Classy red and gray banner, right?
Here’s my explanation of this group, written by me:
WYFP? means, What is Your F-ing Problem.
It’s a joke, because, traditionally, when someone speaks that phrase, it’s an angry, verbal attack. “What’s your f-ing problem!??” means, “Why are you annoying me?!?”
But here at Daily Kos, we are all about puppies and kittens, and we express mostly concern, and a desire to give each other emotional support.
So, when we ask that question in this Saturday night series of diaries,
we are truly asking if you have any problems you want to tell us about, and we will be your sounding board, your group therapy group, your peer support group.
That’s why the sign board above says, “May we find peace and healing here.”
There.
I took care of one of my problems: folks asking what does the WYFP? stand for.
Now, on to more problems.
One of my biggest, overall, problems, not immediately harmful, but drives me crazy when I stop to think about it:
I am just way too damn smart for the rest of the world.
Way too smart.
Way
too
smart.
And I keep learning, keep getting smarter.
For example:
I am an adamant atheist, not just saying no one has proof of a god, but rather, I say we all have, if we care to look at it, overwhelming proof there is no god. I am certain, beyond any reasonable doubt, there is no god. And, no life after death.
However.
After spending nine days at a church camp, I began to realize that most folks, here in the USA, should start attending church services, every week, maybe twice a week, and go to a church camp or other annual event, every year, and maybe other church related events, at other times in the year.
Let me explain:
First, I am measuring the common goal that I feel we all have, which is, a life well lived.
A rich and thoughtful life.
A life in which we deal with our problems, rather than wallow in them, and let them get us down.
A life in which we feel a certain level of accomplishment, the feeling of a job well done.
A life well lived.
The outward signs of this, seems to me, are two things:
Long term, stable, marriage.
Long term, stable, job or career or business.
Most of those who have those two things, here in America, also attend church services, nearly every week, or, twice a week.
Yes, it would be best, if everyone would give up the fairy tales, and become atheists.
But we atheists should, in my opinion, organize weekly services, and annual retreats, and more.
I actually feel the benefit, the emotional support, from my Christian family.
I am proof, that it is possible to benefit, to feel the emotional support, from Christians, if they are friendly towards me.
They hug, me, and say positive things about me.
Most of my family attends services, every week.
That helps them feel like hugging me.
And, we went together, to the church camp, the last part of July, 200 miles away, in the next state. The journey was the destination, driving all night, in the moonlight, from Wichita, Kansas, to Neosho, Missouri.
While at the church camp, I could feel from the body language of the folks there, facial expressions, small talk, I could feel a friendly, teamwork, attitude.
The camp has about fifty or so cottages, and many recreational vehicles, in which folks sleep at night.
There is no charge to stay there.
There is a communal mess hall, where everyone comes, three times a day, for a free meal.
There are communal toilets and showers, men’s on one side, women’s on the other.
I often got friendly, outgoing words from various older men, as I was stepping up to wash my hands, after using the toilet. I am an older man, myself, so they seemed to be reaching out, to build a little friendship.
You can easily figure out, from the 12 step movement, the alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous, etc, you can see from all this, that the key is peer support.
Emotional support, from a peer support group.
That is the key.
Apparently, it is not necessary to agree with everything that everyone else in the groups believes.
My Trump supporting, literal Bible story believing, brother-in-law, truly adores me, hugs me, and helps me in many ways.
The pastor of our church truly likes me and respects me. We have talked, many times, about how and why he respects me, and many other atheists and non-Christians. He says many of us, such as native Americans, do things like not slaughtering wildlife, when Christians, years ago, were methodically killing the bison, for no good reason. The non-Christians doing the will of god, the Christians not.
Those who are always between relationships, always between jobs, those folks seldom attend services, at any place of worship.
I understand that any religion that has gatherings, those gatherings should help, as long as the gatherings feel friendly.
But, in this country, those who need help, if you ask them about religion, most of them will say they are Christians.
So, somebody should give them this advice: Start attending services at your chosen church, on a regular basis, every week.
Those in recovery from addiction, like to go to meetings, some of them, every day.
Some other folks accuse the addicts of trading their chemical addiction, for a meeting addiction, and, the recovering addict says, guilty as charged.
I am saying, human nature is such, that we need something more than home and workplace.
We need a third place to go, where the main purpose is emotional comfort, and sage advice.
So, the smartest people are atheists, since smart review of the universe, shows us, clearly, that every event is caused by the universe itself, with no place for any outside god to put in his finger.
But where is our place of gathering?
Where is our peer support group?
The smartest people, apparently, are not aware of what the religious folks have known for thousands of years, that we need peer support groups?
Do you see why I see myself as the smartest of the smart?
I have no college degree of any kind.
I collect my SS check and work part time at a Walmart store.
My wife and I are guests in the home of her brother, who not only voted for Trump, but cried tears of joy when he won.
And, when I try to tell folks here at Daily Kos, that the oil will run short, the food will run short, since the diesel fuel is the only fuel that we, humankind, can use, in our current system, for the tractors, combines, trucks and trains, to produce and distribute the food, to feed seven billion of us, when I try to tell everyone, that when the oil runs short, and the food runs short, the whole system will shut down, and the only humans to survive, will be those living on their own self-sustaining farms, when I try to explain all this, folks here give me a blank stare.
Folks seem to be confused.
Folks here cannot wrap their brains around something so simple: short fuel, short food, famine.
All this will happen long before climate change kills billions.
How, exactly, will climate change kill billions, anyway?
Heat?
What about earth sheltered homes?
How can folks be killed by the heat, if they live in earth sheltered homes?
Have you read anything here at Daily Kos, telling folks they should consider building earth sheltered homes, to cope with global warming?
www.motherearthnews.com/…
The basic kits—which include the structural beams, their anchors, the necessary supports for the second floor, the rebar, the fasteners, and the forming material—cost between $10,500 and $15,000, depending on the size of the house. Obviously, by the time the structure is finished inside and out, the total bill will come to considerably more than that figure . . . but the owner-builder can tackle a great portion of the labor, thus appreciably cutting those costs. Also, conventional financing has been approved for these designs. Indeed, the Earth Systems folks indicate that none of their structures has ever been denied a building permit, though their houses have been constructed in a number of states from coast to coast.
Spherical, subterranean, and economical . . . that may sound like an unusual combination. But it might just be the solution if you're going to build on a "pay as you go" schedule . . . particularly if you'll have to squeeze in your carpentry around the old nine-to-five haul.
You will not die of heat related health troubles, if you live under several feet of dirt.
You could just build a conventional home basement, and put a roof on the main floor’s floor, instead of a house, but that might not fit building codes.
And, those who are disabled, like my wife, would get burnt up, in case of a fire, unable to climb the stairs quickly.
Anyway, earth sheltered, one way or another, is a great idea.
But, no diaries on the topic, as a way to survive global warming.
But the diaries, here at Daily Kos, stating that climate change will kill us all, those diaries, and comments, get lots of passionate support.
I am much smarter than any of those diarists, or commentors, since I see the coming famine, and they do not.
I see the coming famine.
They
do
not.
So, let’s review:
I am smarter than most atheists.
I am smarter than most climate change bloggers.
But who is doing the TED talks?
Not me.
Who is advising politicians, either candidates or those in power?
Not me.
Who is advising anyone in any high places?
Not me.
Who is in charge of the household where I live?
Not me.
In my forty some years of working various jobs, I have never been given the role of supervisor, guiding younger, less experienced workers.
Never.
In my last job, I was there 15 years.
In my current job, about 12 years so far.
I have been blogging here at Daily Kos for 13 years.
Yet, I seldom get much attention or respect, respect for the ideas I present.
Little ideas, big ideas, not much of any of it.
I just invented a way to write music, so I can play the violin better.
Notes on a treble clef, I knew how to read them, many decades a go, but in recent years, since I bought a violin, I have been playing strictly by ear.
Just last night, I figured out a way to write the notes for me to read, so I can play with more confidence, rather than from muscle memory, which takes a very long time, since I keep forgetting where to put my fingers, from one practice run to the next.
My method is easier to read than notes on a treble clef.
My method of writing, here at Daily Kos, is much easier to read, much easier than dense paragraphs.
But I have had folks here try to fight me, and tell me my style of writing physically hurts them.
I simply hit the enter key, when I feel a pause in my rant.
That way, the reader is forced to pause, when his or her eyes move down and left.
So, that way, we are dancing together, and we don’t step on each other’s toes, so to speak.
But my method is not catching on, and I don’t know why not.
I have a YouTube channel but very few views, very few comments:
I could go on and on.
Well, I suppose I’ll end my rant here.
Thanks for reading.
