Don't get me wrong, even though the title of this blog is "The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul", and even though its entries are frequently a negative critique of those running the world, or living in it, I'm not saying that life for me is not good. Far from it actually, its just my soul that is enduring a long dark tea-time.

In the last couple of weeks I've been reminded in many ways how lucky I have been to retain a well paying job since the Y2K recession and its jobless recovery. I've been reminded how fortunate I am to have an ample roof over my head in a quite spectacularly diverse and well located region. I am reminded how wonderful it was to have grown up with two loving parents who instilled into me the value of a good education, an open mind, a sense of history and value for the outdoors and a necessity for thrift.

And to this day, touch wood, I can count my blessing for a relatively healthy life thus far, with only two trips to hospital in almost 37 years, both involving foot injuries. One when I was about three for a mashed toe that my brother gave to me after dropping a rock on my foot, and the other for a broken foot bone caused by slipping while hobbling to the bathroom in socks with a numb foot after a particularly lengthy jigsaw puzzle session. (Note: I don't do jigsaw puzzles any more so please don't ever give me one).

In fact looking back at my life I can honestly say the only truly awful period of my life was the year after the untimely death of my father when I was 17. That alone might be sufficient to compensate for all my other good fortune, but twenty years on it is difficult to define or measure what the impact of his death on me has been. Certainly my mother suffered immeasurably from his passing and how can one even begin to put a value of twenty years of his life lost, and the twenty years my mother and our family had to live without him. It is simply impossible.

This observation is perhaps a key to why, inspite all of my worldly joys and good fortune, my soul is enduring a long dark tea-time. The spread of this awful virus that so readily insists we need to put a monetary value on human life and misery is just appalling.

Every day I see more and more evidence around me that you and I, whether we realize it or not are simply no longer valued as people, but as pure pawns in a vast economic machine. As a consequence, with every passing day the mangle squeezes tighter and tighter on every aspect of human joe-de-vie (joy of life) that does not have some obvious economic gain. On the endangered, or soon to be exploited list are art, music, poetry, sculpture, writing, open space, wildlife, historic artifacts, diversity and above all simple freedom to live ones life, love and express oneself without harm to others in any way the human condition sees fit to choose.

For Americans that should set alarm bells ringing across the country because it is quite simply a tragic turn around from the very declaration of independence, the rock on which this country's ethos is supposedly based. Whether or not the declaration ever fulfilled its rightful destiny, its a goal, an ideal and something to cherish as a reason for life.

When asking themselves that tragically telling question of September 11th 2001 "why do they hate us" no one with a loud enough voice was ever bold enough to step forward to tell all concerned "because we're so intent on teaching the world to kill the joy of life itself all in the name of a quick buck".

Elsewhere in the world I suspect the above comes as no surprise, the quality of life and freedoms which Americans have long cherished and often enjoyed were always held as a bright shiny star to which one might wish to ascend. But many are now beginning to realize that there is quite a difference between a destination and the journey one takes to achieve it.

Just look under the thin veneer of the present and into the history of America, of Europe, or of virtually any supposedly developed and desirable country and one will find dark and dense layers of intolerable cruelty hypocrisy, and self interested exploitation.

The smart people outside looking in now realize that today, more than ever there is just no reason to suppose or believe that anything at all has changed from the past 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 or even five years ago. So just why should anyone buy into the American, or any other dream? Why should anyone sell their soul for a buck in exchange for a Big-Mac, fries, discount shopping for things they don't need and a minimum wage job at Wal-Mart^*?

So that is why, inspite of all my worldly fortunes I feel the need to call this blog "The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul" and why I will continue to write entries until such time as the tea-time lightens up.

^*batteries, health care and pension not included)