Tag Archives: Essay on Self Reliance

Belatedly, he removed the tags….

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Ffolkes,

“What pretty lights!”

~~ Any deer, any highway, late at night ~~

hummingbird warriors

    Halloween. All Hallows Eve. Hmph…. Okay…. I suppose y’all would like me to make some comment, or acknowledgment of the day…. Well, if I must….

    BOO!….


There…. No one can say I didn’t acknowledge the holiday. And, just so it’s done, the picture came from the Animal Pictures of the Week in the London Daily Telegraph, last week. I am seriously hoping I don’t see any kids in costumes tonight, as my inner curmudgeon isn’t in the mood for frivolity just now…. An episode of SS/b (Screaming skeleton/bones…. severe arthritic pain in my hips shoulders, joints, and neck…. i.e., everywhere there is a bone, it hurts….), which built up yesterday, near the end of the day, stimulated the inner curmudgeon sufficiently, he was able to take over the wheel of this bus…

In fact, it was a miserable night, and the day promises to be a long one. The pain is better, but, still above normal, so, I’ll be spending the day doing all I can to avoid making it worse, and, essentially, trying to drug meself into oblivion…. the only place to hide. There are times when it gets harder than usual, and, in spite of reconnecting yesterday with a friend I hadn’t heard from in a while, gives today’s hope for some peace a grim visage….

Ah well, I can’t spend the entire day whining, so, I may as well get on with the rest of this, which promises to be a relatively short Pearl…. Aren’t you lucky?…. Yep…. Oh, look, it’s a way out…. We’re taking it; hold on tight….

Shall we Pearl?….

“Think of doubt as an invitation to think.” — Genius Bee

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It’s been a long time since I even THOUGHT about Chicago…. the city OR the band…. I found this a week or two ago, but, I’ve waited to listen to this, so I could use it sort of as a birthday present to myself, but, I’m gonna listen to it today, a day early…. I can’t wait…. Enjoy, ffolkes…. this band was a part of many people’s youth, a big part, mine included, because they had, and have, a unique style of music, all their own….

Chicago – Live at Tanglewood (07/21/1970) [Full Concert]

 

 

 

 

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“But the greatest of all reformers of the depraved religion of his own country was Jesus of Nazareth.  Abstracting what is really his from the rubbish in which it is buried, easily distinguished by its lustre from the dross of his biographers, and as separable as the diamond from the dunghill, we have the outlines of a system of the most sublime morality which has ever fallen from the lips of man; outlines which it is lamentable he did not live to fill up…  The establishment of the innocent and genuine character of this benevolent moralist, and the rescuing it from the imputation of imposture, which has resulted from artificial systems*, invented by ultra-Christian sects, unauthorized by a single word ever uttered by him, is a most desirable object…  *eg.  The immaculate conception of Jesus, his deification, the creation of the world by him, his miraculous powers, his resurrection and visible ascension, his corporeal presence in the Eucharist, the Trinity; original sin, atonement, regeneration, election, orders of Hierarchy, etc.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William Short, October 31 (Halloween), 1819

Note the date on the quoted letter, and you’ll understand its presence here in the ranting section today…. As indicated, I’m not in much of a place to write well just now, so, I’m going with something I had done for tomorrow, a birthday present designed for this section of tomorrow’s Pearl…. It goes along with what I started here, as it pokes fun at the Asininnies, of which the clergy are card-carrying members…. I’ll even leave in the introductory remarks, which relates the original, intended publication date…. It’s a good pearl, so, enjoy, and please excuse my disorganization today….

From tomorrow’s Pearl…..

Since today IS my birthday, I’ll give y’all a present, as is the custom of Hobbits…. Not to say I’m a Hobbit; I just like their customs regarding  birthdays…. Here is an old-school pearl, in lieu of a rant, just for y’all….

I have sublimated the urge to rant by setting the parameters for SB, or any searches, at a flexible level designed to scoop up any, and/or all comments I can find, to either stimulate thought in my Gentle Readers, or cause actual bleeding to any Asininny who happens to read it…. If nothing else, such a search is fun for me… All I have to do is click the button, and make a decision about how vulgar, or pointed, or downright cruel we should allow ourselves to be…. which, in the case of the latter, is pretty cruel, given the chosen field of targets…. Have fun, ffolkes, I intend to….

SIGH…. Since it’s my day, I may make a comment or two between pearls, if I think it’s warranted…. I’m allowed to indulge my whimsy today, without fear of penalty…. It’s in the rule book, I’ve seen it….

“The tax which will be paid for the purpose of education is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if the people are in ignorance.” — Thomas Jefferson

(It seems the intention was good, but the application was flawed… The American public is woefully ignorant….)

“If the King’s English was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!” — Ma Ferguson, Governor of Texas (circa 1920)

(It’s like Mama Gump says… Stupid is as stupid does…..)

“Gun Control – the belief that government, with its great wisdom and moral superiority, can be trusted with a monopoly on deadly force.” — Smart Bee, as pointed out by gigoid

“The treacherous are ever distrustful.” — Gandalf

(Which explains the NSA, FBI, CIA, etc….)

“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.” — The Beatles

“As war and government prove, insanity is the most contagious of diseases.” — Edward Abbey

“Demosthenes told Phocion, “The Athenians will kill you some day when they once are in a rage.” “And you,” said he, “if they are once in their senses.” — Plutarch (46-120 AD) — Life of Phocion

I could do this forever, but, I’m being nice today…. I even refrained from adding TOO many of my thoughts to the above group, comprised of an elegantly balanced collection of not-too-shabby darts, which we have dutifully thrown in the direction of the top of the societal heap…..

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I wrote this poem in 2011, I believe, after retiring, but before I had even applied for my Social Security…. My head was in a deep funk those days, which is reflected, if a bit murkily, in this poem….

A Failure to Germinate

Marking the days in elements of sad disarray
only holds me thrall, as I laugh while I may.
With cold, hard hands so impatient and cruel
pulling me to this vale of tears, a pathetic old fool.

Feelings sit silent, cast in shadows and light
breaking forth to implicate such vengeful might.
Just below the surface they patiently hide
to sally forth bravely, colors bright as they ride.

Tears and pain transform valued assets in hand
while comfort and serenity retreat to a far land.
Bold, bright patterns of hope garnish my ruinous state
until reality enters, full of disdainful portions of hate.

I sort out the illustrious measures of vision gone mild
only to find them transformed, now vicious and wild.
In my deepest desires I find myself calloused and cold
with faithless advocates whose souls have been sold.

My search finds little to support any hope of relief
far too much time has passed to bolster such belief.
The sad becomes real, and real becomes unfounded
until flights of such fancy are all dead, and grounded.

Nature has informed me of the newly hatched crime
of which reality boasted, proudly, time after time.
The last answer we think of is always the best
as we come to terms with fate, our hope at rest.

~~ gigoid ~~


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I am writing this at the point in time at which I found two of the quotes included in the pearl you see below, several days prior to writing this Pearl…. Those two quotes, the first and the last, consist of two of our society’s most well-known ideas, in the actual prose/poetry structure they were first expressed; if not first, then, the best, for sure…. How the middle will come out has yet to be determined, but, if it continues in this vein, it will end up as one of the all-time best ever pearls of virtual wisdom…. Let’s see what we can come up with to make that happen…. with some help from SB, of course….

The subject upon which we are expounding, is one of my personal favorite subjects for a pearl, to wit: A Life Well-Lived…..

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.  With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Essays: First Series (1841) “Self-Reliance”

“People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.” — Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin

“Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied.” — Chuang Tzu

“It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.” — Margaret Mead

“Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it, because they have no
way to change it. So the flexible overcome the adamant, the yielding overcome the forceful. Everyone knows this, but no one can do it.” — Lao-Tzu

“Hmph! Seriousness.  Hmph! Sobriety.  A Jedi craves them not.” — Yoda

For forms of government let fools contest;
Whate’er is best administer’d is best.
For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight;
His can’t be wrong whose life is in the right.
In faith and hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind’s concern is charity.

~~ Alexander Pope (1688-1744)~~

~~ Essay on Man, Epistle iii, Line 303 ~~


Perfect!

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Well, that went fairly well, and it’s a damn good thing; that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter. In fact, given my handicap today, and my status, I have nothing more to say on any matter…. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, hopefully in a bit better state of mind….

Y’all take care out there,
and May the Metaphorse be with you;
Blessed Be, dearest  Carole, Mark, and Theresa…
and everyone else, too…

When I works, I works hard.
When I sits, I sits loose.
When I thinks, I falls asleep.

Which is Why….

Sometimes I sits and thinks,
   and sometimes,
I just sits.

gigoid, the dubious

PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW.

Kowabunga!


À bientôt, mon cherí….


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
It’s National Hand Grenade Day…..

			
						

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Ffolkes,

As the clock struck noon, the moon rose majestically in the west. Farther on, the homeless hunters preyed upon a dilapidated group of sun worshiping bank clerks, while the maitre d’hotel shouted for more wine. Belatedly, a large, crimson cake was delivered to the kitchen door, unbeknownst to any of the appropriate managerial cadre. A heffalump charged the main desk, only to retreat at the first sign of snow from the chandeliers; no animals were harmed, or even challenged in the making of the video version. As quietly as possible, one of the late arrivals poured his quota of abuse, and ketchup, into the designated slot in the south wall. The band played on…..


Whew! Writing absolute nonsense is harder than it looks from the other side. No way in hell am I going to take THAT one any further! It about twisted me up into knots as it is; trying to create more of it would put me in bed for days. But, every once in a while, I just have to get that stuff out of my head, before it takes over and makes me write poetry, or something equally frightening. Of late, the poems I’ve written haven’t been too bad, but if this kind of stuff got added into the mix, there’s no telling what might happen. The universe itself could come to a crashing halt, or split in two, or something, and I have no desire to cause a rift in space/time…


My head feels lighter though, and that is a good thing. It always feels better out than in, and there is less extraneous angst to deal with; always a bonus, in my mind. Since we seem to have some good omens for it (though I’m not superstitious at all, of course….) we should probably head right into the regularly scheduled program….. Shall we Pearl?…..

___________________________________


“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.  Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my own constitution; the only wrong what is against it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)


I was about 15 or 16 years old when we first read this in English class, and I remember distinctly when it hit home. I was at home, studying the Essay on Self Reliance as homework. I remember how difficult it was to plow through Emerson’s style of writing, which is thick and convoluted; one must read slowly, and think about what has just been read, to fully ascertain the point he is making at the time. When I came across this line, and thought about it, I experienced an epiphany of understanding, and a lot of what he said in the essay became clear. Most simply put, he admonishes all to “Trust Yourself”…….


“I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself.  Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to Heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter To Francis Hopkinson, Paris Mar. 13, 1789


Tom Jefferson lived prior to Emerson, but had a similar approach to life, and to thinking. Individualism could be said to be Jefferson’s God; to him, each man was responsible for making himself into what he wished to be, and the self-reliance so ably encouraged by Emerson came to him naturally. Though a Christian by choice, he constantly challenged the church authorities in his writing, accusing the priestly hierarchies of the same crimes I am chastising them for today, to wit: twisting the word of Jesus Christ, manipulation of the teachings, and power-seeking behaviors more suited to barbarian chieftains than priests. Tom saw clearly the need for the continued separation of church and state, as he firmly believed that combining the two would inevitably lead to the loss of liberty he feared, and for which he fought so hard.


As we can see today, he was right. He feared both the church leaders, and the bankers and corporations. He wrote on numerous occasions of his lack of trust in those entities, as he clearly saw that they were inimical to individual freedom, and would eventually try to subvert the liberties we enjoy, by slow encroachment. Guess what, ffolkes….. he was dead right. Between the “corporate personhood” enjoyed by the elite fat cats, and the brainwashing carried out on a daily basis by the churches, the public has been manipulated into willingly giving up many of their rights for the sake of feeling safe. And why do they fear for their safety? Why, because the politicians, supported by the preachers, have convinced them that the rest of the world is out to get them, and wants to take away what they have; for God’s sake, they’re heathens!…..


Much of the nonsense that is foisted upon the unsuspecting public would be less believable if more people believed as Emerson does, and made up their minds on their own. Instead, most folks give in to their laziness, and, unwilling to think for themselves, allow the preachers and pundits to fill their heads with lies and manipulations. This lack of personal responsibility is what is killing this country; only those who are unwary can be fooled. One who takes responsibility for themselves cannot be fooled in that manner, for they are aware of the machinations that others will attempt, and react accordingly….. One can only hope that Emerson’s essay on Self Reliance becomes a best seller again, and people awaken from their self-induced state of somnolence…..

___________________________________


Lamenting Empathy, No Grace


Strange, strong, passions burn from within

Selling nothing short, nor out

Consumed, loudly, failing to mark the spin

Sad, resigned, in singular redoubt.


Fallow grounds for twisted seed

Become fated, grow, and die.

Experience never fills critical need

Save perhaps once, in ages gone by.


Shouting in severe, dulcet tone

Brittle, flaking, destiny floats away

Making noise, rattling the bone

Simple ageless fears held at bay.


We mask our illusions in faux belief

Tied to reality by matter of rote,

Send them postcards, without relief

Consecrated time, forever remote.


~~ gigoid

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The following has been edited for the ironically impaired……


“The craving for power which characterizes the governing class in every nation is hostile to any limitation of the national sovereignty.” — Albert Einstein (1879-1955)


I’ve been watching….. and I’ve come to the conclusion that the Republican bozos (Romney and Ryan) have neglected to consider one crucial factor in their tactical planning for the pre-election posturing done by both parties. That crucial aspect is commonly known as the Complete Asshole Factor….. This important principle is one that every successful candidate has learned to obey, while every loser in an election could be said to have neglected it, to their everlasting regret….


They’re assholes; they can’t help it. Complete assholes. They chose, years and years ago, to spend their lives pursuing their own selfish desires, to the exclusion of the rights and/or desires of anyone else, and the slimy stench that is produced by constantly spouting off the primary substance that issues from the area in question permeates everything they try to say or do. Often, since they HAVE learned to at least try to disguise it, they appear to be normal, reasonable men, but the smell always manages to come through, giving people the first clue as to the content of their speeches… If it looks like crap, smells like crap, and sounds like crap, it’s probably crap…..


“As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand.” — Josh Billings


One might think, given the above, that the prospective political wannabees now touring the nation by bus, so the yokels can get a closer glimpse of them, would use at least a small portion of truth in their campaigns. But, from what I’ve seen so far, they have no intention of ever coming within shouting distance of the truth. 


Unless, of course, one counts their statements about healthcare, women’s rights, human rights for LGBT citizens, immigrant rights, and Social Security; all of those are things they’ve promised to eliminate, and I think we can truthfully say they aren’t lying about those intentions. Of course, when asked about any of it in public, they hem and haw, and try to shuffle the question off with a distracting counter-attack of the questioner. so they don’t have to actually give an answer, knowing it would be a lie……


Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus (Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon)  — Hogwarts School Motto


I have a feeling that Romney and Ryan have not remembered to take this into account. By their constant lying in public venues, they are actively tickling the dragon of outrage that sleeps in every patriot’s heart. Although this election is seeing a decrease in the number of young folks involved, I believe the actions of these two rogue pundits are becoming intrusive and obnoxious enough to awaken the largest dragon we have; the middle class, of all ages. Their constant stretching and bending of the truth, when they bother to address it at all, is becoming a rock in the shoe of the American people.


They have made statements that are guaranteed to lose the vote of seniors, women, gays and alternative lifestyle citizens, Jews, Muslims, Hispanics, animal rights activists, the poor and homeless; all of them have received notice that they will have no rights at all under the administration they are promising…. and I don’t think those folks are going to sit still for it…. 


Come November, I think the dragon will awaken, and will turn its dangerous attention to the Republican party’s blatant attempt to send our society back to the middle ages…. Romney and Ryan will learn the last part of the old statement about why one shouldn’t trouble dragons…. because to them, you are crunchy, and good with ketchup…..

___________________________________


I have tried to live up to Ralph Waldo’s admonition today; all of the material created today is original, outside the attributed quotations. So be it…..  Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..




—

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.


gigoid


Dozer
Kowabunga!