32 Years So Far (A Letter To Those Who Care)

In just a few weeks I'll be celebrating my 32nd birthday and lately I've been thinking a lot about what I've seen, what I've been through and what I've learned over the 30 plus years. I've thought a lot about my experiences and examined my views and beliefs and the truths I've come to discover about people and society.

I look back and I recall a lot of extremely hard times and difficult situations of which I should've never been a part of. I look back and I recall a lot of pain and sorrow that was often masked by smiles and laughter. I seem to remember constantly being bullied and pretty much tormented in school by numerous people and I remember ultimately being a very lonely young man with terrible self esteem.

I grew up in Philadelphia, Pa. A great part of my life was spent surrounded by violence, drugs, bigotry & flat out racism. I got to watch the neighborhoods deteriorate and good people suffer while the evil prevailed.

I've always been extremely uncomfortable around racism and baffled by it at the same time. Have never been able to understand it because I can not comprehend hating anybody or anything like that, especially to that extent, just seems petty and pathetic to me.

I've grown up in a country that people call a "Christian nation" while thinking and acting like anti-christians instead. Living the lives of hateful, ignorant and flat out mean monsters that wave American flags higher than anybody and shout for soldiers and for freedom while they go out of their way to see to it that other's freedoms are attacked and revoked. Living in direct opposition to how their own Christ taught and directed them to live. From hating fellow human beings because of skin color to hating them for their ways of life and beliefs that just happen to differ from theirs. As if America is the land of the free only for white, heterosexual. heartless, christian men and any nigger hippie muslim fags are "the devil"...

To anybody with a brain, these hypocrisies and injustices stand out very clearly and are a slap to the face of all of the things that this country and this WORLD are supposed to stand for. Compassion and basic human decency are on the ropes about to get knocked the hell out any minute now like a Mike Tyson opponent.

I've noticed society go from hopeful to downright shameful over the past 30 years as well. At least that is how it appears to the naked brain. The truth of the matter is that things have ALWAYS been this bad, it's just that now media is so fast and vast that news spreads faster than (insert spreads fast than joke of choice here). That doesn't necessarily mean true information is spreading either. A lot of the "news" reports or posts on the social networks are either not fully true or down right fabricated.

For 32 years I've watched people change from the kind of people who would help out a fellow human being to the kind of people who just stand by and watch shit happen and say "it ain't none of my business". That way of thinking seems to be the best way to sum up this generation's name...There was generation X, generation next..this is generation "ain't my business". The fact of the matter is everything that happens in this world is exactly your business and everybody's business as anything that happens to one of us happens to all of us since we are all in this thing called life together.

During the late 90's and early 2000's I was very deep into the peace movement. I was young and naive and thought that there was enough hope left at achieving at least mutual respect. That's all peace really is, in my opinion. You don't have to like people to respect them and just because you respect someone doesn't mean you have to like them or what they're about. Accepting that we are all different and that life would simply not be as beautiful as it is if we were all exactly the same like some biological carbon copies and respecting one another in appreciation of the differences is what peace really is.

Over the next 10 years I slowly but surely lost that sense of hope for the human race. These days respect is damn near deceased and tolerance is weak as well. From wars over seas to wars right here in the streets of America.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people that I am extremely proud to know and some am very honored to call friend. My wife and my daughter being the 2 most influential and important people in my life. The thing is, I find it very frustrating and disappointing that this is the world in which we must live. A world where hate seems to be spreading across the population like a sick & twisted disease hell bent on wiping us out once and for all and people just go on along with it like it's okay.

Over 30 years I think the most popular game I've ever seen played is the "blame game". People from all walks of life that point their fingers at all sorts of different scapegoats saying "they're to blame for this shit!" and that's a part of the problem. Instead of looking for who's to blame, maybe we should be concentrating on who's going to stand the hell up and do something ABOUT it?!?!

No I'm not talking about any Gods or Christs or messiahs or presidents or mayors. I'm not even talking about the garbage man...it's our trash, let US clean it up. If we don't start putting our differences aside and start working together to come up with the solutions to the problems we face then we might as well all just arm ourselves and turn these streets into the wild west because that's where we are already headed.

To any artists, listeners, friends, family, PEOPLE that read this or listen to my music or pay any attention to the things I do or say, know that I have your back and that regardless of what color you are or your gender or sexual preference or language you speak or size shoe you wear or color of your hair or if you believe in God or if you're an Atheist like ME...I got nothin' but luv for you and I wish you the best.

But you know the old saying, wish in one hand and shit in the other, see which one gets full first...hahahaha

All shit aside...It's been a very rough 31 (almost 32) years, here's a toast to the next 31 and hoping that the insanity eases up a bit and starts cutting us some slack.

We need to really start getting to work though, before it really IS too late...

Peace

Joey