BOMBS

WHY ARE THERE BOMBS?  WOULD YOU TAKE A JOB MAKING BOMBS?  WOULD YOU SUPPORT YOUR FAMILY AND WATCH YOUR KIDS GROW UP BY MAKING BOMBS?


WHY?

HYPOCRISY

THE PEOPLE WHO TALK ABOUT WANTING TO GET RID OF BIG GOVERNMENT, WHO TALK ABOUT NOT WANTING TO INCREASE TAXES AND WHO TALK ALOT ABOUT ABSTRACT QUALITIES LIKE FREEDOM, ARE THE SAME PEOPLE, WHEN YOU ACTUALLY LOOK AT WHAT THEY STAND FOR, WHO WANT TO ENFORCE MORAL LEGISLATION — FOR INSTANCE, THEY WANT TO KEEP DRUGS ILLEGAL AND CRIMINALIZE ABORTION AND GAY MARRIAGE AND ENFORCE, THROUGH THE ACTIONS OF GOVERNMENT, LIMITS ON THE FREEDOM OF THE PEOPLE TO PURSUE THEIR PERSONAL LIVES WITHOUT INTERFERENCE. THEY WANT TO PUT PEOPLE WHO USE DRUGS IN JAIL AT EXPENSE TO THE TAXPAYER. THEY WANT THESE ACTIONS, WHICH ARE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT AND INCREASE THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT, TO BE BASICALLY SUPPORTED AT THE EXPENSE OF PROGRAMS OF EDUCATION AND HEALTH AND INFRASTRUCTURE WHICH MIGHT AID THE VERY PEOPLE WHO OFTEN WIND UP ADDICTED TO DRUGS AND OTHER MEANS OF ESCAPE FROM THEIR DAMAGED LIVES, WHILE ASKING NOTHING IN THE WAY OF SUPPORT FOR THEIR IDEAS BY THE GREAT BULK OF THE PEOPLE WHOSE IDEAS THEY ARE.
THIS STRIKES ME AS ABSOLUTELY ILLOGICAL. I CANT IMAGINE WHY ANY THINKING PERSON CAN FAIL TO SEE THE HYPOCRISY IMPLICIT IN THESE VIEWS.

THE HAND

fate is the dealer and the cards are genes.  i didnt deal this hand — im just trying to play it.

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS ON THE MIDDLE EAST

in adopting the rhetoric of peace in the current unfolding events in the middle east, especially as it pertains to the longstanding conflict between palestine and israel, mr obama is continuing a tradition of obfuscation which makes it more difficult to understand the truth of human history.  peace should never be the goal of any movement among the people of the world in any conflict anywhere. the goal now as always can only be justice, though justice — truly egalitarian disinterested reciprocal justice — always and inevitably presages enduring peace and is in fact the only path to it.

UNEXAMINED LIFE

the unexamined life does not imply an unemotional life, in fact quite the contrary, it implies an unreasoned life.  and an unreasoned life turns out to be — as the word would suggest — unreasonable.

ELEPHANTS

there are two enormous elephants in the room of the american economic structure which are not being discussed in the current debate over the federal budget.  one of them, which is the largest elephant in the whole american economic system, is not part of the federal budget, its the cost of financial services, which is approaching forty percent of the gdp of the united states.  this is an absurd weight around the neck of the american citizen, whose main purpose is to concentrate wealth in the hands of an inside few.  the second is the cost of the military and military production.  the net cost to the american economy of these two elephants is enormous and its the main stumbling block to the americans being able to take care of their underprivileged, their young, their sick, their mentally challenged people, many of whom wind up as prisoners of the state. there is no humanity in the discussion and thats because the two major items which would allow for a more humane american ethos are not even on the table — but theyre in the room (hiding).

POWER

i dont want power over others, neither do i want others to have power over me.  i prefer to search for a relationship of equanimity with all other persons, of thoughtful respect for all other persons.  and that is quite different than the present world’s fascination with, and love of, power.  

DRY READING

theres something that music and film have in common and that is that they communicate through emotional connection.  they take advantage of mirror neurons and the instinct in animals to harmonize emotionally.  most people, when they read books, want the same connection.  they consider that to be the only connection and if something attacks the reason only and is emotionally cool they call it dry reading and they more or less disdain it.  and yet the thing that is particularly human and almost unique to this species, and is in fact the only key to our survival, is this ability to reason, which is whats called dry and in our time is soundly frowned upon.

that's too bad.

JUSTICE

i believe in justice and justice, though it has a genetic base, should not be fashioned from an emotional process.  it requires reason to ensure it remains reciprocal.  to speak of being passionate about justice is to me a misreading, though one can be extremely grateful when justice occasionally prevails.

MORAL ANIMALS

im looking to uncover timeless truths, truths about humans in nature, about a human nature which has nothing to do with the anecdotal moments when we ourselves happen to exist on the planet, but everything to do with the accumulating knowledge about animal behavior and the chemistry — the mechanics — of life, including human life, that are now known to us for the first time.  so now we can better understand who we actually are and how we actually should conduct ourselves as moral animals on the planet (with a note: we are not the only moral animal, we are just one of all animals, which are all in some ways moral animals).

RELIGION

‘you know — i have no religion.’  ‘how come?  how can you live that way?  how can you be a moral person who knows right from wrong?’  ‘well i dont know.  its just like — some people who live in cities or villages dont need a car.  right?  they find other ways to get around.  well i dont — i dont need a religion.  i find other ways to know right from wrong.  i think inherently i understand reciprocity, so religion has no special utility for me.  i think everyone inherently understands reciprocity — even other animals — and that it is a mistake to believe you have learned that from your religious instruction.  more, you need to put it into practice and in that the entire ethos of your society can aid or hinder you.  but religion is only a subset of that constellation of influences and often it is pulling the wrong way — pulling against your common better nature.’

OBLIGATIONS

i watched the ant dragging her fellow worker, who had died, at some great cost back toward probably the nest, though it was a circuitous route at best.  i thought of my own life, how it was absolutely unnecessary to justify it in any terms whatsoever, that like an eagle on his perch watching what happened below or me in my cabin watching the ant or the ant working on transporting the dead one, all these things were done and reasons had nothing to do with it.  my first obligation, like the obligation of the ant like the obligation of the eagle, was to remain alive and do things necessary for that.

OAKS

here among the oaks i watch them.  they dont watch me back.  they have no nervous system, they have no brain, they have no sense organs.  they dont respond with eyes or ears.  even touch is limited.  animals have a global consciousness.  the whole brain is aware of the whole body and is conscious of its autonomous presence in its surroundings.  trees have atomistic consciousness.  each part responds to the stimuli locally around it.  even though there is a coherent growth and response to the entire plant, its not centered anywhere.  its centered only in the arrangement coded in its dna.  each region of the plant knows only what to do in response to its role in its immediate surrounding. 

because plants have no brain, have no reason, have no emotions, doesnt mean i love them any less.  plants are the great intermediary.  between the sun and me are the plants.

NONALIGNED MIND

i want to leave myself at home while i go out and look around.  i want to know what the world is like without me, what it was like before i got here and what it will be like after im gone.  

YOUR EMOTIONS

your emotions arent your own.  they dont belong to you.  you could say ‘well what about my thumb?  my thumb belongs to me.’  and i could say ‘well yes, your thumb is part of you as are your emotions.  but you didnt design your thumb, youre not proud of the design of your thumb in a personal way and you dont do whatever your thumb tells you to do.’