Green Earth, Brown Earth

Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved science fiction.

Until recently, I thought that science fiction = military adventure, post-apocalyptic tale or dystopian warning. I never could have conceived of science fiction that is optimistic, if not perfect, in the future it tries to put forth to an audience.

I understand, who doesn’t love reading a story about space marines on alien worlds? Or about a bombed-out wasteland teeming with bizarre creatures and even weirder people? Or a hellish, totalitarian government that watches everything its citizens do with a paranoid and all-seeing eye (Aren’t we already living that? Heyo! Haha…ha…ha). Still, there should be optimistic sci-fi and it turns out there are alternatives!

Granted, this is a personal discovery and not a moment where I expect to be welcomed as Moses coming down from the mountain with a new revelation.

Ursula K. Le Guin and Kim Stanley Robinson both spring to mind as two titans of science fiction that imagine a positive, almost-utopian future for humanity. Yes, things might not be perfect, but at least we have ventured forth from our home and it hasn’t ended in disaster. It also doesn’t hurt that their political ideologies line up pretty well with my own.

So, why am I talking about this?

I’ve tried my hand at writing literary fiction. And you better believe I’m still insanely proud of In the Land of God. Nevertheless, breaking into the literary fiction scene is pretty damn hard; to say the least. Either your ideas must be so fresh and so innovative that they can’t be ignored OR you have to grind and grind and grind through getting a BA in creative writing, pursuing an MFA and then working your ass off to meet the right people and get your manuscript in the right hands. Of course, much of the same still stands when it comes to sci-fi, except for one big personal difference: I enjoy writing it more. Same goes for horror.

So where does this talk about optimistic sci-fi come in?

A few months ago, I saw this painting online:

I don’t know who painted it, otherwise I’d be more than happy to give them credit. It filled me with warmth and comfort and a feeling of community: the clear and blue skies, the sleek and simple architecture, the abundance of greenery and people walking alongside an electric train. It seems so…simple. Not just in terms of lifestyle, but in terms of solutions to our myriad problems: alienation, the loss of public space, our lack of mass transit (at least here in the US), the destruction of the environment and the reality that (sorry AnPrims) most of us would like to live in a modern society.

I started thinking about a different world, a cleaner world after seeing that picture.

Recently, I wrote a short essay about bikes and why I wish we used them more and could use them more. Unfortunately, where I live, biking more than a mile is recipe for disaster (especially once the snow flies). And I started thinking about a world where taking a bike, or even walking was just as convenient as hopping in a car.

Imagine a world where everything you need is a short walk or bike ride away? And if it’s raining or cold or you just feel like being lazy there’s a solar-powered train a stone’s throw from your home, or maybe instead of cars we drive something like an oversized, solar-powered golf cart?

Imagine a world where vines and beautiful flowers decorate every building instead of obnoxious and glaring advertisements.

Imagine a world where there are plenty of open, public spaces for people to meet and talk and enjoy music and art. And if it’s not a public space then it’s used for growing produce.

Imagine looking up and seeing a blue sky without any manmade objects in it save for a handful of airliners making emergency trips across the country. Imagine knowing you had the time to take a train anywhere you wanted knowing that it wasn’t destroying the atmosphere and you didn’t have to wait for the seat-belt light to turn off before you stood up to go pee.

Imagine…

It’s easy to get bogged down in negativity when it comes to our planet’s future. The IPCC released a dismal report a few months ago and I can summarize it like this: We have 12 years to fix things or we’re screwed. Royally screwed. Laughing-and-crying-in-hysteria screwed.

Climate collapse (and, let’s be honest, that’s what it is) is still regarded by far too many people as a natural phenomenon outside of Man’s control. Those who stand to lose the most due to climate collapse don’t have the power to change the people who make the decisions. Central Americans are already fleeing their homes due to unpredicted droughts and they’re being locked in cages. How long before more refugees arrive at our borders and our ports and they meet a worse fate? How long before we start feeling the squeeze at home? Hotter summers and harsher winters are already becoming the norm, and how long will it be before we start to feel the more dire effects like food shortages and water shortages?

That’s to say nothing about the destruction of biospheres (bye coral reefs, bye forests).

Or to say nothing about impending fuel shortages (I guess the dinosaurs got the last laugh. Use me to mow your lawn, huh?! Watch this!)

Despite all this negativity, I still find myself drawn to imagining both a better future and a worse future. It can go either way, which is why I’ve started tinkering with a novel that is focused on one family split between two parallel realities: one in which climate collapse is averted and one in which the worst happens. One that ends as a success story, and one that ends with us back to square one. I want to write a story that acts as a warning and as an encouragement. I’m not writing it for fame and fortune, instead I’m writing it as catharsis, like having a good dream and a nightmare at once.

I won’t pretend that I’m writing this as some groundbreaking manifesto or work of fiction. I just want it to be something that makes people ask themselves: what kind of world would I rather have?

My novel, In the Land of God, is available as a FREE PDF or as an E-BOOK & PAPERBACK.

 

In Defense of Bikes

I woke up this morning, a full ten minutes ahead of my usual schedule, only to go down to the parking lot and discover that I had a flat tire. My morning commute started with a nerve-wracking prologue of driving to the nearest gas station with an air pump, praying to numerous deities that my tire would not dissolve into a slag heap of rubber and sparks. I begged the cashier for a cash-return in quarters (God bless you, middle-aged gas station clerk for taking pity on me) and waited for the tire-saving air to rush into the rubber balloon. My car lurched a full inch or two as the tire refilled. During my lunch break, I rushed out to my car to check on my tire like an anxious parent checking on a newborn, ensuring that it was still filled with air. At night, I checked on the tire again to ensure that it was still firm and capable of getting me to the discount tire place the next day. All toll, this little adventure will cost me between $100 – 150 and numerous minutes erased from my life expectancy due to stress.

Thank you Henry Ford and thank you President Eisenhower for turning America into an entirely car-dependent nation.

On my apartment deck, two derelict bikes lay against the brick siding. They aren’t in terrible shape, graciously-accepted hand-me-downs from my godfather. The tires could stand to be replaced, they need a little cosmetic work and maybe some transmission tune-ups. In short, these bikes could be like-new after an hour of YouTube tutorials, $50 of gear and an hour or two of sweat equity. They would be good to go for an absurd number of years after this investment along with minor upgrades to brakes, tires and so forth. The one major problem? I can’t go anywhere with them.

My wife could theoretically take a bike to work and I suppose I could as well: if she left 30 minutes before her start time and if I left an hour before my start time, we could make it. Considering the cost of owning and maintaining a car, it is tempting. If I had a little more willpower I would certainly attempt it. Oh, and designated bike paths that are treated and maintained like roads would be a huge bonus. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of biking to work, but I’m also a lazy bastard that wants to get as many minutes in bed as possible. So, sue me. Also, it’s Michigan. We have an idiotic car culture because of a bankrupt and dying city and that idiocy has translated to ensuring that sidewalks and bike paths are coated in ice whereas highways are made salty enough to kill even the hardiest of microbial life. This means that walking or biking to work is an admirable, if challenging goal. That is to say nothing of transporting a child to school then transporting yourself to work.

The simple, yet “expensive” (meaning: some rich people wouldn’t be rich anymore) solution, would be to ensure that sidewalks and bike paths are maintained year-round and ensuring that people’s places of work are within walking or biking distance. Of course, that would require central planning for: housing, education, employment, food, healthcare, etc. etc. and that would be downright communism. Oh the horror! Oh the humanity! What about the gas stations?! What about the overdone hot dogs rolling round and round under their heat lamps?! What about sitting in a traffic jam listening to tepid jokes and 40-year old rock songs?! I want, I need to spend thousands of dollars on vehicular upkeep to feel free! Don’t you see? I got an awkward handjob in the back of a used car, and dammit I need to recapture that feeling forever! My car once represented a bedroom on wheels, total freedom and I need that freedom again otherwise the Soviets win! What’s that? The Soviet Union has been dead since ’91? Never mind, if having a gas-guzzling, money-shredding sedan gives me peace-of-mind then so be it.

Even if you don’t believe in climate collapse (and…why not?), you can at least understand that owning and operating a car is tedious, at best. No one likes to pay for gas, or for maintenance, or for the routine repairs that come with owning a car. Some people enjoy the challenge of dealing with their car, and I suppose everyone needs a hobby, but most people see their car as a means of getting from Point A to Point B. I do, that’s for sure. Perhaps mass transit is still a pipe-dream for most of Middle America, and I know that a complete reorganization of urban planning is a long ways off, but maybe, just maybe could we embrace bike culture and make it a little cheaper and easier to get around? At least salt the bike paths. Please.

In the Land of God – FREE PDF

I’ve been meaning to getting around to doing this. It comes from a deep-seated belief that art should be done for art’s sake and not for profit.

I am finally providing a FREE, PDF copy of my one-and-only novel, In the Land of God. Now, I won’t turn down someone buying a copy, but I would much rather someone read my story for free than someone pass on my story because they don’t want to pay for it (and I don’t blame you).

So, without much further ado, here is In the Land of God, available for free.

In the Land of God (PDF)

Our Latest Misadventure in the Making

I was too young to remember the buildup to the Iraq War.

I don’t remember the media circus, with slavish liberals and bloodthirsty conservatives, all ready to rain down ruin and hellfire on the poor bastards that looked at us sideways. After all, we were a wounded nation looking for anyone, anywhere to take out our frustrations.

I do remember the divided attitude, even in God-fearing, rock-flag-and-eagle-loving West Michigan. I remember watching bombing raids on Baghdad and seeing reports that we had lost a battle at a place called Fallujah. Anbar Province. IEDs. Saddam Hussein, an old and ragged man dragged out of a hole in the middle of nowhere.

Understanding all of this, but none of the context.

Fast forward less than a decade and I do remember the Arab Spring and the NATO intervention in Libya. Talking in my AP European History class about Allied bombing sorties against the forces of Qaddafi. Following the advance of “free” Libyan forces. Watching the video of Qaddafi’s execution and feeling a sense of repulsion at the sight.

Then came the fallout.

The power vacuum in Iraq followed by the eventual invasion by the Islamic State. The collapse of Libya into vicious civil war, and the people there left to their own devices.

Now, less than a decade after the self-righteous intervention in Libya and nearly two after the debacle that became the Iraq War, and we’re already ginning ourselves up to invade another “enemy” of the United States: Venezuela.

It shouldn’t be all that surprising. The American political machine has shuddered to a stop, for all intents and purposes. The Republican Party is trying to hold whatever power it still can before it all goes to shit, and the Democrats refuse to face the music when it comes to popular policies and electable candidates. What better way to unite the parties and (hopefully by extension) the people, than a good old imperialist adventure?

Let’s get one thing straight, right now: any invasion of Venezuela is for cheap nationalist thrills and securing the world’s largest oil reserves (nearly 301 million barrels); the only other country that comes close is Saudi Arabia at about 266.5 million barrels.

We attempted to put a stranglehold on the country through sanctions, but that doesn’t mean anything when the majority of the Venezuelan people know the sanctions are bullshit and for bullshit reasons.

But what about the opposition? What about the dictator Nicolas Maduro?

Again, bullshit to both.

The opposition is the wealthy and predominantly European-descended elites who shudder at the thought of being treated like anyone else be it politically or materially. When these people talk about “freedom” what they really mean is the freedom to accumulate more wealth than some poor scum-sucking bastard. They want the freedom to lead a jet-set lifestyle, to put-put around the Caribbean Sea in a yacht and live away from the rabble. You bet your ass they wanted Chavez gone and now Maduro, after all, the loss of privilege in the name of equality often seems like persecution and discrimination.

The Venezuelan working class, the regular people, the people like you and me know who the “opposition” is and what they want. Imagine if we had a government in the United States that was trying to serve the material interests of the common folk, it would be the shareholders and bank executives and Wall Street brokers and business types flooding the streets calling for regime change and a “free” government. Remember, when the monied class talks about freedom they mean economic freedom to exploit and plunder; full stop. It seems the Venezuelan opposition now see their opportunity thanks to the election of Jair Bolsonaro, that Evangelical Jesus freak and out-and-out fascist right next door in Brazil.

Speaking of dictators, liberals and conservatives at home are calling for regime-change because the Venezuelan opposition claims that Maduro is a dictator and the illegitimate leader of Venezuela.

That’s funny because…

-Maduro won by a popular vote of 67.8 percent in the 2018 election with two other candidates from opposing parties sharing the remainder

-Maduro allowed the opposition to not only remain free (and alive), but organize in the National Assembly to the point they recently put forth their own, unelected president

-Maduro, despite being a socialist, allowed 70 percent of Venezuela’s economy to remain in private hands

-And now Maduro is saying that he is willing to negotiate with the opposition and hold another election, despite the opposition declining the offer to hold an election

If Nick is a dictator, then he’s a pretty innocuous one.

Now, at this point we haven’t publicly moved troops into Venezuela. Then again, who the hell knows what the CIA or Special Forces psychopaths are up to in the hinterland. Still, it appears that American troops are moving into Colombia which doesn’t bode well for a weakened socialist(ish) government or the Venezuelan people.

What’s more depressing, it seems that the American government and a frightening number of Americans are more than ready to jump into what will inevitably become another shitshow of a war costing us an absurd amount of treasure and thousands of people looking for a federally-guaranteed bachelor’s degree in business management. That’s to say nothing of another country destroyed by American interference in a non-issue and the potential for thousands, if not millions of innocent people to be snuffed out because Americans needed a reason to feel special and some defense contractor or oil executive ghoul needed another private island.

If we get into another pointless war that will cost as much as Iraq, no one is ever, ever allowed to say that we cannot afford universal healthcare or universal college or any other social program that would benefit the American working class.

My advice to younger Millennials and older Gen-Zers: don’t let the Selective Service Administration know where you live. I doubt that the Republicans or Democrats are stupid enough to call up a draft, but we do live in stupid times led by stupid, weak people, so best to future proof a little. If all else fails, tell your local draft board that you’ll frag your 2^nd lieutenant first chance you get and start ranting about the glory of the Bolivarian Revolution.

Finally, to those of you who still aren’t sold that this would be a clusterfuck of epic proportions, what the hell has Venezuela ever done to us? What kind of desperate sociopath needs every, blessed country on Earth to bend its knee to the US? We’re more of a threat to them than they’ve ever been to us, but I suppose when you’re in the business of empire you need that power anywhere you can get it.

If the tree of liberty is watered by the blood of patriots, then the bramble of empire is watered by the blood of innocents; and that prickly son of a bitch is always thirsty.

Why Independent Media?

If nutjobs on the right are good at one thing, it’s getting agonizingly close to a good take then veering off into being incorrect and insane. Take for example their fixation with “corporate media” being crooked and failing to serve the better interests of the “common people.” See, the thing is they aren’t wrong, but they aren’t correct either. Corporate media has been built to serve, well, corporate interests for one. In a broader sense, the corporate media serves the interests of the bourgeoisie, and this isn’t triple parentheses bourgeoisie, this means the ownership-class from the small-business owner to Jeff Bezos.

Most news media is owned, either directly or indirectly, by business interests. The larger news outlets such as ABC/NBC/CBS or Fox/CNN/MSNBC do not provide the news as a public service, rather, it serves as a sort of tolerable propaganda that goads the public into accepting American business interests at home and abroad. For example, even MSNBC, the “left” option of cable news barely says anything disparaging about American activities abroad, but simply goes for the soft targets like Trump or GOP ghouls acting like typical, brain-dead frat boys.

Where do people go who are disenfranchised with the “corporate media?”

Some flock to the slobbering, paranoid types like Alex Jones, Paul Joseph Watson, Jordan Peterson or the rest of these YouTube “celebrities” peddling in a bizarre mix of fascism and self-help. Granted, they aren’t corporate media, they just so happen to prop up the same narratives of nationalism, militarism, traditionalism and capitalism. While these types aren’t numerous, they do have a disturbing presence online and a concerning number of followers. For example, this whole QAnon business seems to have absorbed every retiree and sexless teenage boy across the 50 states as a sort of ideology/news source/scavenger hunt.

Others go for truly independent news sources such as:

–Democracy Now!

-Jacobin

-the Baffler

-Current Affairs

-or Citations Needed

The difference between these examples and the former examples is that they are not only independent of corporate ownership, they are also not beholden to upholding the “acceptable” narratives that support nationalism or capitalism.

Basically, if any media or journalistic outlet is to be truly independent, it must be able to criticize hierarchies and power structures without fear of censorship or punishment.

Of course, these independent outlets aren’t exactly rolling in money, but they are fulfilling the ideal function of journalism, which is speaking truth to power. In West Michigan and Michigan-writ-large there are a few groups doing just that:

Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy headed up by Jeff Smith

The Rapidian

Bridge Magazine

and Borderless Media are a few examples.

My goal with The Specter is to provide one more viewpoint that isn’t worried about pissing off investors or advertisers, and tries to serve the people around here. Granted, I could accomplish this with a blog, and I’ll probably publish most of the stories on this blog, but I have a soft spot for design and the ability to print off physical copies.

So, why independent media?

I think most of us can agree that the current news media does not serve the interests of the common person. It never points fingers at those who should be blamed, it never steps beyond the bounds of objectivity and it certainly never says that the system itself is to blame. Independent media is a challenge to this paradigm, this mode of thought, and that journalism shouldn’t be perfect, but it should at least be human and honest.

 

I’m Comin’ Back

It’s been a long time, and I want to come back to this blog. There’s nothing stopping me, I want to come back to this blog. At the same time, I want to get back into my podcast (UnApologetics) and I want to get into doing a bi-monthly magazine to put my over-priced college degree to work. So, I’ve decided to make this my home. Just call me the prodigal son making his way back home with a $40,000 piece of paper and head full of ideas.

I plan on doing some basic construction on this site, so some night soon I will load up on cheap vodka and orange juice, swallow some over-the-counter speed and get down to brass tacks. It’s been a while, and I miss using this website. Nothing is stopping me from coming back, so, I’m coming back.

New episodes from UnApologetics are coming and a new digital magazine called The Specter will make its debut on this blog.

I’m feeling ambitious, I’m feeling communist and it warms my heart that people still frequent this blog (despite my lukewarm, liberal takes).

Let’s go.

-Adam

Hometown PR & New Episodes from UnApologetics

Working 40 hours a week takes a lot out of a guy. Also, what the hell, I had a lot of views a few days ago. Maybe I’ve been neglecting this blog…yeah, I’ve been neglecting this blog.

Earlier this week I sat down with Tim McAllister from the The Lowell Ledger about my novel, In the Land of God. I’ll be honest, it was strange talking about it after months of forgetting that I even wrote the damn thing in the first place. That’s not a coded way of saying that I’ve gone the stereotypical writer route and drank so much that I forgot I wrote a book, I went more of the, “Huh, nobody’s reading this thing,” route and decided to pretend I hadn’t wrote a novel to offset the disappointment. It was refreshing to talk about my novel, and I felt a tiny, tiny hint of pride talking about it again. For those wondering, I grew up in Lowell, Michigan, and the Ledger is the daily paper for the city and the surrounding area. It may not be a feature in the New Yorker (like I’d want that anyway), but it feels great to know that I made at least a small mark in my hometown.

Here’s a snippet of the larger article to come:

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D1622694687775173%26id%3D120027594708564&width=500

Fun fact: Lowell has some unexpected literary connections. Glendon Swarthout and William S. Burroughs I (grandfather to William S. Burroughs the Beat writer) attended Lowell High School (same as myself), so I guess I’m in decent company. I have considered writing a short story collection about my time growing up in Lowell, so maybe it’s time I get cracking on that…when I find the time between the factory grind and running UnApologetics.

Speaking of UnApologetics!

New episodes can be found below:

 

 

More Episodes! (And Other Blog Updates)

Hey everyone, Adam here. I know it’s been quiet in this neck of the cyber woods, and I apologize to my small but loyal group of followers. I’ve gotten a new job, and it dominates a lot of my time. When I’m not working, I’m trying to do that one thing, what’s it called…what’s it called, oh right, a personal life. The rest of the time is throwing a couple hours at UnApologetics (that’s the SoundCloud, here’s the website) and struggling to get shit done for Borderless. In short – I’m busy.

I’m not abandoning this blog though, no sir/ma’am. This is my Corregidor! Well, maybe that’s a terrible analogy considering what happened. Alamo? Nope. Never mind.

On top of posting partial articles I wrote for Borderless I will also dump public episodes from UnApologetics here. I’ll also still write articles that don’t really fit for UnApologetics or Borderless (read: semi-coherent rambling). Also, any fiction I write will also show up here as well as on the UnApologetics site (well, maybe not there). Well, when I get the time to write some fiction. I suppose I have the time, I’m just being a lazy writer. Ah well.

Maybe I’ll throw up an article about The Handmaid’s Tale tonight since I’m watching it again with Shanice. It could happen! Stay tuned!

 

First Three Episodes of UnApologetics

Hey everyone, so like I said in my last post I’m now involved with a podcast & blog called UnApologetics. To help (potentially) expand the audience, I’m posting the first three (and only three, for right now) episodes of the podcast.

Whenever a new episode comes out, I’ll make sure to upload it here too.

Cheers!