Notes From Gordon: Preface From The Author (And a Dork Exposed)

The following statement of sardonic sincere editorial responsibility is reprinted from The Risky Reader. Enjoy!

From The Author

I wish to state for the record that this book was written 100% by a human being, with no assistance whatsoever from Artificial Intelligence (AI).

For better or for worse, I am your author. Every typo, bump and wart—even the tiniest solecism—is mine and mine alone.

If you spot one, feel free to let me know. I keep my sword handy and am prepared to fall on it at a moment’s notice.

Of course, those passages in which I wax brilliantly are mine too! After all, I wouldn’t want to hide my candle under a bushel basket.

True Confession: I had my ego surgically removed back in ’78. Unfortunately, the doctors didn’t get it all.

Being the sole author also means that my insights and opinions are as susceptible to error and bias as anyone else’s. But at least they’re my own.

Of course every book ever written embodies the biases of it’s author. Am I biased? Absolutely not.

I thought I’d throw a little humor in here to let you know that, in addition to being an incurable realist (as you will soon discover), I am also a mirth-filled fellow who, in a parallel universe, could have been a stand up comedian.

Ah yes, humor. So powerful. A friend once said, “If we ever stopped laughing, we’d never stop crying.” I admit, that’s a little dark. But there’s some truth in there.

Humor in it’s more polite form, as when merely edgy or pithy, is useful to open the minds of those already seeking the truth.

Like the vacuum cleaner salesman who wishes only to get one foot in the door, humor can open small cracks of light in minds ready for a little more illumination.

Humor it its most potent form, when intended as satire or sarcasm, can disrobe even the most powerful emperors.

Some power hungry predators even disrobe themselves!

All it took is for former President, George W. Bush (I call him “Shrub”) to say, “Never misunderestimate me,” and "Make the pie higher!,” and the whole world knew he was a dork.

But I already knew. Shrub was at Phillips Andover Academy one class year ahead of me. I got to see his dorkiness in the dining hall every day. Total dork.

A dork who, years later, had his finger on the nuclear button. Which serves as a metaphor for the modern world. A world run at the highest levels by plutocrats, autocrats, kleptocrats and the occasional dork.

But here we are, and there you go.

I hope this modest work brings some enlightenment to the true state of the modern world. Up close, our current civilization can be terrifying.

Stand back far enough and it’s hilarious.

As I will soon share…