Tag Archives: property

Defeat

Defeat: (n) an instance of loss; setback

A whole series of little words in a row. There’s no way you could know that.

I decided to take them all and place them under one banner.

There was “deface, defame, default.” And in there was “defund.”

All these words have contemporary applications and are being used to describe our dealings with national institutions.

  • Like the police department.
  • Racial relations.
  • And monuments as symbols of honor.

Let’s start with the monuments.

Perhaps it was a ragged idea in the first place–to build stone monuments to people representing ideas that might not seem as regal in another hundred years. Even though there were some noble intentions, the memories to such inhuman ideas need to decrease, not increase.

Then we have entrenched organizations, like the American police force, which are facing criticism verging on condemnation, because of the poor treatment some have given to areas of the human community.

In all cases, we are attempting to solve long-running struggles in one fell swoop.

This brings in many people with many opinions.

Can we hear them all?

Is it possible to find a consensus?

Or will one man’s honor necessarily be another man’s pain?

It is obvious to me that we can no longer attribute devotion to men and women who gave their lives in the service of holding others in bondage. Sometimes you need more than “meant well.” It actually has to end up well.

And some of these organizations are just getting their feet wet—and it wouldn’t behoove them to accept the responsibility of finding language which respects the life and times of other humans.

It is not easy.

It is also necessary that those who destroy property in the name of history be given a day in court, to clarify their actions.

We must now allow ourselves to proclaim what historically was racism to be patriotism. It is not.

And we must eradicate our tendency to rationalize evil actions.

In our hearts, we know this is the path to defeat.

Deed

Deed: (n) document executed under, especially of real estate.

Strange bugaboos crawl out of the natural events of our lives and haunt us for all time. They are difficult to describe and don’t seem to have any particular reason for existence.

But because our journey took us through a side street filled with trash cans and rats, we have this memory of sleaze.

It’s that way for me with the word “deed.”

Many years ago, my brothers discovered a deed to a property that my father had once owned. We thought he had sold it, but now it appeared that the papers were never actually signed.

Or maybe they were, and we just didn’t know where to find them.

It became the subject of conversation for months and months to come, as each of my siblings imagined how much money was possibly floating in the air from this deed, that could come and land on their lives and produce everlasting joy.

They were surprised at how unimpressed and uninvolved I was.

So sure was I that this mission was folly that I signed over my portion of the mystical magical amount, letting them know to leave me alone and to never use the word “deed” in my presence again.

I will honestly tell you that I do not know the end of this story. Eventually, each one of my “Grimm brothers” gave up the cause and never brought it up again, I assume out of fear of looking as if each of them had failed.

So my lesson in this essay is simple:

If you’re waiting for a deed to bring you happiness, you might find it more powerful to see if you can take your own deeds to do so.

Communism

Communism: (n) a political theory derived from Karl Marx advocating a society in which all property is publicly owned

Perhaps the most amazing part of life on Earth is that notions, ideas, religions, philosophies and promotional campaigns can spring forth, and need never establish their validity as long as they’re well-funded.

It’s a bit unnerving.

One might have a tendency to go chasing after the brass band that plays the loudest, because there is no monitoring system to determine where the band is going or if it has any future.

If you want to evaluate the intelligence and ultimate worth of an idea, measure it against three undeniable truths:

  1. Human beings like to lie
  2. Human beings are lazy
  3. Human beings are finicky

I suppose you could argue with these assertions, but in the long run, our race does not like to.

Race, that is.

We want things easy. We want our portion and half of yours. We want to vote on everything, even if it has already been decided by nature.

So it doesn’t take long to realize that communism, and even socialism, have absolutely no chance of ever working as long as the mission is undertaken by human beings.

What you will end up doing is making an exciting start, notice disappointing returns and have to either kill the people who are the laziest, or abandon the foolishness of thinking that any of us are able to share everything in common.

Karl may have made his Marx on Earth, but unfortunately, the system he conjured has a sympathetic edge, and no real ability to cut through the problems.

 

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Build

j-r-practix-with-border-2

Build: (v) to construct something by putting parts or material together

What should the question be?

Is it what I build?

How I build?

Where I build?

When I build?

Or why I build?

Let’s start with why I build.

I build because there’s a need. There’s an absence of a landmark which proclaims an important truth.

When I build.

Two ingredients are always necessary–labor and money. If people are not motivated to build, the money will quickly be eaten up. If the mDictionary Boney is not available, the labor will be disgruntled.

How should I build?

Without strife. I’ve seen people begin projects and absolutely destroy their relationships just because the deadline or the goal superseded the appreciation of one another.

Where should I build?

There’s an axiom that something built on rock will last longer than something built on sand. Sometimes we build on sand because we think what we built will be so appreciated that there won’t be any attacks against it. That’s a mistake. Our building should be able to withstand the onslaught of nature and critics.

And finally, what we build.

We should always build to sufficiency, with a vision for growth. We should never place a one-acre building on a one-acre property. There’s no place to go. But we should never be ashamed of a humble beginning. The secret to success is not to begin big, but rather, realistically, so people can constantly see our growth.

Yes, what should we build?

What is it we need?

 

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Board Game

Board game: (n) any game played on a board

Dictionary B

If you ever reach a point in your life when you want to terminate a friendship, and do so based upon a mutual agreement of misunderstanding, sit down and play a game of Monopoly with the person with whom you wish to sever relationship.

Monopoly is more than a board game–it is a basic study of the subtlety of human depravity.

First–no one agrees on the rules. If you insist on reading them aloud, you become the common enemy of everyone else playing the game, as they explain–or dare I say, interpret–the instructions using their prism of prejudice.

Secondly–passive, loving and kind people become aggressive, mean, sinister land barons in pursuit of receiving more and more confirmation of their superiority through “funny money.”

Third–additional addendums and amendments, if you will, of the original regulations will be introduced during the game as players negotiate deals, loans or even the transferral of properties without legitimate title and deed.

Fourth–some people just don’t give up.

And of course, Number Five–after all is said and done, there really is no winner, just someone who still has money, surrounded by vanquished losers who are plotting revenge.

The problem with board games is that we usually play them when we’re bored… only to unleash the true depths of our inner demons.

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