My ISO was really high, so I went with the already blurry/abstract/dark baseline that I had to work with and took it deeper/darker/more abstract with Adobe Lightroom...
[Foto by AlexTangoFuego]
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Tango Passion Abstract
Here's a shot of Gustavo y Cristina from Milonga Thai Passion at Esquina Tango in Austin the other night. It's called "Thai Passion" because this regular Thursday milonga used to be held at the restaurant of the same name...and the name stuck...
My ISO was really high, so I went with the already blurry/abstract/dark baseline that I had to work with and took it deeper/darker/more abstract with Adobe Lightroom...
[Foto by AlexTangoFuego]
My ISO was really high, so I went with the already blurry/abstract/dark baseline that I had to work with and took it deeper/darker/more abstract with Adobe Lightroom...
[Foto by AlexTangoFuego]
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Mala Junta Musicality
Cut and Paste :: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl_MVOQmWc0 [Embedding disabled]
Ezequiel y Sabrina :: CITA 2003 ...this one made me cry the first time I saw it...the way she throws herself into his arms at the end...a four second clip of mine...cuz I didn't want to infringe by posting the entire video...you would probably have to see the whole dance to have the same effect...
Ezequiel y Sabrina :: CITA 2002
One of the better pieces of musicality, if at times over the top, from Los Hermanos Macana. I remember watching this in amazement, and still do.
Okay yes, this one is stage tango...forgive me...it's for scientific/musicality purposes...
Monday, May 10, 2010
Tango out of the feet of babes...
Silvio La Via & his daughter Estrella...start 'em young...play Golden Age tango to them in the womb...and then watch what happens...
Credit goes to Rigoberto for the find...
They will likely grow up and end up like this...
And here is Geraldine Rojas as a young girl/woman in 1993...dancing with Andres Amarilla of "Tango Cheeseballs" fame...
Credit goes to Rigoberto for the find...
They will likely grow up and end up like this...
And here is Geraldine Rojas as a young girl/woman in 1993...dancing with Andres Amarilla of "Tango Cheeseballs" fame...
Saturday, May 8, 2010
A Basic Call to Consciousness
A little something I ran across whilst Googling to find out the percentage of the U.S. population [6% of world population] versus the the percentage of world energy resources we use [40%]...I'll need to double check, but I think we are a smaller percentage now, and use a larger percentage of resources...these figures were from 1978...gotta run...
The Haudenosaunee Message to the Western World
from Basic Call to Consciousness
The Haudenosaunee, or the Six Nations Iriquois Confederacy, has existed on this land since the beginning of human memory. Our culture is among the most ancient continuosly existing cultures in the world.
In the beginning, we were told that the human beings who walk about on the Earth have been provided with all the things necessary of life. We were instructed to carry a love for one another, and to show a great respect for all the beings of this Earth. We are shown that our life exists with the tree life, that our well-being depends on the well-being of the vegetable Life, that we are close relatives of the four-legged beings. In our ways, spiritual consciousness is the highest form of politics....
The original instructions direct that we who walk about on the Earth are to express a great respect, an affection, and a gratitude toward all the spirits which create and support Life. We give a greeting and thanksgiving to the many supporters of our own lives-the corn, beans, squash, the winds, the sun. When people cease to respect and express gratitude for these many things, then all life will be destroyed, and human life on this planet will come to an end....
Our essential message to the world is a basic call to consciousness. The destruction of the Native cultures and people is the same process which has destroyed and is destroying life on this planet. The technologies and social systems which have destroyed the animal and the plant life are also destroying the Native people. And the process is Western Civilization....
The processes of colonialism and imperialism which have affected the Haudenosaunee are but a microcosm of the processes affecting the world. The system of reservations employed against our people is a microcosm of the system of exploitation used against the whole world. Since the time of Marco Polo, the West has been refining a process that has mystified the peoples of the Earth.
The majority of the world does not find its roots in Western culture or traditions. The majority of the world finds its roots in the Natural World, and it is the Natural World, and the traditions of the Natural World, which must prevail if we are to develop truly free and egalitarian societies.
It is necessary, at this time, that we begin a process of critical analysis of the West's historical processes, to seek out the actual nature of the roots of the exploitative and oppressive conditions which are forced upon humanity. At the same time, as we gain understanding of those processes, we must reinterpret that history to the people of the world. It is the people of the West, ultimately, who are the most oppressed and exploited. They are burdened by the weight of centuries of racism, sexism, and ignorance which has rendered their people insensitive to the true nature of their lives.
We must all consciously and continuously challenge every model, every program, and every process that the West tries to force upon us. Paulo Friere wrote, in his book, the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, that it is the nature of the oppressed to imitate the oppressor, and by such actions try to gain relief from the oppressive condition. We must learn to resist that response to oppression.
The people who are living on this planet need to break with the narrow concept of human liberation, and begin to see liberation as something which needs to be extended to the whole of the Natural World. What is needed is the liberation of all the things that support Life-the air, the waters, the trees-all the things which support the sacred web of Life.
We feel that the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere can continue to contribute to the survival potential of the human species. The majority of our peoples still live in accordance with the traditions which find their roots in the Mother Earth. But the Native peoples have need of a forum in which our voice can be heard. And we need alliances with the other peoples of the world to assist in our struggle to regain and maintain our ancestral lands and to protect the Way of Life we follow.
We know that this is a very difficult task. Many nation states may feel threatened by the position that the protection and liberation of Natural World peoples and cultures represents, a progressive direction which must be integrated into the political strategies of people who seek to uphold the dignity of Man. But that position is growing in strength, and it represents a necessary strategy in the evolution of progressive thought.
The traditional Native peoples hold the key to the reversal of the processes in Western Civilization which threaten unimaginable future suffering and destruction. Spiritualism is the highest form of political consciousness. And we, the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere, are among the world's surviving proprietors of that kind of consciousness. We are here to impart that message.
Taken from:
A Basic Call to Consciousness, Akwesasne Notes, Mohawk Nation, 1978 (revised edition, 1981, third printing 1986).
The whole book is available on line at cinetopia.net, what follows is a summary of the book, numbers refer to page numbers in the book.
1 Male and female leaders chosen from clans, must be by unanimous vote. Leaders must possess both political and spiritual integrity. They are chosen for life, but can be removed for acting against the will of the people. "It is the belief of our people that all elements of the Natural World were created for the benefit of all living things and that we, as humans, are one of the weakest of the whole Creation, since we are totally dependent on the whole Creation for our survival."
8 Governments formed to establish tranquility. Not just law and order, but peace. Peace blends power, reason, and righteousness. People with the purest and most unselfish minds can have righteousness - when they put their minds and emotions in harmony with the flow of the universe and the intentions of the Good Mind or the Great Creator. Toss out thoughts of prejudice, privilege, or superiority. Recognize that Creation is intended for the benefit of all equally.
Reason is used to settle complicated issues without the use of force. Force should only be used in defense against force. 9 Power to enact true peace is the product of a unified people on the path of righteousness and reason. Five nations joined together, and their separate lands were joined, to eliminate hunting disputes. 10 Peacemaker assigned people to clans, and their relationships were so close that they didn't marry others in the same clan of another nation.
11 They created advanced participatory democracy, not representative. Peoples and individuals were recognized. So were folks who were not members of the host nation - as long as they observed the rules of non-aggression and didn't try to create factionalism among the people.
47 People in Six Nations saw that vertical hierarchy creates conflicts, so they organized society to avoid it. Lands were held in common to avoid conflict. Anyone who entered Haudenosaunee land was guaranteed safety. Universal rules about the taking of game. 48 Haudenosaunee have long term perspective, which sees modern man as an infant - the elders see the young child is committing incredibly destructive folly. 49 We believe that all living things are spiritual beings. We walk about with great respect, for the Earth is a very sacred place.
50 Euros began domesticating, herding, and breeding animals. Previously, humans depended on the reproductive powers of nature - now they took this power themselves. 51 First came pottery kilns, then ovens that could smelt metals. Iron used for tools to cut trees, made into charcoal, to make metals. Iron plow, pulled by domesticated horses. Fewer people needed on the land, displaced - rise of cities, trade, the end of the European forest. 52 Western civilization is on a death path, and this culture has no viable answers.
53 It is typically the nature of the oppressed to imitate the oppressor. We must continuously challenge and resist every program and process of the oppressors. 54 The Haudenosaunee constitution - the Great Law of Peace, is the oldest functioning document in the world, which contains freedom of speech and religion, the rights of women, separation of powers, checks and balances. Colonists learned this stuff from natives.
57 "The dispossession of the Native people was accomplished by the Europeans in the bloodiest and most brutal chapter of human history. They were acts committed, seemingly, by a people without conscience or standards of behavior." US and Canadian governments continue to deny genocide. 64 Euros stimulated conflicts between natives. Natives got into fur trade, out of necessity, to get guns to protect themselves. 65 Missionaries sent in, carrying message, splitting off individuals from families, families from villages, villages from nations, one by one. 74 Colonizers tell political histories - King Dudley conquered Smithtown in 1600. Way more important is techno history - agriculture, domestication, irrigation.
75 "The current crisis which the world is facing is not difficult for people to understand. In the Western Hemisphere, the United States with six percent of the world's population, uses 40 percent of the world's energy resources. The world's supply of fossil fuels is finite, and it is estimated that within 30 years, at the present rate of consumption, the peoples of the world will begin to run out of some of those sources of energy, especially petroleum and natural gas. As the planet begins to run short of cheap energy, it is predictable that the world market economy will suffer and the people of the world who are dependent on that economy will suffer likewise. The reality of world population growth is placed beside the reality of the current relationship of energy resources and food production, it becomes obvious that worldwide famine is a real possibility."
77 Liberation movements don't understand the problem - the need to become independent of the world economy. It doesn't matter if Death Corp or the People's Revolutionary Cooperative grows the sugar - export crops don't meet the needs of the indigenous population.
"It will be obvious to many non-Western peoples that it is the renewable quality of earth's ecosystem which makes life possible for humans beings on this planet, and that if anything is sacred, if anything determines both quality and future possibility of life for our species on this planet, it is the renewable quality of life."
78 "The renewable quality - the sacredness of every living thing, that which connects human beings to the place which they inhabit - the quality is the single most liberating aspect of our environment. Life is renewable and all the things which support life are renewable, and they are renewed by a spiritual element that connects us to reality and the manifestation of an eagle or a mountain snowfall - that consciousness was the first thing which was destroyed by the colonizers."
"Many of our communities are struggling against colonialism in all of its forms. We have established food coops, survival schools, alternative technology projects, adult education programs, agricultural projects, crafts programs, and serious efforts at cultural revitalization are underway." (published in Akwesasne Notes,"Rooseveltown:New York", 1978).
The Haudenosaunee Message to the Western World
from Basic Call to Consciousness
The Haudenosaunee, or the Six Nations Iriquois Confederacy, has existed on this land since the beginning of human memory. Our culture is among the most ancient continuosly existing cultures in the world.
In the beginning, we were told that the human beings who walk about on the Earth have been provided with all the things necessary of life. We were instructed to carry a love for one another, and to show a great respect for all the beings of this Earth. We are shown that our life exists with the tree life, that our well-being depends on the well-being of the vegetable Life, that we are close relatives of the four-legged beings. In our ways, spiritual consciousness is the highest form of politics....
The original instructions direct that we who walk about on the Earth are to express a great respect, an affection, and a gratitude toward all the spirits which create and support Life. We give a greeting and thanksgiving to the many supporters of our own lives-the corn, beans, squash, the winds, the sun. When people cease to respect and express gratitude for these many things, then all life will be destroyed, and human life on this planet will come to an end....
Our essential message to the world is a basic call to consciousness. The destruction of the Native cultures and people is the same process which has destroyed and is destroying life on this planet. The technologies and social systems which have destroyed the animal and the plant life are also destroying the Native people. And the process is Western Civilization....
The processes of colonialism and imperialism which have affected the Haudenosaunee are but a microcosm of the processes affecting the world. The system of reservations employed against our people is a microcosm of the system of exploitation used against the whole world. Since the time of Marco Polo, the West has been refining a process that has mystified the peoples of the Earth.
The majority of the world does not find its roots in Western culture or traditions. The majority of the world finds its roots in the Natural World, and it is the Natural World, and the traditions of the Natural World, which must prevail if we are to develop truly free and egalitarian societies.
It is necessary, at this time, that we begin a process of critical analysis of the West's historical processes, to seek out the actual nature of the roots of the exploitative and oppressive conditions which are forced upon humanity. At the same time, as we gain understanding of those processes, we must reinterpret that history to the people of the world. It is the people of the West, ultimately, who are the most oppressed and exploited. They are burdened by the weight of centuries of racism, sexism, and ignorance which has rendered their people insensitive to the true nature of their lives.
We must all consciously and continuously challenge every model, every program, and every process that the West tries to force upon us. Paulo Friere wrote, in his book, the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, that it is the nature of the oppressed to imitate the oppressor, and by such actions try to gain relief from the oppressive condition. We must learn to resist that response to oppression.
The people who are living on this planet need to break with the narrow concept of human liberation, and begin to see liberation as something which needs to be extended to the whole of the Natural World. What is needed is the liberation of all the things that support Life-the air, the waters, the trees-all the things which support the sacred web of Life.
We feel that the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere can continue to contribute to the survival potential of the human species. The majority of our peoples still live in accordance with the traditions which find their roots in the Mother Earth. But the Native peoples have need of a forum in which our voice can be heard. And we need alliances with the other peoples of the world to assist in our struggle to regain and maintain our ancestral lands and to protect the Way of Life we follow.
We know that this is a very difficult task. Many nation states may feel threatened by the position that the protection and liberation of Natural World peoples and cultures represents, a progressive direction which must be integrated into the political strategies of people who seek to uphold the dignity of Man. But that position is growing in strength, and it represents a necessary strategy in the evolution of progressive thought.
The traditional Native peoples hold the key to the reversal of the processes in Western Civilization which threaten unimaginable future suffering and destruction. Spiritualism is the highest form of political consciousness. And we, the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere, are among the world's surviving proprietors of that kind of consciousness. We are here to impart that message.
Taken from:
A Basic Call to Consciousness, Akwesasne Notes, Mohawk Nation, 1978 (revised edition, 1981, third printing 1986).
The whole book is available on line at cinetopia.net, what follows is a summary of the book, numbers refer to page numbers in the book.
1 Male and female leaders chosen from clans, must be by unanimous vote. Leaders must possess both political and spiritual integrity. They are chosen for life, but can be removed for acting against the will of the people. "It is the belief of our people that all elements of the Natural World were created for the benefit of all living things and that we, as humans, are one of the weakest of the whole Creation, since we are totally dependent on the whole Creation for our survival."
8 Governments formed to establish tranquility. Not just law and order, but peace. Peace blends power, reason, and righteousness. People with the purest and most unselfish minds can have righteousness - when they put their minds and emotions in harmony with the flow of the universe and the intentions of the Good Mind or the Great Creator. Toss out thoughts of prejudice, privilege, or superiority. Recognize that Creation is intended for the benefit of all equally.
Reason is used to settle complicated issues without the use of force. Force should only be used in defense against force. 9 Power to enact true peace is the product of a unified people on the path of righteousness and reason. Five nations joined together, and their separate lands were joined, to eliminate hunting disputes. 10 Peacemaker assigned people to clans, and their relationships were so close that they didn't marry others in the same clan of another nation.
11 They created advanced participatory democracy, not representative. Peoples and individuals were recognized. So were folks who were not members of the host nation - as long as they observed the rules of non-aggression and didn't try to create factionalism among the people.
47 People in Six Nations saw that vertical hierarchy creates conflicts, so they organized society to avoid it. Lands were held in common to avoid conflict. Anyone who entered Haudenosaunee land was guaranteed safety. Universal rules about the taking of game. 48 Haudenosaunee have long term perspective, which sees modern man as an infant - the elders see the young child is committing incredibly destructive folly. 49 We believe that all living things are spiritual beings. We walk about with great respect, for the Earth is a very sacred place.
50 Euros began domesticating, herding, and breeding animals. Previously, humans depended on the reproductive powers of nature - now they took this power themselves. 51 First came pottery kilns, then ovens that could smelt metals. Iron used for tools to cut trees, made into charcoal, to make metals. Iron plow, pulled by domesticated horses. Fewer people needed on the land, displaced - rise of cities, trade, the end of the European forest. 52 Western civilization is on a death path, and this culture has no viable answers.
53 It is typically the nature of the oppressed to imitate the oppressor. We must continuously challenge and resist every program and process of the oppressors. 54 The Haudenosaunee constitution - the Great Law of Peace, is the oldest functioning document in the world, which contains freedom of speech and religion, the rights of women, separation of powers, checks and balances. Colonists learned this stuff from natives.
57 "The dispossession of the Native people was accomplished by the Europeans in the bloodiest and most brutal chapter of human history. They were acts committed, seemingly, by a people without conscience or standards of behavior." US and Canadian governments continue to deny genocide. 64 Euros stimulated conflicts between natives. Natives got into fur trade, out of necessity, to get guns to protect themselves. 65 Missionaries sent in, carrying message, splitting off individuals from families, families from villages, villages from nations, one by one. 74 Colonizers tell political histories - King Dudley conquered Smithtown in 1600. Way more important is techno history - agriculture, domestication, irrigation.
75 "The current crisis which the world is facing is not difficult for people to understand. In the Western Hemisphere, the United States with six percent of the world's population, uses 40 percent of the world's energy resources. The world's supply of fossil fuels is finite, and it is estimated that within 30 years, at the present rate of consumption, the peoples of the world will begin to run out of some of those sources of energy, especially petroleum and natural gas. As the planet begins to run short of cheap energy, it is predictable that the world market economy will suffer and the people of the world who are dependent on that economy will suffer likewise. The reality of world population growth is placed beside the reality of the current relationship of energy resources and food production, it becomes obvious that worldwide famine is a real possibility."
77 Liberation movements don't understand the problem - the need to become independent of the world economy. It doesn't matter if Death Corp or the People's Revolutionary Cooperative grows the sugar - export crops don't meet the needs of the indigenous population.
"It will be obvious to many non-Western peoples that it is the renewable quality of earth's ecosystem which makes life possible for humans beings on this planet, and that if anything is sacred, if anything determines both quality and future possibility of life for our species on this planet, it is the renewable quality of life."
78 "The renewable quality - the sacredness of every living thing, that which connects human beings to the place which they inhabit - the quality is the single most liberating aspect of our environment. Life is renewable and all the things which support life are renewable, and they are renewed by a spiritual element that connects us to reality and the manifestation of an eagle or a mountain snowfall - that consciousness was the first thing which was destroyed by the colonizers."
"Many of our communities are struggling against colonialism in all of its forms. We have established food coops, survival schools, alternative technology projects, adult education programs, agricultural projects, crafts programs, and serious efforts at cultural revitalization are underway." (published in Akwesasne Notes,"Rooseveltown:New York", 1978).
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Yep, son, we have met the enemy and he is us.
In Austin, we are very lucky to have the alternative press "The Austin Chronicle". Page Two is the regular column by editor and co-founder of the newspaper Louis Black. It's also interesting to note that Black (and publisher Nick Barbaro) co-founded the famous South by Southwest music and film festival. [Two thousand performers in ninety venues over a week or so. Wow.]
But this post is not about music or film or South by Southwest. It's bringing your attention to a couple of recent Page Two columns by Black that caught my attention.
My first thought, with the very recent and ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is that We The People and not BP aka British Petroleum are to blame for this disaster. Accidents happen. Or, more accurately, statistical certainties happen. We The People are our own worst enemy with regard to environmental/ecological degradation. We The People have become our own worst enemy with regard to our own impotent governance.
This oil spill has the potential to become the most destructive ever witnessed by this planet - both in environmental and economic terms. It's so depressing I'm trying to avoid the news about it, and trying not to think about it. Pray for a miracle.
Good morning. But I digress.
Black's two columns are not so much about the environment, although they do touch on the subject, as they are about our current polarized political/ideological climate, and how We The People are responsible for it.
I would like to meet Mr. Black. I enjoy his writing.
Here's the link to the first column. I'll post Part II in a day or so.
Here's an excerpt, from whence the title of this post obviously originated:
Leviticus
"Yep, son, we have met the enemy and he is us."
– Pogo, Walt Kelly's Earth Day 1971 Pogo comic strip
The above comment by Pogo is clearly about the environment, especially the almost nonchalant littering and homestead-derived pollution destroying his beloved home, Okefenokee Swamp. It is also just as clearly metaphoric about all the damage being done to the environment because of people, whether it be because of their thoughtlessness, greed, or very existence. Now, no hysterical worship of Goddess Mother Earth here, but our existence affects the Earth, sometimes in destructive ways, especially when we refuse to acknowledge there is a problem or to mitigate it in any way.
Another step back should be taken, especially during current times, to realize that in so many areas the problem is us. And us only.
Proverbs: Prayer Mantras
These are the days of blame. Vindicating or validating one's own beliefs is most easily and legitimately achieved by attacking someone else. A shocking amount of political discussion is not about solving or even describing the real political, economic, social, educational, health, or justice problems facing this country. Instead, it is spent blaming those in disagreement.
The prayer mantras repeated over and over now are far from the bleeding-heart, knee-jerk, weakhearted "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." The whole notion of walking a mile in someone else's shoes is pathetic acquiescence to those who would kill us. Understanding is viewed as appeasement.
"Two wrongs make a right." If a Democrat or a Republican is criticized, there is neither hand-wringing nor a painful mea culpa from his or her brethren. Instead, examples of similar behaviors by members of the opposite party are cited.
"Stating something as a fact makes it a fact." We are living in times when some are insistent that there are few, if any, "real" problems. Instead, they claim, issues facing us have been deliberately manufactured by people trying to destroy the country and enslave us. Unyielding, self-sanctified certainty may yet save this country, in this view, but reasoned discussion and compromise will certainly end up destroying it.
"In order to really be a patriot, one must not only state that one is a patriot but argue that one is far more so than those who hold differing opinions." And: "True constitutional piety allows for only one true path, one holy and God-blessed way of thinking."
"American exceptionalism forgives all." We are living through a time when communication is demeaned, not valued, and in which political cooperation is regarded as a corrupt and treasonous activity. The idea is not to identify the problem but to identify the "enemy" causing the problem. Given that those in disagreement are quite simply evil and malicious, attempting honest and open communication with them is to play the fool, to be of those slaves who believe every word their masters say.
Statements along the lines of the following are commonly made: "The Constitution has been violated and disregarded; our judicial system is corrupt and our legislative system broken. It is time to return to the Constitution as the basis for our society and our laws. We must take back the government."
With a dull, rhythmic certainty, we hear legislators attacked for not carrying out the will of the people. Frequently, these attacks are offered by other legislators.
On the far left, some believe in destroying the social order entirely, while others believe if we get rid of the upper class, the owning class, things will be fine. Many hate innovative, successful entrepreneurs because they are successful.
But this post is not about music or film or South by Southwest. It's bringing your attention to a couple of recent Page Two columns by Black that caught my attention.
My first thought, with the very recent and ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is that We The People and not BP aka British Petroleum are to blame for this disaster. Accidents happen. Or, more accurately, statistical certainties happen. We The People are our own worst enemy with regard to environmental/ecological degradation. We The People have become our own worst enemy with regard to our own impotent governance.
This oil spill has the potential to become the most destructive ever witnessed by this planet - both in environmental and economic terms. It's so depressing I'm trying to avoid the news about it, and trying not to think about it. Pray for a miracle.
Good morning. But I digress.
Black's two columns are not so much about the environment, although they do touch on the subject, as they are about our current polarized political/ideological climate, and how We The People are responsible for it.
I would like to meet Mr. Black. I enjoy his writing.
Here's the link to the first column. I'll post Part II in a day or so.
Here's an excerpt, from whence the title of this post obviously originated:
Leviticus
"Yep, son, we have met the enemy and he is us."
– Pogo, Walt Kelly's Earth Day 1971 Pogo comic strip
The above comment by Pogo is clearly about the environment, especially the almost nonchalant littering and homestead-derived pollution destroying his beloved home, Okefenokee Swamp. It is also just as clearly metaphoric about all the damage being done to the environment because of people, whether it be because of their thoughtlessness, greed, or very existence. Now, no hysterical worship of Goddess Mother Earth here, but our existence affects the Earth, sometimes in destructive ways, especially when we refuse to acknowledge there is a problem or to mitigate it in any way.
Another step back should be taken, especially during current times, to realize that in so many areas the problem is us. And us only.
Proverbs: Prayer Mantras
These are the days of blame. Vindicating or validating one's own beliefs is most easily and legitimately achieved by attacking someone else. A shocking amount of political discussion is not about solving or even describing the real political, economic, social, educational, health, or justice problems facing this country. Instead, it is spent blaming those in disagreement.
The prayer mantras repeated over and over now are far from the bleeding-heart, knee-jerk, weakhearted "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." The whole notion of walking a mile in someone else's shoes is pathetic acquiescence to those who would kill us. Understanding is viewed as appeasement.
"Two wrongs make a right." If a Democrat or a Republican is criticized, there is neither hand-wringing nor a painful mea culpa from his or her brethren. Instead, examples of similar behaviors by members of the opposite party are cited.
"Stating something as a fact makes it a fact." We are living in times when some are insistent that there are few, if any, "real" problems. Instead, they claim, issues facing us have been deliberately manufactured by people trying to destroy the country and enslave us. Unyielding, self-sanctified certainty may yet save this country, in this view, but reasoned discussion and compromise will certainly end up destroying it.
"In order to really be a patriot, one must not only state that one is a patriot but argue that one is far more so than those who hold differing opinions." And: "True constitutional piety allows for only one true path, one holy and God-blessed way of thinking."
"American exceptionalism forgives all." We are living through a time when communication is demeaned, not valued, and in which political cooperation is regarded as a corrupt and treasonous activity. The idea is not to identify the problem but to identify the "enemy" causing the problem. Given that those in disagreement are quite simply evil and malicious, attempting honest and open communication with them is to play the fool, to be of those slaves who believe every word their masters say.
Statements along the lines of the following are commonly made: "The Constitution has been violated and disregarded; our judicial system is corrupt and our legislative system broken. It is time to return to the Constitution as the basis for our society and our laws. We must take back the government."
With a dull, rhythmic certainty, we hear legislators attacked for not carrying out the will of the people. Frequently, these attacks are offered by other legislators.
On the far left, some believe in destroying the social order entirely, while others believe if we get rid of the upper class, the owning class, things will be fine. Many hate innovative, successful entrepreneurs because they are successful.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
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