Frontiersman, April 2026

If the people of the Earth had used constructively the resources that they've thus far squandered on death and destruction then, by now, all human society would be a paradise.

—Frontiersman
April 2007

I saw a report from near the remains of a hospital in Gaza. A man walked up to the rubble and asked for directions to the morgue. He was carrying a plastic bag which, he said, contained the head and one leg of his daughter, which was all of her that he’d been able to find after his house was destroyed during an attack.

I saw another video clip from Gaza. There was a crowd of people pressed up against a metal fence, on the other side of which was a man stirring a big pot of thin, yellow soup. The people were all holding out their pots, pans, and buckets, hoping to receive some of the soup. Pressed right up against the fence was a little girl. She was barely tall enough to reach across the fence, but she was holding out her pan. She dropped the pan. She tried and tried, but she couldn’t reach it. The video clip ended there, so I don’t know if anybody helped her.

I saw a report about some women in Haiti who were using mud, with a little salt and sugar, to make mud cookies. They didn’t have any fuel so they were cooking them on a flat rock, exposed to sunlight. One of the women said that having something in your stomach helps to ease the pain of being hungry.

I saw a report from a refugee camp. I don’t remember which refugee camp it was, there are so many of them in the world. There were some little kids running around, kicking a ball. There was a little girl with only one leg, and a crutch improvised from a stick. She was hopping along behind the other little kids, trying the best that she could to keep up with them.

I saw a bit of an interview with a woman in a war zone. I don’t remember which war zone it was, there are so many of them in the world. The woman said that when you live in a war zone, it turns you into an animal.

Many years ago, in California, a colleague at work mentioned a bumper sticker that he’d seen. It said, “Beam me up, Scotty, there’s no intelligent life down here.”

The human population of the planet is about 8.2 billion, and growing fast. Such population growth is unsustainable. So, will our population crash soon enough to destroy human technology before AI has time to transform it into an AI technology that will be able to exist and function without us?

There are three categories of behavior in the United States: required behavior, prohibited behavior, and regulated behavior. If the government catches you failing to engage in required behavior, then it will punish you. If it catches you engaging in prohibited behavior, then it will punish you. If it catches you engaging in regulated behavior contrary to the regulations, then it will punish you. If you refuse to submit to the punishment, then the government will initiate the use of force against you. If you resist, then the government will escalate the use of force against you. If you continue to resist, then the government will continue to escalate the use of force against you. It will continue to do so until either you submit to the punishment, or you are dead. That’s a convincing description of a police state.

Letters to the Editor

Dear Sam:

As you may remember, when I was a senior in high school, I planned to become a Roman Catholic priest. That didn’t work out, but I still have an interest in Christian theology.

Lately, I’ve been pondering the problem of reconciling God’s alleged attributes with God’s behavior. God is said to be all-powerful, all wise, all good, and both the creator and sustainer of everything that exists. However, evil exists. If God creates everything, then, logically, God is the creator of evil. If God creates evil, then he cannot be all good. If God is all good, but somehow allows evil to exist, then he isn't all wise, or all powerful.

Theologians have invented several explanations for this strange situation. The explanation that fascinates me is the one that exalts God’s infinite intellectual power.

Because God is entirely good and all wise, (they say) he cannot do anything that is evil or illogical. If God does something that seems wrong to human beings, it is because limited mortal minds do not have the unlimited knowledge and creative imagination of God, to justify the seeming anomaly.

This theory disposes of some theological difficulties, such as how an all loving, all just God can create beings whom he will eventually condemn to eternal torment in hell. However, in a subtle way, it demolishes the basis of religious practice. If anything that God says can mean something different from what it seemingly means to us, how can a devoted follower of God know what to do? For example, in the infinite mind of God, “Love Thy Neighbor” might mean “Kill Thy Neighbor”. Also, God might have an infinitely good, perfect reason for not stating plainly what he/she/it truly means. Blind faith could not be blinder!

I don’t know how someone could calculate the possibilities of actually pleasing God by following his orders if there may be an infinite number of possible meanings, unknown to any human, indicated by God’s words.

—The Elusive One

Religion doesn’t have anything at all to do with God. Instead, religion is all about controlling people and finding lame excuses to persecute, punish, torture, or kill them, when they don’t cooperate. Much of the conflict and oppression in the world, maybe most of it, is a consequence of religious prejudice, fanaticism, and evangelism. I’ve written variously about such things. I suggest my Ravings Essays, numbers 2, 3, and 10, my articles Let No Man Put Asunder and Yea Verily Even Thereunto, and my short story Hereafter.

Here’s an idea. If reincarnation really exists, if the transmigration of souls actually happens, and if the karmic principle of cause and effect actually operates, then evil people are going to spend some future lifetimes as giraffes with sore throats, snakes with backaches, centipedes with sore feet, or woodpeckers with migraines. Presumably, such things lead to purification and enlightenment, which seems like a much better idea than the Christian scheme of either eternal tedium in Heaven or eternal torment in Hell.

—editor

Dear Sam,

So, today is Saint Valentine’s day. How it became a share holiday to con people to spend billions on each other is a wonder. If someone values another, they should live it every day, and pay with actions, not chocolate or flowers.

Any who, thank you for your latest Frontiersman, your article “Humane” [February issue]. I agree, “Man” is by far a more intrusive vermin than anything else out there....

Have a good day.

—S. H., a prisoner

Your comments bring to mind some stories from my past.
Early in my first marriage, I was often at a loss for what to get for my wife for Christmas and birthdays because we usually got her what she wanted when she wanted it. Anyway, I made my best guesses and got gifts for her. Those might have been unnecessary expenses, as you suggested, but subsequent experience suggests that they were a good idea anyway.
For example, later in the marriage, we were having financial problems. She suggested that we not exchange Christmas gifts that year. I agreed. On Christmas morning, she gave me a gift anyway. I reminded her that we’d agreed to not exchange gifts and she said that she’d decided to give me one anyway. A few minutes later, I noticed big tears rolling down her cheeks. I asked her what was wrong. She said, “You didn’t give me anything for Christmas.”

Her attitude toward our other agreements, including our wedding vows, turned out to be the same as her attitude toward our Christmas agreement. I ignored such things when I could but, some years later, her mother suggested that we give her a surprise birthday party. I bought some gifts, hung some balloons and, at the appointed time, a few of her family members arrived. Shortly thereafter my wife arrived. She acted surprised, opened her gifts, and then announced that she’d bought a birthday gift for herself — a divorce. The surprise party had been a setup. The surprise was on me.
The story of that marriage is available in

my memoirs, in Pharos. I’ll note here that I haven’t seen either of those women for almost 40 years and that I’m not losing any sleep over their absence from my life. Indeed, I’m reminded of the sentiment expressed in that old Roy Clark song, “Thank God and Greyhound you’re gone.”
I’m still angry about that surprise birthday party. People who think that I should just “let go of my anger” can read my article Purity in Anger, in the April 2011 issue. I’ll retain my anger. It gives me strength.

—editor

Hello, elusive [He’s responding to the letter to the editor from The Elusive One, in the March issue.].... Your letter to the editor in the latest “Frontiersman” was the only thing worth reading. It was of course well written the very current/topical. I'm sure you'll get a lot of positive responses in the next issue. Thanks for making the Frontiersman worth reading....

—Tom
of Redwood City, California

Thank you for reading my newsletter. Note that subscriptions are voluntary. If you want to unsubscribe then let me know and I’ll cancel your subscription. Otherwise, I’m happy to have you as a subscriber.

—editor

Additional Reading
• The Ravings Essays, numbers 2, 3, and 10, in Pharos
http://pharos.org.uk/Ravings_Essays/Ravings_Essays.html
• Let No Man Put Asunder, in the December 2009 issue
http://frontiersman.org.uk/2009/2009-12/2009-12.html#Let_No_Man_Put_Asunder
• Hereafter, in the August 2019 issue
http://frontiersman.org.uk/2019/2019-08/2019-08.html#Hereafter
• Yea Verily Even Thereunto, in the December 2021 issue
http://frontiersman.org.uk/2021/2021-12/2021-12.htm#Yea_Verily
• Adventures and Misadventures, in Pharos
http://pharos.org.uk/Adventures_and_Misadventures/Adventures.html
• Purity of Heart, in The Sovereign’s Library
http://sovereign-library.org.uk/Gallery/Posters/Posters.html#Purity_of_Heart
• Purity in Anger, in the April 2011 issue

http://frontiersman.org.uk/2011/2011-04/2011-04.html#Purity_in_Anger

Sam’s Nerve
Sam Aurelius Milam III
When I was young, my father told me about a nerve that I call Poppa’s Nerve. He said that it connects between a person’s mouth and the persons ears, and keeps the ears from working when the mouth is open.
I suggest the existence of a similar nerve that connects between a person’s mouth and the person’s brain. It keeps the person’s brain from working when his mouth is open. I’m just not sure what to call it.

DIY
Sam Aurelius Milam III
I’m tired of people complaining about the harm that the social media platforms are doing to their children. Who gave the cell phones to the kids in the first place? The parents did! So, they should either take the cell phones away from the kids or pay attention to what the kids are doing with them. Either way, they should raise their own kids and stop expecting (and empowering) the corporations and the government to do it for them.

Overproduction
Sam Aurelius Milam III
An economist will think of overproduction as a rate of production in excess of what’s being demanded in an economy. I see overproduction as a rate of production that can’t be sustained by the existing resources and that produces waste and discarded products faster than it’s possible to dispose of them. Thus, the correct level of production isn’t measured against the demands of an economy but against the capabilities of an ecology. If such a sustainable rate of production doesn’t provide for the needs of the people, then there isn’t too little production, but too many people, a problem that will probably correct itself.

The Rubbin’ Out
Sam Aurelius Milam III, Thursday, August 17, 1978
With thanks to Omar Khayyám

The Moving Grader bites; and, having bit,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Lane,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Curb of it.

Stray Thoughts
Sam Aurelius Milam III
•The effective level of intelligence of any group of people varies inversely with the number of people in the group.
•When everybody thinks alike, then nobody’s thinking at all.

Government ID is a tool of a police state.

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