Pay attention – it’s vital.
When, for instance, did it become acceptable for a credit card company to prescribe the uses to which you can put your own money? A gift card, for ease of use in online transactions, comes with a hefty set of no-nos when it comes to spending that money. You may not, for example, play at an online casino using the card. Never mind that you bought this card with your own money – there are things You May Not Do With It.
I don’t know when we began to accept such damnable controls upon our lives. I remember no such strictures upon personal disposal of income in the seventies – although perhaps I was a little young.
You had to pay the government to ‘protect’ you, to ‘maintain infrastructures’ and to Keep The Country Going. Otherwise, I don’t recall the ugly face of Nanny Watchdog leering over our shoulders at every move – do you?
Now, thanks in part to the huge instillation of fear of ‘terrorism’ into almost all of us –instillation courtesy of those very same governments, mind you – we tend to shrug our shoulders and form the belief that maybe we need to be protected against our own free wills, after all.
This is an enormous crock of poppycock, isn’t it?
I may not, for my own protection, own more than 2 dogs – even if I have the space, means and temperament for more.
I may not, for my own protection, smoke in my own house or vehicle if someone else who is a nonsmoker is in the same building or car.
I may not, for my own protection, make a fuss when the bank wants to see a record of my comings and goings for the last 20 years before it’ll grant me a loan at hugely inflated interest rates.
I may not, for my own protection, cultivate certain plants in my garden – or anybody else’s garden for that matter – unless I want to find myself behind bars very quickly.
I may not use certain words in my conversation. I may not play certain kinds of music. I may not see a detailed rundown of what my tax money bought for the armed forces of this country. I may not bury my beloved pets on my own land.
Don’t tell me this is all for my own good. Don’t even tell me it’s for the Greater Good. I don’t believe you anymore.
You’ve crept into our lives , under our beds and between the pages of our chequebooks.
Get out, I tell you. Get out before I decide you really aren’t necessary – and more, you’re actually a deadly force against Life. If I never manage to actually assemble a bomb in my bathtub to send you all back to the hell you came from, well, at least I can be awake enough to realise to what extent you’ve inserted yourselves into my life.
You’re all God, just like I am – but, by all the Holiness we represent, there are still some issues to be settled between different parts of Us. Back to the foot of the queue, evil ones, and start again.
Pic: Pay Attention
When, for instance, did it become acceptable for a credit card company to prescribe the uses to which you can put your own money? A gift card, for ease of use in online transactions, comes with a hefty set of no-nos when it comes to spending that money. You may not, for example, play at an online casino using the card. Never mind that you bought this card with your own money – there are things You May Not Do With It.
I don’t know when we began to accept such damnable controls upon our lives. I remember no such strictures upon personal disposal of income in the seventies – although perhaps I was a little young.
You had to pay the government to ‘protect’ you, to ‘maintain infrastructures’ and to Keep The Country Going. Otherwise, I don’t recall the ugly face of Nanny Watchdog leering over our shoulders at every move – do you?
Now, thanks in part to the huge instillation of fear of ‘terrorism’ into almost all of us –instillation courtesy of those very same governments, mind you – we tend to shrug our shoulders and form the belief that maybe we need to be protected against our own free wills, after all.
This is an enormous crock of poppycock, isn’t it?
I may not, for my own protection, own more than 2 dogs – even if I have the space, means and temperament for more.
I may not, for my own protection, smoke in my own house or vehicle if someone else who is a nonsmoker is in the same building or car.
I may not, for my own protection, make a fuss when the bank wants to see a record of my comings and goings for the last 20 years before it’ll grant me a loan at hugely inflated interest rates.
I may not, for my own protection, cultivate certain plants in my garden – or anybody else’s garden for that matter – unless I want to find myself behind bars very quickly.
I may not use certain words in my conversation. I may not play certain kinds of music. I may not see a detailed rundown of what my tax money bought for the armed forces of this country. I may not bury my beloved pets on my own land.
Don’t tell me this is all for my own good. Don’t even tell me it’s for the Greater Good. I don’t believe you anymore.
You’ve crept into our lives , under our beds and between the pages of our chequebooks.
Get out, I tell you. Get out before I decide you really aren’t necessary – and more, you’re actually a deadly force against Life. If I never manage to actually assemble a bomb in my bathtub to send you all back to the hell you came from, well, at least I can be awake enough to realise to what extent you’ve inserted yourselves into my life.
You’re all God, just like I am – but, by all the Holiness we represent, there are still some issues to be settled between different parts of Us. Back to the foot of the queue, evil ones, and start again.
Pic: Pay Attention
Preach on sister!!
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't pay much attention to the terms of my cards. And only have a small balance on one of them. But they sure think I've worth a lot, could have a hell of a party if I knew I was going to die in a few weeks, and stick them with the bill.
ReplyDeleteI travel my own paths and deal mostly in cash or my debit card and owe the world little as everything is free and clear.
Have only bought a few gift cards and I really don't think my granddaughter needs to gamble with one anyway.
Lets see, where was I? Oh, yeah, fuck it all, I'm a free spirit.
Thanks Livia!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Billy, I ry to stay as free as I can. But I work behind the scenes for an establishment which has endless problems with its clients cards.
I have one credit card only and keep it in credit. I have to deal with the bank until my house bond is payed up, however-not too long now, I hope.
Love,
Terri in Joburg
This time, sister, they're just covering their own corporate backsides. Since the feds have made online gambling illegal, serving as a conduit for your 'crime' would make THEM guilty of money laundering. Not only bad publicity, but it's also one of the few bad things bankers do that actually land them in jail. Uncle Sugar gets VERY angry when you mess with one of his revenue streams.
ReplyDeleteLady, you sound like ME, only MEANER! Rock On!
ReplyDelete(I have no doubt the NSA is going to be paying even closer attention to me now......)
scp1957,
ReplyDeleteI know.Governments and the corporates who support them are [;aying in the same game , called civilisation. It's got to go before it kills us all - and I'm not just talking about the humans here.
Michael - I'm a woman, of course I sound meaner than you. Actually, I'm a pretty violent person in real life as well - it's a life's work just trying to discover where this is appropriate, and where it is not.
Love,
Terri in Joburg
An Amish woman and her daughter were riding in an old buggy one cold blustery day. The daughter said to her mother, 'My hands are freezing cold.' The mother replied, 'Put them between your legs. Your body heat will warm them up.' The daughter did, and her hands warmed up.
ReplyDeleteThe next day, the daughter was riding with her boyfriend who said, 'My hands are freezing cold.' The girl replied, 'Put them between my legs. The warmth of my body will warm them up.' He did and warmed his hands.
The following day, the boyfriend was again in the buggy with the daughter. He said, 'My nose is cold.' The girl replied, 'Put it between my legs. The warmth of my body will warm it up.' He did and warmed his nose.
The next day the boyfriend was again driving the daughter, and he said, 'My penis is frozen solid.' The following day the daughter was driving in the buggy with her mother again, and she says to her Mother, 'Have you ever heard of a penis?'
Concerned the mother said, 'Why, yes, Why do you ask?' The daughter replies, They make one hell of a mess when they defrost, don't they?
The death force, that's them.
ReplyDeleteGuess what though ... we're human, fuck 'em ;-)
Why do they care so much? I guess they want to make as much money off each of us as they can, without any monetary outlay on their part. They can BITE ME.
ReplyDelete