Having thus explored today’s opening photo, we’ll go on to the rest of today’s mess without further delay…. What’s the hurry? Oh, well, nothing much…. Typing is painful today, and my “head’s all empty, & I don’t care”… So, I’ll be archive diving for most of this one, without any guilt at all…. Hey, it’s the holiday season, and I can take a day off if I want to…. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it….

In fact, I’m going to do it without any of the usual angst or discussion around the emptiness and sheer drudgery of making the intro, and head right off into the archives… Well, after picking an appropriately fresh video for your viewing enjoyment, anyway…. I’m hoping y’all won’t get used to this, though, as I can’t guarantee it will be like this again…. For now, just hang on, because this one will be short, but rough….

Shall we Pearl?

“No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.” — Plato, Laws

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Here is another of my favorite TV shows from my youth…. The hero in this Western was a true Knight, and, along with my father, provided much of the role modeling I took in as a boy…. Paladin WROTE the Rules….

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Here is a relatively short discussion of Self Reliance, Emerson-style, from the archives…. This is pretty good, ffolkes, so, pay attention, if you please….

From 8/23/2012:

“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, Jefferson constantly challenged the church authorities in his writing, accusing the priestly hierarchies of the same crimes for which I chastise them 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 he feared the bankers and corporations. He wrote on numerous occasions of his lack of trust in those entities, as he clearly saw they were inimical to individual freedom, enemies who 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 most 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 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, and 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…..

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The following pearl is a nine-star comment on Life at Large, with a tilt toward how to do so with some dignity, or, at minimum, a degree of aplomb…. Really, that’s what it says…. Honest….

“Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.” — Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD) — Meditations, iv, 17

“Virtue knowing no base repulse, shines with untarnished honour; nor does she assume or resign her emblems of honour by the will of some popular breeze.” — Horace (B.C. 65-8)

“A wise man never refuses anything to necessity.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 540

“The mightiest rivers lose their force  when split up into several streams.” — Ovid

“Tell the truth, and run.” — Yugoslav proverb

“He knows not when to be silent who knows not when to speak.” — Publius Syrus (42 BC) — Maxim 930

“Life is too short to be taken seriously.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“There is no gathering the rose without being pricked by the thorns.” — Pilpay (or Bidpai) — The Two Travellers, Chap. ii, Fable vi

“Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you; if you don’t bet, you can’t win.” — Lazarus Long

See? I’ve been telling y’all for years…. it’s all in the wrist….

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It is probably a good thing I don’t do this for anyone but myself; if I did, I would, no doubt, be liable for any damage I may have caused, whether inadvertently, or intentionally…. My own rules dictate I take responsibility, but, I do so with the known caveat, to wit: it’s a joke, damn it! Just because it isn’t always funny, doesn’t mean it’s not a joke…. believe me. I know. See y’all tomorrow, ffolkes, unless someone talks me out of it….