Writing about and promoting peace to an American audience might be a thankless enterprise. But to be thankless, it would first have to be noticed.
Violence in the U.S. is so endemic, so commonplace, so intrinsic to the American Way, it would be less extreme to suggest to people that they stop breathing or eating than to propose that fewer guns might reduce the ongoing slaughter. Mass shootings, unless they are a full-frontal horror show involving copious bleeding and splattered entrails, innocent children, terrorists or grandmothers in wheelchairs, though a daily occurrence now, are so much a part of the fabric of life, they now rarely even make the news. Same ol’ same ol’. Better ratings reporting on new trends in smart phone dating apps or meltdowns of transgender athletes refused entry to girls locker rooms.
Scaling this mentality up from road rage and drive-by shootings to relations among nations, results in the same glassy-eyed stupor. To suggest that the country and world could do without war is yelling in a vacuum. American foreign policy comes down to a basic, unstated platitude: It’s our way or bombs away.
So where do I fit in to the savagery that is the new normal?
Am I deterred? Does such a fanatical embrace of human expendability discourage me? Does such indifference to the value of human life intimidate me?
Not quite. Two factors are in play: I was taught to dream the impossible dream. And ironically, there’s some Zen comfort in pointless futility. Dylan said it best: There’s no success like failure.
My two most recent books are about peace. Go ahead. Laugh. I’m happy to put a smile on your face.
THE U.S. AND PERPETUAL WAR came out in May 2023 . . .
As an eBook . . .
As a Deluxe Paperback . . .
WAR IS MAKING US POOR! was published just last month . . .
Both of these were intended for Americans to read. Unfortunately, rarely does anyone in the U.S. buy them. They sell almost exclusively in Canada, England, Europe, and Australia. Not sure why that is. Maybe it’s like I said at the beginning. “Writing about and promoting peace to an American audience might be a thankless enterprise. But to be thankless, it would first have to be noticed.”
Whatever.
Let me close by changing the subject.
Want to know what by far is my most popular book? It’s my novel about trafficking of Asian prostitutes, PETROCELLI, completed and published in 2015.
What about my most popular article over the past couple years? It’s a chapter from my book LIVE FROM JAPAN!, which appeared on my blog site August 4, 2020.
You probably guessed it. It’s about the popularity of transgenders on Japanese television.
There’s a lesson in all of this somewhere. Let me know in the comments below if you figure out what it is.
My Two Recent Anti-War Books
Writing about and promoting peace to an American audience might be a thankless enterprise. But to be thankless, it would first have to be noticed.
Violence in the U.S. is so endemic, so commonplace, so intrinsic to the American Way, it would be less extreme to suggest to people that they stop breathing or eating than to propose that fewer guns might reduce the ongoing slaughter. Mass shootings, unless they are a full-frontal horror show involving copious bleeding and splattered entrails, innocent children, terrorists or grandmothers in wheelchairs, though a daily occurrence now, are so much a part of the fabric of life, they now rarely even make the news. Same ol’ same ol’. Better ratings reporting on new trends in smart phone dating apps or meltdowns of transgender athletes refused entry to girls locker rooms.
Scaling this mentality up from road rage and drive-by shootings to relations among nations, results in the same glassy-eyed stupor. To suggest that the country and world could do without war is yelling in a vacuum. American foreign policy comes down to a basic, unstated platitude: It’s our way or bombs away.
So where do I fit in to the savagery that is the new normal?
Am I deterred? Does such a fanatical embrace of human expendability discourage me? Does such indifference to the value of human life intimidate me?
Not quite. Two factors are in play: I was taught to dream the impossible dream. And ironically, there’s some Zen comfort in pointless futility. Dylan said it best: There’s no success like failure.
My two most recent books are about peace. Go ahead. Laugh. I’m happy to put a smile on your face.
THE U.S. AND PERPETUAL WAR came out in May 2023 . . .
As an eBook . . .
As a Deluxe Paperback . . .
WAR IS MAKING US POOR! was published just last month . . .
Both of these were intended for Americans to read. Unfortunately, rarely does anyone in the U.S. buy them. They sell almost exclusively in Canada, England, Europe, and Australia. Not sure why that is. Maybe it’s like I said at the beginning. “Writing about and promoting peace to an American audience might be a thankless enterprise. But to be thankless, it would first have to be noticed.”
Whatever.
Let me close by changing the subject.
Want to know what by far is my most popular book? It’s my novel about trafficking of Asian prostitutes, PETROCELLI, completed and published in 2015.
What about my most popular article over the past couple years? It’s a chapter from my book LIVE FROM JAPAN!, which appeared on my blog site August 4, 2020.
Life In Japan: TVs on TV
You probably guessed it. It’s about the popularity of transgenders on Japanese television.
There’s a lesson in all of this somewhere. Let me know in the comments below if you figure out what it is.