Cold Turkey by Kurt Vonnegut....

[Junkdrawer]

Seemslikeadream's observation has reminded me, in a roundabout way, of the loss this year of one of our sanest voices.

One of my favorite essays:

Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace.

But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America’s becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.

....

But I’ll tell you one thing: I once had a high that not even crack cocaine could match. That was when I got my first driver’s license! Look out, world, here comes Kurt Vonnegut. And my car back then, a Studebaker, as I recall, was powered, as are almost all means of transportation and other machinery today, and electric power plants and furnaces, by the most abused and addictive and destructive drugs of all: fossil fuels. When you got here, even when I got here, the industrialized world was already hopelessly hooked on fossil fuels, and very soon now there won’t be any more of those. Cold turkey.

Can I tell you the truth? I mean this isn’t like TV news, is it? Here’s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey. And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/cold_turkey/

[Beetwasher]

1. *Sniff* Man I Miss Him

n/t

[scarletwoman]

3. Word. (nt)

[ThatsMyBarack]

2. RIP, Kurt

I liked Slaughterhouse Five. So it goes.

[Rageneau]

4. If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.

Kurt's last "saying."

[slay]

5. Kurt Vonnegut was and is a true hero of mine

He told it like it was - whether it was ugly, pretty, or somewhere in between, it would always be the truth (as best he saw it and he did a damn good job). I miss ya Kurt, but you left a great legacy of excellent novels for many generations to come (assuming our greed, jealousy, and lust for power don't kill us all off first.). Oh yeah, and can we please get together as a race of humans and stop being slaves to oil please?!? Thank you. :)

"Just because some of us can read and write and do a little math, that doesn't mean we deserve to conquer the universe." - Kurt Vonnegut

[shenmue]

6. It's still hard to get used to the fact...

that we'll never see a new book from him.

[bemildred]

7. Kick for Mr Vonnegut. nt

[progressoid]

8. Vonegut.

RIP

[Progressive Radical]

9. Gotta love KV

RIP, Kurt Vonnegut.