About

Exploring Shey Gompa outside of Leh, Ladakh in northern India.

My work promoting peace through the Peace Dividend Project continues, though I can’t honestly say that many folks are listening.  The U.S. is addicted to war and the oligarchs running (ruining) the country still make too much money from war to allow a serious discussion of ending them.  We reap what we sow:  PEACEDIVIDEND.US

§

There is a site exclusively devoted to my fiction work. I believe there are some fun pages and I encourage you to visit it: JOHN RACHEL AUTHOR

§

Let me be absolutely clear. While RFK Jr represents a vast improvement over the current crop of swamp creatures seeking the presidency in 2024, my latest book is not an endorsement of RFK Jr for President. Realistically, there isn’t now and never will be a perfect person for the job. RFK Jr certainly means well but has some very indefensible and unevolved views, e.g. blind support for Israel, muddled thinking on health care. BUT in his defense and offering a solid justification for supporting his candidacy, he’s a thinking man, a good decent human being, and most importantly for the survival of the human race, he’s calling the endless US wars a fraud, and our entire foreign policy an abomination. He wants peace and cooperation, honesty and transparency, both here in America and abroad. He believes government should work to the benefit of all citizens, not just the rich and powerful.

What this short book is saying is that WE DESPERATELY NEED A CONGRESS which embraces those values and that framework for governance, whether RFK Jr gets elected or not.

Many seem unable to wrap their heads around this simple, straightforward call to action. So let me elaborate.

If RFK Jr. — or someone like him — is elected in 2024, as a president who truly puts the the welfare of all citizens ahead of Wall Street, the big banks, the military-industrial complex, the ruling elite and other powerful special interests, thus serves the needs of the all citizens, not just the wealthy elite, THEN HE WILL NEED A CONGRESS THAT SUPPORTS AND PROMOTES HIS AGENDA.

But if one of the “bad guys” wins – as has happened for decades, subjecting our nation to economic plunder, endless war, corporate welfare, pay-to-play politics, divide-and-conquer tyranny, thus cheating everyday citizens out of their fair share of our vast national wealth – we will need a Congress that will stop the decline and keep the worst from happening. We’ll need a Congress that will stop the looting of our economy, the wanton destruction of the environment, the promotion of militarization, the marginalization of everyday citizens, the attack on privacy and human rights, the concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny elite.

So either way … WE NEED A “PEOPLE’S CONGRESS”! 

Either way … WE NEED A KENNEDY CONGRESS!

It’s obvious, wouldn’t you agree?

§

My latest book is the first of a three-part series, intended to inspire and enlist the public to end the endless wars before the militarism and imperial ambitions of the U.S. destroy the country.

This a powerful and empowering collection of commentaries and insights by some of today’s most respected political thinkers. The world is a mess and America is in big trouble. Despite the finger-pointing, it is the U.S. itself which is causing its own problems. Perpetual war is destroying our nation. To stop the unfolding disaster, we must honestly look at how our own leadership and policies have led the country astray. This book is the perfect place to start.

Featuring commentary by Noam Chomsky, Larry Wilkerson, Paul Craig Roberts, Mark Skidmore, Coleen Rowley, William J. Astore, Abby Martin, Dan Kovalik, Lee Camp, Finian Cunningham, Michael T. Klare, Cynthia McKinney, Scott Ritter, Joe Lombardo, Bruce Gagnon, Norman Solomon, Peter Kuznick, Ajamu Baraka, Margaret Kimberley, Matthew Hoh, Garland Nixon, and Dennis Kucinich.

As an eBook . . .

As a Deluxe Paperback . . .

§

Two years in the making, LOVE CONNECTION: ROMANCE IN THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN is now available and appearing at bookstores across the globe. It’s unlike any love story you’ve ever read. The story unfolds in Japan and East Africa and is based on real events.

§

My recent book — LIVE FROM JAPAN! — is a collection of anecdotes about my life in a traditional, rural community an hour northwest of Osaka. The print version is a deluxe, full-color, large format (8.5″ x 11″) volume with over 450 photos. If you’ve ever been curious about the “real Japan”, then I’m confident you’ll love this book!  You can read about it here. By the way, it is available both in English and Japanese, but the Japanese version is not on the market — contact me directly and I can get a copy to you.

§

Last December I made a colossal error in judgment.  I tried to bring some smiles to all of the sad faces out there in the world by publishing a satirical novel based on the stage play of the same name — SEX, LIES & COFFEE BEANS.  The mistake was that it is incredibly funny and being funny is not woke.  In fact the use of satire is about as unwoke as it gets.  At first — being ironic, of course — I advertised this literary masterpiece as “the worst book ever written”.  I guess I should have gone with “the most politically incorrect book ever written” and it would have gotten the attention it deserves.  So . . . here’s my final advice:  Unless you remember how absurd the self-help crazes of the late 80s early 90s were, want to have a rollicking good time, laugh until there are tears running all the way down to your socks, perhaps find some temporary relief from CDS (Covid-19 Derangement Syndrome) and turn your life at least temporarily into the funhouse it used to be, then . . . AVOID THIS BOOK AT ALL COSTS!  It is unwoke, ignorant, hateful, degenerate garbage!

§

Finally, I’m still writing quirky, sometimes controversial, occasionally satirical essays, as ongoing commentary on our volatile, convoluted and often terrifying times. These blogs are located on my Slow Bullets page.

MACRO-COSMIC OVERVIEW

Since leaving America in August 2006, I’ve traveled to 34 countries. A great deal certainly has happened.  I’ve written nine full-length novels, have had over thirty short stories and twelve poems published, wrote three non-fiction political polemics, and even found some time to compose a number of songs.  One I’m especially proud of is a holiday ode which celebrates hope for the new year, performed with my lovely and talented wife.

In my travels I have experienced quite a lot and had a few ideas along the way.  This site is to share my thoughts, photos, music, writings, travel experiences, and developing political and social commentary with you.  I hope you find it interesting and informative.

THIRD-PERSON BIO

John Rachel has a B. A. in Philosophy, has traveled extensively, is a songwriter, music producer, novelist, and evolutionary humanist.  He has spent his life trying to resolve the intrinsic clash between the metaphysical purity of Buddhism and the overwhelming appeal of narcissism.  Prompted by the trauma of graduating high school and having to leave his beloved city of Detroit to attend university, the development of his social skills and world view were arrested at age 18.  This affliction figures prominently in all of his creative work.

Since 2008, when he first embarked on his career as a novelist, he has had 9 fiction and 4 non-fiction books published.  These range from three satires and a coming-of-age trilogy, to a political drama and now a crime thriller.  The three non-fiction works were political, his attempt to address the crisis of democracy and pandemic corruption in the governing institutions of America.

Currently in the works is an allegorical fairy tale, The Last Giraffe, an anthropological drama and love story involving both the worship and devouring of giraffes.  It deliciously unfolds in 19th Century sub-Saharan Africa.  Not as delicious and certainly more bizarre is Mary K, the story of a Richmond, Virginia cosmetics salesgirl with an IQ of 260. Finally, the world awaits Book 3 of his End-of-the-World Trilogy, 13-13-13.

The hyperactive Rachel recently completed a creative non-fiction work, which defies easy categorization, cryptically titled What Do Mermaids Eat?   Best guess might be to call it a fantasy/travel/cookbook.  He began writing it in Japan and completed during a recent visit to the Philippines and Myanmar.

As noted above, LIVE FROM Japan! Anecdotes on the People and Culture of Japan from the Perspective of an American Expat is out in both English and Japanese.  And Rachel’s apparently successful attempt to completely destroy his literary career, Sex, Lies & Coffee Beans, is also available worldwide for the reading pleasure of reactionary cultural Nazis.  The songs from this epic piece of literary atavism are no further away than a mouse click.

Much of this author’s literary output can be viewed in the Books section of this site, or by visiting his dedicated author site, John Rachel Author.

John Rachel’s last permanent residence in America was Portland, Oregon where he had a state-of-the-art ProTools recording studio, music production house, a radio promotion and music publishing company.  He recorded and produced several artists in the Pacific Northwest, releasing and promoting their music on radio across America and overseas.

John Rachel now lives in a quiet, traditional, rural Japanese community, where he finds limitless delight in the ringing of temple bells three times a day by monks at a local Shinto shrine.  These days he is mostly immersed in good vibrations.