"Once More Into the Breach of Change"

“But somewhere's just like nowhere when you leave it for a while

You'll find the broken hearted when you're traveling jungle style

It's hard to be a pack rat, it's hard to be a ‘bo

There's freedom when your walking, even though you're walking slow.

And the children seem to know

That Jesus on the highway was a lost hobo.”

~Don McLean, “Homeless Brother”

The first rule of hitchhiking is to pack light. There is no room for sentimentality when you travel. One extra set of clothing, a tent, a warm jacket, that’s all you need. Necessity is the key. The rules change too. You no longer have to concern yourself with the judgments of others because you will soon come to know that their judgment will be that you are either homeless or a decrepit social outcast. Does this mean they won’t help you? Not necessarily, but if they pass you twice on the same day they will either carry you out of town or report they’ll your appearance of suspiciousness to the local authorities. Both end with you being taken away.

I believe we all soon have to pick up our mats and walk off into the blinding fury of the future. I feel it. I sense it. It is not an apocryphal notion either. Its a stirring in my heart when I watch the news. Its the ringing of the Liberty Bell heard across the nation. All kingdoms fall and no great things last. Changes, my friends, changes are coming and we cannot afford to carry all this shit with us once more into the breach. 

Changes are coming to the institutions of ages old and present. The social structures we have created will fall alongside everything else we idolize in the wake of progress. The genius of the old is killing the life of the future of the young. 

You can see the death in the news-the endless debates about the Constitution, the Bible, and the influence the preceding has on the latter. I believe I have found a way to end it. Follow me as I attempt to adapt the ancient ways to the new path of social evolution. 

First I have to explain that all the old ways, ranging from Christianity, the Constitution, the Democracy of Greece and the Roman Republic, are all important and offer wisdom by virtue of the good things they accomplished. Yet, all these philosophies, were for another people in another time. The Bible is no longer relevant as a complete way of life. It says homosexuals (1 Cor. 6:9),  will not go to heaven and should die (Romans 1:32), while often saying nothing, if not in support, about slavery. Why did/do people believe in this? Because a piece of paper told them to. That is fucking retarded.

I’d like to make it clear that I am not an atheist. It’s just that the older I get the less I give a shit. I used to be a Christian and would argue the Bible to be true and the Word of God. My opening statement for the argument was as follows and from 2 Timothy 3:16:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” (or its interpretation of righteousness.) 

I would then say, putting emphasis on the the word ‘all’, “ALL script is inspired by God and if ALL scripture is inspired by God then ALL of scripture has to be true. You cannot pick and choose between what is and what is not true in the Bible.” A pretty good stance if I don’t say so myself.

But then, as I began to think for myself, I came realize I was full of shit. I then switched the emphasis from ‘all’ to ‘inspired’. Now I say, “All scripture is INSPIRED by God.” The verse doesn’t say WRITTEN by God. It doesn’t say SPOKEN by God, but INSPIRED by God. If I make a cup of coffee INSPIRED by God then that cup of coffee doesn’t belong to God. Its not God’s cup of coffee. It’s my cup of coffee. I can even say, “God deserves the glory for this cup of coffee. I couldn’t have made it with him.” But that doesn’t change the fact that its my cup of coffee. 

The Bible, the Koran, the Torah, and other religious/philosophical texts aren’t bad or necessarily untrue, but they were written by people trying to figure things out while wandering the desert. They were pioneers on the journey of truth, and they all INSPIRED both good and evil with their words.

Why do I bring up the Bible in such detail? One, because its the text I know the most, and two because the Bible is said to have INSPIRED  the Constitution. There is nothing in that piece of paper, or its companions, that quotes or references the Bible. Like the Bible, I believe it is, will soon be, and should be irrelevant. 

Things no longer work the same today as they have in the past, and adhere to the evolved state of progressive consciousness so that we may all work together for a future that shares our common tranquility. I say for this both for our country and eventually the world. 

I think everyone, except those who derive their substance from it, hates the government. Hierarchy, control, manipulation, dominance, the mountaintops of social class, religions - these are all things that divide us. I believe that is the problem of the human race - the love of power.

To support my statements on the Constitution:

One: Only the Declaration of Independence makes mention of a god, and only refers to the concept of “Nature’s God” and of the “rights endowed by their Creator”. Neither is very specific to who’s god. And to further add, the Declaration was not a document of law but was written to establish the intent of war against Britain. 

Two: The Constitution never mentions God nor contains any reference from the Bible. The only reference made to religion is that we are not to test the religion of someone holding office. (So, no matter how you feel about him, drop the ‘Obama is a Muslim’ bullshit.)

Three: The Bill of Rights, an extension of the Constitution, yields us two references to religion. Firstly, that no law is to be made in respect of religion or in the prohibition of free exercise of religion (Article the Third). 

Secondary, we are able to to change, or ratify, the Bill to reflect our times and the problem ther-in. We had to do this so that black people and women could vote to uphold the Constitutions claim that all men are equal. The last amendment made was on May 7th, 1992 during Bush Sr.’s presidency. So I don’t want to hear anymore claims by conservatives that people are trying to change the constitution and all that crap.

Now, the Preamble to the Constitution sets up purpose for these laws and structures. To quote, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” (emphasis mine)

Posterity means future generations and we are the future generation. Let me interpret it this way, “We(or Us), in order to form a more perfect Us and the future Us, establish this Constitution.” The rest of what our founding fathers set in place, things like capitalism, were good once upon a time and still, to a degree, possess good properties, but what it has bore is awful and wretched.

The freedoms we made for ourselves have wrought ugly imitations that only allude to peace and justice for all. We have live in a country where mothers have to whore themselves to feed their children and we refuse to give them what they need because these women haven’t “earned” it. We live in a country where people die in the streets from starvation while our markets and restaurants throw out food because it no longer makes a profit. We live in a country where the homeless are arrested for sleeping on someone’s property, because the shelter would have been over capacity, only to be thrown back out on the streets to repeat the cycle. 

We live in a country where the American Dream of WANTING more casts anyone NEEDING more away with reprimands and punishments for not trying hard enough. Let me tell you. I have spent time with these people and they do try. They try everyday to make up for their mistakes. They fight to stay sober. They fight to stay warm. They fight for a drink of water. They fight for a fucking indoor toilet. They do fight.

“And you who leave on promises and prosper as you please,

The victim of your riches often dies of your disease.

Down the bowels of a broken land where numbers live like men…

Where wealth has no beginning and poverty no end.”

~Don McLean

Listen, I love this country, but the sentiments of the past are leading us to a time when the things we have held dear and true are no longer relevant. The Constitution was meant to set us free. But all it it has wrought is enslavement to a way of life that divides us. 

Should we abolish the ways of old? Not entirely. We should work together to find what truly sets us free. We should find love, not power. We should seek peace for everyone. If we don’t we will all be die on the highway, dragged down by our own system of exclusion and our judgements and our inequality. 

Listen to the broken Liberty Bell. Listen to it ring. An opportunity for a better tomorrow is coming soon and we must drop all the bullshit and bring only the essentials. All we need is love as we go once more into the breach.

KJ out.