I don’t suppose they like that idea much, but, then, most of the corporate monsters are accustomed to being allowed to indulge their avarice whenever they wish; since they own all the legislators, getting the laws written to protect their lines of cash flow wasn’t very hard to accomplish; the laws have favored corporations over flesh-and-blood people for many years. The internet, though, was up and running before the laws had a chance to be written, so, they are playing catch-up to that, and finding it harder, as the people are now, thanks to that internet, more aware of what the corporations have been up to over the years…

Oops! Ranting again, and, in the intro…. Shame on me. We’ll chalk this one up to the disruption caused by having to plan a trip out just to post these Pearls; Leelu doesn’t like me to leave at all; she got used to having me around, and up, during my recent two-weeks of being awake….. Leaving so early will, no doubt, cause her to go PK, and tear up some new piece of furniture while I’m gone, so she can gaze at me innocently when I find it…..

I guess I’m winding around to this point: I’m not sure how often I’ll be posting for a time, until I can secure service at home again…. So, if you don’t see me every day, you’ll at least know why…. Email is also a bit hit an miss, as I can’t check it every day, so, to get hold of me, phone or text is best for the immediate future…. Even Skype is out, without a connection to the ‘Net…. For now, all I can do is all I can do, so, here is a Pearl to hold us over until I can get squared away, technologically….. Let’s go, Luigi….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Believing ourselves to be possessors of absolute truth degrades us:  we regard every person whose way of thinking is different from ours as a monster and a threat and by so doing turn our own selves into monsters and threats to our fellows.” — Octavio Paz

A while back, I was riding the train to Oregon. It was an overnight trip, and I was, at the time, in a period when I was having medication side effects; the result was insomnia, so, I was forced by circumstance to have to listen to the conversations around me in the compartment in which I’d been seated, with a group of other senior disabled individuals, with a sprinkling of younger folks; 12 of us in all.

As in any group of humans comprising more than eight people, one of them lived up to the odds, spending as much time as possible spouting off about her “special” knowledge of just about everything, but, especially of religious matters, none of which any of the other passengers had much interest in hearing, including myself, naturally. However, we were all trapped in the compartment for much of the time, as there isn’t much to do on a train at night….

In retrospect, it seems to me this person exhibited just about every type of ignorance possible for one person to display in a 12 hour period, on more subjects than I believed one person could be completely clueless. The root cause, apparently, was her obviously recently acquired piece of knowledge, picked up in some church sect where she lived, by some slick charmer with a big smile and a confident manner of quoting scripture. She would ask an unsuspecting newbie (who boarded in the middle of the night), a series of questions about religion, then, clumsily building up to revealing the ultimate (to her) piece of esoterica, unknown to all but her and her cohorts, which made them the ‘actual’ chosen ones of God….. You see, she knew GOD’S REAL NAME!

Yep. That’s it. She’d wind around for a bit, explaining in terms of exceedingly torturous metaphysical illogic, why the mere fact of knowing His True Name made them special, then proceeded to reveal the name, which was a very bad pronunciation of the Hebrew/Yiddish word for God, i.e., Yahweh…. In short, this woman believed that knowing the old Jewish name of God gave her a special place in the eyes of God, and obviously, in her mind, made her own sect the ONLY true religion to follow…. She was absolutely convinced anyone who didn’t agree with her ridiculous (not)-reasoning was going straight to Hell when they died, though she was sure she’d feel sorry for them…. Supercilious old biddy….

When she’d revealed this wondrous knowledge, and was convinced her listener was impressed enough, she’d go on to brag about her relatives, or the special treatment she’d get when she complained about something. She was the type of passenger who would ask the train attendant to get things for her that were not a provided service. then complain when it wasn’t available, or complain at having to go to take care of something herself…. I swear, in the hours I watched this person, I could not think of a single person I’d ever met who was such a horrid human being; self-centered, delusional, ignorant, and thoroughly convinced of her own entitlement to EVERYTHING she wanted, on the basis of those same delusions…. Lazarus Long’s Mrs. Grundy, come to life, right in my face….

Perhaps the scariest part was the reactions of the other passengers; only 3 were, apparently, offended/disinterested enough to be silent, ignoring her as much as possible (I am, of course, one of those three….). The other eight were either listening intently, or nodding in agreement with much of her idiocy. Now, three of those were traveling with her, so, I can believe they fell for the same line…. This meant, of the remainder, at least four were susceptible to the line of crap being laid out, as if it made perfect sense to them…. That was when I realized our world is, well, doomed, and I was trapped in a metaphor for Life at Large, with no way out until we reached our destination….

When SB gave up the two pearls you see above, it struck me how perfectly they describe the basic, root problems in human nature which the train idiot personified so perfectly. Furthermore, I believe this to be the basic flaw which brought us to the world we live in today, to wit, a world at war with itself. Society is beset with issues of great importance to everyone alive; environmental crises, threat of world war, bigotry, racism, nationalism gone wild, business manipulating governments to increase profits, and the whole ball of wax running completely without rhyme, reason, or any sort of logical, adult supervision…. It’s as if a bunch of insane teenage ferrets were given huge doses of speed, then, let loose in a glass factory; they’ll turn every piece of glass to powder, every time….

SIGH…. I’m not sure where this should go now. I seem limited to producing really terrible analogies, (such as the ferrets…), and, though I’ve managed to hit upon the root of all our troubles, I don’t have any particular solution, other than anarchy, so, proceeding any further on those lines would just be a further indulgence of the grumpiness and cynicism which prompted the memory of Mrs. Grundy’s performance.

Hell, I’m not sure at this point why I bothered relating such a negative experience, other than for the shock value, which, I have to say, isn’t as effective as reputed. What I do know is things out in the BBR have gone sour, and all the options for the future I see are finite, at least for our species. Ah, well, we’ve had plenty of warning from history, such as our closing thought for today…. We didn’t listen very well, just like Mrs. Grundy…..

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” — Aristotle

“No man is happy who does not think himself so.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 584

“Time does not relinquish its rights, either over human beings or over mountains.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Let honor be as strong to us an obligation as necessity is to others.” — Pliny the Elder

“Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections the silly world may make upon you, for their censures are not in your power, and consequently should not be any part of your concern.” — Epictetus

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.” — Confucius say

“Only ideas that we actually live by are of any value.” — Hermann Hesse

“Truth is always exciting. Speak it, then. Life is boring without it.” — Pearl S. Buck

“‘Casting Out Fear’ ought to be the motto over every school door.” — A.S. Neill

“When it comes time to die, make sure that all you have to do is die.” — Jim Elliot

“Things are still imperfect.” — Doctor, Silver Nemesis

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Hard to know what to put in a closing such as this one; I don’t know if and/or when it will ever get posted. But, a bit of faith, (with which we are somewhat unfamiliar, I confess) and a bit of perseverance, and, all will be well…. I hope, and trust, anyway. See y’all next time, ffolkes. There WILL be a next time, I guarantee….. just can’t say when it might be…..