The Bikin' Fools

Patriotic Statement

While many jump on the bandwagon of patriotism and carry flags to prove their beliefs, the truth of the matter is that our government is currently waging a war that is immoral, irresponsible, terroristic and brutal. It has no basis is fighting 'evil', but deep roots in colonialism, fascism, corrupt power and reckless oil companies that are on a rampage to destroy the world. The guise that we are the good ones and they are the bad is hopelessly thin and transparent. The only reason this current holocaust is allowed to progress is that the American public is so poorly informed and apathetic that they cannot recognize even the most outrageous violations of human existence.

To think that the Trade Towers (TT) attack came out of thin air is ludicrous on the face of it. Our 'leaders' have historically meddled in others business for decades. We killed 100,000 Filipinos and that never even made it into the history books. We have bombed dozens of countries during this generation. The reason has always been "national security". It has less to do with communism or defense, than of control of world resources and world political power. For decades we have supported Israel to the demise of their neighbors. Are we surprised that this has generated animosity towards America. Not only that, but given a vote, it is likely that the U.S. would cut off aid to Israel. Americans do not line up in unanimity with regards to the bad scene in the mid east. Furthermore we insist on having U.S. troops in countries where they simply don't want us there. Think about it. Imagine some foreign power insisting on a giant military base in Marin Co. I don't think so. Until Americans can see that our foreign policies have created untold hardship, death and suffering worldwide, we don't have a chance to be good citizens of this world and do the right things. War is never right. It is always the wrong way to solve problems.

Now, as of this writing, more non-military afghan civilians have been murdered by the U.S.military than people killed in the TT attack. Do you feel better?   Will this carnage make people feel better about the U.S? Has it yielded one single 'terrorist'? Will it prevent future attacks on us? I don't think so. It has been an antiseptic war by the media. Only the Pentagon is allowed a megaphone to blare out their toxic and fatal rhetoric. People wave flags out of fear, not out of an understanding. The blood, carnage and terror experienced by unarmed afghans is not available for us to view. We get only a few G.I.'s waving a flag and giving each other high fives.

Further influencing world citizens attitude towards the U.S. is the fact that we consume nearly one-quarter of all of the worlds resources, at insanely cheap rates while most of the rest of the world scramble to keep the most basic necessities together. Multi-national corporations rake in profits off the backs of starving people worldwide. The products are virtually stolen from the peoples of the world who have no defense to the rampage of capitalism. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. While the wealthy grow fatter and even more conspicuous, the poor have less and less.

The United States has the capacity to be a benevolent nation. Most people of the country exhibit some level of compassion and a charitable penchant. Only when we decide to export help and care will others in the world view us as other than an insensitive, glutinous, narcissistic country. We waste resources so badly that we should be sanctioned. It is pathetic the waste that occurs in this nation. We discard enough food to feed the world. With rapidly changing fashions, our out-of-style clothing would clothe the world's poor. There is enough to go around without our suffering one degree of hardship. We have been brainwashed by the t.v. culture. We have lost family values, friendship qualities, social skills, and no longer relate as community members. We all have been feed the fatal line that we are "rugged individuals". Nothing could be further from the truth. We all depend on others all the time. No man is an island.

This terrorism will continue until we have the courage to toss out the current leadership and get some truly intelligent and caring people to represent us. Currently the entire congress is made up of millionaires. Of course they will try to protect their wealth. It took greed to get there, they have no problem with deceit to stay there. Yet these heartless, money grubbing zealots are supposedly  looking after the interests of the entire country. It will never happen. Only when we have representatives who have the world's best interest in mind will we see any cessation of such hostility. An eye for an eye will simply leave the world blind. So for those who may not see the truth, this ignorance will only fuel the current rage for hostility, which begets more hostility, etc. etc.

The most patriotic thing a person can possibly do at this point is to wake up and realize that our country has been abducted by the oil cartels and the defense industry. Look at our 'defense' budget. We pay almost nothing for the welfare of our populous. In the richest nation on earth, we have homelessness and children going hungry. We continue to build weapons that will only kill and maim others, create more trouble and solve nothing. Until we export good will and peace, war will continue. It is that simple. To be for this war is to be for the eventual destruction of the entire planet. To be for peace among all mankind is the only sustainable avenue available.

There is at least one person reading this who is wondering how this connects to mt. bikin'. The connection is this: Mankind went wrong about 40,000 years ago when Homo Erectus turned into Homo Sapien. The Homo Sapien learned how to use tools more effectively and thus began the long, long journey away from nature. In nature lies all of the answers to all of our problems. It is our arrogance and conceit that we think we have conquered nature, when in fact no such thing has occurred. In fact we have created horrific problems. The world is polluted from top to bottom. Fresh water is in short supply and the atmosphere is so contaminated that is causes death and illness worldwide. We have ruined the greatest, most fertile agricultural area in the world, our own Midwest. Most of the topsoil now lies at the mouth of the Mississippi river, so polluted with toxic agricultural products that the sea is dead for miles around the delta. This continent was a blessed cornucopia of natural wealth until the white man arrived. It has since been a non-stop pillage. It continues.

There are a precious few venues that allow the person a chance to see beyond the surface of our material existence. The unique combination of ingredients associated with the sport allows the bikin' fool to be in a realm that allows the truth to transcend the pretense that keeps us in the dark. We assume that we know much. We do have great amounts of knowledge, but little knowing. In nature is all intelligence. In nature is good orderly direction. In nature, all systems find balance. To think that we are beyond nature is a fatal error. With mountain bikin' the participant is likely to find him/herself in the woods. Further, the hard physical aspect of the sport allows the mind to exit the material realm and find footing in the natural world, dealing with such mundane topics as gravity and balance. Both of these concepts can transform the mind when applied to a fertile, open brain. In the innocence of extreme fatigue, in the fresh air without artificial distractions can awaken the spirit to a new reality. The ultimate reality vis-a-vis nature is that trust, faith and acceptance will find footing and allow one to become a part of the intricate web of existence and not apart from that which sustains us. The bicycle just may be a tool that the Homo Sapien invented that can help transport the person back into the folds of the natural world and the benediction that arises from being "on the path". The bicycle can began the long, long journey back to nature.