DRAMATIC DEEP DESERT DEMOCRACY

I TAKE YOU WITH ME TO THE SLABS---We've been here before. But big things are brewing  now and we will witness them.

If you do not know about this amazing 1 square mile of land, google THE SLABS and then come back for the wonderous thing I'm about to show you.

Salvation Mountain--a painted hillside encouraging you to believe, repent and be born again.

A 25 year labor of love by Lenord Knight, now deceased.  Dedicated successors preserve this folk art work listed on the national registry.

To prepare you for the big event, you need to know that this is the only place in the U

S where you can select a spot and build yourself a domicile---with a fair likelihood of being able to hold on to it without paying for the land.

Here's another example of a squatting homesteader's cabin.

This, I believe is the meeting area for the friends of the library. (building located in the right background) A group of people live around it and keep it up.  ( worth a separate post for its history and thousands of volumes available to the public.)

This leafy bower is the meeting place for the current Slab City Community Group---a legal entity.  Everybody is invited to sit in on council meetings and so I went.  (no pictures)

The meeting lasted an hour and concerned itself with tomorrow's election of a new council.

The intelligence, decorum and good will displayed would likely put to shame your city council meeting. 

Afterwards I engaged a few of them. 

Slab city dwellers have organized themselves legally in response to the possibility that their land may be sold and them evicted.  If  Slabbers can hold on to this land, questions concerning how an individual could  take and keep possession of a campsite is being carefully considered, as this poster illustrates.

This poster was made for those unfamiliar with Roberts rule of order.

(on election day the president explained the gist of them with a single sentence:  We use these proceedures to assure that the majority will prevail and the minority heard).

Additional details cover the distinction between resident and visitor--both are allowed to vote for their representative on the council.

Election day came---the people assembled.

At the famous Range. You can see this very place in the movie INTO THE WILD.

The meeting began--nominations for the new council are made.  One by one the nominees addressed the crowd asking for their vote. I believe that's Builder Bob* speaking at the mike.

*Somewhat like the French Foreign Legion people here often acquire a new name.

This was a surprise.  That's Solar Mike speaking---and he asked that no one vote for him because he is opposed to the entire project.  He allowed his nomination just for the opportunity to have his say.

I think that's Robbie speaking.

I don't know who this was--but he made a good speech.

As did this guy

And this one.

The ballots were cast into this literal ballot box.  Two watchers assured the vote was honest.

You would have been impressed, I think, to see democracy work in so unlikely a venue.

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES:  Oh sweet people--you should have been there.  I was moved nearly to tears. Our founding fathers would have been proud.  I say to the tyrants of the world and to all who believe in force--LET THEM COME TO THE SLABS.

And I say to all the rent collectors of the world.  COME TO THE SLABS--and see a different system.

And I say to economic captives everywhere-- drudging their lives away in the capitalistic system-- yearning for freedom---COME TO THE SLABS.

Glorious it is not---BUT IT'S A START. 

Out of the mud and dust of things

Something lovely sometimes springs

A MESSAGE TO MUSLIMS EVERYWHERE

RANDY RANTS----A MESSAGE TO MUSLIMS EVERYWHERE

We, non Muslims in the west are getting increasingly irritated at the whole lot of you.

Out of your 1.2 Billion have come millions of fanatics, intent on doing us harm.

We have been super patient with you---trying hard to separate in our minds—the fanatics from the moderates. Our president is doing his best to calm the building rage.

I want to speak bluntly to you.

EVERY ONE OF YOU BEARS SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WORLD WIDE CONFLICTS INVOLVING MUSLIMS.

To begin with, every one of you are responsible for your failure to question your indoctrination.

Children are gullible and will believe what they are told. Therefore all of us owes it to the world to question our indoctrination and find our personal truth.

If you had done so with an open mind, you would likely discover that Islam is just one more unprovable religion alongside Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism; each of which has had their extremist.

For the most part, however, they have “tweaked” their “interpretations” of their Holy book so that they can (usually) live peacefully with their neighbors. In short, they have learned to “cherry pick” their ethics from their holy book. YOU HAVE NOT LEARNED TO DO THAT AND THEREFORE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF CREATING A CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS.

DO IT NOW—BEFORE THE WORLD GETS TOO ANGRY AT YOU. Read Hunnington's book: THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS and ponder the consequences if that happens.

I estimate that another 100 or so attacks like the twin towers, Paris and San Bernardino will enrage us to the point where a Hitler type leader will rise up and call for your extermination.

Keep in mind that we really do have the power to lay waste your entire culture.

History records times when an enraged society rose up against a fanatical society and exterminated it.

Google the Thugee sect in India and consider their fate.

I know whereof I speak: My own culture—Baptist in the South—once believed that God accepted Slavery:  Our Bible said it: "Slaves, be obediant to your masters." This noxious idea so irritated our northern countrymen that they waged a fierce war against us and 600,000 people were killed in the process. If need be, they (perhaps) would have killed us all to eradicate that idea from our mind.

A shattering conquest brought us, finally, to our senses, and eventually to the conviction that slavery was wrong DESPITE WHAT OUR HOLY BOOK SAID.

Now—Dear Muslim would-be-friends: You have ideas in your mind and in your holy book that are just as noxious and intolerable. Open your Koran and read the following chapters and verses: 2,6—2,15—2,24—2,85—2,89,90,98—2,105—2,14—2,122—2,126—2,142—2,154—2,162—2,168—2,172—2,175 “God has revealed the book....those that disagree about it are in extreme schism” (2,176)

“slay them wherever you find them"....(2,190,193)

I could list a hundred more—Perhaps this is enough to get the idea of the Koran's extreme intolerance.

Out of this book has emerged tyrannical sexist, intolerant, repressive, ignorant societies---and a few million fanatics who take the book seriously.

At a minimum I ask you to begin “cherry picking” your holy book and learn to tolerate other religions.

At a maximum, I ask you to re appraise the whole idea of a holy book and make common cause with us agnostics and atheist who live with the mystery of existence---generating whatever meaning and joy we can—NEVER CLAIMING TO HAVE ULTIMATE TRUTH.

It may be that the fate of the world is in the hands of moderate Muslims.

Take responsibility for the fanatics among you—expose them, correct them or kill them. If you will not do the job then we may have to do it for you—with blunt instruments and many unintended casualties. It is too much to ask of us to (painstakingly) ferret out the bad apples among you.

I say again: We are getting very very irritated with you.