The people recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment.
~ Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979)
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
28 comments:
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Victims of comfort.
ReplyDeleteAS IT IS PLENTY
DeleteAs it is, plenty;
As it’s admitted
The children happy
And the car, the car
That goes so far
And the wife devoted:
To this as it is,
To the work and the banks
Let his thinning hair
And his hauteur
Give thanks, give thanks.
All that was thought
As like as not, is not
When nothing was enough
But love, but love
And the rough future
Of an intransigent nature
And the betraying smile,
Betraying, but a smile:
That that is not, is not;
Forget, forget.
Let him not cease to praise
Then his spacious days;
Yes, and the success
Let him bless, let him bless:
Let him see in this
The profits larger
And the sins venal,
Lest he see as it is
The loss as major
And final, final.
~ W. H. Auden (1907-1973)
I suppose to a leftist EVERY LIVING SOUL must be seen as a VICTIM of SOMETHING. ;-)
DeleteIt's sad, but true of many, many people.
ReplyDeleteJMJ
If so, whose FAULT could it be, Jersey?
DeleteVanity? It's just a human condition.
DeleteJMJ
Not Vanity so much as MENTAL LAZINESS and GULLIBILITY, Jersey.
DeleteA study of the career of EDDIE BERNAYS might help you understand a little better.
Delete________ I Hail Thee, Obama ________
ReplyDeleteIn speechless wonderment I sit and grieve ––
Hopeless, now deprived of further gain ––
And left without much in which to believe.
I still feel good, however, ‘neath the pain.
Living with far less might take me back ––
To a leaner, harder, better time ––
Hope, Ambition, there took up the slack ––
Exciting prospects beckoned past the Grime.
Enjoyment costs so little when we’re poor
Once accepted, limitations move
Beyond the barriers of the Secure
And liberate the mind and soul to prove
Money might pay one to lick my boot,
And yet for Love it is no substitute.
FreeThinke
You're hailing the wrong guy. Obama is not the cause of Americans having less.
DeleteJMJ
As is too often the case, Jersey, YOU MISSED the POINT of the POEM.
DeleteOkay, so what's the point? Why the title? What the f'n hell do you believe Obama represents? For Christ's sake, sometimes I swear you reside in a purely contrived universe.
DeleteJMJ
I'm surprised you couldn't see it for yourself, Jersey. The point IS that we as a species are most often at our best when faced with challenges. When things are too easy for us, we grow bored, jaded, and seek artificial, often harmful ways to amuse ourselves. but, when we're up against it, we're more apt to tap into our creativity and work hard to find ways to make our circumstances more pleasant.
Delete"Sweet are the uses of adversity" is the way Shakespeare put it –– or is that phrase found in the Bible?
The nation has gone to pot under the rule of Obama, only a fool would doubt that, but I said in my verse that what has happened under his watch MAY prove to be a blessing in disguise.
The God you don't want to believe in works in mysterious ways ... ;-)
The explanation you seek, Jersey, may be found in these lines:
Delete... Living with far less might take me back ––
To a leaner, harder, better time ––
Hope, Ambition, there took up the slack ––
Exciting prospects beckoned past the Grime.
Enjoyment costs so little when we’re poor ...
Yagotta read the WHOLE thing before daring to react in print . ;-)
Probably a result of biological need and hunter-gatherer breeding...
ReplyDeleteWanna know the real damage that the Left afflicts upon societies...
DeleteInteresting article. Thanks for linking.
DeleteI would posit that it is neither the left or right that is the engine of the cited problem. Rather the internet with its easy and near universal anonymity is the primary engine.
The Left was polite BEFORE the internet was invented? Who knew?
DeleteObviously, Thersites, we have been confronted here with a mind filled with poppycock activated by sporadic sprinklings of fairy dust. ;-)
DeleteAn enduring human condition twisted to modern culture.
ReplyDeleteOn the positive side, we can also "recognize our souls" and "find ourselves" in wonderful thing we've built or created, or in our children.
We can also do so when using tools once wielded by our grandparents, or playing an old fiddle given to us by an older musician, now long gone...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNot relevant to the quote cited.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIrrelevant to the quote cited.
Delete________ Provide, Provide ________
ReplyDeleteThe witch that came (the withered hag)
To wash the steps with pail and rag,
Was once the beauty Abishag,
The picture pride of Hollywood.
Too many fall from great and good
For you to doubt the likelihood.
Die early and avoid the fate.
Or if predestined to die late,
Make up your mind to die in state.
Make the whole stock exchange your own!
If need be occupy a throne,
Where nobody can call you crone.
Some have relied on what they knew;
Others on simply being true.
What worked for them might work for you.
No memory of having starred
Atones for later disregard,
Or keeps the end from being hard.
Better to go down dignified
With boughten friendship at your side
Than none at all. Provide, provide!
~ Robert Frost (1874-1963)
“A freedom which is interested only in denying freedom must be denied. And it is not true that the recognition of the freedom of others limits my own freedom: to be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future; the existence of others as a freedom defines my situation and is even the condition of my own freedom. I am oppressed if I am thrown into prison, but not if I am kept from throwing my neighbor into prison.”
ReplyDelete― Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity
An intriguing notion filled with subtlety, but what could it have to do with Marcuse's accusation that we are a people defined by our implicitly foolish veneration of material contrivances?
DeleteAnd why should I not be able to "throw my neighbor into prison" if he poses a direct threat to my personal safety, security or property rights?
Indeed it is filled with subtlety.
DeleteFollowing suspicion, finding of evidence, arrest, indictment, trial, a guilty finding, and sentencing you should. In a nutshell, following due process.