Redtree Times

The Tree at Time’s End– At West End Gallery

Now as I look around it’s mighty plain to see
This world is such a great and a funny place to be
All the gamblin’ man is rich and the workin’ man is poor
And I ain’t got no home in this world anymore

— Woody Guthrie, I Ain’t Got No Home in This World Anymore (1940)

First day of November. Phew, time flies.

Time flies. Time stands still. Time waits for no man. Time is money. Time heals all wounds. A stitch in time saves nine. Time is on my side.

Time just is.

We’re timeless beings built of eternal light trapped in a dimension ruled by the time on a clock.

Fortunately, we still get to choose what we do with our limited time here. We get to create the world in which we live through our choices. Who we love, how we make our living, where we live, what we believe– they’re choices we make and all contribute to the condition of our world.

Most of us make simple choices. We want a comfortable life along with the love of family and friends. We want a peaceful world in which to spend our precious time. Most of us want to see all the other people of the world not suffer or struggle for the entirety of their time here. It hurts us to see the pain of others.

Then there are those whose primary choice for their time spent here is acquisition. They want all the money, land, and power they can get their grubby mitts on and do so blind to the suffering of others. People are either assets to use and abuse or obstacles to eliminate.

I think the election on Tuesday, more than any other, may well be the turning point in the struggle between regular people who simply want a comfortable, peaceful world and those who wish to greedily grab it all and hold on to it until the time their clocks expire.

This election is all about greed of the highest order. The greedy have expanded their reach in governments around the world to the point that dictate laws. most which are written to favor them alone.

More, more, more is their credo.

Some might read this and think that I am anti-capitalist or against attaining wealth. That is hardly the case. I want everyone to do as well as they can with the time in which they are given.

No, I am against those whose sole purpose in life is constant attainment at the expense of all others. Those for whom enough is never enough.

Kurt Vonnegut wrote a poem called Joe Heller that addresses this:

True story, Word of Honor:
Joseph Heller, an important and funny writer
now dead,
and I were at a party given by a billionaire
on Shelter Island.

I said, “Joe, how does it make you feel
to know that our host only yesterday
may have made more money
than your novel ‘Catch-22’
has earned in its entire history?”
And Joe said, “I’ve got something he can never have.”
And I said, “What on earth could that be, Joe?”
And Joe said, “The knowledge that I’ve got enough.”
Not bad! Rest in peace!

As long as there are people with this sickness of extreme greed that goes unchecked, such as the near-trillionaire (I don’t want to write that name) who feels this election is important enough to have reportedly spent over 440 million dollars on it, we are not safe. That amount is something like the lifetime earnings well over 100 people.

Say that out loud– lifetime earnings of well over 100 people. You think this asshat doesn’t think this election is important?

If this level of greed is not restrained now, we may not have another chance. And if that happens, they will continue to attain and attain unencumbered. The wealth of this world is a finite resource so in order to get more and more, they will eventually come for everything from everybody.

Money, land, and time.

That means your time here will in effect become their time as well.

As for myself, I am not ready to cede my limited time to anyone. Certainly not these motherf****rs.

I hope I camouflaged that enough so as to not offend.

In short, I am saying vote as though your time here on this earth depends on it. Because it just might.

Here’s a song about the already disaffected. It’s a Woody Guthrie song, I Ain’t Got No Home in This World, performed by Billy Bragg. If we don’t take a stand now, it could describe us all in the near future. Maybe it already does, to a point.

Vote. I am, of course, implying that you vote blue. I think if you’ve read this blog, that will not come as a surprise or offend you.

On a lighter and more upbeat note, I want to remind you that this coming Saturday, November 7, I will be giving my annual Gallery Talk at the West End Gallery. It begins at 11 AM and finishes up with a free drawing for one of my paintings. And more, of course.

More, more, more– that’s my credo. Of course, the more I refer to is more giving.

It is, as always, free and open to all. We suggest you get there early to get a insure you get a seat since seating is limited. Doors open at 10:30 AM.