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          THE 
        TRUTH IS THAT...
 
        For 
          as long as I've been a creative person, which is as far back as I've 
          remembered, I've pondered the SOURCE of that creativity. 
 
Recently, 
          I have realized that my creativity has gone out of control. Because 
          of my ideas, I have spent literally a decade barely scraping by because 
          I'm working on my dream - first my 
          band, and then this website. A decade is a long time, and I'm at 
          a loss to explain my dreams anymore. 
 
The 
          most difficult - and important - question in philosophy is simply this 
          - "Where do ideas come from?" It's from pondering this question that 
          all RELEVANT philosophy emerges. You can spout all your theories about 
          what happens when we die or whatever, and I won't really care. It's 
          the IDEA stuff that matters. 
 
By 
          its ideas, a nation lives and dies. The reason this project is called 
          "unamerican activities" is that I sense that the seed of death has been 
          planted in this nation. While we're barraged with "ideas" through our 
          national obsession with mass media, these ideas simply do not have the 
          diversity and honesty that characterize a growing society. 
 
Your 
          life may be good. I accept that. But in my opinion, most Americans are 
          NOT free to pursue their ideas. They don't have a context whereby their 
          ideas make sense; they have to go to work in order to pay rent, so they 
          don't have the time to flesh it out; they simply do not have the funds, 
          or they have no idea what a "business model" is. 
 
I 
          am not simply prophesying doom for this country. I am saying that we 
          can diagnose and treat the illness in its early phases. In my opinion, 
          this project constitutes ROUTINE MAINTENANCE for the American dream 
          - because for so many people, this dream is but a fantasy. 
 
Have 
          you ever felt CONTROLLED? Like, REALLY controlled - your choices and 
          your actions no longer spontaneously generating out of your own will 
          (or even your best interests). I feel controlled. I think that there 
          is some spiritual force out there that's making me write these words 
          to you. 
 
This 
          force is not necessarily malevolent. I know that in my heart lie nothing 
          but the most pure of urges. I'm not out to harm anything - I honestly 
          believe that what I'm doing with Unamerican is one of the most patriotic 
          things that one can possibly do! But I'm in its thrall nonetheless. 
          
 
I 
          can't stop coming up with ideas. I don't have the time to make all of 
          these ideas happen 
        (hell, 
        this website has languished unattended for MONTHS while I tried!). But 
        I don't really have control of the idea-generating part of my mind any 
        longer. 
 
When 
          one is FED ideas, one can't very well take CREDIT for them, can one? 
          Well, I am telling you this - "I" did not come up with these ideas, 
          the ideas for my stickers, the ideas for my music - I CAN'T TAKE CREDIT 
          FOR ANY OF THESE IDEAS. I sort of want them to go away and let me take 
          charge of my own life once again. But that choice is obviously not mine 
          to make. 
 
We 
          all think that, as a whole, "ideas" are "good". We're surrounded with 
          the triumphs of the idea-oriented world - every technology we use began 
          as an "idea". Therefore, are more ideas better? Or is it better to FOCUS 
          on ideas, having them SERIALLY so that you can concentrate on them one 
          at a time? 
 
Ideas 
          obviously have their own pace, although the more people thinking about 
          them full-time (or - more importantly - on their OWN time), and the 
          more society rewards people who have them, the faster they tend to land. 
          
 
What 
          if I told you that there is a satellite that's orbiting the Earth right 
          now that is firing these ideas into my fevered brain? I would sound 
          completely insane, wouldn't I? But the difference between a courageous 
          innovator and a madman is 
        very, 
        very small. And I think I'm somewhere in between. 
 
I 
          am not a courageous person. I fear pain, I don't do well with stress, 
          and violent movies give me a headache. Yet I've had the balls to go 
          without a paycheck, to directly attack the enemies of freedom in blunt 
          words online, and occasionally to interfere with unjust situations. 
          Where did this courage come from? I look back on my life, especially 
          the highlights, and sometimes it feels like I wasn't even there. Perhaps 
          the satellite was controlling me? 
 
In 
          my opinion 
        (and 
        it's one I will support in the following document)life isn't much unless 
        it's informed with a higher purpose, a mission, a REASON to carry on that 
        transcends mere survival. People who have this kind of mission stand out 
        from the uninspired masses as if they have an aura. I like such people. 
        If you are one of 'em, get in touch. 
        
 
If 
          the life you're living right now isn't cutting it, well, CHANGE IT. 
          Leave home. Create a story, don't just be a null. I am TELLING you to 
          do so - that way, you don't have to go through the internal questioning 
          that generally halts such attempts at achieving personal liberation. 
          Let me be your authority figure, in this case. 
 
I 
          COMMAND YOU TO CREATE. 
        (Did 
        that work?) 
 
 
          I give you one mission, my people, and that is to BE REMEMBERED. To 
          enjoy yourself, to create great stories, and to BE REMEMBERED. And not 
          to be alone, but to find each other, and together to create something 
          that deserves the name "god". 
 
Perhaps 
          God doesn't exist, but wouldn't it be nifty if he did? I mean, he could, 
          you know, do our chores for us. He'd be a great housemaid, huh? He'd 
          be able to help us with our homework. I believe that through CREATION 
          we achieve a measure of divinity. 
 
If 
          you accept that, if you WANT God to exist but cannot rationally accept 
          the concept of supernatural divine forces looking over us, the answer 
          is simple. Just keep learning. Learn how to make things, learn how to 
          create things, and read about those who've made history. At some point, 
          you will have learned enough, and from there, it's onwards towards infinity 
          because THROUGH MIMICKING GOD 
        e.g. 
        creating something WE BREATHE LIFE INTO HIM/HER. 
 
Quick 
          disclaimer - sometimes when I talk about "god" i call it "him". Sorry. 
          I don't think God is a guy or anything. I don't believe that "he" exists 
          at all - but I DO know that my muse is so out of control that I must 
          be possessed. 
 
Learn 
          this - if you've got to fail in order to succeed at something, FAIL 
          QUICK, LEARN A LOT, and HAVE FUN ANYWAY. In order to become skilled, 
          you've got to screw up a lot, so pick something that doesn't threaten 
          your health too much, dig? 
 
Do 
          you know what a "distributed application" is? It's a computer program 
          that lets other computers handle the hard work of crunching data. I 
          think that divinity is such an application. Lots of people working on 
          the same thing, sometimes without even being aware that there's a larger 
          purpose to their creativity. 
 
 
          I think a lot of different people are - RIGHT NOW - working on creating 
          stuff. They go by mundane titles, such as "software engineer" or "zine 
          writer", but their real business, no matter what their training, is 
          the CREATION OF MAGIC. Through this magic, we breathe life into the 
          concept of divinity. 
 
In 
          my opinion, "God" steals into this framework in surprise moments. One 
          minute you're noodling on your guitar, and the next you've suddenly 
          written a riff that turns into the anthem that frees and it is a shared 
          secret. It is a secret that we all understand, and for me, it is just, 
          well, what my life is about. 
 
Potential 
          is a pain in the ass, that's for sure. It hypnotizes you into believing 
          that you're ALREADY THERE, that you ALREADY MATTER, when the reality 
          is that REALLY MATTERING is just the ENDPOINT of a long process. 
 
So 
          if change is truly a process, not an event, how do we learn how to NOTICE 
          IT? Well, BEGIN WITH A ***BANG***, that's how! In other words: CREATE 
          AN EVENT TO REMEMBER THE PROCESS BY. 
 
 "Satan" 
          does not exist, but as a concept, he's useful. In my belief, "Satan" 
          is anything that HOLDS YOU BACK from being the interesting, noble and 
          fruitful person you were meant to be. For me, Satan consists of my own 
          low self-opinion and the resulting reification of that opinion by my 
          parents and others. I don't give a fuck what kind of money I've got 
          to spend to get rid of this problem. Money spent staving off Satan is 
          money that's well spent. 
 
 
          If evil happens, but it results in an interesting story that stops that 
          evil from EVER HAPPENING AGAIN, wouldn't you agree that there's good 
          that came out of it? 
 
 
          I once got accosted by a prostitute in Berkeley and she told me in gibberish 
          english her story. She was born, and her mom treated her like shit and 
          well, after a little while she thought of herself as shit and she wound 
          up a prostitute. And to this story, what can I say? I said "wow, that 
          was an amazing story, now I gotta go." but what I should've said was 
          WRITE IT DOWN! MAKE IT THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER IT! 
 
 
          Don't just LIVE, live as if you're IMMORTAL!!!! Live as if you can never 
          live in theory! Live in fucking FACT! 
 
 
          Without this computer I'm just this nondescript guy. With this computer 
          I'm a MAN FROM THE FUTURE, THE COSMIC WEBMASTER. I'd like to thank Apple, 
          Netscape, and all of the other forces that made this page possible. 
          
 
In 
          fact, any work of art is actually a big ol' "thank you" to the influences 
          that made the art possible. If you REALLY like an artist, shouldn't 
          you aspire to become that artist's equal? Not necessarily in the same 
          medium - I mean, I don't WANT to make the same kind of music as my influences, 
          in fact right now I don't want to make music at ALL! But I am trying 
          to code the kind of web page that my influences might admire, you understand? 
          
 
Personalities 
          are like velcro, and you want yours to bristle with a million of those 
          little fucking hooks. The more hooks you have, or display, to other 
          potentially interesting people, the more likely you will be to attract, 
          hold onto, and build around THEIR energy. HOOKS, HOOKS, HOOKS. 
 
 
          Hooks are not the same as opening lines. You can create a formula that 
          could be uttered by a boring person, and still, it will be obvious that 
          the person's just reciting lines. The basis for any relationship is 
          the actual SOUL involved in the relationship, not just a fucking opening 
          line. 
 
No 
          opening line will help a boring person become interesting, but unfortunately, 
          they can force us to waste our time with them sometimes. The right set 
          of demographic information can fool us into being intrigued with someone 
          who wasn't really worth it. 
 
 
          DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH BORING PEOPLE. (Or websites, for that matter.) 
          
 
I 
          can't work with anyone who isn't somehow LOOKING FOR SOMETHING. When 
          I hear that a person is totally content with life, I feel like there's 
          little I can tell them. I mean, I wouldn't want to DISTURB a person 
          who is at utter peace, would I? What would I have to offer, and what 
          would I stand to receive in exchange? 
 
The 
          Truth is disturbing and peaceful at the same time. It is disturbing 
          because it opens doors that destroy your former path, but it is so comforting 
          because it reminds you that there IS a path and that YOU ARE STILL ON 
          IT. 
 
Right 
          now, I am waiting. I am waiting for a sign. 
 
 
          Something is going to happen. The air is heavy with ominous anticipation. 
          Perhaps this event will be negative. "The thing most feared in secret 
          always comes to pass." 
 
 
          If you concentrate on your fear, you create a potential for that fear 
          to come to pass. 
 
 
          If you lose your fears, you take away their power from you. Even if 
          something dreadful happens to you, you will survive it or you won't, 
          one or the other. Butto live as if it is GOING to happen is a tragedy, 
          because you miss out on the state of being healthy and not fearful while 
          you can. 
 
 
          We only have a certain amount of time in this life to be productive 
          and to make a difference. You can't help anyone by sharing your fear 
          with them; you can only ask for their help. 
 
 
          Helping others is a great way to help yourself. Between two people, 
          potential multiplies logarithmically as long as potential is the goal 
          of the interaction. 
 
 
          I want to be relevant. I don't want to be irrelevant. I want to matter, 
          and up 'til now I haven't been able to do so. I am going to try and 
          try and try and try until I finally break through, and that is something 
          I will not be able to shake until I die. 
 
 
          Every feeling is better than no feeling. At least it indicates that 
          something is being EXPERIENCED, that something is HAPPENING. 
 
 "Every 
          action is a positive action, even if it has a negative result." - from 
          the movie Slacker. I'm not about to go around defending Hitler, 
          fuck that, but the point is that you either make history or are subject 
          to it. I have always wanted to make it. 
 
 
          More than pain, I fear boredom. I throw myself into all kinds of dangerous 
          situations because I can't stand to be bored, and I need new stories 
          to tell. 
       
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