TEAMS

by Idaho (Burbury) Chubbs channeling Jon Stewart's right to be serious


"This great evil. Where does it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doin' this? Who's killin' us? Robbing us of life and light. Mockin' us with the sight of what we might've known. Does our ruin benefit the earth? Does it help the grass to grow, the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you, too?" - Witt (THE THIN RED LINE) 

There is something plaguing this world and it is "teams". I'm not talking about sports teams or a righteous cause that one believes in. I'm talking about association with a certain ideology that pinpoints a restricted line of thinking even though one might not agree with everything it has to say. We as humans yearn for an identity, something to believe in that can give us hope and goals, to get us through the daily grind of this vague existence, so we can feel like we matter. Sometimes it's not good enough to have a local identity with the actual people that we love or see every day. Sometimes we need to commune with all humanity in a positive or even negative manner, just to let them know that I matter in the scheme of things and even though I don't know what the fuck this whole life thing is, I'm gonna ROAR just the same. I understand this, but we need to fucking STOP IT! This isn't some preachy we are the world shit. I know we definitely ARE NOT. We never have been in our history on this planet. But I think we are the best now. Sure, some things never change, but aren't we the most civilized, on the whole, as we ever have been? But it's not good enough. It's not good enough for me, and it's not good enough for you, so we fight in many ways and on many levels. When my "WASPY" Episcopalian ass was growing up as a middle class kid on the gem-stoned banks of Long Island's North Shore, certain life/religious values were instilled in me. I was put on a "team" without my consent, but the thing is, as much as that team was discerning, it was quite open minded. It believed in a certain train of thought yet welcomed the challenging of that thought, even relating to the doubt of that belief. Through that method I was able to develop independent thoughts that conflicted with certain ways of thinking but were never dismissed. But make no mistake I was on a team religiously, it just took me some time to declare free agency; a free agency that resulted in my non-participation in this "take sides" society. A forever free agency if you will. Sure I have defined opinions about certain topics, but I'm always aware of the fact that as much knowledge of this world as I accumulate, the more I still know nothing about anything. And that is what many people don't understand about themselves. They believe whole-heartedly in what they believe in, or they believe in some things, have some doubts but still want to belong, be identified with a certain group. In my immediate life the religious conflict seems to be a non issue, unless you are a black and white extremist. People believe in their gods but they mostly interpret their spirituality individually, but cling to the organizations that might think otherwise. The clinging now seems to rear it's most ugly head when it comes to politics. I am a true novice when it comes to these matters but my brain grinds it's gears every day when exposed to Diane Rehm's near death voice, permeating my thoughts with information pertaining to said topics. My cerebral cortex cannot help itself but to THINK, to run all sorts of data that produce some half-thought. There are things happening everywhere, the Chicago Bears' record is a mirage, Israelis killed flotillas full of suspicious support in The Gaza, oil spill explosions have set the south's seafood economy back a decade as we try to figure out how to stop it (WE DID!)-("We're sorry"), as we try to blame SOMEBODY. George Steinbrenner died (and as sad as it is for someone to die, besides Stalin or Caligula, he got a memorial plague dedication that dwarfed Jesus's cross and made Babe Ruth's visage look like a little league participation trophy (wtf?). Democrats hate Republicans, Republicans hate Democrats, especially cause they're in office, vice versa. Independents have no back-bone, people seem to think that Libertarians are Republicans and The Tea Party seems to hate everyone except Sarah Palin? (Seriously I don't know much about it) Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber have reached the zenith of their exposition (I mentioned them, oh well), my fantasy football team shit the bed this week, The Catholic Church is corrupt, Heisman candidates love free laptops, The Boise State kicker (who is the leading scorer in his league's history) missed two field goals that youth soccer youths could make with their eyes closed, Fashion Week in New York lacked a truly original upstart designer but I loved G-Star's line of Canadian tuxedos, Devon Hester somehow made dreads into the coolest faux-hawk I've ever seen on a human-being, Gays can't marry everywhere yet, Is Louie CK the next Woody Allen except ya' know not as smooth (but more disturbing?)? Abortion is still an issue, GLEE is awesome, I'm starting to believe John Noble's Walter Bishop (TV show FRINGE) is my universal totem, Africa still has warlords, Lindsey Lohan's tweets about a sad sad life that I wish we'd all ignore, and Islam extremists won't stop exploding themselves until the entire planet is fucking a bunch of virgins in Elysium.


We have opinions about all of this, but we don't think we do. We are extremely well informed about a select few, but when asked about the ones we are not, we express our thoughts judiciously or we go from our gut. Both can have hazardous consequences. For me I go the way of the worm. But a nice, soft worm. I wiggle in and I find what you love and hate and I question all of that very subtly. I believe that I am nothing, but most people believe they are something, but sometimes I believe, that when we realize we do not matter, we can truly grow...or commit suicide. It's a fine, very blurred line. The world is swirling around us, out of fucking control and we look to grasp onto things, talking points even, so we can still keep our feet on this false, but, tangible ground. The distractions above hamper us. We want to solve everything, but are we willing to? No, not at all. But we think we can through identifying ourselves as being apart of some movement, mainly political or religious, or both. What I'd say, believe in our personal details. Let the rest of the fucking bullshit slide into the river Styxx. Stop wearing your issues on your sleeve unless you can be open-minded while possessing an inkling of what you are talking about. And if you do and your gut is hearkening you to make your accusations, assumptions and "I fucking stand for this"/"FUCK you if you don't? Know you're fucking shit. KNOW EVERYTHING! Because if you don't, you're wrong, or maybe right on some things, some earthly topics, but ultimately wrong. Just remember this; Saul became Paul; basically a Nazi became Anne Frank, except, ya' know lived and got his word out. We don't have to exemplify that extreme but I just urge us to think for ourselves but accept that other human beings think for themselves, and not necessarily agree but, just, give it thought. Let us at least TRY to understand, FUCKING TRY. If we don't, cool. If we do, ok. But let's be ourselves and not bow down to a "life team", because they just limit our capacity to explore our minds. I'm not saying don't believe in anything, I'm saying that you should try to see why other people believe in other things. Shit, maybe if we all did that, this world would be just a bit more civilized than it is now.