shouting yins down

first off, there so totally has to be a market for torture somewhere.  NYC?  SF?  Tijuana?  most certainly that's not spelled right.  torture is just another vice the government wants to get its hairy mits on.  torture?  feh!  the stiffs in our government couldn't torture a waffle.  nor should they, er.  I say keep that shit private!  there's got to be a professional organization where I can learn the craft.  I'll show you ass-fucking with a rusty spoon!  oh wait - whoops, tmi.  lol.

ok.

Mr.Fundamental is sitting here in front of an empty mug on his desktop.  on its face it reads:

what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?  (unknown)

likely it's unknown because nobody will own up to that shit.  it's supposed to inspire you to climb a mountain, ride a metric century or win the Tour de France or some shit.  or save the planet.  cure cancer.  lose weight.  etc.

in the hands of an unscrupulous child however, we get this.  now I don't know if Ms.Fundamental bought this thing, or if our old roommate left it when he, um, left.  it hasn't inspired me to do much of anything, really.  except rant incoherently.  and despite all appearances of myself and my life and career etc., (children look away) failure is supposed to teach you things.  this is not supposed to inspire you to rage, to fight fight fight.  life ain't a Notre Dame football game, folks.  more of the same ain't gonna git you a different result.  and it should not inspire you to sit on your hands and pout!  recognizing what works and what doesn't is as heuristic a lesson as there can be.  why we prefer to hit the glass window and keep hitting it is a mystery. 

we have to win, we're in the right!  go the cries.  well, that's inspiring, but I've been inspired most of my life, and let me tell you, inspiration can only get you so far.  look at me, I'm a caricature on a fake blog!

well we here at Defeatist Central recognize and admire one's own ability to fail.  now project that onto our enemies, sans Freedom^tm bombs.  remember, and I'm paraphrasing, "the terrorists executed an incredible level of sophistication and expertise in carrying out the attacks"?  right.  I remember it well, and come to think of it, it sounded like jealousy if I've ever recognized such a thing.  a small, worthy, dedicated bunch of folks working hard for something they believe in deeply, deeply enough to make a considerable if not ultimate sacrifice.  jealousy.  that last sentence I wrote sounds like it could be an endorsement for the Peace Corps.  a global network, where money floats from afar to keep those in foreign lands fed, working and inconspicuous.  and how confusing it must be to our politicians and government officials.  bigger, better, more more more!  BUDGET!  wait, what did you say?  box cutters?  our K-9 robot squad can't even smell those things.  what're we gonna do with all this ammo and armor and all this money and people and mobile infrastructure and tanks and fighter jets and shit?  those things have gotta be good for something.  oh, right.

sigh.

idiots.  I wish I could load an idea in a gun and let you blow your own brains out with it, rather than fucking up the world with it. 

what would I attempt to do if I knew I could not fail?  nothing, absolutely nothing.  I wouldn't recognize success, or life for that matter, if it weren't checkered with failures, ugliness, boredom, retractions, retreats, whimpers, reassessments, mistakes, remorse, guilt, doubt and the pain of skinned knees and splinters.  I wouldn't attempt anything if I could taste its success without the bloody lip of failure stinging every sip of the reward.  there may be a war on terror, there may not be.  I'm not a believer.  I want to ask: how much failure can we handle?  that's probably the problem in America: sure we clean up nice, but man, we know how to fail and keep on ticking.  a hardy lot. 

war is pretty much not the answer.  forced conversion to democracy is pretty much not the answer. 

tick away we will.  I can only do so much.      

Comments

[Comandante Agi]

how much failure can we handle?

Now that's a question for the ages. I'll have to think about that for awhile.

[Crusader AXE of the Lost Causes]

When I first read Bro's comment, I thought it was "how much failure can we handle..." which, come to think of it, is probably the same thing.