The United States of Sithmerica: "Only a Sith Deals In Absolutes"

     In the movie Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker says to Obi-Wan Kenobi: "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy." Obi-Wan responds, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." Now for those of you who are (surprisingly in this day and age) unfamiliar with the Star Wars movies, Anakin Skywalker, previously the student of Jedi Master Kenobi, goes on to become the penultimate villain, Darth Vader. The Jedi are, in that universe, protectors and keepers of peace within the Galaxy and the Sith are their evil opposites, bent on control of the Galaxy through power, coercion and violence. How, you ask, does this all relate to our great country, the land of the free and the home of the brave? Well, let me tell you.

     My job, the work I do to make the money upon which I live and survive, is to speak to or listen to others speak to the American public concerning political issues. Now, I was politically active before I held this job, and I continue to pay close attention to American politics and spend a large portion of my non-working hours examining and attempting to understand how the politics of our country work and how it effects the citizens of our country. While I would not claim myself to be an expert in any way, I do feel I have a much better understanding and exposure to American politics than the average Joe. As such, I've come to understand that there is an extreme polarity when it comes to political beliefs in this country, and it manifests on both ends of the political spectrum.

      I am consistently annoyed, disgusted and saddened that I am unceasingly faced with the mindset that disagreement with a particular point of view or manner of going about achieving a goal equates to direct opposition of that point of view or manner of achieving that goal. Let me give a cartoonish and fictional example. The town council of Smallville, U.S.A. has a proposal before it to erect a life size statue of Superman in the town square. Councilman Smith argues against the statue and Councilman Jones argues for the statue. The argument however, as is far too common in political arenas, does not concern the viability of erecting a statue of Superman, but instead devolves into extremist vocalizations regarding the character of those arguing either side. Councilman Jones claims that that Councilman Smith, because he does not want to allocate funds for the statue, hates Superman, truth, justice and the American way. Councilman Smith argues that Councilman Jones, because he wants to erect the statue, is for the wonton spending of city funds and patently unappreciative of the hard earned tax-dollars which the town citizens have contributed through their taxation.

     The truth of the matter is, neither is likely the case. Councilman Smith in actuality has no problem with Superman or truth, or justice or the American Way. Instead, Councilman Smith is concerned that there are more important, frugal and productive means of spending tax-payer dollars. Councilman Jones in actuality sees the erection of the statue as a way of announcing to the world just how patriotic the town citizens are as well as a way of producing tourism dollars into the town economy by taking advantage of the fact that the town has the same name as the town in which Superman grew up as a child. However, instead of concentrating on discovering a way in which the council can arrive at a consensus concerning the proposed project and examining the pros and cons of each side of the argument, each side in the argument instead attacks their opponent in the belief that that opponent has malevolent or improper motivations. An omniscient viewer of the situation, however, would perceive that both Smith and Jones in actuality have benevolent motivations. Both wish to do a good thing with the tax-payer dollars, they simply disagree on how to go about spending those tax-payer dollars in a responsible and reasonable manner. This then is one of the most common and frankly harmful scenarios in American politics in our day and age.

     To use a real and terrifyingly important issue in American politics today, I'll use the controversy concerning welfare reform. The left side of the political spectrum in the United States tends to argue for increases in spending to expand and increase aid to those it considers 'less fortunate' and that current models do not do enough to help out those below poverty level or those who are unable to provide for themselves. The right side of the spectrum tends to argue that too much is being spent on such programs and that too much corruption in the system has made it wasteful and that too much is given to those who then become dependent upon that system and results in a reduction of drive to pull themselves out of a bad situation.  All too often I see this expressed in an oppositional  argument. The left claims that the right does not care for the underprivileged and in their heartlessness would toss the 'less fortunate' to their own fates and to perish in ignominy. The right often spouts arguments that the left desires to control the country by eliminating the middle class and reducing the majority of civilians into government dependency therefore allowing those in power to rule over the country with the power of welfare dollars.

     While there may in fact be those who are guilty of such accusations, I believe that the truth is that both sides wish to effectively help those who do in deed need it, they simply disagree on what is the most productive way of doing so. As I stated before, I listen to a multitude of American citizens and their beliefs on political issues and I've not once in the literally millions of people I've talked to or heard from who truly are guilty of the absurd arguments of which they are accused. Never once have I heard a conservative say 'screw 'em, take all their help away and let them suffer unto death', nor have I ever heard a liberal state, 'beat them into government dependency so we can control their lives as we see fit'. I truly and honestly believe that both sides, for the most part, wish to find a solution to the problem of poverty and government dependency, but this is rarely, if ever, how I see either side portray the other. Instead it is a constant refrain of 'if you are not with me, then you are my enemy'.  It is far too sad that the fictional character Obi-Wan Kenobi is not a leading politician in our government because he is correct in that dealing with absolutes rarely, if ever, leads to a solution to a problem.

    

I felt I had to share this blog post. It's well a written, entertaining and insightful look at the current state of politics in the United States of America by an Americanized citizen.

This particular bit struck me to the core in its philosophical accuracy:

"In the kindergarten of nations, we’re the kid with thick glasses and a book, the kid who grew up surrounded by adults and never really had a childhood.  Periodically we have to wade in and tell them they can’t play that way, because it’s against the rules and this is how it will end – and they resent us, of course, PARTICULARLY when we’re right.
(In that sense, btw, what we’re going through now is our attempt to act like the other kids, so they will like us.  It won’t work.  And it will end in tears.  And frankly, we’re starting to worry the other kids.  We’re too big and responsible to act like them.)"

So, do yourself a favor and go visit Sarah A. Hoyt's post
 http://accordingtohoyt.com/2013/01/17/it-all-ends-in-chickens/
from her blog http://accordingtohoyt.com/.

Flash Fiction inspired by a friend

One of my friends whose nickname is Mouse, and whom I used to play music with, offered up the suggestion for a story about a mouse who plays guitar after reading my facebook posts about my new book. I took his suggestion to heart and this was the result:

Die Shreddermaus

By William R. Hirons

Crooner, Thumper and Bottom End were in a panic. Plucker, the guitar player who had been with them since the beginning had taken off across country to chase after a girl and left them in the lurch. They had a gig the following weekend at one of the biggest jam bars in town and now they were stuck with nobody to fill out the melody parts of all the songs they had worked so diligently on to craft and refine for such an important showcase.

“What're we gonna do guys,” Thumper lamented.

“We could always give Chauncey Wiggenbottom a call,” Bottom End suggested, absentmindedly picking at a Ramones sticker that had been glued to the face of his bass guitar some dozen years ago and was now beginning to curl at the edges.

Crooner shook his head emphatically. “No way, that dude can't keep time for squat. He can play the notes but Thumper has to speed up and slow down his beats. Besides, the guy smells like old cheese.”

Thumper shook his head sadly. “Yeah, he's supposed to follow me, not the other way around. How about Fast Freddy Frackin?”

Crooner looked at Thumper out of the top of his eyes in disbelief and Bottom End snorted and said, “Not a chance, dude turns every song into a speed metal, scalefest of solos. He's like Yngwie Malmsteen on meth.”

Crooner got out his cell phone and started looking through his contacts list searching for a suitable replacement for their former picker while his bandmates sulked. Bottom End tilted his head in a pose that said he was hearing something but wasn't sure what it was.

“You guys hear that?”

Thumper stopped running his brush around the edge of his cymbal and cocked his head, listening intently.

“Yeah. What is that? Sounds kinda like my squeaky chair at work when I get bored and spin around to make myself dizzy.”

Crooner looked around trying to figure out where the noise was coming from, stalking around the garage they used as their band practice space like a cat hunting for prey.

Bottom end walked up to a row of shelves that his dad had all his woodworking tools on and gasped, “Whoa dudes. Check this out,” he whispered in awe and indicating a space next to the bandsaw his dad had never used.

Thumper got up from his kit and followed Crooner over to stand next to Bottom End and they all stared with their jaws hanging open.

Standing between the unused bandsaw and pickle jar full of screws, nails and other odds and ends was a little brown mouse, a tiny guitar strapped over its shoulder and hooked up to a miniature Marshall stack no bigger than one of the Hot Wheels cars that Crooner liked to collect.

“No flippin' way,” Thumper managed to say after an interminable length of time that the trio had been watching while the little mouse twitched its whiskers and squeaked out a long tirade of undecipherable abuse.

Crooner looked back and forth between his bandmates and the little rodent. “Where in the name of Django Reinhardt did he get that mini axe and rig?”

Bottom End shook his head. “No clue man. Hey, you think the little dude is trying to audition for us?”

Thumper raised an eyebrow. “I dunno, but there's no way that little amp is gonna manage to not get drowned out by my beats.”

The little mouse crossed his arms over his guitar and gave the three what could only be construed as a sign of wounded pride.

Crooner laughed. “Mousey be pretty confident,” he said to his pals, “maybe we should give him a shot.”

The other two humans laughed and then took a step back in surprise when the miniature guitar player flipped a switch on the tiny amp and a screech of feedback filled the garage that was loud enough to rattle the odds and ends on the shelf and caused the snare on one of Thumper's drums to rattle against the drumhead.

The mouse threw his head back in an unmistakable pose of satisfaction then placed his hands upon the threadlike strings.

A heavy metal version of Paganini's 'Andantino Variato' filled the garage and the three band members stared at the little virtuoso, all three with their jaws hanging to their chests.

As the piece came to its end, the little mouse proceeded to play their whole set list, from beginning to end, better than Plucker had ever been able to perform.

When he had finished, the band members all cheered and applauded as the mouse bowed as if ending a performance at Carnegie Hall.

Bottom End nodded in satisfaction and said to his buddies, “well, looks like we have our replacement.”

Thumper fairly gushed, “straight up. What a promotional hook too. World's smallest guitar virtuoso!”

Crooner smiled in agreement, then cocked his head questioningly. “But what's his name? Gotta have the right tag to be in a band."

The other two looked at him for a moment then all three looked at the little mouse.

The tiny stringsmith got what could only be considered a satisfied smile and flipped his tiny little guitar over so that the back showed.

The three aspiring musicians all leaned over and squinted to see what was painted in fancy script on the tiny guitar. All three nodded approval at what it said.

“Die Shreddermaus.”

Is Twitter truly relevant to a new author?

With the publication of my new book, 'Windows to Other Worlds: Essays, Short Stories and One Novella' (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZBO7NA), I have of course been researching marketing techniques for ebooks and the like. Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter seem to be the biggies for getting word out, however, I'm unsure of how effective Twitter is.  I haven't tweeted in quite a while, over a year, and so returned to the world of tweeting as a way of promoting my book. It seems to me that this cannot be a very effective tool. I don't have very many followers which would seem a detriment to my intention, but even with so few followers (only 28) and not many more that I follow (81) the tweets just whiz by and I have to scroll maniacally just to find anything amongst even those few folks whose tweets show on my wall.  How then can this be an effective marketing tool.  If someone who is following me has even just the limited amount of followers that I have, how can they weed out just that one post of mine which will lead them to my book. Is someone really going to pick out my tweet with the link to my book when it's surrounded by a flock of tweets by the likes of Barack Obama, William Shatner, Stan Lee and whoever is the Tweetmaster du jour?  I'm not sure that this avenue is even worth my effort.

Watch out World... I'm Published!

After a whirlwind marathon of editing, formatting, rewrites and searching for just the right cover art, I've finally gotten my first book published.  It's a collection fo short stories, essays and a novella.  It's an eclectic menagerie of various writing styles and genre's so I hope that there will be something within that most people can relate to and enjoy.  It's not Homer or Michener or even Bill Bryson, but it's mine. I wrote it. I edited it, I formatted it and I self-published it.  Eric Schumacher did the cover for it. Gotta give a brother his due.  At any rate, I'm hoping now that people will buy it.  It's up on amazon in the kindle .mobi format and can be found at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZBO7NA

For $2.99 I think that most folks can search the couch cushions and dig up enough to get their own copy.  Get to reading folks.

I think I've decided on the cover for my new ebook....

Found some great nuggets of info to day from various blogs, this one in particular struck a chord with me.

"When I write, I understand that I am not in control, and I don’t fight that. I throw the reins to the characters and let them go where they will. It works, because I feel tense and nervous when I’m in charge of other people, and characters, well…. They’re other people. They’ve got pieces of me in them, all my characters do, but they’re not me, and they have their own desires and personalities. They act upon those. I let them make their decisions, and the system just works."

From :  http://crimsonleague.com/2013/01/04/fear-of-the-unknown/

on Victoria Grefer's Blog at: http://crimsonleague.com/