The West Needs More Western

The American West CowboyFor many, the contemporary icon of the Western genre is that of the semi-nomadic wanderer or the knight errant–the pale rider. While that is a Western motif, it’s usually shown in contrast to the frontier, societal enclave from which fate has removed the rider.

The larger motifs of classic Western literature and film revolve around the local social order maintained by personal codes of honor that are strictly enforced. Abstract law is for sissies and Yankees. Westerns grow organically from the fertile soil of independence and libertarianism.

With a hoe in one hand and a rifle in the other, tough men and women etch meaningful existences from the harsh wilderness environment using their wit and fortitude. Those desiring to exploit the land for easy gain or to pillage others are the enemy. Most simply, the Western is a morality tale caked with dust and manure. And this, dear reader, is what I think Western civilization needs a bit more of presently (both morality and manure).

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Take This Tax and Smoke It

prohibition 18th amendment posterThe Redneck Granola does not condone the use of illegal drugs. The Redneck Granola does not condone a regressive tax structure. How, you may ask, do these things fit together?

In the midst of the U.S.’s first credit rating downgrade amongst a mountain of bellyaching from our mole hill Congress, I think the common Jolene Smolene needs a common sense solution. That common sense solution is a new spin on an old favorite–the sin tax.

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Have Reefer Will Travel

Angry American signWelcome to the first Global Reeferpunk blog post (literally, not in a “cosmic” sort of way). I’ve learned a few interesting things, commentary on American society if you will, since embarking on my treacherous Reeferpunk journey. It turns out that creating Mexican good guys who grow marijuana and get chased by a Texas Ranger bad guy who smokes marijuana sort of pisses people off in the United States.

Who knew, right? I’m as shocked as you. Equally surprising, Europeans feel completely differently about Mexicans, marijuana and Texas Rangers. Down right freaky. To top it all off, it appears that some literary snobs (who live with their noses in books so much they actually blow boogers composed of classic literature) have decided that the Western genre is as dead as bipartisanship in American politics. But, Europeans seem to enjoy the stuff.

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