Strung Out

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Have you ever been in a situation where you overheard someone say something that struck you as amusing? Profound?  Have you ever read an ad or tweet that inadvertently came out totally hilarious?  Those are called SNIPPETS.  And it turns out that Pastor Drew Jacques has collected various snippets (notebooks full of them) as a hobby.  Snippets can help us alleviate some of the dull or sad times in our lives.  They are chock full of wisdom of the moment.  Pastor Drew sees snippets as something that doesn't even have to be spontaneous, but a sort of "guerilla campaign" of spreading humor and love in a world that really needs it right now. 

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Martin talks with Pastor Drew Jacques with the Around the Campfire series.  In this episode, we start off talking about art and how the creative expression of individuals is running headlong into a sort of group think that Pastor Drew identifies as "sheeple."   Martin looks at this sort of "group mentality," like the Ottawa Trucker Rally as something that is more cancerous in how it is anti-culture.  The anti-culture "sheeple" mentality has been nurtured by several different avenues, such as the prosperity church, nationalism and pure propaganda by political organizations.   One of the first casualties always is art, which represents the aspirations and observations of society as a whole.  A healthy culture looks out for its artists and celebrates the individuality of art.  Anti-culture therefore looks upon art with suspicion, if not outright hostility. 

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American culture is strange.  We pride ourselves of being one-people out of many, however, when it comes to identifying who we are, we usually resort to the good 'ol hyphen.  What those hyphenisms are and who came up with them are open for debate.  For example, Native-American or African-American only scratch the surface when describing two very diverse groups of Americans.  Most likely those hyphens were given and not created by the dominant, mainly white culture.  Racism plays a part in it, yet to further confuse the discussion, hyphenism is also embraced by many as a way of making them distinct in a society that at times seems also hellbent on the lowest common denominator.  So, an Indian-American and a Filipino-American may be surprised that on the American census, they are both considered Asian-American.  

Another odd curve to this is the way society, especially the market-driven one will take a cultural festival or observation and turn it into an event that society will celebrate as a whole.  
Thus, we now have St. Patrick's Day and Cinco De Mayo.  Is Holi, the Indian festival of throwing colored powders on each other next on the docket for Americans?  Is this a good thing for everyone to celebrate?  Does it bring us together in celebrating diversity or merely just exploiting another culture to sell some beer?  Let's discuss on STRUNG OUT!

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Marty talks to Herbalist, Writer (and wife to Marty) Anne Baudouin de Courtenay about the latest odd video habit displayed by their daughter, Aine.  That is watching on YouTube a video of people playing the video game Minecraft.  For some reason, this is very entertaining to Aine, yet causes some concern to us, her parents. We ponder if this waste of time (in our opinion) leads to other things, such as getting lost in endless gaming.   Anne takes us down the rabbit hole of games and the possibility that it is we who are getting played. 

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Remember geeking out and talking about bands?  Everyone would have an opinion on who was the best band and the worst band.  For this podcast, Tim Goldich, Paul Schneider and Martin McCormack have a round robin on who they think the worst bands or artists were and are.  

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On part two of our Peace Plea's, the Reverend Drew Jacques continues to explain a roadmap of reaching out to fellow souls in an effort to "wage peace".  Here is the Peace Plea's Treatise
on YouTube.   And here is the text of the Treatise:

I’m a person of faith.

I’ll put my “religion” aside, so we can talk about important things.

The important things…are Peace, Hope, Joy and Love.

It these are important to you we can be One in Spirit.

Even if you are not a person of faith, if these things are important, we can

walk together.

I promise I won’t try to convert you.

I vow I’ll never be judgemental.

It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you are from.

I just want us to share and learn.

You be you and I’ll be me.

Know this.

I’m reaching out for you.

I’m not far away.

I’ll wait for you.

Until…

There is Peace and Hope, Joy and Love

On Earth

By adapting this as a personal, daily exercise, Reverend Drew believes such practice will help usher in better understanding between people.  The benefits on the world are understandable if people begin to practice the Peace Plea's in their personal life.   

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As a species, humans are experts at making war.   Part of what the Reverend Drew Jacques refers to as "our monkey brain", the human brain has that primal flight or fight capacity.  It also can be the source of anxiety, again the triggering of the flight or fight reflex.   War and what comes with it, unfortunately comes much more naturally to the human condition.

Peace and "waging Peace" is something that is very difficult.  A person of the Christian faith would profess that it took God coming to earth as a human being to help us begin to wage peace.   He was in turn killed by the greatest military power on the planet at the time.   That said, the message of Peace is something not readily or easily learned.  To help us learn how to wage Peace, Reverend Drew Jacques created what is called the Peace Plea's, playing on the word Please. 

I’m a person of faith.

I’ll put my “religion” aside, so we can talk about important things.

The important things…are Peace, Hope, Joy and Love.

It these are important to you we can be One in Spirit.

Even if you are not a person of faith, if these things are important we can

walk together.

I promise I won’t try to convert you.

I vow I’ll never be judgemental.

It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you are from.

I just want us to share and learn.

You be you and I’ll be me.

Know this.

I’m reaching out for you.

I’m not far away.

I’ll wait for you.

Until…

There is Peace and Hope, Joy and Love

On Earth

Here is a video version 

Support the show

We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

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According to Wikipedia, in economics, Kondratiev waves (also called supercycles, great surges, long waves, K-waves or the long economic cycle) are hypothesized cycle-like phenomena in the modern world economy. The phenomenon is closely connected with the technology life cycle. And it is stated that the period of a wave ranges from forty to sixty years, the cycles consist of alternating intervals of high sectoral growth and intervals of relatively slow growth.  

Closely related to this cycle would be the societal cycles that go with such "booms and busts" in economics.  Both bring upheaval.  And as we head into a new era of such innovations as long-distance space travel, the metaverse, green energy and such, we are met with the societal upheaval that accompanies such cycles.  

Pastor Drew Jacques and Martin McCormack examine the theory of the Kondratiev wave, discuss the upheaval and look at solutions for coping in a world that is filled with chaos. 

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Our planet continues to face a threat from humanity.  Pollution, war, disease and other conditions have ruined land, created sea level rise.  Let's face it, we may need to remove ourselves from at least part of the picture.  While such people as Elon Musk feel that moving humanity to Mars might be the solution, there may be a need to remove human population from certain areas to create carbon sinks, water sinks and restore biodiversity.  Rewilding is the concept and Sandeep Gopal and Martin McCormack talk about it, as well as the fact that there are still some wild areas where indigenous and "wild" peoples still dwell--perhaps another additional part of the management plan?

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The 21st Century has been a disappointment thus far.  With the advancement of technology, the idea that we could all be globally connected, our trade would ensure peaceful engagement and enlightened rulers would meet for big selfies has all proven for naught. 

Instead, we are smack dab back at the drawing board. We are looking at the rise of tyrants and probably the most consequential war of our lifetimes.   Even those who fought Hitler in World War II may have only been at what could possibly be a prequel to the final smackdown between democracy and tyranny.   

Make no mistake, we are at war.  And, as our own tumultuous political landscape reveals, this is a war that is also fought here on the streets of America.  But that landscape becomes more clear for us as we look at the actions of the tyrant, Vladimir Putin.  

If there is a gift the tyrant gives us, it is that ability for us to look at ourselves in the mirror with a clarity that up to this point has not been seen.  When democracy is attacked, we tend to bluff ourselves that it can withstand the worst of attacks and come out relatively unscathed.  That notion has proven false with the invasion of Ukraine.  Putin attacks with the instincts of a bar brawler: everything will be destroyed.  As he brawls, kills, maims and destroys, the other predominant tyrant, Xi Jinping silently gives his approval.  Even Saudi Arabia remains moot.  And sadly, the big democracies of India and Brazil, with their own strongmen, are at best mumbling and wringing their hands. 

So, what will happen?  The best we can do here at STRUNG OUT, is to pick three tyrants of the past who in our opinion, best mirror Vladimir Putin.   Pol Pot, Idi Amin and Francisco Franco are three historical tyrants that are not as avidly discussed as the big ones of the 20th Century.  But their rule all mirror closely most of the moves that have been made of late by Vladimir Putin.  And, you will be surprised how each of their lives end, in the end.   Listen in to the Trajectory of Tyrants.    

Support the show

We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

SUPPORT THE SHOW:
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