EXCERPT FROM WHAT THE MAN IS

by Hank Schachte

To possess another human being.  To be zealous, jealous, in thrall of chemical love, infatuated, passionate — what is that?  Something genetic, an urge, a force of nature to ensure the survival of the species, a package delivered from and by the genes, genes which are nothing but the collected strategies of time.  And it would come to a personal bad end.  It did not serve the individual.  To think of individual life is a philosophical error; in the long run there could never be such a thing; that singular thing exists only briefly, privately, fleetingly, like unstable particles with their rapid decay, rapid like the decay of a life.  To think of chemical love as a form of prejudice and a form of possession, not of the object desired but possession of one’s own will by an independent force — a triumph of species over self.

How delightful she is.  How every part of me enjoys enlisting in the deception.  How I favor her in every way, excuse her transgressions, boast her triumphs, aid her, enable her whenever I can without compromising my own ethics — every thought of her, every belief about her, colored warmly with this overlay of chemical prejudice.  How deeply unfair this necessity called love.

WISDOM, STUPIDITY

this life starts and this life ends. wisdom consists of knowing what is real. stupidity consists of believing your own bullshit — or other people's. it amounts to the same thing.

BIG RED C

okay, listen up guys — i've called this meeting to make some important and very exciting announcements about our company! as you know, we have pretty well dominated the local market here, to the point of saturation, and the books look good! profits are at record levels thanks to your vigorous and unflagging efforts to expand the business into every nook and cranny within delivery distance of our production facility. so we've been doing some planning. bob, here, in new markets, has come up with a whole network of connections that we intend to deploy to cover the entire kingdom — map, please — look at that! we're going everywhere! now what i need from you folks is courage, ambition and absolute belief in the mission. who will be the first to step forward and volunteer to go out and set up these new facilities? we've got the plan, you've got the opportunity. who are the boldest, most dynamic members of my team? who wants to help us make it real? and don't talk to me about risk — there is always risk! look back, remember our early days. how many were defeated? how many gave up? it was tough going. we nearly got wiped out, but a few of us hung on, we dug in our heels and refused to give up. and little by little we prevailed. we won this territory but it was a hard-fought victory, and a lot of us didn't make it. never mind — the thing is, those brave few pioneers paved the way for all the good times we've all enjoyed, all the rewards that follow success.
but wait! there's more! we not only have new network plans, we not only have new corporate branding — did i mention the new logo? — the marketing guys have come up with a whole new name! from now on — now look at this— we are BIG RED C! BIG RED C! don't you love it?! BIG C for commitment, BIG C for control, BIG C for conquest, BIG C for corporation, BIG C for corruption, BIG C for cancer! and don't anybody talk to me about metastasizing, that's a dirty word. we're just doing our job.

INJUSTICE

what animated Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and many other leaders of social movements around the world in recent times also animated many fine writers of the period, including Albert Camus, Walt Whitman, Henry Thoreau and others. it was injustice and it is still the main problem humanity has failed to address.

achieving social justice is the only conceivable path to peace within and between nations. capitalism, which has produced much material security in the industrialized world and has improved the lives of many people, is unfortunately based on inequality and it is therefore profoundly unjust and antidemocratic at its root. to speak of capitalist democracy is an oxymoron. the only democracy that could conceivably be entitled to the name is social democracy, which puts people ahead of capital at the centre of the state.

this social definition of democracy excludes communism and all other forms of insular centralized rule not answerable to the entire citizenry it seeks to govern. it excludes military action, invasion and threats of invasion, it excludes intimidation, destruction and murder of any people for any reason anywhere on earth, whether motivated by religious fervour or greed or for control of others who may be perceived as threats, or for any purpose whatever.

the use of intimidation, destruction and murder to achieve political ends is the dictionary definition of terrorism. armies, mostly state armies, have done most of the killing of humans on this planet and continue to do so. they are the large-scale terrorists so often ignored in discussions about terrorism and defence against it.

war is an almost uniquely human activity but it does not define us. war is not the reason there are seven billion humans alive today. cooperation, much more than the too-lauded competition that so often leads to conflict, is the real strength of human society. it is cooperation which has permitted human ascendance on the planet and it needs to be broadened to a final inclusiveness that encompasses all people everywhere. we need to permit the United Nations to evolve into a world-scale government of social democracy as a final highest-level force for cohesion and justice on this isolated and insulated little orb of ours.

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

the NPR is mostly about politics, and that turns out to be, sadly, mostly american politics, which is unfortunately important in the present state of the world, but it is not often interesting. also, it ignores a reality that a great many people in the world, perhaps even the majority of people, observe when they look out their windows — the fact that it is peaceful out there. the danger in the media focus is that if we continue to hear only of strife, privation, power and other imbalances we may wind up living out our lives in a kind of make-believe setting that ignores a great part of the real world, the part which would make us more hopeful for our progeny and more willing to work for improvement ourselves. 

we are learning about ourselves, about animal life and all life, about our planet and the cosmos, at an unprecedented rate which like the cosmic expansion is accelerating. the fact that we will have to drag along in our wake the (genetically programmed) reluctant ultra-conservatives among us should not blind us to the speed we have reached in our species-long quest to satisfy our curiosity about everything we see. the work done and being done now deserves to be savoured and saved and built upon, and someday it may finally become an important focus of our public culture. balance would improve us all — including the NPR.

HOW SIMPLE, HOW IGNORANT

i used to think it was kind of lame for people to take meds to solve personality and emotional disorders, until i came to know well some people who really seemed to thrive only after the right meds were discovered for them. i read much about brain architecture and chemistry then, much that was new, really just learned since the advent of fMRI studies and personality genetics, until it finally dawned on me one day that the only reason i had used to think people shouldn't take meds was because i didn't need them. how simple. how ignorant.

i am afraid that the same kind of ignorance is rife in the political debates of today. the right wing types who think it is bad to help people in need are mostly just the types who — for reasons that may not be to their personal credit, but speak more to their situation — misunderstand why they themselves don't need any help, or fail to see how much help they in fact have already been given, and so strive to deny help to those who truly do need it.

sometimes our own experience can provide us very clear insights and sometimes our own experience is misunderstood by us. and when we project that misunderstood experience onto others whose lives we don't really intimately know, the mistakes we make are not useful, and the consequences of our misunderstanding can be tragic.

WHAT PEOPLE DO

not many people would like to be controlled by intimidation, not many people would like to have their possessions and their homes destroyed, not many people would like to be the victims of assault and murder, in fact when we find people who actually wish for these things to happen to themselves we consider them psychotic and try to help them improve their mental condition. why then do we not consider the people who perpetrate these crimes psychotic as well?

much of this modern world is operating on the basis of intimidation, destruction and murder — that is what armies do — and much excusing is done for it in the quest for global domination by the people who wish to dominate others in order to better secure comfort for themselves. in such a world comfort and security are never actually possible for anyone and it never will be possible until people broaden their interest to include comfort and security for all. 

i remember during the Iraq invasion how the Bush regime loudly proclaimed they were bringing freedom to the Iraqi people, but wouldn't the first freedom any society requires be freedom from invasion?

SPENDING WISELY

i listened to a canadian radio program this saturday morning, amazed. it was just listing ad nauseam all the most successful manufacturers and merchandisers of commodity products, sort of like listing the best hockey scores or football bowl winners of all time. i am still surprised that intelligent people i know listen to this program every week. i don't get it. the most successful manufacturers, retailers, advertisers in terms of sales — what do they have to teach me of any value? 

there is important information being generated every day about the cosmos, about life, animal life, human life, about the material universe, what it consists of and how it works, how we work, how best we can solve our very real and critical problems, problems that prevent us from finding justice and peace and security for now and the future, of how best we can prevent the destruction of the ecosystem of earth, including ourselves, and still provide for our needs in an equitable and sustainable way. and yet people find time to learn instead which clever marketers sell the most beer.

there is barely enough time to get on with it, without wasting most of it in useless production and consumption, not only of products, but of ideas. there are only so many thoughts in an hour, hours in a day and days in a life. time is the currency. it is what you are spending every day, and you will run out.      

i had a motto when i was younger — never wake sleeping people. now i think maybe that was wrong — maybe the most important thing one can do in this life is just exactly that — try to wake people from such trivial diversion. 

the final infidelity is to think it doesn't matter what you do.

EPIGENETICS

the whole notion of the powerful effects of epigenetics over genetics in the development of personality is going to be treated unkindly by history. it is promulgated mostly by people who believe they are self-made successes who will go to heaven when they die. 
of course we change our behaviors as we accumulate experience, otherwise why have a memory? but that is very much a second-level effect, and even the ability to change is limited by our genetic inheritance. when you remove the sentimental free-will bias toward life forms that life forms seem to get trapped in it becomes chemistry, and when you look in there it becomes mechanics, and that is no longer a suitable place for hopes and dreams — but it is a great place to learn something.

ASTRONOMY FOR KENYON

it is all well to study the relative motions of heavenly bodies, to learn some of their names, learn some of the history we have deduced from observation of how the cosmos has come to manifest itself in ways we can see and appreciate today, and i can help you do that. but to me the most important thing to learn from studying astronomy is the vast scale and incredible inhospitableness of the powerful forces arrayed in the universe against any notion of life, forces which are embedded in an equally inhospitable void of unimaginable dimensions, contrasted with the incredibly small habitable dots of safety for life, like the one we call earth; and worse, the wilful sacrifice of parts of this tiny arena of safety in a hostile cosmos by some humans who are engaged in making portions of it equally inhospitable to life by their own greed, ignorance and vicious disregard of others that they somehow perceive to be, even if only slightly, different and less important than themselves. 

if you can hold somehow in your head a map of the scale and size and overwhelming power of things in the cosmos, both (largely) empty space and the deadly convulsive radioactive clots of matter it contains, and never forget how vanishingly brief the role of living things is or how vanishingly small the percentage of the whole cosmos is that is safe for life to inhabit, maybe you will help find better ways for us here on earth to relate to our home and the others we share it with who, seen from any distance, are exactly the same as us.
h

OUT IN THE SUN

out in the sun
melting the frost
the grasshopper
is moving slow

THESE SHOES ARE MINE

these shoes are mine
these boots are mine
this cabin
these thoughts.
there is a simple world
before and beyond 
the great world of woe.

ENDS AND MEANS

the old end justifies the means argument rests on the assumption that neither one is fictional.  in reality the means are everpresent and ruefully if not brutally real while the ends never arrive, but are always just one more action away, retreating apace as the troops advance, like the mirage they are.

DISTINCTIONS

there are important distinctions that people need to make during life if common pitfalls are to be avoided. one is the distinction between getting along with others, which is laudable, and going along with others, which is problematic. 
another distinction, difficult for many people, is between blame and responsibility, both our judgement of others and subsequent reaction to them, and our understanding and judgement of ourselves. you are not to blame for being you. believe me, you did not design yourself, not even in some pretty trivial ways. but ultimately, you are responsible for your actions. that is the job of being human in a social world. however difficult it may be for you, ultimately you must take ownership of what you do and do your best to curb the worst excesses of brain chemistry, architecture and function you have inherited without choice. similarly, in reacting to others' actions, it is good to remember that they are just the first victims of their crimes, when crimes are committed. it is possible to condemn egregious behavior without committing unuseful behavior of your own by condemning the person being held responsible. a more useful and helpful reaction is to see if through a patient and rational response, you and society in general can in fact improve future outcomes for all.

KNOWLEDGE

as humans we know a pitiful small amount of what is going on in the universe.
death, which includes the death of the brain, will not enhance our understanding.

GOOD SCIENCE

good science improves our understanding of ourselves. it improves both philosophy and ethics. the inverse is not true.

HOW I GOT HERE

by now i am old. i am here. how i got here was not the product of a grand design; more, it was the product of a series of many very small decisions which almost imperceptibly directed me along a poorly defined path. that path was the path of my choosing. if  i were not happy now, it would mean merely that i am not inherently a happy person. if i didn't like my life it would tempt me to conclude that i do not like life. period.
fortunately, for me and the people around me, i am pretty much biased chemically, which is to say genetically, toward euphoria. i suppose there is noone really to thank for that, since my parents did not consciously elect which traits to give me or which competing traits would come to dominate my mental architecture and processes. but i think its ok to be just generally grateful that an evolution to such a state was or has become available. 

GETTING LIGHTER

things are taken away.
my mother
my father
my sister
my brother.
i keep getting lighter.

THE VETO

The United States president enjoys the power of a veto, just as the members of the security council in the United Nations do, but the power of the president is not absolute - it can be overridden by a super- majority in congress. This has proved workable over the years in curbing the excesses of presidents who may be out of touch with a large majority of the representatives of the people. Such a system should be employed by the world body, which urgently needs to curb the excesses of powerful state interests in world affairs. If two-thirds, or some other number of a majority of nations represented in the general assembly, could vote to defeat the veto exercised by a security council member, the United Nations might finally become useful in improving the behavior of nations of the world.

Failing this, the only way forward will be to eliminate the veto - or the whole security council - which seems more unlikely than the prospect of limiting the absolute power of its members.

WHAT BUSINESS IS IT OF YOURS?

IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, WHICH HAS BLED HEAVILY INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST, EVERYTHING IN  AMERICA WAS BUSINESS. IN MY YOUTH I HAD NO INTEREST IN IT.  I OPENED MANY DOORS THEN, LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE; BEHIND EACH DOOR, INTO EACH ROOM I PEERED, I WAS DISAPPOINTED TO FIND JUST ANOTHER ENTRANCE TO THE GREAT HALL OF BUSINESS. THIS INCLUDED DOORS LABELLED MUSIC, ART, LITERATURE, FILM, MEDICINE AND EVEN MY PRECIOUS SCIENCE, ALSO SOME ITEMS I DID NOT VALUE PURSUING LIKE RELIGION. THIS WAS A CENTRAL DISILLUSIONMENT WHICH CAUSED MUCH OF MY ALIENATION AND HAS COLORED MUCH OF MY LIFE EXPERIENCE.  IN EUROPE  SO-CALLED EGGHEADS AND LONGHAIRS FARED BETTER, RECEIVING A LEVEL OF APPRECIATION IN THEIR RESPECTIVE SOCIETIES THAT SEEMED TO AMERICANS LIKE CRAZY ADORATION, RATHER THAN THE ADORATION FILM STARS AND GANGSTERS AND SPORTS HEROES AND ESPECIALLY WEALTHY PEOPLE OF EVERY CALLING INCLUDING MAFIA TYPES ENJOYED IN AMERICA.

MY SOLUTION WAS BASICALLY TO LEARN TO LIVE ON THE SMALLEST POSSIBLE INCOME AS A DEFENSE AGAINST SPENDING ALL MY TREASURE - MY TIME - PURSUING GOALS I DID NOT VALUE.  I READ AND REREAD AMERICANS LIKE HENRY THOREAU AND WALT WHITMAN, GAINING RESOLVE AND LESSENING MY FEELING OF ISOLATION. THERE WERE MANY OTHERS - ALAN PATON, TOLSTOY, JOYCE, DOSTOEVSKY, CAMUS; PLAYWRIGHTS LIKE ARTHUR MILLER, TO SAMPLE JUST A FEW; COMPOSERS LIKE CHARLES IVES, HENRYK  GORECKI,  RANDY NEWMAN; FILM DIRECTORS AND SCREENWRITERS, DE SICA, SATYAJIT RAY, JIRI MENZEL AND MANY EUROPEANS FROM EVERY COUNTRY.  THESE WORKS FROM THESE COUNTRIES WERE LARGELY MADE WITH SUPPORT FROM GOVERNMENTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, AS THE GREAT WORKS OF OTHER CENTURIES HAD BEEN SUPPORTED BY DYNASTIES AND RELIGIONS AND OTHER ELITES.  NOW IT SEEMS TO HAVE FALLEN LARGELY TO THE PROFIT MOTIVE TO FUND THESE WORKS AND THE GREAT BULK OF IT IS SHABBY AND CONTEMPTIBLE.  PAINTING IS A BUSINESS, A GALLERY BUSINESS, LITERATURE IS A PUBLISHING BUSINESS, ALSO LARGELY STEERED BY PERCEIVED PROMOTABILITY NOT LASTING WORTH, AND THE EFFECT IS BEING FELT AROUND THE WORLD.  PROSPERITY AS A GOAL HAS CONTRIBUTED TO OVERPRODUCTION AND USELESS PRODUCTION AND EVEN SUICIDAL PRODUCTION, LIKE NUCLEAR AND OTHER WEAPONS OF WAR, ALL IN THE NAME OF SOMEBODY'S PROFIT, EVEN OBSCENE PROFIT IF AT ALL POSSIBLE.  THERE SEEMS TO BE NO REASONABLE LIMIT TO THE LUST FOR WEALTH AT ALL COSTS, INCLUDING HUMANS WASTING MOST OF THEIR TIME AND MOST OF THE PLANET.

I DOUBT AN ALTERNATIVE REALITY WAS AVAILABLE AT THIS STAGE IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE ANIMAL, I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT A SUBSEQUENT STAGE WILL ARRIVE BEFORE THERE IS NOTHING LEFT BUT ASHES.

EVIDENCE OF FREE WILL

THE SOCALLED DEFEAT OF THE FREE WILL CONCEPT BY NEUROSCIENTISTS DOING fMRI, WHICH SHOWS THERE IS A SPIKE OF ACTIVITY IN YOUR BRAIN BEFORE YOU WIGGLE YOUR FINGER AND IT IS ONLY AFTER A DELAY THAT YOU ACTUALLY WIGGLE YOUR FINGER, AND THAT, FURTHER, YOU ARE ALSO NOT CONSCIOUSLY AWARE OF THAT SPIKE, WHICH TO THEM REPRESENTS THE DECISIVE MOMENT, UNTIL AFTER IT HAS TAKEN PLACE,  SUGGESTS TO SOME SCIENTISTS THAT THERE IS NO FREE WILL.  BUT IT IS A RIDICULOUS AND ANNOYING ASSERTION.  YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT A MECHANISM  - THE IDEA SPIKE THAT IS IN YOUR BRAIN IS CAUSED BY YOU, THE TIME LAG BETWEEN THE MOMENT THAT THE SPIKE WHICH IS GENERATED IN YOUR BRAIN FIRES OFF AND THE TIME IT ENTERS YOUR CONSCIOUS MIND IS ANOTHER INTERNAL DELAY, BUT IT IS ALL YOU - THE SPIKE IS YOU, IT IS CAUSED BY YOUR MIND, IT IS CAUSED BY YOUR WILL, AND THE CONSCIOUS RECOGNITION OF THAT DECISION TAKING PLACE AFTER  ANOTHER SMALL DELAY IS YOU, WHETHER OR NOT THE DELAY IS MORE THAN THE DELAY IN THE TIME IT TAKES FOR YOU TO PERFORM THE ACTION - BUT REALLY, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT SOME OTHER FORCE CAUSING THE WIGGLING, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE TIME LAG BETWEEN THE TIME YOU DECIDE TO WIGGLE YOUR FINGER AND THE TIME THAT THE THOUGHT  BECOMES CEMENTED IN YOUR MEMORY AND RECALLABLE  IN YOUR SUBSEQUENT MENTATION. THE DELAY IS IN FILING THE INFORMATION FOR RECALL, NOT IN INITIATING THE THOUGHT.  SO IT IS ANNOYING WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO USE THAT AS  PROOF OF ANY SORT OF PHILOSOPHICAL NOTION.  IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PHILOSOPHY, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FREE WILL.  I THINK FREE WILL IS A DICY CONCEPT FOR MANY REASONS BUT THAT IS NOT ONE OF THEM, THAT IS NOT EVIDENCE OF ANYTHING EXCEPT THE MORE OR LESS MECHANICAL DELAY  IN THE PROCESSING AND STORING OF INTENTIONAL ACTIONS, IN THE TIME WE ARE MADE AWARE OF THEM IN THE FORM OF RECALLABLE RECOGNITION.  FOREGROUND OR BACKGROUND, IT IS ALL US, THERE IS NOTHING FROM OUTSIDE.  

WHERE FREE WILL REALLY RUNS INTO TROUBLE IS WHEN ONE LOOKS AT THE INFLUENCE OF DNA MATERIAL ON ALL DECISONMAKING.  IT BLURS THE LINE MOST UNCOMFORTABLY BETWEEN INHERENT ACTIONS AND INTENTIONAL ACTIONS; ALSO, THE ABILITY TO CHANGE OUR BEHAVIOR OVER TIME, CONSCIOUSLY AND/OR EPIGENETICALLY, IS A CHARACTERISTIC INHERENT IN OUR GENES IN A VARIETY OF STRENGTHS FROM BIRTH.  

IT COULD BE ARGUED ON A PHILOSOPHICAL LEVEL THAT DNA DOES NOT REALLY BELONG TO US, WE DIDN'T INITIALLY, AND CAN NEVER DURING OUR LIFETIMES, CHOOSE ANYTHING ABOUT IT, IT COMES DOWN TO US AS THE COLLECTED SURVIVING STRATEGIES OF OUR SPECIES AND WHAT THAT REALLY LEADS TO IS NOT A DISCUSSIN OF FREE WILL AT ALL BUT A LARGER AND MORE RADICAL DISCUSSION OF WHAT EXACTLY CONSTITUTES AN INDIVIDUAL.  THIS INDIVIDUAL, UPON WHICH THE MORAL AND GOVERNING PRINCIPLES OF OUR MODERN WESTERN STATES IS BASED, IS ITSELF A FICTION.  THERE REALLY IS NO SUCH THING - A PERSON EXISTING WITHOUT OTHER PEOPLE OR THE COLLECTED EXPERIENCE OF THE PAST BOTH EXTERNALLY BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY INTERNALLY.  THIS IS AN UNSTABLE CONCEPT.

STUPID MEN

STUPID GUNS.  THE RHETORIC IS NAUSEATING.  IN TERMS OF GUN DEATH THE UNITED STATES HAS 10.20 GUN DEATHS PER 100,000 PERSONS PER YEAR - 3.2 HOMICIDES, 6.3 SUICIDES, 0.2 UNINTENDED AND 0.1 UNDETERMINED.  THE UNITED KINGDOM, A COUNTRY MUCH LIKE THE US IN TERMS OF DEVELOPMENT AND LITERACY RATES AND EXPERIENCE OF SO-CALLED DEMOCRACY, HAS 0.25 OVERALL DEATHS, 0.04 HOMICIDES, 0.17 SUICIDES, 0.01 UNINTENDED  AND 0.02 UNDETERMINED.  THAT IS 40 TIMES AS MANY GUN DEATHS IN THE US.  FORTY TIMES!

THE EXPLANATION IS SIMPLE:  THERE IS NO PERCEIVED RIGHT FOR PRIVATE CITIZENS TO CARRY FIREARMS IN UK  AND THERE ARE VERY FEW GUNS THERE.  THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY THE SAME NUMBER OF VIOLENT PEOPLE, PSYCHOTIC PEOPLE, SUICIDAL PEOPLE, HOME INVADERS, SCHOOL INVADERS, CURIOUS CHILDREN, PETTY CRIMINALS AND THE LIKE, THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IS THE NUMBER OF GUNS THAT ARE FOUND WITHIN ITS BORDERS. 

WAKE UP AND LOOK AROUND!  AND DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION, A DOCUMENT FROM A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TIME WRITTEN BY ELITIST MEN FROM A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT COUNTRY, WILFULLY GROSSLY MISINTERPRETED IN THE PRESENT WITH OUTRIGHT LIES BY STUPID STUBBORN MEN WHO FEEL STRONG ONLY WHEN THEY CAN WITH A FINGER KILL ANYBODY THEY CHOOSE.

IT ISN'T AMERICA THE STRONG AND FREE, IT'S AMERICA THE PARANOID BULLY.  AND WHERE ARE THE GODDAMNED WOMEN?  WHERE ARE THE BRAINS?  ALL I SEE IS COWARDS AND FEAR.

SIGNIFICANT PAPAL TRIVIA

IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT THIS PAST WEEK OR SO TO AVOID A BARRAGE OF SPECULATION SURROUNDING THE ELECTION OF A NEW ROMAN CATHOLIC POPE WHEN TRYING TO ACCESS CURRENT NEWS, BOTH WORLDWIDE AND LOCAL.  NOW THANKFULLY THE CORONATION IS OVER AND SOON WE CAN REVERT TO THE USUAL DIET OF SEX ABUSE AND FINANCIAL ABUSE SCANDALS WITH A CATHOLIC FLAVOR.  THE SPECULATION HAS BEEN INTENSE AND HAS COVERED MUCH TRIVIA IN ITS EFFORT TO PREDICT THE DIRECTION OF THE CHURCH UNDER ITS NEW LEADER BUT THERE IS SOMETHING I PERSONALLY FIND VERY SIGNIFICANT WHICH HAS SO FAR BEEN COMPLETELY OVERLOOKED — THE FACT THAT THE NEW PONTIFF PREFERS BOXER SHORTS.  THIS I FIND DEEPLY IMPRESSIVE AND TO ME IT INDICATES A SHARP BREAK WITH THE PAST, A BREAK WITH TRADITION WHICH SUGGESTS THE CHURCH WILL SHORTLY BE UNRECOGNIZABLE TO OLDER MEMBERS OF THE FAITHFUL, A BREAK WHICH SUGGESTS THAT IN FUTURE THE CHURCH WILL NO LONGER BE AN ASSEMBLAGE OF CYNICAL AND AMBITIOUS INSIDER INVESTORS AND HYPOCRITICAL MISOGYNIST PATRIARCHAL CHILD MOLESTERS AND THEIR CRIMINAL APOLOGISTS, A CHURCH VAINLY DEDICATED TO STOPPING THE FLOW OF REASON, TO STOPPING THE CRITICAL PASSAGE OF MANKIND FROM AN IGNORANT AND SUPERSTITIOUS PAST TOWARD AN OPENLY INCLUSIVE, INTELLIGENT FUTURE.  

IF ONLY.

IDEALOGUES

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?

THIS NOTE COULD BE APPLIED WITH JUSTIFICATION IN THE PRESENT TIME IN AMERICA TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WHICH IS INFLICTING MUCH PAIN AND SUFFERING ON THE GREAT BULK OF CITIZENS WHO ARE NOT AMONG THE ONE PERCENT.  THAT THE PAIN IS REAL AND THE PEOPLE INJURED MORE COMPELLING THAN AN ABSTRACTION WILL SHORTLY BE WIDELY REALIZED.  THE REPUBLICAN LEADERS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS IN THE FINANCIAL AND ENERGY SECTORS WHO HAVE SYSTEMATICALLY DENIED THE GREAT MASS OF PEOPLE RELIEF FROM THEIR INCREASINGLY PAINFUL INDEBTEDNESS ARE GUILTY, PLAIN AND SIMPLE, OF INHUMANITY.  THEY DESERVE TO BE CONSIGNED TO OBLIVION AND THE HISTORY BOOKS, WHERE THE LESSONS LEARNED WILL BE TAUGHT TO FUTURE GENERATIONS OF POLITICAL ACTIVISTS.  THE REPUBLICAN PARTY — AND THOSE IT REPRESENTS — IS VICIOUSLY OBSOLETE.

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.