A Poem For Tsumetashi24
there were no longer objective morals.
i chose to live how i’d been predisposed,
and i cared not for metaphysical consequences,
for nothing metaphysical is subject to science,
and i was predisposed to care for rational proofs.
then the philosophers showed that proofs were not truth,
and all was reduced to mere probabilities of existence,
so i snuck down into the inky recesses of my solipsism,
and there i wept one thousand years and more,
mocking all the meaning i once had.
my tears formed into rivers deep,
and quenched the throats of men with meaning,
and still i waited in the shadows of my mind,
for the whole lot of them to join me.
Diametrically Opposed?
A few words from the editor: The following passage is best understood by the modern reader by substituting the word “capitalism” found herein with “laissez-faire”. Although Mises was aware of the growth in corporatism during his life, he is not speaking as an apologist of the current form of crony-capitalism which bipartisan forces genuflect before on a regular basis.
The Anti-Capitalist Mentality by Ludwig Von Mises 1952
1 The Sovereign Consumer
The characteristic feature of modern capitalism is mass production of goods destined for consumption by the masses. The result is a tendency towards a continuous improvement in the average standard of living, a progressing enrichment of the many. Capitalism deproletarianizes the “common man” and elevates him to the rank of a “bourgeois.” On the market of a capitalistic society the common man is the sovereign consumer whose buying or abstention from buying ultimately determines what should be produced and in what quantity and quality. Those shops and plants which cater exclusively or predominantly to the wealthier citizens’ demand for refined luxuries play merely a subordinate role in the economic setting of the market economy. They never attain the size of big business. Big business always serves—directly or indirectly—the masses.
Lucretius, The Sagacious
Each man flies from his own self;
Yet from that self in fact he has no power
To escape: he clings to it in his own despite,
And loathes it too, because, though he is sick,
He perceives not the cause of his disease:
Which if he could but comprehend aright,
Each would put all things else aside and first
Study to learn the nature of the world,
Since ’tis our state during eternal time,
Not for our hour merely, that is in doubt,
That state wherein mortals will have to pass
The whole time that awaits them after death.
-Lucretius 99 – 55 BC
Where is my mind?
Macbeth: How does your patient, doctor?
Doctor: Not so sick, my lord, as she is troubled with thick-coming fancies that keep her from her rest.
Macbeth: Cure her of that! Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, raze out the written troubles of the brain, and with some sweet oblivious antidote cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon her heart.
Doctor: Therein the patient must minister to himself.
U.S. Economy Grinds To Halt As Nation Realizes Money Just A Symbolic, Mutually Shared Illusion
WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy ceased to function this week after unexpected existential remarks by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke shocked Americans into realizing that money is, in fact, just a meaningless and intangible social construct.
What began as a routine report before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday ended with Bernanke passionately disavowing the entire concept of currency, and negating in an instant the very foundation of the world’s largest economy.
“Though raising interest rates is unlikely at the moment, the Fed will of course act appropriately if we…if we…” said Bernanke, who then paused for a moment, looked down at his prepared statement, and shook his head in utter disbelief. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. None of this—this so-called ‘money’—really matters at all.” (more…)
“Spain” by Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin, and Bela Fleck @ The Blue Note
Part two of a great session. Here’s part one.
The Kingdom of God Is Within You
“The Kingdom of God Is Within You” Leo Tolstoy 1894
CHAPTER VIII
DOCTRINE OF NON RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE MUST INEVITABLY BE ACCEPTED BY MEN OF THE PRESENT DAY
Christianity is Not a System of Rules, but a New Conception of Life, and therefore it was Not Obligatory and was Not Accepted in its True Significance by All, but only by a Few – Christianity is, Moreover, Prophetic of the Destruction of the Pagan Life, and therefore of Necessity of the Acceptance of the Christian Doctrines – Non-resistance of Evil by Force is One Aspect of the Christian Doctrine, which must Inevitably in Our Times be Accepted by Men – Two Methods of Deciding Every Quarrel – First Method is to Find a Universal Definition of Evil, which All Must Accept, and to Resist this Evil by Force – Second Method is the Christian One of Complete Non-resistance by Force – Though the Failure of the First Method was Recognized since the Early Days of Christianity, it was Still Proposed, and only as Mankind has Progressed it has Become More and More Evident that there Cannot be any Universal Definition of Evil – This is Recognized by All at the Present Day, and if Force is Still Used to Resist Evil, it is Not Because it is Now Regarded as Right, but Because People Don’t Know How to Avoid It
Karamazov
paiutewovoka
contangobob
