The Getalong Gang: Trump's Penguins

[Abishai100]

Here's a ruthless tale about the cultural vulnerabilities regarding 'TrumpUSA' which we've been hearing a great deal about in various mass protests aimed at defying the 'sanctity' of the election of Donald Trump, the first celebrity-president since Ronald Reagan.

IMO, people are simply worried that 'TrumpUSA' will generate another form of 'dystopian Reaganomics.'

So this tale is meant to offer some optimism that we can use public forums and political cartoons/storytelling to avoid the mistakes of the past --- e.g., race-riots, mob anarchy, domestic terrorism, etc., etc.

This tale is also meant to raise the question, "Will Melania Trump go the way of Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Jackie Kennedy --- First Ladies who are simply treated as 'token priestesses'?"

That's why we need to figure out the contours between 'graffiti' and 'social criticism' in this modern age of 'consumerism-culture' gauged pedestrian malaise (e.g., Born on the 4th of July).


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The team-members of the NHL team the Pittsburgh Penguins (winners of multiple Stanley Cup trophies) simply snapped and wanted to retaliate against the consumerism-complacency of the capitalism-subjective 'TrumpUSA' especially after the Trump Administration sanctioned the federal monitoring of major professional sports contracts and management policies (in the NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB). The handful of Penguins who decided to rebel against American society (along with their wives/girlfriends) called themselves The Getalong Gang (sarcastically!). It was an impressive and passionate group, but no one had any intentions to use any form of violence --- just incisive PR stunts.

The Getalong Gang wore hockey masks (the men) and cloth-masks (the women) and robbed federal banks in Boston and Philadelphia before heading to Los Angeles (carrying only toy-guns and tranquilizer-darts!). They met with legendary LA Kings retired ice-hockey player Wayne Gretzky and planned another bank-robbery. They wanted Gretzky to go in front of the cameras and deliver a confusing message: "It's obvious the Penguins are not as organized as the Kings!" As journalists and policy-makers scrambled to understand the potential sports-corruption grievances of The Getalong Gang, the wives/girlfriends of the gang wore cloth-masks and marched towards the Van Gogh museum exhibit (as a protest against commercialization).

Meanwhile, members of the Boston Bruins ice-hockey team wanted to deliver a contradictory pro-Trump message: "Athletes do not need to rebel against the government to have their grievances heard, so the Bruins are committed to loyal cooperation with management and policy-makers interested in the coordination of sports and culture in the media!" The Getalong Gang were enraged when they read these Bruins messages and decided to loot the Los Angeles art museum in retaliation, but when they did, a quirky film-maker decided to make a movie about a handful of suited mafia hitmen/assassins assigned on a special mission to kidnap cops and politicians loyal to the Trump Administration. The movie was titled Reservoir Dogs, and it would change the way CNN began talking about 'TrumpUSA' optimism.

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[Abishai100]

Leviathan


This second chapter is in reference to the metrics-metaphysics term 'Leviathan' (a sea-beast of abstract chaos and uncertainty) and its applications to the 'capitalism excesses' of our consumerism-biased 'TrumpUSA.'

This second chapter was inspired by Herman Melville's insurance-malady short-story "The Lightning-rod Man."


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The Getalong Gang was under the jurisdiction of President Trump now and the leader (the Penguin goalie --- a Canadian-American named Samuel Lemieux) was charged with the mission to serve as a 'consumerism-anthropologist' and diplomat for an upcoming conference on media and networking technology applications of the capitalism-macrosystem theories of economist-philosopher Adam Smith. Samuel had become something of a 'cultural celebrity' by then, since the 'derring-do' of The Getalong Gang received national attention in the press when people started making 'pilgrimages' to Pittsburgh to understand the psycho-sociological 'roots' of capitalism-related nationalism 'angst.' Samuel gladly accepted the important mission.

When Samuel arrived at the conference, he was intrigued by the presentation of one sociologist from Yale University (a member of the prestigious 'Ivy League' of American colleges/universities, which included Harvard and Dartmouth) named Dr. Connor Kurtis. Dr. Kurtis believed that humanity's eager 'dabbling' into the Silicon applications of cyber-highways created new 'nodes' or 'realms' of goal-directed traffic behavior which added to Adam Smith's implied theory that commerce-driven networking created special 'forms/shapes' of collective economic consciousness. After Dr. Kurtis completed his address (which received a rousing applause), Samuel approached him to talk about eBay 'sociology.'

Dr. Kurtis showed Samuel a special theory he was working on which was considered very controversial and non-mainstream. Dr. Kurtis believed that humanity's vigorous use of Silicon-based 'grid' (or computing networks) created another 'dimension' of mental activity (or consciousness!) that could, hypothetically, give rise to a new 'face' of perception (or even intelligence). Samuel asked the professor if he was referring to 'Artificial Intelligence' (A.I.), but Dr. Kurtis explained, "No, what I'm referring to is a distinct new 'plane of cause-and-effect' which may even produce non-sentient but replicating 'entities' or inorganic 'creatures.' Samuel decided to refer to these hypothetical 'Silicon perception-creatures' as Mud Monsters (since he distrusted man's obsession with synthetics and machines!).

Samuel went back to his laboratory and began generating a series of analytics-based 'mock dialogues' between human scientists and these 'Mud Monsters,' which Samuel agreed could literally be 'anagrams of reason and perception.' Samuel wondered how modern consumerism-related 'TrumpUSA' relics of 'disposable pottery' (e.g., paper-towels, paper-cups, paper-plates, obsolete computer hardware, latex gloves, etc., etc., etc.) were creating a sort of 'mass synthetic pollution' which could (fantastically!) create some kind of a 'toxic avenging force' or creature (just like in a comic book!). Samuel decided to generate a mock-dialogue between humanity and these proposed 'Mud Monsters' for a special televised address at the White House about the 'parametrics' of modernism metaphysics and the dangers of unchecked consumerism (e.g., Wall Street).

SAMUEL: Do you think you're stronger than the human species?
MUD MONSTER: We are synthetics-based and hence invulnerable to organics-based frailties (e.g., AIDS).
SAMUEL: What is your special commitment to urbanization in the modern world?
MUD MONSTER: We have a sovereign right to evaluate the contours of population explosion.
SAMUEL: Are you a 'relic' of untempered speciation (e.g., Facebook, Wall Street, etc.)?
MUD MONSTER: Yes! We symbolize 'pure imagination.'
SAMUEL: What is the difference between ambition and greed?
MUD MONSTER: That can best be measured with analyses of consumer-based activity (e.g., Starbucks).
SAMUEL: Are you a prophet of Starbucks or a severe critic?
MUD MONSTER: We are 'angels' of profiteerism.
SAMUEL: Oh, so you're like the Great Gatsby or Richie Rich, eh?
MUD MONSTER: We're also like A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) in that we 'mirror' human intelligence.
SAMUEL: If capitalism/consumerism goes unchecked, will you 'haunt' the human psyche?
MUD MONSTER: We will return to the 'dimension of invisibility' once we are sure that Starbucks is not a tool for gluttony.
SAMUEL: Are you religious and/or ethics-oriented?
MUD MONSTER: Similar to A.I. robots, we signify a modern age focus on 'pure pathology.'
SAMUEL: Can we therefore reference you as a 'relic' of consumer behaviors (e.g., mall mannequins)?
MUD MONSTER: Yes! We are like shopping-mall mannequins symbolizing basic instincts in capitalism.
SAMUEL: I would conclude therefore that you represent all the muscle of 'TrumpUSA.'
MUD MONSTER: We will return if your capitalism-behavior generates more 'consumerism biases' (e.g., Wall Street)!

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