The far, far left
Anything that exists can be defined in some manner by its extremes. The rain. Snow. Peace movements.
The last mentioned has its share of people that range from those whose are moderately inclined towards the Democrats to people whose believe that 100% of the world’s wealth should be shared equally by 100% of the world’s population.
Some of the most talented artists in America belong to the far left. Michael Moore is one of them. Often when a person like Mr. Moore speaks in the media, people who support his views support him even further and people who don't believe in his views dismiss him completely. This is a serious problem as his views have great amount of merit in them and deserve a closer look by much of American society that today is involved in introspection more than ever before.
Maybe people like Mr. Moore need to factor in the fact that America is strong and there will always be some advantage it would try to garner as a result. Uganda would do the same, if it enjoyed the same degree of power that America does today. It has something to do with human nature.
If you have seen the movie Pulp Fiction, you will remember the scene where the religious Jules played by Samuel L. Jackson arrives at the truth in a one sided metaphysical discussion with a man holding up a diner. With a gun in his hand he dismisses all that would be fair and just. All he says is, “The truth is Ringo, I am the strong and you are the weak.”
Mr. Moore is idealistic, which is a great thing to be. However, one wishes that intelligent people like him abandon some of the idealism just a little bit while speaking in public, so that they would not be dismissed completely by a large section of the population. For all its virtues, idealism will be the last commodity to be globalized.
If people are able to distinguish between rank opportunism and the inevitable playing out of the natural laws driven by the innermost attributes of human nature that crave to conquer, then they will be able to see which one is the real extremist. Is it the moviemaker with a big mouth or is it the President that offers only binary choices?
Anything that exists can be defined in some manner by its extremes. The rain. Snow. Peace movements.
The last mentioned has its share of people that range from those whose are moderately inclined towards the Democrats to people whose believe that 100% of the world’s wealth should be shared equally by 100% of the world’s population.
Some of the most talented artists in America belong to the far left. Michael Moore is one of them. Often when a person like Mr. Moore speaks in the media, people who support his views support him even further and people who don't believe in his views dismiss him completely. This is a serious problem as his views have great amount of merit in them and deserve a closer look by much of American society that today is involved in introspection more than ever before.
Maybe people like Mr. Moore need to factor in the fact that America is strong and there will always be some advantage it would try to garner as a result. Uganda would do the same, if it enjoyed the same degree of power that America does today. It has something to do with human nature.
If you have seen the movie Pulp Fiction, you will remember the scene where the religious Jules played by Samuel L. Jackson arrives at the truth in a one sided metaphysical discussion with a man holding up a diner. With a gun in his hand he dismisses all that would be fair and just. All he says is, “The truth is Ringo, I am the strong and you are the weak.”
Mr. Moore is idealistic, which is a great thing to be. However, one wishes that intelligent people like him abandon some of the idealism just a little bit while speaking in public, so that they would not be dismissed completely by a large section of the population. For all its virtues, idealism will be the last commodity to be globalized.
If people are able to distinguish between rank opportunism and the inevitable playing out of the natural laws driven by the innermost attributes of human nature that crave to conquer, then they will be able to see which one is the real extremist. Is it the moviemaker with a big mouth or is it the President that offers only binary choices?
Man Lion
Let us delve back into mythology for a bit and see as to what lessons it might have to offer.
Once upon a time there was a king. His name was say Hiranyakasipu. He was a very evil man and ruled his land with an iron fist. Many a time the Gods looked down upon him with disgust and words like “regime change” began to ring freely in the ever-changing corridors of the clouds.
Now Hiranyakasipu was a man who to say the least was very ambitious. He made penance to the Gods with great intensity. So great was his penance, that the Gods had no choice but to offer him a boon.
Some people say that Hiranyakasipu was a man of few wants. This however was not reflected in his wish. He said, “Please grant that I never be destroyed by any man or animal; either inside or outside my residence; neither during the day or the night; neither by any weapon; neither on air nor on earth and (as what I suspect to be an afterthought) I acquire all mystical powers.”
The Gods had no choice but to grant him these powers. Hiranyakasipu had pretty much covered all his bases. He was fairly sure that nobody could hurt him. He wreaked great havoc on other lands as well on his own people and soon became the lord and master of the world. Millions of people were forced to have their fries without mayonnaise and that was the least of his atrocities.
Hiranyakasipu was happy and contended with his status and power. One thing was troubling him though. His son insisted on ignoring his accomplishments, considerable as they were, and focused all his energies on prayer. Despite Hiranyakasipu’s repeated entreaties he considered the Gods to be the real deal and his father an impermanent blot on the story of civilization. This infuriated Hiranyakasipu and he ordered his guards to kill his son. But the Gods were looking out for his son and the demons were not able to singe even one hair on his son’s forehead. Hiranyakasipu knew when he was beaten and backed off.
One day Hiranyakasipu asked his son as to what his favorite lessons in school were. He was in a reasonable mood and would have settled for “Math” or even “Piano recitals”. But he was shocked and angered to hear his son say, “The prayer class, where I pay homage to the Gods.”
He raised his fist to strike his son, who stood near a column. The column split into two and out from it came a beast of great ferocity. It had the head of a lion and the body of a man. It had long, sharp claws and sharp teeth, would strike fear into your heart, guaranteed. Hiranyakasipu was undaunted. He remembered his boon and knew that it was impossible for him to die.
A fierce battle ensued between Hiranyakasipu and the beast.
This beast, unknown to Hiranyakasipu, was an incarnation of one of the Gods. It fought him till twilight when at Hiranyakasipu’s doorstep, it lifted him on its thigh and killed him. It ripped out Hiranyakasipu’s intestines with its hands and wore them as a garland.
How did the great leader of the evil regime die? Hiranyakasipu was outwitted on the account of transcendental cleverness. The beast with the head of a lion and body of a man was neither man nor animal. The beast (it seems impolite to keep referring to this creature as a beast, so let us acknowledge it by its name “Narasimha” which translated means man-lion) killed him during twilight, which any amateur photographer will be able to tell you is neither night nor day. Narasimha killed him with his hand, which could not be defined as a weapon by any standards. He killed him by placing him on his raised thigh which was neither on air nor on earth.
So Hiranyakasipu for all his powers was not invincible.
He was evil and was overthrown; not preemptively but only when he struck and made himself unbearable to one and all. None of his citizens were injured in the attack.
And it took “transcendental” cleverness to get rid of him.
Let us delve back into mythology for a bit and see as to what lessons it might have to offer.
Once upon a time there was a king. His name was say Hiranyakasipu. He was a very evil man and ruled his land with an iron fist. Many a time the Gods looked down upon him with disgust and words like “regime change” began to ring freely in the ever-changing corridors of the clouds.
Now Hiranyakasipu was a man who to say the least was very ambitious. He made penance to the Gods with great intensity. So great was his penance, that the Gods had no choice but to offer him a boon.
Some people say that Hiranyakasipu was a man of few wants. This however was not reflected in his wish. He said, “Please grant that I never be destroyed by any man or animal; either inside or outside my residence; neither during the day or the night; neither by any weapon; neither on air nor on earth and (as what I suspect to be an afterthought) I acquire all mystical powers.”
The Gods had no choice but to grant him these powers. Hiranyakasipu had pretty much covered all his bases. He was fairly sure that nobody could hurt him. He wreaked great havoc on other lands as well on his own people and soon became the lord and master of the world. Millions of people were forced to have their fries without mayonnaise and that was the least of his atrocities.
Hiranyakasipu was happy and contended with his status and power. One thing was troubling him though. His son insisted on ignoring his accomplishments, considerable as they were, and focused all his energies on prayer. Despite Hiranyakasipu’s repeated entreaties he considered the Gods to be the real deal and his father an impermanent blot on the story of civilization. This infuriated Hiranyakasipu and he ordered his guards to kill his son. But the Gods were looking out for his son and the demons were not able to singe even one hair on his son’s forehead. Hiranyakasipu knew when he was beaten and backed off.
One day Hiranyakasipu asked his son as to what his favorite lessons in school were. He was in a reasonable mood and would have settled for “Math” or even “Piano recitals”. But he was shocked and angered to hear his son say, “The prayer class, where I pay homage to the Gods.”
He raised his fist to strike his son, who stood near a column. The column split into two and out from it came a beast of great ferocity. It had the head of a lion and the body of a man. It had long, sharp claws and sharp teeth, would strike fear into your heart, guaranteed. Hiranyakasipu was undaunted. He remembered his boon and knew that it was impossible for him to die.
A fierce battle ensued between Hiranyakasipu and the beast.
This beast, unknown to Hiranyakasipu, was an incarnation of one of the Gods. It fought him till twilight when at Hiranyakasipu’s doorstep, it lifted him on its thigh and killed him. It ripped out Hiranyakasipu’s intestines with its hands and wore them as a garland.
How did the great leader of the evil regime die? Hiranyakasipu was outwitted on the account of transcendental cleverness. The beast with the head of a lion and body of a man was neither man nor animal. The beast (it seems impolite to keep referring to this creature as a beast, so let us acknowledge it by its name “Narasimha” which translated means man-lion) killed him during twilight, which any amateur photographer will be able to tell you is neither night nor day. Narasimha killed him with his hand, which could not be defined as a weapon by any standards. He killed him by placing him on his raised thigh which was neither on air nor on earth.
So Hiranyakasipu for all his powers was not invincible.
He was evil and was overthrown; not preemptively but only when he struck and made himself unbearable to one and all. None of his citizens were injured in the attack.
And it took “transcendental” cleverness to get rid of him.
Star
I look up at the morning sky
As I prepare to leave the darkness of the subway
The stairs leading up are lit with a strong sidelight
The glint from the iron hand rails show me the leaves
That have floated down
The birds, they are squinting, I am happy it is bright
I pray it is warm too
Sorry sun, I realize that I ask too much of you.
I will stop (asking too much of you) soon
For I have a plan.
I am going to inhabit a forgotten corner of the world
Get many atoms of hydrogen
I am going to throw then together and be sure to raise
The temperature to twenty million Fahrenheit (at this stage I will remember to drink plenty of water)
Causing it to flare and produce great amounts of heat
It will look like you, O Sun
And taking advantage of years of mental conditioning that you have produced,
People will stay away from this region
As they realize that such an object is not suitable to be conquered
Or inhabited – and let us not spare anybody’s feelings
Icarus is not the best of conversationalists.
There will finally be a region on the earth
Which no one will fight for;
There will be no principles at stake
For how can anyone argue with heat? And to continue reading from my wish list
If President Bush gets defeated in the next round of elections
And Donald Rumsfeld gets a new pair of glasses
And a softer sounding voice, which I believe
Is coming into fashion soon
I will look into their eyes.
Eventually I am sure that I will have ceased looking; then I will go to my region
And nudge the hydrogen atoms around
They will come together more actively giving birth to greater
Amounts of helium, some of which I shall distribute to
all the balloon sellers in India Gate, New Delhi and the rest I shall
Nudge around more, causing them to produce carbon
In this manner I shall form heavier and heavier elements
In a procession that would be approved by Mendeleev
And when he pats my back, I shall say
“Not now, I have work to do”, And this time around, I would not be lying
For when the energy has been consumed and there remains none
To produce iron, I shall call up all of my friends
We shall inhabit this cold brown surface
Watch again the sunrises and sunsets; Banish all people with
grand sounding opinions and ideas. We shall play soccer, eat pizzas and falafels; all the time
remembering to drink lots of water.
I look up at the morning sky
As I prepare to leave the darkness of the subway
The stairs leading up are lit with a strong sidelight
The glint from the iron hand rails show me the leaves
That have floated down
The birds, they are squinting, I am happy it is bright
I pray it is warm too
Sorry sun, I realize that I ask too much of you.
I will stop (asking too much of you) soon
For I have a plan.
I am going to inhabit a forgotten corner of the world
Get many atoms of hydrogen
I am going to throw then together and be sure to raise
The temperature to twenty million Fahrenheit (at this stage I will remember to drink plenty of water)
Causing it to flare and produce great amounts of heat
It will look like you, O Sun
And taking advantage of years of mental conditioning that you have produced,
People will stay away from this region
As they realize that such an object is not suitable to be conquered
Or inhabited – and let us not spare anybody’s feelings
Icarus is not the best of conversationalists.
There will finally be a region on the earth
Which no one will fight for;
There will be no principles at stake
For how can anyone argue with heat? And to continue reading from my wish list
If President Bush gets defeated in the next round of elections
And Donald Rumsfeld gets a new pair of glasses
And a softer sounding voice, which I believe
Is coming into fashion soon
I will look into their eyes.
Eventually I am sure that I will have ceased looking; then I will go to my region
And nudge the hydrogen atoms around
They will come together more actively giving birth to greater
Amounts of helium, some of which I shall distribute to
all the balloon sellers in India Gate, New Delhi and the rest I shall
Nudge around more, causing them to produce carbon
In this manner I shall form heavier and heavier elements
In a procession that would be approved by Mendeleev
And when he pats my back, I shall say
“Not now, I have work to do”, And this time around, I would not be lying
For when the energy has been consumed and there remains none
To produce iron, I shall call up all of my friends
We shall inhabit this cold brown surface
Watch again the sunrises and sunsets; Banish all people with
grand sounding opinions and ideas. We shall play soccer, eat pizzas and falafels; all the time
remembering to drink lots of water.
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