WE ARE CRAWLING OUT OF DARKNESS

WHEN PEOPLE EVIDENCE VARIOUS LEVELS OF DESPAIR ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING OR IRANIAN NUCLEAR AMBITIONS OR ECONOMIC HEGEMONY OR WALL STREET HUBRIS AND DISPARITY OF INCOME OR CANCER RATES  OR THE WARS IN SYRIA AND ELSEWHERE, AND OTHER EXAMPLES OF INHUMANITY, I LIKE TO ASK THEM TO PICK A TIME IN HISTORY WHEN THEY WOULD RATHER HAVE A BABY.  AFTER THINKING A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME, MOST PEOPLE GIVE IT UP AND GO OFF MUTTERING TO THEMSELVES.  

WE ARE CRAWLING OUT OF DARKNESS AND HAVE A WAY TO GO BEFORE WE MAY BE BLINDED BY THE LIGHT.

RULES

RULES OF GRAMMAR ARE THE LAST THING TO CHANGE.  

LANGUAGE HAS BEEN SPOKEN FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS, WRITTEN FOR A COMPARATIVELY VERY BRIEF TIME.  AFTER EARLY USE IN RECORDKEEPING, WRITING BECAME A VEHICLE FOR PERMANENTLY STORING THE SPOKEN WORD SO THAT THOUGHTS AND UTTERANCES COULD BE ACCURATELY RECALLED AND SHARED OVER TIME.  THIS PROVED OF INESTIMABLE VALUE TO THE PROGRESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY.  BUT THE WELLSPRING OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE WAS, IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE SPOKEN LANGUAGE.  THAT IS WHY SPOKEN LANGUAGE IS THE VEHICLE OF CHANGE IN ALL LANGUAGES, WHY SPOKEN LANGUAGE IS THE MOST DYNAMIC AND FLUID FORM AND WHY IT TAKES TIME FOR PEOPLE TO REFLECT IN THEIR WRITTEN WORDS CHANGES ALREADY WELL UNDERSTOOD BY SPEAKERS AND LISTENERS.  

BRINGING UP THE REAR ARE THE RULES AND RULEMAKERS.  THERE IS AN INEVITABLE LAG WHILE ESTABLISHED PROTOCOLS AND THEIR DEFENDERS GRADUALLY YIELD TO THE NEW AND INNOVATIVE ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE, BUT EVENTUALLY THE RULES AND RULEMAKERS WILL CONFORM, BECAUSE THE CHANGES ARE EVOLUTIONARILY USEFUL ADAPTATIONS NOT UNLIKE THE ADAPTATIONS OCCURRING IN BIOLOGY.  FOR INSTANCE, IN THIS PARAGRAPH 'RULEMAKERS' IS NOT RECOGNIZED BY THE GRAMMAR AND SPELLING PROGRAM RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUND AS I WORK, THOUGH IT WILL CERTAINLY BE UNDERSTOOD BY ALL READERS AND CONFORMS RATHER USEFULLY TO THE WAY THE THOUGHT IT EXPRESSES IS UNDERSTOOD IN SPOKEN LANGUAGE.

RULES OF GRAMMAR IN ENGLISH ARE HOPELESSLY CONTRADICTORY — SELF-CONTRADICTORY.  THERE IS NO INTERNAL CONSISTENCY IN THEM AS THEY ARE BACKFORMATIONS FROM AN ESSENTIALLY AD HOC PROCESS THAT PROCEEDS CONTINUALLY AMONG ALL SPEAKERS WITHOUT CONSCIOUS ORDER OR OVERALL GUIDING PLAN.  FOR INSTANCE, ONE COULD BACK VARIOUS FORMATIONS SUCH AS POLITICAL PARTIES OR SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT BUT TO BACK FORMATIONS MAY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MEANING IMPLIED BY THE WORD BACKFORMATIONS, ANOTHER WORD MY GRAMMAR PROGRAM DOES NOT BLESS WITH ITS CONDESCENDING ACCEPTANCE.  AND YET IN SPEECH IT IS CLEAR AND UNIQUE IN ITS MEANING.

NEXT TIME SOMEONE SAYS YOU ARE BREAKING A RULE OF GRAMMAR, QUESTION WHETHER WHAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN IS CONSISTENT WITH SPOKEN LANGUAGE AND CLEAR IN MEANING, ALSO THAT IT CAN BE USED CONSISTENTLY. IF THE ANSWER IS 'YES' STICK TO YOUR GUNS — YOU HAVE THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE COSMOS ON YOUR SIDE.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

A GUN IN A HOME IN AMERICA, THAT IS KEPT IN MOST CASES FOR HOME PROTECTION, IS FORTY-THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE USED AGAINST A FAMILY MEMBER THAN IT IS TO BE USED AGAINST AN INTRUDER.  WHY IS IT SO EASY FOR PEOPLE OUTSIDE AMERICA TO LEARN SUCH THINGS AND BE OPEN TO HEARING SUCH THINGS, AND ALSO TO HEAR THE OBVIOUS COMMON SENSE IMPLICATIONS OF SUCH THINGS, THAN IT IS FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, WHO ARE THE ONES SO THREATENED BY THOSE GUNS?  WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE RATIONALITY OF AMERICAN PEOPLE AND, ESPECIALLY, AMERICAN POLITICS?  IGNORANCE OF REALITY IS NO PROTECTION AGAINST ITS CERTAINTY.  

THERE IS NO INDUSTRIALIZED NATION LIKE THE UNITED STATES.  THAT USED TO BE A GOOD THING.

MEANING

SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT LIFE IS MEANINGLESS.  I PREFER TO SAY EVERY TWIG HAS MEANING, WHICH AMOUNTS TO THE SAME THING BUT IS ALOT MORE FUN.

BEING RIGHT

WHEN I WAS ABOUT TWELVE YEARS OLD MY MOM, WHOM I DIDN'T CREDIT AT THE TIME WITH A VERY STRONG INTELLECT, ASKED ME SOMETHING THAT IN RETROSPECT I REALIZE WAS THE RESULT OF VERY CLEAR OBSERVATION AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF PEOPLE SUPERIOR TO MY OWN: SHE SAID VERY SIMPLY "WOULDN'T YOU RATHER HAVE FRIENDS THAN BE RIGHT?" MY ANSWER WAS IMMEDIATE AND TYPICALLY UNREFLECTIVELY DISMISSIVE: I SAID "IF I CAN'T BE RIGHT AND STILL HAVE FRIENDS THEN THEY'RE NOT MY REAL FRIENDS ANYWAY."

IN MY YOUTH SCHOOL WAS A SORT OF TEMPLE OF RIGHT ANSWERS. I SEEMED FROM THE FIRST TO HAVE THEM IN ABUNDANCE AND WAS SOON TREATED DEFERENTIALLY BY THE SYSTEM, WHICH CONSIDERED THIS FORM OF SOCIAL DOMINANCE EVIDENCE OF "LEADERSHIP ABILITIES". I WAS ALSO ALWAYS VOTED CLASS PRESIDENT WHEN WE BECAME OLD ENOUGH FOR SOME CIVIC LESSONS AND GENERALLY OVERCOMPLIMENTED FOR MY CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE. I THINK THIS ROBBED OTHER STUDENTS SOME OF THEIR NATURAL CONFIDENCE AND SHIFTED IT TO ME WHERE IT QUICKLY BECAME OVERCONFIDENCE, A BURDEN WHICH WAS UNSUSTAINABLE. I NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY PEOPLE WOULD BE UPSET AT HAVING THEIR IDEAS, AND ESPECIALLY THEIR FACTS, CHALLENGED. I DID NOT CONSIDER THIS AN ATTACK ON THE PERSON AT ALL, BUT MERELY ON THE SUBJECT AT ISSUE.

THIS PARTICULAR BLINDNESS HAS FOLLOWED ME ALL
 MY LIFE.

CIVILIZING THE WEALTHY

TWO PRINCIPLE PROBLEMS FACING THE WORLD TODAY AT THE FUNCTIONAL LEVEL ARE GLOBAL WARMING AND DISPARITY OF INCOME.  FOR BOTH THESE FEATURES OF PRESENT HUMAN ACTIVITY NATIONAL SOLUTIONS WILL NEVER REALLY PREVAIL.  BOTH PROBLEMS ARE LINKED AND INESCAPABLY GLOBAL IN NATURE AND LACKING A SOLUTION ANYWHERE WILL OBVIATE THE CHANCE FOR SUCCESS EVERYWHERE.  THE SOLUTIONS WILL ONLY COME FROM INCREASED POWERS OF THE UNITED NATIONS TO ENFORCE FINANCIAL AND ENERGY BEHAVIORS WORLDWIDE ALONG THE FOLLOWING LINES: A SINGLE RATE CARBON TAX ON USE OF ENERGY FROM CARBON SOURCES WORLDWIDE; A SINGLE RATE SALES TAX ON ALL FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS; ALL INCOME BEING CLASSED AS INCOME IN ALL COUNTRIES REGARDLESS OF ITS SOURCE, WHETHER FROM LABOR OR INVESTMENT, AND TAXED AT THE SAME RATE.  IN ADDITION, ALL PROPERTY INCLUDING FINANCIAL ASSETS HELD IN STOCKS, BONDS OR ANY OTHER FORM ANYWHERE ON EARTH, MUST BE TAXED AS PROPERTY AT THE SAME ANNUAL RATE AS REAL ESTATE OR OTHER PHYSICAL ASSETS; AND ANY TAX UNCOLLECTED BY NATIONS UNDER WHOSE JURISDICTION THE ACTIVITY IS CONDUCTED WILL BE FORFEITED TO THE UN AND COLLECTED BY IT.  THERE MUST BE NO ESCAPING TAX BY MOVING ASSETS OFFSHORE FROM ANY NATION TO ANY OTHER PLACE INCLUDING SO-CALLED INTERNATIONAL WATERS AND NATIONS SHALL NOT COMPETE FOR INVESTORS OR ENERGY-INTENSIVE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY WITH TAX RELIEF, INCLUDING CARBON TAX RELIEF, IN ANY FORM INCLUDING DEFERRAL.

FAILING THIS LEVEL OF COOPERATION, THE VERY REAL AND THREATENING PROBLEMS THAT PRESENTLY MAKE THE FUTURE OF THIS SPECIES AND THIS PLANET INSECURE WILL SOMEDAY SOON OVERWHELM ALL MORE LOCALIZED EFFORTS.  

THIS LEVEL OF GLOBAL COOPERATION IS COMING.  WE CAN EITHER HELP TO PEACEFULLY USHER IT IN, WELCOMING IT AS A NEEDED CURATIVE FOR A RAPIDLY OVERCROWDING PLANET, OR WE WILL ARRIVE AT THE IDENTICAL ARRANGEMENT AFTER A GLOBAL CONFLICT, FOMENTED BY THE PRIVILEGED WITHIN PRESENT SOVEREIGN NATIONS OF EARTH, THAT MAY LAY WASTE TO MUCH PRECIOUS ACCOMPLISHMENT AND LEAVE MUCH LESS OF VALUE TO BE SHARED.  WHAT WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO ACCOMPLISH IS NO LESS AND NO MORE THAN TO CIVILIZE THE WEALTHY.

ONE STORY

THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY CALLED LIFE BUT THERE ARE MANY ITERATIONS, FROM DROSOPHYLA TO HUMAN BEINGS — IN PART INCLUDING PLANTS.  AND WITH ANIMALS IT IS ALL THE IDENTICAL STORY.  WE ARE ALL JUST CHEMISTS AND WE ALL WORK WITH THE SAME EQUIPMENT, THOUGH OF COURSE REMAINING AS UNIQUE AS HUMAN FINGERPRINTS OR MOTH PATTERNING, NEVERTHELESS MINDFUL THAT WE HAVE NOT PICKED TO HAVE PRINTS OR PATTERNS OR EVEN FINGERS OR WINGS AT ALL.

LOST AMERICA

THERE IS MUCH MORE TO LIVING DECENTLY THAN THE ECONOMY OR ECONOMIC PROSPECTS.  THAT IS A PARTICULAR BLINDNESS OF ECONOMISTS.  JUSTICE FOR ALL IS AND WILL REMAIN MUCH MORE THREATENED BY REPUBLICAN OLIGARCHISTS THAN BY THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE.  AND IN THE LONG RUN, REGARDLESS OF THE DECLINE OF PROSPERITY IN AMERICA (OR AMERICANS' ADAPTATION TO IT) IT IS ONLY A JUST ETHOS THAT CAN PREVENT SERIOUS DECLINE.

ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT RESULTS OF THE RECENT ELECTION IS THE PROSPECT OF MR OBAMA BEING ABLE TO SELECT THE NEXT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE.  THAT AND THE FACT THAT THERE DID NOT SEEM TO BE A MAJOR FRAUD IN THIS LAST MOST MONEYED AND DESPERATE ELECTION WERE AT LEAST SLIGHTLY HOPEFUL SIGNS FROM A COUNTRY THAT HAS BASICALLY LOST ITS WAY ON ITS VOYAGE TO DEMOCRACY.

ROMNEY AND PENNSYLVANIA

IT'S VERY CURIOUS, THIS SUDDEN INTEREST IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE CAMPAIGN BY THE ROMNEY CAMP IN PENNSYLVANIA.  IT MAKES ME A LITTLE WARY OF WHAT THEY MIGHT BE UP TO.  PENNSYLVANIA HAS ONE OF THE LEAST SECURE VOTNG SYSTEMS, ONE OF THE SYSTEMS MOST ABLE TO BE HACKED AND WITH LITTLE OR NO ABILITY TO RECOUNT THE BALLOT IF A SURPRISING AND SUSPECTED FRAUDULENT OFFICIAL RESULT IS OBTAINED.  IF THIS SHOULD OCCUR IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO EITHER RERUN WITH PAPER BALLOTING THAT STATE'S ELECTION OR REMOVE ITS ELECTORAL VOTES FROM THE TOTAL NEEDED TO BE ELECTED AND CONSIDER THE RESULT IN PENNSYLVANIA SUSPECT AND VOID.

CHEAP MONEY

IF TALK IS CHEAP AND MONEY TALKS THEN MONEY IS CHEAP.  


THERE MUST BE SOMETHING IM MISSING.

DUCKS

WE ARE ALL QUEER DUCKS IN OUR WAY.  IT MAY TAKE A LITTLE LONGER TO PERCEIVE THE TRUTH OF IT IN SOME BUT IF YOU WAIT FOR IT THE IMAGE COMES CLEAR SOMEWHERE DOWN PAST THE NEXT BEND IN THE ROAD.  THE TRICK IS TO ENJOY QUEER DUCKS — OURSELVES INCLUDED.

IT'S (STILL) A PONZI

GROWTH IS A PONZI SCHEME. THERE IS AN ULTIMATE DAY WHICH IS LIKE JUDGEMENT DAY WHEN RELIANCE ON FUTURE GROWTH TO FUEL RETURNS TO INVESTORS TODAY MUST COLLAPSE. AND THAT DAY MAY HAVE ALREADY COME. THE EARTH ISNT GETTING ANY LARGER. THE POPULATION CANNOT CONTINUE TO GROW WITHOUT DEGRADATION OF LIFE. ALOT OF OUR SOCALLED ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IS WORSE THAN USELESS — IT IS ACTUALLY KILLING OUR HOST. 

IT CANNOT CONTINUE. THE WORD UNSUSTAINABLE HAS BEEN THROWN ABOUT FOR MOST OF MY LIFETIME, BUT STILL THE MEANING REMAINS ALMOST COMPLETELY UNABSORBED BY THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN MUCH OF THE WORLD. THIS IGNORANCE CANNOT INSULATE HUMANITY FROM ITS TRUTH. IF WE DONT UNDERSTAND QUICKLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED, IS HAPPENING, AND NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN ORDER FOR HUMAN LIFE TO BE SUSTAINABLE ON EARTH, WE WILL DISAPPEAR LIKE ONE LITTLE INSIGNIFICANT NUCLEAR PICNIC IN THE COSMOS.

THE CONSUMER

I AM A CONSUMER OF MY DAYS.  PERHAPS THEY LEAVE A LITTLE RESIDUE — A STARTER FOR TOMORROW — BUT THEY ARE GONE.  THEY ARE CONSUMED.

GRACEFUL AND GRATEFUL

WHAT WOULD I TEACH MY YOUNGER SELF?  I THINK — GRACE AND GRATITUDE.  AND THERE IS INHERENTLY AND NECESSARILY A LARGE COMPONENT OF SILENCE, OF UNDISTRACTED TIME, TIME TO ATTEND TO THE MOMENT AND THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF THE PLACE IN THE MOMENT YOU ARE LIVING.  THAT IS WHERE I THINK IT ALL ENDS UP, IF YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO LIVE LONG ENOUGH.  AND THAT IS SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO TEACH MY YOUNGER SELF.

CLUB PARADISE

BIG SHINY NEW PLACE.  SOME EAGER PROPRIETORS TENDING BAR.  IN COME THE CUSTOMERS — GREECE, PORTUGAL , IRELAND, SPAIN — AND THEY START RUNNING A TAB.  THE BARTENDERS ARE SERVING DRINKS AS FAST AS THEY CAN MAKE THEM. THE CUSTOMERS ARE GETTING HIGH, PROPRIETORS WINKING AND NODDING TO EACH OTHER, THINKING ABOUT A VISIT TO THE PORSCHE DEALER IN THE MORNING, THEY ARE MAKING SO MUCH MONEY.  EVERYBODY IS HAPPY.  THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOREVER. 

BUT WAIT.  IT IS CLOSING TIME. THE CUSTOMERS ARE SO DRUNK THEY CANT REMEMBER WHERE THEY USED TO LIVE.  THE BARTENDERS ARE EXHAUSTED.  TIME TO GO HOME TO BED.  SO — SUDDENLY THERE IS TROUBLE IN PARADISE.  THE CUSTOMERS WONT LEAVE.  THEY CANT PAY THE TAB.  SOMEBODY IS GOING TO HAVE TO THROW THEM OUT, BUT IF THEY DO THEY WILL NEVER GET THE MONEY.  YOU CANT HAVE THEM ALL THROWN IN JAIL, THERE WONT BE ANYBODY TO COME TO THE PARADISE TOMORROW.  IN THE END YOU CALL THEM A CAB.

YOU KNOW WHO THE BARTENDERS ARE — THE GERMAN BANKS, THE FRENCH BANKS, THE INVESTMENT BANKERS ALL OVER THE WORLD (MEANING MAINLY BRITAIN AND THE US).  WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN? 

THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE IT ON THE CHIN AND HOPEFULLY — MAYBE — THEY ARE GOING TO LEARN A LESSON ABOUT DOING BUSINESS.  YOU CANT PUT THE WHOLE WORLD IN DEBTORS’ PRISON — YOU WONT HAVE ANY CUSTOMERS.  AND YOU CANT MAKE THEM PAY IT ALL BACK BECAUSE IF YOU DO, BEFORE THEY EVER FINISH THE LIGHTS WILL HAVE GONE OUT FOREVER ON THE EMPTY, GLOOMY CLUB PARADISE. 

IT IS TIME TO GIVE IT UP.

NOW TELL ME, DO YOU REALLY PITY THESE GUYS?

DEVELOPMENT

in terms of progress from this time forward, as reflected in the media debate, almost everyone seems to be fastened on economic development.  but beyond a certain minimum level of security of the person, economic development may not be the most enlightened form of development or the development that is most necessary to keep the world and its occupants healthy and secure.  there are other types of development which should be moving to the fore now.  we have essentially solved the problem of how to feed and clothe and house a decent number of human beings on the planet earth (even if proper distribution is lagging behind and overproduction of nonessentials is contributing to planet degradation).  we are not about to go away because we arent economically advanced enough.  but we may be going away because of other failures, because we have neglected to continue to advance in other more important, and actually more interesting, ways.  there is nothing beyond being fed, clothed and housed and safe from attack that is so particularly significant about our physical wellbeing at this point in our evolution.  increased wellbeing will come from increased understanding of what life is, of what human life is, of what human beings are, of what animals are, of how singular is the story called ‘life’, of what the whole cosmos is about (or not about, in fact).  spending time and treasure in pursuit of this more interesting and increasingly needed understanding will prove more useful and more rewarding to individuals, to societies and to the planet itself, and will make us much safer and more secure in our future here than continuing our narrow focus on economic wellbeing.  the progress that will come through understanding, understanding that comes increasingly from reliance on science and education for all the world’s people, is now the most important path to future security.  in fact, it may be the only path.

THE CRITICAL QUESTION

WHAT MAKES BOTH LUNDBORG'S SKEPTICAL ENVIRONMENTALIST AND RIDLEY'S RATIONAL OPTIMIST SO FLAWED IS THAT BOTH BOOKS ESSENTIALLY ASK THE SAME QUESTION AND GET THE SAME RESULT: ARE WE BETTER OFF TODAY THAN WE WERE FIFTY OR A HUNDRED YEARS AGO?  MEASURED IN HEALTH OUTCOMES, LONGEVITY, MEDIAN INCOME AND SUCH, THE ANSWER IS A RESOUNDING 'YES'.  THE PROBLEM IS, THEY THEN CONCLUDE FROM THAT (WITH A VERY BIASED ANALYSIS) THAT IF WE KEEP DOING THE SAME THINGS INTO THE FUTURE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE OUR LOT.


THE CRITICAL QUESTION IS NOT 'ARE WE BETTER OFF THAN WE WERE FIFTY YEARS AGO?'  IT IS, 'ARE WE BETTER OFF THAN WE WILL BE FIFTY YEARS FROM NOW?'  AND I AM AFRAID THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS ALSO A RESOUNDING 'YES'.


IF YOU WANT TO GET AN INTELLIGENT ANSWER TO A QUESTION VITAL TO ALL OF US, TO INGEST AND ASSIMILATE QUICKLY THE MOST RELEVANT DATA IN PLOTTING A COURSE FOR MANKIND, THEN YOU BETTER ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION.  THESE BOOKS AMOUNT TO NOTHING SERIOUS.  THEY ARE MERELY APOLOGIES FOR DRAGGING THE STATUS QUO IN ALL ITS MOST GRIEVOUS FORMS FORWARD INTO WHAT SURELY WILL BE OBLIVION, OR AT LEAST A HOT DANGEROUS WORLD OF FIFTEEN BILLION PEOPLE, WHO WILL HAVE SHED MANY OF THE THINGS WE HOLD MOST PRECIOUS FOR OURSELVES AND OTHER CREATURES IN THE BIOSPHERE AND THAT WILL AFFECT THE HISTORY OF NOT ONLY MANKIND BUT THE EARTH ITSELF.

OF CAMUS

I CONNECT TO HIM BECAUSE HE WAS A SERIOUS MAN AND I A SERIOUS YOUNG MAN (WHEN I FIRST READ HIM).  AND THERE IS SOMETHING I STILL NEED — THAT THREAD OF CONNECTION — NOT TO JUSTIFY MYSELF, MY CHOICES, THE TIME IVE SPENT, BUT TO FEEL SOMETHING LIKE ME BEYOND MYSELF WHERE I BELONG.

ABSTRACTION

EXCERPT FROM NOTEBOOK FOUR — ALBERT CAMUS, SEPTEMBER 1944

...abstraction is evil.  It causes wars, tortures, violence, etc.  Problem:  How does the abstract view continue in the face of physical evil, ideology in the face of the torture inflicted in the name of that ideology?

WHERE ARE THE DISINTERESTED PEOPLE?

EXCERPT FROM NOTEBOOK FOUR — ALBERT CAMUS, MARCH 1943


Any life directed toward money is a death.  Renascence lies in disinterestedness.

A CLEAN SHIRT

EATING ANIMALS MAY HAVE BEEN THE BEST OR THE ONLY WAY FOR HUMANS TO SURVIVE THE ICE AGES BUT NOW WE ARE LIVING AT A TIME WHEN EATING ANIMALS IS PROBABLY CHOKING THE PLANET.  THE SAME CAN BE SAID FOR INTERTRIBAL WARFARE AND THE WHOLE INDUSTRY SUPPORTING INGROUP/OUTGROUP HOSTILITIES — ALSO FOR SELFISH DOMINATION OF OTHERS WITHIN GROUPS.  WE NEED TO STUDY FITNESS, NOT ONLY  IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE GOT HERE BUT TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN CONTINUE TO STAY HERE.  AND THIS INVOLVES CHANGING HABITS TO SUIT CHANGING CONDITIONS OVER TIME.  ISNT THIS THE LESSON OF EVOLUTION?  THAT THE CREATURES THAT ARE THE MOST ADAPTABLE AND ABLE TO EVOLVE IN THE FACE OF CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS ARE  THE ONES THAT ALWAYS HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF SURVIVAL?  


SO IT MUST BE FOR US.  WE HUMANS WITH THE BEST CHANCE OF SURVIVING INTO OUR IMMEDIATE FUTURE ARE THOSE AMONG US WHO CAN UNDERSTAND THE FORESHADOWING OF COMING CONDITIONS AND ADAPT TO THEM IN THE MOST TIMELY MANNER.  


PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO WEAR THE FAMILIAR AND WHEN TO PUT ON A CLEAN SHIRT.

EARLY (AND CONTINUING) THOUGHTS

WHEN I WAS SEVENTEEN I WAS ALREADY MARRIED AND LIVING BRIEFLY IN THE HOME OF MY INLAWS.  I HAD GOT USED TO THE FACT THAT MY WIFE SNEEZED NINE TIMES WHENEVER SHE SNEEZED IN OUR FIRST FEW MONTHS ALONE TOGETHER — SHE WAS INCAPABLE OF SNEEZING ONCE OR TWICE — AND THOUGH IT WAS UNLIKE ANYTHING I HAD EXPERIENCED IN MY FAMILY I CAME TO SEE IT AS A ROBUST AND RELIABLE CHARACTERISTIC OF HER BEHAVIOR.  WHEN I FIRST ENCOUNTERED HER DAD SNEEZING IT STRUCK ME AS INCREDIBLE — HE SNEEZED NINE TIMES AND ACCORDING TO MY MOTHER-IN-LAW HAD ALWAYS DONE SO.  THIS BEGAN A LINE OF THOUGHT IN ME THAT HAS CONTINUED TO THIS DAY.  WHEN LATER I JOINED THE RANKS OF STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION I HAD MANY QUARRELS WITH THE CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY TEACHING OF THE DAY — THE LATE FIFTIES — AND EARNED THE WRATH OF MORE THAN ONE RATHER CONFIDENT PROFESSOR.  ACCORDING TO THIS ORTHODOXY AN INFANT WAS MORE OR LESS A BLANK SLATE AND EVERYTHING THAT THEY BECAME WAS AS A RESULT OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT.  I COULDNT UNDERSTAND WHY THEY ALL THOUGHT THE SAME THING, WHICH BEGAN ANOTHER CONTINUING LINE OF INQUIRY FOR ME, AND DIDNT THINK FOR A MOMENT THAT THERE WAS MERIT IN THIS VIEW OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR..  THE FACT THAT MY WIFE WOULD HAVE LEARNED TO SNEEZE THAT WAY BY IMITATION OF HER DAD, WHO WOULD HAVE IMITATED HIS PARENT OR SOMEONE ELSE IN HIS CHILDHOOD, SEEMED TO ME ABSURD.  MY WIFE’S SNEEZING WAS COMPULSIVE AND TRY AS SHE MIGHT SHE COULD NOT ARREST THE PROCESS ONCE BEGUN.  NEITHER COULD HER DAD. 

I HAVE NOW LIVED LONG ENOUGH TO SEE THAT BOTH THESE IDEAS — CRIPPLING CONFORMITY AMONG PEERS AND GENETICALLY CODED BEHAVIOR — HAVE MORE OR LESS COME AROUND TO WHAT I THINK WAS PROBABLY OBVIOUS AMONG MANY PEOPLE WHO DID NOT CONSIDER THEMSELVES EXPERTS IN PSYCHOLOGY.  LIKE THE KIDS IN GRAMMAR SCHOOL — I WAS ONE — WHO THOUGHT AFRICA FITTED RATHER NICELY INTO SOUTH AMERICA, ONLY TO BE TOLD BY OUR SCIENCE TEACHERS THAT THE IDEA WAS ABSURD, SOMETIMES I FIND THAT EXPERTS ARE THE LAST TO KNOW.  AFTER ALL, THEY HAVE THE MOST TO GAIN BY NOT KNOWING, INVESTED AS THEY ARE IN THE IDEAS THAT ARE PERSUASIVE IN THEIR FIELD IN THEIR TIME.  IT IS ALMOST AS HARD FOR  MOST PEOPLE TO SAY ‘I WAS WRONG ABOUT THAT’ AS IT IS FOR THEM TO SAY ‘NO, THAT IS TOO MUCH.  I WANT LESS.’  AND THAT IS A VANISHINGLY SMALL PART OF THE POPULACE I OBSERVE IN MY TIME ON THE PLANET.

WORRY, BLAME AND INEVITABILITY

A LOVELY FRIEND ASKED ME AT LUNCH YESTERDAY IF I WERENT WORRIED ABOUT THE INTERNET REMAINING OPEN AND FREE FROM CORPORATE OR GOVERNMENT DOMINATION.  I REPLIED THAT THERE WASNT MUCH THAT I WORRIED ABOUT THESE DAYS, THAT I THOUGHT THE INTERNET WAS FANTASTIC AND CONTAINED INHERENTLY WITHIN ITSELF THE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS IT MIGHT FACE OVER TIME, BASED AS IT IS IN ALL THE PEOPLE. 

ABOUT WORRY IN GENERAL, AGE SEEMS TO HAVE WINNOWED IT DOWN TO A FEW BIG THINGS.  I WOULD NEVER WORRY, FOR INSTANCE, ABOUT THE ECONOMY, ESPECIALLY JOBS, THOUGH I MIGHT WORRY ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE DID WITH THEIR TIME AND FOR THEIR SUSTENANCE.  THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION IS NOT WHETHER THEY ARE WORKING BUT WHAT THEY ARE PRODUCING THROUGH THEIR EFFORT.  THERE ARE A FEW THINGS HOWEVER THAT I DO PRIVILEGE WITH ACTIVE CONCERN: GROUP IDENTITY HAS OUTLIVED ITS BEST BEFORE DATE — IT IS TIME WE IDENTIFIED WITH ALL — ALL THE HUMANS, ALL THE CREATURES, ALL THE PLANET.  FROM THAT FLOWS TRULY EGALITARIAN RECIPROCAL DISINTERESTED JUSTICE.  FLOWING FROM THAT IS THE ELIMINATION OF FORCE — EITHER INTIMIDATION, DESTRUCTION OR MURDER — IN THE CONDUCT OF HUMAN RELATIONS.  FLOWING FROM THAT IS THE ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, THE ONLY TRUE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, AND FLOWING FROM THAT IS THE ELIMINATION OF ALL THREATS TO THE ENVIRONMENT CAUSED BY HUMAN ACTIVITY.

I DO NOT THINK IT IS USEFUL TO BLAME THIS OR THAT GROUP FOR THESE LARGESCALE PROBLEMS, WHICH ARE SYSTEMIC — ROOTED IN OUR GENETICALLY CODED EMOTIONALLY BASED BEHAVIORS — AND ARE UBIQUITOUS THROUGHOUT THE BIOSPHERE AND THROUGHOUT THE CULTURES AND SOCIAL SPECIES OF EARTH.  THERE IS A CERTAIN INEVITABILITY TO THIS HISTORY OF OURS AND THE NOTION THAT ANY PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL OR SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE OR CULTURE IS TO BLAME — THAT IF THIS ABERRANT BEHAVIOR HAD NEVER EXISTED OR COULD BE OVERWHELMED EARTH WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT TODAY — STANDS ON PRETTY SHAKY GROUND.  THERE IS JUST NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT ALTERNATE EVOLUTIONS OF EARTH.  BUT THE NOTION THAT EVOLUTION STOPPED WHEN WE WERE BORN OR IS STOPPING NOW IS EVEN MORE FANTASTIC.  RATHER THAN WASTE ENERGY AND TIME PURSUING ENEMIES WITH THIS SORT OF RETRIBUTIVE PUNITIVE SO-CALLED JUSTICE WE WILL BE BETTER ABLE TO TRANSCEND OUR FOLLY IF INSTEAD WE USE THE TIME TO EXAMINE OUR OWN ROLE IN THE PARTICULAR FAILURES OF MANKIND.  THERE IS MORE THAN BLAME ENOUGH TO GO AROUND, WHICH MAKES BLAME A GENERALLY USELESS EMOTION AND A PARTICULARLY USELESS PURSUIT IN TERMS OF BOTH INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE EDIFICATION.

EVIDENCE

IN MATTERS PHILOSOPHICAL I HAVE NOT FOUND INSPIRATION OR SATISFACTION IN STUDYING THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY OR THE VARIOUS FAMOUS PHILOSOPHERS OF PAST CENTURIES AND THEIR THOUGHT, EITHER SECULAR OR RELIGIOUS, SYSTEMATIC OR MYSTICAL.  MORE I HAVE BEEN INFORMED BY THE AVAILABILITY OF EVIDENCE IN EMERGING SCIENCE, ESPECIALLY BIOLOGY AND PARTICULARLY GENETICS — AND MOST CENTRALLY, MOLECULAR GENETICS, INCLUDING THE MOST RECENT ADVANCES THAT REACH TOWARD PERSONALITY GENETICS.  


EVIDENCE.  EVIDENCE FOR EVERYTHING WE BELIEVE.  EVIDENCE THAT OVERWHELMS BELIEF WHILE YET ALLOWING IT.  THE ONLY BELIEF THAT CAN SAFELY AND PERMANENTLY REMAIN WITH US TO THE END OF HUMAN DAYS, THAT CAN BE PATIENTLY ADDED TO AND BUILT INTO A NEW EMERGING USEFULNESS, IS BELIEF BASED IN EVIDENCE.  


FAITH, WHICH IS BELIEF NOT BASED IN EVIDENCE, EXISTS IN HUMAN THOUGHT BECAUSE FOR MOST OF OUR DAYS WE HAD FOUND NO SYSTEMATIC WAY TO ANSWER VITAL QUESTIONS AND FAITH ALLOWED US TO COOPERATE IN ORDER TO SURVIVE IN THE FACE OF REGRETTABLE IGNORANCE UNTIL A TIME WHEN GREATER UNDERSTANDING COULD BEGIN TO PENETRATE THE DARKNESS.  THE FACT OF THE PERSISTENCE OF FAITH IN CONFRONTING A SCIENCE WHICH HAS BECOME A BEACON OF UNRIVALLED POWER TO ILLUMINATE THIS DARKNESS IS A TESTAMENT TO THE TRUTH OF ITS POWER, THAT SCIENCE RIVALS AND REPLACES ENTRENCHED MODES OF THOUGHT AND ACTION AND ALLEGIANCE AND ALLIANCE —  AND YES, POWER AND PRIVILEGE.

GETTING, GOING

GETTING ALONG WITH OTHERS IS DIFFERENT THAN GOING ALONG WITH OTHERS.

WERE YOU EVER SOMEONE ELSE?

I THINK I WAS ME FROM THE GETGO AND THAT INVOLVES QUITE AN ELABORATE CONSTELLATION OF TENDENCIES WHICH ONE COULD LUMP TOGETHER AS PERSONALITY.  THIS PERSONALITY WAS THERE AND AVAILABLE AND A DOMINANT AND CONTROLLING INFLUENCE IN MY LIFE FROM THE MOMENT OF BIRTH.  I THINK LARGELY IT WAS COMPOSED OF GENETIC INPUTS.  THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME CONGENITAL ALTERATIONS THAT WERE EFFECTED DURING DEVELOPMENT AS A FOETUS BUT BY AND LARGE IT IS SAFE TO SAY THAT PERSONALITY IS QUITE ELABORATELY DEFINED BY GENETIC MATERIAL.  AS TIME GOES ON AND A HISTORY OF THE INDIVIDUAL ACCRUES, SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES MAY ALTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF TENDENCIES SO THAT SOME ARE EXPRESSED MORE EASILY AND SOME ARE INHIBITED.  A GREAT DEAL OF BEHAVIOR WHICH MAY BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE IN TERMS OF BEING ANTISOCIAL IS NO DOUBT PRESENT AT BIRTH AND IS INHIBITED EARLY ON BY EXPERIENCE.  MOST ANIMALS STRIVE TO GET ALONG.  THEY DON'T MAKE AN EFFORT TO MAKE THEIR LIVES MORE DIFFICULT.  BUT SOME PEOPLE INHERIT A MORE DIFFICULT CONSTELLATION OF BEHAVIORS IN THEIR PERSONALITY AND THESE PEOPLE MAY STRUGGLE MORE AS YOUNGSTERS, THEY MAY STRUGGLE MORE THEIR ENTIRE LIVES TO MAKE THEIR PERSONALITY MORE AMENABLE TO OTHERS, OR AT LEAST USEFUL TO THEMSELVES.  I THINK THAT NURTURE IN THE EARLY YEARS PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MODIFYING THE TENDENCIES OF SELF BUT IT IS A VERY WELL-DEFINED SELF THAT THEY SET ABOUT TO MODIFY.


I DIDN'T PICK TO BE ME.  I DON'T THINK YOU PICKED TO BE YOU.  HOWEVER USED TO BEING OURSELVES WE MAY HAVE BECOME, IT IS LARGELY A MATTER OF LIVING IN A HOUSE SOMEBODY ELSE DESIGNED AND FINDING WAYS TO BE HAPPY AND PRODUCTIVE WITH WHAT WE HAVE INHERITED.

JUSTICE BEFORE PEACE

ONCE AGAIN THERE IS PREMEDITATED MURDER IN INTERNATIONAL NEWS.  AND AS DURING THE SEIGE OF SARAJEVO TWENTY YEARS AGO, THERE ARE PUNDITS THAT TELL US HOW COMPLICATED IT IS.  AND ONCE AGAIN I AM PROMPTED TO SAY, HORSESHIT.  THERE ARE ALWAYS CHOICES — CHOICES FOR ASSAD IN SYRIA TODAY AS THERE WERE FOR THE LEADERS IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA — CHOICES FOR THE POWERFUL — AND CHOICES FOR THE UN.  


WELL, I AM GOING TO SAY IT AGAIN: THE UN HAS GONE AS FAR AS IT CAN GO WITHOUT A MAJOR RESTRUCTURING OF ITS CONSTITUTION.  IT IS TIME TO STOP BEING THE UNITED NATIONS.  IT IS TIME TO BECOME THE UNITED CITIZENS OF THE WORLD.  FOR JUSTICE TO PREVAIL ON THIS MUCH TARNISHED ORB THE RIGHT OF AN INDIVIDUAL TO LIFE HAS GOT TO TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER ANY NOTION OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF NATIONS.  IF A NATION'S LEADERS, ITS GOVERNMENT, ITS ARMIES, ARE MURDERING ITS OWN PEOPLE THEN THE UNITED NATIONS, AND ONLY THE UNITED NATIONS, SHOULD BE STEPPING IN WITH FORCE, NOT TO KILL THE PEOPLE DOING IT BUT TO ARREST THEM AND REMOVE THEM TO THE HAGUE WHERE THEY CAN STAND TRIAL AS CRIMINALS, WHICH IS WHAT THEY ARE.  LET EVERYONE AROUND THE WORLD KNOW THAT IF YOU MURDER PEOPLE, WHETHER YOU ARE A PRIME MINISTER OR A DESPERATE THIEF IN AN ALLEY, YOU ARE GOING TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS.  UNTIL THE UN CAN BRING JUSTICE TO ALL THE WORLD'S PEOPLE IT WILL NEVER BRING PEACE TO ANYBODY.  JUSTICE, NOT PEACE, IS THE ONLY GOAL WORTHY OF A HUMANE PEOPLE.  IT IS ALSO THE ONLY POSSIBLE PATH TO A REAL AND LASTING PEACE. 

TAX INEQUALITY

RICHARD WOLFF ON TAXES: THE THREE KINDS OF TAX IMPOSED BY VARIOUS LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, SOMETHING I HAVE RAILED ABOUT FOR WHAT SEEMS FOREVER, WAS BEAUTIFULLY, ALMOST CLINICALLY STATED LAST NIGHT ON THE NPR PROGRAM ALTERNATIVE RADIO.  THE FACT THAT PROPERTY TAX NEVER INCLUDES STOCKS BONDS OR OTHER SECURITIES HELD ALMOST ENTIRELY BY THE INVESTOR CLASS, WHICH IS ARGUABLY MOST ABLE TO FUND THE VARIOUS LEVELS OF NECESSARY GOVERNMENT (AND LET'S SEE ANYBODY ARGUE COHERENTLY THAT GOVERNMENT IS NOT NECESSARY AT THIS STAGE IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN ANIMAL) OR THE FACT THAT INCOME  FROM EMPLOYMENT IS TAXED DIFFERENTLY THAN DIVIDEND INCOME OR SALE OF ACCRUED ASSETS (CAPITAL GAINS), OR THE FACT THAT TRANSACTION TAXES ARE FULL OF EXEMPTIONS INCLUDING AND MOST ESPECIALLY THE EXEMPTION FOR SALE OF FINANCIAL ASSETS, IS NOT UNDERSTOOD BY MOST WORKING PEOPLE.  THESE RULES, WHICH HAVE BEEN IMPOSED BY THE INVESTOR CLASS THROUGH THEIR USURPATION OF POLITICAL POWER IN THE CAPITALIST COUNTRIES, HAVE SO WARPED THE BENEFITS THAT ACCRUE TO THE VARIOUS CITIZENS OF THESE NOW UNJUST COUNTRIES THAT WE HAVE ONCE AGAIN ARRIVED AT THE PLACE WE INHABITED IN THE 1920S, WITH THE SAME DISPARITY OF INCOME AND WEALTH WITH ITS DISASTROUS EROSION OF WHATEVER WAS LEFT OF THE SOCIAL COHESION NECESSARY FOR ANY STATE TO CARRY ON ITS LEGITIMATE ENTERPRISE, THE FOREMOST BEING THE CONTINUED REFINEMENT OF A SOCIETY BASED ON TRULY EGALITARIAN BLIND DISINTERESTED RECIPROCAL JUSTICE.  


ONCE AGAIN LET ME STATE THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PURSUE JUSTICE WITHOUT ABANDONING PRIVILEGE AND IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PURSUE PRIVILEGE WITHOUT ABANDONING JUSTICE.

HABITS

EVERY ANIMAL ON EARTH FORMS HABITS.  IT WOULD BE A WASTE OF PROCESSING POWER IF EVERY MORNING WE HAD TO ACTIVELY THINK ABOUT GETTING UP AND DOING THE THINGS NECESSARY TO SUSTAIN LIFE.  THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN HABITS, WHICH ARE EFFICIENT HEALTHY AND USEFUL, AND OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER, INCLUDING ADDICTION, IS WHETHER THE COMPULSIVE ASPECT OF OUR PERSONALITY MORE OR LESS FORCES US TO DO THINGS THAT ARE INUTILE, THAT ACTUALLY GET IN THE WAY OF USEFUL AND LIFE-SUSTAINING ACTIVITIES AND MAKE OUR LIVES MORE DIFFICULT.  THAT THESE COMPULSIONS DAMAGE OUR LIVES AND THE LIVES OF THOSE AROUND US IS A SUBJECTIVE CALL, BUT MOST PEOPLE WHO SUFFER FROM THIS GENETICALLY CODED DISABILITY MANIFEST MULTIPLE EXAMPLES OF DAMAGING BEHAVIOR IN THEIR LIVES AND IN FACT MULTIPLE PROBLEMS IS AN IMPORTANT CLUE TO THE DIAGNOSIS.  IF AFTER REFLECTION ONE CONCLUDES THAT COMPULSIVE HABITS OF THOUGHT AND ACTION ARE HURTING AND MAKING LIVES MORE DIFFICULT IT MIGHT BE MOST EFFECTIVE TO BEGIN AN OPEN AND SOLICITOUS DIALOGUE WITH THOSE AFFECTED.  IT MIGHT ALSO BE USEFUL TO ENLIST PROFESSIONAL HELP IN IMPROVING LIFE FOR THOSE THAT ARE, NOT COINCIDENTALLY, LIKELY MOST IMPORTANT TO US, INCLUDING SELF OF COURSE.  IN SO DOING WE MAY BE ABLE TO RID OURSELVES OF CRIPPLING GUILT, WHICH IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARD IMPROVEMENT. 


WE HAVE NOT DESIGNED OURSELVES.  WHATEVER INHERENT PROBLEMS WE ENCOUNTER, OUR JOB IS NOT TO CONDEMN, EITHER IN OTHERS OR OURSELVES, THE FACT OF THEIR EXISTENCE OR EVEN THEIR PERPETUATION IN OFFSPRING — OUR JOB IS TO SEEK PRAGMATIC SOLUTIONS IN THE FORM OF CONSCIOUS BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION OF GENETICALLY CODED AUTOMATIC RESPONSES TO LIFE.  IN ADDITION TO RELIEVING MUCH DISCOMFORT AND ALLOWING MORE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES ALL AROUND, THIS CONSCIOUS INTERVENTION, WHICH MAY FOREVER NEED TO BE CONSISTENTLY APPLIED TO IMPULSES, MAY SERVE AS A MOST USEFUL EXAMPLE TO OTHERS.

NOONE CAN ANSWER FOR ANOTHER

excerpt from WHAT THE MAN IS

by

Hank Schachte

this fragment floating somewhere in a quiet cold close humid tent.  and might he ask in the morning why he did that, having covered over his reason with slumber and as usual not written completely enough?  but that is not an invitation to answer.  noone can answer for another — even himself — from the future or the past.

THE TROUBLE WITH GDP

there are basically three kinds of economic activity — there is positive economic activity, negative economic activity and redistributive economic activity, which has no positive or negative component.  lets take an example of positive economic activity: i plant a garden from little seeds that cost hardly anything and i get from that food — quite a bit of food — and that food is sold into the local economy and is then considered positive economic activity because i have added it to the gdp, to the wealth of society. 

negative activity is still counted as part of gdp the way things are presently calculated.  here is a good example of negative activity: i pull out a gun and i shoot you.  okay, thats going to generate positive economic activity.  first, i had to buy the gun which had to be manufactured.  thats considered positive economic activity according to the gdp calculation.  then i had to buy the bullets and then once ive shot you we will have to call for emergency medical services, which is considered positive economic activity, and then there will be the medical services that try to save you, which is also considered positive economic activity.  and when that fails there will be the funereal services, which is again considered positive economic activity, and then there is going to be a very expensive investigation and trial with detectives and lawyers and judges and a jury and thats all considered positive economic activity.  and then there will be a long prison sentence for me and the cost of my going to prison will be considered part of the positive economic activity of society that will go on for years.  all that is added to the calculation for gross domestic product but it is in reality all below the line.  it is all negative economic activity.  if i hadnt shot you we wouldnt have had to spend any money to get back essentially to the baseline, which is zero.  so thats an example of an incredible miscalculation of gdp, which is negative activity. 

now neutral activity is what financial services mostly does.  it is just redistributive.  they take a little money from everywhere and concentrate it in certain big piles somewhere, mostly in certain people’s bank accounts, and a bit of this may be usefully distributed to stimulate improvements in society but most of it doesnt really generate any wealth of any kind, and yet it is all financial services, it is all considered a part of the gdp — in fact, in united states and great britain it is somewhere between a quarter and forty per cent of gdp — but that is mostly a zero, that is largely just redistributive, it doesnt really make anything, it doesnt add anything to the productive wealth of society. 

so, thats the problem with gdp and thats the problem with an awful lot of people’s life work and the energy they expend.  like war and other destructive activity including its ensuing reconstruction, it is all truly below the line — below the zero baseline that was there before any of these monkeys got out of bed in the morning and started doing things.

PAST OR PRESENT?

EVERY TIME SOMEONE WINDS UP DRAGGING IN PAST GRIEVANCES, ESPECIALLY IN COUPLES AND FAMILIES, IT IS WELL FOR ALL PARTIES TO SIT UP AND LOOK AROUND.  WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE PRESENT?  BECAUSE THE PAST ONLY ENTERS THE PRESENT AT CERTAIN TIMES.  ALMOST ALWAYS THE PAST IS BROUGHT INTO THE ACTION WHEN SOMETHING ISNT GOING THE WAY THE BRINGER WANTS.  IT IS ADDED TO LEND WEIGHT TO THE ARGUMENT THAT EXTENDS BEYOND THE RATIONAL AND EQUAL TO INCLUDE AN EMOTIONAL CONTENT.  THIS ADDED CONTENT IS INTENDED TO ADD FORCE TO THE DISCUSSION IN FAVOR OF THE BRINGER .  IT IS AN ATTEMPT BY THE BRINGER TO ACHIEVE AN OUTCOME THAT MAY NOT BE JUST AND RECIPROCAL ON ITS OWN TERMS.  IT IS A FORM OF EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL THAT IS BY ITS NATURE SUBJECTIVELY WEIGHTED AND A DEPARTURE FROM THE GOAL OF EQUAL AND RECIPROCAL JUSTICE.  IT SELDOM LEADS TO A HAPPY OUTCOME.  ALL PARTIES WIND UP DISAPPOINTED — THE BRINGER FEELS THE PAST GRIEVANCE IS NOT BEING CREDITED WITH SUFFICIENT WEIGHT AND THEREFORE FEELS UNDERVALUED AND RATHER RIGHTEOUS ABOUT IT, THE PARTY TRYING TO KEEP TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE PRESENT MOMENT FEELS MANIPULATED BY EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL THAT SHOULD HAVE NO PART IN THE PRESENT DISPUTE AND ALSO FEELS RATHER RIGHTEOUS ABOUT IT.


THE SOLUTION IS TO KEEP THESE THINGS SEPARATE AND MAKE NO ATTEMPT TO LINK THEM.  PRESENT ISSUES SHOULD BE DECIDED IN THE PRESENT WITH EQUAL RESPECT FOR BOTH SIDES.  PAST GRIEVANCES CAN CERTAINLY BE DEALT WITH, BUT SEPARATELY AND INDEPENDENTLY FROM ANY UNRESOLVED DISPUTE, AND CAN ONLY BE DONE WHEN THERE IS NO ACTIVE DISPUTE ON THE TABLE.
THERE WOULD BE LESS CONFLICT IN THE HUMAN WORLD AND LESS PRESENT INJUSTICE IF DISPUTES COULD BE DELINKED FROM ANY PAST GRIEVANCE AND DEALT WITH ON THEIR MERITS.  EXPERIENCE IS ALWAYS USEFUL IN DEALING WITH THE PRESENT, BUT TRYING TO JUSTIFY PRESENT UNJUST BEHAVIOR AS JUST SIMPLY BY FACTORING IN PAST GRIEVANCES IS AN ETHICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ERROR AND WILL PERPETUATE A PENDULUM WHICH HAS INJUSTICE AT BOTH ENDS OF ITS ARC.
THIS IS NOT USEFUL AT THE PERSONAL OR GLOBAL LEVEL.

TRUTH AND MEMORY

excerpt from SONG OF THE SKY

by

Guy Murchie

Truth is deeper than memory and, unlike memory, timeless, inviolable, unbounded.

MODUS OPERANDI

i have considered it most important in my life to understand how animals operate, particularly as it applies to the human animal, of which i am one example.  through observation and study i have been able to tease out a few rough principles over the years.  this has been materially aided by more recent studies in genetics, especially as that study relates to protein production in response to situational events.  the coding that controls chemical balance (and imbalance) in animals is found in the genes, though there is some belief among researchers that gene encoded production can be modified by experience.  the larger influence in modifying behavior experientially, though, seems to me to be intentional states that can be imposed by the conscious mind, which is cognizant of experience and is able to direct responses in ways that may modify or even run counter to genetically triggered (emotional) reactions.  whether there are more than two major influences to behavior i dont know, but using just these two types of response we can model much of what humans do and much of the tension and conflict they may feel to be an integral part of their lives.  whether consciously or not, humans in particular seem to need to build credible stories that reinforce their behaviors and emerging belief systems.  these narratives change over time with accumulating experience and are the principal cause of much of the rewriting of our memories that is happening on a continuing basis in all of us.  people at least among animals seem uncomfortable with inconsistencies of belief through time and narrative remodeling keeps a certain clarity of vision and purpose, at the cost of historical accuracy.  the operational advantages of this deception must have proved over time more useful to survival than the rather intellectual pursuit of accurate depictions of reality and truth.  this is where i have trouble myself with the mainstream understanding.  i think the bias toward operational simplicity in preference to a broader understanding of circumstances surrounding our perceptions and belief systems is now holding us back from advancing further as a species.  how this can be remedied i have no idea.  presently, individuals for the most part have neither the time nor the inclination to understand the ways they operate and prefer to believe themselves inherently capable of right decisions based on facts they may see as irrefutable.  i think most have no idea where their emotions come from and tend to trust them, their ‘feelings’, as a more reliable guide to truth than their intellect.  in fact, though emotions may indicate a relative level of importance to the individual of any circumstance, that is all they provide — there is no intelligence or rational thought until it is added by the intentional mind.  and people for the most part seem to me to be unaware of how easy it is for others with greater understanding to manipulate their emotional states in ways that may not serve their actual interests at all.

i believe we can find better ways in future to operate more honestly and intelligently and hope we survive long enough to find out.

ONLY THE MAN

excerpt from WIND, SAND AND STARS

by

Antoine de St. Exupery

I lay flat on my back, sucking my orange and counting the shooting stars. Here I was, for one minute infinitely happy. “Nobody can know anything of the world in which the individual moves and has his being,” I reflected. “There is no guessing it. Only the man locked up in it can know what it is.”

JUST ANOTHER AMERICAN OXYMORON

I WONDER IF SOMEONE CAN EXPLAIN TO ME WHY THERE ARE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES AND ELSEWHERE WHO ARE SO STRICT WITH THEIR KIDS, WHO BELIEVE IN A STRONGLY HIERARCHICAL FAMILY MODEL, NORMALLY PATRIARCHAL, PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE IN RULES AND ORDER AND OBEDIENCE AND A DEFINITE TOPDOWN MODEL OF CONTROL OF OTHER PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR AND EVEN THOUGHT, WHO PRIZE LOYALTY TO GROUP IDEALS ABOVE INDIVIDUAL OPENNESS AND HONESTY AND WHO NEVERTHELESS SCREAM BLOODY MURDER WHEN ANYONE IN OR OUT OF GOVERNMENT SUGGESTS THAT SOME CONTROLS ARE NEEDED TO REIGN IN ANTISOCIAL ACTIONS OF CORPORATIONS, ESPECIALLY WALL STREET, LONDON CITY AND THE WHOLE BLOATED AND PATHOLOGICAL FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR OF THE WORLD ECONOMY?  WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?  TELL ME.  I AM EAGER TO LEARN.


FOR MYSELF, I WOULD HAVE TO SAY I THINK THERE IS AN ALMOST PERFECT DISCONNECT BETWEEN WHAT AMERICANS IN PARTICULAR BELIEVE ABOUT THEIR COUNTRY AND THE FACTS ON THE GROUND  SO EASILY SEEN AND QUANTIFIED BY OTHERS LIVING ELSEWHERE.  AMERICANS FOR THE MOST PART BELIEVE THE OLD STORY, THE GRAND AMERICAN DREAM, THAT IN AMERICA ANYBODY CAN BECOME RICH. PUTTING ASIDE FOR THE MOMENT THE VERY REAL QUESTION OF WHETHER WANTING THIS IS USEFUL OR EVEN ETHICALLY AND PHILOSOPHICALLY CORRECT, THIS DREAM IS SO MANIPULATED BY GENUINELY RICH PEOPLE IN SUCH A PERVASIVE WAY THROUGH THEIR OWNERSHIP OF THE MASS MEDIA AS WELL AS OWNERSHIP IN GENERAL THAT THESE IDEAS ARE NOT EVEN QUESTIONED INSIDE ITS BORDERS.  WHAT OTHER PEOPLE, OBSERVING FROM OUTSIDE THE WALLS, SO EASILY ACQUIRE ARE FACTS THAT CONTRADICT THAT OLD AMERICAN DREAM.  OF THE INDUSTRIALIZED SO-CALLED DEMOCRACIES THE UNITED STATES COMES LAST IN UPWARD MOBILITY, IN THE ABILITY OF SOMEONE NOT BORN OF PRIVILEGE TO ACQUIRE IT.  THEY COME LAST IN DISPARITY OF BOTH INCOME AND  WEALTH.  ANY OF THE COUNTRIES OF EUROPE THAT SO MANY AMERICANS BRAND AS SOCIALIST WOULD BE BETTER COUNTRIES TO GROW UP IN IF ONE WANTED TO MOVE UP IN TERMS OF ANY MEASURE OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL SUCCESS.  THIS POSSIBILITY IS EXACERBATED IN AMERICA BY THE INCREASING COST OF EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE AS WELL AS THE DECLINE OF REAL WAGES AMONG THE MIDDLE CLASS, TO THE POINT THAT MORE THAN FIFTY PERCENT OF AMERICANS NOW FALL BELOW THAT DEFINITION IN TERMS OF BOTH INCOME AND WEALTH.  AND YET SO MANY AMERICANS STILL HARBOR THE DREAM.  THEY ARE LOATHE TO VOTE INCREASES IN TAXATION OR DIMINUTION OF ECONOMIC PRIVILEGE TO THE WEALTHY BECAUSE THEY STILL THINK THAT SOMEDAY, MAYBE SOMEDAY SOON, THE WEALTHY WILL INCLUDE THEM.


SUCH A CRUEL JOKE.  IT WOULD BE FUNNY IN A BLACK SORT OF WAY IF IT WERENT SO DEADLY FOR AMERICA AND INDEED, THE WORLD.

INHERENTLY INTENTIONAL?

IF I HAD TO TAKE A CASUAL GUESS I WOULD SAY THAT THE UNIVERSE, THOUGH BOTH DETERMINISTIC AND UNPREDICTABLE, IS LIKELY INHERENT AND UNINTENTIONAL.   BUT THEN THE QUESTION ARISES FROM THAT DEFINITION  — WHERE DO INTENTIONAL STATES COME FROM?  BECAUSE I THINK WHEN IT COMES TO LIFE AND THE BEHAVIOR OF LIVING ORGANISMS THERE ARE POTENTIALLY STATES WE WOULD CATEGORIZE AS INTENTIONAL AND IF SO, IM NOT CLEAR HOW THOSE STATES CAN BE CONTAINED IN AN INHERENT UNIVERSE.

DREAMING OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

WHAT WOULD YOU THINK IF I TOLD YOU THERE WERE REPORTS COMING IN FROM HEAVEN, WHERE IT HAD JUST BEEN DISCOVERED THAT HEAVEN WAS UNSUSTAINABLE AND THAT IT WAS GOING TO HAVE TO BE SHRUNK AND THERE WERE GOING TO BE REMOVALS AND THERE WOULD HENCEFORTH BE NO ROOM FOR NEW PEOPLE?   
WHY DO PEOPLE GO ON HAVING UNSUSTAINABLE DREAMS AND GOALS?  IF YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY IN THIS LIFE YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE YOURSELF BELIEVE SOMEHOW THAT YOU ARE IN HARMONY WITH YOUR WORLD.   AND THE ONLY WAY TO BE IN HARMONY AS AN ANIMAL ON THE PLANET EARTH IS TO LIVE IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY AND DREAM ONLY SUSTAINABLE DREAMS.
JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE MAY NOT EVEN HAVE TO MANUALLY LOAD OR UNLOAD THEIR DISHWASHERS, NEVER MIND DOING THEIR DISHES, JUST BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS AUTOMATED AND NO ONE HAS TO DO ANY PHYSICAL WORK, DOES NOT MEAN FOR AN INSTANT THAT ANYBODY IS GOING TO BE ANY HAPPIER.  IT IS A MINDLESS GOAL — INCREASING AUTOMATION, INCREASING ASSISTANCE FOR MUNDANITIES — IT IS LIKE WHEN PEOPLE DREAM ABOUT GOING TO HEAVEN, THEY HAVE REALLY NO CLUE WHAT THEY WOULD DO THERE.  NO ONE IS GEARED TO ENJOY ENDLESS PEACE IN HEAVEN.  WE NEED TO ACCOMPLISH THINGS FOR OURSELVES IN A DAY.  WE ARE ANIMALS AND LIFE IS ESSENTIALLY A MANUAL TRIP.  WHEN YOU HAVE ACQUIRED A MACHINE TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH FOR YOU DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO BE ANY HAPPIER?  
THIS HASNT BEEN THOUGHT ABOUT BY MOST OF US.  WE PURSUE THESE GOALS WITHOUT EVER ACTUALLY EXAMINING THE LIFE THAT WOULD OBTAIN AT THE OTHER END.  IT IS NOT SO MUCH A GOAL — IT IS JUST A MINDLESS CASCADING OF EVENTS.
WE COULD DO BETTER.

MR OBAMA AND HISTORY

PERHAPS WE HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO WRITE THE HISTORY OF THIS PRESIDENCY OR THIS TIME IN AMERICAN AFFAIRS.  IN YEARS TO COME WE MAY LOOK BACK ON THE  COMING PERIOD OF FUNDAMENTAL ALTERATION OF THE WHOLE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE IN SOMEWHAT THE SAME WAY RUSSIANS LOOK BACK ON THE LAST YEARS OF MR GORBACHEV.  LIKE HIM, MR OBAMA MAY BE PRESIDING SHORTLY OVER A FLOOD HE WILL BE IN THE END POWERLESS TO PREVENT, AND IN FACT HE MAY ULTIMATELY BE IDENTIFIED AND CREDITED (AND BLAMED) BY DIVERSE OTHERS FOR WHAT IS JUST NOW BEGINNING TO EMERGE.  MORE I THINK THE BLAME WILL TRULY RESIDE IN THE SELFISH OLIGARCHY AND THE CREDIT IN THE PEOPLE, MOSTLY YOUNG, WHO WERE JUST A LITTLE TOO WELL EDUCATED AND HAD JUST A LITTLE TOO MUCH EXPECTATION OF CHANGE, WHEN CHANGE WAS SO CLEARLY NECESSARY, TO BE QUIETED.  
JUSTICE NOT PEACE IS THE ONLY GOAL OF A LEGITIMATE SOCIETY, NOW AS ALWAYS, AND JUSTICE HAS BEEN ILL SERVED BY THIS AMERICAN FORM OF CAPITALISM AND CORPORATE RULE.
I AM NOT AT ALL CONVINCED THAT MR OBAMA IS CAPABLE OF SUCH A RADICAL SHIFT IN ACTION HIMSELF BUT I AM CONVINCED THAT HE WILL IN THE END BE POWERLESS TO OPPOSE IT AND MAY YET BECOME ITS (RELUCTANT) HERO.

IT'S A PONZI

GROWTH IS A PONZI SCHEME. THERE IS AN ULTIMATE DAY WHICH IS LIKE JUDGEMENT DAY WHEN RELIANCE ON FUTURE GROWTH TO FUEL RETURNS TO INVESTORS TODAY MUST COLLAPSE. AND THAT DAY MAY HAVE ALREADY COME. THE EARTH ISNT GETTING ANY LARGER. THE POPULATION CANNOT CONTINUE TO GROW WITHOUT DEGRADATION OF LIFE. ALOT OF OUR SOCALLED ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IS WORSE THAN USELESS — IT IS ACTUALLY KILLING OUR HOST. 
IT CANNOT CONTINUE. THE WORD UNSUSTAINABLE HAS BEEN THROWN ABOUT FOR MOST OF MY LIFETIME, BUT STILL THE MEANING REMAINS ALMOST COMPLETELY UNABSORBED BY THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN MUCH OF THE WORLD. THIS IGNORANCE CANNOT INSULATE HUMANITY FROM ITS TRUTH. IF WE DONT UNDERSTAND QUICKLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED, IS HAPPENING, AND NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN ORDER FOR HUMAN LIFE TO BE SUSTAINABLE ON EARTH, WE WILL DISAPPEAR LIKE ONE LITTLE INSIGNIFICANT NUCLEAR PICNIC IN THE COSMOS.

THEY DONT GET IT

I DONT THINK THE GENERAL PUBLIC — CERTAINLY NOT THE RIGHTWING REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE UNITED STATES — GETS IT. I DONT THNK THEY REALIZE THAT, AS WE SAW IN 1989 WITH THE MORE OR LESS DISSOLUTION OF COMMUNIST STATES, WE ARE SEEING THE END OF A PERIOD IN HUMAN HISTORY WHEN FREEMARKET CAPITALISM, WHICH DEVOLVED INTO CORPORATE RULE, IS ENDING.  


SOMETHING ELSE IS GOING TO HAVE TO COME ALONG TO REPLACE IT. THE OBVIOUS CANDIDATE IS NOT A RETURN TO COMMUNISM. I THINK COMMUNISM DIED FOR REASONS, JUST AS CAPITALISM AS A CENTRAL TENET OF SOCALLED DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES IS DYING FOR REASONS. BUT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY, WHERE GOVERNMENTS DO NOT TAKE CARE OF THE NEEDS OF BUSINESS, WHERE GOVERNMENTS ARE ALMOST ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKING CARE OF CITIZENS — INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE — IS THE LIKELY OUTCOME. IT WOULD CERTAINLY BE A BETTER SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF FOSTERING A JUST AND EQUITABLE HUMAN SOCIETY ON EARTH THAN WHAT WE HAVE HAD FOR THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS — AND ESPECIALLY THE LAST THIRTY YEARS.


DONT EXPECT THIS PERIOD OF FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL CRISIS TO EASE ANYTIME SOON — AT LEAST NOT UNTIL THE COMBAT HAS MOVED AWAY FROM PROTECTING PRIVILEGE TOWARD A GENUINE RESTRUCTURING OF EXPECTATIONS THAT FOSTERS A MORE EQUITABLE AND BENEVOLENT SOCIAL ORDER. THE ONLY FORCE AVAILABLE IN THE WORLD TODAY THAT CAN MOVE TO EASE HUMAN POPULATION EXPANSION AND THE CORRUPTION OF THE PHYSICAL PLANET IN TIME TO SAVE HUMANITY IS A STRONGER AND MORE CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT. AS DANGEROUS AS THAT MAY PROVE TO BE, WE ARE JUST COLLECTIVELY NOT YET KIND ENOUGH AND EMPATHETIC ENOUGH TO VOLUNTARILY SAVE OUR SPECIES AND OUR HOST WITHOUT AN ELEMENT OF COMPULSION. SO SORRY.

THE AMERICAN DREAM

THE AMERICAN DREAM AT ITS CORE IS A DREAM OF PRIVILEGE AND YOU CANNOT PURSUE PRIVILEGE WITHOUT ABANDONING JUSTICE — NEITHER CAN YOU PURSUE JUSTICE WITHOUT ABANDONING PRIVILEGE. AND JUSTICE IS THE ONLY GOAL OF A WORTHY SOCIETY. 
FURTHER, THE NOTION GLOBALLY OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM IS AN AFFRONT TO EVERY OTHER NON-AMERICAN HUMAN, THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF HUMANS ON THE PLANET, AND TO EVERY OTHER SPECIES. IT IS PROFOUNDLY ANTIDEMOCRATIC.

ERRORS AND CRIMES

CONTINUING TO WANT SOMETHING THAT CAUSES INJURY TO OTHER PEOPLE OR OTHER SPECIES OR THE ABILITY OF OUR HOST PLANET TO SUSTAIN ITSELF AND THE LIFE SUPPORTED BY IT IS A PHILOSOPHICAL ERROR. CONTINUING TO DO IT IS A CRIME.

LIFE'S CHEMISTRY

CHEMICAL LOVE. CHEMICAL HAPPINESS. CHEMICAL FEAR. CHEMICAL HUNGER. CHEMICAL DISTRESS. LIFE IS A CHEMISTRY SET. WE ARE ALL CHEMISTS, ALL US CREATURES, AND WE ALL INHERIT THE SAME APPARATUS.

ITS A TAX

ITS A TAX. INSIDERS HAVE FIGURED OUT WITH THE HELP OF COMPUTER-GENERATED ALGORITHMS HOW TO CHURN THE STOCK MARKET AND GENERATE INCOME TO THEMSELVES ON A DAILY BASIS AND THAT IS A TAX ON WORKING PEOPLE AND THEIR FAMILIES. IF THE PEOPLE WHO RAIL ABOUT TAXES AND PIMP FOR NO NEW TAXES WERE BEING HONEST THEY WOULD HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THE GREATEST TAX FOR LEAST RETURN ON THE ORDINARY PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES IS THE TAX THAT WALL STREET LEVIES.
ITS TIME TO CHANGE SOME RULES. ITS TIME TO CHANGE A LOT OF RULES.

PURPOSE

I WANT TO LEAVE BEHIND SOMETHING I VALUE. WHETHER OTHERS VALUE IT ALSO I HAVE NO IDEA. IF THEY DO I AM CONTENT. IF THEY DO NOT I AM CONTENT. MY OBJECTIVE IS TO DO AN HONEST THING.

WHAT BANKRUPTED AMERICA

There are two factors which combined represent probably ninety percent of it. The first was seven or eight years of aggressive militarism in Iraq and Afghanistan and everywhere around the world where there is an oilfield or pipeline route or proposed field or route, but I think an even greater source of the bankruptcy was Wall Street. They've been figuring out new and creative ways to suck more money out of the economy just by moving paper around and not really contributing anything in terms of productivity and the Bush-Cheney years represent the pinnacle of that insanity. So we started out in 2000 with a surplus and we wound up in 2008 absolutely bankrupt. There you have it: get rid of the greedy Wall Street parasites and damp the military down to what is truly defensive. It's got nothing to do with the so-called size of government or health, education or social programs, which would all in the long run be beneficial not only to people but to the economy as well.

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD IS THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES.


WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS IS CLARITY.  LIES PURPORTING TO BE KNOWN TRUTHS CONFUSE AND BEWILDER PEOPLE AND MAKE THEIR LIVES AND THEIR THOUGHTS LESS CLEAR AND LESS EASILY DELINEATED AND ACTED UPON.  RELIGIONS IN GENERAL, HOWEVER WELL-INTENTIONED, HAVE BEEN PROFESSING IDEAS THAT ARE CLEARLY NOTHING IF NOT HIGHLY SPECULATIVE AS ABSOLUTE TRUTHS FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. THE PRIESTS OF EVERY SOCIETY HAVE SOUGHT TO EXERT CONTROL OVER THEIR POPULATIONS TO ATTAIN PERSONAL POWER AND INFLUENCE AND YES, WEALTH.  THESE ARE NOT LOFTY GOALS.


IT IS A FINE THING TO TELL STORIES.  THERE ARE SOME WONDERFUL USEFUL CREATIVE IDEAS EMBODIED IN MUCH OF OUR STORYTELLING.  BUT TO FORGET WE MADE THEM UP AND START BELIEVING THEY COME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE IS AT BEST AN ERROR BOTH IN FACT AND PHILOSOPHY AND AT WORST A WILFUL FRAUD.


EVEN IF ALOT FOR A LAY PERSON HAS TO BE TAKEN ON FAITH, SCIENCE HAS FAR AND AWAY THE MOST INTERESTING STORIES, INCLUSIVE AND SEEKING NEW INPUT, ALWAYS LOOKING TO THE FUTURE, UNLIKE RELIGION THAT IS EXCLUSIVE AND DOESN'T WANT NEW STORIES AND CONSIDERS THEM HERESY AND IS ALWAYS LOOKING TO THE PAST.

WHAT I LIKE

WHAT I LIKE IS A QUIET PEACE THAT ALLOWS A MORE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE WITHIN ME TO BLOOM. THOUGH I LOVE TO WATCH THEM AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND THEM, THE FACT THAT I AM SURROUNDED BY ANIMALS AND BIRDS AND INSECTS DOES NOT INTRUDE ON WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A SOLITARY EXISTENCE. I DO LOVE PEOPLE AND FIND MYSELF OFTEN AMONG THEM ALSO BUT UNLIKE THE OTHER ANIMALS HUMANS ENGAGE ME ENERGETICALLY AND DEMAND ATTENTION BE SHIFTED FROM A QUIET INSPECTION OF ALL THERE IS TO THE CREATION OF A RAPPORT WITH THEM. 


WHEN IN THE COURSE OF MY LIFE A BALANCE OF THE TWO STATES CAN BE PRESERVED I FIND MYSELF MOST PRODUCTIVE AND MOST CONTENT. THE TWO STATES EACH MAKE THE OTHER RICHER AND PUNCTUATE MY LIFE IN A WAY THAT SUITS ME.

INSULARITY

ITS SO TIRESOME TO LISTEN TO THE AMERICANS DEBATE THINGS WITHOUT EVER LOOKING ABROAD TO SEE HOW OTHER NATIONS, OTHER PEOPLE, HAVE SOLVED THE SAME PROBLEMS.  THE BUDGET DEBATE IS JUST THE LATEST IN A TIRESOME VOLLEY OF ISOLATED AND INSULATED DEBATES.  THE AMERICANS PAY OVERALL MUCH LESS TAX THAN THE EUROPEANS.  THEY GET MUCH LESS IN RETURN FOR THE MONEY THEY DO PAY AND THERE IS A MUCH GREATER DISPARITY OF INCOME AND MUCH POORER EDUCATION AND HEALTH OUTCOMES.  IN GENERAL AMERICANS SUFFER BY THEIR IDEOLOGICAL STANCE.  THEY NEED TO BE MORE OPENMINDED, THEY NEED TO LOOK ABROAD FOR EXAMPLES OF OTHER SOLUTIONS AND THEY NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THEIR POLITICIANS ARE DOING FOR (OR TO) THEM.