Ffolkes,
And what was easy, “To advise another.”
~~ Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Thales, ix ~~
I suppose bass ackwards is as good as our normal format. Due to the constraints placed upon me by the loss of function in my hands for much of the day, these Pearls have been going through a series of changes in how they are constructed….. The new technique involves a break, to rest my hands, or shoulder, or back, or hip, until it stops complaining, about every five to ten minutes…. Even now, as I type this, my left arm is growing numb, thus forcing an adjustment in content and structure….
From your viewpoint, this is probably a good thing, as it keeps my ranting to a minimum, thus shortening these Pearls by a significant margin. That’s okay by me, they’ve been growing too large for even my taste, and I’ve been looking for ways to cut it all back a bit…. I didn’t, however, think that would be accomplished by forcing me to experience enough pain to alter my habits…. So much for my vaunted intelligence, eh, what?….
Ah well, such is life, and it goes on, and on, and on, regardless of our reaction to it…. Whining about it won’t help, so, I’ll stop right here, resolving to, instead, jump right into today’s effort, just to see if there is any way to get it done in this frame of mind…. I’m all about new adventures, though I think I’d prefer a bit less pain involved in whatever happens…. just a personal preference, which, I’m sure, Murphy and his myrmidons will be happy to ignore….
That’s it…. that’s all I’ve got, ffolkes…. This, choppy and sparse as it may be, is all there is going to be in the intro today…. I’m giving in, after a fashion, to expediency, just like a well-trained consumer should do at this time of year, during the annual commercial frenzy held each year’s end to stimulate the economy, so all the corporate entities can start off the new year with a solid profit margin….
Yawn…. there he goes again…. Never mind, ffolkes, let’s get on with it, okay?….
Shall we Pearl?
“Don’t be confused by surfaces; in the depths everything becomes law. What is necessary, after all, is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. Walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours–that is what you must be able to attain.” — Rainer Maria Rilke
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Today’s video offering is a lead-in for the rant to follow, in section three of today’s post. This will give y’all a solid batch of supporting evidence, as well as a taste of the proper attitude to assume when speaking of our beloved ruling classes, to wit: disdain, bordering on disgust….. At least George was able to make us laugh about it; I suppose it’s better than crying, which would be just as appropriate, under the circumstances….
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“It seems a little silly now, but this country was founded as a protest against taxation.” — Smart Bee
This rant has been percolating for some time; the quotes you will see scattered throughout the text were collected over the course of several days, during Smart Bee sessions looking for other material to support different sections. These all had some connection to the same politireligirant, the same one I’ve been working on so long, my spell checker doesn’t even blink at the word any more….
The pertinence of the opening quote struck me with considerable force, as it coincided with receiving a bill from one of the huge corporate entities so familiar to us all today; the logo of this particular fake person closely resembles the Death Star, strangely enough, which is probably enough for you to identify it…. In this bill, I noted that the figures quoted to me, as pertaining to a service I ordered, had been inflated in the final tally by a number of taxes, from local, state, and federal agencies, none of which had been mentioned as part of the price…. This didn’t count the “surcharges”, or the mandatory “monthly equipment rental fee”, also added on to the price without mention.
I once read a blog post by another person which tallied up all the different taxes to which we, as American citizens, are required to pay at one time or another during our lives…. There were well over a HUNDRED taxes listed, such as Death taxes, (we get taxed for dying?….), Inheritance taxes, (a tax on the survivors of those who have died….), Sales taxes, Use taxes, from every level of government, and a host of others, some of which I’d never heard of, but, are on the books…. It’s astounding to see how we Americans have BECOME the very people our ancestors warned us against becoming, to wit: slaves of the corporations and churches….
“… men say the gods have a king because they themselves either are or were in ancient times under the rule of a king, For they imagine not only the form of the gods, but their ways of life to be like their own.” — Aristotle, Politics
Here we see, perhaps, part of the reason for the apathy most Americans display regarding the responsibility for governing their own lives; it is easier for them to just accept all the lies. Finding truth can be a difficult task, which most people learn to avoid early in life, thus giving control of those lives into the hands of any who will manipulate them…. Plus, there is a large percentage of our species who not only don’t like to think, but, spend a large portion of their time on this planet ensuring that nobody else does so, either….
“A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.” — Eric Hoffer
For the most part, though, people just don’t care, because they don’t have the time or energy to spare for anything other than the bare essentials of living; finding shelter, food, and companionship takes up 99% of their minds and attention, leaving little time to wonder about whether or not any of what they do is helpful, or will actually do anything to make their lives better…. So, they listen to anyone who will tell them what they want to hear, who will fulfill that need to have someone else do the worrying about the future…. This, of course, only gives the predators more control….
“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” — Justice Louis D. Brandeis, dissenting, Olmstead v. United States, 277 — U.S. 479 (1928)
I’ve been pounding this point for a couple years now, with little effect, beyond the release I feel for getting it out of my head. That’s a big help to me, but, it isn’t having much of an effect on the overall picture, nor will it, until human nature itself undergoes some radical changes…. If I weren’t such a realist, I’d hold out some hope for that, but, quite frankly, I don’t see it happening….
I’ve run out of steam; the combination of futility plus pain plus dying hope makes any further comments I might relate completely superfluous…. not that they were ever critical in any sense…. other than in their essential truthfulness. But, this is already long enough, so, I’ll just dump y’all right here, and finish off the rant with a short set of pearls to drive the point home…. IF it strikes y’all, feel free to spread the point around… It can’t hurt, and it just might help. One never knows, do one?….
“Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, so don’t kid yourself…’ — Frank Zappa
“A statesman is what politicians call themselves.” — Smart Bee
“No matter how often a lie is shown to be false, there will remain a percentage of people who believe it is true.” — Law of the Lie
“Will Rogers never met Rush Limbaugh.”– Smart Bee
“When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.” — Max Lerner
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Like a feather on the back of my hand.”
~~ T.S. Eliot ~~
I’m not sure, but, it seems to me that I’ve seen more little phrases like this one, perfect in almost every way, with T.S. Eliot’s name appended to them, than I have seen from just about any other poet I know. It demonstrates the kind of beauty, power, and simplicity of expression I strive to achieve, whenever I open up one of my veins to allow a poem to leak out of my imagination…. Here is one wherein I came somewhat closer, than in most of what I write….
From August of 2012:
In the most patient moments of rationality
kindness flows smoothly in a special milieu,
fallow thoughts speed first from equality
to give no anxious fever, anger to eschew.
Indignant mothers and step-sons in-law
shall fade simply from brilliant to grey,
intoning ritual dogma, fresh, avid, and raw,
falling, falling, in massive pastoral disarray.
Safety lives not, save brightly in ignorant bliss,
it follows us all, silent and infinitely frail,
foremost too often, soft as a virgin kiss,
alive, always eager, willing, and pale.
Intimate knowledge finds only the bold few
with courage and virtue to gift, unbidden.
No solemn royal version may pass in review,
true love for man, never to remain unhidden.
Sweet feathers of Emily’s hope uplift,
calm, drowsy episodes bursting with light,
With final glad cries we set ourselves adrift,
swimming in the oceans of natural delight.
When sorrow is banished, in ages yet to come,
roots solidly anchored, cold and remote,
Ample supplies of kindness sit silent and dumb,
and the old stranger shrugs on his faded coat.
Dreaming, then, I wait with shadows in the night
aspiring to inspire, a message from the muse’s heart
Never forgotten images, framed in color bright,
tempt me only, grieving, steeped in serenity’s arcane art.
~~ gigoid ~~
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Life sure does seem like a crap game sometimes, doesn’t it? This pearl took almost an entire day of wrangling with SB, who, for some reason, has been reluctant to cooperate very much of late…. Ah well, it’s done, and came out fairly well…. Enjoy…. or not. Your choice, as always….
“We never reflect how pleasant it is to ask for nothing.” — Seneca
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” — Socrates
“Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth. When perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt
to be angry when he hears the truth, any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.” — Tacitus
“Think of your ancestors and your posterity.” — Tacitus (54-119 AD) — Agricola, 32
“Believe me, a thousand friends suffice thee not; In a single enemy thou hast more than enough.” — Ali Ben Abi Taleb
“What is man’s chief enemy? Each man is his own.” — Anacharsis (f1. c. 600 B.C.), Scythian philosopher — Quoted in Stobaeus, Flor., II, 43
— barely time to wait.
Whoa ho, what I want to know:
— where does the time go?
~~ Robert Hunter ~~
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If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect myself of cheating…. Nonetheless, it’s done, and just in time for me to explode into inaction…. On that cryptic note, I shall leave you for another day…. According to the plan, as it now exists, I will see y’all tomorrow…. Keep in mind, however, what ‘they’ always say about the best laid plans…. Oh, boy, ffolkes, NOW I’m scared….
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.
À bientôt, mon cherí….
gigoid 