textfiles-politics/politicalTextFiles/decades.txt

                         The Esoteric Society presents

                         Decades: Where Are We Headed?

                                by King Diamond

Centre of Eternity 615.552.5747  HQ of The Esoteric Society and Toxic Shock
___________________________________________________________________________

 Loosely termed "the Eighties". The Eighties are almost over. Prepare
ourselves for the nineties. This has definitely been a decade of superior
change, needless to say. Reagan took to the Presidency. Negotiation with the
Soviet Union. Summits. Where are we headed? Gorbachev announces a situation of
"Glasnost". Openess? Where are we headed?

 A decade of music. Styles. Rock. Roll. Transformation from a period of good
solid music. Creedence Clearwater Revival. Led Zeppelin. Boston. From seventies
to eighties, our tastes and styles in music have changed. To soft rock, movie
soundtracks. Michael Jackson. Prince. Chicago. Duran Duran. Van Halen.
Madonna. Onto Whitesnake, Guns N' Roses, Skid Row, Metallica. Onto Slayer,
Megadeth, AC/DC, Anthrax, Manilla Road, Tesla, Ozzy and Lita. Where are we
headed?

 An age of arms reductions. We want peace: can we achieve it? Where are we
headed? Long-range missles. Short-range missles. Are they needed? Can
peace be achieved to a point of total DEFENSELESSNESS? As Reagan's second
term ends, so begins the term of his vice-president, George Bush.

 Bush knew Reagan's aims. Bush strives to achieve the same peace, a commitment
to understanding the world and its problems. Is he screwing us over? Screwing
things up? Where are we headed? Bush may get a second term in office. Maybe
not. Should he? We can't even locate Manuel Noriega in Panama of all the
shitty embarrassing things. Did our great country find him? No. Noriega turned
HIMSELF in to political asylum. Where are we headed? Is this the kind of force
that will be our backbone in real war and chaos? Maybe so.

 The Middle East. The Gaza Strip. The Persian Gulf. Tankers and carriers
shredded, the warmth and essence of life within destroyed. Planes shot down.
Families torn. Is this any token of "world peace"? Can we stop it? Where are
we headed? Are we plunging headfirst into chaotic darkness?

 Lybia. The eighties held for us a time in the Mediterranean. Shooting down
planes. Defending ourselves and the morals we stand for. Khaddafi. Real
leader or egotistical son of a bitch? I imagine his mother WAS a bitch but
that's beside the point. He ran, he hid. Assumed dead. No. He was alive even
after our great men bombed the hole. Destroyed a city. Innocent bystanders
in the grip of an enemy. Where were we headed? We have achieved an amount of
peace but is it enough?

 The latter times. East Berlin. Citizens tasting a "freedom" for the first
time. Is it a real freedom? The Berlin Wall coming down (coming down, Berlin
Wall is coming down, my fair lady... oh excuse me that's "London Bridge"),
sledgehammers, concerned citizens, long for freedom. Is it real? Should it
be real? Recent chaos in Rumania. Further destruction in Europe? Where are
we headed? Is this peace we so strive to reach really grabbing hold and taking
effect?

 Drugs. They are here, they have been here. In the eighties the scare of
drugs has emerged and blown in our faces. Drugs are everywhere, can they be
stopped? The eighties brought on the scare of AIDS. AIDS. A seemingly
invincible killer. Science. It strives to annihilate the AIDS virus.
Breakthroughs are being made everyday in the field, treatments for AIDS,
cancer, leukemia, heart disease. Lasers. The medical field can use this
technology to a great advantage. The eighties is not entirely bad. Health.
Healthier lives lived. Longer lifespans for all. But Hunger.

 Hunger. The eighties brought about groups of concerned citizens of the world
to help relieve the hunger crisis in poor African third-world countries.
Money. Food. Supplies. Where did they go? Many reports say alot of money went
to fund huge office parties in England. To buy bullshit for RICH people.
Hunger. In Africa. World effort? They are still hunger. Were our efforts
fruitful? Where are we headed? Is this peace and bonding together holding in
our tie with Africa? No. They are hungry. But we have our own problems.
Problems that need to be solved above all others.

 Again drugs. Drug cartels forming armies to fight and take over Colombian
government. A cry for help. Can we not stop it? But we have our own problems.
But the problem in Colombia affects us. Drug imports. Drugs on the streets.
New drugs. Ecstacy. Ice. Crack. All of which have risen to popularity in the
so GLAMOROUS period of the eighties. Children dying. Children SELLING. No
more than ten years old, on the streets pushing dope. AIDS again. Drug users
sharing dirty needles. Spreading.

 Sexual spread of AIDS. Adult shops. Pornographic times. Kinky sex. Sex fads.
Can they be stopped? Should they be stopped? People are free to fuck as they
wish, yet the spread of AIDS and the death it can bring sheds no effect on
those who are at high risk? Prostitutes? Whores?

 Oliver North trials. A landmark in the eighties. A big deal. Was he a good
man? Some say he was. Others not. He "couldn't remember" jack SHIT. Was he
defending his country, or just fucking around? Where ARE we headed?

 Televangelists. As popular or even MORE popular than the Iran-Contra scandal,
it rose to a screaming popular high. Everyone knew about it. Jim Bakker.
His bitch Tammy Faye. Dripping make-up. Alot of it became a joke to many. But
a so-called "religious and God-fearing man" stole hundreds of millions of
dollars from his "ministry" for his own use. An air-conditioned dog house.
And people LIKED this man? Jimmmy Swaggart. Convulsive face shaking and
bawling and begging the church for his forgiveness? A man that some people
thought GOOD? Where are we headed?

 Saturday Night Live. Satires of all the events of the eighties. Many well
portrayed. There'll never be another John Belushi, but the new cast of the
show has portrayed Our Decade's events well. Political issues. Religious
issues. Moral issues. Hats off to Dennis Miller for Weekend Update. Hats
off to Dana Carvey, Nora Dunn, Jan Hooks, Phil Hartman, John Lovitz and
Victoria Jackson for their acting ability and portrayal. Nora Dunn for
hers of one of the Sweenie sisters and of Leona Helmsley. Victoria Jackson
for being such a ditz, and for impersonating Zsa Zsa Gabor. Phil Hartman for
everything, Jan Hooks for Sweenie sister #2 and most of all - TAMMY FAYE BAKER.
Dana Carvey for Church Lady! John Lovitz for Tommy Flanagan and Master
Thespian. But enough of that bullshit.

 The eighties started off with a bang. Which is a bad choice of words since
the occurrence of the Challenger incident. Good people, going to space to
do great service in our space program. An explosion. A dream shattered.
Families and children shattered. It stayed with us. It was long before we
return on our space venture. We have sent up satellites. All kinds. But
much space junk. Star Wars. The first half of the eighties brought about the
Star Wars controversy. Our space program is improving rapidly as our
technology improves. Soon we may have manned missions to Mars. Shall
technology and science improved, our goal may be achieved. Does it serve
a purpose though? Maybe so. Where is our space program headed?

 The sun is ever expanding outward. It is supposed to, in several million
years, heat the Earth to lifelessness, finally expanding outward and
engulfing it. But will we burn our own selves up before the sun expands
any further? Greenhouse effect. A major issue. Chemicals, toxic fog.
Smog in cities. Dirty air. Carbon dioxide heating the Earth. Ozone holes.
Why are we destroying our major protection from the sun's harmful rays? We
WANT to stay alive, have a safe planet for our children and descendants to
live on. And now in our own lifetimes we are destroying our planet? Where
in the HELL are we HEADED?

 Save the whales. Greenpeace. I want to find out more about them and their
goals. They are not only saving whales but other animals. Certain endangered
types of marine life. Porpoises. Tuna fishermen killing porpoises uselessly.
Arbor Day Foundation. Plant trees. Rain forests. Leveled. We show concern
for our atmosphere but yet we burn down trees, trees which convert the heating
carbon dioxide into fresh oxygen and energy for animals? Why? Where are we
headed?

 Polar shift. Earthquakes. Tornadoes. Hurricanes. Some say these are reminders
from God that we are straying from a spiritual path. We are not worshipping
him like we should and are living sinful lives. Others say that these
occurrences reflect a major event to happen, possibly a sudden polar shift.
Who knows. Utter chaos on our planet. Churches preaching of Rapture. Where
are we headed? Only the future can tell us.
___________________________________________________________________________

I have asked so many questions. It's pitiful. To have so many things, so little
answers. Help us all unite and fight the destruction of our planet. A depleting
ozone layer that shields us from harm. Buy non-aerosol hairsprays (for you
bitches who use ten tons of a morning). Depletion of natural resources.
Adapt your lifestyles to that situation. I should practice what I preach, I
am beginning to. It sickens me to see the situation we are in. The world we
live in, doused in pitiful shame. The world our CHILDREN will live in.

So many questions. So few answers.
___________________________________________________________________________

(c) December 24, 1989. End of the eighties. Where Are We Headed?


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