who thinks up and writes that matters, it’s the words themselves, but anyway… having worked as a cashier, programmer, storeman, unsuccessful book salesman, forklift driver, desktop publishing artist, writer, copywriter and editor, seen how drugs and booze affects friends and family, survived several relationships and stuck with one for half a century; lives on a pea-sized island that has a cosmopolitan history and had three national anthems – these are his thoughts and if you disagree, you’re entitled to. But apparently, humans are mostly idiots, this writer included, only a little more willing than many to wonder why. We all live on a spinning ball in space that is turning into a loony bin of rampant misbehavior, a world with electorates serving government’s instead of the other way around, with warmongers galore who enrich themselves making tools of destruction and if you spare a thought, you’ll see that we’re doomed if we don’t wake up soon.

In any attempt to read non-fiction a reader would want to know whether the writer is qualified to present what he or she deems as facts, and life itself has provided those qualifications. These writings are based on observations and much self-reflection, with no intention to deceive anyone. Quite the opposite, in fact. They come from a perceived need to point out things that we don’t normally think about. We live our lives precariously, each for themselves, man or woman and those in-between. We don’t care about anything for as long as number one gets all the joy and pleasure possible, all the leisure, all the credit, all the hoopla, never mind the bickering, the differences we make up that separate us. The question is what drives all these demonstrations of behavior and is it possible to avoid their consequences. We need to cast aside our mental laziness and think. If we dare not be frank and honest with others, at least be frank and honest with ourselves. People who have known me will point out that I have been guilty as any of the misbehaviors written about here. It’s true, but much self-reflection has brought about realizations of their folly and ways to overcome them.

Without seeking a psychological or spiritual adviser how are we to understand the way we go about doing the things we do? Like so many thinkers, discoverers and inventors, the first and last resort is our lone self, but where do we begin? We start by asking frank questions. We probe our minds for answers, curiously, frankly, fearlessly and honestly. It is hoped that the words presented here will help evoke this awareness.