Essays by Larry Barnett
Revolutions are nothing new; uprisings have plagued humanity for many centuries, perhaps forever. Always about wealth and power, which are essentially the same, styles of revolution vary, however.
In general terms, revolutions are of three kinds. There is revolution by the disenfranchised poor… Read the rest
“How many bags do you want?” So indicated the screen at Whole Foods. “Are you sure you only want one?” I turned to my friend Rick, who often supervises the self-checkout registers. “They ask more questions about how many paper bags I use than anything else,” I remarked. “Must be a lot of bag theft!”
“You … Read the rest
If this recent election indicates anything, people have deep dissatisfaction with how things feel in America, and for a majority, it feels like shit.
In the thoughts and feelings of many, the institutions we have created to ensure the health, wealth, and welfare of society seem to be failing, and public… Read the rest
I grew up at the feet of a fabulous cook. My mother was a natural, able to make something delicious out of almost nothing. She was not recipe dependent, although she had taken classes in French cooking and had a thick notebook of recipes. Accordingly, I ate very well as a boy.
Every night, while growing up,… Read the rest
The power of ideas is, well, powerful. Ideas can literally change the world and alter the course of history. With the rise of social media, more and more people are trying to become influencers, some to make money, others to become famous, and yet others just because they want to share their ideas. Being… Read the rest
Is the universe intelligent? It often appears that way. Over the course of earth’s 4.5 billion year history, nature has produced countless lifeforms. Each of these, in a sense, is an experiment. And that includes us.
We like to think we’re special; the penultimate form of intelligent life that has ever… Read the rest
Everyone is focused on Donald Trump and his election victory, but I’m thinking about Elon Musk. The richest man in the world poured a small fortune and his personal reputation into Donald Trump’s campaign. To hear Donald, Elon Musk is his new best friend.
Whether or not this is sufficient evidence of … Read the rest
Trapped as we are in the Realm of Desire, we always want something. I’m reminded of a scene from the movie “Groundhog Day.”
Phil Connor, played by Bill Murray, is stuck repeating Groundhog Day, seemingly for eternity. Initially he wants the day to end, but even his suicide attempts do not break the repetitive… Read the rest
Every year around the holidays my father received a delivery of liquor. The foyer of the house would suddenly be filled with a dozen cardboard boxes and an afternoon was spent unpacking them and putting bottles of booze in The Liquor Closet.
The Liquor Closet was just off the foyer, next to a coat closet… Read the rest
All and everything in the universe is moving. Matter, sub-atomic particles, energy and even ideas are on a 4.5 billion year trajectory, and it’s all happening at once.
And yet, borrowing from Physicist Richard Feynman’s ideas, each “object” has its own “world line,” a trajectory through spacetime… Read the rest
Small towns in California are an endangered species. The combination of expensive state and federal mandates and regulations, rising costs of government, internet-based consumer spending, and limited revenue opportunities poses an almost insurmountable obstacle to survival.
It was not always… Read the rest
In many respects modern life in America has never been better. From healthcare to the economy, technological innovation like smart phones and handy gadgets of all kinds, people enjoy conveniences and opportunities unimaginable 25 years ago. And yet, many people are angry.
Civilization has always… Read the rest
Emotions are contagious. If you’ve ever been to a theatre to watch a comedian perform his schtick and found yourself guffawing along with the rest of the crowd, you’ve experienced the power of psychological mirroring.
People are social animals, and elements of our behavior – while acted out … Read the rest
Life appears purposeful and growth to be an imperative of life itself. Even a single-celled amoeba must grow large enough before it divides in two. Solar energy constantly bathes our planet, stimulating an over-abundance of growth and what often seems to us as great excess: 300-ft. tall Sequoia trees,… Read the rest
Without doubt, the state of Arizona features some of the most spectacular landscapes in America, mind-boggling sandstone canyons sculpted by millions of years of wind and water and vast moonscape-like deserts which challenge life entirely. My wife and I are currently traversing such areas, and … Read the rest
“If the strong person exercises all his rights to oppress and pillage the weak, he is only doing the most natural thing in the world.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
When we observe the imperatives of nature, it might appear that might makes right. With relatively few exceptions – hyenas, some species … Read the rest
Humanity’s place in nature is terrifying. Fires, floods, landslides, predatory animals, starvation, poisoned water, infection, plague; the list of depredations goes on. Were it not for each other we’d have never survived; alone we are weak and vulnerable.
Some animals are solitary, but human beings… Read the rest
Looking ahead to the future has never been easy. One transformational wave after another has swamped humanity in its wake. The control of fire was perhaps the first such event, followed by flint arrowheads, bows, metallurgy, the wheel, gunpowder and the internal combustion engine. One transformation… Read the rest
A central Buddhist teaching is that being human means living in the realms of desire, and that desire and what flows from it – attachment, craving, grasping, defending, protecting – produces suffering. Sounds reasonable, and from what I can tell, is largely inescapable. As rock n’ roller… Read the rest
Animals are alive; it’s so obvious as to be a tautology. Not all animals, however, are aware of being alive. As far as we can tell so far, human beings are the only ones.
Opinion about awareness, and even more precisely reason, has varied. The designation of animal behavior as the use of reason actually … Read the rest