Saturday, February 28, 2009
Video Games
Most popular video games now are violent, glorifying war and criminals. Yet the people who play these games religiously are mostly people (kids) who would be scared shitless in a real war, or violent confrontation.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Excerpts
"One of our difficulties is that we are not really in earnest about these matters, because we do not want to be greatly disturbed. We prefer to alter things only in a manner advantageous to ourselves, and so we are not deeply concerned about our own emptiness and cruelty. Can we ever attain peace through violence? Is peace to be achieved gradually, through a slow process of time? Surely, love is not a matter of training or time."
"But what would happen if we were to put aside such obvious hindrances to understanding as authority, belief, nationalism and the whole hierarchical spirit? We would be people without authority, human beings in direct relationship with each other - and then, perhaps, there would be love and compassion."(p. 76)
"Surely, to discover truth, there must be freedom from strife, both within ourselves and with our neighbours. When we are not in conflict with ourselves, we are not in conflict outwardly. It is the inward strife which, projected outwardly, becomes the world conflict." (p. 77)
"I think we really want arms; we like the show of military power, the uniforms, the rituals, the drinks, the noise, the violence. Our everyday life is a reflection in miniature of this same brutal superficiality, and we are destroying one another through envy and thoughtlessness. We want to be rich; and the richer we get, the more ruthless we become, even though we may contribute large sums to charity and education. Having robbed the victim, we return to him a little of the spoils, and this we call philanthropy." (p. 78)
Education and the Significance of Life
"But what would happen if we were to put aside such obvious hindrances to understanding as authority, belief, nationalism and the whole hierarchical spirit? We would be people without authority, human beings in direct relationship with each other - and then, perhaps, there would be love and compassion."(p. 76)
"Surely, to discover truth, there must be freedom from strife, both within ourselves and with our neighbours. When we are not in conflict with ourselves, we are not in conflict outwardly. It is the inward strife which, projected outwardly, becomes the world conflict." (p. 77)
"I think we really want arms; we like the show of military power, the uniforms, the rituals, the drinks, the noise, the violence. Our everyday life is a reflection in miniature of this same brutal superficiality, and we are destroying one another through envy and thoughtlessness. We want to be rich; and the richer we get, the more ruthless we become, even though we may contribute large sums to charity and education. Having robbed the victim, we return to him a little of the spoils, and this we call philanthropy." (p. 78)
Education and the Significance of Life
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Announcing your plans is a good way to make god laugh.
A man makes a plan. It does not work out according to plan. What does this mean?
It means we have no claim to knowledge, regardless of the outcome.
The bargain between man and god is that man must do his best, for then the will of god is meted out according to the truth. A man who seeks anything without his best effort puts any desire at grave peril. Only the man who strives for nothing but fulfilling his potential can fall on the one true path.
A man makes a plan. It does not work out according to plan. What does this mean?
It means we have no claim to knowledge, regardless of the outcome.
The bargain between man and god is that man must do his best, for then the will of god is meted out according to the truth. A man who seeks anything without his best effort puts any desire at grave peril. Only the man who strives for nothing but fulfilling his potential can fall on the one true path.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Chomsky interview
Excerpt: "The Bretton Woods years were the era of substantial progress in establishing basic social and democratic rights, which have been under attack during the neo-liberal/financial liberalization period. To take just the United States for illustration, during the Bretton Wood years, economic growth was not only unusually rapid but also egalitarian: the poorest quintile did as well as the richest. And social indicators, general measures of the health of the society, closely tracked growth. Since the late 1970s, for the majority of the population real incomes have stagnated, work hours have increased, benefits have declined, and social indicators not only did not track growth, but in fact steadily declined."
..."with the dismantling of the system from the 1970s, functioning democracy is restricted. It has therefore become necessary to control and marginalize the public in some fashion. These processes are particularly evident in the more business-run societies like the United States. One illustration is the management of electoral campaigns by the Public Relations industry, to ensure that the public is effectively marginalized. As many studies demonstrate, the two political parties -- essentially, two factions of the ruling business party -- are well to the right of the public on many major issues, so there is a good reason for party managers to keep issues sidelined and to concentrate on personalities, "values," character, and so on. The nature of the electoral extravaganzas in American presidential campaigns is well symbolized by the fact that Sarah Palin's hairdresser is paid twice as much as John McCain's foreign policy adviser -- and her role is twice as important, for the party managers and the handlers of the candidates.
The population is not unaware of their marginalization, and naturally do not like it. 80% of the American public feel that the government is run "by a few big interests looking out for themselves," not for the benefit of the public. And a remarkable 95% object that the government does not respond to public opinion -- as is demonstrably the case."
See whole article Here.
..."with the dismantling of the system from the 1970s, functioning democracy is restricted. It has therefore become necessary to control and marginalize the public in some fashion. These processes are particularly evident in the more business-run societies like the United States. One illustration is the management of electoral campaigns by the Public Relations industry, to ensure that the public is effectively marginalized. As many studies demonstrate, the two political parties -- essentially, two factions of the ruling business party -- are well to the right of the public on many major issues, so there is a good reason for party managers to keep issues sidelined and to concentrate on personalities, "values," character, and so on. The nature of the electoral extravaganzas in American presidential campaigns is well symbolized by the fact that Sarah Palin's hairdresser is paid twice as much as John McCain's foreign policy adviser -- and her role is twice as important, for the party managers and the handlers of the candidates.
The population is not unaware of their marginalization, and naturally do not like it. 80% of the American public feel that the government is run "by a few big interests looking out for themselves," not for the benefit of the public. And a remarkable 95% object that the government does not respond to public opinion -- as is demonstrably the case."
See whole article Here.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
what is the tension here? Scarcity drives capitalism because it's what gives resources value. But when a resource is renewable (solar, wind, geothermal), it loses all value once the capturing mechanism is paid for, and thus becomes maintainable at a minimal cost.
with current resources, because they are scarce they are controlled by a few and thus many people do not have access at a price they can afford. A resource like education, though, can be distributed exponentially - teachers teaching teachers - if the infrastructure is in place.
a big part of not being happy with what you have and always wanting more is vanity. Believing that your material wealth defines you as a person and therefore you become more important, which drives confidence and perceived happiness. but the foundation is weak because for living life from day to day, a self-image built on possession must certainly be shaky or susceptible to change, as all things change and perish eventually. But i think a lot of people go through life like this because everyone - or most - buy into it, which gives the belief so much power. When someone else believes you are important because of wealth, that reinforces your belief. And the economy reinforces it too because you have access to desirable activities and goods.
with current resources, because they are scarce they are controlled by a few and thus many people do not have access at a price they can afford. A resource like education, though, can be distributed exponentially - teachers teaching teachers - if the infrastructure is in place.
a big part of not being happy with what you have and always wanting more is vanity. Believing that your material wealth defines you as a person and therefore you become more important, which drives confidence and perceived happiness. but the foundation is weak because for living life from day to day, a self-image built on possession must certainly be shaky or susceptible to change, as all things change and perish eventually. But i think a lot of people go through life like this because everyone - or most - buy into it, which gives the belief so much power. When someone else believes you are important because of wealth, that reinforces your belief. And the economy reinforces it too because you have access to desirable activities and goods.
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