| OCR Text |
Show PATE Le Olle NE Ne Is there any moment in our country’s long march towards being a'sitcom that trumps fore the word freedom became necessary. Slavery is a cultural invention. Liberty is life.” the day we all learned that the financial sector is up to its ass in bogus loans, worthless mortgages, and those confusing little bargains called “credit default swaps”? Think about it. Who could have predicted that globalization could be so incredibly dumbass? Buttheaded, wrong footed, power hungry, lopsided, eco-debased, and dangerously struc- Exhibit E: This only needs saying once, with no explanation: Any society that must destroy Nature in order to sustain itself isn’t worth the DNA it’s made of. Conclusion: tured, sure. But stupid to the point of inadvertent suicide? (Oxymoron that it is, inad- From time to time, assorted readers drop in to remind me how “in the weeds” I tend to be. Knee deep and proud, amigos. We now appear to be entering a twisted New Dark Ages that portends ill tidings for those of us still interested in thinking for ourselves. There is no limit to the amount of data available to those with a case of cyberitis and too vertent suicide, used in this context, applies to the un-artful act of knowing that one’s course of action will likely result in some form of self-inflicted fatality, but deciding to do it anyway. On the other hand — the term comes close to summing up the basic human condition. Remember carrying capacity!) Who could have predicted that globalization. could be so incredibly dumbass? Butt-headed, wrong footed, power hungry, lopsided, eco-debased, and dangerously structured, sure. But stupid to the point of inadvertent suicide? But here we are, huddling in our own shadows wondering if that stock we stashed in our 401-K is now little more useful than a roll of Charmin. And for those of you who decided to jump on the gravy train and flip condominiums for a little extra cashola, let me say this: The law of cause and effect is both ineffable and inevitable. Play with fire, burn your fingers. Just be sure you don’t blame somebody else when your Fruit of the Looms ignite. The idea that the globe’s financial markets now resemble three day old spaghetti leftovers is cause for alarm (check your brains), and profoundly risible at the same time. In the final analysis, there will be much suffering due to our collective ineptitude. But greed has no boundaries. At least not until the shit hits the fan. Then it’s time for good-ole dog cussing, blame games, and deep seated mojo guilt trips. Right about now is when many of us are kicking ourselves for not having the prescience to go into psychiatry when the getting was good. Carl Jung or busi! Sooner or later, the chickens return home to roost. A good farmer knows that those are vulnerable times for his boisterous rooster and the harem of hens. Foxes never sleep. Neither do politicians. This year’s new crop of Guardians of the Republic is sorting through Mudd's Mondo Theory of Celluloid Westerns goes like this: e reason westerns are one of the per beloved genres in movie history that ies remind us of what freedom feels like. the embers, in search of life after insanity. Pass the Prozac. Exhibit D: Liberty without responsibility is little more than what Fielding Mellish (aka: Woody much time on ae Looe Information 7 ee like treated sewage, free for the picking, Allen) called a “Travesty of a Mockery of a Sham of a Mockery of a Travesty.” You can’t have true freedom without a commensurate degree of personal responsibility. This was much glaringly apparent to our Pleistocene forerunners, who understood what it meant to live on the edge 24/7. They were also the most egalitarian humanoids to trudge the Darwin Trail, forerunners of the social animal we call Homo erectus asphaltus. Yet, somewhere down the long and winding freeway, our species opted to veer from . ing something of genuine value. Better to turn the bullshit off, at least long enough to recoup your inner navigational system, the gyroscope inside the primate neurons we all inherited by virtue of being mudball dwellers. If we're going to act like primates, at least the Tao of Nature, becoming wards of one feudal landlord or another. For sheer idiocy, this is hard to top. At least we ended up with 300 TV channels, soccer, and lovely Ms. Madonna! Warms the heart. of it 3 ik but grati hel So what? Data in, data out. Accessing relevancy is the problem, sorting through the detritus in hopes of discover- let it be the Bonobos! As the Zephyr winds blow to a close, at least in its hardcopy persona, bringing us “all the news that causes fits,” it’s important to recall that this particular rag was, and is, one of the West's singular expressions of creativity and down-home integrity. You don’t have to agree with the views splashed across its pages, or the slanted ideology that propelled the paper through some of the most deranged times in America’s strange evolutionary saga. But, regardless of your stance on the issues of mining, ae bulldozing! dam building, 4 wheeling, jet skiing, off-roading, land scraping, tourist bating, billboarding, McMansion erecting, greenwashing malarkey — the fact that the Canyon Country Zephyr could exist, survive, and sustain itself against all odds for almost 20 years, is proof that we were there during what will surely be looked back on as the god-damned eps ole days! Salut! You can't have true freedom _without.a commensurate degree of personal responsibility. But all is not lost, we still have old Clint Eastwood movies! Mudd’s Mondo Theory of Celluloid Westerns goes like this: The reason westerns are one of the most beloved genres in movie history is that they remind us of what freedom feels like. Grit under the nails, holes in the boots, blood in the saddle, bad whisky kind of freedom. (Blood in the Saddle — wasn’t that a band from the 1970's?) We tolerate the eT predictable consequences of a good western because the damn things make us feel alive; remind us that the Wild West portrayed on the silver screen isn’t as far flung as it might appear to be. I remember walking in a saloon in a small mining town in New 73 VRON Chevron Mexico, circa 1987. When my pupils adjusted to the light, it was apparent that most of the hirsute gents at the bar were packing what looked to be very large side arms. The drunk on the piano didn’t Now Available- Biodiesel B-100 an O!....an Delicious Fresh Sandwiches. Buy 7 sandwiches and get| free! seem to notice, but I sure as hell did. And it was at that point that I became very aware of my exact location in the Universe. It pays to understand the rules; no point in swallowing lead over a wise-ass spate of gum flapping. Freedom and responsibility, hand in hand in FOOD COURT: 7AM to 7PM | Specialty Sandwiches... Salads to Go...Vegdie Options sez Sore eae ETO Oia with CASH or CHEVRON CARD. the American West. As it should be. Jose Cuervo to the rescue! With that in mind, it should be repeated that no nation is free until its citizens possess _ and are competent to use those tools and skills necessary to take care of them selves. No government should be entrusted with our personal welfare. The result of that path is serfdom, a path well trod throughout the pages of human history and bearing poor results. To quote Ed Abbey for the umpteenth time: “New dynasties will arise, new tyrants will appear—no doubt. But we must and we can resist such recurrent aberrations by keeping true to the earth and remaining loyal to our basic animal nature. Humans were free be- See FAST, TASTY, ecneinneey 23 and check out our TACO BAR! 817 8. MAIN ST in MOAB Z 5-I1IPM MIDNIGHT on WEEKENDS |
