David Mark Brown

DMB Digest: Going from Finish to Finished

David Mark Brown — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:56:29 GMT

One of the things I’ve found important when taking on projects, especially collaborative ones, has been to understand whether people tend to have starting energy or finishing energy.

The older I get, it’s more common I have no energy for any given project. But still, overall, I’m a starting energy guy. When given the choice, I prefer to start new things and then hand them off to others. (Or sometimes, start new things and realize it was a mistake to have started said thing, and then slowly back away in the hopes that no one will notice the pile of destruction left strewn all over. To date, this exit plan has worked with the Wife a total of zero times.)

For certain projects, the type that once you commence them they become all consuming until you finish, I’ve learned I simply can’t start them at all. I have to hand them off to someone else to begin with. I’m like this with tiling. For whatever reason, once I start mixing mortar, I can’t stop until the final tile is laid. There simply isn’t a sufficient (in my mind) place to pause for things like sleep, eating, or going to the bathroom. Luckily, for most of my tiling experiences I was already in the bathroom.

The last time I attempted a tiling project, it was around 5am when I finished, after having worked on the job for the last nineteen hours. (I’m also somewhat of a perfectionist with stuff like this). The one thing that experience taught me was I would never do any sizable tile job myself again. Avoidance is of course easier than change or self-improvement. I’ve learned enough about myself to pay a professional good money and then avoid the area while they are working. Several times while my basement bathroom was being tiled, I would stroll down after the guys left and marvel at the fact they had been able to leave without being finished. And somehow it all worked out in the end! Crazy.

I’ve been pondering all this energy stuff since purchasing a twenty-six-year-old, retired ambulance for converting into a camper with my younger son. I’m a starting energy guy. My son is most definitely a starting energy guy. Sometimes he won’t finish a meal unless you nag him to do so. (The first few bites are just so alive with flavor! But after that…meh.) So we talked about this before we got serious. And again before we pulled the trigger. Now there is an ambulance parked in front of the house. We’ve got three years before his “kicking out of the house” date. So there’s time. I just know both of us are going to hit “the wall” at different points along the way. (You know, somewhere along the line when you have neither an ambulance or a camper, but something more like a soul-sucking, money-pit you wish you could slowly back away from and have nobody notice.)

There you have it. I guess I just needed to get this off my chest before I plunge elbow deep into spaghettied electrical wires and start wondering what I’ve done. Maybe in a couple of years, some of you finishing-energy-people can reach out with some encouraging words and a bit of advice (before I start to consider rolling the inoperable ambulance into the nearest lake). That would be swell.

Buy BirthSpell $1.99!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

DMB Digest: Pining for “Liberal Universities”

David Mark Brown — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:55:42 GMT

My oldest son moved into the dorms at BSU this week. Crazy on many levels. I last lived in a dorm over thirty years ago. I last worked at BSU some twenty-three years ago. I was praying with students in the SUB throughout the day of 9-11.

I walked around the campus a bit. In some ways it is much as I remember it. Students are still the same now as they were back then. Trends don’t really change that drastically from one to the next to the next in anything other than form. I know some would disagree with me. I’m aware of a large contingency of Americans who believe we are going to hell in a hand basket and liberal universities are certainly an instrumental part of the problem.

But here is the thing. I also believe we typically see what we expect to see. If I walk around a “liberal” university expecting to see general godlessness and depravity everywhere I look, I will certainly find it. There is no doubt that depravity is there to be found. Sometimes you don’t even have to look very hard. But depravity is not for the most part what I saw.

I saw beauty. I saw loneliness. I saw camaraderie. I saw intentionality and dedication. I saw curiosity, growth, and expansion. I saw obsession as well. It is also true I expected to see these things. I knew to look for them. I’ve spent seventeen years of my life on various campuses on a daily basis in different capacities.

I saw a vibrant community where many people will have their ideas and ideals reinforced while some will have them challenged. For my son’s sake, I hope he will have his challenged. This, in my opinion, is a large part of the value of our universities. Call me old fashioned, but I’m still of the belief that an education should be broad and pluralistic, and well, liberal. I want my son to learn about the world, not just the parts of the world he identifies with. Truth is, he’s ignorant. He knows very little at this stage of his life. And many of the things he thinks he knows, he’s wrong about.

If there is one thing I believe has been gradually changing (for the worse) in our universities over the last several decades, it is their intolerance for new ideas and the distaste for challenging old ones. It is the lack of fight. The lack of fire. The lack of anti-establishment ire. If students these days leave a campus radicalized, it’s most likely the result of having all their preconceived notions coddled and embraced throughout their passive education.

In my experience, it’s been the students who get their feet put to the fire, those who get tested and challenged all along the way that emerge better off for it. Creative thinkers. Deep thinkers. Broad thinkers. Thinkers confident and ready to put their thinking into action in the world. This is my hope for my son. BSU is a big place. Bigger than his life up to now. It will bring challenges I’ve done my best to prepare him for. It’s now up to him to meet those challenges. Some will be practical. This is a great testing ground for all of those to be sure.

But I’m hoping he will be challenged intellectually, philosophically, and spiritually as well. If no one challenges his beliefs, if he never learns that education must be applied to matters of faith as well as academia, then he will never discover the full richness I desire for him. And this is perhaps my deepest fear as a father.

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Read A Selfless Sacrifice FREE!

DMB Digest: There's nothing I can do about it.

David Mark Brown — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:54:38 GMT

I hear people say stuff like, “There’s nothing I can do about…” you fill in the blank. And I get what they mean when this statement is in reference to stuff like your parents. As a fetus in the womb, I don’t think I had anything to do with the two individuals who came together to provide the gametes that formed me.

But the other day I heard someone use this sentiment in reference to their identity as a middle-class, white, American male and the power afforded them due to their socio-economic-ethnic status. My first response upon hearing this genuine and heart-felt sentiment was to choke on the hot tea I was drinking at the moment. After coughing and hacking for several seconds, I managed to collect myself and proceed toward utter befuddlement.

This is the funny thing about majority power. Those who wield moderate amounts of it have been tutored by those who have much more of it to look around and shrug our shoulders in acquiescence. “It’s not my fault I have more power than 95% of the people put on earth. I was born this way. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Stop right there and read that last part again. Let it soak in. Do you feel the bonkers? For those of you who feel there is nothing to the whole “white guilt” idea, I present the above broadly held sentiment as exhibit A. Somewhere along the line, white-American-born-men have been tricked into taking their “eye off the ball.”

Pardon my reference to a little-league figure of speech. Unlike ridiculous expressions such as “try harder” and “get on the stick” which leave small, wannabe athletes squirming in determined confusion, “keep your eye on the ball” is actually a helpful bit of instruction. (Never mind that it wasn’t enough for someone like me with slow hand-eye coordination.) When standing at home plate, holding a bat, and awaiting the arrival of a tiny leather and rubber ball, it can be easy to become distracted with a myriad of things. Where am I going to hit the ball? Where am I going to run after hitting the ball? Don’t forget to drop the bat before running. What sort of snow cone should I get after this is all over?

But none of that can happen until I put the bat to the ball. I have to focus my power first. Take in every minute scrap of information about the pitcher and his movements. His timing. His delivery. Somehow my mind processes things I technically don’t even have the time to see. I have to start my motion in response. I envision the bat striking the ball. And then I have to follow through until the entire motion is done. Only then is my power converted into something productive. Something amazing. A hit.

So let’s come at this from another angle. What if a talented athlete were to shrug and say, “There’s nothing I can do about it. I was simply born a talented athlete.” To an extent we understand the sentiment, right? Some of us are born with more talent and/or power than others. And yes, there is nothing we can do about our birth status after the fact. But on the other hand, do you see how ridiculous this sounds? “There is nothing I can do about being a talented athlete.” “There is nothing I can do about being born into a position of great power and influence.”

To the person whom I heard express this sentiment the other day, my internal response (after choking on my tea) was “How about you make intentional efforts to use your power to empower others.” As a middle-class, middle-aged, white, American male, I myself have much power. And while it wasn’t my choice to be born into this context, the manner I behave within my context is my choice—a choice I have much more freedom to exercise than the vast majority of people on the planet. Understanding this reality and living into it has nothing to do with white guilt. It has everything to do with keeping power in check.

I was born a white, American male. I can use this power to ensure white, American males maintain a lopsided control over power into the future. Or I can use this power to bring things like equality, freedom, heeling, restoration, justice, and peace to my neighbors. Indeed it is the exact opposite of nothing. There is in fact everything I can do about it.

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Buy Tales of Ferres $4.99!

DMB Digest: Shiny Bacon on a Hill

David Mark Brown — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:55:27 GMT

Schadenfreude, or as they say in my neck of the woods, comeuppance. Okay, sure. These aren’t exactly the same things. The former is more of a twisted pleasure derived from “I told you so.” While the latter is more of a deserved or just reward for scurrilous behavior. I suppose schadenfreude is something you can experience when an enemy receives their comeuppance.

I’ve witnessed this type of awkward exaltation lately in a manner that strikes me as clearly inappropriate, but is telling none the less.

Some of you may remember last year when the slipshod quasi-governmental agency by the name of DOGE was created for the stated purpose of being “the chainsaw of bureaucracy.” (Never mind the fact that we need bureaucracy for things like running the country while all our elected officials are preening for the next election.) In case you’ve blocked it all from your memory, some stuff was canceled, and/or run back in order to reallocate money for the Big Beautiful Bill.

Stuff like disaster relief, Plumpy’Nut (emergency rations for starving children), and viral treatments for the sick were eliminated. Predictably within the months since, we’ve witnessed a whole bunch of suffering and death as a result. No one should be surprised by this. And this isn’t the point of this post.

With every new preventable disaster, there rises a subtle tide of “I told you so.” As if the purpose of all the suffering is to expose and emphasize just how bad the decisions made by DOGE were. I see people shaking their online heads, “If only we had a fund to help those poor suffering people. Oh, that’s right, we had one until it was DOGED last fall. Tsk tsk.”

All of this has brought something to the surface for me—more partisan scarring across the face of America. And it’s obvious both parties should share the blame and the shame. On the one side, we are still suffering the judgmental side-effects from such smear campaigns as “welfare mothers” and other such titles that were based approximately 8.4% in reality and have fanned the belief that poor people are poor because they are lazy, drug-addled idiots.

On the other side, we find a depersonalized sense of responsibility that has most often lazily been labeled as “liberal guilt.” The result over decades has been the expectation of government programs to do the caring for my neighbors for me, presumably so I don’t have to.

Now that our government has openly declared institutions will no longer care for your neighbor (and in some cases will actively oppress them) we have a choice to make. Will we post about schadenfreude online? Should we celebrate that people will finally have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps? Or will we organize on a community-wide level to care for our neighbors?

It never really was our government’s responsibility to begin with. If in fact the best we can hope for is the rule of the majority through elected representatives, then it is going to be up to churches and other private organizations to care for those who are not benefited by majority rule. (I realize these days our governing bodies are mostly representing the wealthy and powerful minority, so I suppose it is everyone else who must band together to care for each other.)

All that’s left is to ask the same question a confused Jewish guy once asked a traveling rabbi, “Who then is my neighbor?” The answer then and now is not a simple one. But here is my best effort, “I think you’ll know it when you see it.” I think you’ll recognize your neighbor when you see your neighbor, as long as you keep your eyes open and you bother to look. No single one of us can stop all the suffering. At the same time, we shouldn’t expect our taxes to do it for us either. All we have to do is help a neighbor in need when the need arises. If enough of us adopt this lifestyle, eventually our elected representatives will represent this lifestyle as well. And maybe someday, our county—our people—will actually represent that “shining beacon on a hill” that President Reagan so eloquently borrowed from Jesus’ teaching and that Homer Simpson would surly misinterpret as “shiny bacon on a hill,” and drool at the thought of it. “Mmmm, shiny bacon.”

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Read High Priest Kramac FREE!

DMB Digest: The Good the Bad and the Stink

David Mark Brown — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:54:20 GMT

The stink eye. Growing up in polite Texas culture, learning to effectively deploy the stink eye was essential. It may not be this way anymore, with all the texting and emojis and whatnot. That’s not really for me to judge. (As I remind my wife every time she looks baffled by a commercial, “We are no longer the target audience.”) But back in my day, a disapproving elder could convey everything short of a whooping with one glaring stink eye.

The intended message could range anywhere from, “You’re about to find yourself in a world of hurt” if the deployment included a touch of malice. Or the stink eye could just as easily state, “I’m gonna get you for that when you least expect it” if you replaced the malice with a slight twinkle. Having said all that, there is most definitely a vast difference between even the most disdainful stink eye and the evil eye.

In some cultures, the evil eye has taken on a talisman definition—a means of protection from curses cast via hateful and angry stares. In the tradition passed down to me through ancient Hebrew and eventually its offshoot of Christianity, the evil eye or “bad eye” has a meaning that we’ve mostly lost (or has been intentionally concealed from us) these days.

At its simplest level, the bad eye stems from a worldview of scarcity, while the “good eye” stems from a worldview of abundance. Someone living through a bad eye views everything in life as zero sum. There isn’t enough to go around, and if you have more that means there is less for me and mine. A good eye world view instead insists that there is always enough to go around. As Doritos once put it, “Crunch all you want, we’ll make more.”

Seeing the world these days with a good eye is a challenge. While it isn’t essential that capitalism embrace the bad eye worldview, our current form of capitalism in the West most certainly and enthusiastically does. Our politics do as well—on both sides of the isle. There aren’t enough jobs because immigrants are taking them. The planet is dying because rural and religious people are having too many babies. This is the natural progression of the bad eye worldview.

Bad eye leads to worry, fear and anxiety. These anxieties are naturally weaponized into tribalism and judgement. If we see the world as lacking, we must respond via constant vigilance and competition. This constant state of fight or flight produces tremendous amounts of stress and anxiety which leads to the need to stereotype and silo our lives for the sake of safety. Good camp, bad camp. Those people are the problem. If only we could get rid of them, life would be better for those of us who matter.

When you break it down this way, you can see why those seeking wealth and power would advocate for a “bad eye” worldview. Hyper-vigilant workers are good for the bottom line. Hyper-vigilant voters mobilize and fundraise. Unfortunately, this kind of constant hyper-vigilance is not good for the human body, mind or soul. This selfish, greedy, anxious, and judgmental lifestyle corrodes the individual and society.

It takes intentional hard work to see the world through the “good eye.” We have to constantly remind ourselves that if we look out for others, there will be others looking out for us—exponentially so. If I’m the only one looking out for me, that’s a lonely and isolating responsibility. And if I let down my efforts for just a moment, the waves of consuming chaos will crash in around me.

If instead I’m looking out for those around me, my care finds itself focused on a smattering of people that shifts as I move through life. This outward rippling concern for others lifts up those around me. In return, the outward rippling concern of those around me buoys me as well. If we all live this way, then we each become the focus of care for several others—the task is spread out, and not so lonely. This is the benefit of living according to the good eye vs. the bad eye.

If others around you are already endeavoring to see the world through a good eye, transitioning can be easier. Abundance begets abundance. And scarcity begets scarcity. If you find yourself in an intense world of competition, being the first in your circle to let go and insist upon seeing the world through the good eye will be extremely difficult. But if you can do it, and maintain it, the eventual returns will be life changing and profound. An entire self-preserving and anxious community can be transformed into one of generosity and service through the intentional and sustained good-eye of a single individual. The way we see the world can be just that important.

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Read Saying Goodbye FREE!

DMB Digest: May the best cheater win.

David Mark Brown — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:56:24 GMT

One golden truth the game of Monopoly taught all of us as little children was if you are losing it’s because the others are cheating. I don’t know, maybe you were a better sport than me. But I’ve been convinced since the age of six that the only reason my older brother could so regularly trounce me in all forms of Milton Bradley was by cheating. How else was it possible for me to lose? Surely not through my own personal failings or shortcomings.

I suppose I must consider it possible (however unlikely) the universe could have sided against me by tipping fate in favor of my brother. But as they say, fate favors the bold. And I’m among the boldest.

It’s good to see that this lesson is being firmly embraced by American society at all levels. In sports these days, there can be no doubt that failure is the fault of either the referees or the entire corrupt system. Or as I like to put it, the Golden Monopoly Rule (GMR) must be applied: “They cheated!”

Lest you think it be only those shimmering, svelte athletes among us who adhere to the Golden Monopoly Rule, I’m proud to report that our leading politicians are doing us all proud. If an election goes poorly, never fear! They cheated! If a merger fails, “They cheated!” If profits lag, “They cheated!” (Or more likely, “They wouldn’t let me cheat enough!”) If a marriage fails, “They cheated!” If your health declines, “Cancer cheated!” If you gambled away your life savings while betting on whether Tom Brady or Peyton Manning would next feature in a Tostitos commercial, “They cheated me!”

Of course the most serious form the Golden Monopoly Rule has taken in recent years has been in application to presidential elections. And double lest you think the rule has been applied by only one partisan side, think again. The last four election losers have all made serious claims about the other side cheating. Of course our current president isn’t one to be outdone. Even when he wins an election he emphasizes how much bigger the victory would have been if the other side hadn’t been cheating.

Of course no one mentions their own blatant cheating. If I’m being honest, sure, my big brother was probably cheating his little brother in the game of Monopoly. But on the other hand, I sure as hell was trying to cheat right back. I just wasn’t good enough at it. And that’s how the Golden Monopoly Rule goes: those who complain of cheating the loudest are the ones who are cheating the worst.

Notice, I didn’t say “cheating the most.” I said, “cheating the worst.” The Golden Mononopoly Rule states that everyone is most certainly cheating. But when you live by the GMR, you die by the GMR. When cheating becomes the standard excuse, it will shortly thereafter become the standard. All that is left is to do it better than everyone else. And the ones that do it the best are the ones who never get caught.

If this is the way we want to structure our society, then may the best cheater win.

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

DMB Digest: Smoke Yourself Thin, and...

David Mark Brown — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:54:13 GMT

While driving my friend home from her medical appointment yesterday, my friend wanted me to stop at a drive through coffee shop for some caffeine therapy. She ordered a large flippity-flappity, blah-blah, something-or-another with some sort of flavoring. I admittedly tuned out until the carhop barista asked if my friend had been referencing their 36-ounce offering by requesting “large.”

Wait, what? 36 ounces of coffee? Was this lady serious? Personally, I don’t drink coffee. My body is a temple. I can’t even put down 36-ounces of iced tea without a pitstop or two. I looked at their sign to confirm that the 36-ounce coffee had five shots in it. That’s getting dangerously close to 400 mg of caffeine.

Later, out of curiosity, I asked my computer how much caffeine is healthy for an average adult. The answer came back that 400 mg was pretty much the limit for a “healthy adult.”

Hmmm. At this point there was no stopping a light plunge down the rabbit hole. Next I asked my computer which was more dangerous, caffeine or marijuanna. It might surprise some of you that this was where my mind went. But I’ve always felt the American attitude toward reefer to be askew somewhat. Honest, I’ve never even tried the wacky tobaccy. But still, whose really being paranoid here? The pro-tokers? or the anti-ones?

Anywho, my computer promptly couched its response:

In regards to addiction, my computer informed me:

Caffeine: Caffeine is highly addictive. Over 80% of adults consume it daily, and regular users will experience physical withdrawal symptoms—including severe headaches, fatigue, and brain fog—if they suddenly stop.
Marijuana: While less physically addictive than caffeine, marijuana can still lead to cannabis use disorder (CUD) and psychological dependence.

It took me a moment to digest what my computer was putting down. If my human grey matter was comprehending this properly, my computer had told me that essentially all the easily trackable metrics contend that caffeine is more dangerous. But, BUT, through all the intangibles, surly marijuanna is worse. Right? This just sounded like my computer internalizing the Reefer Madness that has influenced American society for a hundred years.

So I asked my computer the rational next question, “How can we track the overall social harm and mental health impact of marijuana vs. caffeine?”

In response, my computer directed me to the Nutt et al. Drug Harm Scale. So far so good. But a quick synopsis of the scale applied to caffeine and marijuana produced a red flag or two. The tracking was largely performed through ER billing codes and national surveys conducted by an alphabet soup of government institutions. Thus when making a side by side comparison between the two drugs, my computer concluded that the drug which is more addictive and more toxic is the drug that is less dangerous and less likely to lead to toxicity and mental illness because, you know, nobody in the ER is billed under “coffee freakout,” and when someone is billed under panic attack or anxiety disorder, their daily intake of 400+mg of caffeine isn’t considered. But if they’ve smoked marijuana anytime in the last few months, that’s absolutely gonna go on their record.

So I narrowed my line of questioning, “Is it dangerous to take more than 400 mg of caffeine daily?” My computer answered with more confidence this time:

Okay. So the bad news is caffeine can jack us up. But the good news is that for some people serious health risk can occur at lower doses! Wait. That’s worse. (Whatever happened to the bad-computer-doctor-good-computer-doctor routine?)

There was only one question left for my computer to answer. I decided to ask it, “Was smoking once considered good for your health?” The answer came back,

Now I’m not saying that most people these days believe caffeine to be good for them. Although I’m quite sure most people would contend the stimulation they get to be helpful (if not required). Is there a parallel to be made here? When it comes to caffeine, are we like our nicotine-addled 1950’s forbearers? Will we look back in 75 years and think, “What the hell were we doing?” Maybe.

Or perhaps the lesson here is something as simple as you can have too much of a good thing. On the other hand, it may be only a matter of time before the 44 ounce, seven deadly shots, coffee drink takes its place at the top of the newly inverted food pyramid. May God have mercy on our souls.

Read The Lost Heir FREE!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

DMB Digest: Stompin' in the Blood of Jerks

David Mark Brown — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 12:58:14 GMT

As much as we love a good Superman story, most of us can’t help but root for the underdog. Give us the least likely hero. The Rudy. The Waterboy. But where did this upside-down desire come from? It turns out this whole underdog obsession started with the one and only noodle-armed choir boy from Nazareth. The original limp-wristed namby-pamby, Jesus the Christ who was obsessed with the idea that “the first would be last and the last would be first.”

“But wait!” I hear the objections rumbling down like an avalanche, “Jesus might have been a bit of a wuss the first time around, but when he comes back he’s gonna drench his robe in the blood of jerks!”

I can see the montage for the last 2,000 years—Jesus pumping iron, honing in his mouth-sword killing technique. Even now he’s curling white stallions in the palm of his hand—his biceps rippling. With a wink of his eye, he blows the smoke from the tip of his finger-gun after vanquishing his (my) foes with the hammer-fall of his thumb and the clicking of his tongue.

Oh yeah. Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. Sweet, sweet vengeance.

The only problem is, none of this is real.

It turns out the biggest problem Christian Nationalists (and others who choose to embrace Empire) in America have is Jesus. Jesus had this tiny (huge) obsession with Shalom. He simply wouldn’t let it go. Repeatedly he insisted the poor were better off than the rich. He praised those who endured suffering with humility. He uplifted the peacekeepers. He condemned those who elevated themselves at the expense of others. Right down to his dying breath, he upheld forgiveness and self-sacrifice over vengeance and oppression.

To put it bluntly in today’s Empirical lingo, Jesus was a sissy. He was weak. Even worse, he encouraged his followers to reorient their lives around weakness. I mean, what a chump, right?

Lest you think I’m making all this up, let’s see what some old Roman peeps had to say about the matter. The pagan philosopher, Celsius said about Christians, “they only attract the foolish, the dishonorable, and stupid, only women, slaves, and little children.” Jesus and the Powers, by N.T. Wright and Michael Bird, puts it this way:

Sound familiar? For the agents of Empire hoping to co-opt Christianity as a means of oppression, the single glaring problem is that Jesus isn’t manly and brutish enough. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of his teachings simply have to be suppressed. If it weren’t for a handful of verses able to be cherry-picked and used out of context, the whole project might have been abandoned generations ago.

Instead what we may be inviting into existence is a sort of white Christian nationalist version of The Nation of Islam that sparked into popularity through Malcolm X—a total remaking of a historic religion based around expediency and the sentiment of a people primed for manipulation and consumption by the powers of Empire.

Being a resident of Idaho, I’m intimately familiar with some of these Christian-disguised endeavors. Once again, it always boils down to Empire vs. Shalom. If a movement is attempting to use Jesus to endorse inequality, oppression, nationalism, and/or selfish consumption these types of people, in my humble opinion, are in grave danger of finding themselves in the camp that will cry out, “Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’And then I [Jesus] will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Read The Lost Heir FREE!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

DMB Digest: Happy Freedom Day

David Mark Brown — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:58:04 GMT

This might be dating myself, but one of the albums I listened to all the time in high school was Lovegod by The Soup Dragons. First off, The Soup Dragons were pretty rad. And I mean, what a cool band name. And then their big hit was this larger than life single that somehow became a conflagration of Gospel choir, reggae, rap, rock and dance genres by the title of, “I’m Free.”

The lyrics were simple enough for any sixteen-year-old to get onboard with:

There’s a bunch more, but you get the idea. Freedom. Freedom that expressed itself in total lack of restraint and prohibition. Yeah, baby. I’m free to do whatever I want, any old time. I’m emancipated. I’m free to take whatever I want. I’m free to indulge in whatever I desire. And if you don’t like it, you can suck it. Because America is the land of the free, baby!

We are about to celebrate the commemoration of 250 years of freedom as a nation. And this is where we have arrived as a people? Is this all that’s left of our degraded values? Our precious freedom means nothing more to us than selfish indulgence?

I want low gas prices. Cheap eggs. I want to be able to buy whatever I want in the moment, and I want it shipped to me in less than forty-eight hours. I want America first. I want my friends and family first first. And I want myself first first first. I don’t want to be bothered by everyone else’s problems. Because I’m free!

Well, hmmm. I’m free to wake up from hours of binging on Tiktok with no clue as to what in the world I just spent those hours watching. I’m free of course to schedule time with yet another online counselor in attempt to figure out why all this freedom sucks so hard. I’m free to seek more pharmaceutical intervention in the form of whatever peptide rules the day. Because I’m free, I guess?

You can probably see where this is going. Nice thing is, we don’t have to go far. On the exact same Soup Dragon album (Lovegod, 1990), we find some of the lyrics for the song, “Sweetmeat.”

Woah. I guess doing whatever the hell we want can get dark fast.

We should all realize freedom isn’t simply being free of restraint. This is Empire’s definition. (Oh no, I went there again!) Empire’s definition of freedom totally allows for the consumption of others for selfish gain (despite the obvious fact that this entirely erases the freedom of those consumed). This definition allows totalitarianism to bark about freedom. It allows for the disassembly of democracy in the name of freedom. But it is only freedom for a very small number of people positioned to benefit from suffering. For many of us. This is the form of freedom we have been convinced to settle for. It’s the best we have to offer. Take it or leave it. As long as you don’t end up at the bottom of the pile, you’ll still benefit from some of that sweet, sweet freedom.

On the other hand, Shalom believes that freedom includes the ability to accomplish something together with others. Shalom’s definition of freedom incorporates the good of those around us. According to Shalom, I experience no freedom on my own. I experience freedom when, and only when, I come together with others. By doing so, I can experience and preserve the freedom to congregate. The freedom to worship. The freedom to protest. The freedom to build. The freedom to grow.

You see, freedom is never the right to do whatever I want just any old time.

Freedom is living right in accordance with my god, my conscience, and my neighbor.

Indeed I will fight to preserve this form of freedom. And I hope it is on this definition of freedom that our hearts and minds linger during our celebrations, as we remember all of these past 250 years, the ups and the downs, through which we have communally lived as a nation. When it comes to the ways of Shalom, the freedom for the least of us is the freedom for all of us. Sincerely, happy freedom day.

Read The Lost Heir FREE!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Read Chosen of Magic FREE!

DMB Digest: Christians are a Problem

David Mark Brown — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:57:17 GMT

I realize there is nothing original about beating up on Christians. About stating how Christians are the main problem with the world. Or you can expand your blame to encompass all religions. But these claims have always and still do miss the mark.

It is sorta like saying, “All roads lead to heaven,” or “All religions are essentially the same.” This statement is absolutely true, as long as you know very little about any and all world religions. Because on the surface, sure, you can make a claim that all religions go “blah, blah, be nice to people and go to heaven.” It’s only when you scratch deeper than this you discover pretty much everything else is different: the god involved, the definition of nice, the people included that one must be nice to, and heaven itself.

But, contrary to what some believe, the real problem in the world isn’t that major world religions in fact conflict with each other and therefore cause all sorts of conflicts among their practitioners. The key problem is that humans suck at practicing religion.

Since I claim allegiance to Jesus the Christ, I’ll stick with chastising Christians from this point forward. (But I think you’ll find the matter to be universal.) Christians are a major problem in the world today. I admit this openly. But as I stated before, when you oversimplify such a statement you miss the finer point: the problem is that most Christians are not acting and have rarely acted very Christlike. And when I say this, I’m not suggesting we get low but passing marks. I’m not suggesting we sneak in at the end of the course with a D+. We misunderstand the nature of God, we misunderstand what it means to be nice. We screw up who we are supposed to be nice to, and we totally misrepresent heaven. That’s an F, no matter the curve.

This is where I will surprise you all by asserting the central reason for Christians being so sucky at Christianity is our total and ongoing baptism in the tactics of Empire.

“Oh no!” I can hear you thinking. “I thought we were clear of all the Empire Vs. Shalom bric a brac!

Never! Never, I say!

Well, seriously, this might be my last post on the topic for a while. I just had a little left to burp up, so here we go.

Empire and Shalom are the true opposing models, not Christianity and Islam (or any other world religion comparison). World religions can in fact coexist with each other in a healthy and peaceful manner. Empire and Shalom cannot.

But wait! The conflicts that rock humanity have not been between Empire and Shalom. They have been and will continue to be between Empire and Empire. (This is where things get trippy.) You see, when a “christian nation” goes to war with a “muslim nation” this is not Empire vs. Shalom. This is obviously Empire vs. Empire. As I’ve stated many times, Empire is consumeristic. It must consume to survive, even if it means eating itself. In these cases, Empire attempts to disguise itself with the trappings of religion. And this often works because most of us humans know nothing about these religions beyond the surface. Empire’s strategy here is to invalidate religion as a path to Shalom, and it’s a pretty successful strategy.

Human tools of Empire in the American government today (and for as long as I have been an adult) do a really good job of implementing this strategy every time they bandy about God’s name. None of this has anything to do with Shalom or Jesus. You can recognize Empire-in-Jesus-clothing by the warfare rhetoric. By the consumption language. By the lust for power and the need to project strength. By the zero-sum mathematics and the need to win. It’s actually quite hilarious when you begin to identify all this due to how abjectly opposed it is to everything Jesus actually said and did.

Jesus’ life and message was a reimplementing of God’s political, physical, and metaphysical model for humanity. The best word I’ve come up with to represent this model is Shalom. The best image I have for it is the Hebrew camp during their time of exile in the wilderness, and how the tabernacle was placed centrally in the camp, with God made equally accessible to each tribe. Once the Hebrew people reached the “promised land” they found themselves placed in the very center of their known world. At the crossroads, literally and figuratively. They were to feed on God and then others were to benefit.

Jesus came and stood in the middle. He offered himself as bread to be eaten so that others would no longer hunger.

Empire is a pyramid. It is top down. It consumes everything beneath it. Shalom is outward rippling circles. It feeds everything around it. The problem is the Jews sucked at being Jewish just like Christians suck at being Christian. We are constantly seduced by Empire and manipulated by those around us who are in service to Empire. Empire’s only true rival is Shalom. Therefore Empire will do everything within it’s power to deform and defame Shalom in all its forms.

The thing is, as I’ve stated before, Empire cannot defeat Shalom. (When Shalom’s purpose is to feed and nourish others, and Empire’s desire is to consume, Empire cannot but help to satisfy Shalom’s purpose in the quest for its own.) The problem is Christianity, in the form many Christians practice it, is devoid of Shalom. (Or at least the Shalom present is overshadowed by Empire when we with the one hand love our neighbor and then with the other seek moral superiority over said neighbor.)

One cannot seek power, control and love and peace at the same time. We must decide to serve Empire or Shalom. For one cannot have two masters.

Buy Burning Oath $2.99!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Read Survival in the Grove FREE!

DMB Digest: It's Great to be Rich

David Mark Brown — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 12:59:29 GMT

In the world of talking heads (those who produce social commentary for a living), I’ve been hearing more and more discussion over whether or not there is a disconnect between the actual condition of the American economy (and the state of its democracy) and the public perception of the condition of the American economy (and the state of its democracy). And if there is a disconnect, why?

On the one hand, there is all the yapping around the “numbers.” All the standard metrics we use to monitor the economy indicate everything is just peachy. On the other hand, when American citizens are asked about the state of the economy and our nation, they respond with a big, fat thumbs down. Everything sucks. We can’t pay bills and we are worried about it getting worse. How do we explain this gap?

Sure, perhaps we’ve all grown a bit more pessimistic over the last dozen years. We certainly have lost significant amounts of trust in our institutions. It’s also true we’ve grown suspicious of “the narrative” when our politicians tell us “everything is fine,” and “I love these numbers.” And lastly, I will grant everything these days seems to be much more vibe driven than driven by any sort of analytics (unless you work in professional sports). But alas, none of these explanations account for the vast disconnect that does in fact exist.

And while the talking heads I listen to are smart people, they sometimes tend to overlook the obvious. That’s were I come in. I’m not so specialized or highly educated enough to see the trees at the expense of the forest. The simple answer?

Living in America is getting increasingly worse for an increasing number of oppressed poor and haggard middle-class while it is increasingly getting better and brighter for the increasingly wealthy practitioners of Empire. Eat or be eaten has been taken to a whole new level.

Or to put it another way, there has always been a disconnect in America for some—black slaves, women, migrant laborers, those cramped into ghettos, etc. Those for which the positive economic numbers make no difference. Only now this disconnect is spreading like gangrene throughout much more of the population. As the wealth and appetite for wealth among those driving the acts of Empire in our nation increase, so does the need for consumption of the lower classes. Those we considered fringe elements before are no longer sufficient. White, middle-class residents are now being preyed upon as well. Middle-aged men such as myself are no longer safe. Panic is spreading. A college degree and a house in a suburban neighborhood is no longer enough to be spared. What felt like power only fifteen years ago now feels like subjugation—like being trapped.

So, sure, the economic numbers look fine (especially if you own oil and gas royalties!). The economy is strong when compared to pretty much every other country in the world right now. But that strong economy is leaving more and more Americans behind, victims of Empire.

For decades many of us have tolerated this trend mostly because it wasn’t yet impacting us. As long as there were gladiators to entertain us and scapegoats to throw to the lions, we allowed ourselves to be mollified. After all, we were still doing great. Those who weren’t were probably struggling out of there own ignorance and poor decisions. Besides, to make an omelet you have to crack a few eggs.

But if the appetite of Empire grows so ravenous that none of those eggs are left to hatch? Then eventually there are no more chickens. No one left to lay those eggs. No one left to make the omelet. This is how Empire eats itself. This is what is happening in the United States of America. This is why the disconnect is growing.

America right now is a great place to live for the rich. And it is getting better. Not so much for everyone else. And make no mistake, this is our doing—a result of worshipping Empire and cheering on leaders bent to Empire’s appetites. This is an age-old cycle. It is the reason Hebrew texts from 3,000 years ago repeatedly state a society will be judged by how it deals with emigrants, widows and orphans. Our mindfulness toward those on the fringes has been disappearing, and as those people disappear, new ones must be forced to take their place. Empire is going to empire. It will consume. It must.

When illegal immigrants dry up, tacitly legal ones will do. And after that, formerly legal ones. What about the disabled? The incarcerated? The homeless? The unstable? Those who oppose us? We will eat them next. Only the tools of Shalom will reverse our course.

Buy Guardian Angel Academy $0.99!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Buy Legend of Sacred Knights $2.99!

DMB Digest: The American Work Ethic

David Mark Brown — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:56:00 GMT

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg walk into a bar…

Okay, I’ll admit, I really thought someone was gonna stop me. Then I realized this isn’t a live media format. So, my bad. I just didn’t know how else to start a post in which I will at some point be forced to admit, “I’m not a communist,” and then later on confess my gratitude to President Donald J. Trump. (Does the J. stand for Jay?) So here we are. I’ve simply led with all the controversial stuff. There is no reason for anyone to read any further. And therefore no reason for me to write any more.

Well, other than my compulsion. There’s that.

I listened to an impactful podcast this week during which Elizabeth Anderson delivered some thoughts that forced me to stop the playback in order to memorize them before continuing. The show originally aired in 2024, but I just caught up to it last week. The sentence that stopped me in my tracks was her definition of work:

She continued later in the podcast to say:

Mic drop. Must we continue this conversation? Alas, I am compelled! I’m not anti-capitalism. (I’m not a communist.) I’m anti-predatory capitalism. Unfortunately, in the United States, this is the form of capitalism we practice. The ideals of Empire have so completely saturated our culture that most of us have internalized the exact opposite of the type of thinking Elizabeth Anderson references. Work has become a grinding process all about how much money we make and how busy we are at making it. Often, we even brag about producing profit at the cost of others. But in most scenarios we simply settle for work that devalues the value of helping others in exchange for a focus on contributing toward the GDP. It is what Empire longs for.

Empire strives to create businesses that extract profit (predatory and extractive) without contributing any value what so ever. Drop-shippers. Scalpers. Info-tainers. Pyramid schemes. Social media platforms. Private Equity. Speculative investing of all sorts. Most modern banking practices. Most modern insurance industry practices. And the list goes on and on. In the world of Shalom, businesses should add value. They should help other people. They should profit while doing this, absolutely. But when we legitimize profit at all cost, we bow to Empire.

And here is where I give thanks to President Trump. Whatever you think of Trump personally or presidentially or partisan-ly, (I hold no allegiance to any political party), one thing I have long said of President Trump that I don’t think is debatable or that he himself would deny: He says the quiet part out loud. For this I’m grateful. He conducts what every other politician has kept in the backrooms right out in the open, without excuse or apology. Through this practice he has laid bare the status of our national soul. He has brought what remained in the dark, for many of us, right out into the light.

The thing now brought into the light? We have thoroughly aligned our nation with Empire. We have opposed Shalom. We have done this over the course of many decades. Now there is no denying the reality. Our economy and our policy are primarily oppressive and predatory. Those at the top feed on those at the bottom. Those on the fringes, those who cannot significantly contribute to the GDP, are crushed for profit. We idolize those who generate wealth, and we don’t really care how they do it, or how they behave once they acquire it.

What would our society look like if we made one simple change? If we internalized work as any disciplined activity that helps other people whether we get paid or not?

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Read Frontier Vengeance FREE!

DMB Digest: A Smile and a Wave

David Mark Brown — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:52:29 GMT

It’s commencement season—the time of the year when old people blab on and on at young people with so many words that will be forgotten about stuff the young people will eventually discover on their own. I did manage to hear something I took away from one particular commencement speaker. (I have no idea if any of the kids grasped it.) But the lady said something about luminescence that stuck with me in how it pertains to what I think of as the way of Shalom (in contrast with the way of Empire).

She was speaking in regards to work, to jobs or employment. For some, our work may never really feel like the big, scary word of vocation. But no matter where we end up laboring, this lady speaker suggested we can focus on sharing luminescence through our efforts by bringing some element of joy, comfort, and/or insight to the people around us. She used the example of a cashier at the grocery store, or a customer service agent at a call center. But I think you get the idea. We can enlighten the world in countless ways. I try to do it with this Substack. We can drive friendly. We can smile and wave at a neighbor. We can do a job, any job, with a sense of pride in the quality of our work rather than simply focusing on the bottom line.

In most cases, the work we do can be either extractive or nourishing based on the way we do it. This is a great way to combat the seductive allure of Empire. While the American economy attempts to reduce its workers to a column on a spreadsheet, we don’t have to submit to this effort. We don’t have to go along with being measured by our contribution to the GDP. We don’t have to internalize all the gobbledygook about “wasting time” on stuff that doesn’t pull a profit.

Empire consumes. Shalom nourishes.

I can hear all the objections even as I type. Drive friendly? You must live in Idaho. I live in [fill in the blank]. People drive like maniacs here. They are drawn to weakness like sharks to blood. Smile and wave? And maintain some sort of Pollyannaish, rose-tinted view of all the jackwagons ruining everything I used to hold dear? Forget that. I’m tired of taking it up the tailpipe. I’m gonna take my stand against all the idiots. Somebody has to make them pay. Someone has to be a counterweight to all the stupidity.

The problem is that stupid is as stupid does. The $10.00 term for this mentality is called the myth of redemptive violence. The ‘violence’ part is due to the consumptive and harmful behavior it engenders. The ‘redemptive’ part of the formula stems from the motive to bring redemption through consumptive and harmful behavior. The ‘myth’ part of the formula reveals the true nature of these violent, redemptive efforts. They don’t work. Not at a national level. Not at community level. Not at a personal level. Revenge begets revenge. Pettiness begets pettiness. And it is the path to Empire.

They call me a “Rape-publican” so I call them a “Dumb-acrat.” They belittle me through their gender discrimination, so I reflect it right back on them. If they can’t take it, they shouldn’t be dishing it out. If they are gonna gerrymander toward the Right, I’m gonna gerrymander toward the Left. They started it. They deserved it. They got what was coming to them. It’s a simple tit for tat escalation that feeds the beast of Empire.

Consumption and revenge are the call signs of Empire. And even a cursory assessment of our culture reveals these call signs in spades. But we don’t have to surrender to the forces of Empire. There is even a more powerful magic asleep beneath all the chaos unleashed upon us by Empire. Remember the story of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia? In case you haven’t read it, I won’t spoil the whole thing. Suffice it to say, the story draws the reader’s attention to this deeper reality that most of us remain ignorant of most of the time.

Remember the confusing and somewhat repulsive teaching of Jesus? When he repeatedly told his followers to eat of his flesh? This is the magic. Can you see the unconquerable genius of the equation? Empire consumes. Empire is consumed by consumption. Its compelled. It must consume to continue. So what does the force of Shalom offer as a solution? It certainly can’t fight violence with violence. It can’t consume consumption, right? Or can it? The musical artist, Jelly Roll, put it this way: “You can’t kill a man who was born to be born again.”

“Eat me,” Jesus says. “Have your fill.” The appetite of Empire is never satisfied. It’s thirst is never quenched. Until it ate the one thing it couldn’t stomach. Empire can’t tolerate Shalom. It can’t keep it down, and by necessity must vomit it out. Then by compulsion it eats it again. Then vomits it out. Consumes and vomits. Until eventually Empire ruptures from the inside out.

This, my friend, is how a smile and a wave can bring Empire to its knees.

Shalom,

Read High Priest of Kramac FREE!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Read Blood in the Stone FREE!

DMB Digest: Eat or be Eaten

David Mark Brown — Fri, 29 May 2026 12:57:56 GMT

Last week I ranted a bit about the appetites and behaviors of Empire while perhaps being a bit coy about my meaning behind this coinage of the word, “Empire.” Apologies. I do this type of thing all the time. It’s a symptom of living in a constant running dialogue I carry on with myself. Yes, I’m the strange, bearded guy mumbling to himself as he shuffles along the sidewalk in your neighborhood.

Now that I’m aware you are staring at me, expecting me to explain my ramblings of which you have been exposed midstream, I struggle with where to start. Let’s image we live in a small village together. (I bet you didn’t see that one coming.) For the most part, we are self-subsistent as a village. We grow crops. We have livestock. The village employs a fishmonger, a midwife, a cleric, a blacksmith, etc. We establish trade with a couple of similar villages beyond our borders. Each member of our village serves a role (to differing extents) that betters themselves and betters the village…until…

One day a member of our village gets a bright idea (or so they think to themselves). Why are they grinding day in and day out for their paltry little share of village life when with a little creative thinking they could find a few other people to handle the monotonous routines for them? So they set up a slightly predatory loan scheme to help old one-eyed Joe get back on his feet. Or they sublease their field to the ambitious neighbor kid who just got married and has a wee one on the way. A few years later they’ve amassed a small militia to be helpful on those occasions when a debate arises over land borders or water rights with a neighboring village. To help pay for the militia they levy a reasonable tax. They begin to strongly suggest each family offer up a strong, young lad to fight in the militia. They co-opt the cleric through buy-offs and bribes to put the words of the gods behind their leadership. They take the most attractive young girls for themselves and for their loyalists.

You get the picture. At its base level, Empire is the consumption of others for the satisfaction of selfish desires. While it is easy to identify at its peak deployment, it courses through our society at every level. We justify it with sayings like, “It’s a dog eat dog world,” or “I’m just looking out for number one.” We explain it with terminology like “zero-sum game,” and “supply and demand.”

Empire is cooked into our government policies on taxation, emigration, land ownership, natural resource management, education, and wealth transfer to state a few. Those deploying the power of Empire carefully maintain a systematic scaffolding (involving fear-based loyalty) complete with streaming rhetoric to buoy their position at the top and ensure enough subjugated masses to satisfy their consumptive desires. The longer someone is possessed by the siren song of Empire the more debauched they become in their desires. This is why nation states typically crumble due to lavish corruption and over indulgence ( ie. golden statues). Empire is consumptive by nature. In the end, when no one else is around to consume, it will consume itself.

So how do we underlings fight back against those who would prey upon us without succumbing to the consumptive song of Empire ourselves? Those of you who know me can absolutely see my response coming from a mile away.

There is this man named Jesus who once walked the earth. The forces of Empire tried to do him dirty. He shook his head, “It isn’t going to work like this any more. Not with me. Not with mine.” Here is where I ask your indulgence as I share a single conceptual image that appears throughout the Bible: consumption vs. provision. Whatever your stance toward the Bible, I believe this image to be a valuable way to understand Empire Vs. Shalom.

In Genesis, the character of Cain was given a warning that the desire to dominate his brother would consume him. This never-satisfied hunger spun up into the first human Empire. God offered a template in the wilderness for egalitarian, decentralized rule. He provided mysterious bread we best understand as some sort of spiritual sustenance. All people were to have equal access to the provider. To the provision. A gift rippling outward that never diminishes: one person at the center who blesses everyone around. Israel chose Empire instead: a single person at the top consuming those underneath.

A shadowy figure meets Jesus in the wilderness after forty days of fasting. Make bread for yourself from these rocks—consume from what is around you. It’s a simple, material temptation on the surface. But its a reversal of the plan God has always put forth. Jesus calls attention to the manipulation. During his short time as an itinerate rabbi, Jesus twice creates bread to feed others. Its seems a subtle difference. He teaches over and over that his followers are to eat him—not the other way around.

Empire consumes. Shalom nourishes.

On that note, I’ve once again rambled too long for one week. Perhaps next week I’ll finally get to the acts of Shalom.

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Read Blood in the Stone FREE!

DMB Digest: Empire Gonna Empire

David Mark Brown — Fri, 22 May 2026 12:55:48 GMT

I gotta slogan these days. It’s three simple words. Well, actually, it’s only two words, but one of them is repeated: Empire gonna Empire.

I find this catchy slogan replaces less flashy phrases such as “It is what it is,” or “What’cha gonna do?” Anytime someone looks at you with confusion or helplessness in their eyes, you simply shrug and say, “Empire gonna empire” as if this explains everything. And if we dig down deep enough, this simple phrase does in fact explain everything.

My AI overview (thank you google) calmly reports that “as of late 2025 and into 2026, there are over 130 active armed conflicts worldwide. While some organizations count fewer than 30 major wars, comprehensive reports indicate a rise in conflicts, doubling in number over the past 15 years.”

Let’s play a little game. How many of the current thirty major wars globally can you name? I was able to name five, and one of them I only remembered because I have a friend who grew up in the area and still has family impacted by it.

The first one for most of us right now is probably the war between America/Israel/Regional Unfortunates and Iran (or as the war is more broadly known around here, The Conflict of High Gas Prices). The second and third wars most of us can recall are the conflicts between Israel and Palestine (personally I consider this more of a genocide-in-response-to-terrorism rather than a war) and the war between Russia and Ukraine. This last one is at least a classic Empirical land grab.

This is were things start to get fuzzy for most of us. As a hint, you can close your eyes and blindly stab a finger at a map of Africa and probably land pretty close to a conflict. I mean, Empire empired all the crap over Africa for so long it has left war seeds scattered over the landscape like dew just waiting for violence to dawn. Sudan was the one I could think of without cheating.

And then there is Burma. This is the one I know a bit about because of a friend. I knew jack squat about any of the rest. Five out of thirty doesn’t seem so great. That’s not a passing grade in any sort of system I can conjure up, even with a curve.

Empire gonna empire. And it doesn’t only work in reference to large-scale warfare. The expanding gap between rich and poor in the United States. Our increasingly violent political rhetoric. Our desensitization toward contempt of our fellow humans. Our rampant gerrymandering. Our impotence in the face of increasing human trafficking. Our discombobulating and at times schizophrenic policy toward emigration. Empire gonna empire.

Now what do I mean by Empire gonna empire? Money and power is gonna protect money and power. The rules will flow from the top down, and these rules will always benefit the people with the power and the money. All the current nonsense about conservative and liberal, fascist and socialist, etc. is all just that—nonsense. (Sorry historians and academics.) Empire doesn’t give a royal flying fart about such ideologies. And the ruling elite across the world pay allegiance to such concepts only as tools for controlling the masses and reaping wealth and power off their backs. To use a couple of $10 words, demagogues ain’t ideologues.

If you think things like Critical Race Theory or Trans Bathroom Access keep the ruling elites up at night, then you are thinking exactly the way they want you to think. You might as well try to decipher the meaning of “rama lama ding dong” or “give peace a chance” (Simpson’s reference). All that matters to Empire is that the masses remain in a state of bedraggled division and fear-addled rage so we remain ripe for their savior-complex-themed speeches that always seem to include trigger phrases like “most important election of our lives,” and “a war for the ages.” All you need to know about the “enemy” is that they hate freedom and step on cute woodland creatures every chance they get.

Stop and think for a minute. Do you really think everything wrong is the immigrant’s fault? (“Even when it was the bears, I knew it was the immigrants!”—another Simpson’s reference.) Would America be better off if it was less brown? Would America be better if it was less pluralistic? Less homophobic? Less queer? Less hedonistic? Less prude? Less Christian? Less Muslim? Less backward? Less urban?

Is it possible to simply get rid of people and/or ideas to solve our problems?

You know, I think the answer to this is probably yes. But the people we need to get rid of are the ones stirring the waters. The ones agitating the rest of us into endless conflict. The ones who adhere to the ideologies of greed, lust and selfish desire at the expense of order, goodness, and beauty. Empire. The Bible has a word for this class—Babylon. Throughout the Bible, different nations and ruling elites are labeled as Babylon. At one point even Israel wears the title. Egypt, Nineveh, Babylon itself, Jerusalem, and Rome are all called Babylon. The first Babylon is often shortened as Babel (as in Tower of…), but Babel and Babylon are one in the same.

The world has just flooded. Build a big tower. And who do you think will live in the top? Hey, Empire gonna empire.

If we are gonna get rid of something in order to save ourselves, we need to focus on getting rid of our hatred, our bitterness, and our contempt for people we don’t even know, much less understand. We need to stop listening to all the B.S. pumped into our minds by the people who make their livings from creating chaos and conflict among us. Some people are all caught up with “No Kings” right now. Well I’ll do you several better. No Empires. No satisfying our desires at the expense of others. No partisan, zero-sum politics driven by scarcity economics.

As a people, we need to no longer submit to the age-old vampiric practice of brutalizing ourselves for the entertainment and the nourishment of the debauched elite. Understand something though, you can’t out-empire Empire. There is no such thing as bringing peace and love through violence and hate. You can’t consume people in order to stop the consumption of people. But, the tactics of Empire can be entirely trumped through the tools of Shalom. More on that next week…

Get a FREE Review Copy!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

Read Blood in the Stone FREE!

DMB Digest: The Zen of Balderdash

David Mark Brown — Fri, 15 May 2026 20:30:03 GMT

We have reached a new level of immature-siblings-tit-for-tat in America that demands someone to stand up and be the parent. As I survey the landscape in hopes some noble institution will arise to the task, this is what I see:

The Judicial system is playing the part of the wild and childless Uncle/Aunt seditiously pouring fuel on the fire. Our bickering two-party system represents the siblings themselves. The Executive branch functions as the drunk grandparent who is roused from the recliner occasionally just to yell that everyone else should slag off and get them another beer. (Occasionally they smash a bear bottle against the wall.) Congress perceives themselves as the parents, but all they have managed to do so far is produce a tie in a best of 1,000 match of Rock, Paper, Scissors to see which of them will address the chaos emanating from the back seat of the station wagon. Meanwhile, partisan warfare has subsumed our state-level-legislatures to an extent that has left many wondering if we should simply give into the process and accept partisan hothouses with state borders…constitution be damned.

Of course I’m referring to our rampant (and now Supreme Court encouraged) gerrymandering. How the hell is any of this even legal? I’ll spare us all the School House Rock level history lesson on the matter. But we all know something that involves “cracking, packing, hijacking, and kidnapping” isn’t a good thing. So whatever high-level contortions we need to apply to justify any of this behavior can go “suck it” as far as I’m concerned. (How is that for classic socratic debate?)

This is a bald-faced, spoiled brat, squealing match. (Mommy! She bit me! He did it first!) The two sibling nitwits are not only screaming from the back seat, but the car has already careened off the road and smashed into a tree. The only question is whether they will be silenced in time to be dragged out of the vehicle before it burst into flame and consumes the entire neighborhood.

Someone has to be the adult in our nation’s governance right now. And guess what? It ain’t gonna be any of our elected officials or appointed judges. So it’s gonna have to be us, the voters. I know, this seems unlikely. We typically vote for the flashiest candidates who throw us the juiciest sound bites. (Eg. The Simpsons when Kodos the alien, disguised as Bob Dole, unlocks political victory by announcing, “Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others!”)

But I think we can do it. Here is my proposal. In the midterm elections coming up, we all have to vote. I mean everyone. Let’s produce the highest voting turnout in our nation’s history. That’s step one. Easy enough, right? This next part is the magic sauce though. Don’t vote for anyone at any level of government who functions as a partisan mouthpiece. What do I mean by this? Simple. If the mailer you receive is filled with B.S. promises and jargon stuffed phrases meant as nothing more than tribal signaling throw it away and avoid those candidates. Use websites such as Candidate match or I Side With to find the party and candidates that most closely align with your beliefs, hopes and dreams.

Stop voting against the other party. Stop trying to make your vote count. Stop voting for the lesser of two evils. Use your vote to express the truth behind the type of candidate you actually want in elected office. If you don’t, you are lying. You are letting the current batch of partisan jokers know that their behavior will continue to be rewarded out of fear and anger. If enough of us vote our hearts and minds, our current leaders will recognize they must change if they are to maintain office. Fear-mongering and balderdash should no longer be rewarded.

It’s possible I’ve said all this before…

Buy My Meth for $4.99!

Buy Project Phoenix for $4.99!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

DMB Digest: I don't want to grow up.

David Mark Brown — Fri, 08 May 2026 12:57:31 GMT

How old do you have to be to stop thinking about what you will be when you grow up? Or perhaps the question is how much do you need to grow to be grown up? Is it a sign I haven’t taken life seriously enough up to this point? Or more an indication of being a lifelong learner that I’m still attempting to nail all this down?

When you meet someone else your age, do you automatically assume them to be older than you? Don’t get me wrong. I feel old. I just don’t believe it, yet. I’m spoiled, I know. The last job I had that wasn’t a vocational passion was ranch work back in the last century. Even then I enjoyed it, and it was the best I’ve been paid…ever. Since then, I’ve had the luxury of filling occupations that gave me, at the very least, a deep sense of fulfillment. From campus pastor to content creator to novelist to tech-start-up-entrepreneur to caregiver. (I suppose I need to throw house painter in there as well, and that one is another example of something I find enjoyable but not neccessarily all that fulfilling.)

Perhaps I’m just a poster child for generation X—aimlessly climbing around the career tree never settling down on any particular branch long enough to call it home. I’m sure that has something to do with it. But deep down, I think the source of my vocational vagabondancy is my attentiveness to the needs around me. I try to pay attention. I try to notice stuff. And I have to try hard, because by nature I’m a space cadet. By my nature I can accomplish an unendingly tedious task without ever touching down on planet earth. My mind is my playground. But I still have to live in the real world.

I’m the kind of guy who will give at least two thoughts to most every help wanted sign I see because, well, someone needs help doing something I could probably do. Of course, I’ve learned over the years that I’m not the right person for most of these tasks. Something called the Rule of Saint Benedict, has helped me narrow my focus some. If I only have so many days on this earth, I want to spend them doing the things I can do best. The things I’m truly made for.

The thing is, sometimes those skills come together in odd groupings. Sometimes they find expression in ways you never anticipated. This has happened for me at different touchstone moments. The most recent involved a confluence of my spiritual upbringing, my experiences with supernatural chaos/evil, my novelist imagination, my superpower to perform the mundane, and my patience to sit in the ashes with those whose lives have burned down around them. You won’t find this list of things on any job application. It’s not really the type of thing you can easily craft into your LinkedIn account.

And yet, my simple willingness to fulfill a need that seemed to maybe have my name on it (seven years later) led to a nearly missable and at the same time magical moment. And now the world is a better place. In the coming days, weeks, and years I believe this simple moment will bear even more beauty into this world. At its core, only me and one other person will remember the moment or know it ever happened. And the moment was in no way written into anyone’s job description (although I did get paid for it). And this is what leaves me wondering what is to come next.

When life is a matter of listening and responding, I guess it’s not really possible to know very far in advance what the next adventure will be. Maybe I’ll never grow up. And if that’s the case, I suppose I’ll never need to figure out what I’ll be when that moment never comes.

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

DMB Digest: Smells Like Teen Takeover

David Mark Brown — Fri, 01 May 2026 12:56:55 GMT

Children are dirty, rotten little liars. Not to be trusted. And when they gather in large numbers, we should be wary. Very wary. Or so one could be led to believe.

According to certain recent news reports if more than eight teenagers gather in a single public location, unsavoriness should be expected to follow. (See “Teen Takeover”). Of course, a large number of emotionally unstable teenagers gathering in a public place certainly constitutes a threat to national security and should be dispersed with curfews, stern lectures, and riot gear. Any failure to do so will quickly lead to these swarthy youth undermining the fabric of our otherwise wholesome society.

Better they remain isolated at home playing video games and relating to others digitally through the safety of social media and artificial intelligence. Oh wait. Damn. That’s the stuff we’ve recently been blaming for all our children’s unsavory behavior. I mean, sure, I want them to get out of the house. But only when going to approved locations in small groups of 4-7 peers who have been vetted by a local board of church ladies and Buddhist monks.

If only children these days would behave more like responsible adults. You know like all the ever present…examples our culture is…generating…constantly. If only we could do away with all the teen drama. The posturing. The fisticuffs. The hate speech. Then maybe our kids could be trusted to gather together and not need to be treated like the little vandals they are. If only there was a way to keep them away from all the social media trolls that fill their heads with angry and hateful thoughts.

Well, in the words of the famous anti-drug public service announcements of the 1980’s:

And we’ve come full circle. Back in my day, these teen takeovers took the form of all the kids in town merging on the tiny downtown strip the night after the last day of school armed with toilet paper, water balloons, and eggs. We would trash the place and then scatter back to our houses only to feign total shock at the carnage in the morning. When our parents would ask, the answer would inevitably be, “Oh that wasn’t me. It must have been a handful of the bad kids.”

And sure, the chances that some of those kids ended up serving jail time over the last thirty years is pretty high. And if you were to factor in today’s egg prices, it would have been justified to imprison the lot of us. Point being, we weren’t and aren’t monsters simply by having spent time being teenagers. And today’s teens are no different. Perhaps adults could be less terrified of teenagers if we could recall what it was like to be one. While we are at it, this reflective exercise might actually teach us something new about how to experience the world and our relationship with it.

Because, you know, it can be humbling to think back to a time before we had everything figured out…before we learned to mimic the adults around us who so clearly had it all together.

Read Cave of Time FREE!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]

DMB Digest: Poking Anthills

David Mark Brown — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 11:56:47 GMT

What is it about poking anthills? Well, before I ask that question, perhaps I should ask if I’m the only one fascinated by poking anthills. Am I? Surly not.

I grew up in Texas, where everything wants to kill you. If other parts of the nation have something mean, Texas has a meaner version, or at least uglier and angrier. (For everything except bears. You ain’t gonna find no killer bears roaming around the woods in Texas.)

Everyplace in the U.S.A has ants. Texas has lots of ‘em. The least of which ain’t the fire ant. Fire ants, for those of you who haven’t been blessed to associate with them, are little, tiny, angry, carnivorous ants. They will eat you, if you let them. I’ve seen them eat a cow. Mind, you it won’t be quick. But if a large animal is unfortunate enough to be immobilized anywhere near a fire ant mount, said large animal will be eaten alive.

Fire ants will swarm. Fire ants will swim (they love water). As far as I know, they have not yet learned to fly. But that won’t stop them from eating birds. And none of this behavior will stop me from poking their anthills. I mean, it’s simply mesmerizing. How do these tiny creatures communicate with each other so precisely and frequently?

Some places gotta do drone shows and similar stuff for celebrating the 4th of July or Easter (God forbid). But I’m telling you, all you really have to do is poke an anthill. There is no better show on earth. (If you stand too close, the show only improves with improvised dancing.) What I wouldn’t give to be able to interpret ant-ese as they scurry about above and below the surface of a freshly disturbed mound.

Are they relaying back and forth which sectors of the homeland are or aren’t intact? Are they immediately barking orders for the gathering and transporting of repair materials to the violated areas? Are they searching for known and unknown threats? Are they just swarming in “pissed off formation” looking for someone to punish for the extra work they gonna have before dinner?

And what were all those ants doing the moment before I so unceremoniously poked their intricately constructed hill? Were they sitting around playing poker? Just chilling? In hover mode waiting to be called up for active duty? And do they have shifts for stuff like this? During which some of the ants are ready to leap into action while others are getting a little R&R? Or are they all actively patrolling for wasps, worms, beetles, enemy ants, and the like? When my finger pokes the mound, word spreads lightning fast and they all redirect toward the urban legend turned real?

Do those ants hit the surface full of dread that they’ve survived to see the day the finger from heaven has poked their hill, just like great grandanty used to wag her antenna about? You thought it would never happen? You thought the finger from the sky was just a myth, didn’t you? Well guess what, little timmanthy, the finger ain’t no legend. It’s real! So get your ant-ass up on the surface and do what you’ve trained for!

Just like that the finger is gone. As quick as it appeared, it disappeared. Just one poke, ten stories deep into the mound. In an instant, two hours-worth of repair opened up to the surface. But you got to stay frosty, because you never now when the finger will be back. One never knows.

Read Cave of Time FREE!

If You Wish to Start Reading The Green Ones…

[Click here to start at the beginning.]