wisdom

Sunday, May 13, 2012
***************************************
WISDOM
*************************
Since life has an unhappy ending
(sometimes even an unhappy beginning and middle)
man has invented religion whose function is to cushion the blow of death
by making promises it is in no position to keep.
*
In metaphysics as in economics
it is always the 1% that makes a comfortable living
by exploiting the 99%.
*
I was educated by monks,
and I remember an older friend warning me:
“The problem with monks is that
they know little about the real world.”
And sure enough, these monks lost all their possessions
to a gang of crooks that promised to double the value of their assets
by making smart investments in a growing economy.
*
What do I know about the real world?
Very little—so little in fact that it might as well be nothing.
An angry woman once said to me:
“Yours is the kind of wisdom
that’s available to anyone with a library card.”
She was right.
Reading books – what could be easier?
Reading reality – that’s what’s separates the men from the boys,
and ultimately the deceivers from their dupes.
#
Monday, May 14, 2012
**************************************
METAPHYSICS
**********************
Truth shall set you free.
By contrast, propaganda shall poison the well,
shut the doors of perception,
and paralyze the mind.
*
If to recycle propaganda were a capital offense,
all dupes would plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
*
Whenever we say yes to lies,
we raise a wall between us and reality.
*
God knows everything, including all the phone numbers
in all the phone books of the world
even though he has no use for them.
*
A statement is absurd
when its contradiction makes as much or more sense.
*
God is love but prefers not to get involved in human affairs.
That’s the only way to explain the rape of children
and the massacre of innocent civilians.
*
We are not smart enough to understand God
but stupid enough to speak in His name.
#
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
**************************************
CIVICS 101
*******************************
ON DEMOCRACY
******************************
Democracy is a work in progress.
It creates an environment wherein dialogue, evolution, and progress
become possibilities.
By contrast, in all other forms of governance,
decline and degeneration become certainties.
What we have in Russia and Armenia today
is pseudo-democracy or a combination of oligarchy and kleptocracy.
Power is like money:
those who have it are never satisfied with what they have.
They want more…with no end in sight.
*
ON NATIONALISM
*******************************
We are not nationalists, we are tribalists.
Germans under Hitler were nationalists.
The first two letters of “Nazi” stand for nation.
When they sang “Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles,”
they meant the nation stands over the provinces.
When we sing our national anthem we say
(or used to until very recently):
“Our homeland, miserable and masterless,”
meaning without a single master or power structure.
*
ON TURKS
***************************
Even if Turks were to agree with all our demands,
that would not be the end of our problems.
Turks are not a solution, they are an obstacle
if only because we put too much faith in what they can do
and not enough faith in what we can do on our own.
We call Turks denialists.
So are we whenever we place all our eggs in a Turkish basket.
#
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
********************************************
FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
*************************************
To know better does not mean to be less confused.
*
There is always a residue of unforgiveness in all forgiveness.
*
If an imam or bishop were to say
the sun rises in the east and sets in the west
I would do my utmost to prove him wrong.
*
At one time or another even the most civilized people on earth
have behaved like Turks.
That’s why on the Genocide issue Americans are pro-Turkish.
*
A truth cannot be repeated often enough.
A lie stated once is already too many times.
*
At the source of all atrocities there is a belief system
based on absurdities.
*
If I ever write my memoirs
I will begin with a chapter titled “Childhood and Youth,”
which will contain only two words:
“Good riddance.”
#





Warning: If you ever receive an e-mail from me

asking for financial assistance,

please ignore it.

It's probably from a pirate in Somalia.