Disposable Culture

by Michael Lohr

Cheeseburger Blues

From the lands of the Las Vegas midnight sun,
Hearken thee in thine eyes Oh Lord of full stomachs,
For thrice we walk from shore to shore, through the vulgar divide,
Tis all we can do to reach from our souls and grasp the mustard,
Birth-right of the polyunsaturated generation,

We are borne of flame and fire,
that earthen charcoal grill,
we feed on the food of the gods,
that greasy ambrosia,
all the while listening to spent tales,
of Jimmy Buffet’s well-done cheeseburger dream,
a renaissance of dripping delight,
it beckons our unquenchable hunger,

The divine pickles, crisp lettuce, and ripe tomatoes,
the melting cheese linger,
taste-bud arousing appetite-pleaser,
in memories of Elvis, Marilyn and JFK,
bring forth our country’s legacy,
Bible-Belt burger joints and painted clowns all our own,
’tis all of the sun... but with poverty-laced ketchup!

Author’s Note:
The cheeseburger is an American icon; the ultimate representation of disposable culture, the remnant carcass of our three-second soul. It is exported to the world-at-large, like bubble-gum pop music, professional wrestling, roadkill cookbooks or cheap porn.

Rolling the Bones of Tribalism

Shaking,
Cursing,
Casting,
Throwing,
And yet nothing is revealed.

Taking chances,
Pondering the odds,
All or nothing,
Yet to the novice everything is still concealed.

Seeking wisdom
I, learning materialism from my elders today,
I feel their magnitude reach out to me
And lend to me morsels of wisdom this day,
And for that I am forever grateful,
As tourist dollars once again fill my pockets.

In the Words of the Ghost of George Washington

“America has become this great homogenizing experiment. Not since the days of the Roman Empire has the negative assimilation of culture been so widespread. You all stand shivering in the pouring rain. A bleak, godless religion of ambiguous economic doctrine and technological ecstasy is all that awaits you in the twenty-first century if you do not open our eyes. Western culture teeters on the brink of ruin and no one can see past their television sets!

“Thus the final seal is broken and the dream is dead. So little can be said now of this new Rome, the new order for the ages.”

Hear The Echo

In 9 A.D. when a massive contingent of Germanic Tribes wiped out 70,000 Romans in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, the German tribes didn’t steal the Roman soldiers weapons or gold. They dug deep holes and threw all of it, the Roman gold, horses, swords, daggers, food, slaves, everything, into these deep holes and buried them.

It was said that one of the great Germanic chieftains said, “Let the earth consume this aberration. Let the soil purify the foul matter.”

That is exactly how I feel about the current state of the western world and its three-second soul.

Jesus-of-Borg, McDonalds-of-Borg, Wal-Mart-of-Borg;
...the assimilation is moving right on schedule.

Civilization

Civilization hinders our spiritual growth. We are all meant to grow spiritually on an individual level, to ultimately walk the Wheel of Dharma alone. The soul, our Ba, does not grow in some manmade building surrounded by anonyms of true self and spirit. It cannot grow in a culture that teaches envy. It cannot grow in a society so dualistic that it seethes with negation. This world blinds us to useless distractions and self-imposed cages. Anubis will walk with you on your journey. There ain’t nothing like being kicked in the head by the keeper of the wheel of karma.