Daddy sort of went "old school" with a trip to a Roadside America sort of place, a location he's never been before: the Georgia Guidestones. Here are a few photos of the Guidestones, along with his buddies, still crazy after all these years.
This is the sort of thing we used to do all the time, going to Roadside America sort of places together like Trees of Mystery, Wall Drug, South of the Border, or the House on the Rock. Today was a birthday party for one of our friends, and it just so happened that the Georgia Guidestones are roughly fifteen minutes from his house. How come we haven't been here yet?
This past Christmas, Mommy got Daddy a book filled with conspiracy theories and so forth. It was a fun read, and there was a chapter dedicated to the Guidestones inside - the mystery being who put them up and why. Only a few people know, and they aren't sharing the information, which only adds to the intrigue. Is it a cult-like organization? Is it a single visionary sort of guy with a lot of money to spend? Is it a huge practical joke?
The first "commandment" on the stones adds a bit of menace about keeping the population below 500,000,000. This has freaked a few people out - these stones are seen by some as a new world order kind of thing. Which is something new world order people in high places would do, of course: place giant stones like this in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason.
One theory is that when these were built, there was a fear of nuclear war, and these stones would be useful in "guiding" a new civilization that rises up from the ashes. These simple words in all languages are words to guide a new group of presumably humans as they try to reshape the world. *
The Georgia Guidestones were a fairly big investment. I mean, look at the size of those stones. And much is made of where they are placed, and how they can tell the summer solstice, which in a huge moment of irony, was today. We had no idea when we visited that this was a big deal. This place had about five or six other cars full of people there, some of them very impressed with what they saw. A little too impressed, actually. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, although all I could see was four large slabs with a bunch of writing on each one. In all seriousness, I enjoyed our visit to Carhenge much more - although this may be because of the extensive drive to get there. An obscure Roadside America attraction is not appreciated by the people who live around it so much. Or perhaps it is that the Georgia Guidestones are a bit on the preachy side, whereas Carhenge speaks to all of us in so many ways without sounding so condescending or creepy.
Regardless, it was an interesting diversion. Madison did not come along for this one. She stayed at the house with Mommy, where the two spent a good part of the morning planting a garden. We have tomatoes and peppers again, and room for something else. One interesting thing was the tomato plant that was already growing in the garden before we planted anything - it was a holdover from last year, evidence of the power of planting a seed. We didn't intentionally plant it, but somehow through our traumatic winter, this seed survived and has grown into quite a healthy looking plant.
Madison's other diversion is the Barbie movie "The Princess and the Popstar." Madison and Daddy sat and watched this together - Madison has seen it a few times since receiving it for her birthday. The creator of the Guidestones would be very disappointed to hear that I found this video much more entertaining. Plus, as a bonus, there are practical rules for living contained inside this movie.
Honestly - it would be much more refreshing to see a monument with these words from "The Princess and the Popstar" engraved on it in huge letters:
If I were rich, I'd anonymously hire some sculptor to make nineteen foot slabs, and have that quote engraved in eight or nine languages. Not being a cancer on this earth is pretty obvious - let's give those surviving folks something valuable to go by in the post-apocalyptic age!
2. GUIDE REPRODUCTION WISELY - IMPROVING FITNESS AND DIVERSITY.
3. UNITE HUMANITY WITH A NEW LIVING LANGUAGE.
4. RULE PASSION - FAITH - TRADITION - AND ALL THINGS WITH TEMPERED REASON.
5. PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATIONS WITH FAIR LAWS AND JUST COURTS.
6. LET ALL NATIONS RULE INTERNALLY RESOLVING EXTERNAL DISPUTES IN A WORLD COURT.
7. AVOID PETTY LAWS AND USELESS OFFICIALS.
8. BALANCE PERSONAL RIGHTS WITH SOCIAL DUTIES.
9. PRIZE TRUTH - BEAUTY - LOVE - SEEKING HARMONY WITH THE INFINITE.
10. BE NOT A CANCER ON THE EARTH - LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE - LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE.
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| Here they are, the Georgia Guidestones. |
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| Be not a cancer. Or a mild cough. |
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Look closely.
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| Your guide for the Guidestones. |
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| Look through this hole on the Summer Solstice and ... cheer up, pal. |
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| Behold! The power of the Guidestones! |
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| Typical tourist shot. |
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| Typical tourist shot, for us. |
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We call him "Big Long Extended Arm Guy Alan"
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The Georgia Guidestones: Majestic. Forbidding. Aloof.
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This past Christmas, Mommy got Daddy a book filled with conspiracy theories and so forth. It was a fun read, and there was a chapter dedicated to the Guidestones inside - the mystery being who put them up and why. Only a few people know, and they aren't sharing the information, which only adds to the intrigue. Is it a cult-like organization? Is it a single visionary sort of guy with a lot of money to spend? Is it a huge practical joke?
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Well, we've already messed that one up.
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The first "commandment" on the stones adds a bit of menace about keeping the population below 500,000,000. This has freaked a few people out - these stones are seen by some as a new world order kind of thing. Which is something new world order people in high places would do, of course: place giant stones like this in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason.
 |
One theory is that when these were built, there was a fear of nuclear war, and these stones would be useful in "guiding" a new civilization that rises up from the ashes. These simple words in all languages are words to guide a new group of presumably humans as they try to reshape the world. *
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Huzzah!
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The Georgia Guidestones were a fairly big investment. I mean, look at the size of those stones. And much is made of where they are placed, and how they can tell the summer solstice, which in a huge moment of irony, was today. We had no idea when we visited that this was a big deal. This place had about five or six other cars full of people there, some of them very impressed with what they saw. A little too impressed, actually. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, although all I could see was four large slabs with a bunch of writing on each one. In all seriousness, I enjoyed our visit to Carhenge much more - although this may be because of the extensive drive to get there. An obscure Roadside America attraction is not appreciated by the people who live around it so much. Or perhaps it is that the Georgia Guidestones are a bit on the preachy side, whereas Carhenge speaks to all of us in so many ways without sounding so condescending or creepy.
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We found a typo.
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Regardless, it was an interesting diversion. Madison did not come along for this one. She stayed at the house with Mommy, where the two spent a good part of the morning planting a garden. We have tomatoes and peppers again, and room for something else. One interesting thing was the tomato plant that was already growing in the garden before we planted anything - it was a holdover from last year, evidence of the power of planting a seed. We didn't intentionally plant it, but somehow through our traumatic winter, this seed survived and has grown into quite a healthy looking plant.
Madison's other diversion is the Barbie movie "The Princess and the Popstar." Madison and Daddy sat and watched this together - Madison has seen it a few times since receiving it for her birthday. The creator of the Guidestones would be very disappointed to hear that I found this video much more entertaining. Plus, as a bonus, there are practical rules for living contained inside this movie.
Honestly - it would be much more refreshing to see a monument with these words from "The Princess and the Popstar" engraved on it in huge letters:
THERE'S A STAR THAT'S RIGHT INSIDE YOU. SO COME ON AND LET IT OUT! FIND OUT WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT AND JUST SHOUT
'HERE I AM!'
'HERE I AM!'
If I were rich, I'd anonymously hire some sculptor to make nineteen foot slabs, and have that quote engraved in eight or nine languages. Not being a cancer on this earth is pretty obvious - let's give those surviving folks something valuable to go by in the post-apocalyptic age!
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_________
* Here are the ten guiding principles engraved in all those languages on the Georgia Guidestones.
1. MAINTAIN HUMANITY UNDER 500,000,000 IN PERPETUAL BALANCE WITH NATURE.
Okay, we've covered this one above. We're about six billion people over the mark currently, but balancing with nature is a fairly decent idea. Kind of common sense, but I guess there are a few people that need it pointed out again. If only we can drag them to this stone and make them read it.
2. GUIDE REPRODUCTION WISELY - IMPROVING FITNESS AND DIVERSITY.
So in case you didn't get the first "commandment," here we go again about guiding reproduction wisely (see "keeping population below 500,000,000"). Isn't this redundant? Obviously the creator of this monument thinks there are too many people around. Maybe it was just a few neighbors that kept having loud parties at night. Anyway, one profound clue here is this: they want to improve fitness. Clearly, this person was/is probably a fitness instructor. That explains the improving fitness part, anyway.
3. UNITE HUMANITY WITH A NEW LIVING LANGUAGE.
As opposed to a dead new language? What does that even mean? Maybe it makes better sense when you read it in Chinese. Or Hebrew. Or Swahili. Seriously, it's written in Swahili, just in case somebody who speaks Swahili is in the area - probably picking up firecrackers in South Carolina - and happens upon these large slabs in the middle of nowhere. I can see them now, looking along the side of the road, thinking to themselves, "Hiyo ni nini? Mtu lazima wamekuwa kuchoka!"
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Because you never know who will be dropping by North Georgia to read this.
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Basically, this is translated as saying, "Use common sense with everything." But common sense is something you don't get from reading a large stone standing in the middle of nowhere. In fact, some could argue that everything about the Georgia Guidestones missed out on the "tempered reason" bit.
5. PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATIONS WITH FAIR LAWS AND JUST COURTS.
Just in case there were some people that were thinking, "Hey, I think we'll set up some unfair laws and unjust courts." This might as well be covered in rule four, right? I guess it all has to be said.
6. LET ALL NATIONS RULE INTERNALLY RESOLVING EXTERNAL DISPUTES IN A WORLD COURT.
Because the U.N. has been such an effective role model.
7. AVOID PETTY LAWS AND USELESS OFFICIALS.
And here we were thinking petty laws and useless officials were a good idea. Thank goodness somebody went through the effort to inscribe this in stone as a reminder! See rule #4. Just what is a petty law, anyway? Is there another stone somewhere that lists some petty laws? I mean, we just need a bit of clarification - are we talking about grand theft auto? Or genocide (in order to keep the population below 500,000,000?).
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Testing to see if they in fact will fall over like dominoes.
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8. BALANCE PERSONAL RIGHTS WITH SOCIAL DUTIES.
Well, duh? I'm curious how this list came about. Were there a few more rules on the list that got bumped off so we could round it off at an even ten? I'd hate to see the rule that this one bumped off. Can you imagine the brainstorming session that created this? Maybe it was some guy sitting by himself at a Waffle House, scribbling some thoughts down on a note pad and saying to himself, "This is great stuff! I ought to share this with everybody!"
9. PRIZE TRUTH - BEAUTY - LOVE - SEEKING HARMONY WITH THE INFINITE.
Got the first part, but the "seeking harmony with the infinite" bit is a little vague. Can you be a bit more specific? All I can think of is Buzz Lightyear - "To Infinity and beyond!"
10. BE NOT A CANCER ON THE EARTH - LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE - LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE.
Not being a cancer again is fairly obvious, but perhaps some folks need to be reminded about that one. And I'm convinced the sculptor was told engrave "leave room for nature" only once, and messed up. Again, we're already in perpetual balance with nature (rule #1), so I think this is somewhat redundant, right? At least we finish strong with the "Be not a cancer." Sure, it's obvious. But there's a bit of poetry about it at least.
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