Tuesday, November 24, 2015



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)

28 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. AS IT IS PLENTY

      As 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)

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    2. I suppose to a leftist EVERY LIVING SOUL must be seen as a VICTIM of SOMETHING. ;-)

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  2. It's sad, but true of many, many people.

    JMJ

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    Replies
    1. If so, whose FAULT could it be, Jersey?

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    2. Vanity? It's just a human condition.

      JMJ

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    3. Not Vanity so much as MENTAL LAZINESS and GULLIBILITY, Jersey.

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    4. A study of the career of EDDIE BERNAYS might help you understand a little better.

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  3. ________ I Hail Thee, Obama ________

    In 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

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    Replies
    1. You're hailing the wrong guy. Obama is not the cause of Americans having less.

      JMJ

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    2. As is too often the case, Jersey, YOU MISSED the POINT of the POEM.

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    3. Okay, 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.

      JMJ

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    4. 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.

      "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 ... ;-)

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    5. The explanation you seek, Jersey, may be found in these lines:

      ... 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 . ;-)

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  4. Probably a result of biological need and hunter-gatherer breeding...

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    Replies
    1. Wanna know the real damage that the Left afflicts upon societies...

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    2. Interesting article. Thanks for linking.

      I 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.

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    3. The Left was polite BEFORE the internet was invented? Who knew?

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    4. Obviously, Thersites, we have been confronted here with a mind filled with poppycock activated by sporadic sprinklings of fairy dust. ;-)

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  5. An enduring human condition twisted to modern culture.

    On 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...

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  8. ________ Provide, Provide ________
     
    The 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)

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  9. “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.”

    ― Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity

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    Replies
    1. 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?

      And 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?

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    2. Indeed it is filled with subtlety.

      Following suspicion, finding of evidence, arrest, indictment, trial, a guilty finding, and sentencing you should. In a nutshell, following due process.

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