EXITS

 

EXITS

Hi!  I am a writer, or at least I pretend to be.  I think I am, therefore I am.  Yes, I write poetry, fiction, nonfiction ‑you name it, I write it.  Of course, if I wanted to really make money, I'd be writing kiddie lit, or maybe porn. Yeah...porn, that's it....

Anyway, my name is Steve Universe. I know, I know, I get nailed for the name all the time. Actually, since I'm the author of this story, I suppose I could go by any name.  Naming is power, you know.  That's what they say at least.  My parents exhausted universal power in first creating me, and then in naming me.  They created for me an identity, whether I wanted one or not.

Naming.  Power.  Writing.  Power.  Naming is such a buzz phrase these days. Current hot topic, especially with the feminists.  Because it's true power.  For instance, I am writing a story.  Even now, as we speak.  Even now, as you read this.  I will write a character into the text.  I will name him.  What?  I'm not sure yet.  But I will create him and he will owe his very existence to me.  Pretty God‑like, don't you think?  Power. Naming. I'm a writer.  Or at least I think I am.  Well, I speak as a writer.

Oh, but I digress.  My name, Steve Universe.  Did I mention that I'm writing a story?  Did I mention I'm a writer?  Actually, now that I think about it I think I did mention that I'm the author of this story.  And I am, but there is actually a little more to it. It seems that while I am in this grand process of creation, I am myself undergoing the self-same process of creation. I seem to be a character in someone else's story.  I know, I know, don't get all pissy.  I'm finding this out as we speak, just as you are.  Do you think I like it?  Frankly, I'm not amused. I thought I was omnipotent, omniscient, God and all that juicy stuff. I thought I mattered.

My author's name, evidently, is Scott Holstad.  (Who would have picked that name?)  He claims to be a writer (but then, don't we all?).  I mean, who the hell has ever heard of Scott Holstad?  If I'm destined to be a measly character in someone's story, why the hell couldn't I get Updike or Vonnegut?  Hell, even Mailer or somebody like that? Somebody known?  Someone who matters?

Well, this Holstad character seems to be the asshole who gave me my name, at least that's what he claims.  Steve Universe.  He seems to find humor in it.  Play on words, that sort of shit.  Universal.  University.  Mr. Universe.  Universe.  I don't call that funny.  He'd never make a living as a comic.  And Steve.  Pretty boring I'd say. Why not something a little more exotic?  God knows, most writers do seem to have somewhat boring names.  Robert, John, Walter, Steven.  Well, I'm a writer; I speak as a writer. I would name my character Fabio...yeah, that's it.  Exotic.  Romantic.  Steve.  That's so...universal!  I mean, I could be anybody....

---

Hi! I'm THE writer, or at least I pretend to be.  The Government says I am, therefore I am.  They give me these little numbers and I exist.  Truly.  I kid you not.  I know it's amazing, and I sometimes doubt it myself, but just try dodging your taxes sometime and see if you don't exist!

Anyway, I'm the creator of Steve Universe.  I know, I know call me a narcissist (and you won't be the only one), but deep down we're all ego maniacs.  It's that God Complex.

Well, Steve's been railing away so I have decided to just write him out of the text. That's right, erase him.  Just write him out.  Easy as pie.

There.  I've done it.  Steve Universe no longer exists.  And it was easy to do, like I said.  They say we are all capable of creation and that may be true but, God –  are we ever capable of destruction!  Total annihilation, say I!

             We can erase, Reconstruct, abolish, eliminate, terminate, DESTROY, with the greatest of ease.  Oh, and we writers are so proficient at it.  Comes with the territory I guess.

Actually, I've been thinking about something new lately.  New, that is, for me.  I speak to you as a writer, therefore I can say this.  I'm thinking of writing myself out of the text.  That's right, textual suicide.  Innovative, eh?  I hate to admit this, but Steve was right about one thing, at least.  I'm not the best-known writer.  Oh, I have my share of groupies and I certainly appreciate them.  They're devoted.  But, I'm not exactly a household name either.  Not that I'm ambitious.  Not that I'm a narcissist.  I speak as a writer, remember?

Look, what better way to achieve notoriety?  Textual suicide.  I will be no more. (And I know I am now. I know I exist because I have numbers proudly given to me by my Government.)  I will be no more.  Oh, I know I won't be around to enjoy the accolades, but what the hell?

And those saps out there always fall for the suicides.  My God, what a bloody operation!  I've always wanted in on the scam.  The papers, TV, TV, TV, TV, mags, papers, bloodsucking TV.  We're the fastfoodfastentertainmentfast sexfasttloodthirstyviolent generation by God, and we're suckers for that shit!

Give me my suicide!

Give me my constitutionally guaranteed suicide!

Oh, they'll just eat it up.  And Steve?  Well, he's been written out of the text, eh? Doesn't really matter anymore, does he?  He's Steve Universe.  Was Steve Universe. Universal.  University.  Mr. Universe.  Steve Academia.  Boring Steve.

 

Steve, Steve I'm so 

bereaved I can't conceive 

 Why we must leave.

 

 

Oh, but I digress.  Again.  But I speak as a writer.  I'm allowed occasional digressions.  Writers, dammit!  Never seem to get to the friggin point.  I mean, well, what is the point?  The point's the point son.  The end's the point.  Cause we exist you know.  I, Scott C. Holstad, who speaks to you as a writer (and as a human? maybe?), I exist you know.  This I know.  For the Government tells me so.  It gets so slow.  Sometimes gotta go.  Breakdown.  Discourse.  Breakdown.  The point?

Oh yeah, the Point.  I guess it's the End of the stick you put your hot dog on.  Or maybe your marshmallow.  The Point...the Point.

The Point, oh yeah.  Well, to get on with my story, I think I'm going to write a new character into the text.  To be my narrator, of course.  To carry on the tradition...the tradition...the Point.

 

Actually, to be perfectly honest with you, sometimes I feel like I'm already being erased from the text.  It's like someone has pushed the Pause button, but it turns into the Erase button.  I don't know how to explain it.  I don't know how to...communicate...it.  I don't know....

Well, this is very strange indeed.  It feels like someone's been tampering with me, with me, with me, with me...me -- ...me...me...me with...me with...me with tampering... NO! That's Martin Amis you dolt!  We're not going backwards in this story.  We're being Fucking erased!

As I said, I speak to you as a writer.  And I am the creator of this mess, so I decide what's going on.  Right?  I am going to ever so conveniently create a new character before ever so conveniently obliterating myself from this increasingly dreary story.  Textual Suicide.  Oooh, how 'bout Cyber Textual Suicide?  Yeah, they love that Cyber shit.  It's so in.

There.  See?  I've created yet again.  A new category.  A new ending.  A new genre which they'll be beating down the damn doors for.  Cyber Textual Suicide.  Only a matter of time now before it's in the Canon.  Oh baby, they'll be asking GRE questions about it. I'm drooling now just thinking about it!  And I owe it all to me.  Me!  Not Steve Universe. Not Scott Holstad.  I mean, Wait!  Yes, Scott Holstad.  That is me.  I think.  Wait, hold on. Let me check my ID card.  Oh yes, right here.  Scott C. Holstad.  In black and white.  Very official looking.  See, the Government says I exist.  Therefore I am.  I am the Creator of this story.  Cause the Government says I can.  I am the Creator....

And people laughed when he claimed that God was dead.  God's not dead you fools.  I am God!  The Creator.  Yes, of this story.  And the Government says I exist so it must be so.  Right?  And if I want to obliterate myself (Wait. Here it comes...a rousing, orgasmic cry of Cyber Textual Suicide!!!), from the text of course, I can do it!  Cause I'm the Destroyer.  I mean Creator.  I mean God.  Oh, what's the difference?

And this new character...what should we name it?

It.  What gender first of all?  Or does that matter?  We've all read Virginia Woolf after all.  And we did see "The Crying Game."

Well, ok, but what color hair?  Eyes?  Teeth?  Teeth?   OK, I tried to pull one over on you.  Or is it put one?  Or does it matter?  Whatever the case, I am the writer because I am the God.

OK.  Height?  Weight?  Genitals?  Oh, no need to go Victorian on me.  Really!  Boots or balls, what'll it be?  Come on, come on, we don't have all day here.

You see?  Do you see why I am writing this and you're not?  My God, you're slower than horse shit!  And indecisive.  What a match.  Readers dammit.  What the hell do Fish and Iser know anyway?  I mean, have they ever actually tried to work with a reader?  Ain't that easy, is it?  No sirree.

I feel decidedly better now.  Sort of.  Just thinking about what I'm about to create makes me go positively gushy from head to toe.  I'm talking thrills a minute. Because I'm the Creator.  The Government says so.  And it should.... Hold on, what's this?  But I haven't decided to go yet.  I'm the only person who can erase myself from the text.  Hang it all, stop that!  What is going on here?  I speak to you as a writer because i am the creator exist you know the government tells me so this i know you know i am god it's so I'm the master of this story but everything's getting denser is that really a word werd weird bsmck shit now i know that's not a word dammit i need my words to create i need my language my name my power my god....

 

---

Hi!  Sorry about all that gibberish back there.  You shouldn't really have been forced to endure it.  Feel free to register a complaint with the proper authorities if you must.  But on behalf of the author and this publication, I would like to extend a formal apology.

Those Post-Modern writers think they can get away with anything.  Pretentious fucks!  Oops, sorry.  It's just that they get feisty and break loose every now and then.  But don't worry.  We take care of 'em. We put 'em back where they belong.

Now. Where were we?  Oh yes.

 

Hi! I am the writer.  I know I am a writer and I know I am the writer because I speak to you as a writer....

 

XXX

 

Scott C. Holstad 

© 1995 Scott C. Holstad

#metafiction

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Those Not Keeping Track...

 This is the China that states and entities have been fearing for several decades.

This nightmare story has been making the rounds amongst global leaders, analysts and China watchers for the past couple of days. Lest anyone think this an aberration, it isn't nor is it intended to be by the CCP.

China takes Uganda's only international airport

 

 

Let me rephrase that first sentence. This is ONE of the Chinas. I suspect we'll see more variants in the near future. I suspect many will, particularly in that region. Is 2025-7 still a realistic deadline? It's nearly December 2021. Some generals have been mentioning 2022 throughout the year, some others 2021. Softly. It's nearly 2022. What the future holds... 

超限戰 

Much more has been and can be said about regional and global geopolitical tensions, particularly pertaining to the East Asia region, but I'll just put some links to some things I've posted or written lately.

 

China's hypersonics

Indonesia stands up to China in the SCS

Japan's growing defense budget and Article 9

China is about to seriously invest in growing its minute "collection" of international military bases

US intelligence leaders issue warning to US companies that China is targeting 5 specific US technology industries -- legally and illegally

The US National Counterintelligence & Security Center put out a press release concerning China's US embassy lobbying/pressuring US execs and Congressional leaders to influence pro-China legislations or drop anti-competitiveness (re China) legislation in Congress

India defense chief states that "China is the biggest security threat."

Duterte finally pulling the plug on China "waffling" as Chinese aggression continues to grow.

China builds missile targets shaped like US aircraft carriers

 

Those PLA-built coastal Chinese hypersonics seem even less amusing now...

 

 

Virtually all of these pieces were taken from my LinkedIn page, where I post commentary as often as possible. Meaning those without a LinkedIn account won't be able to access them, for which I apologize. If that's the case and you want to read at least the source pieces, leave messages here, let me know, do something -- or even look them up yourselves! -- and if you can't find the original source, I'll find it for you and post it. These are important and critical times in the world for so many reasons. China's big and the potential problems it presents sometimes seem insurmountable, but with Russia's designs on its neighbors in Eurasia and a US-led NATO stuffing missiles on all of the borders of the newly NATO'd former Soviet satellites, I understand why Putin's feeling threatened and ticked as hell, but the last thing we need is a two front narrative. Of course that doesn't take into account issues in the Middle East, attempts at illegal proliferation with certain states vowing to literally stop at nothing to ensure that doesn't take place, as well as renewed violence at certain places along the China/India border, which happens to be the longest geographic national border in the world -- and it's nuclear -- and when mixed with an illegal nuclear India, the second most populous country in the world behind China -- and catching up -- AND a burgeoning regional hegemonic rival to China ALSO up against their worst energy, an equally illegal nuclear Pakistan that is armed to the teeth, pumping out nukes like crazy, paranoid as shit, lives for basically one thing which is to obsess about India and its nuclear destruction should Pakistan be lucky enough to pull that off, which means that THREE nuclear countries, all hostile, are all sitting there in a row having a pissing contest. The India/Pakistan region is considered by most global military and civilian leaders to be the most volatile and deadly in the world.

BUT it doesn't stop there! Ever since the US dumped Pakistan and fled Afghanistan with its tail between its legs, predictably, nuclear China and nuclear Pakistan have been growing quite chummy, and -- shocker -- both unstable nuclear states have a Real problem with nuclear India between them. Nice. Something else I've found interesting is that analysts and experts have been writing and publishing on these dynamics all year, but I have YET to see what I'm about to mention -- because I am the "groundbreaker," you know ;) -- but with all of the people around the region/world freaking out about an unstable, tension-filled THREE nuclear state S/SE/E Asia region, why has no one -- and I read hundreds of items daily, probably thousands, from all over the world -- why has no one mentioned the FOURTH just north of all of them -- Russia? Forgotten in the mix of crazies? They're actually not as crazy as some others, but they're damned dangerous and despite the extreme unlikelihood of any worries in the region of a crazed Russia nuking everyone, we all know it only takes one nutjob to set off a chain reaction that couldn't be stopped, so even if Russia is the more "mature" (and I'm not entirely willing to go there) nuclear player in a four-nuke area, it doesn't mean we should forget that the most volatile place on earth doesn't just involve two nuclear enemies, and now possibly a third, but FOUR nuclear states and with the world going crazy, WTH knows what could come of that dynamic? 

And with that, I'll stop for now because A) I have other things to attend to and B) if I really wanted to drive this or these points home, I could keep going for days and weeks and never come to a logical stopping point so I'm forced to create one of my own -- which I've done. If anyone would like some more substantial resource suggestions (in the way of books, journals, etc.), leave a comment (or look at my Goodreads author page library, as I have libraries on Asia, geopolitics, military, etc.) and I'll be happy to make some recommendations.

Screenshot of the top of my Goodreads Author Page

 

 

 

Some Thoughts Prompted by the Book The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming

 

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells

Not new in terms of primary predictions but just a hell of a lot closer than 20-25 years ago. And it’s scary as shit. Naturally the US is just one of a handful of countries that not only doesn’t give a shit (our conservative owners) but stunningly STILL argues fantasy vs reality. Of course those with brains know what is going on. The uber-rich, banks, massive corporations, the boards, top execs, etc., naturally know all of this is true and they have the whole time. But they fight bitterly to refute reality and the rest of the world — why? There’s a very interesting book out there (Bruce Cannon Gibney’s A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America) 

with a premise that baby boomers are literally a generation of sociopaths so selfish and greedy, they’re willing to sell out their kids and grandkids and, hell, the whole damn world, content to let the earth and all on it get destroyed — in large part due to THEM and actions and inactions. Why? What will this accomplish? They’re so unbelievably blinded by narcissism, greed and power that they somehow can’t see, even as they massively fund new institutes to research extending the (their) human life span and much more, yet these big, rich mini-Kings are so fucking stupid that they seem not have realized what every powerful peoples throughout history (the Egyptians? Aztecs?) found out — you can’t take it with you! Yet they act like you can. If they’re not amassing wealth to pass down their family line/corporate descendants—and they’re not because in their continuing denial that the earth is not flat, that the galaxy spins, that humanity has set in motion, already underway, the virtual complete destruction of the earth so there will be NO descendants to speak of to pass on billion dollar inheritances. And they've more than proven they’re just fine with that. So the net result is what exactly? Something as basic and juvenile as the race to reach the finish line and “win” because you’re the richest? That’s brain dead stupid. But leave it to the Me Generation to not think rationally or for the good of others when considering the future.

As far as I can figure, when you die, you *might* leave one or two things to prove you existed. First, a legacy of some sort. It doesn’t have to involve fame, wealth, anything. Families can pass on heirlooms, admiration for certain religious leaders and a variety of notable people (NOT as defined by Wikipedia's criteria) might leave a famous legacy for a period of time. Writers, artists and musicians can leave various legacies, as can certain inventors, generals, scientists, etc. You get the picture. Do you want your legacy to resemble Donald Trump’s? Cause that’s basically what we’re talking about. People who are often quickly forgotten because they leave no legacy of any real value. Except in some cases, my second example of what people can leave. Wealth, property, investments, inheritances, etc. But we’ve already established those responsible for this crisis or in denial don’t care about that. They’re willingly sentencing their grandchildren to death along with everyone else so the second example is moot. Yet surely some of them must know this. But apparently not care or we would be joining the rest of the world to try to save the planet.

So the only answer must be none! Pure selfish greed to amass as much money and power as possible despite the fact that A) they really don’t want to pass it on and B) they’ve already ensured that ultimately they won’t since 2–3 generations later, their destruction of the world will have been complete. (The US DNI annual threat assessment of the US Intelligence Community for 2021, given to Congress in April labels climate change as, after dealing with COVID-19 and its aftereffects, the second greatest transnational threat to America’s greatest security and humanitarian threat there is and it provides plenty of recent examples and near-term concerns. And this is not new. I recall one of the leaders on the Joint Staff as early as about 2005 stating that global warming/climate change posed one of America’s greatest national security threats — source forgotten, insufficient time to look it up, sorry. If you don’t believe me and want to see the report or if you DO believe or are on the fence or whatever, you can find it available through the ODNI here.) So anyway this makes Reason A moot too, because what good is it if you leave a legacy of art, music, architecture, writing when it will encounter the same fate as Reason B thanks to the same cause for the same reason. Which again is what exactly? They’re the new Egyptians, Aztecs, whatever, but they’ll be the first successful ones? That’s the only possible reason, it seems, which proves their brilliance and superiority are bullshit. The Me Generation, despite a glut of educated, successful faux geniuses have never given a shit about anyone but itself, proven over the decades by all they’ve done and continue to do. Maybe they should be called The Worst Generation instead, cause Baby Boomers is too generic a term for what they’ve been and done. And honestly that’s hard for me to say considering my spouse, friends, cousins and I myself (as well as other loved ones) are all either Baby Boomers or on the very cusp (technically I’m not a Boomer, but my wife is, as are most relatives, so I guess I am as well), so I’m indicting us as well (though I think a good argument could be made that it was the large percentage of Boomers prior to the last two years of that period who are mostly responsible, but that’s both biased and a subject for a different piece).

This book? Well written, important book. The subject is more of a horror story to me than simple nonfiction, but we can’t hide our heads in the sand. This is necessary. Recommended.