Portraits of Insanity

Upon gazing into the eyes of a dying sperm whale that had been harpooned just yards away, Captain Paul Watson, now founder/leader of Sea Shepherds, had this to say, "I saw something else in that eye – it was pity and not for himself but for us – that we could kill so thoughtlessly and so mercilessly and I realized that the reason the Soviets were killing Sperm whales was for spermaceti oil used for lubricating machinery and one of the uses was in the construction on inter-continental ballistic missiles for the purpose of exterminating mass numbers of human beings and that is when it struck me that we, the human species are insane. " ...This coming from a man who is also known for being the complete lunatic who rammed a Japanese "research" vessel in the middle of the Arctic Ocean! His words struck me though. He's right. We are completely insane. His side is insane, the other side is insane, we're all effing INSANE! And how many cases can you look at both sides and say, "you're both insane, why are you doing this?"

The Gaza flotilla incident: Palestinians/Hamas vs Israelis, I'd tend to favor Israel in this case because they were attacked in what should've been a routine search, but I favor the Palestinians in COUNTLESS other skirmishes. It's NEVER ENDING!

Conservatives vs. Liberals: One side is racking up a GINORMOUS debt and deficit, and passing outrageously liberal bills in health care and environmental protection. On the other side we've got downright McCarthyism-style propaganda against EVERYTHING the liberals are doing, with no consideration for facts, history, or constructive criticism. If one side can believe Obama, and the other can believe Glenn Back, we're clearly in a polarized madhouse.

American Culture in General: Divorce rate, adolescent suicides, obesity, debt/over spending/over consumption, destruction of the environment, poor work ethic, poor education, increased welfare, gangs, Hollywood, television, propaganda, partisanship, war mongering, weapons trafficking, drugs, racism, religion, hypocrisy, etc. WTF are we DOING!?!??!

The oil disaster: Why is BP, with their safety record, even allowed to operate in the US? Why do we drill so far offshore just because the rigs are ugly? Why is everyone upset Obama doesn't look pissed off enough and is wearing too nice of close on his visits to Louisiana? How come other deep sea drilling companies weren't brought in to replace BP, who has clearly proven their ineptitude? Who told everybody this was the end of fishing and crabbing in the gulf? Fishing might be amazing with the death of surface predators and the temporary lack of fisherman. Could be the best year of fishing ever once this is cleaned up.

Less depressing things like graffiti: Graffiti is art by the masses, it's fresh, it's brave, but it's illegal because they didn't pay to put it up. Art collections are only what a handful of rich people consider to be art. Billboards are not art yet we're all forced to see them like gigantic visual SPAM, and some graffiti is treasured art if it's in the right location... or done by cavemen or Banksy... o.O?

etc. !!!

I think if I ever make a photography book it'll be on exactly this, "Profiles in Insanity, evidence of our culture. Photos and commentary by James Yasuhara" I think it'll be a slightly less depressing version of that scene in "The Fifth Element" where Lula reads the video encyclopedia chapter on "War." Can't wait. In the mean time, where is the hope for humanity? Where is the good in what we do? Why do we push on through what has to be considered insanity? And where do you fit in? What's your contribution to our collective insanity?

~Yasu