I managed with the help of my Jombo to get page 2 to be my current page … yippee!!!! cos I thought I might be losing my mind. Things getting a bit dodgy and not sure if it’s me OR Trump.
I suspect it’s me cos I don’t think Trump is a “full shilling” as the used to say in the nick of the woods, I was ‘dragged’ up in.
Re: your Trump remark, Jack. … ,or a brick shy of a full load, or lights on but no one home. This page does really crazy things; bumps me, changes posts……. turns maroon… cheers , Jack.
dave h
Dave: the one, a nephew of mine used was ” not a full shilling”.
I suppose it shouldn’t really care what Trump is doing to himself, his party, or for that matter, his country since it’s not mine, nor do I reside there anymore … BUT there’s this little thing buzzing around in my head that he’s actually appealing to a lot of people and that is the most disturbing factor for me.
Maybe I’m just jealous or envious … but I can’t get it out of my head that the 2016 election did not give the presidency to the winner of the election, but gave it over to 540 Electoral Collage members to select who should occupy the White House.
All that reveals to me is that the United States of America is NOT a DEMOCRATIC country when it comes to selecting a president. I can see why the F.F. made it so, since had they not done so, a Union of states might never have happened. Each governor (who, incidentally at that time, was selected by Westminster), needed to feel they still had some autonomy. Trouble is:- it seems having created it; it’s not possible to get rid of it. But that applies equally to many other things we humans create.
Recently I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to have strong negative feelings when reading Patrick’s posts where he repeats the same dehumanizing, derogatory and stereotyping narrative of the Jews as the ‘problem’ people. (Much like he was/is seen as the ‘problem’ child in his/our family.) After thinking more about Edward Said’s view about the prevalence of us in Western/dominant cultures doing a similar thing to other cultures/peoples, I have started thinking this tendency might be more prevalent and ‘normal’ than we would like to think. As much as it is almost automatic to want to condemn Patrick, I think it is much harder to see how we might be doing this ourselves, inadvertently. Besides Trevor Noah, who brilliantly pointed this out with his joke, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-nafiUG6j8&t=27s (which I posted once before) , Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie does an incredible job (IMO) of pointing this out in her TED talk, “The danger of the single story”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg&t=212s (listen for the line, “It’s such a shame that young Americans are serial murderers…….good stuff!)
I’ve seen where there is more of a push in asking for aid to under privileged countries to show more dignity of the people and less pity. They want a say in what ads are shown. They don’t want such down-trodden looks on their faces. Of course when starvation scenes of children in war-torn Yemen on the news, no ads are needed, their dire needs are obvious–stop bombing and let the humanitarian efforts through.
We might feel pity for the African countries, and not have a grasp of what day to day life is about besides the poverty. But we don’t hate those countries. We don’t see them as a power-threat. But Jews, the government, those who we think screw us out of what’s rightfully ours–whether they do or not in reality, they become the focus of hatred. And usually that hatred is born far before we even have a concept of ideas or adult thinking. That hatred of presumed power from the skinheads, the fanatics, et al, is merely a plug in to conduct the energy already stored. It’s a hatred of resonance. How’s that…
Sylvia, I appreciate you pointing out that I did not say anything about the differences between Patrick’s beliefs about the Jews, and our tendency in Western countries to dehumanize and have only ‘one story’ of groups other than our own. I only pointed out what I saw as a similarity. Which, I think, ends up weakening rather than strengthening my argument. So I’m glad you mentioned that. I wanted to add that critiques of traditional white, Western views do not just come from people from so-called ‘third world’ countries. They come from within our countries too. This is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwIx3KQer54&t=3s. (Deconstructing white privilege.) I guarantee it will be thought-provoking. This actually did blow my mind! See if it does something similar to your mind.
Renee, I can see how as a society we have continued our unconscious racism. Maybe we only really see it in the Archie Bunkers and others when it is overt. I wonder too, how much of it is tribalism, and somehow innate. I suppose there’s always the wanting to keep things status quo and seeing differences as a threat to that. I’m thinking our society may not be the only ones to be guilty.
I recall during the Vietnam war, that babies born half Vietnamese and half American were looked down upon as being impure. Guess we aren’t as well-liked in other countries as we thought.
I think the integration of children of different ethnic cultures may be the only way to make things right. Children have the capacity to not judge. My nephews and niece grew up in a diverse school system and are married to non-Caucasian spouses. I think it has to start early to make headway–like the old saying, ‘you can’t teach old dogs new tricks’ , maybe I would add: ‘unless they have gotten rid of their hang-ups and hatred and hurts through therapy, and don’t feel a need to project them onto others.’
Oh maybe one day white genocide will be complete! Oh Happy Day! It’s amazing how people welcome their own destruction. Then our ‘masters’ (you can guess who they are) can really rule over us a mulatto, mixed up mess with no history, no culture no nothing…………..well maybe McDonalds. What a great future to look forward to………….
While living in LA I men an Israeli Jew through work. He was rather pro Palestine. One of the stories he told me was how his grandparents and parents told him and his sibs how Arab Palestinians welcomed them to their homeland. Then one morning they woke and discovered that the entire population had moved out during the night and how later some non entitled foreigners appeared claiming rights to the lands. He said they were told that those foreigners were suspected to have killed the Palestinians. He claimed that this fantasy was very popular when he was a child. Only after moving from the Middle East did he learn the truth of how the Israeli, ” homeland,” get created and why certain allies are so adapted to accepting Israeli atrocities. Almost as entertaining a story as the christian bible. best thoughts , david h
Renee: It’s always a tricky problem when we read or hear another person saying things and having opinions about matters that we ourselves don’t share.
What is hardest is to allow them to have their opinions, views and ideas and let them be.
I rarely now, more recently, due to some insights I have been having,, find someones opinions, views or idea to be offensive. If I do I need to look into myself as to why I’m offended.
There is a caveat I apply for myself and that is if they act upon those opinions, views, or idea, that are harmful to me, then I sure need to do whatever I can to protect myself. I do not always succeed.
Sorry, here is the link for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg. It starts at the beginning. I think even those of you with short attention spans will find it interesting:)
Are you saying that Patrick is a “ victim “ of the single story Renee ? Therefor any “ negative” reactions are unfounded? If not then I’m not clear how this connects to Patrick. I also wonder if there isn’t a message about good and bad reactions or feelings. I think people can have both positive and negative feelings, some of those feelings might be old and some are firmly rooted in the here and now. They are all valuable. I worry a little that we have all been sold a story. Parents for generations have told their children “ Don’t get angry, don’t be negative” well, I say why not ? Those feelings and reactions are as important as any other. Gretchen
David and Jack, First, Thanks Jack for what you wrote about growing up gay. It really was very interesting. David , I thought your question to Jack was thought provoking. The story about painting the house pink was just that …a story but it is a great story and might have been a pretty good strategy at the time. I think Jack knows that I disagree with him about Homosexuality and in fact I disagreed with Art, and told him so, from the very beginning. That being said it was a different day and age. As you may or may not know Homosexuality was listed in the DSM as a mental illness until the 70’s. Even after it was removed I believe there were many clamoring to have it put back in. Gretchen
Gretchen: Hey!! that has made my day acknowledging my story about my “gaynesss’, it being first thing in the morning for me.. Not sure I remember you disagreeing with me.
One other thing is that we call our selves being Gay. There was nothing ever gay (joyful) about our sexual orientation. Even now, when I am at my most contented with my state of being … to characterize it Gay I always thought was a bit off, though I do use the word.
I believe it has it roots with Oscar Wilde and established when Ivor Novdello (an English musical writer in the 40’s and 50’s consolidated the word in his Musical “Gay is the Word”.
Gretchen: Hey!! thanks for that. It’s made my day acknowledging me/it, being first thing in the morning for me.. Not sure I remember you disagreeing with me.
One other thing about us calling ourselves Gay. There was nothing ever gay (joyful) about our sexual orientation. Even now, when I am at my most contented with my state of being … to characterize it Gay I always thought was a bit kinda off, though I do use the word.
I believe it has it roots with Oscar Wilde and established when Ivor Novdello (an English musical writer) in the 40’s and 50’s consolidated the word in his Musical “Gay is the Word”.
Love is love, regardless of “form” it may take. For me is far far more preferable to be in an heterosexual relationship but Ole Art DID say “homosexuality if no a-historical”, if you will. I do think that in almost all homosexual relationships, one person is “subconsciously” the male, the other female. Can’t recall if Janov said this or someone else.
Fred: That is definitely not the case between Jim and I. I see him and myself as another human being. That I was erotically stimulated with the male body, relates solely to my sexuality. I never wanted to be anything but male and Jim says the very same. We both have female friends.
The christian right, here at least, still promotes conversion therapy. Belief in a myth will bring the healing. Like many hatred targets I fear that developing sensitivity too often translates into avoiding revealing personal biases in the wrong places. Words like tolerance are 2nd class compared to genuine intrinsic acceptance. In First Nations beliefs, the ant, the smallest bit of vegetation is at least as important as I am. I admit to bias, bias against greedy wealth, hoarding more than we need.
Jack, What you say is true but I think we need to protect not only ourselves but those who possibly can’t protect themselves. As Renee pointed out words are not neutral. Not just the words that hurt me but the words that can potentially do damage to others. Our silence can be equally damaging I think. Gretchen
z: do i know where the water main is, and a wrench to turn off water if it is flooding? z: mary had to do that. feelings schmeelings. no there is no flood here. just days of heavy rain and i pray often to the big tree not to fall on someone because of loosened soil. anyway. “he’s gone, and nothing’s going to bring him back” drove in rain and darkness so old dog could take a walk by the pet store and take her poop; on the way home, grateful dead with above song. image of my good uncle, my mom, and then me. nothing was going to bring me back once she left. i was gone for good. still. no return. stop thinking l am just a cold asshole, it is just who i am.
z’s kale gravy over sweet potato. gravy was good but should have been white potatoes or biscuits. i see the remaining potato skin from afar and it looks like pizza. and di wish it was pizza. “he’s gone” on radio, wham comes the feeling, driving in car with wife and i can let the feeling tears push into my face, but surrpress the feeling. too hard to mfeel with wife there or even to tell her about it. she says she will support me (emotionally) if i keep going back to group. but she said it herself, she is a primal renegade, convert to aa. even though some people say aa aligns with pt, i disagree. seems more of a way to shut down the feelings. i spoke up about z’s money spending a day after group sinced i opened up a little. but it would sound like an asshole if you heard me. no tenderness in explaining how that has destroyedx me for 4 decades. tendernes is goned, not coming back.
Z SUPPORTING ME EMOTIONALLY FOR GOING TO GROUP WAS THE WRONG PHRASE. I MEANT SHE WOULD SUPPORT ME IN TAKING THE CAR AND TIME ON A SATURDAY. WHICH IS A FAIRLY HUGE BIT OF SUPPORT.
Two days ago I was informed by the Dutch government that if Brexit goes through I am going to have to make a fresh application to stay here in the Netherlands. I thought that had all been taken care, of since we, Jim and I, went through a process to become legal partners, not marriage but amounting to the same thing, since we had to do it through a judge and two witnesses. The cost being in the eqiuvelent of $300.
So naturally I want Brexit not to happen. I watched the hearings last night in Parliament and the debate before the vote. What an unholy mess the whole things was. Arguments and counter arguments and all going nowhere. What it demonstrated to me was:- ‘neurosis’ at it’s utmonst stupidity.
Why, oh why?? do we humans create these stupid problems for ourselves, by not looking inwards towards ourselve, FIRST. It’s the same mess, as I see it with Trump and his wall I thought building walls had been thought through years ago with the Chinese “Great Wall” then Hadrians wall dividing Enlgland and Scotlant, then more recently the Berlin wall.
Walls don’t work as intended these days, with all maner of ways to get round them … yet Trump NEEDING to win, and be able to claim that he kept his campaigne promise … little caring what happens to others in the process.
It’s all about EGO PM May does it, Trump does it, and most leaders do it.
Sorry! but I needed to get all this ‘off my chest’. I almost want to cry for all the babies and young children growing up to have to live with it all. 😦 😦 😦
Sorry for all the typos and spellings. I’m having trouble posting long comments and have to jump through hoops to do it without spelling mistakes and typos. Obviously it didn’t happen this time. Grrrrr!!
Geez Jack. How precarious it must feel to have your future dramatically hinging on the confusing ramifications of the (non)settlement of Brexit by the deadline in the next few weeks, which looks dismal.
Larry: yeah!!! that and the prospects that in getting older. I am likely to need a lot more support; which I do get from Jim who’s 13 years my Junior … BUT what if he dies before me and/or what if he, in getting older, is not able to support like he does now. It’s mind boggling … BUT as they say in all the 12 step programs:- “One day at a time”.
So! best I can, I’ll enjoy today, and try not to think of horror scenarios for the future.
Jack,
Well, you could always come back here, Trump should be gone soon, I hope. Not because I’m marching on Washington however; snow storms coming have caused us to cancel our trip.
Phil
Phil: Yeah! perhaps as a last ditch scenario I could go back there, but then I would have to sell this place and find a place to live over there. Not easy. Seems like there are very few easy solutions.
EXCEPT ……… to die. That;s one option; BUT not one I have in mind at the moment.
This I feel is where this blog excels …. in so far as we can put it all out there and just to express it.
By the manner in which you cavalierly dismiss “Just another feeling….” Jack, sometimes I wonder whether you understand what feelings are. They have a biological purpose after all, which is to direct us toward optimal wholesome, healthy outcomes for our life and away from harm. To dismiss them leads to trouble ultimately. I guess your point is no use worrying about something that might or might not happen until it happens.
This afternoon I will help a friend of my age. She has suffered an inexplicable, serious, dramatic drop in blood pressure and can barely walk a few yards without becoming exhausted. To be able to navigate the hospital system of diagnostic tests she’ll need to be pushed around in a wheel chair. Like me, she has no relatives in the city. Last night I found out that she’s been languishing at home for weeks, too weak to get to a doctor to find out what is the cause of her health crisis and hasn’t asked anyone for help.
The irony is that before she retired a few years ago, she taught doctors in medical schools how to teach doctors in residence. She was invited to conferences all over the world to speak from her expertise. Last night she told me that she’ll feel embarrassed to run into some of those doctors when she seeks medical help today. Despite all their intelligence, some people can’t manage their lives well.
Retirement and aging has posed challenges that therapy has helped me to meet. Otherwise I could see myself in a similar predicament to hers, feeling overwhelmed by facing problems alone and maybe not being able to get the help that I need. Coping with aging and the certain decline of mental and physical capacities is a reality I have to consider these days, as with one eye always glancing toward the future I try to nudge my life toward optimal outcomes. I’m beginning to wonder whether I should move to be nearer to family, but I don’t like the prospect of giving up the life I have now and starting over somewhere else.
General reflections: I see that many many countries are having governing problems; all the way from the US, UK Valenzuela, all the middle eastern countries, even China and Russia, and others.
It begs the question from me:- are governments solving problems? … seems not. But then I would, l wouldn’t I?
Jack,
it could also be we pay too much attention, but I can’t help it, it interests me. If I never read the news on the internet, turned on the TV etc, it wouldn’t make any difference for me, as to who is president. As for Brexit, I’ve never been to the UK, so that’s all theoretical I’ve never seen it, it might all just be a hoax, like Patrick says about the moon landings.
Phil
Phil: I agree, about the contents of your comment. I feel all this “Breaking News” is as a result of the easy access (social media) we now have to things going on all over the world.
The problem, as I have observed it with Britain, is the fact that we are an island nation and therein is the root of it. We felt insulated even from Europe for centuries, but being a sea faring nation, by necessity we sailed the oceans (after defeating the Spanish at Trafalgar) and colonize a good chunk of it … North America the whole of Australasia large swaths of Africa, but with little success in Asia, though we tried with India, and very little success in south America.
We became, to coin a phase, “toffee nosed” about it all and preened ourselves for it UNTIL the declaration of independence, led by those 13 states in the, now, US. Sadly for them, the US,, took most of the cultural notions from whence those people came … Britain.
That cultural belief, still exist in the country today and Brexit was a glaring demonstration of it. Theresa May, if you watch her body language expresses it so boldly. “We wish to take back control of our borders”. Well! once you/we helped create the “Chunnel” we actually, without knowing it, bust that argument wide open. Whether we like it or not, we are a fundamental part of Europe both culturally and politically.
I had to learn all this at school, reading and been taught history, BUT actually only British history.
For most Americans, on their first visit to Britain, get a good glimpse of their own roots, though not actually admitting it. It is where the notion of “White Supremacy” was born.
Hope that gives you one aspect of Britain and the US’ background to it.
Jack,
Many or most of us in the US have no actual ties to Britain, but become homogenized in the Anglo culture. But that culture is under threat now, or it appears that way to white supremacists.
What I think is, there is nothing so good about anglo culture that needs preserving, except for wealthy folks who want to keep their privileges and position. The most enthusiastic supporters of capitalism in the world are here and in Britain, the birth place of the industrial revolution.
Phil: Yes, now the US is a make up of many people with roots in many lands, but the overall culture is still, as I sensed it, the Anglo culture.
I agree that there is nothing worth preserving; least of all that aristocratic notion, that ‘Money is Speech” Which, to me, shows the stupidity of 9 people siting on a bench (no better than any other park bench) and dictating what is right, and what is wrong for the rest of us. They’re just fellow neurotics … mouthing off.
tomorrow is the day of the exam.
I looked a bit to some parts of the course, but not much, focused more on the other things I had to do.
someone came by to repair the leaking water pipe in the kitchen, so to be ready for that I got up early and put an early load in the washing machine so it would be done, and emptied the kitchen cupboard where the water pipes come together.
after he was gone, I cleaned the floors, and put all the stuff back in.
yesterday I accompanied my mother to go to the hairdresser from her nursing home, as the hairdresser, a nice lady, told me mom had been unwilling to let anyone do her hair.
so me and my half sister went there early, and while she tidied up the xmas stuff in mom’s room, I remained with mom. every time she started to become rebellious about being there, I could distract her by suggesting to sing, and that worked very well.
in the end she, me and the hairdresser were singing together all kind of old popular songs, even while om’s hair was being dyed, washed , cut and dried.
some struggles occurred, but brief ones, and I promised the hairdresser to come again the next time as I see it would be very hard for her to convince my stubborn mom these days…
the hairdresser, Veronique, told me that same morning she had reassured and comforted my mom as she had noticed she was feeling very bad, feeling no one likes her.
the trigger for that feeling was one other old lady that is very critical all the time, who often focuses on my mom.
it is sad it affects my mom so much some of the time, but I am very grateful for some people being around to give mom a hug and some reassuring words, that is so valuable!!
but well, I did a good thing that afternoon but was exhausted as well.
this morning I was reading a ‘chicklet’ book, in which finally ‘true love’ strikes and while reading I started crying, and ended up stopping the audio book for a while to go deeper into the crying.
it was some kind of sequel from a feeling , or an insight earlier on, about how literally all the time, with everyone, I am (gradually more consciously now) trying to prevent, defend against, for people to disapprove of me.
that is so sad, as it means I monitor myself all the time through virtually disapproving glasses, to the point of disapproving of who I am.
at the same time I desperately crave attention, friendliness, to feel accepted and liked.
it explains why groups can be so hard for me, especially groups with Gretchen in which I feel less safe than with Barry.
I am expecting criticism all the time, which either paralyzes me or makes me react clumsily in a counter phobic attempt to speak up anyway.
that often goes wrong, as people easily can make me feel stupid and awkward and crazy, you name it…
that probably sounds familiar to many of you, but for some reason I seem at a point where it is all so close to the surface like a raw sore burn, making me shrivel away just by the thought of a finger coming closer to touch me on the sore spot…
I just let it happen, to the degree I can while functioning as well, as it also feels reassuring the primal process still continues, and the cry I had by reading about the love story, turned into very young child’s crying.
I could sense that took away the overload of stress, which feels very welcome with the upcoming exam…
OK, now I am gonna read how the love story ends, while to be honest, I still hope, but feel more and more i might be on my own for the rest of my days, no loving partner by my side, my close family older than me.
it makes me sad to think of that possibility, but well, there is only so much I can do about it, and the rest is accepting reality and making the best of it, isn’t it?
M
Jack,
it seems very uncertain whether the Brexit will happen, and even then, I hope your new application will easily be accepted in the Netherlands.
I would think so in your situation, but of course I am no expert.
the main thing is to make sure as well you have a good medical insurance, these are mainly private there, if you want to be well covered.
I personally hope there will be no Brexit, but maybe a new referendum which will take this decision…
Margaret: Just watched the “No Confidence” vote on parliament and May just manage by 19 votes to survived it.
I feel sure she’ll now ride high on that, but the whole thing is still problematic. I want to see a “Remain” in the EU, not only for personal reasons, but also as a first step in a wider union of all countries whereby we humans should be able to roam all the lands of planet earth.
There surely NOTHING special about “Merry Old England” OR The United Kingdom … just another piece of soil like here in this little garden of ours. BUT to get the Brits to accept anything close to that is impossible. IMO.
However, I am covered by medical insurance. And yes “pretty crazy how people can complicate life…”, and I’ve done my fair share of that in the past
We are getting much colder weather here and snow is predicted because the “polar vortex” has changed. This is good news as it could mean a snow day off from work for me. Otherwise, it’s a very long time until our next holiday. I’m in favor of having a real winter with real winter weather.
One of the my main complaints still has to do with my boring job, but there’s not much I can do about that. I think it does build up to be triggering for me. There’s a lack of stimulation and social contact which is similar to parts of my childhood history. Being ignored and abandoned. We received an improvement in benefits this year resulting in a few extra vacation days for me, but that doesn’t relieve the boredom, or fix the problem, although it does help me to feel a little better about the job.
Phil
Phil,
my dad made me feel disapproved of by his lack of interest and response.
it was all pretty subtle, no violence or anything.
my half brother, not his son, once asked our mom , when he was still a little kid, why daddy did not love him, for him it was even worse.
just a lack of something, which felt very much like rejection, like something was wrong with me…
with mom it was different, it felt kind of like her love was conditional, on her terms, if not she played a guilt trip.
then with my brother, I never felt entirely safe, emotionally, even though we played a lot together, there too I felt well, tolerated maybe, not all the time, with all my family members we luckily had good times, mostly on instigation of my mom, who urged my dad to play along, board games, petanque, a few times he made a kite for us and went kiting with us, very exciting.
also we had fine holidays.
so a lack of genuine interest on one part, and also I felt like having to keep my mom ‘at bay’ from a certain age on, as it felt like she would get too much into my head otherwise, take over, swallow me, and once I just went to my room and had to say out loud if only once, ‘my mommy is crazy’, and then I immediately started slapping my own face…
like i said, guilt trip…
mom being very much like a child is both a quality of her and a curse as I longed very much, on hindsight, for an adult loving reasonable and reliable mom…
wow!! I wonder what %age of us lived that story ? In addition except for my Grampy, the whole family targeted me for not being like them. A narrative I’ve likely helped construct, and survive, the rest of my life. unlovable, unrespected, I should, I wish, have died in utero. My mother said she’d continue to harm me even after death. I don’t believe in gods, fate, nor mystical thinking, but it’s true anyway, because at 73 I remain her suffering victim.
come to think of it, all I was left with was to try to do what might be liked, or at least not disliked…
feels very sad, as it feels like if I did not do that, I would get nothing at all…
and even then, no true attention and care, at least a lot of the time.
mom could be very nice and playful, but was also very controlling.
with dad I felt like a disappointment.
later on as an adult I understood the pain of missing his first born daughter who his former wife kept away from him, hurt him deeply, but well, that did not help little me of course.
I noticed the pain, which looked like fear in his eyes, and did my best to make him feel at ease and to please him.
did my best to take care of everyone, protect my brother, make him feel happy, take care of mom.
boy, looking back on all of that it feels so sad and lonely , hopelessly so, or with just enough hope and crumbs to keep me struggling.
that feeling rises in group invariably, the feeling no one will ask me how I am, nothing will come my way unless I struggle for it, while what I really need is for it to come ‘for free’, spontaneously…
now I start crying…
M
Margaret,
That’s very sad how your father treated you. I often get a similar feeling as you describe in group, and I can relate to a lot of what you said about your childhood.
Phil & Margaret: In my case with a strict authoritarian daddy I simply thought all daddies were like that. That, that was the job for mammies to be caring. It’s weird how we get so much confusion stemming from the way they treated us kids. Looking back, when I’m out of the feeling, I see they too got ‘done over by their parent, then they in turn got done over, and so the ‘Merry; goes round and round.
Is it possible to stop this ‘Merry’ from going around????
In talking to my siblings about our childhood I sometimes wonder why they see it all SO differently. They never were interested in this therapy … like as Joanna thought: “Why would they want therapy … nothing horrific happened to them. They see me as:- “Well!!! that’s our Jack”
Today I got my chuckle not from any blog entry but rather from Eckhart Tolle and Oprah. I’m not a big fan of Eckhart, as he is a little too cognitive and ‘heady’ for me. Earlier today I met with one of my university professors and she was telling me how much she is learning from reading one of his books. I told her some of my dislikes about him and she told me how his ideas are helping her to address some challenging job situations. I left the meeting feeling like perhaps I should give Eckhart a chance. I came across this 3 min. interview with Oprah, which I sent to my professor and she enjoyed. My chuckle, as well as Oprah’s chuckle/laugh came when he answered her question about what he believes in. Funny and ironic words to come out of the mouth of someone who considers himself ‘spiritual’! I also liked his definition of love and agree with him on this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em83BIDBfxA.
Renee: I watched the clip and didn’t get a chuckle. What I got was:- what is all this believing stuff?. I would always prefer to substitute believing with:- “I understand ………”
Renee: Lots of chuckles by the hour, with me and my partner, Jim
We both have this same sense of humor. and being silly with one another.
He’s even resorted to a sign language that is also humorous. AND funny ways of walking like drunks and ballet dancers on point.
Example: He’s forever locking the gate and the front door and says he’s protecting us against all those rapist; and I say “WHY???? let them in … it could be fun”. Bad taste … probably but it’s just between us.
Well, right now, Jack, it’s just between you and Jim. Are you open to visitors who are in need of more chuckles? Or visitors who want to expand their repertoire of ways to walk drunk or ballet dance on point?
Btw, Jack, my day has just begun, but my morning chuckle comes straight from you. Take a look. Haven’t seen this in a while but it never fails to crack me up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2ViNJFZC8.
Renee: I’m open to different chuckles from anyone. Occasionally I’ll get one off the blog and some other places and I liked and laughed over the clip you posted,
Both Jim and I loved John Cleese and we often use one of his scenes from “Faulty Towers” where Manuel the buss boy is told he has to know nothing, over something … I’ve forgotten. Later when Cleese asks him something Manuel replies “I know nothing”. Manuel in the series, often says he comes fro Barcelona
So now when either of us accuse the other of not knowing or understanding, we’ll reply Yes … cos I come from Barcelona. then laugh
Apparently Cleese now lives in Monticito, close to the ‘Casa’
One of my best laughs came from my Secret Santa at one retreat with a card and a small cup with the name Dick on it. the card read:-
Poem to a Jack
A rack of Christmas ornaments
with names from Adam to Zack
All the William’s, James’ and Jonathon’s
even Jeremy, but no “Jack”
Oh there was a peg, a place,
a space for Jack
but all the Jack’s were gone
— so did the next best thing
and got you a DICK
I turned out my Santa was Vicky. She must have put a great deal of though into that whch I appreciated. and to this day I still have pinned to the Wall over my bed. If I can arrange it, I will try and post a pic of it. Right now not sure how to place that pic on the blog.
Vicki: I still love it, and often look a it hanging above my bed. I took 2 pics of it and wanted to post them on the b log but have no idea how. If you know how or, would do it for me I will email you if you either reply to me vial email jackwaddington@yahoo.com or, give me yours.
By the way, when Eckhart talks about ‘ego’, which I don’t connect with, I substitute being in old feelings. That makes more sense to me. When I am in old feelings I am not fully in the present moment and I am not always aware when this is happening. I liked what he said about being ahead of the game when we can be aware that this is what is going on.
Renee: For me the only way to be ahead of the game is, to be very cognisant of Primal theory. Most of the others are “a fools paradise” better still “in denial”. As my Jimbo and I laugh by saying “being in de Nile”
Jack, those poor souls who are not cognizant of Primal theory. They’re stuck in a fools paradise somewhere in de Nile. They missed out on the Way, the Light and Truth. I feel sorry for them. Aren’t you glad that we are the enlightened ones? 🙂
Renee: the first step, that I doubt will happening is to get the medical profession to understand the whole total dynamics of Primal theory … in-so.far as it suggest that all illnesses have their roots in early childhood and perhaps in utero.
From there, they might; or a least some of them might see a “way ahead”.
“Enlightened” is not quite the word I would use since it suggests some high state of being, whereas I see it as being simply aware OR conscious of.
Neurosis implies (a la Janov) not being totally conscious leaving some things “in the back of the mind” … or, in the subconscious.
Jack, you’re right. “Enlightened” is not the right word. I meant to say, aren’t you glad that we Primal people are the aware and conscious ones? The rest of the world…..well, not so much:)
When thinking about Eckhart Tolle and being in the present moment, two songs came to mind. I couldn’t decide which one to post so I decided to post both of them. Hope you like them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZRiraUs2QY……..”Last night in the sky, Such a bright light, My radar send me danger, But my instincts tell me to keep, Breathing, (Out, in, out, in, out, in)”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38YEnQWDLvo……..”I want to live where soul meets body, And let the sun wrap its arms around me and, Bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing, And feel,
Feel what it’s like to be new”.
it is amazing how having some of these feelings yesterday and shedding tears probably full of stress hormones, caused my dreams to ‘take a U-turn’, emotionally.
this night I had a dream full of attractive men, no woman around at all but me, one of them already feeling like ‘with me’ as we had kissed a few times, and many of the others showing interest in various degrees.
so the feeling was ‘getting attention’, and ‘being liked’, and ‘having a companion’…
I got up early, needing to get ready for the exam, and taking care of the cats etc. first.
I felt tense, it was a 60 multiple choice questions exam, each question with three possible answers.
some of these questions were of the kind:
here are two propositions, a and …
question: is only a right, is only b right, or are a and be both right?
but overall the exam was less difficult than I feared, but still not easy and required a huge amount of concentration.
now i have to wait for about ten days to know if I passed or not…
but in any case I ordered the next course already, as it only starts in april and gives me time to buy and install a new laptop first.
it will be ‘history of psychology’, and consists of a presentation we will have to give and of a regular exam.
back home now, very tired but also with a good feeling.
I had felt good about the exam, except for some questions I was not sure about which answer was right, and then some other questions in which I felt I new the material well, but the question itself was unclear.
for example, a part of the question is having to reply about a correlation, from which I felt sure it was zero, but the option was ‘is this correlation between zero and 1?’
now, is zero between zero and 1? that is open for interpretation so it is not a clear question for me.
so in case I would not have passed I can demand to look into the results and if necessary protest, we’ll see…
sorry if all of this is boring, I feel a need to share….
and thanks, Phil, Larry and Jack for the responses about my last comments, and Renee for the other response.
a bit vague but my neurons are fried and need to rest now, smiley…
M
They probably were trying to assess whether you understood that a correlation greater than 0 is a positive correlation, less than 0 is a negative correlation, and 0 is no correlation.
I’m glad you felt good about your exam, Margaret. But with a statement like, “having to reply about a correlation, from which I felt sure it was zero, but the option was ‘is this correlation between zero and 1?’ now, is zero between zero and 1?”, of course your neurons are fried and in need of rest!
Since I’m still thinking in songs, your exam question reminded me of this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOiZP8FS5Ww……….”So, maybe I’ll win (saved by zero), Maybe I’ll win (saved by zero)”.
I’ve been waiting to hear from you about how your exam went, Margaret. Thanks for the update. I’ve been touched by what you wrote a few days ago or yesterday. Like you, I too find myself stepping back and seeing the bigger overview of my life, seeing and understanding threads and connections that I was never aware of when I was living it.
Yesterday I took a friend to hospital where she had an ECG and she gave blood, urine and poop samples that will help her doctor try to diagnose the cause of her recent unusual health symptoms. This month she’s had a dramatic and alarming drop in blood pressure and can’t walk a few yards without getting painfully out of breath. She is my age. Like me she has no relatives in the city, but she does have friends here who she stays in touch with. Two days ago I found out about her health deterioration this month, and that this month she’s been languishing at home too weak and out of breath to get herself to hospital to have the tests done. I’m dismayed that she hadn’t asked any friends for help. The irony is that before she retired a couple of years ago, she taught doctors at teaching hospitals how to teach medical school courses. She was in international demand to speak at medical conferences, yet this month when it came to her own health she felt unable to reach out to friends for help.
The tests indicate that she has severe anaemia. Today she went to hospital for a blood transfusion. One of her of her friends took her there. Shortly after noon I texted and found out that she hasn’t had the transfusion yet but that they insisted on taking blood samples again. She and her doctor are waiting for the further analysis and interpretation.
I feel good that I helped her to get to her tests yesterday. I can imagine the anxiety that she is feeling about the precariousness of her health. I feel grateful for the relative soundness of mine and that though I am aging and wearing down physically, for now at least I’m still able to take care of myself and find enjoyment in life. I’m looking forward to a rare for me dinner tonight with a married couple who live on an acreage that another friend and I have been invited to. The weather is cold today. Temperature is -23 C (-9 F). With the wind chill it feels like -32 C (-26 F), but the blue sky is clear and the morning sun shining into my living room brings warmth and cheer. I feel good today, yet with an undercurrent of anxiety about Life’s harsh, blunt realities that I wish I could have protection from.
I remember playing happily in a sunbeam like this in my Auntie’s living room one winter morning when I was three and living with her and Uncle. I remember marveling at the sunbeam and asking Auntie what it is. As I contemplate the thread of my life from then until now, I notice the underlying theme that at least since then I’ve been forever struggling with a need to belong that was only occasionally temporarily satisfied. I see and feel little Larry’s almost incessant underlying want to fit in and to figure out how to. Now with misty eyes I am seeing how he could not see that there was no Mommy and Daddy who were able to be there for him, that for his entire life there never would be, that his trying to fit in throughout all of his (my) life was a diversion from seeing the truth that he was OK just as he was and needn’t have to do anything to fit in and they, not he, were the ones who were flawed.
As I feel my friend’s anxiety for her future, I want to be wrapped in my parents’ love and reassurance that mine will be OK. Which it wasn’t.
As someone who thinks a lot about death, I came across this interesting article in the Atlantic. “What People Actually Say Before They Die”. https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/01/how-do-people-communicate-before-death/580303/. It made me think that perhaps we die the way we live. “Military men had the “relatively highest number of requests, directions, or admonitions,” while philosophers (who included mathematicians and educators) had the most “questions, answers, and exclamations.” The religious and royalty used the most words to express contentment or discontentment, while the artists and scientists used the fewest.” “Almost everyone is calling for ‘Mommy’ or ‘Mama’ with the last breath.”
I am continuing to visit with sister’s 96 year-old father-in-law. My family appreciates this because they find him hard to be around as he is mostly complaining about things, which they find challenging and frustrating. I don’t mind this, perhaps because I am not in his immediate family, and can just be interested in his discontentedness. I also get to ask him about what it’s like to be “past his expiration date” (his words), and be stuck waiting to die. I particularly like this conversation because I can relate in some ways to this feeling. Recently I said to him that if he really didn’t want to live anymore, why didn’t he just stop eating. He said that he promised his son (my brother-in-law) that he wouldn’t do this. I said that no-one could force him to eat if he didn’t want to and that maybe he was ambivalent about dying and that it wasn’t that simple that he only wanted to die. He thought for a while and then said that this was probably true. I was left thinking that little in life (and end-of-life) is simple with only either/or answers.
I expect that when they are dying people will be the same as who they were during their life. I expect they will express themselves in the ways they always had in life. I think the thing about dying is that it is a reality we never want to face. I would think that the dying cope with the reality of dying and interacting with people in ways that they coped with people and difficult reality throughout their life, except that if the reality of dying to too big to face they would deal with it more symbolically as it drew nearer.
Until her final dip into unconsciousness and death, my wife’s mental state was crystal clear and she remained true to who she had always been. Throughout life together we had bravely tried to confront and surmount life’s challenges. That’s the approach you soon learn when you do this therapy. In the last weeks of her life, we exchanged some heartfelt feelings and insights just like we sometimes did throughout our marriage. In the last weeks before her death, she expressed to me her feelings and worries about her transition to death that she wasn’t sure I was ready to hear so she expressed them symbolically. I was expecting that. I correctly interpreted that she was letting me know that she was tired and wanting to go, and that she was worried for me. I anticipated these themes would come up near the end. We talked about them. I was able to reassure her, and she died in peace, with a sparkle in her eye and a smile on her face, feeling loved, before she lost consciousness for the last time.
Larry: What a very moving recount of the death of Noreen and you at her side. I think we all wish for something akin to that.
So far, all I’ve said is that I hope it’s all quick and painless. BUT I suppose it will happen in it’s own good way and time.
For the moment Jim and I have talked about death, with most of the variations we can think of. I feel that is something many don’t discuss. How the final outcome, is something I try not to contemplate for too long. The one thing I am certain of, is there is no more for me after it.
I expect that leading up to death due to illness would feel as undesirable as feeling ill and incapacitated or in pain normally would but much more so because of growing expectation of the end. The contemplation of the end would likely be a very sad, sometimes anxiety laden exercise, but how the dying person copes with it would I expect tend to be similar to how they coped with other difficult situations in their life. Sometimes I wonder whether the dead person knows that they died, especially if they died while unconscious as in non-dreaming sleep. Maybe before they blink out the brain shutting down and dying generates stress hormones that create symbolic visions in the unconscious person’s sub-conscious that informs them that they are in some final transition. I’ve read that some people fight against their death, while others accept it peacefully. I believe that having had a meaningful life and being with a loved one who will manage OK would make it easier for the dying person to let go at the end. My understanding is that sometimes they try to hang on in the hope of finally resolving an issue with someone who they care about.
Larry: “The contemplation of the end would likely be a very sad, sometimes anxiety laden exercise,” and “how they coped with {it}”
Sure enough, I had a dream last night that was very,very anxiety laden, the details of which are unimportant, but It put me into the same state I endured for the first half hour of my life outside the womb. They wrapped me up in blankets and put me in a nursery where according to my father who came less than ten minutes after my birth and viewed me through a glass windows screaming for my dear life. For that one half hour I was totally and utterly ABANDONED.
Arrgggg!!!! fuckin idiots … and my father thought it was all OK, idiot him also. He related the story to me in my teens.
I feel one way or another, in the end … we all ‘COPE’ with it … if that is the right word. We just die; as we observe it objectively. How it is, subjectively, no-on seems to know since none of have returned from death: other than Lazareth and Jesus … a likely story.
Contemplating it I feel is a forlorn endeavour. Simply, just that.
Renee,
my neurons have cooled down by now luckily, smiley…
I am already thinking about the short presentation we will have to do in the next course, which is ‘pioneers of psychology’.
I would love to bring Primal somehow in the picture, as the subject is of our own choice, but of course has to relate to the course.
one vague idea is seeking links between the Freudian concept of ‘catharsis’, and the healing by having the old feeling finally come to the surface, for example.
but well, that certainly is just a very vague kind of idea and I don’t know if I will be able to do something with it.
so far I have little experience with using scientific search engines, that will have to be one of my next classes, ‘Literature study’, which I dread, as it is very technical in combination with all the APA regulations and one of four specific obligatory subjects and having to form a research plan, brrrrrr…
Margaret, I wrote a paper a number of years ago that explored the personal and political reasons that Freud abandoned his theory of the reality of childhood trauma (which came very close to PT). Email me on my personal email if you want explore this option for your presentation.
I believe I said this already but I think bears repeating, Freud almost HAD to abandon his theory about all the abuse and trauma he encountered………………..since most all of his patients were Jews it would put that group in a very bad light. He probably did not want to accept this himself plus to put it mildly it would NOT be a good ‘career move’ Just like if Janov had emphasized male genital abuse (MGA) aka circumcision that would not have been a good career move either. Does anyone think he would have even ‘survived’ in Los Angeles with all the lawyers running around if he took THAT tack? Better blame on ‘birth’ or any other number of things
Patrick: Quote:- “Freud almost HAD to abandon his theory about all the abuse and trauma he encountered………………..since most all of his patients were Jews ”
I don”t see that the one follows the other. a la “since most all of his patients were Jews ” As I understand Freud; he started by attempting to understand what he, Freud coined as ‘hysterical women’.
Another quote:- “Does anyone think he [Arthur Janov] would have even ‘survived’ in Los Angeles “.. Yes!!! ME. His survival or lack of it, had nothing to do with “male genital abuse” … it was ABOUT “early childhood trauma”. That’s what made the book “The Primal Scream” a best seller.
l
YOU, as I see you, are the one playing the ‘blame game’
Patrick, your assertion that “Freud almost HAD to abandon his theory about all the abuse and trauma he encountered………………..since most all of his patients were Jews it would put that group in a very bad light,” is inaccurate. That was not one of his reasons for abandoning his original theory. If/when you get your radar fixed, I would be delighted to have this discussion with you.
Renee: I loved that phrase of yours and it EVEN gave me a chuckle. The phrase “your Radar”.
I’m adjusting mine and hope to Godo, it’s a real fix.
Interestingly I have an endearing phrase that I call Jim. “Chckle Egg” It all came about when I was discussing with one of my SCA friends, and I told him the story about my Granny, when I was little, and she would ask me if I wanted a Chuchy Egg … meaning a fried egg. He thought I said Chuckle Egg and Jim and I laughed and now it’s a standard phrase for us.
Funny how we all pick on phrases, that are relevant to each of us.
And speaking radar and love, Jack……I just couldn’t resist. I am dedicating this song to you today, Jack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf53Pg2AkdY. Oh, to be young again. Back in the 70s.
Renee, before I clicked on that I just KNEW it had to be ‘Radar Love’ one of my all time faves. BTW this band Golden Earring were Dutch and if I remember correctly this song was a hit in 1974 the same year the most awful football (soccer) team every assembled the Dutch in the 1974 World Cup. So that was another reason to love that song not that I needed any more Love that bit (from memory I did not play the song now) slow down/almost there/gotta be cool/gotta take care. Also it seemed to me pretty much the ONLY cool rockers were English with the occasional American one this was Dutch so it was special for that reason too. Continental Europe could actually produce real rockers which was not the impression I got when grape picking in France in 1972. Charles Aznavour was about as hip as it got
Sorry that reference to the Dutch football team should have said ‘awesome’ not ‘awful’ the most awesome football team ever produced NOT ‘awful’ exactly the wrong meaning
Renee: thanks for the dedication … I listened to the song but it did not move me.
On the music scene, my first long term relationship, he introduced me to classical music and much of it I liked, then because of my stint working in an Opera house I became very deeply moved by Operas of Puccini and Verdi in particular. I was no fan of Mozart for his his masterful musical abilities.
On the non operatic music, my favourite was Stravinsky.
It was not until the Beatles and rolling Stones that I began to appreciate pop music.
I listened to a great deal of it while I was living with that girl who was a heroine addict, who did nothing but shoot up and play all the classical pop music of the time … 1970’s in Ibiza.
These days I do not feel the need to stimulate feeling through music … I am getting it by other means.
Renee: SCA = Sex Compulsive Anonymous. I attended their meeting for over a year. Most were gay people but there some straight guys as well and a couple of Women.
Renee: the problems for me are not about language ie. Dutch or English. It’s about the hoops I/we have to go through to obtain these documents and then to renew every so often. and having to have available at AT all times.
There’s the irritating factor also with Brexit, and also the off chance that I may not get my UK pension … little as it is. For me … AND … I’m fully aware, it ONLY me. it would ALL be solved “once and for all” for us humans by the simple device of abolishing money.
It further, boggles my mind that so few see this as a major solution; for/to most of our human problems. Even resolving the problem of neurosis.
Patrick, I am still eager and happy to discuss why Bob Dylan would name a song Positively 4th Street, when the song is neither positive, nor about the number 4, nor about streets. I am okay if you cheat, BTW. I did. I don’t think there’s any way you connect this subject with the badness of the Jews.
Yes Renee I will accept that! I did TRY to ‘cheat’ about the title of that song and came up with nothing. There was a few speculations about was 4th St in NY or Minnesota beyond that nothing, so yes I am curious and would like to know
OK Renee tell me why Freud abandoned his original ideas. Why exactly did he go from believing it was real abuse to just something that was already in the ‘structure of the unconscious’ of the child. That’s a fairly big jump but yes again I am curious as to what your thinking is on the matter
Larry,
a brief reply before I read the rest of the comments.
no, the question about the correlation was not that simple.
the main issue was to have to say whether a statement, two statements , where right or wrong, and one of them was about the standard error, and its correlation with the scores on an entirely different variable.
now of course this is no correlation, but well, if you measure the error with a random set of numbers, it is possible the correlation is for example 0.04 for example, isn’t it?
in that case it would be yes, the correlation is between 0 and 1.
but if you go for the bottom line of ‘well, there is no real correlation, we can call it 0’, then it is 0, and not between 0 and 1…
that last option is what I chose, so I chose to say the statement was not right, that a correlation between a certain standard error and a different variable is between 1 and 0, no not right in my opinion.
but that question is not really clear if you ask me, and specially not as it was in combination with another statement to be evaluated.
well, hm, sorry to bore some people.
another example was a question about whether the mean value of different standard errors of repeated tests comes down to 0, where I said no, the next question was whether the mean, average error of a group of people is 0, there I said yes, as well, in the course it was said somewhere in a group of people random measurement errors of a large group cancel each other out…
so those are a few questions I really was not certain about, but we’ll, overall I was feeling good with knowing I was very sure about many other questions…
but it is always hard to assess how I did, sometimes it is worse than expected, sometimes better…
so far I have passed at first go all the time, despite one double exam where I had a 5, but there was some compensation regulation where I could accept having one 5, without having to do the exam again, luckily!!
I just saw in my favorite soap, a part in which a young child finally becomes brain dead after being shot accidentally, and after having been in a coma…
it was so sad, everyone grieving for that little life coming to an end, and it made me think of how, getting older , that finality of death is something we all need to come to terms with somehow.
it can feel so unacceptable at first, iI remember how when I lost my husband unexpectedly, my first automatic reaction was ‘no, no this cannot be true!’ for a while.
From your explanation it sounds like you chose the correct answer Margaret. Seems like they were cleverly trying to tease out how deep your insight is regarding statistical correlation.
Larry,
that was very touching to read , I am glad you could be there for her in that way.
already now I feel I am accompanying my mom on her journey as when you are 88, it is impossible to ignore the end is not that far probably…
I am glad she is good at expressing her feelings and at being pretty real about things.
and often with a spark of humon, and always with tenderness and care as her main worry is for us, in my case ‘who will take care of you?’
and her repeated question whether I already have a boyfriend, probably has its roots there as well…
it would be lovely to have a loving companion by my side in the fall of my life, but well, my hopes are slowly withering.
a consolation is that I feel so much more able to connect with new people and to find a lot of pleasure in that.
so I face being possibly alone getting old, but not that alone either, as there are always people around, hopefully that is…
we in the richer part of the world have a good chance to have a fairly comfortable life ending, how much worse must it be to be wounded somewhere alone and have to endure what must feel like an eternity of suffering before death comes as a liberation.
sorry if I am ‘spooky’ and glum, but well, this is all too real for far too many living beings.
it even seems to form a strong argument for me for there not being any god, as he would be pretty nasty in that case, far too much suffering on this planet…
but well, it is what it is and that is what we have to deal with, no?
M
This comment began as a short response to Renée but grew to monstrous proportions. Be forewarned.
Both Said and Foucault were brilliant men who added an interesting critical layer to our understanding of socio-political phenomenon. However, I believe their ideas have corrupted academia (and some politics) to the point of academic deterioration and even moral breakdown. For the result of making the truth completely relative is not the enhancement of understanding of the world and social phenomenon but quite the opposite, it’s relinquishment, selling it for the quick fix of a conscience disburdened.
In the public sphere we call it Political Correctness which is explained more or less thus: The West suffers from a guilty conscience, over colonialism, imperialism, its treatment of the 3rd world, its treatment of minorities, women, people of other sexual preferences, and other “others”. And since “we” (i.e white males) have hurt all the above groups we must now accept them without any criticism, and sometimes without even raising questions.
We can easily see that it’s about a guilty conscience rather than stable moral foundations. For example, just days ago the UN gave Yemen the vice presidency of the executive board of UN Women, the UN gender equality and women’s empowerment agency, for 2019. Would it surprise you to learn that out of 146 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum in categories of women’s rights, Yemen came in last? Most women in Yemen marry before they are 18 y.o and a lot of them undergo female circumcision. A Yemenite woman cannot get medical care without permission from her husband, and as a woman not only her testimony in court is worth half that of a man’s, but she will be legally discriminated against in laws of inheritance, divorce and child custody. Not surprisingly given those facts, Yemen has no women in parliament. None.
Yemen’s bordering country, Saudi Arabia, which is currently in the news because of a young woman fleeing similar male guardianship laws over there, was recently elected as a member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, a body whose mission is to “promote gender equality and the empowerment of women”. Well, I’m sure that mission will be well served when administered by a county which stones women (but not men) to death for adultery, where women still don’t have the vote, and where women until recently were not allowed to drive.
You would expect such conditions for women will be pointed out, even called out, if not by the a politically oriented UN than at least by academia, for example the US National Women’s Studies Association. But you will not find any reference, or statement or recommendation issued by them regarding either Yemen or Saudi Arabia. Of course, you will find plenty of those regarding Israel, a western democracy ranking 43 in that same index, way above the global weighted average (and above other western democracies such as the USA, Austria, Italy and Greece). In comparison to Yemen and Saudi Arabia women’s rights in Israel are heaven on earth.
Now, in what bizarre world can this happen? Well, in the world borne by Foucault and Said where the Saudis and Yemenites are “others” and any moral stand that criticizes them, and even simple statements of facts, if deemed negative, are nothing but the continuation of colonialism and blaming the victim.
In that same world a white artist cannot paint a tribute to Emmet Till who was lynched by racists, because “White free speech and white creative freedom have been founded on the constraint of others, and are not natural rights”; and the University of Ottawa is forced to cancel a Yoga class, including a class for disabled students, because practicing Yoga in a western university is insensitive to Indian culture that suffered colonialism and “cultural genocide” at the hands of the West that now has the audacity to enjoy its fruits.
Behind the politics of political correctness lies a philosophical standpoint that Renée succinctly and favorably summarized, one which in my opinion directly attacks truth, reality and values such as universal human rights. That standpoint is called post-modernism and it has had terrific public relations that hide its grave consequences.
Post-modernism presents itself in a rather harmless, even democratic fashion: We used to believe there is a single, universal, absolute and objective truth. It made us vain and ultimately oppressive. It gave us legitimacy to enforce that single truth – our hegemonic class’ truth – on the rest of the “others”. But we have grown up and matured since and came to the understanding that we were wrong, that there isn’t a single truth, only differing viewpoints, and so we became more tolerant.
Seen through liberal glasses it looked as if post-modernism will only make us even more liberal: we will extend equality from human beings and apply it also to values, and so will be sensitive not only to the human and legal rights of the other but also to his or her culture and preferences.
But there is a contradiction between equality of people and equality of values. When you put the values of those believing in stoning women adulterers on an equal moral footing as the values of those who believe in gender equality, you don’t really advance the cause of equality, do you?
Apparently, in some circles of liberal academia it is much cooler to deduce latent or implied oppression than to look at oppression which is staring you in the face (perhaps it is no coincidence that Michel Foucault supported the Islamist revolution in Iran).
This (the implied directive to deny what is staring us in the face) has terrible consequences for the seekers of factuality, and has weakened academia in certain fields of study to the point of evaporating scholarship and deteriorating rigor in favor of the shallow sanctuary of political correctness. And academia in turn corrupted much of the elites who were supposed to understand the world, take care of its future, and interpret it for us. Edward Said’s ideas were major influence in bringing this about. But this comment is already too long so we’ll leave it at that.
Daniel, I am curious as to what you are wanting from this continued exchange. It is clear that we see things differently. I believe that our ‘social location’ and subjectivity based on our gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical abilities etc. affect to a large degree what we decide to believe is true and what is reality. You disagree with this and believe that there is some ‘neutral’ and ‘bias free’ Truth out there and that this Truth is not a predominantly white, Western, and male truth. I’m okay with this disagreement. In addition, I have already shared in the past where I fall on the essentialism—post-modern spectrum. Maybe you didn’t read this. It feels to me like you are trying to convince me that I am wrong. If so, I wonder why that is important to you. So important, in fact, that a comment that you said was supposed to be short morphed into one of “monstrous proportions”.
Renee: About Truth:- true and false, good and bad, right and wrong, even up and down. are all arbitrary and relative It’s the “relativity” to WHAT; that denotes what is …. .
It is for that reason I personally am wary of using any one of them, UNLESS I state it as MY opinion or ‘as I see it’. That way it becomes more of my feelings and thus is not arguable. It’s the argument that, invariably, is unconvincing to our adversaries/opponents/enemies/what have you’s.
Daniel,
I don’t know anything about Foucalt and Said, but from your examples I’m not seeing the terrible effects of political correctness. I would want know how the UN decided to put Yemen in charge of the UN commission on women, and what was the reasoning. Was this decided by a vote, or by executive action? What effective actions can that commission take in regards to women’s issues anyway. What has been done, and what can be done, to change conditions in that country? What is the best way of advancing the cause of equality. Whatever has been done up until now in regards to Saudi Arabia and Yemen hasn’t been successful. Maybe they will have to evolve and reform themselves.
Before this era of political correctness were western leaders any more moral? I’m doubtful. Colonialism has been over, in name, like slavery, but continued in other forms. Western democratic nations have been perfectly willing to support oppressive authoritarian countries if they had something we wanted, like oil, or other natural resources. We have also been willing to sell them weapons. So I don’t think we had an excess amount of moral authority to begin with, in that sense.
And as to Iran, I see their Islamic revolution as a way they were finally able to take charge and control their own country, a good thing for them.
I imagine my take on this might not be welcomed by just about anybody…………..but for what it is worth (not much) I tend to agree with Daniel as far as his criticism of the excesses of the ‘relative truth’ crowd. Trouble is getting rid of the idea of ‘truth’ as some kind of absolute solves little as the ‘relative truth’ put in it’s place becomes the new absolute. And we see this a lot now or maybe a bit of a different example the new ‘anti Fascists’ so called antifa is very ‘fascist’ at least the way that word is mostly misused. They violently break up groups they do not agree with all in the name of ‘preventing fascism’ hense their name antifa.
I have a bit of a different take on the examples of Yemen and Saudi Arabia. A lot of this discussion assumes there are ‘enlightened’ or ‘progressive’ values in the West esp that these countries need to catch up on. And the UN being one of the main pushes of this kind of agenda like to appoint these so called ‘backward’ countries so as to pull them along. Also keep in mind any Yemeni who is even in the UN is unlikely to be a typical member of that society. They are already inclined to be ‘globalists’ with quite likely contempt for their own tribal and traditional cultures. I see this in Ireland a lot you have a ‘educated elite’ and then the common people who hold the traditional ways of doing things.For myself I used to aspire to being one of the ‘educated elite’ but these days I tend to clump much more with the ‘common folk’. In general I see anything ‘old’ as wiser and better than much of anything ‘new’. Most all of the stuff being promoted here as ‘new’ I see as very destructive and though I guess nobody will agree much with this the pushing of ‘women’s equality’. This is actually more pushing women to be more like men and men more like women also. Which is the situation we have now more and more……………….hard for me to see that as ‘progress’ but the dawn of a frightening dystopia where all traditional wisdom and values are swept away. One of those values would be a mother’s dedication and love for her baby which was done without regard to cost or notions of ‘equality’ In that way I feel the ‘enlightened’ countries are worse than the ‘traditional’ ones. It probably would not surprise Daniel that on any moral scale Israel would come well behind any of these so called ‘tribal’ societies imo regardless of what the UN says. Israel can stand in so many ways for out future too……………..it’s hard for me to imagine a worse nightmare. We will have it all total surveillance, shooting on sight of undesirables, gay and transgender ‘rights’ all in all not a happy land to live in.
Also Daniel I feel it is poor form to ‘pick’ on Yemen, it is after all the latest sacrificial lamb in the Zionist wars. The latest ‘burned victim’ to this God that can’t seem to ever have enough victims. That country is being tortured, starved and bombed I imagine ‘women’s rights’ might be low on their list of concerns right now.
Jack, if Jews would REPENT especially from the practice of circumcision that would be a good start. But only a start but without that things are going nowhere fast imo. I don’t believe in wars and violence it has to come from the Jews themselves but they sure could use a push from non Jews and I guess in my own very small way that is what I am trying to do. I do feel I have this ‘understanding’ about circumcision which maybe a lot of Right Wingers might not be so aware of and it’s consequences. I don’t believe ANYONE is inherently evil there is always an explanation or an understanding.
Patrick: Quote:- “I don’t believe in wars and violence it has to come from the Jews themselves”: what exactly has to come from Jews themselves??????
First off:- Solve your own problems. OR at best, let us know EXACTLY, what bugs you about Jews and where, from within YOU does that stem??
I also don’t believe anyone is inherently evil, Not even Hitler. If one can look into Hitler from a Primal perspective, his Jewish Daddy seemingly drove him to all that he wrote in “Mein Kampf”. We are born innocent little babies with not one single notion about anything. It’s the process of growing up that formulates ones ideas, opinions, beliefs et all. Primal Theory supports just that, To me, it’s the genius of Primal Theory.
I have seen nothing convincing that Hitler’s father was ‘Jewish’ and even if he was it is not really a matter of ‘blood’ I think probably the Jews themselves are being used, or Judaism is used as a convenient means to some end that the average Jewish person has no clue about. Also and I have actually read Mein Kampf’ (something I doubt you have done as you are too busy repeating ad nauseam how ‘true ‘ Primal Theory is you don’t seem to have much time for anything else) and I got no particular feeling that his father drove him to anything. He said his father was disappointing a bit in the career he choose which was some studies in Architecture. But even that seemed fairly mild his father was a civil servant and was big on a ‘secure job’ and wanted Hitler himself to go into the civil service as some kind of secure Government worker. This is far from the fantasies of the likes of you who never feels the need to find out anything much about anything like a Fox News blowhard you are content to ‘mouth off’. In general reading Mein Kampf I was stuck by how ‘normal’ a family he had he seemed to have been very close to his mother and even his father not any unusual problems. He called his father the ‘old gentleman’ and though I did not get the feeling they were close they was no hint of any kind of abuse or violence. All of these ‘stories’ I read when I was young about how he was beaten everyday and how that turned him into some kind of monster seems to be the usual lies and nonsense that has become such a big ‘industry’ and you as a lazy consumer of ‘fake news’ pretty much swallow it all so that you can then regurgitate it back on us. You are such a know nothing as far as ‘solve your own problems’ advice why didn’t you ever solve yours. Why not solve your problems instead of going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about ‘abolishing money’.
Patrick: It seems that in many ways I bug you also. However, you are correct, I never read “Mein Kampf”.
I love “mouthing off” this blog gives me that opportunity. I take it, you don’t like anyone “mouthing off”?
Just as you go on and on about Jews or Judaism, I go ‘mouthing off; about getting rid of that one major inhibitor, that is preventing us from being our true selves:- M O N E Y
On another issue unrelated to you OR anyone here, and that is about the “Fake Revealer”: Trump. It seems he and his administration are adamant that Michael Cohen is a ‘pathological liar’
I see that as : “The kettle calling the frying pan, black”. I see others doing the same thing.
Daniel: I liked your comment here, but have a couple of questions and one remark of my own.
On stating:- “if deemed negative, are nothing but the continuation of colonialism and blaming the victim.” Could Israel be also one of those countries? I fully agree that all our human efforts to govern ourselves seem to be falling apart, which I feel is your reason for expanding the origin response to Renee.
I also agree:- “and has weakened academia in certain fields of study to the point of evaporating scholarship and deteriorating rigor in”, BUT should we look a little deeper into the very academia you mentioned. I contend we ought, based on the premise that A. S. Neill saw in education, wither it be early childhood or Universities?
My personal Feeling/remark:- I thought the creation of Israel, by mainly the Brits and the US was a gross political mistake and has had some of the most profound consequences. I felt it was a mistake in-so-far as it punished a whole group of people, the Palestinians, for some underlying political reasons by the US and UK. I do not have any doubt that Jews have undergone some of the most horrific incidents down time, particularly by Christians and Christian nations.
The question I pose is:- Did giving the Jews resolve their problem? … I think/feel not. I don’t know how it should have been resolved or even if there is a good or perfect resolution. I do not feel creating a nation of their/your own did so. Just MY opinion.
And you are careful as always to see Christians as more to ‘blame’ than Jews. In that way also you know what side your bread is buttered on. You and pretty much the whole world now. And it’s mostly all ‘received wisdom’ put out by the likes of CNN, the BBC etc……….aka Zionist propaganda. So you will ‘pose’ but deep down you always line up with the ‘winners’
Nice to hear from you Daniel. Your posts are intellectually stimulating as always. They introduce me to philosophical concepts that I don’t normally use to organize my thoughts. To try to grasp what is the point this time that you want to get across I had to reread your comment a couple of times. As I perceive it, the gist of what you are worried about is that our current era of post-modernism has given birth to a culture of political correctness in the West that has eroded academic vigor (I take it you mean in reference to the humanities) and moral values, such that we can no longer rely on our elites (I assume you are referring to intellectual elites trained in the liberal arts) to lead society toward a cultural outcome more desirable for most if not all.
My insight from recent reading is that the elites (here I am referring to those who have power and wealth) tend to drive social change in ways that secure and increase their power and wealth, and if that means subverting morals, facts and science to attain more power, many will, regardless of whatever philosophical movement is called upon to define the times. Societal counter currents, weak or strong, try to resist the consolidation of power and wealth into the hands of the few. It has been that way in every society that gave up a hunting and foraging lifestyle for a settled, ‘domesticated’ one. As disparity between the rich and the not rich grows, and it always has, the less cohesive, more fractious, or more repressive the society becomes.
After WWII inequality has been on the rise in the West. It does feel like there are disturbing trends in some of Western society towards revisionist ideas about what is true and moral. I fear that if the powerful elite who lead us completely abandon morals and values, and go even so far as to abandon the truths and idealized objectivity of science and engineering, we are doomed to a dark period of ignorance and suffering. I cynically think that some of the powerful won’t care about the plight of us commoners so long as they can surround themselves with their henchmen to maintain their privilege. When I was young I never believed it could happen in western democracies, but now I do.
Geez, I honestly believe what I wrote just above, and now I feel, uhm, scared that I believe it and wrote it. I feel that in writing it I’m breaking my bubble of numb naivete.
Larry: That you are believing it; I get a sense of why. All this elitism is something that does not have to be … in-so-far as, why are there Elites, and what purpose do they perform? I suspect Daniel was hinting at the very same thing.
I pose it somewhat differently, but means the same. “why do we humans set one person above another and for what purpose??????” We might can call it post modernism, but as I see it …. it’s one of those “back of the mind” things OR a Subconscious factors..
So! what is it that is at the back of our minds. My take:- Nothing as we’ve set up our social communal living is working … we’re beginning to realise we’re all one and this this national, religious, cultural, gender, preferences, relationships to one another, is not working out. We get a sense that those we’ve left in charge are not capable; and worse still no-one seems to know a way forward.
Put by Jung:- there is a collective unconscious. For all of us we are still assuming each one of us, knows best. Alas, it’s not up to ME or any other me. there are 7 billion ‘mes’ out there. We sure need to get along and by getting along; allowing all the others we come in contact with, to be themselves … instead of all this:- letting others fix it for us.
Larry, I like the way you start to probe into some of this stuff. I think it is probably a lot ‘worse’ that you imagine for example it is not only in the ‘humanities’ you have all this kind of stifling from my ;point of view even MORE dangerous is the science and medicine is largely very corrupted. Right now our kids are being poisoned for life with vaccines for example and we are all being irradiated by wifi and other worst stuff to come. I don’t know if you have delved in the 5G issue………………not a good story at all. Anyway I think the ‘hard’ sciences have also largely succumbed. You mention WW2 the way I see it from then on ‘lies’ have ruled the day starting with the big ‘message’ we are all supposed to take from that war. The wrong message…………….imo
I disagree with you, Patrick. I think Larry’s radar is just fine on the issues you mention.
When you say that “lies have ruled the day”, I think you are talking about your history, once again. Yes…..you sure did yet the “wrong message”. And you keep letting us blog readers know that.
Patrick: Some quotes; “I think it is probably a lot ‘worse’ that you imagine for example it is not only in the ‘humanities’ you have all this kind of stifling from my ;point of view even MORE dangerous is the science and medicine is largely very corrupted.” Corrupted!!!! in what way? If you are suggesting the corruption factor is due to profit, I agree. So is there a way out of the profit/corruption factor??.
“Right now our kids are being poisoned for life with vaccines for example and we are all being irradiated by wifi and other worst stuff to come.” How does this suffering by kids manifest itself? What is all this “irradiated by wifi”, doing to your brain. OR are you running around with foil over your scull?
“Anyway I think the ‘hard’ sciences have also largely succumbed.” To what has it succumbed to?
“You mention WW2 the way I see it from then on ‘lies’ have ruled the day ” What particular lies AND who is deciding what is a ‘Lie’ and what is the ‘Truth’. The one person I read that is doing a lot of deciding is Patrick Griffin. What credibility does he (PG) have?
Yes Patrick, I’ve read a little about 5G technology and am concerned. I wish we as a society were more cautious and did more research on possible harmful effects before any new technologies or chemicals are introduced to public use, but the prospect of making profits by meeting public need seems to drive companies to push these things forward sometimes before thoroughly researched, the philosophy being if anything goes wrong deal with it later.
By the way I somewhat sympathize with you on your anti-vaccine stance. I understand the theory of how vaccines are supposed to work, and vaccinations have saved many tens or hundreds of thousands or more of lives. I’m glad that when I was a child I received the polio and smallpox vaccine. Because I have asthma I’m more at risk of serious consequences from getting the flu, especially the older I get (and I am already old). Nevertheless I’ve intentionally never had a flu shot. For one thing I”m allergic to eggs, which are a component in the making of the vaccine, so even my doctor advises against my getting a flu shot. But also I’ve read of some research that cautions that getting the flu shot yearly is not necessarily the best thing for the immune system, and that maybe how it acts on our immune system and the long term effects are not fully researched and understood yet. For instance, in the previous outbreak of H1N1, some Canadian researches discovered that people who regularly got the flu shot were more susceptible to H1N1 than were people who never got the flu shot. Instead of a flu shot, I do whatever I learn that can help my immune system to combat the germs and viruses that invade our bodies. This winter so far I’ve only had a couple of mild colds that were gone in a day. I haven’t had the flu in decades, although when I did it sure scared me because recovery was so difficult and I got a clear sense of how a bad flu could lead to a heart attack or rheumatic fever. Each autumn I feel conflicted about whether or not to get the flu shot, and I inevitably fall back on my allergies for an excuse not to. I’m receptive to any new reliable research that would convince me more strongly for or against getting the flu vaccine.
Patrick I appreciate your explaining that it’s your opinion that lies ruled the day following WWII. I don’t need to say this, but if you were a close friend and if I thought you cared for my opinion, I would tell you that i worry that you are at risk of falling over the edge. Taking the lead from Renee, for me the truth of what you say is that lies had a big impact on your life.
Larry: The line that struck me in this comment of yours was, that there are consequences to all these chemicals and vaccines …. Larry there are consequences to EVERYTHING, and and I mean every-thing. Even profit, laws, doctors, and yelling at ones partner.
I too never take a flu shot, because on the three times I did, I got the flu; so I refused them and I’ve never had flu since … BUT that does not mean I can draw ANY conclusion that applies to anyone else. It’s just how the “fucked-up me crumbles”.
I saw the clip Phil posted of the CIA pilot who is claiming that there are humanoids on the moon some 22,000 or so. It’s not my sense of what’s taking place on the moon … and the only concern I have about the moon is:- that last night the moon was shining so bright it lit up the garden and was a beautiful sight to look at. It’s highly possible that it was a total illusion on my part, and if some one informs me later today that last night there was no moon, then I will take it into consideration … that I had hallucination.
We all get “bee in our bonnet”, “a flee in the ear” as the saying goes”. Mine’s anarchy. So we seek order. But there is little order out there, as far as I can tell Seemingly we’re all afraid of chaos … perhaps due to the utter chaos of our childhood. Seems we’re forever trying to create order I see Trump doing it and the consequences, to me is:- he’s creating chaos.
Yes I concede that is a factor Larry (lies that were told to me) but I don’t think it is that helpful to ‘reduce’ it to that. You could look at it another way I am ‘sensitive’ to lies and liars and my experience as a child even strengthened that. So rather than seeing it as a ‘problem’ it could be seen as a strength. I for the most part do see it that way. Plus it takes courage to stand on the ledge and even ponder falling over the edge. That is my fate and maybe we could say my character not for me the go along to get along mentality. Enough people are doing that already. I think Renee (one of the few) at least can see that. I have heard no talk of ‘banning’ from her unlike some others here.
Patrick: To quote you:- “So rather than seeing it as a ‘problem’ it could be seen as a strength.”
I suspect it’s more of you desperately HOPING that it’s a strength. Seemingly to me, and perhaps most of us here, see it as a perverse thinking on your part.
You are very quick to point out MY flaws, but it appears, are very pissed when I point out what I feel, are your flaws/foibles.
Donald Trump does the very same thing. He’s so determined to PROVE he’s right and above it all, when the unintended consequences of his whole Presidency is just more chaos. Not a terrible thing in-an-of-itself, since I see it as the inevitable downfall of yet another empire/superpower, falling from grace.
I get a sense that most of us humans on the planet have a deep seated sense that there is much amiss The problem, as I see it, we are looking for a fix, but in all the wrong places. Like those farmers I met in Ibiza, they just wanted to be totally left alone to do their thing. I think we’re all slowly coming round to feeling the very same thing. The problem, as I see it is: we’re hoping someone else has THE fix. There is no FIX, merely just for us each to stop trying to fix it, by fixing others, and not seeing that we need, ALL OF US, to fix ourselves first.
Yes in some ways it could be seen as a strength as you say, but from another point of view it could be seen as a weakness. Standing on the edge could be seen as taking courage as you suggest, or it could be seen as taking the easy route. I agree yes it’s your fate for you to not go along, if that’s what you want it to be.
Daniel, First let me say that I’m glad to have you back on the blog. Both your comments were very interesting and I’m always glad to have your perspective. To be fair I would not call that a “continued” exchange but rather a response. I personally don’t think it should be assumed that because you are a white male that you are more biased than the next human. We all have bias I’m sure. Still I believe there are times, at least once in a while, where there is absolutely truth and reality. The earth is most definitely round! Gretchen
Addendum: For me, IF the American government, or NASA staged the moon landing, then they were putting themselves in a very precarious position, and would have to do more than just an epic Hollywood production, plus: Russia would figure out early, that it was merely a Hollywood type Production.
On the other hand; the ‘moon landing deniers’ don’t have to do much, other than put out the story that it was a hoax. Not even needing to PROVE it.
Jack, that makes the rabbit hole a bit deeper. The Russians WOULD have and DID know about it. Just as they would and did know about ‘nukes’. So………….that puts the whole Right/Left thing in a new light. The cold war was about as fake as the war on terror. They are all wars against the goyim and ways to fleece all their money off them in spending on weapons and all the rest of it and keeping them fighting each other
BTW there is strong evidence that the original Russian in space Yuri Gargarian was hoaxed also. So yes the Russians were in on it from the beginning. Both sides were controlled by Jews that is the common factor and all the big wars of the 20th were un-necessary fratricidal wars among White people just as the wars of this century are un-necessary fratricidal wars among Arabs. Same perpetrators in both instances, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it. A ‘war’ between say Saudi Arabia and Iran makes about as much sense as a war between the UK and Germany …………..that is no sense at all. Just total waste in the ‘interests’ of others. Sad and terrible.
FYI, La Casa de Maria posted a photo of San Ysidro Creek flowing swiftly but healthily today, and indicated that with all the week’s storms, they suffered no more damage, thus far. So the Santa Barbara area is cautiously optimistic.
An odd occurrence to day. I am sitting in the doctor’s waiting room and a woman who sort of knows me (she went to school with my older brother) and recognizes me I know almost nobody around here. I was ‘gone’ a long time even before America I went to boarding school so was not around here. Anyway we chat a bit and talk about being ‘homesick’ she asked me if I was. I say yes and she says we all suffer from that the Irish she means. I say yes it’s like a plague and she agrees and says even any bit of land the people want to hang onto to it forever. I said ok that’s another example is it………and then mention how what I notice since I have come back is this haste to get rid of all tradition and all the ‘old’ stuff. She goes yes it drives her crazy too. So I go yeah like this global warming we keep hearing about it seems to be a way to discourage the people here turn them against their traditional ways of farming and eating and everything. She goes yeah I am not sure it if even exists and I go I feel the same way. So we chat about that for a while her grandson is studying environmental engineering in College and she argues with him about all this ‘green agenda’. So I’m thinking I like this lady she has a spark to her and an independence to her thinking.
This is the odd bit and I swear with no prompt from me whatsoever she goes ‘you know what else I don’t believe in’? I go what?. That we went to the Moon. I go OMG I feel the same way. I ask her why exactly she came to that conclusion. She say IF they had ever gone there by now there would be thousands if not millions of us going there now, instead nobody has ever been back there. Bingo! I said that’s one of the best arguments against it. We chat for a while but am aware I will be called real soon
I charge ahead I go you know what else I don’t believe in. She goes what I go the ‘holocaust’ She pauses she is inclined to believe in that she ‘knows’ someone of of someone but can’t seem to recall. I go let’s just say it is very exaggerated she does not seem convinced.
Then I go I have something else I don’t believe in. What? Nuclear weapons…………she goes what about Japan I go those cities were bombed to smithereens like all the rest. Then I was called so had to stop I wish I had asked her to meet me afterwords. It’s not often I meet a kindred spirit around here and or anywhere else for that matter
Patrick,
why thousands or millions haven’t gone to the moon by now? Well, it really sucks as a tourist destination, no atmosphere, no beaches, just a bunch of rocks. I think it’s over rated as a getaway, Mars too.
I take your point Phil. But at the same time……………don’t you think if we could do it safely and pretty much without a glitch what 6 times in the late ’60’s some let’s say really rich folk would want to do it just for fun? I actually think that is a strong argument that we did not go there the fact that nobody has been back. Think of anything else that was some kind of technological break through…………..don’t they build and build on it. For example the transistor or computer chip. The whole Moon trail has gone really cold for some reason! I actually think a similar argument works against ‘nukes’ they have ALSO never been used since even longer than the Moon thing. Humans as nasty as they are WILL and WOULD have used such a weapon…………………if it ever existed. IMO it didn’t and doesn’t.
Jack, I’m glad I could give you a chuckle today with my ‘radar’ word. I will reciprocate with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izAqFoLtzKM. I think this is the Fawlty Towers episode you were referring to. I should tell you that Fawlty Towers is the only TV show that I have literally laughed from beginning to end, with no breaks!
I thought of you when I read this in the above link: “On the videotape of the December 1965 press conference, someone tells Dylan he’s hard on people in a lot of his songs — “Rolling Stone,” and “Fourth Street” — and asks, “Are you hard on them because you want to torment them, or because you want to change their lives and make them know themselves?” Dylan screws up his face into a very serious and rather demonic grin and says, “I want to needle them.” Both you and Dylan are skilled in the area of needling. Sometimes I wish that if you are going to continue with your needling, you could do it with Dylan-esque style poetry. Or create your own ‘Patrick-esque’ poetry.
Renee, that’s one of the nicest things I have heard in a long while. To me at least I feel a bit ‘understood’ and I mean being compared to Bob Dylan is not bad, not bad at all. And you put your finger on something I feel I have a lot to say but no real way to say it. I was actually thinking about this yesterday how we never hardly ‘played’ as kids, what I mean is kids find outlets they like drawing, music whatever…………….it’s like we had so little to be able to ‘express’ anything no medium only raw feelings. That was true a bit in Irish culture generally I think and therefore they went in for a lot of ‘story telling’ had many famous writers etc. But say compared to Europeans the Dutch with their painters or the Italians with their architecture etc. Anyway as Margaret says it is what it is but having a lot to say and no real way of saying it is not fun. At least I feel you can kind of see that…………….plus makes a nice change from the likes of ‘primal jack’ the Ayatollah of the PI with his ‘solve your own problems’ bucket of water back in my face……
Patrick: Just Primal Jack here to say:- I thought you made some huge revelations about yourself, in this last comment, talking about your childhood and lack of connectedness, which must surely have hurt you in many ways, even if, at that time, you were not able to explain it. I suspect somewhere in there, was what brought you all the way from Brixton to the US.
‘The kids couldn’t hurt Jack/though they tried, tried,tried/they couldn’t stop the water from lapping/ and here is my bit ‘they couldn’t stop his lips from flapping/though they tried, tried, tried. At least I have done to no effect lol
I’m glad I could help you feel understood, Patrick. Your statement that, “we never hardly ‘played’ as kids, what I mean is kids find outlets they like drawing, music whatever…………….it’s like we had so little to be able to ‘express’ anything no medium only raw feelings”, made me sad. I think childhood is playhood and if we don’t get enough time to play when are younger, we somehow pay the price later as adults.
That said, I am glad that you decided to take me up on my suggestion to put your words into poetry, like Dylan did. Great song choice, BTW. I wanted to check and see if you are open to feedback from myself and others on your new and developing skill or not. While it can feel like being evaluated, feedback can also be a valuable tool to help us grow.
The other day, Patrick asked my views on why Freud rejected his first theory, based on the reality of child abuse, specifically sexual abuse, and even more specifically (although not exclusively) on the sexual abuse of girls. It was a while ago that I studied this and I don’t feel like trying to remember all the details. But one of the main reasons you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ6y_Rk-ZgE&t=7s. (4 min.) Basically, his very patriarchal society was so not ready to face this truth and he was shunned by the medical community at that time. And he was in no way ready to reach out to the early women’s movement for support. (It could be argued that over 100 years later, today, this truth is still not readily faced.) In many ways, though, I don’t think Freud was ready to face this truth he discovered either. For anyone who wants to understand how sticking with this truth would have negatively impacted his friendships, his own family of origin, his ability to grieve his father’s death at that time, and other reasons, you can read the book “The Assault on Truth” by Jeffrey Masson. A fascinating read, IMO.
Renee, that’s interesting but there might be another way to look at this also. Freud was describing mostly his Jewish milieu and it was unacceptable and shocking to a lot of his contemporary Christian society well because Christian society mostly actually was not like that. They found it shocking and for a good reason. That is why I am a great believer now in ‘specifics’ we can get carried away with debating theories etc but often without the specific historical context. Marx is another case in point , he came from a long line of Rabbis, he was very ‘Jewish’ and most of this stuff about sweeping away the state the bourgeoisie etc was almost just code for Judaic hatred and aggression for the socialites they found themselves in the middle of and hated and wanted to destroy. I would say in fact that is how it played out in history, if you see what the Bolsheviks/Jews did to Christian Russia I think you might be somewhat convinced. But then of course it becomes an argument was their ‘hatred’ justified or was it mostly their own hatred of it seems all life due to their childhood traumas especially circumcision. Which Christian societies from the very beginning abhorred. St Paul is very strong on the subject and it was line a line of demarcation of the difference between a Jew and a Christian. This has unfortunately changed in modern times as the Jewish influence has grown and grown and the Christian has declined we have a situation at least in the UK and America where it is very common indeed…………………and co-incidentally or not these are the 2 worst war makers and aggressors in modern times. Just saying again…………..
Patrick: If ever anyone conflates apples with oranges, you do just that with:- “difference between a Jew and a Christian. This has unfortunately changed in modern times as the Jewish influence has grown and grown and the Christian has declined we have a situation at least in the UK and America where it is very common indeed…………………and co-incidentally or not these are the 2 worst war makers and aggressors in modern times. Just saying again…………..”.
Christianity and Judaism as religious beliefs, are fading in both religions and most people are now secular. Both are now cultures.
Islam will, I contend follow the same transition/trajectory.
What I hope and contend, is that our cultural differences will just fade away and we’ll (hopefully) just see ourselves as fellow creatures. That I feel and hope will be the case for religion, gender, race, and nationality,
These very divisions we’ve set up for ourselves eon ago (after IMO, we became neurotic). It’s exactly why, if we could go back to abolishing all these dividing factors, we’d actually automatically eliminate neurosis. Yep!!! I agree, a thought provoking notion, BUT not impossible if most of us can get beyond the “two second dismissal” of the idea.
See now Phil I don’t sound so ‘crazy’ after all. At least there are people ‘crazier’. To be a bit serious I would wonder about a guy like that maybe being a pilot and basically living and working in very artificial environments involving massive exposure to artificial electric and magnetic field, radar etc and just maybe being off the earth and it’s magnetic fields etc…..did he basically go ‘crazy’ Quite likely imo. He is obviously a ‘smart’ guy but it seems a crazy one. Still I could relate to his idea the the Earth is actually a prison planet which is just there for ‘punishments’. Certainly a lot of people are being ‘punished’ and as much as we can see totally ‘innocent’ people often punished the most. Some people speculate that the amount of evil being done almost has to have an origin that is not completely ‘human’ or human in the way we think of it a being capable of empathy etc. Some of the agendas we see seems to have no ’empathy’ whatever in them. Like could just ‘money making’ alone explain say vaccination esp of children or is there an even crueler agenda at work. Or is all just pure ‘ignorance’.Any answer is not likely to be totally satisfying.
Patrick,
Patrick, yes he may be pretty crazy, and it’s not reassuring to know he was in the CIA. He also that these moon dwellers are alien humanoids. If that’s the case, I wonder if we should let them immigrate here. If they were to arrive by spaceship, no wall could keep them out. Trump said in a speech today that the wall in San Antonio is working. The thing is though, San Antonio is 150 miles from the Mexican border and has no wall. He said this when announcing his big proposal today about a deal with the Democrats for wall funding, which they quickly rejected. Phil
Well Phil if it’s any ‘white’ country in the West we probably will be told we somehow ‘owe’ the aliens to be let in for some terrible things we did to them in the past. I am sure something can be cooked up ‘imperialism’ against former aliens. Something, anything to bring down any existing ‘white’ societies and make them more ‘diverse’ and ‘tolerant’ blah blah blah
Phil: I too watched Trump trumping along in that speech … then watched the responses from the commentators. the Repubs, though he threw it all back onto the Dems. The Dems just thought it was the same old,same old Trumpty.
I thought, “Poor guy … he knows not what he’s saying, and little realizing how he comes across”
Where are you going now my love? Where will you be tomorrow?
Will you bring me happiness? Will you bring me sorrow?
Oh, the questions of a thousand dreams, what you do and what you see
Lover, can you talk to me?
Girl, when I was on my own, chasing you down
What was it made you run, trying your best just to get around?
The questions of a thousand dreams, what you do and what you see
Lover, can you talk to me?
Today I attended a West Coast Swing ballroom dance workshop. It was held in a high school gym. There were about 70 participants plus instructors. I attended two lessons, of 1 ½ hours each with a 15 minute break in between. The instructors use a system where participants partner up and line up into three rows of partnered pairs across the gym. After the lesson starts, we change partners every few minutes when instructed that the lady or man move on to the next partner in the row. By the end of a lesson I’ll end up having danced with 25 or so different ladies a few times.
I was such a scared, tense person when I began taking ballroom dance classes more than a decade ago. In comparison I can tell how much more at ease in my life I now feel than I did then. I’m way more at ease in being with the various people, talking with the women and learning and rehearsing the patterns together. I able to experience so much more of the depth of joy that can be had from the social interaction and the unspoken emotional and physical connection and communication that goes with ballroom dancing. The pleasure from dancing with, momentarily holding, and talking with my partners today awakened in me a reminder of our human (dare I say mammalian) need for physical and emotional closeness with someone, and the mutual joy from the need being met.
Later at home, awakened by the memory of the physical and emotional intimacy I once knew, I cried more expansively than ever for my wife who is no more than dispersed atoms now. I cried in deep acknowledgement of the vacuum in my life and the enormous hurt that she for a long time now no longer exists, while I am still capable of and deserve rich emotional and physical connection, and that there is a woman somewhere out there who we would find are right for each other if I would be open to it.
Larry: I sure hope you find that lady partner that’s right for you. Your recognition of your progress over the years I feel, say a great deal about this therapy.
not sure what i feel. disappointment. lonely, blah, doing chores, washing dishes, checking out leak in water pipe, get rid of kid’s old car so landlord can paint the side of the house. feels empty like when my grandma rushed around the house and did housework and ignored me, for many many years. shoved down a feeling yesterday driving wife home from her job monthly conference upon hearing maggie may on radio. that was a dog we had, maggie, that disappeared one day in 1978 due to my drunken careless stupidity. had let her get pregnant too and then stupidly gave all pups away to some dick who probably did something horrendous to them. i could hear them callijng me laterf on, once or more but was advisedthat was not really real. also a time of breakup with z when my drinking and death of her father left us both insane. blah. rain is gone and what. emptiness. sorrow sorrow sorrow.
Renee, I was just writing something here and was mentioning the idea the Paul McCartney was ‘substituted’ and then it hit me the Who’s song ‘Substitute’ one of my all times faves again. I always have liked the song and never associated with the ‘conspiracy theory’ in any way. BUT according to the Billy Shears book the Who were well aware of all that went on and that book does a whole de-construction of ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ and relates almost every line in that song to the ‘replacement’ idea. Anyway this one could also I checked and it was released in 1970 well AFTER the Beatles events in question. You probably know the song though it is not one of their most famous though I think it deserves to be
Patrick, it seems that you are becoming a song librarian here too. Cool. Here is an alternate interpretation of Substitute: http://justasong2.blogspot.com/2009/07/who-susbstitute.html. By the way, I couldn’t help but notice that the song contains the line,
“Substitute you for my mum, At least I’ll get my washing done”. This suggests two things me…… Pete Townshend was having problems with his mother who was refusing to do his washing because she felt he was old enough to do it himself (good for her!), and that the washing machines in England do indeed work. They are not stuck on the rinse cycle, like in Ireland. Just in case you were looking for solutions:)
Renee, I notice you interpret the thing about his washing the way I understand it also. BTW I am not trying to say this song is ‘about’ the Paul thing, it is obviously about a lot of other things. But Pete Townsend like a lot of creative people has a great knack of evoking many different things in the same words. Like the ‘Don’t get fooled again’ goes on about ‘the parting on the Left is now the parting on the Right’ which is obviously about Right/Left political stuff but some people have pointed out the replacement Paul parted his hair in the opposite way to the new one. Leaving aside how true or not that is Townsend seems to be working in stuff like that. Like several meanings in the same words. And again speculating here if this happened to the Beatles and others like the Who, Rolling Stones, Donovan etc knew about it………………well it would be a big thing indeed and they would naturally work into the words of some of their songs. Another example the Stones ‘Ruby Tuesday’ some words ‘she would never say where she came from/Yesterday don’t matter when it’s gone’…………..Billy Shears book says ‘she’ is a disguise for ‘he’ Paul that is and then the reference to ‘Yesterday’ will that means yesterday but also evokes the song ‘yesterday’……………..just saying again……………..
Patrick, if we interpret Pete’s line in the same way, does that mean you also think that all men in their 20s should be doing their own washing? (Or just Pete.) And can we assume that you were doing your washing when you were in your 20s? Also, does that mean that you will start making some trips across the Irish sea to use the washing machines in England? Just want to clarify what it is we are agreeing on.
Larry, I don’t bother getting the flu vaccine but I do give it consideration every year. Those vaccines have to be reformulated annually according to the strain of flu predicted to emerge. I have been doing well avoiding infections and lack motivation to get vaccinated with it. Phil
Daniel, when I reflected on my response to your long message to me, I realized that I was neither being honest with myself, nor with you. I wondered why, if I felt confident to challenge you on some of your beliefs and ideas, I could not handle you challenging me on mine. I realized that I was being hypocritical. When I responded to you, I was in reaction mode. All I knew at the time was that it sounded like you were trying to make me ‘wrong’, so you could be ‘right’. Which made our interaction not enjoyable to me and I just wanted to end it. When I was later able to become curious about my reaction, I could see just how triggered I was. How you came across to me, was exactly how my older brother did, and still sometimes does. When this happens, I instantly shut down. I instantly felt/feel that my viewpoint cannot co-exist with his. And this is not even a conscious decision. It just happens. Over the past few days, I have been remembering how bad he could/can make me feel. He saw and sees my views as stupid, pathetic, irrelevant, ignorant, something to be made fun of and ridiculed, etc. The effects of being treated like this have been huge on me. I have a belief that I am not worth listening to and that I have nothing of value to offer anyone. I need to consciously override this belief in order to share my thoughts and ideas with others. I think we all have core issues that we spend our lives working on. This is definitely one of mine. So I wanted to thank you for helping me in this “chipping away” process of so many layers of pain. My hope is that, at some point, I can actually respond as an adult to your message to me.
Wow I respect you Renee for your self-reflection and your sharing of what you feel it revealed about you that you don’t like. Seems like pretty adult behaviour to me.
I too liked your comment Larry. I would say that my beef is primarily with academia and only secondarily with politics. Politics and politicians have their own constraints and manifestly political agenda whereas academia does not. Or should not. Academia was erected to study the world as it is, to advance our knowledge about realities physical, biological, social and psychological. Do I think, as Renée suggested, that there is in the social sphere a completely “neutral and bias-free Truth”? No, I don’t. Truth, as knowledge, is always partial and of course can be and many times is subjective. However, that is something the seeker of truth should be aware of and take under consideration rather than use it to undermine or even prevent his or her truth-seeking.
But post-modernism in general and Edward Said and his followers in particular went much further than that. In his highly original, brilliantly argued, but historically fallacious book (“Orientalism”), Said dealt a harmful and destructive blow to scholarship and intellectual life in the West by claiming that the mere pretestion to study the East means to “construct” it as a colonial object. The very act of such research positions, as it were, the West and the East at the two opposing ends of a figurative microscope: The West “constructs itself” as an investigating subject peering down the lens onto the passive and exotic indigenous objects squirming helplessly and without agency on the microscope slide. To systematically study the East, as was the practice in Oriental Studies back then, is to replicate and solidify those power relations.
Said’s ideas were carried over from literary criticism (whence he came) to other field of studies, such as cultural studies, Oriental studies, Post-colonial studies, Woman’s studies, etc. with the same agenda: uncovering the power relations (always the same one) inherent in the respective fields of study: If we described what we think is reality, we’re told, we would only entrench that reality and reinforce the power relations in it.
The brilliance and originality of these ideas were and are very stimulating intellectually and they took academia by storm. However, they went too far. Unlike former social critics (Western Marxists, for example), the post-modernists didn’t settle for the important idea that we must free ourselves from lies hiding the oppressive realities. No, we must go a step further and free ourselves also from the truth.
It is not enough, for example, to write about women as they actually were – for instance, by known categories such as ‘working women’, ‘mothers’, ‘citizens’, etc. Such writing does not effectively challenge those categories and their definitions as, we’re told, it should. The work of the historian, therefore, can no longer be limited to uncovering new information about women; he or she cannot be faithful to the past alone. For exposing the past as it was only perpetuates its power relations, and is instrumental in creating gender relations in the present.
Regardless of how brilliant the ideas, this is how academic scholarship turns into political agenda, how the historian’s commitment to the past is traded for a commitment to the future. The historian must no longer describe the past as it was but undermine it in order to create narratives that will serve current politics and will be judged not by their factuality but by the “empowerment” they provide to an oppressed group. And I don’t mean in an op-ed he or she may write but in their academic research and teachings.
As an aside, such an attitude would be thrown out the door at the PI. I’m a student of Janov -Vivian Janov that is – and Barry Bernfeld. On my first interview with Vivian she told me: “There is one pain you can never get over, and that is the pain you cause your children”. Boom. Personal accountability right at the outset. Nobody else to blame and nowhere to run.
And during the first days of my intensive I used to arrive a bit late to my appointments. Then one day I was right on time but had to go to the bathroom and that session too began a bit late. “You’re going to piss away your feelings” Barry told me. The man had no mercy, but I was never late again. Then some months down the line, perhaps even years, I once described to him how my mother used to roam the house in her bra and panties, and how those panties were always frayed at the edges revealing more of her than I cared to see. If Barry felt I was looking for some way out of my distress by turning to him for help within seconds it became clear he wasn’t about to accept the mission and comply. “What is your underwear like?”, he asked. I can’t begin to tell you how frightening that question and that moment were for me. I’m not even sure I told him how disturbed his question made me. You see, my underwear at the time were also frayed at the edges, something I never gave a second thought to but now, at that very moment, was a catastrophe. This wasn’t your regular ‘Mother did this or that to me’. No, this was ‘Mother is inside me’.
The point is, there was no “empowerment”, no placating, just truth, naked and frightening truth. Truth sometimes is flattering and sometimes not. In hindsight, it is that facing the truth which down the line truly empowered me.
But back to post-modernism.
The implied directive to not say the truth takes refuge with the claim that there is no such thing as truth in the first place. But the result is that many students of, say, gender studies will not get a true picture of the past, not even of feminism itself. A friend of mine told me that she took a gender class while at Princeton. In it she learned a lot about the women’s rights movement and key progressive and abolitionist figures such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. But she heard not a word about the biggest women’s organization of the end of the 19th century, Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, a reactionary, at times racist, movement of Christian women who demanded the vote so they could outlaw sin, especially the consumption of alcohol. Such knowledge may help to better understand the past and even the current growing evangelical movement, but will not contribute to present and future empowerment and therefore will not be taught.
So how would one now investigate his or her subject matter when, say, the study of the Orient has turned into a prohibition on studying it? What would a researcher study if such study is deemed oppressive in itself? How will a man interested in the history of women study this subject without being accused of oppressing women just by studying them? Well, instead of uncovering the facts they should turn their academic look from the world (which is not really there) to the discourse that constructs it.
In his detailed book Said says hardly anything about the Arab and Muslim world, but only about the ways this world is portrayed by the West. According to him, assertions are not judged by their factuality but by the politics of those who make them; research should not be evaluated in relation to the world it studies but in relation to the researcher alone. So, if I say that the treatment of women in Yemen or Saudi Arabia is brutal and oppressive that assertion will not be judged by whether it depicts the reality over there but by whether my description is unflattering to the East and therefore is taking part in justifying its oppression by the West.
This is an open check, a sweeping license to reinvent the past, to twist reality, and distort anything we don’t like. It also has dire consequences for politics, because if you’re unwilling to apply your values and understanding to world events, you’re creating a vacuum that is quickly filled by the very forces wishing to destroy your values, both at home and abroad.
Does this mean we at the West should invade other countries in order to enforce our values upon them? Absolutely not (unless genocide is involved). But as for me, I still strongly believe and committed to the Western ideas of freedom, equality, natural rights, and the rule of law, and I apply them to all men and women anywhere.
(Thanks Gretchen for the support).
(Renée, just as I was about to post this I saw your comment to me. I appreciate your candor. Although I felt you needed to shut this exchange about post-modernism down not for a second did I lose my respect for you and your argumentation which is, from what I read, intelligent and curious and thought provoking. If I write long it’s because your words evoked rather than killed something in me. If I write hard it’s not to convince you that you are wrong. It’s a compliment).
Daniel, you are SO ready for a good reading of ‘Culture of Critique’ you have done pretty well there but channeling Barry I would say ‘Judaism is INSIDE you’ Maybe worth a look!
Patrick: If that is all you can say of Daniel’s piece, I find that pathetic.
I’ve asked you several times and seemingly you are unwilling, for your own reasons, to answer:- what do you suggest we do with Jews or Judaism to resolve the problem as you see it???
I don’t have a ‘fix’ all I can seem to do is lament what I see. Better people than me have puzzled over this but don’t seem to have a ‘fix’ either. It’s like trying to turn the clock back you know how hard that is
All I wonder is how do any of us resolve things that bug us. The only thing that comes to my mind is to feel whatever I am feeling about it, and express it the best way I know how.
If I stay with it for long enough; so far, I get some resolution. I’ve manage to do a lot of this in my relationship with Jim … so far it’s working for me.
Daniel: I read and re-read your long comment with interest especially with reference to the quotes here under.
quote:- “As an aside, such an attitude would be thrown out the door at the PI. I’m a student of Janov -Vivian Janov that is – and Barry Bernfeld. On my first interview with Vivian she told me: “There is one pain you can never get over, and that is the pain you cause your children”. Boom. Personal accountability right at the outset. Nobody else to blame and nowhere to run.”
That had the same effect on me, just you stating all that
Truth = My truth. I’m somewhat ambivalent about all this “Truth” and “False” stuff. there are 7 billion of us on the planet with 7 billion truths. Who decides? … Or, is there any point on deciding,
How about;- seeing the other guys truth as his/her feeling and to leave it at that. Unless, as Gretchen pointed out to me, they act upon their truth and cause others harm
Another quote:- “Well, instead of uncovering the facts they should turn their academic look from the world (which is not really there) to the discourse that constructs it.”
We’re so pre-occupied with “studies” and yet seemingly none of it serves much for us collectively and seemingly just help some, make their point by referring to these studies. Statistical studies, as I see them, are nothing more that JUST studies … mainly for those that ‘get off’ on studies … studying.
“This is an open check, a sweeping license to reinvent the past, to twist reality, and distort anything we don’t like. It also has dire consequences for politics, because if you’re unwilling to apply your values and understanding to world events, you’re creating a vacuum that is quickly filled by the very forces wishing to destroy your values, both at home and abroad.”
I agree with that one.
Your worst line to me is:- “I still strongly believe and committed to the Western ideas of freedom, equality, natural rights, and the rule of law, and I apply them to all men and women anywhere..”
I couldn’t agree less. they are just means to promote more and more neurosis, and why I see the very way out of our neurosis is:- by abolishing “the rule of law” and all that it entails.
Well Jack, I don’t know what you imagine the abolishing of the rule of law to be, but let me quote to you the great Thomas Hobbes who said that life outside society would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”.
Daniel: It takes looking outside the box of what we preconceive to imagine (for that is all we can do as of now), what it would be like. You mention one person, Hobbs, I can mention more than a dozen that thought ‘beyond the box’. If you wish to read my 30 page short book on the subject I will send you an e-copy of it if you email me at jackwaddington@yahoo.com.
Daniel, to be honest I’m not persuaded by your argument that the ideas of Said and Foucault as adopted by academia are the cause of a breakdown of morals and values and the undermining or even preventing of truth seeking. Well, maybe some academics are affected but not all. When I try to condense your long comment into a few phrases that I think capture your concerns, I choose your sentences following, that for me summarise the essence of your concerns: “Truth, as knowledge, is always partial and of course can be and many times is subjective. However, that is something the seeker of truth should be aware of and take under consideration rather than use it to undermine or even prevent his or her truth-seeking” and ”This is an open check, a sweeping license to reinvent the past, to twist reality, and distort anything we don’t like”.
It seems to me that through the centuries history was told through the eyes on our side, and our perspective fed a myth that extoled the virtues of our side. I don’t see it as a recent problem since the writings of Said and Foucault. Regarding academic discussion in general, to try to get a picture of the truth, I feel it’s necessary to read the point of view of many authors. I think that the reader has to decide on the competence and integrity of the author’s arguments and whether the author is conscious of and doing the best to present objective truth.
My friends say that I read a lot. I rarely read fiction. For decades I have read books on a variety of disciplines, biology, archeology, anthropology, history, evolution, neuroscience, all to help me understand how humanity got where it is today. My sense is that there is a consistency and integrity across the disciplines that I read across time that forms a body of work that keeps growing deeper and more insightful at understanding the truth of who we are and how we got here. I do appreciate that if researchers and analysts stop striving to get to the truth we are in big trouble.
Lastly I believe that values, morals, and a sense of justice have biological underpinnings, and rights and laws are a human construct that we confer to each other out of empathy and to optimize our getting along. Other than that I don’t see them as being truths.
I agree with what you say here Larry, and again – my beef is more with academia that with politics. The problem with politics is that once it adopts an attitude that prevents it from defending our values because it’s not politically correct to see problems as they are, a vacuum is creates and all hell might break lose.
Just as the international vacuum invites reactionary forces and trends, so does the internal vacuum invite extreme elements. When democracy’s immune system is slow to initialize the forces that waking up in its stead are its enemies.
As we continue to speak a language of guilt and its consequent PC, the public rage will not coalesce as support for those who, for example, advised caution on immigration and assimilation of populations alien to Western customs, but increasingly to support those who preach hate at the far right. The price for blind and sanctimonious liberalism will emerge in the likes of Marine Le Pen in France, Victor Orbán in Hungary, Jarosław Kaczyński in Poland, the AfD in Germany, or a less clownish version of Donald Trump.
The fear of looking, for example, like an Islamophobe will open the door to real Islamophobes, and instead of sober realism we will be drowned in paranoia and hysteria.
Daniel and Larry,
US history shows that it’s possible to assimilate multicultural groups without the existing culture being destroyed. There is a backlash going on right now, but I think it actually has more to do with globalism than immigration, at least in the US. A reasonable level of immigration will be found which is acceptable for most people in the US and Europe.. Throughout history in this country, sentiments for and against immigration have gone up and down. In democratic countries leaders can’t be too far ahead of the opinions of the population, otherwise a reaction will occur. Europe apparently was not ready to assimilate all the recent Muslim immigrants. Yet, it should be remembered that the Western powers were responsible for many of the problems to begin with, and so should have to deal with the consequences by accepting people fleeing those countries. That is only fair, just, and humanitarian, not political correctness. Much the same argument can be made about people wanting to come across our southern border with Mexico. To let people in is part of our history and system, although less so for Europe, but it isn’t going to be able to exist in isolation from the rest of the world. or restart the Crusades.
The mess in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, has a lot to do with US led interventions. There have been so many unjust wars including in Vietnam, and Iraq.. The war in Afghanistan may have been justified to begin with, but it’s now going on for over 17 years. All of this relates to what I said in an earlier post about moral superiority. Western civilization was responsible for two world wars, and the weapons which may end up destroying all life on this planet. I don’t think that’s much to brag about, so I think that other cultures and societies are due more respect than they get.
Phil
Phil, I hope everything works out and multicultural groupls can continue to assimilate and coexist under one dominant culture as has been happening in the US, Canada and Europe. I think that kind of tolerance usually happens when economies are doing well and there is relative financial relative equality, but I fear not so much when economies are in decline and there is growing financial inequality.
Phil: I totally agree with most of what you wrote here. We in the west created, inadvertently, our current problem and the worst of it is in trying to fix them we create another set of problem and often don’t resolve those we set out to fix.
the one point I might take exception to:- “that most wars …….” I would rather say “All wars”.
Phil,
I actually pretty much agree with what you’re saying here. I do disagree with the claim: “Western powers were responsible for many of the problems to begin with”. Not because the West didn’t meddle and help screw things up over there, but because saying so without mentioning the centuries old Sunni – Shia conflict and how it played out in the so-called Arab Spring. The West only enabled he unleashing of this round. This is again, in my opinion, robbing those Arabs of agency and responsibility.
Daniel: From my perspective, I see the splintering of all religions,cultures and political affiliations as natural and normal. Just as there are many Jewish, Christian and Islamic sects, also cultures and political affiliations, designates to me that even at the family level there are those disagreement. It demonstrates,to me, the absurdity of rules, laws, committees creating those laws and all the trapping we’ve created to keep it all intact.
We could … if there was enough of a critical mass, scrap the whole thing. That idea of scrapping the whole system (establishment) is far from new and as I see it is rapidly coming to the fore.
To repeat myself as is my won’t:- we all know there”s something amiss … a childhood feeling, what we struggle with is thinking there is a fix. There are, as I see it, seven billion fixes out there. Mine and yours are just one of that seven billion.
Daniel, unlike you, I agree with Phil’s comment that “Western powers were responsible for many of the problems to begin with”. (Surprise surprise.) What you say about the Sunni-Shia conflict, I also disagree with because it is not centuries old, it is recent and it is political, as explained here: https://www.vox.com/2016/1/5/10718456/sunni-shia.
You speak of “robbing those Arabs of agency and responsibility”. Spoken by someone with a crystal clear Eurocentric lens. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/sep/09/foreignpolicy.iraq…..”the US supports corrupt and oppressive governments and is “opposing political or economic progress” because of its interest in controlling the oil resources of the region”.
Your argument reminds me of American outrage that the Russians might have meddled in their elections. Yet few ask for how many decades Americans have meddled in other country’s elections and been involved in regime changes in other countries. Sheer hypocrisy, IMO.
Renee: I take you point that the US and the UK have both done the same thing, in going after rescouse rather than freeing oppressed people. BUT that is seeing it all in the micro veiw,
The macro view requires a whole different way of thinking OR put more boldly; seeing it all through feelings. I am not saying here; “through old feelings”
My point, and I think you know it, wasn’t to get into Shia-Sunni history but to show that they, like all other groups of people, have issues of their own. But that’s “forbidden” to say lest you’d be considered not anti-colonial enough. And if you refuse to see that they have issues of their own, and just keep on blaming the Big-Bad-West, wouldn’t that take agency away from them?
Daniel, maybe I’m finally understanding your concern. If you are saying that Western liberal academia is turning a blind eye to the harmful oppressive morals and values of the people it feels guilty for having oppressed, and that the feeling guilty prevents Western liberal academia from seeking truth, and it constitutes failure of leadership and it is a problem, then I agree with you it is a problem given the given the argument that you’ve made. To be honest I’m not familiar with the academic humanities. I’m more at home with the sciences.
It may be not be only feeling guilty that is holding them back from seeking truth. It may also be the case that they are too weak-kneed to see ugly truth. According to Psychology Today, “Liberals take a more optimistic view (..than conservatives..) of the world as being somewhat more benign.”
Thank you Daniel for the interesting discussion and for taking the time to reply to me.
Renee,
sounds to me like he wanted to trade his girlfriend who did not do his laundry for his mom, who did at least that…
could be wrong, smiley.
maybe Paul liked washing dirty clothes, the first Paul or the second, not sure…
M
Well Margaret on a point of order as they used to say at the meetings…………I think you got that exactly backwards he in the song is saying to his girl friend she can be a ‘substitute’ for his Mom and adds at least he will get his washing done by his girl friend which he implies his Mom would not or did not do. At least that’s how I read it. So I will then kind of assume your little quip and mockery about the Paul thing is probably equally a bit off…………….just saying…………
Margaret, that was my interpretation too, as the singer is complaining about his girlfriend all the way through. And he says in effect, he would rather be at his mum’s, at least she would do his laundry. Isn’t that what moms sometimes do when we go home, feed us and do our laundry. Also the link that Renee put up shows that interpretation too, by Citizen K., that he would rather be with his mum, at least he would get his laundry done.
S
I was ‘thinking’ here we are coming up to the 50th Anniversary of the Moon ‘Landings/Hoaxes’………….the question is did we really go there at all?
It is also very close to the 50th Anniversary of the Primal Scream (1970) but it was going strong and gestating in 1969 so same year.
The question is did Janov really go to the Antipodes of the Mind’ AND come back again bringing all kinds of treasures. Or did he really not go there at all?
In the meantime people can feel inadequate or ‘failures’ for not making the journey in the classic way described but what if the original mission was pretty much hoaxed? Then that put’s the ‘failures’ in more perspective
I mean the Chinese and even NASA feels that just landing (forget about coming back) an UN-MANNED vehicle to be a great achievement. I take a similar message from primal therapy the likes of Jack loves to paint me as a ‘failure’ well I failed to do it in the classic way as shown in Kubrink’s ‘film’ or erm Janov’s book. I think of Jack like a spokesman for NASA which is short for Never A Straight Answer. He is the ‘house philosopher’ who finds all kind of ‘real world’ issues like vaccines, 5G etc etc whatever whatever as just impinging on his ideal world of ‘Primal Theory’. That is why he is in the end degenerate and just holds everything back. I guess he sees himself as some kind of Newton of the modern age a real pretender. Well I guess he WAS an actor. Something he never gave up.
The late ’60’s was a time of a lot of hype………………I think the Primal
Scream fits well into all that. Just saying once again today…………….
BTW I want to say to Daniel I do admire what he is trying to do. He seems to be after ‘truth’ and shows a lot of integrity. It’s just I feel he might take some stronger medicine get ‘red pilled’ for real. The roots of what he complains about go right back to a place he probably knows very well but I realize it’s easier said than done. Also it is always easier to ‘de-construct’ other cultures than your own though in all honesty I feel the Irish can do that fairly well. They never had the ‘burden of Empire’ they were the victims of Empire much more so know what it’s like to be the underdog.
Patrick, with regard to your statement regarding the Irish being victims of Empire, I have a question. In John Lennon’s song, ‘The Luck of the Irish’, he says: “A thousand years of torture and hunger, Drove the people away from their land, A land full of beauty and wonder, Was raped by the British brigands”. I get the brutality of colonization and the gazillion levels of ‘raping’ that are involved with it, but I don’t think it started a thousand years ago. More like a few hundred years ago. So do you know what John was referring to here?
Well Renee maybe as a somewhat typical example of an ‘oppressed’ people and culture I do not know as much as I might or should. There is a level of shame which kept me and a lot of other Irish people away from our ‘real history’. It is too abject helpless and in the end ‘shameful’. But to give you a potted history England was invaded by the Normans in 1066 which is a very famous date. Anyway only a 100 years later they invaded Ireland in 1169. So your’e right that’s less than a thousand years in school we were often told 700 years. The Normans subdued Britain but never really Ireland. There was always a conflict first centered on language later on religion. But a lot of bad stuff happened the Famine being the worst (1840’s) the population was halved by that event. Lots starved, fled , immigrated etc etc. But apparently there was quite a bit of ‘white slavery’ of the Irish from Cromwell’s time (1640) and many were sold into slavery in the Caribbean etc. This sort of coincided with the slavery of Blacks to the same areas. There was a lot of conflict about land also, the landlords who were typically English owned the land and the peasants suffered pretty badly under them. All in all John Lennon is not far off I think
Patrick: you state:- “somewhat typical example of an ‘oppressed’ people and culture I do not know as much as I might or should.”
I state that all governments oppress all people; always; and everywhere in one way or another.
No-one can represent anyone else; we are only able to represent ourselves, in whatever way we chose. In that sense democracy is not what it’s cracked up to be,
One only needs to watch the goings on in the British parliament right now, to see the whole facade. From the outside looking in, all that is happening is all those representatives (MP’s) are blowing off their sentiments, most of which is pure ego.
My characterisation is:- we’re looking through the wrong end of the telescope. All we need to do, is symbolically turn the telescope around and look through the other end, … see it from a wider perspective OR ……. look outside the box.
It’s all merely “words” in the end. I’m as guilty as the rest.
Patrick, what you say here with regard to the history of Ireland is interesting. I didn’t know that Irish were sold into slavery. In my research of what the caused the potato famine, it seems like it has to do with some disease and only a few genetic varieties of potatoes in Ireland at the time. Do you know if there were any other reasons for the famine besides these ones? Also, I can’t remember if you said if you had family members that died during the famine.
You have said a lot about the oppression of the Irish by the English. From my classes, I am learning that wherever there is oppression, there is resistance, But I haven’t heard you speak much about resistance movements in Ireland. I think the IRA was one. I’m guessing that there are/were others. I wonder if you have in Ireland an equivalent of Howard Zinn’s book, “A People’s History of the United States”, which tells the history of the country from the perspectives of those who resisted being oppressed and dominated. (Unlike the traditional history books that tell history from the perspective of those in power.)
Jack, I’d like to answer two of your questions and one of your comments.
1. On stating:- “if deemed negative, are nothing but the continuation of colonialism and blaming the victim.” Could Israel be also one of those countries?
I’m not sure I understand your question correctly, whether you meant Israel is the blamed victim or the colonial power. Let me give you a generic description:
They came by ships from across the sea, landed ashore, and then either 1) got into a struggle with the local population which eventually left, or was deported or enslaved; or 2) they lived under an imperial rule, and then, when feeling themselves strong enough, confronted that rule and constructed in that country they reached from across the sea a rule of their own, with their own language, culture and religion. That is a pretty accurate description of almost each and every one of the states in the western hemisphere. The only difference is that Jews, unlike other states, had returned to a place they had a prior connection to.
2. I thought the creation of Israel, by mainly the Brits and the US was a gross political mistake and has had some of the most profound consequences. I felt it was a mistake in-so-far as it punished a whole group of people, the Palestinians, for some underlying political reasons by the US and UK.
I’m not sure it was the creation of Israel that “punished” the Palestinians. It was more their refusal to accept it and miscalculation in starting a war. In short, when Jews began their mass return to what they called the Land of Israel that territory was ruled by the Ottoman empire. After WW1 it was ruled by the British. When the British left the UN decided that this land be partitioned into a Jewish state and an Arab one. The Arabs rejected that plan and between November 1947 and March 1948 the local Arab militias (later called “Palestinians”) attacked the local Jewish population. They were defeated and Israel was declared as a state. Subsequently, in May-June 1948, armies of neighboring Arab states invaded that land and attacked Israel. They too lost.
During that war the Jewish forces conquered about 400 Arab settlements that were bases for the Palestinian militias and later hosted the invading armies, most of the inhabitants of which either fled, smuggled out or expelled (which was the beginning of the refugees problem). Some of them followed the advice or pressure or instructions of their leaders (Notably in Haifa). During the war the Israeli government created a policy preventing the return of those Arabs (who just tried to annihilate the Jewish presence) and that policy in deed was carried out. About 160,000 Arabs, about a fifth of the total population in the state remained within its borders and later became its citizens.
3. Did giving the Jews resolve their problem? … I think/feel not. I don’t know how it should have been resolved or even if there is a good or perfect resolution. I do not feel creating a nation of their/your own did so.
I agree with your first point and disagree with the second. This ‘problem’ cannot be fully solved. We can see it in this blog, can’t we? All solutions were tried and tested. Assimilation of individuals did not work. I’m sure it worked for an individual here or there, but whenever such conversions became too many (as was demanded by the ruling Christians) they were immediately recognized again and treated and discriminated against as Jews (as was the case in Spain after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492). Then there were the Jews of Europe before WW2, many of whom had nothing specifically Jewish in their daily lives (like my Mother’s family in Berlin), who felt completely assimilated into a secular society, but nevertheless were reminded that they are Jews, then persecuted and finally butchered. And even when Jews lived in liberal democracies, they encountered all sorts of discriminations because society always has a racial or ethnic or sectarian hierarchy. This was true also in non-liberal societies such as that of Communist Russia.
There was only one solution left which made any sense: Assimilation as a nation. The problem will be solved on a national scale: we Jews are a nation just like any other nation and just like any other nation we have the to self-determination. This became political Zionism.
However, you can see that even this solution is not acceptable in some quarters. Those who wished to expel Jews from all counties in the past now wish to expel them even from the country they established for themselves. We’re not only told, “go away from here” but also, “go away from there”.
Daniel: I totally accept your point on the history of Jews and Judaism far more then I an able to accept the one Patrick offered in the clip he showed.
My take on it ALL this is:- Let’s do away with these divisions that are self created by neurotic humankind.
I wouldn’t be able to figure out on any street, who was a Jew, who was a Muslim, who was a Christian, who was an American, who was a Brit or many other of these arbitrary divisions.
The only only differences I could figure out is:- blacks from white, men from women, though sometimes that one can be difficult. I sometimes cannot distinguish an oriental like Japanese and Chinese from Europeans, nor Mexicans from Americans.
The thing that concerns me most is WHY are we so intent on making and/or promoting our differences?
The only possible way I can sense another gay male, is by what we gay people call “Gaydar”. Even then, I am often wrong. That same ***DAR takes place with hetero’s when eyeing someone of the opposite sex. We/they ‘catch on’ that the other finds me/us attractive.
– – – – – – – – – – –
If I’m being hurt by others for my differences with them, I first check myself for what it is about me that is offending them. If I’m able to stop offending them by my “Being”, I will endeavour to do just that. I even sometimes succeed in doing so. What I personally find unproductive for me, is to defend myself, being different. Hope that last one make sense.
If on it being revealed that I am gay and it disgust someone, there is little I can do about it, and no point in trying to convince them otherwise, I know my homosexuality disgusts some people. My dad was one of them. The very best I can do is to NOT flout my homosexuality. That does not mean that I cannot admit to it, if I feel it makes some point or other.
Sylvia,
thanks for your feedback!!
Daniel, great comment, very brave of you as well to share some of your personal stuff.
and there we go again with Patrick, owner of the one clear view, ha, gave me a morning cynical chuckle, saying christion society is not like that, no way, no abusing of children, ha!
everyone who has been under the ‘care’ of christion priests or even nuns, knows how many of them are.
from my own experience, and that of family members and friends, I can assure you it was and probably is common practice in those frustrated hypocrit celibatarians.
so well, Patricks truth is ridiculous , or as true as most of his other claims…
just my opinion, M
I think all very important, popular, and famous people probably have to learn the lesson of being very careful about what they say or do, because their followers are bound to take it seriously. So now we have Trump stuck with his wall promise. Another good example was the Beatles, when they were so popular, having some fun with giving hints that Paul was dead, which they later revealed was just a joke. It is amazing to find that some people still believe that against all evidence. Maybe this is how religions got started also, the belief in some miracles which supposed occurred, people rising from the dead etc. Probably someone who happened to be sleeping in a cave one day etc.
Phil
Phil: I like this comment of yours,
My short and brief take on religion is simply:-
Judaism … Abraham, then Moses with his chipping away at a stone to create the 10 commandments and then leading his followers to the promised land.
Christianity, with Jesus and his mom having sex with a ghost then rising from his death and floating off to heaven, then one of his disciples going off to Rome and thus the Vatican.
Islam from Mohamed the prophet and the building of the Kaaba in Mecca.
They are all fairy tails in a vague subconscious attempt by neurotic humankind, to EXPLAIN, why we all feel the other guy is all fucked-up. AND rarely if ever looking into ourselves. Though that guy Buddha tried, by sitting and contemplating life; as he sat for hours under a lotus tree.
I think many are now seeing them as just that … fairy tales.
I’m going a little stir crazy. Third day of hibernating in this frigid weather. The temperature outside is -21 C, (-6 F) with windchill factor it feels like -32 C (-26F). How can people live in weather like this? Larry, how do you do it? This is crazy.
Wow Renee, that’s brutally cold. I thought Ireland had a tough climate but I find it OK. Only one night so far even reached 0 C. Mostly nights are around 4C days around 8C so nothing compared to what you have. Doesn’t this make you worry a bit less about ‘global warming’ Even what we have here does to me, it seems and this has always been the traditional Irish attitude the more warming the better! I used to believe in that so devoutly I might say…………….I no longer am at all convinced. All the agendas being brought about because of it are well just that ‘agendas’ and none of them good. That’s a reason for me to reject it pretty much totally now the powers pushing it are up to no good!
Patrick: All powers, always and everywhere, are oppressive, to a greater or lesser degree. Perhaps we’re all coming round to seeing:- “we don’t need anyone telling us what we can or cannot do or be. Just let us be.
All this representational stuff also. No-one person could ever represent anyone else … It’s for that very same reason that democracy is not what it’s cracked up to be, Just now watching the sham going on the British parliament over Brexit is an example of the mess we neurotics have created for ourselves.
We’re all of us looking through the “wrong end of the telescope”.
It just needs for us to ‘symbolically’ turn the telescope round and look through the “other end”.
Yes, Patrick, it is brutally cold. I am too scared to go out. I’m afraid I will freeze to death, and it will be painful, starting with frostbite and then other stuff before I become numb and then die. As much as I have death wish, along with death anxiety, this is not the way I would like to die. So I will stay inside another day. Tomorrow is supposed to be just ‘regular’ cold.
With regard to your assertion that this cold weather might make me worry less about climate change, unfortunately, you are mistaken. Actually, I am currently reading ‘This Changes Everything’ by Naomi Klein. I am reading it for a class but have been wanting to read it for a while. I have just finished chapter one, where she goes into great detail about the agendas (yes, even with climate change deniers there is no ‘single’ story) of the people in this movement. She believes, as do I, that Capitalism and climate justice cannot coexist. She is hopeful about the climate and the earth surviving and much of her book details the many ways people around the world are resisting the fossil fuel industry and it’s horrific practices. I don’t share her optimism. Even though people are resisting, the world keeps getting warmer. Which speaks volumes to the power of money/economics/corporations/governments all working together. I was shocked to read about the billions of dollars funding the climate denial movement and where that money is coming from. I think she’s hopeful because she has to be…..she has a child. Besides a changing climate changing everything, I think having a child does too.
Hibernating is the worst strategy Renee. Wear sufficient layers to keep warm outdoors. Participate in activities. Volunteer on committees. Get to the gym regularly. Get together with a friend for coffee, dinner, a movie, or all three. Get involved in something that matters to you, that stretches and challenges you. Primal when you need to. Use a SAD light for 1/2 hour upon arising each morning. Enjoy whatever however you can. Rise to the challenge of living optimally in your current circumstances, don’t wait for some better future. Etc etc. Time flies by. i wish it would slow down.
Mind you, sometimes I HAVE A HARD TIME DOING ANYTHING, IT’S A BATTLE. People say that the cold feels more miserable where you are because of the humidity where you are. Here the cold is dry and for that reason not so uncomfortable, they say.
I’ve chosen the worst strategy, Larry? Well, I’m not sure what to do about that. Because my body refuses to go out…..it’s in self-preservation and survival mode. But as I said to Patrick, the weather will return to normal cold tomorrow. Thankfully.
Freezing to death is not so bad, Renee. The flesh on your corpse would remain well preserved in the below freezing temperatures. It would be a saving grace for someone who might discover it and happens to suffer from food insecurity. Maybe take a long tour of low income housing projects today if you need to go outdoors so you can freeze in a convenient spot for anyone who’s hungry nearby?
Guru, I’m not going to touch this comment, not even with a 10-foot pole. While some of Patrick’s comments have left me sick to the stomach, this comment of yours feels worse. Like you might have some cannibalistic and/or sadistic fantasies or tendencies. Beyond sickening, IMO.
Well, that’s interesting because I could say the exact same thing to another Primaller I know and he would instantly know I am joking.
You really thought I have cannibalistic and sadistic tendencies?
What about producers of horror movies with lots of gore? Ever read any Stephen King books?
Daniel and Larry, thank you for your kind and sweet words. I appreciated them.
Daniel, I’m curious as to what you meant when you said that, “They only got one thing right in that clip: Freud’s name.” Which was in response to this link that I posted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ6y_Rk-ZgE&t=7s. Were you referring to the title of the link, “Sigmund Fraud”? If so, why would you disagree with the clip itself? I’m confused. I agree with the clip, I just think it is a very simplified version of the many reasons that Freud rejected this theory.
“ Oh maybe one day white genocide will be complete! Oh Happy Day! It’s amazing how people welcome their own destruction. Then our ‘masters’ (you can guess who they are) can really rule over us a mulatto, mixed up mess with no history, no culture no nothing…………..well maybe McDonalds. What a great future to look forward to………….”
Clearly Patrick’s views are not only about Jews but don’t worry Patrick I’m pretty sure your gene pool will be safe from all people of color. Somehow I’m not reminded of Dylan.
Renee and Larry,
that sounds awfully cold!!
here it went down to -8 Celsius last night, and will be snowing they say tomorrow, which I like, the snow, but not the cold!
as cold as where you are must even be more threatening and hostile, cold always makes me feel unsafe.
even a chilly house during milder seasons, or a cold current are things I can’t stand…
my two cats have just recovered from a laryngitis, one last week, the other right after, now my own throat is aching a bit…
we must be similar, preferring lots of warmth!
it felt even worse actually when it was a bit less cold but very windy, in my old place here that always gives some cold air blowing in where it should not…
heating at full power now makes it ok.
one of my cats comes up to my pillow when he feels cold and I am in bed, and taps with one paw on the sheet, to request his way in, smiley, so cute!
the other cat prefers to sleep on top of me, on top of the covers, cosy and cute as well but gets a bit heavy in the long run…
take good care and stay warm, M
I too hate the cold as was the situation at home in my childhood.
Currently here we have 3 inches of snow on the ground. BUT it looks lovely from the inside our very warm chalet looking out.
Jim who was born in Indonesia, seems not to suffer it like I do , and even made a SnowWoman after shoveling a clean path to the gate. It’s so artistic, and I took a photo of it, but I know no way to put it on the blog.
Thanks for your support, Margaret. Maybe the answer is just to get a cat for an extra layer of warmth and an excellent distraction from the weather!
I’m going to try and see your negative feedback about my coping strategy as a challenge, Larry. I’m going to see if I can myself to the gym later. It’s only a 7 minute walk. Hopefully, I won’t freeze to death. But if I do, I will blame you Larry……from the grave:)
Yes, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, Larry. But if it does……since you know some stuff about science and technology…….can dead people post on blogs? If not, how could I let you know that you should feel guilty?
Renee: Letting people know when you’re dead is done in a well. You know where you can get water …. Er! hang on a minute maybe I meant “ill” Mmmmm!!! that’s not right either/ Er ‘will’ as in Shakespeare … that’s the one.
Jack of Waddy ,… you know those watering places Oh!!! well I tried.
My guess would be as good as yours, Renee. I expect if you need to you’ll find out how when you get there. Just saying though, no dead people have gotten in touch with me yet, so I’m not too worried that you would/could guilt me.
Wise words, Larry. No need to worry about stuff that hasn’t happened yet. And you’re lucky that no dead people have connected with you or guilted you. I’m not sure if the word ‘yet’ is the operative word, though, in that sentence. Anyway, thanks for your advice. I did go to the gym. Had a great workout and survived the walk. Not only did it not kill me, it made me stronger! I will reciprocate by sharing with you another activity that is good for freezing weather. And one that you didn’t think of in your suggestions. I just heard about it. Sorry, blog readers, this one is only available to Canadians, at least for now:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVPc03Q47T8&t=16s.
Only one “Ha”, Larry? I would hope that if I ever make it out to your neck of the woods or you make it out to my neck of woods in the middle of winter, this activity could be an option!
Sorry Renee. 😦 I never liked beer much, unless it’s really really hot out and I’m out in it or in the shade and I’m really really thirsty and someone offers me a nice cold beer. I never had a desire to take anything that would artificially chemically alter my mind and feelings. I’ve always felt that getting high with reality got me a lot longer lasting, more satisfying buzz.
Hi everyone: I’ve gotten an Audio book on Mein Kampf , it’s 16 hours, but I’ll try to plow through it, even though I find it boring, and for the most part I know the general ideas Hitler put out.
The only interesting factor is seeing where the neo NAZI’s come from. I did read many years ago Albert Spear’s account of Hitler.
I kinda see my dad in the same way, having a similar notion about keeping the British pure. He even said during the war that “we were fighting the wrong buggers” He thought we should have been fighting the Russians and communism,
We did have relatives in Germany. that, perhaps, was where he was coming from.
Guru, I might have been shocked at first but, like you say, I am over it. I do appreciate there was no intended hate, deep-seated nor on the surface–there’s only so much of that I can handle–so a bit of satire-relief is okay. Though Renee might have a few bad dreams about the cold and wandering off sleep-walking, I do hope it will wear off for her too. Drink some nice herb tea, Renee, or maybe some hot chocolate. I do not envy your cold weather. It will be in the upper sixties here this week. Take care.
S
Seems as though you’re in a rough spot at the moment? I’ve usually seen you as someone with evenhanded, down-to-earth strength…but when you write, “there’s only so much of that (trolling) I can handle”, I sense something you might want to talk about a bit more?
Guru, I meant that I can put up with a little satire (after all it is not me who would see myself freezing.) Satire in comparison to out and out hatred and prejudice, well that gets tiring, as it comes from a never-ending loop without any resolution. I feel bad for the people targeted and bad for the one doing it. It becomes a brick wall–not even a steel-slatted one to see thru. So in the end, I prefer comic satire with a hint of creativity to rage and hate toward a group or religion.
So I guess I should make myself clear: Guru–satirical and a little funny to the right audience–okay, fine.
Anyone who is prejudice to the point of hate coming from only their own point of view–tiring. (not you, I assume, Guru.)
S
In my case, I don’t even have much time or energy to spew hate towards groups and such. Although I find ultra-wealthy Jewish folks an interesting group for possible study, it’s not something I’m too carried away with right now.
In the meantime, it looks like Renee’s in deep trouble with Daniel again. Let’s see how things turn out with that.
I just heard a refreshing view in a debate on television, where one of the items was climate change.
one right wing populist politician had been saying how climate change was a fairy tale etc,
a female scientist at some point gave this clear opinion: there should not be a discussion about believing or not anymore, this is not about believing, this is science, scientific facts, scientific proof.
people can not believe it if they want to, but if we keep giving them too much broadcast time, we take three steps back, there is simply not enough time to do that anymore.
it fits in and clarifies what I had been feeling for a while already but could not put my finger on.
a lot of some discussions seem so pointless as they are with people denying or ignoring facts, it seems a wast of energy and time.
I have one exception, the vaccine thing is not a black and white, all or nothing issue.
also scientists are starting to have a more cautious view on which and how much vaccines are useful, not all vaccines are necessary for everyone all the time.
but reducing it to pro and con is so simplistic that it is in my opinion completely pointless.
questioning something is ok, always, but boy, I think there are many honest well meaning scientists and specialists to trust who are not blind followers and slaves of multinationals and pharma industry.
I never wanted to discuss this here and won’t go into it either, but for once I will just give this example, in the veterinary clinic I have seen the view on and use of vaccines change a lot over the years.
at some point increasing, and then declining, to a point where in certain cases it is useful and in other cases not, which to me sounds like a very balanced view.
politics is such a complicated issue with different agendas and interests that it is more prone to subjective opinions and views, but other topics as the scientist said, should not be stuck in discussions about believing.
time to make real plans for change instead to save our environment would be better.
M and
Margaret,
I’m sure that animal vaccines are tested before being approved, but not nearly as rigorously as vaccines intended for people. It’s a different process. An interesting case is the vaccine developed for Lyme disease. It was taken off the market many years ago because there were rumors and accusations that it could cause arthritis, but research showed no proof of that. The public lost interest in it anyway, apparently because they thought to be dangerous, and learned that from exaggerated reports in the media. yet there is a Lyme vaccine in use for dogs. Lyme disease continues to be a huge problem, and it’s a shame that a vaccine isn’t available.
Another thing is, doctors and vets are not scientists themselves and may recommend something based on their feelings and/or experience, which may or may not be accurate.
Phil, this is admittedly a ‘guess’ but anyway my guess is Lyme’s disease is more that likely caused by vaccines. What I mean is so many of these kinds of things basically harmless in themselves have become a huge problem for whole populations now with deranged immune systems BECAUSE of vaccines!. So at that point you and most others will just be chasing their own tails and that is I feel where we mostly are with this stuff. Vaccines are destroying people esp the young and then as more and more complications and injuries occur we look for MORE vaccines to solve a problem caused by vaccines. You couldn’t make up this stuff!!
Once you derange the immune system you have a patient for life. And that is what we are facing my ‘clinical’ experience is my dog here never vaccinated, never a shot and super healthy and lively. It is this kind of contrast I notice with Margaret’s cats and Otto’s too come to that
And Phil I don’t believe that vaccines intended for humans are particularly tested at all. And if it’s similar to animals which I suspect it is that is a low bar indeed. In this system we are just goyim either the actual farm animals or the humans that are treated just as if they are farm animals. That’s the meaning of the word ‘goyim’
Patrick, once again you are sharing with us your history where you were treated like a farm animal. I’m sorry this happened to you. As to your assertion that ‘goyim’ means ‘farm animal’…..well, I got curious and did a little research. Take a look at this: https://www.quora.com/Does-the-Talmud-refer-to-non-Jews-as-non-human-animals. Here are the many interesting answers to this question. The majority lean in the direction that, “Anti-Semites like to quote Talmud out of context or simply misquote it to bash Jews. But a little legwork and thinking more than a millimeter deep disproves the Jew haters”. Of course, if look at people’s names (as I was taught to do a child), you can kind of, but not always, assume people’s underlying subjectivities. The personal is political, IMO.
Oh Patrick, I forgot to mention that your talk of goyim reminds me of this song, which I love, love, love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZUttFHwy10…… “All my friends are heathens, take it slow, Wait for them to ask you who you know, Please don’t make any sudden moves, You don’t know the half of the abuse.”
Renee: I saw and looked at the site you posted and I came away from it with a feeling I’ve had for some time:- why do we thing that scriptures written more than 2,000 years ago are so profound, wise or even holy.
I don’t doubt for some scholars they are worth looking at. It’s their analysis of them that I find questionable. Seemingly to me, they are used to make some modern point. Most of which I tend not to agree with.
Patrick: We’ve all gotten deranged immune system from childhood trauma ANYWUZ, and the other factor; all medications have their side effects, be it vaccines or pills. It’s a matter of individual choice. I chose to take as little by way of medications I feel the need. Jim has a whole different take. The only problem:- he feels the need to tell me what I should take; being more versed in the medical field. I don’t agree with him.
As for young kids, the parents are doing the deciding for them. Better they learn Primal theory such as I’ve stated it briefly, then let them make their own choice for their kids. I don’t see any other way forward. Your way seems more complex than mine. BUT then that’s my take on that issue.
Margaret: I agree with:- “politics is such a complicated issue with different agendas and interests that it is more prone to subjective opinions and views, but other topics as the scientist said, should not be stuck in discussions about believing. Time to make real plans for change instead to save our environment would be better”.
It always was and always will be. There is an alternative. The real “wisdom comes out of the mouths of babes” …. and they don’t get to vote.
Renée,
The Freud clip is malicious and unbalanced. One can criticize his changing his mind without calling him a liar and blaming him for the death of millions. Here are its claims and why they are wrong:
Freud lied.
That is an outrageous accusation without supplying any proof. According to the clip, Freud didn’t change his mind, nor did he make a mistake. No, he “lied”. It is this kind of tempestuous language that right at the outset belies any claim for credibility.
It cost the lives of millions
What? Where did that come from? And to blame a single person who changed his mind about something for the death of millions is ridiculous.
Decided to find out why women in Vienna were sent by their families.
No, he didn’t. Fred never “decided” that. He was a neurologist and neurologists were the ones to whom Hysterical patients were referred. He was a genius who had the intellectual faculties and independence of mind to look at things differently.
Freud discovered that what society said was mental illness was the symptoms of sexual abuse.
No. Freud (with his colleague Breuer) discovered that Hysterical symptoms, and not the entire field of mental illness, were the result of trauma, sexual abuse being an important example of.
Freud announced his findings in April 21 1896 at the society of psychiatry and neurology
No, he didn’t. He announced it in a scientific paper in the journal Neurologisches Centralblatt on January 1, 1893. Ten days later, on January 11, he gave a lecture on its subject-matter at the Wiener Medizinischer Club. That lecture was then published in the Wiener Medizinische Presse.
Society told him he was a liar and threatened to destroy his reputation.
No, they didn’t. His ideas were met mostly with indifference.
Freud realized he would have to abandon his discovery
Another unsupported claim. There is absolutely nothing in Freud’s scientific or personal writings that would remotely suggest that he would have to abandon his theory. But it’s true that he at one time stopped believing it. To his friend Fliess in 1897 he wrote that there were basically 4 reasons why he no longer believed in that theory:
1) “The continual disappointments in my attempts at bringing my analysis to a real conclusion, the running-away of people who had for a time seemed most in my grasp, the absence of the complete successes on which I had reckoned, the possibility of explaining the partial successes in other ways, on ordinary lines”;
2) “surprise at the fact that in every case the father, not excluding my own, had to be blamed as a pervert- the realization of the unexpected frequency of hysteria, in which the same determinant is invariably established, though such a widespread extent of perversity towards children is, after all, not very probable. (The perversity would have to be immeasurably more frequent than the hysteria, since the illness only arises where there has been an accumulation of events and where a factor that weakens defence has supervened.)”
3) “the certain discovery that there are no indications of reality in the unconscious, so that one cannot distinguish between the truth and fiction that is cathected with affect. (Thus, the possibility remained open that sexual phantasy invariably seizes upon the theme of the parents.)”
4) “the reflection that in the most deep-going psychosis the unconscious memory does not break through, so that the secret of the childhood experiences is not betrayed even in the most confused delirium. If in this way we see that the unconscious never overcomes the resistance of the conscious, then, too, we lose our expectation that in treatment the opposite will happen, to the extent of the unconscious being completely tamed by the conscious.”
Freud then adds candidly: “I was influenced so far by this that I was prepared to give up two things: the complete resolution of a neurosis and the certain knowledge of its aetiology in childhood. I have no idea now where I have got to, since I have not achieved a theoretical understanding of repression and its interplay of forces.”
And then at other times he said he never really abandoned his trauma (seduction) theory. For example, in a footnote to his 1905 Dora case report, some years after he began to develop a new theory, he wrote about the trauma theory: “I have gone beyond that theory, but I have not abandoned it; that is to say, I do not to-day consider the theory incorrect, but incomplete”. And in 1925, some 30 years afterword, he wrote: “Moreover, seduction during childhood retained a certain share, though a humbler one, in the aetiology of neuroses.”
Freud looked through history for anything he might use to keep his position in society.
No, he didn’t. That sounds like he was frantically leafing through books hoping to find an excuse that will sound good to his fellow men in Vienna. This is so out of character and such a strange claim about someone who in a career produced 24 volumes, 400 pages each, which include very deep insights; and for someone who changed his mind several times in his career based on his clinical experiences. The truth is that Freud was very well read, was very much interested in archeology, anthropology, literature, history, and then especially psychology. More likely that he used the Oedipus myth to metaphorically describe what he had in mind, as he did so often using sources of literature and culture, rather than tailoring his mind to that myth.
He found an ancient myth to suggest that these women were in fact fantacizing.
No, he didn’t. See above. He used the myth to name his finding. He actually named them “Oedipus Complex” many years after he changed his mind.
This (The Oedipus complex) was the U-turn that would save Freud’s career.
No, it wasn’t. He still never got his original wishes for academic promotion. Freud was completely alone. The scientific community didn’t support these new views nor did the public. In their fantasies these women sought to kill and sexually abuse their parents.
That’s only one possible variant and not the important point. The main thing is the centrality of fantasy and the sexual.
Freud claimed this ancient Greek fairy-tale explained why women were telling him why they were being abused… The fairy-tale of Oedipus proved it.
No, he didn’t. Again, see above. The myth never explained why women were telling him they were abused, the explanation was a psychological one and Freud only later named it after the myth. And the assertion that “The fairy-tale of Oedipus proved it” is absolutely ludicrous. The academic advisor of that clip, if there was any, never read Freud or he or she wouldn’t have made such a childish claim.
The men in Austrian society thought that Freud’s new theory was perfect. They liked it because it meant they could keep on abusing their children.
No, they didn’t. This is actually proof that the whole thesis is wrong. Look at what Freud changed his mind to: Infantile sexuality. If you think that went well with society you’d better think again. On the contrary, whereas they were rather indifferent to Freud’s abuse claims they completely lost it over his new claims that children were sexual beings. If you had wanted to attend some of the lectures that were later published as “Three essays on the theory of sexuality” you would have to cross a picket line because people were outraged at the thought that children had a sex life. Freud was denounced as a pervert and of course a Jew.
Freud’s first discovery was more or less erased from history.
No, it wasn’t. Freud not only published his trauma findings in that 1893 paper, but went on to copile 5 cases to which wrote case studies, added a theoretical chapter and published them all with Breuer in 1985 in a book (Studies on Hysteria). That book was available for all to read and reread. It’s still in circulation today. Nobody prevented anybody to pick up those ideas and carry them further.
Freud abandoned the women who came to him for help.
No, he didn’t. If you read his case material you can see that he was very attentive and devoted and curious about his patients (he was practically the first one to actually listen and believe his Hysterical patients), and took his psychotherapies as far as he could. Changing one’s mind isn’t tantamount to abandoning one’s patients.
This allowed him to keep his position in society.
No, it didn’t. See above.
Mentally ill people are the victims of their own fantasies.
No, they’re not. According to Freud, some neurotic people get in trouble because of internal conflicts, clashes between opposing thoughts and tendencies. Other factors, such as constitution and trauma, play important parts as well.
Mental illness occurs randomly without cause.
No, it doesn’t. According to Freud there is always a cause for mental illness.
The respect for Freud and psychoanalysis cost the lives of millions of children.
Again, does this assertion even makes a shred of sense?
This was Sigmund’s fraud.
Why not. Replace substance with drama and sensationalism.
In the next few days I’ll add what I think of this change of mind of Freud’s.
Actually Renée, I don’t think we watched different videos at all. That’s an easy way out of it. Each and every one of the italicized lines are assertions quoted directly from the video, so how would that be different from what you saw?
I think the difference lies elsewhere. My guess is that you never read Freud enough to follow the development of his ideas and then took the video’s assertions at face value for political reasons that, as you keep saying, are also personal. The accusations against Freud in that clip sit very well with your politics so it was easy, even welcomed, to succumb to the clip’s content and tone.
But I have read and continue to read Freud and believe I have a good grasp of the development of his early ideas.
Actually, Daniel, that is not why we watched different videos. I have read Freud and I am aware of the development of his ideas. And I have studied the many reasons that he needed to reject the seduction theory, of which only one was presented in the video. The reason that we watched the same but different video is that we have very different lenses through which we view information.
Daniel, I will try to address some of the stuff your raised in your other post. And remind myself that you are not my brother and I am not a child. I hope I can do it. Otherwise, I will have to postpone writing while I deal with my feelings.
I should point out that some of your posts sound like mini-dissertations! You have obviously studied this stuff, but from a very different perspective to my studies. So, as you can probably guess, I disagree with much of what you say. By the way, I am neither a liberal nor a post-modernist. But I don’t feel like explaining why right now. For now, because I dislike dissertations, either writing or reading them, I will just respond to one idea you raise, your assertion that, “Politics and politicians have their own constraints and manifestly political agenda whereas academia does not”. Since when is the academic arena not a political one? Which voices and perspectives are included or excluded from the curriculum; which voice(s) dominate(s) a class and which are silenced or overlooked; whether the teacher sees the students as having a ‘deficit mentality’ (to quote Paulo Freire) or not; whether active or passive learning is allowed and encouraged……these are all political decisions that have to be made in any classroom. As one of my favorite theorists, Linda Alcoff, stated, “Rituals of speaking are politically constituted by power relations of domination, exploitation, and subordination. Who is speaking, who is spoken of, and who listens is a result, as well as an act, of political struggle. Simply put, the discursive context is a political arena”. This is what Edward Said was trying to address, IMO. In a nutshell. By the way, it has been my experience that teachers/professors who have the same views as you (which are the majority, IMO) about trying to find a truth with the least amount of bias, often have the most biased curriculum and syllabus, with mostly the ideas of white, Western men represented in it and perhaps a token one or two views of ‘others’. Hence the resistance by many and the creation of ‘Women’s Studies”, “Black Studies”, “Queer Studies” etc. And as I’m sure you know, these subjects are often marginalized and dismissed as not “scientific” or “academically rigorous” by the academic status quo. I will leave it up to you and blog readers to figure out which people primarily make up this group. To use my favorite saying……it’s not rocket science.
Renee, I’ll only say this: I am a white male myself & I have been far, FAR more marginalized by society than you might imagine or understand. I think you’re making a mistake just applying race or gender as the primary factors towards what is inappropriately being ferreted out of the eyes of undergrad & grad students.
For instance, I look on Amazon and I see almost 40,000 publications, films, etc. devoted to the Holocaust.
Would you like to guess how many publications and films I found on the 70 million people killed in car crashes since the Holocaust? five
I get irritated because not only have I been seriously marginalized in ephemeral ways by the public at large, but my own racial heritage (white male) is being vilified as the oppressor, to boot!
Guru: right there in that comment of yours, I feel, is the greatest of your problems. You mom was killed in a road accident and it is still bothering you to this day, UNDERSTANDABLY so, I do not see the elevation of road accidents, as a way to resolve your ongoing problem about your moms death. It is indeed a deep sadness and more for you.
So my pointing out that there are five firmly established films and books on the 70 million people killed in their cars since WW2 is MY problem that should not be elevated?
And people might wonder what the textbook definition of marginalization is?
Daniel, in another post of yours you stated that, “I’m not sure it was the creation of Israel that “punished” the Palestinians. It was more their refusal to accept it and miscalculation in starting a war”. I’m sure if you were pushed off your land or out of your home, you would refuse to accept this and would find a way to resist and fight back. For some reason, this comment of yours reminded me of this little gem of a link. It is Angela Davis addressing the question of whether she approved of Black violence. I think she could easily have been a Palestinian woman being asked if she approved of Palestinian violence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU9sDDSiDwQ. Sadly, it’s always the winners of wars that write the history books and decide what is true and what is not, never the losers:(
Renee: I like many of your responses, and especially the clip of Angela Davis on violence. What I find missing is the “Whys” … why violence. My contention is that it is a misplaced anger towards others, when according to Janov, the anger is usually mommy and daddy when the violator was little and vulnerable.
One does not need therapy to begin to realize it, though this therapy is a great help in that direction and is the only .way to get beyond it All this is merely my opinion, take, or what you will.
I’m sure if you were pushed off your land or out of your home, you would refuse to accept this and would find a way to resist and fight back.
In case you forgot or didn’t know, Jews were expelled form many a home, country (which by the way includes the land Palestinians call their own), and even from life altogether. The only place we’re yet to be expelled from is the grave.
As for your main point, no Palestinian was removed from his or her home prior to the war they started, and they didn’t start it to regain those homes. This is different from violence which erupted afterwords in their attempt to undo the results of that war and which may be characterized as resistance.
Daniel, Israel is a settler-colonial state. To be believe that it could be created without violence is crazy! It is to not understand the brutality of colonialism. Take a look at this: https://www.wrmea.org/017-may/viewing-israel-palestine-through-the-lens-of-settler-colonialism.html. The British Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour. who was behind the Balfour declaration that established the State of Israel, was an anti-semite and racist! HIstory books are always told from the perspective of the winners.
You’re confusing losing or being weak with being right. The two are correlated only in the moral kitsch which is so prevalent these days: If you have more power you’re automatically the villain, and if you have less power you’re automatically right.
Regarding Israel being a “settler-colonial state”, can you please tell me what is in your opinion the difference between Israel and Canada?
Also, the Balfour declaration didn’t establish the state of Israel, it was just a first break in a very long time.
And finally, regarding history books being written by winners, Ilan Pappé has written his, didn’t he? So why keep complaining about not being given a voice?
Daniel: “Regarding Israel being a “settler-colonial state”, can you please tell me what is in your opinion the difference between Israel and Canada?” None!!! and includes all colonial conquests, going back eons.
In MY Opinion … all land belongs to us all, and ought for us all, to roam freely and settle freely, then if and when we chose, to up stakes, and go off elsewhere.
It’s Governments, laws, money, national borders, and all the other trapping of Capitalism, that leaves us all, wage slaves. It need not be.
Jack,
The difference between Canada and Israel is that Canada was colonized hundreds of years ago during the colonial period. Israel was colonized during the 20th century, pretty much after the colonial period, meaning it shouldn’t have happened. Not that much can or will be done about it now, it’s too late.
Phil
Jack, not an excuse, but I do see a difference. Hundreds of years colonies were considered acceptable among Westerners, but by the 20th century it was understood not to be, which is why Israel is especially problematic. Some people still may be alive from when it happened, that’s how recent it is. To me, this is the whole problem.
Phil
Phil: I don’t mean to be critical, but it’s not the “WHOLE problem”. the whole problem lies with governments running the show and for the most part failing . If there were no governing bodies and people were really free to roam the planet … all this other stuff would be irrelevant. It requires “thinking outside the box”. A box we put ourselves into.
Phil,
There’s some truth to what you’re saying when you say that colonialism that was acceptable two or three centuries ago is no longer acceptable in the 20th century. But I’d like to thicken the plot here.
First, Is Israel a good example of a colonial entity in the political sense of the word? I don’t think so. A colony is a country or area under the full or partial political control of another country. All empires had colonies, sort of satellites of a mother ship. In case of Israel there is no mother ship. This isn’t Great Britain colonizing India, or the Dutch colonizing the East Indies, or the Belgians colonizing Congo.
Second, not being a colonizing force (no mother ship) Israel is better characterized as a national project, with the remarkable exception that most of the nation were at the time outside the land they wanted to build their country in. You didn’t mention the crucial fact that the Jews had prior physical and ongoing spiritual relationship with that piece of land. For 2000 years, ever since the Romans exiled them from what they called the land of Israel, they saw themselves as people in exile and prayed for their return to their homeland. Ponder over this for a moment: for 20 centuries Jews all over the world, be they in Russia or England or Afghanistan of Tunisia, were all praying every single day for their return (here is a short summary). Surely this cannot be counted as a colonial wish.
Third, having understood and accepted that second point the international community, although as you say by then didn’t take kindly to colonialism, agreed with those wishes, first in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration, and again and more importantly in 1920 when the Allies of WW1 included the Balfour declaration within the mandate the gave the British over Palestine. The international community did so yet again in 1947 in their UN Partition Plan for Palestine. In other words, the international community of the time did not perceive the creation of Israel to be colonial in nature.
The Arab-Israeli conflict is over one of two possible issues: A conflict over the size of Israel or one over the very existence of Israel. In general, at almost each step of the way Israelis have agreed to compromise over the size of Israel, and my own opinion and hope is they will do so again given the opportunity. Over the very existence of Israel there will never be nor should there be any compromise. One does not negotiate his or her own demise.
Daniel: All you state is more or less correct form what I know about it all. The deeper question is:- why are there state borders at all, and why different cultures? We’re all one creature, and we need to lean to co-exist with one another as individuals … not as nations or cultures … all that just complicated the matters
While we have this mindset there will never be peace. Real peace: where there is no reason for armies, nor policing, nor, governments. We’re dancing around the real problem which, I contend, is to go for our nature, NOT our neurotic behaviour.
Daniel, your comment that, “All empires had colonies, sort of satellites of a mother ship”, makes colonization sound so benign, just satellites of mother ships”. Yikes, is all I can say. And yes, in the case of Israel, there was a mother ship. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-british-colonialism-prepared-way-for-israeli-colonialism-1.5461035 …. “British colonialism prepared the way for Israeli colonialism, even if it didn’t intend for it to continue for a 100 years and more”.
You are correct Daniel…………..Jews were expelled from up to 350 districts/countries/city states over a period of 2,000 years. And guess what? it had nothing to do with their ‘behavior’ ?? I would say it had everything to do with their behavior. Could something like that happen for no reason at all ……………other than so called ‘anti semitism’ Makes no sense Jews were expelled over and over again because their behavior is unacceptable in a society that wants to survive. Since the West seems to be on a death wish I guess it figures they stay now.
Patrick, you have done it again! You have given me my morning chuckle, with this statement: “Makes no sense Jews were expelled over and over again because their behavior is unacceptable in a society that wants to survive. Since the West seems to be on a death wish I guess it figures they stay now.” The million ways that you reveal yourself, in this case some of your behavior here on the blog and your numerous expulsions from it. And that you seem to get to stay, for now. I love transparency. The only factual item I might dispute is the death wish part. I know that I have a death wish but it is not clear how many other blog readers also have such a wish.
Patrick & Daniel: No event is ever in isolation. One event occurs as a result of another. it’s not a case of cause and event; It needs to be seen o seen in it’s wider perspective:- Event, event, event. Said an other way …What came first; the chicken or the egg?
I presume most people have heard something about the so called ‘white racists’ kids who were supposed to have been messing with a ‘Native American Elder’ just peacefully banging his drum. It turns out the story was about exactly backwards (I am tempted to say ‘as usual’). The white kids were just waiting for their bus back to Kentucky and THEY were the once messed with. I think it is an interesting story and connects to a lot that has been talked about here, Daniel justified concern with political correctness. also I imagine it might be of interest to Renee in that it shows how a lot of this ‘color’ and some other stuff has gone off the rails a bit. Also it ties a bit into what Guru and Sylvia were talking about. Here is an admittedly a bit long commentary by the Catholic writer Michael Hoffman. But from my point of view so good it is worth posting in it’s entirety. To me it ties many many things together and I like that If there are some words there that are not clear you can ask me I’m thinking of ‘golem’ or ‘cryptocracy’ hopefully does not cause confusion
The latest media tempest-in-a-teapot concerns Catholic teenagers from Kentucky set upon by the media and made to star in the perpetual Hate-Whitey videodrome, wherein, whether it’s a Gillette shaving commercial, or kids waiting for a bus after a pro-life, anti-abortion march in our nation’s capitol, they are cast as KKK/Nazi bigots. Of all the crimes and travesties in our land today, this minor incident between Indians and Catholic school kids is the event that propels the liberal outrage machine. Forget the mass extermination of disabled Down syndrome children with abortion, forget the forced conversion of children in our public schools to “gay” sex, forget female impersonators dictating an Orwellian regime on college campuses wherein “he” must be referred to as “she,” otherwise the truth-telling offender who terms the ersatz gal a guy, is demoted or fired from the faculty or administration.
It’s a truism that the inmates are in charge of the asylum. They are well on their way to transforming all of us into insane persons in their corporate world of relentless revolutionary change. Thankfully, the scapegoated, stigmatized Catholic youths are fighting back and showing some backbone, as noted below. That such a pitch of media hysteria could be invoked over a white kid merely staring at a Native American is more than ridiculous. This hyper-sensitivity to the least perceived slight to the new aristocracy of color is a revelation of the degree to which our media masters yearn for, indeed ache for a KKK or neo-Nazi group to attack minorities while the news cameras record it. Shaming white people is Job #1. Instilling self-hate is a psychological warfare device, a type of mental genocide that is underway 24/7 in America.
In the final analysis, let us not imagine that the Zionist ruling class in America actually cares about the welfare of non-whites. They are merely cannon-fodder on the road to a neo-Bolshevik America. The Israelis have butchered tens of thousands of native people of color in Palestine without any sustained exposure or protest from the U.S. media. The Orthodox Judaic religion teaches that black people are a divinely designated slave race (cf. the Midrash on Genesis in the Soncino edition), and sub-human (cf. Moses Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, vol. 2, in the Shlomo Pines edition). These rabbinic dogmas have caused the black race untold suffering and misery throughout history.
Meanwhile, the Cryptocracy has used the white race as its golem in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
The Cryptocracy manipulates people of color to serve as golem in the United States, disseminating a view of American history that portrays the majority of whites as whip-wielding tormentors of colored people in bondage, when the truth is that the vast majority of whites in early America were, as Congressman David Wilmot termed them, “the sons of toil,” who arrived in this country in chattel bondage, not a dainty “indentured servitude.”
The clandestine objective of crowding whites into ever more narrow psychological categories of self-abnegation and erasure, is to inflame them into lashing out desperately with inchoate violence that can be exploited to further justify ever greater encroachment by the government on our immemoral rights, and the escalation of increasingly intense negative caricatures of conservative white people issuing from the salons of Hollywood and New York.
The only ones who will emerge mostly unscathed from this contrived race war will be the same ones who emerged largely unscathed to rule in Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik Russia, a century ago.
Whites, Blacks and Native Americans cannot be allowed to join together in opposition to the empire of usury which is choking life on this planet. Divide-and-conquer has always been the watchword of the Sanhedrin.(Synagogue) Whites with their affinity for Neocon war-Zionism, and Blacks with their partiality for the Democratic party of sodomite supremacy, non-educating public schools and unlimited cheap labor from south of the border, remain unconscious, easily manipulated golem of the six-pointed System. (Star of David)
Patrick quite a mouthful in making some point, that totally eludes me.
After all that …. What’s the feeling?? …………… You seem never to say, but it seems something is bugging you very badly, and I never quite see what it is.
Perhaps as well as being blind and deaf, I’m too dumb to understand.
It IS a lovely sermon and a very wise one too. If people here were able to even begin to take some of it onboard things might be better. Jack at least admits he is clueless as to what Michael Hoffman is on about, you Daniel on the other had I feel probably know quite well but you have a hardened Zionist heart and will continue your ‘hating’ all you life. And pointing to me of course as the ‘hater’ I should have Christian charity towards you you were after all cruelty genitally mutilated and worse you propose it as an ok thing and I believe you did it to your own child if I am not mistaken. St Paul called all this out a long time ago and recommended a ‘circumcision of the heart’ (not physical of course) but the Jews did not listen then and are not listening now. Instead they have conquered the West totally, we live under their lies and nonsense every day. When I go on about all the ‘lies’ we live under of course they come from somewhere, the Zionist Jew is always a liar. Lies are absolutely central to their way of being. We have another big lie fest coming up this weekend Holocaust Remembrance day the day the liars are out in force and God help anyway who says sorry there were NO ‘human gas chambers’ EVER in Germany…………….sorry that’s a fact . No Daniel I am sure you will twist and turn about this but relax man it’s all a hoax, all a lie and something they have stuffed down the throats of white people ever since. So any attempt to pull their countries together is ‘fascism’ or ‘right wing’ and ‘scary’ watch the likes of Jack channel that crap all day long. He watches CNN a totally Zionist piece of nonsense but as I say they DO control pretty much all media.
Patrick: Ggeeezzzus man, where art thou???
Quote:- “We have another big lie fest coming up this weekend Holocaust Remembrance day the day the liars are out in force and God help anyway who says sorry there were NO ‘human gas chambers’ EVER in Germany……………”
The biggest lie of them all is “The Gospel according to Mark” A birth from sex with a ghost, Jesus overturning the tables of the many lenders, and not getting bashed over the head for it, Going off with 12 guys, walking on water, then finally coming to life again and rolling a huge bolder away from the cave entrance he was buried in, showing off his wounds to ‘doubting Thomas’, then folating off into the sky.
All the religious scriptures, to me, are one big lie … be it the Koran, Bible or Torah. Sure they are allegorical stories … to appease the masses … as Marx inferred.
If those Concentration Camps only had communal water showers, why were they NOT connected to the water mains??? You Patrick are taking someone else’ word for it all. Go over there and look for yourself … they’ve been preserved … IN THE HOPE THEY’RE NEVER RECREATED.
Sure enough I’m taking it from looking at films that were released shortly after WWII. Films that showed naked starved humans … which would impossible to fake with the best of film studio tampering, OR Disney type cartoons.
All this way before you were even born. Why did Hitler bundle off Jews Gypsies Gays and the mentally retarded, to concentration camps in the first place??? Seemingly you never explain any of that, for it would be tantamount to seeing a little beyoooond what those you follow. Mmmmmm!!!!
Yes there were real starving naked people…………..because of Allied total destruction of railways and roads, there is no mystery there at all.
As far as camps there was a war going on they were mostly prisoners of war. The Brits did it too so did the Americans. The Germans then tried to use then as slave labor the LAST thing they wanted to do was kill their work force. It’s just an absurd myth and I don’t expect YOU to ever properly even try to investigate it. You are too busy mouthing off no time to read it seems. So though you are not a Jew or a Zionist you are a perfect patsy for their agenda. And you do most all of quite unknowingly.
Jack, I guess you have somewhat of a point about ‘religion’. Is ANY religion ‘true’ but first off the holocaust is not seen as a religion though I think that’s exactly what it is. There is even a name for if ‘Holocaustianity’ and it is THE modern fake religion we all live under. It is the one thing you cannot ‘deny’ and get away with it. It informs and is the framework for the modern world. You yourself adhere to it all this ‘fear of the Right Wing’ if any country even tries to pull itself together. CNN and the BBC pump out that stuff all day long. It is and will be used to stuff whites full of guilt forever and ever. The white race is under major attack and coming back here and seeing my niece diagnosed on the ‘autism spectrum’ her and SO many others. Listen to the radio any day and the whole generation of young Irish is being hobbled and wiped out. It really seems they do not want to white race to continue at all. This is more now than ‘ideology’ they are ruining and poising all the youth. And it’s almost funny Gretchens big charge against me is I am on the side of white people. Why would I not? Judaic forces have singled them out for it seems destruction. I am meant to go ‘oh well’ as most people do at least I can go down screaming about it. Anyway this weekend is big day for the relgion that rules us, check what CNN have to say about it
Holo-Religion
“The Holocaust became the new Western religion. Unfortu-
nately, it is the most sinister religion known to man. It is a li-
cense to kill, to flatten, to nuke, to wipe, to rape, to loot and
to ethnically cleanse. It made vengeance and revenge into a
Western value. However, far more disconcerting is the fact
that it robs humanity of its heritage, it is there to stop us from
looking into our past with dignity. Holocaust religion robs
humanity of its humanism. ” — Gilad Atzmon
More volumes are published about Auschwitz than any other place on
Earth. A global, compulsory new religion is seizing a-hold in all corners of
the Earth, pushing out the tired old religions of yesteryear, in which:
> Auschwitz = Golgotha. The sacrifice of the Christ-god at Calvary has
been eclipsed by the suffering of the Jewish people at Auschwitz.
> The Saints = Holocaust survivors
> Belief in Miracles = belief in the plan to exterminate European Jews
despite the complete, total absence of any documentary evidence what-
soever; and belief in a Weapon of Mass Destruction whose primary
characteristic is physical impossibility.
> Original sin = the guilt of what we did/allowed to happen to God’s
Chosen People
> Redemption: accomplished by the ceaseless flow of money from Ger-
many to Israel to compensate “Holocaust survivors,” of which there are
now almost one million – that’s 60 years after the event. 255 On the order
of 100 billion dollars, it keeps flowing.
> Heresy: doubters of the H-story are ethically damned and experience
termination of career prospects, exclusion from clubs and polite society
etc.
> Holy Shrines = Holocaust Memorial sites and museums; every major
US city now has such a museum.
> Sin= undue interest in the German viewpoint, e.g. reading Revisionist
literature.
> St Peter = Elie Wiesel, the first pope of this new established church,
who charges $20,000 a talk on how the H. is “outside” and “beyond his-
tory,” etc. Recently accused as being the World’s Greatest Liar who was
never even at Auschwitz. 256
You become more absurd by the minute Patrick. I lived close to a German Prisoner of war camp in my town Oldham, and they played football on the roof of their housing dorm, all during the war. Though all of us Brits were rationed with food, those prisoners were not starving and when the war ended, before being repatriated, were allowed to roam the town and many people invited them into their homes.
The rest of the German nation was not starving like those in the concentration camps, nor were those prisoners of war; Btits and Americans were housed in prisoner of war camps, in Germany. I knew a few who came home after the war and they were far from starved to near death. They looked pretty healthy when they arrived home. We stretched banners across from our up-stairs window to the house oppose side of the street as a greetings to Norman, when he arrived home at that house across the street.
So that’s my EXPERIENCE … not hearsay, from someone else, as is with people in your camp.
To mirror your story about Oldham there are pictures of English soccer teams all kitted out in Auschwitz. I am glad that the English seemed to do as good as the Germans did. I won;’t bother taking all your other stuff point by point though I COULD easily if I wanted to . But you are here playing the role of the Zionist shill, you were always Janov’s and the PI’s ‘butt boy’ so that’s what you will do. I will not waste my time taking point by point with an insincere liar with an agenda. Just sell a book about ‘abolishing money’ and leave history to people who actually care about the truth
I rarely read Patrlck’s stuff anymore because it is so predictable that he can’t resist arguing for some distorted, perverted view of reality that gets his desired rise out of people so that his act out of being the outcast will be reinforced and reliably (for Patrick) perpetuated.
Just now though I took a glance at his comment about the school kids and the Native American elder. Patrick’s view is a pretty sick one. I can empathize with a crazy person who is looking for help, but a crazy person who insists on becoming more entrenched in his craziness is impossible to live with, and is the role Patrick chooses as the easiest and most comfortable for him.
Phil,
you are right when you say that doctors and vets are no experts on immunology.
but even there, for example in my veterinary clinic, they do their best to follow critically the latest findings and adjust their decisions.
they changed their vaccinating policies to what sounds the best approach possible as to not give them unnecessarily.
Patrick you know nothing about whether my cats have been vaccinated or not and I am sick and tired of you going on about them.
by the way, one of my former cats became more than 20 years old and happily died in his sleep between the pillows of the bed.
very scientific to use your one dog as a proof indeed.
I hope he remains healthy for sure, I mean it, but your level of discussing is not where I want to go.
M
The 2020 US presidential race has started and is already historic because of the diversity in the announced democratic field so far, 3 major female candidates, one of whom is black, as well as a major black male candidate. I hope that a nominee will emerge who can beat Trump or any other hypothetical candidate, in case Trump has been removed or resigned. Then maybe we can move ahead to address climate change and all the other important things currently being ignored. This will be a huge contest which I find more interesting to follow than the Superbowl, although I do usually watch that too.
Phil
Hi Phil. I hope that one of the things that a new president can move ahead to address is why so many people feel so disenfranchised, afraid or deranged that they turned to someone like Trump in the hope that he could make things better from their perspective. I worry that no one in political office has the wisdom or power to address that.
Larry, Bernie Sanders addressed why so many people felt disenfranchised. He was filling stadiums. The media gave him so little attention, compared to Clinton or Trump. And when they did cover him, they usually dismissed him as a socialist, a word that scares the hell out of many Americans. (Hopefully, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, will change that.) Remember CNN showing the empty podium for an hour waiting for Trump to speak? Didn’t one CNN spokesperson say that it might not be good for democracy to give Trump so much attention, but it was good for business (or something like that).
Larry,
I agree that has to be addressed. I think a lot of people voted for Trump as someone who would disrupt the system and change the status quo. I think he’s doing that to some extant, but not in a positive way. Bernie Sanders could have been a good choice I thought, and for 2020 too. But besides that, there are several candidates who may be running, who have done well in Trump areas. There’s Sherrod Brown, democratic senator from Ohio. I think he could be an excellent choice because he knows how to represent disaffected voters in the Midwest where Hillary Clinton was defeated by Trump. He was strongly reelected in 2018, even though voters in Ohio chose a Republican governor. So I hope he will run.
Phil.
Renee and Phil, the leaders that you mention might have the wisdom with which to address the problem of disenfranchisement, but I fear they won’t have the power to do it, being that it is a complex problem that might require a long time and cultural upheaval to solve, but voters want solutions now and people with power and wealth are mostly interested in protecting and increasing their privilege, power and wealth and will use it to maintain it at the expense of the American public. I hope I’m wrong.
Larry,
I’m not that optimistic about big changes happening here. Looking ahead to 2020, a very liberal candidate could win president, with the senate remaining controlled by conservatives. Big changes are possible after major upheavals, such as the Great Depression and Franklin Roosevelt. Things were shifted for decades after that, and to this day. But with Trump as president, that kind of upheaval could happen, including impeachment, and the public turning away from the Republican party, which to a certain extent has already been happening.
Larry: I don’t think you are wrong at all … Quite the reverse. It needs to be addressed, but it won’t be IMO , we’ve accepted that we need them … B UT do we???
Until we abolish governments … all of then in all countries. it’ll continue and is on the news nightly. Corrupt … , usually the head of the government
Phil: I can’t wait to see Trump gone; the only reservation I have is will his replacement be better. Granted it could hardly be worse. I would much prefer that no-one was given the power allotted to ANY president of any land.
Sylvia,
I wonder if you saw the same opinion article that I did; about the contradiction of impeaching and removing Trump, and getting Pence, when he was on the same ticket in a possibly invalid and corrupt election process. So he would need to go too, which would be great. But I can’t see senate Republicans acting in such a way to install a Democratic president, unless there was overwhelming evidence also implicating Pence. and they had no choice Not much has been said about Pence up until now.
Phil, no I didn’t read that article. Just seeing wishful thinking on the web. There seems to be speculation about Pence’s involvement, in what I don’t know. He seems way too compliant with trump. I think the Dems don’t want trump impeached because he would be so easy to beat in 2020 with a Dem candidate running against him. But you never know, we’ve been fooled before by a fool-er.
Phil, I hope you are right, that they will see the election as invalid and get rid of pence and trump both. Wouldn’t Hillary be the rightful winner then? Too late, I guess for her, though.
Then all the judges and laws trump put in and signed respectively, would be undone too. Maybe we could get better environmental laws back. Let’s have a re-do. Sounds good to me!
In the Angela Davis clip she says something which in my opinion is relevant to the academia discussion. She says: The real content of any kind of revolutionary thrust lies in the principles and the goals you are striving for, not in the way you reach them”. My point about certain parts of academia was that this is exactly the attitude which drives teaching and research in those fields. The political goals sanctify the means, and if we’re bending the truth a bit, or omitting things that may hurt the cause, and so be it. The next thing is you get academic travesties such as the Ted Hill story.
I think the only criteria for including a “voice” in a curriculum is academic, and what sound academics are has been established over centuries. I don’t mind if the teacher/researcher is Gay, Black, White, Red or a Woman. I don’t mind there being Gender or Women’s or Black studies, as long as it is taught and researched with intellectual integrity rather than a political agenda and as long as it will study the world.
Merely having a “voice” is not a criterion for inclusion. Otherwise, why not carry it further and have Nick Kollerstrom and David Irving have a chair at Jewish studies? What about their voice, why is it “silenced”? And what about the voice of Sharia clerics who feel tormented by the sight of women, why “silence” them? Perhaps after listening to them we will in the name of multi-culturalism and liberalism introduce the Burqa into society.
The reason these two are not in the curriculum is clear and is academic rather than moral: they are both very poor science (or even no science at all) and have no academic merit whatsoever.
By the way, it’s an easy way out to criticize the representation of white, Western men in curriculum and syllabi without taking into account that that group by far produced most of academia for a thousand years. They are the ones who built the University system and its academic tradition in the first place; they are the ones who wrote the great works, the founding documents, of our culture. Taking this fact into consideration is what I mean by intellectual integrity. Not all is “oppression”, unless of course you have a political agenda to advance the cause of “oppression” and, like Angela Davies, you think the aims justify the means. You will then summarily cast that fact aside.
Finally, as a citizen I also deplore the demise of the big struggles in favour of splintering society into ever smaller sub-groups of identity politics. I mean struggles such as the struggle for fairer income distribution, the civil rights movements, the labor movements, struggles that united groups rather than splintered them.
Daniel, you talk about facts being cast aside. But whose facts will be embraced and whose will be cast aside? To believe that this is somehow not political is ridiculous. Like who created the university system. The University of Al Quaraouiyine which was founded in Morocco by Fatima al-Fihri in 859, was the oldest degree-granting university. Somehow, I don’t think that Fatima al-Fihri was a white, Western man. Or that Jesus was white and Western either, for that matter. You will likely have different ‘facts’. I don’t believe, like you do, that you can separate your identity from your politics, any more than you can separate it from your personal life. The personal IS political. It is all connected. However, we do agree on something when you say that all struggles should be connected and not splintered. That is why I so fully approve of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s views. She has a beautiful way of bringing together all the struggles and has a deep understanding of what the bigger struggle is for and what it is against, without pretending that identities to not matter.
Also, Daniel, you state that, “Not all is “oppression”, unless of course you have a political agenda to advance the cause of “oppression” and, like Angela Davies, you think the aims justify the means”. Are you saying that what she was describing in that link I posted was not oppression? Then what would you call it? As for her comment that the aims justify the means, I think you missed the point. I think she was saying that at what point do stop being peaceful when you are continually being responded to with violence and brutality. I seem to remember this was one the critiques of MLK. I also seem to remember that this is an issue where Nelson Mandela came to think like Angela Davis and shifted from his position of non-violence. Or was it Angela Davis that came to think like him? (Oops…..sorry Angela, you are much younger than Mandela who was already in prison by the time you became politically active.) By the way, another reason I liked the Angela Davis clip was that she so clearly demonstrated how the personal is political. Could you have experienced what she did as a child and not have that shape your politics? I like that she doesn’t hide behind the illusion of neutrality and is so fully connected to her feelings in a real way. I think she is inspiring.
Oh, and regarding the Angela Davis clip, I specifically meant that in academic setting, not the one she talks about in the clip where her description is compelling.
Daniel, in an academic setting, I have no doubt that Angela Davis would have responded in the same way, had a student or another professor asked her the same question. She doesn’t disconnect from her feelings and herself when being intellectual. This is what I have been trying to say to you with regard to the stereotypical (or essentialist, if you like big words) white, Western, male way of thinking. I have obviously been unsuccessful. This is not about condemning white, Western men. When this subject came up before on the blog, I posted two videos, both of white men, talking about PT, one who exemplifies this way of thinking (disconnected from feelings, pretending neutrality, no disclosing of lived experience of the subject, valuing scientific over all other evidence, using big words to establish his authority etc), and one who does not. For those of you who missed it, I am posting them again because I believe it is better to show than tell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNlDToOXU8s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru9PNE0A9o8&t=190s (start at 3:00). When I posted these videos last time, I think it was to share my view that this way of thinking is not necessarily an inherently bad way of thinking and can be helpful at times. I think we all grew up with this way of thinking as it dominates our school system. The problem with this way of thinking, I believe, is that it tends to marginalize, silence, and/or invalidate other ways of thinking and knowing. That’s all. I love you, Angela! Way to go, girl!! Here she is a month ago, as emotionally connected as ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0zIhFElp8c
……”White people are are beginning to change significantly.” There is hope for us, after all.
Renee, I don’t see that Dr. Grande uses scientific evidence. He is presenting his opinion. I don’t see that he presents any direct evidence for or against the efficacy of Primal Therapy. His argument is based only on conjecture. I think you are wrong to generalize his thinking as a typical example of white, Western male way of thinking. I feel he is typical of a lot of peoples’ way of thinking, from across all spectrum of power, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or culture.
Larry, it seemed to me that Dr. Grande was presenting his argument based on scientific evidence. And is stereotypical of whites, Westerners and males, whether or not we see it as typical. I think that the reason many adopt this way of thinking is that we have internalized it from our educational and cultural institutions. As I said, I don’t think it as an inherently bad way of thinking and knowing…..it should just be seen as one of many that we can choose from, not the only valid one.
Rene, in the video he says there is no scientific evidence that Primal Therapy works. Then later in the video he conjectures on why he thinks it probably doesn’t work. It is his conjecture. His isn’t an argument based on any scientific evidence of Primal Therapy that disproves the therapy. He doesn’t even seem to understand what Primal Therapy is. The manner of thinking that he demonstrates in this video is not scientific and is typical of a broad spectrum of people, including but not exclusive to whites, Westerners and males. People adopted this way of arriving at ill informed opinions way before we even had our Western educational and cultural institutions
I’m beginning to recall that you and I had this exact discussion before, maybe a year or two ago, so I’m not going to pursue it any further.
That’s cool, I didn’t know that. Thanks. However, it’s anecdotal, a Guinness World Record type of achievement. Where are the scholarly products? Perhaps there are quite a lot that are relevant for Al-Fihri’s culture, but are you claiming that University or that woman produced important and relevant scholarly works that were “oppressed”?
Just go through the shelves of any Western university library, or see who wrote the great texts of Western civilization, from the ancient Greeks onward. In time I’m sure this impressive canon will include contributions form what you call marginalized populations, provided of course sch contributions will stand the test of time.
Daniel said ‘ Otherwise, why not carry it further and have Nick Kollerstrom and David Irving have a chair at Jewish studies? ‘ what a great idea! It really in some kind of alternate universe would be the beginning of sanity on some of these issues. But Daniel has a very long way to go I see now. He is very invested in his Jewish identity and his ‘version’ of things. For all his ‘learning’ does not pass the smell test at all for me at least. Not even close. But then he thinks the same about me probably. That’s not a good situation and it is mirrored in society in general. Sad and bad situation really.
Ultimate Guru, it’s interesting in Ireland there is a very big push on to reduce road deaths. Last year 149 died in the whole country in car accidents and it was the LOWEST since records began in 1959. There are many many more cars here now than in 1959 so the authorizes are proud of their record. I think at a high point deaths were between 300 and 400 a year. They have done this by cracking down on drinking and driving and also speeding and generally making it tough to get a driver’s licence. For myself I have not got one yet and I HAVE to take 12 one hour classes before I can even be tested. Anyway I thought of you when I heard that just wanted to let you know that at least somewhere people are trying to do something about it.
Thanks Patrick….I’m kinda overloaded here. Dad needs to be on morphine because the pain is too much…referral to hospice today, giving up his cancer treatment.
So I visit him this morning and someone stole $500 from his wallet last night and threw the wallet with credit cards, drivers license, insurance.business cards in his bathroom toilet full of urine. I had to talk to cop, witnesses, etc.
The road deaths thing and the crass marginalization of victims is going to have to be revisited some other time, but thanks for your concern Patrick.
Guru: The only way I can imagine something akin to the elimination of road death is perhaps by driver-less vehicles that are so sensitive to any possible obstacle. We are getting technology to solve many problems, BUT is there a likelihood that there may be some unintended consequences?
BUT, that I feel will not resolve your problem … of your mothers death,
OK Guru, all the best to you with your Dad. And again I am sorry I did not communicate a bit more with you last Spring but anyway I was distracted and I do procrastinate. Not an excuse really so again sorry. I like and always have you independence of mind here you have always been about my favorite blogger on this channel though I don’t think you feel that about me. I understand and can’t win them all. I like the way you do not get caught up in group think or playing ‘winner’ all the time. Plus you’re funny…………
Patrick, it’s not that I have a ‘favorite’ blogger here or not…It’s just that you’ve put me in a very difficult position here. You and I both know a lot of people on here dislike you. Some of the people disliking you are one who I would still value some sort of relationship with as well, so a huge conflict ensues.
If I contact you, the people who dislike you would now dislike me as well and I possibly lose those relationships for myself.
So this puts me in a terrible bind, OK?
Also, the fact my dad was robbed this morning has made him feel so stupid for leaving the $500 in his wallet (completely unnecessary in an institution), that I feel he might be pursuing hospice as a form of punishing himself for his mistake…making a rash decision towards self-destruction when his previous oncologists said he still had a hopeful diagnosis (maybe 1-2 more years). I and another relative are trying to convince him to continue his medication for more time.
Actually, I’m in several terrible binds here, trying to make a critical decision for someone’s med care…end of life comfort or not?
Really, I gotta forget the cars topic for now.
Lemme just add that I don’t understand why you went in the direction you did over the last several years with opinions that I truly do not understand & don’t feel I could be a part of. What happened to the good old days of just the Paleo diet and just going after Jack?? You were doing fine until Kollerstrom took over some years ago. Can’t we just put that all back in a box and be Paleo dieting entrepreneurs with a Gentle Giant flair once more? Maybe invite Tim here for fun once more and such…?
I don’t know, just thinking….Been a ridiculous day for me
Terrible news about your dad getting robbed, Guru. At least he’s unharmed.
You can befriend Patrick all you want. I for one will not change my mind about you one iota. I’d still like you.
Hey Daniel, OK, well that’s good to hear at least. We had a good discussion some years ago about why would it be so important to follow any religious conventions or ethnic labels in light of Janov believing this life is all there is (ie, “although the brain is an exquisitely complex organ, there is nothing mystical to it.”)
Whether someone was Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, etc. seemed irrelevant when confronted with Janov’s writings alluding to religions being simply organizational labels conjured up by firing neurons to herd people like advanced forms of thinking cattle in stable sections of land for mutual survival .
You expressed your disappointment in what Janov wrote when I shared this with you, along with my own surprise that you were not aware of his materialism at the time.
From a hardcore materialist viewpoint (death is oblivion) why bother getting worked up or bent out of shape over Israel or Palestine knowing they may be arbitrary labels with no real meaning behind them?
I think we only partially confronted this question when we spoke of it last, so there might be some more life to it somewhere.
Guru: To and for me, your best paragraph yet. “Whether someone was Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, etc. seemed irrelevant when confronted with Janov’s writings alluding to religions being simply organizational labels conjured up by firing neurons to herd people like advanced forms of thinking cattle in stable sections of land for mutual survival”
Guru: To and for me, your best paragraph yet. “Whether someone was Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, etc. seemed irrelevant when confronted with Janov’s writings alluding to religions being simply organizational labels conjured up by firing neurons to herd people like advanced forms of thinking cattle in stable sections of land for mutual survival”
Guru, if I remember that discussion back then correctly then I’ll be repeating myself: regardless of what Janov had in mind, the reality is that people find it important – to various degrees in various places on earth. I would say that it has to do with identity and the need to belong to something which is bigger that yourself, a family if you will, but one which vertically goes back several generations and horizontally spreads to include others of similar background and values. Is it a neurotic phenomenon? My thoughts are that neurosis can surely take refuge with it.
As for Judaism, it is an unusual type, because it’s not only a religion but a type of ethnicity, a type of nation. I, for example, am not religious in any way but still am a ethnically a Jew and belong, whether I like it or not, to the Jewish people. As a people, a nation, Jews wished for the same right as all other nations – a right to self-determination and a country of their own.
It’s more dear to some Jews than to others, but it’s a fact.
Daniel: sorry to but in here, but being a Jew, religiously or, otherwise IS a choice. I know two Jews who’ve renounced their Judaism without any seeming effect. I too have rejected my Christian faith, culture, and western culture, though I suspect you’ll state that is impossible. I am able to reject being white, since if I compare my skin colour to a blank piece of white paper, I look nothing like white … more like a pale reddish yellowish colour. I don’t see African natives as black either… my preference to see people as people, and decide which of them I like and which of them I have little or no feelings about, and those I just don’t like. that way I relate it all to my feelings.
I see it all as just words to PROMOTE our differences, whereas I prefer to not look through that lens … it does not serve me … going by my feelings is the way I choose: not the truth, reality, or ‘what is’. All that does is just create a mindset.
I may well be crazy, but to quote something I once said in group to another patient; that said I was crazy:- “The only difference between me and you is; that I know I’m crazy, whereas I see you as doing your utmost to prove you are not”
It’s ALL dependent on the we we CHOOSE to look at ourselves and the universe I/we are occupying.
Guru,
I hope your father can be convinced about medication possibly giving him some more quality time. Maybe some kind of counseling would help clarify things for him, besides the efforts you and other family members are making. It’s sounds like you’re on top of it but I’m sure it’s terrible stress to deal with all of this, Best wishes getting through it all. Phil
Phil, I just caught this post among the many posts crowding the blog here, thank you, Yes, I spent lots of time with various nurses from three different doctors (pain, physical/orthopedic, and oncology). I even spoke with my dad’s insurer to see if it could cover the $500 loss. Turns out to be the exact deductible amount, so no go there. I might write to the nursing home asking for reimbursement. I feel bad doing this because most employees seem well meaning and work very hard, yet one rogue employee ruined everything. So yeah I feel like an ass writing to the company wanting the $500 when they didn’t want this theft to happen either.
After 20 phone calls overall, I also convinced dad through a relative to hold off on the hospice and resume immunotherapy for one more chance at a bit longer life.
Guru: It’s really is sad about your dad and I understand you, particularly your worries about him, BUT it is his life, and I feel you need to let him chose to do things his way. Listen to him, and be careful about advice and suggestions… he’s probably thought about all that. What I feel he needs is support, by his son just being there. That, I feel is the very best gift you can give him.
Daniel,
with all due respect, with in mind some books I have read (not at all from the right wing), I don’t think it is true no people were chased away from their homes until Palestine ‘started a war’.
what I have read is that long before world war II Arab families had to move out of their small farms and what used to be Jaffa fruit, Arab was taken over, maybe just with the power of money mostly, I have not recalled all the details.
and well, if some Palestinians protested in a violent way, that is no excuse to expel the innocent ones from their homes, which did happen.
what about the settlements where they are actually not legal?
people now all stashed together in the Gaza area not even allowed to go to the seaside anymore or to the land they once worked on?
I am not an expert on all the details, but I feel strongly that how you described it was the entire truth either.
there have been plenty of mistakes on both sides, and as all the territories and roads are so entertained now, I believe the only true solution might be in a shared government, Arabs and Jews together, even if that takes extra safety supervision from for example the UN.
but well, I am no expert, but find it a very sorry situation there.
M
Margaret: Just to push my point again… How about NO borders, no fences and no walls.
The UK and Theresa May, want to take control the the UK’s borders. That natural border of water (seas), was broken the minute the ‘Chunnel’ was completed.
M, I’m not trying to condone the actions of the Jewish side in the war of 1948. The upshot of it all was in deed a great disaster for the local Arab population. Hostilities between the two sides erupted long before that crucial war, with both sides behaving terribly.
In our current context my point was and is that, in accordance with the new holy post-modern PC scriptures, Arabs will never be considered responsible for anything that happened or happens to them. They belong to the East, the “Others”, and therefore are never to be blamed for anything. They are always victims and therefore always right. This is the true patronization, where they are always infantilized and robbed of their agency.
Israel on the other hand is considered Western. Jews are “Others” when least convenient and “Us” also when least convenient. And being, for this specific purpose, both Western and white they are eternally the oppressors and therefore never right, always colonial, and unlike Arabs, those infants without agency, are always blamed and demanded accountability.
By the way, I strongly object to the Israeli occupation and support the-two states solution. However, please be reminded that the Palestinians/Arabs rejected such compromise in 1937, 1947, 1967, 1978, 2000, and 2007-2008.
A one-state solution at the present time is a recipe for a bloody disaster, and such a solution really worked in only three countries: Switzerland, Switzerland and Switzerland.
Daniel, now your concern about political correctness comes more into focus. You are engaged in that very old game of ‘is it good for the Jews?’ That would seem to be your MAIN concern and all this academic la di da sing and dance man is just fluff. As usual I might say, scratch a Jew and that’s what comes out usually ‘is is good for the Jews?’
Daniel: I liked: “only three countries Switzerland, Switzerland and Switzerland.
But in an other way the British did that also with the Gaelic Welsh, Pitts o’Scots, and the Anglo Saxon English. Even so, the subdivision within each, are still there, to this day.
Guru,
that is so sad and upsetting what happened to your dad, and to you at the same time.
must be so infuriating and frustrating on top of what already is such a difficult situation.
wish you strength and some good moments still with your dad, and that he may be well taken care of.
hope you can get some support as well.
Margaret
Thank you for thinking of me, Margaret. I’m scared the incident might have spurred dad into making a rash decision towards hospice as a form of self-punishment for carelessly leaving money out, but he’s in a lot of pain centered around his leg and he can’t leave his bed.
A few things …. Guru, So sad about your father and now a robbery! That is just horrible. Daniel, I could not agree more with your post about “ others “ and “ us” and I actually think this issue comes up in a number of ways, both in therapy and in the world in general. It felt like a relief to read it. Margaret, I have been meaning to tell you how grounded you seem to be lately. It’s really nice to see. On to a bigger issue….. when I told Patrick he would be kicked off the blog if he continued with his name calling and then he promptly continued I assumed you all knew that I meant that and though it was pointless to immediately block him ( you may recall I mentioned he put some effort into finding apps that allow you to avoid being blocked) as he would return the next day still I was indeed looking for another solution. I would not tell someone they would need to leave and then not follow through or if I changed my mind I would say that. In any case I believe there is a way but I will come back to that in a moment. Vaccinations….. I wish there was one that could treat the toxic crap infecting this blog. That is what it is …. toxic, sick revolting. First of all Patrick wants to be banned …. period ! It will always be the only satisfying ending to this old worn out scenario. I ask him not to call someone a faggot and he instantly has an adult tantrum using that word multiple times. No one mentions the possible banning for two weeks, not one word but then who brings it up yesterday ? Patrick when he mentions that Renée does not want him banned. Is that what you would do if you felt you had escaped the guillotine? I don’t think so. Please tell me why we are discussing things like whether Paul is really Faul or whether there was a Holocaust or his “ gut “ feeling that Lyme disease was caused by vaccines as if any of this makes sense to any thinking person. Let me tell you something else Patrick is not our lovable but cranky Uncle and this is not about Jews. The more he speaks the more he reveals and it is clear to me this is a hatred for anyone who is not white and not Christian. This is really ugly and what’s more he has zero insight and zero interest in getting help. His hero David Irving spoke at a neo nazi conference in 2017 and began his speech by saying he was glad to only see white faces in the audience. I feel sorry for Patrick, I understand why he never answers questions that threaten his belief system or why he repeats the words of his mentors without investigation, I do get it and I understand how it relates to his past. We have heard it all multiple times. I think if he were to let in an ounce of reality the shame would be overwhelming. Far from helping his views are escalating and becoming all the more bizarre. Satan has now been introduced to the mix! The odd thing and frankly the toxic nature of this behavior seems to infect almost everyone. Almost as though it’s normal to listen to this insanity. This goes on while he screams about not being heard while repeating the same hideous lies not for days, weeks, months but for years! In my opinion in Patrick’s world there are only good guys and bad guys and he is the perpetual victim. He will be banned because Jews like to censor or because I’m a bitch but not because he did anything. On top of that it’s all about Patrick and a rare moment when there seems to be concern for anyone else. Along those lines I don’t understand why you were so insulted Renée by Daniels quote and use of what you considered to be the wrong pronoun ( in a quote) while claiming that words are not neutral but not one word about the use of the word faggot or bitch . I have to believe it’s the toxic nature of the situation. We all might have our view of politics, religion etc but I have never heard from anyone else here a single derogatory comment when referring to someone of another race, religion or sexual preference ….ever, except of course Patrick. Do I feel for him, believe there may be something else going on, wish that he would get help? Yes, yes, yes but that is up to him. There is only one bully here and I truly don’t think we are helping him by denying that reality ( and actually I think there is a part of Patrick that wants honesty) . I will write later to explain what will happen on the blog. If you want to stay in touch with Patrick do so of course. Exchange emails or phone numbers, Do what you want. Gretchen
My impression about Daniel’s pronoun and Renee, not that I quite remember it, is that Daniel is a reasonable, thoughtful guy with who it is safe and productive to have disagreement and discussion with. Patrick not so, even seems out of touch with reality, out of reach and volatile and needs to be placated or ignored in order to coexist on the blog with if coexistence is what has to be.
Thanks Larry,
I copied your sentence: “Daniel is a reasonable, thoughtful guy with who it is safe and productive to have disagreement and discussion with”; enlarged the font, decorated the paper I printed it on, and handed it to my wife.
Oh oh. Wait a minute. Then enlarge and add to the decorated paper, that I defer to your wife’s opinion, as she has a deeper, longer perspective on you than I do.
Here is something both Gretchen and Daniel might read but won’t of course. It is written by a Jewish man who actually has integrity (it happens here and there) Henry Makow and he traces it all very well how it happens. It starts with fooling and oppressing their own and once that is done go on from there.
Jack, I think what you call ‘neurosis’ I call ‘Judaism’. They are both pretty broad strokes but I prefer mine as I think it is much more SPECIFIC about what went wrong and IS going wrong even today as we speak. Henry Makow himself is Jewish so it is not impossible for Jews to step outside their programming but with the likes of Daniel that will be a long wait. He is a Zionist and full of it. Makow makes clear it is not the average Jewish’s person fault they are victims as much as anyone else maybe more so from a certain perspective. I thought his description of the ‘mind control’ was brilliant in traditional Judaism, in Communism and now here in the West. Combine that with the wholesale poisoning of the youth and is it any wonder I am not a happy camper. What’s to be happy about?
I Quote:- “I think what you call ‘neurosis’ I call ‘Judaism’.”. Judaism is only 5,000 years old at best … neurosis is 20,000 – 30,000 at least. Therein is a huge distinction. Some of the outcomes of ‘neurosis’, as I view it, sitting here at my desk with snow all over the garden 3″ thick. are:- Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Sooooo!!! I know you THINK you are specific, but from where I’m sitting it does not look that way.
There are good Jews and bad Jews and all the in-be-tweens, just as there are good Christians and bad Christians and all the in-be-tweens, just as there are good Hindus and bad Hindus and all the in-be-tweens, and on and on and on.
You’re far, far, far from being specific. Lenin and none of the Bolsheviks or Mensheviks were in anyway affiliated to any “ism” other than Communism a la Marx. You’re doing a “Lazy dog syndrome” on here …. and it shows. Refer back to an earlier comment of mine if you’re not cognoscent of ‘the Lazy Dog syndrome.
It’s way beyond ‘WONDERMENT’ that you are a ‘happy camper’ You make 3 = 23. AND you do not see it … Yikes!!! Donald the Trump-etor does the same, as does many highly neurotic people.
So when the next Arab or other country in the region (for example Iran) is attacked, starved and slaughtered can it better be explained by ‘neurosis’ or ‘Judaism’ Maybe it’s just me but I find the 2nd explanation way more USEFUL and SPECIFIC. That is the trouble with your nonsense it totally vague and not useful.
It’s so annoying being compared to Trump all the time. We know what you think of him and they you try to tar me with the same brush. Again very non specific indeed, it’s no wonder your ‘thinking’ never seems to find traction anywhere. And then of course it’s because the world is ‘neurotic’ boo hoo if only someone would listen to you then you might sell a book about ‘abolishing money’
Daniel,
I think you put the picture of how in the current politically correct academic views Arabs are always right and victims, and carry no responsibility, and Israels are always wrong and responsible, might be a bit black and white.
‘always’ seems to indicate there might be some feeling at stake too, as well, I am not even gonna start to try to give examples of the opposite.
but you might be right of course in the fact that it is getting extremely hard to distinguish who the perpetrators and victims are in general, as all the information is so colored in every way possible.
it is sad and painful to witness how much unnecessary suffering by innocent bystanders is caused by miscommunication or worse, disinformation.
and how big monetary interests make those in power close their eyes on the crimes their ‘allies’ commit.
I feel mostly sorry for all the poor civilians , Jewish, Arab or otherwise who are stuck between ongoing struggles they have little or nothing to do with except for the suffering.
Gretchen,
thanks, that sounds like a very nice compliment.
I still need to say sounds like, as it is difficult really letting it in…
to the point I will probably look at what comments I wrote recently as to check, what did I say that both from you and from Larry got a compliment in the last weeks? what made it different from what I wrote before?
but in any case it feels nice to be addressed, yeah, could sound pathetic if not in a primal context, and so much better still as it was the opposite of criticism, while I write this down I start choking up…
maybe that is just it, being more in touch with my feelings in general, more in the present…
this morning before getting out of bed I was thinking of what I would feel like being in a group, and what came up was ‘I NEED!!!’, and the idea of wailing to the point of giving up hope…
have to give this feeling some attention right now.
sad…
M
glad I took the time to let the feeling come up…
at first it was toddler wailing without a clear focus for a while.
the next step came when I whispered ‘Gretchen please love me’, deeper and earlier wailing, and then the last step came, ‘maaamaaaa….’, very sad and needing wails on the verge of hopelessness…
thick fat tears filled with stress hormone, great to get rid of that stuff!
Margaret,
that’s great that big feeling came out. I agree on your posts seeming grounded. I’m often not happy with what I’ve written recently after it’s already posted and too late to take back.
My take on what’s been going on here is that Daniel is around because Patrick is triggering, understandably so, Renee is trying to fix Patrick, why I don’t know, and I don’t have anything real to say about all of that. The rest of us are kind of drifting with that.
I can easily feel left out. I’ve already said in the past that Patrick shouldn’t be on the blog, and that hasn’t changed, although I do feel bad about that, and saying it.
Phil
Please keep posting Phil. You bring a welcome air of sanity. Like you I often hesitate to post a comment on the blog and risk sticking my neck out for the chopping block, but taking thoughtful risks is the only way to grow.
Phil,
I always enjoy reading every single comment of yours, as they are always informative, intelligent and often very funny.
I think apart from being an old painful feeling, it is getting natural here to feel left out as so much attention and time is taken by what Gretchen rightfully calls toxic crap…
that takes up so much energy, if alone to start reading the comments a bit before deciding to delete…
and the whole atmosphere is not very inviting to share personal stuff when this goes on.
so please keep commenting as you are for me actually one of the sanest persons around, stable, reliable and also grounded.
and funny, smiley…
M
Thanks Margaret, it’s hard to take in that you could feel that way.
The situation here is reminiscent of my childhood situation. I had a brother who was
very difficult in his behavior, hard to understand, who couldn’t seem to quite say or know what he wanted from my parents, and he pretty much didn’t get what he needed. With him around the peace was continually disturbed, it was hard for any good feelings to exist in that atmosphere. Years later he went completely crazy.
I had some feelings this morning as well. About my mother, opening up just a little more about what she was like, and sadness about losing her. wanting from her what only she was going to be able to give.
Phil, I am not interested in fixing anybody. And I hope no-one is interested in fixing me. As I said before, if Patrick is going to be on the blog (and I am okay if he is not), I want to find a way to connect with him in a way that feels meaningful and real to me, and hopefully him too.
Renee,
OK, it’s just noticeable to me how occupied you become with Patrick, and I have wondered what that’s about. Good luck finding a meaningful connection with him, aside from all the craziness.
Phil
Phil, as I have said before, there are sides of Patrick that I like, and I see myself in him in some ways. I feel that I have had meaningful connections with him, even though the craziness/old trauma being acted-out, has made it challenging at times.
Phil,
reading your last comment I can only start to imagine how it must have been to grow up like that…
even in my own family my focus seemed to be fixed on trying to make everyone feel happy or at least not get hurt too badly.
in your situation it must have been so very very stressful and painful with huge deprivation.
and still you are such a nice decent person with a couple of kids that do very well, congratulations seem in order, really.
M
Here’s the song which got my feelings started this morning, Dinah Washington. Maybe my mother heard this song playing on the radio she had on the kitchen counter in the 1950s, or maybe not. https://youtu.be/giowQ7wenU8
Daniel, I found this comment of yours interesting: “it’s anecdotal, a Guinness World Record type of achievement. Where are the scholarly products? Perhaps there are quite a lot that are relevant for Al-Fihri’s culture, but are you claiming that University or that woman produced important and relevant scholarly works that were “oppressed”?” It sounds like you are skeptical that a Muslim North African woman could found the first university ever, but if she did, that accomplishment either has to be marginalized to only ‘her’ culture, likely did not produce ‘scholarly products’, or that perhaps it was a freak event, kind of a Guinness World Record kind of thing. Then you wonder if I think that this knowledge/fact was “oppressed”, with oppression in quotation marks, as if it doesn’t really exist. Just a figment of the imagination and excuse for people who, I think you said once, don’t want to take personal responsibility for their behavior. That’s a lot to digest! All this reminds me of this little gem of clip. Take a look at clue no. 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG_hhWV4LHk.
Renee: First off I did not go to any University… not bright enough. However, most of these higher Schools of learning use sport to make profit to keep them running.
Trump saw the profitability enough to open one or more of his own.
It’s really a game. Get a degree and supposedly you’re in for a lucrative career in something and not necessarily in the subject you studied.
But then not having gone to one I’m totally biased.
Jack, do you have any regrets that you didn’t go to university? By the way, I think you’re bright enough for university. Whoever thought you weren’t, obviously didn’t know you!
Renee: In my 20’s yes I did regret it, then later in my late 30′ I began to see that it could also be an encumbrance. I was on very friendly terms with my doctor and when I decided to go off to Ibiza and try to live a whole different lifestyle . I made one last visit with him … not for medical reasons, but I did see him in his surgery, On getting there he put his legs on his desk, took a bottle to whiskey from under his desk and took a big swig right out of the bottle and said “God how I envy you; I’m stuck here having to try and fix people and it as boring as all hell”.
I knew at that instant I was more free than most. Even though I had no money and was not sure what I was letting myself in for, I just went off. Eventually, after several month, found an old primitive farm house on top of a mountain about 1Km from the nearest village and lived the most idealic 10 years of my life .
I would never have left there, but during that time I was lent a book “the Primal Scream” … and the rest is history.
It’s all relative. Relative to what one eventually wants out of life. It’s why I see education as something being forced on us … rather than leaving us learn whatever we want to learn and when we want to learn. I don’t envy any other person. Regretting is futile. My cookie crumbles this way and I feel very lucky … and it was all pure luck. I would never even want to be an actor either. It’s a trap.
I hope that reveals another aspect aspect of Jack the Anatolia of Primal. the low life one, the great liar. et al
Jack,
I think you’ve certainly have had an interesting life, and I enjoy hearing about it. I go to Spain and Ibiza has a reputation as a party place nowadays, but I’ve never been there.
Phil
Jack,
My understanding is you did some programming for Patrick’s company, did you have some training in computers? Renee is right, to me you could have easily qualified to attend a university, but you were such a free spirit, that I guess you were better off not going.
The main truism for today’s matriculants is pretty simple: If you’re not majoring in a STEM field, your degree is increasingly a garbage one, economically speaking.
Phil: Yes I did some development for Patrick’s business (programming). No! I had no training I used an app, Foxpro database management program, and just started small, as Patrick told me what he needed. In that sense we were a good teem. A time passed he wished for more and through the Command Manuel I figured a way to create the result he wanted.
What was great for me, was that Patrick knew exactly what he wanted, which is a great asset for any developer.
On the question of Higher Education, it’s only in hindsight, that I now know, It was not for me.
Reason:- It ties ones hands the minute you get that longed for degree.
I want to live in the land where there is no money, no laws no restriction what-so-ever and no one telling me what I should or not do. For now SADLY that place does not exist …. BUT i yearn for it.
Phil: It was a very lovely and primitive Island until we hippies went there and inadvertently destroyed it. We didn’t mean to and we did appreciate it’s beauty and simplicity, nevertheless with certain things we tried to improve on it, especially inside those simple and beautiful fincas. I couldn’t go back there now. It would break my heart.
Also Phil it is by shear good luck that my life is/was as interesting as it has been, because of luck. Nothing to do with me thinking it out. It started by have a lovely mammy, not perfect, far from it, but a great start for me. I even got a better deal than my siblings, being the first born
Just a brief note, not on the topic at all. I really enjoyed the movie “summer 1993” , I think was recommended by Jo? The two little girls were such natural actors. And definitely a primal movie.
Also, on the practical side, those who buy U.S. stamps the price increase going by 5 cents up to 55 cents for 1 oz. first class on January 27th. Those who are wealthy–just ignore.
Indeed they are, Phil. That’s why the P.O. is always broke, no one hardly uses them. And there are mail carriers too–you know those people in the blue uniforms?–that’s them, though they don’t walk, as much as they drive around now.
I don’t trust my computer enough to receive and send payment. Those pesky russians are always up to something, fiddling around with our security, don’t ya know. Guess i might be stuck in the last century, but i’m ready for them with my canned goods, flashlites and stamps.
Sylvia,
On line payments might be safer than mailed checks. A friend of mine had a check stolen recently he had mailed. It was altered to read $7K rather than $70, using white out, and then cashed. It passed through the bank probably because machines now scan checks. I only pay by check when there’s no choice.
Phil
Yikes, I hope they caught up with the thief. I don’t seem to have any problems with bills coming but I will keep an eye out for those flagged-mailbox opportunists. My neighbor takes her out-going mail right to the post office. Times are so different now, guess that’s what is meant by the good ol’ days, fewer baddies around then.
Sylvia, I know you said you don’t trust the computer for sending/receiving payments, but if you change your mind I’ll show you some techniques I use to game the payment system to my financial advantage completely legally every single month.
Remind me whenever you’re ready & I will send you a confidential mail with valuable info, thanks.
Larry, as soon as you said about unhackable my computer froze. I’m back on but the universe seemed to have a message there for me.
Jack, let’s just say there are more people now and more strangers, less of a community feeling or care about the next person. Not as much of a small town feeling. Drugs haven’t helped either.
Sylvia: with those small communities came small outlooks and small mindedness, gossip and lots of other traits. I prefer to see a larger world as a community with more open attitudes and learning how other people brought up in other lands.
Hi all , We have made a slight change in the blog. The way that it is suppose to work is that the first time you post I will approve you. After that you can post as you have always done. If you post with a different name or email I will need to approve you again but that is no problem. Again, no approval needed after that. If someone gets on using a different name or email I can simply remove them and they would need to reapply. We set this up earlier today and I have received a few “ awaiting approvals” but I noticed some are still commenting without approval. So this may take time to work out the glitches. It’s a start however! Gretch
Gretchen wow … I’m scared to death fearing that I may get disapproved because my gravitar is showing a pic of me that is from almost another epoc. I’d be lost without this blog … it keeps me as straight as I am … not in the sexual orientation, as that didn’t change other than my sexuality evaporating. Hope you get the glitches out, not that I’ve noticed any … so far.
Gretchen: It seem that just one person, abusing the blog; and thinking he’s merely just having his say, and feels this is what the blog is about, you have to go through all this extra work.
Daniel, I am re-posting my last message to you because I was told that the link I had included was not available. Here it is:
I found this comment of yours interesting: “it’s anecdotal, a Guinness World Record type of achievement. Where are the scholarly products? Perhaps there are quite a lot that are relevant for Al-Fihri’s culture, but are you claiming that University or that woman produced important and relevant scholarly works that were “oppressed”?” It sounds like you are skeptical that a Muslim North African woman could found the first university ever, but if she did, that accomplishment either has to be marginalized to only ‘her’ culture, likely did not produce ‘scholarly products’, or that perhaps it was a freak event, kind of a Guinness World Record kind of thing. Then you wonder if I think that this knowledge/fact was “oppressed”, with oppression in quotation marks, as if it doesn’t really exist. Just a figment of the imagination and excuse for people who, I think you said once, don’t want to take personal responsibility for their behavior. That’s a lot to digest! All this reminds me of this little gem of clip. Watch for the “Racism Detective” skit in this link and particularly clue no. 4. https://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow/videos/is-rep-steve-king-racist-enter-trevor-noah-racism-detective/534300623723528/
Gretchen: Hey! that’s a great honour and I will remember that when I meet St Peter cos I’m sure he’ll not let me in. So! I’ll tell him I have a lifetime membership to the Primal blog and ask if that makes a difference.
I’m sure Patrick’ll see this as me as ‘brown nosing’ you … but I care little of that. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Jack, are you sure you are an atheist? And not an agnostic like me? Your talk about St. Peter letting you in hardly sounds like an atheist to me! But it does sound like one of my favorite songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmb7YIKqLeM…….. “For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name”. My God, I love this song!!! It’s one of the few songs that I can listen to over and over and over again and not get tired of.
Renee: It was my little joke, that obviously was not clear. Ah well … WTF
Yes I am absolutely sure there no God, no afterlife, just simply there is one life and to make the best of it. My only concern is just how we are still damaging our babies.
It’s of great concern to me … perhaps for reasons that I need to explore.
I’ll plow on with my little theory:- that an Anarchic future is the ONLY way out of it. I don’t see any other way, nor do I see anyone offering any other way, It’s ‘all well and good”, to critique Anarchy, but to not offer an alternative is tantamount to giving up on the ‘status quo’.
Atheist Jack, thanks for clarifying. I did wonder if it was ‘tongue in cheek’ when you were describing your meeting with St. Peter. You say that, “My only concern is just how we are still damaging our babies. It’s of great concern to me … perhaps for reasons that I need to explore”. From my experience, what often brings up more feelings, is not witnessing babies (and children) being damaged, but seeing them being treated well, with love and respect. I remember being brought to tears on my first visit to Play Mountain Place, witnessing the way the teachers and some parents interacted with the children.
For those of you who are interested in the story of what happened to the Native American elder recently at the demonstration in Washington D.C., I would encourage you to take a look at this: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/23/how-conservative-media-transformed-the-covington-catholic-students-from-pariahs-to-heroes. “Conservatives have realized they can construct a parallel reality and have it accepted”. Yikes! Of course, whether we choose to believe this as true or not, will depend a lot on our personal experiences and our politics.
I would hope that people would try to find information from many sources and points of view to test the robustness of why they believe something to be true, and be prepared to change their mind if they find information that contradicts their belief. That is the ideal of the scientific method, Renee.
Unfortunately, unless we are in Primal Therapy we are almost unable to let go of what we believe to be true even when information doesn’t support what we believe, and we’ll narrowmindedly select only information that supports our belief.
See this other video on the teens and the old Native American man.
Larry, I think you are deluding yourself. What information we seek out, what information we don’t, where we choose to go for our information, or not go, whether we believe more my clip of the recent incident in Washington D.C. or your clip ……these are all results of our biases. As much as we would like to believe otherwise. I don’t think that being in Primal Therapy makes us immune to confirmation bias or implicit bias. If anything, it should help us become more aware of these biases and not pretend we don’t have them. Because then we would be pretending to not be human.
Larry, I think you misunderstood me. I wasn’t saying that I didn’t think you believed we have biases. I was responding to your statement that, “I would hope that people would try to find information from many sources and points of view to test the robustness of why they believe something to be true, and be prepared to change their mind if they find information that contradicts their belief”. I interpreted this to mean that we can decrease our biases by ‘finding many sources and points of view’. Due to confirmation bias and implicit bias, I would argue that few, if any, of us do this, even thought we might like to think that we do.
Renee I agree that few if any of us can decrease our biases, but I wish that we would at least try, and if we are undergoing primal therapy we have a better chance of recognizing our biases because some of them are rooted in primal pain. I would add that what I’ve also been trying to say is that scientific thinking is a method, though flawed, of at least trying to acknowledge and overcome bias in discovering truth.
Larry: I would be tempted to say:- “another way at looking at things”, rather than “truth”. that word has so many connotations as to become misleading. Just seeing how Patrick and Trump use that word.
Larry: That”s fine … B UT who decides what is the “Truth”? Patrick thins, believes, and is convinced he has it. To refute his argument one need to go beyond who’s truth,When it become “my feeling/s” then there is no counter to that. Ive been doing just that for some time now and it stops the truth.false argument right there/
Truth is truth, Jack. No one decides. You can have your opinions. Patrick can have his. The ideal is to go beyond opinion and delve into what is true.
In my opinion you committed the crime. In Jim’s opinion you didn’t. Ideally the truth is uncovered before you are sentenced. There is always the truth, whether we find it or not.
Larry: There are historical examples of not knowing what is true and what is false. It was considered ‘true’ that there was a God, and the Bible then, and even now, is considered “true” ie. “Bible truth”. Swearing on the bible that you are telling the truth, and innumerable instances where the courts of law stated, they had found the truth; then years later it was discovered it was not true.
Donald Trump is a prime example of a ‘truth teller’ by his followers. George Washington, never told a lie. The Pope speaks the ‘truth’ for he’s immaculate, and relays the word of God, and my favorite of them all:- before Copernicus and Galileo, the world was flat, and all those things in the sky went round planet earth.
The first line of the second paragraph of Stephen Hawking’s book “A Brief History of Time” states:- “Most people would find the picture of our universe as an infinite tower of tortoises rather ridiculous, but why do we think we know better?”
Indeed; WHY do WE think we know better? Einstein posed the notion that it’s all … ‘relative’.
Jack we are going in circles. What I’m trying to get at is that there is truth, and there are our opinions or feelings about what the truth is. Maybe sometimes we have all the evidence to 100% know what the truth is, maybe we’ll never have enough evidence to be totally certain of what the truth is. My whole point is that we gather evidence to help us determine what is true. A little evidence can convince us that our feeling or opinion is correct that something is true. More evidence can change our mind from thinking something is true to thinking it false. Changing our mind is a good thing so long as we are open to gathering and evaluating all evidence. I’m glad that new DNA evidence proving their innocence is freeing innocent men from jail who were formerly convicted as guilty.
It boils down to your feeling that something is true combined with whether or not the evidence also indicates that something is true. It was once people’s opinion that there was a God or gods, but evidence that there is a God or gods is questionable. It is his followers’ opinion that Trump is a truth teller, but their feeling about him isn’t evidence that he is telling the truth. The point of Stephen Hawking’s statement is that …..it was a tribe’s opinion carried down through myth that our universe is an infinite tower of tortoises, but we know better because we have better evidence. Einstein’s insight is that time, mass, gravity, and the speed of light are connected to each other in a way relative to each other, that can be expressed in a mathematical formula that evidence continues to show to be a very true representation of the large forces determining our physical reality.
I’m kind of surprised that we are having this disagreement. That there is anything to disagree about on this concept is a bit of a learning moment for me.
Larry: I don’t think we’re talking in circles though it could be seen that way by looking through that specific lens OR, as I would rather state it, we’re comparing apples to oranges.
I prefer to see it differently BECAUSE it helps me to not get into arguments, of who’s right, and who’s wrong. I don’t see us arguing, I see it as discussing, my presentation, my way, and you’re doing the same from your perspective. I personally enjoy our banter. Always interesting to see how the other guy tics. I did the same with Patrick.
It’s not that I am telling the truth and you are in ‘de Nile’ as t’were.You’re giving me your perspective (that obviously suits you) whereas I’m presenting an alternative … my preference.
I was just thinking about this video, don’t know if any of you remembers, or was it a documentary, and just thinking about it made me cry.
it was once mentioned in a group, about a man who raised a lion cub if that is the right word, by hand.
at some point he had prepared it to go out into the wild again, and left it on the savanna where it joined other lions.
some time after, one or two years or so, he went there with some other people, and spotted the lion in the middle of a little group of lions that clearly formed his own group now.
the lion suddenly spotted him as well, and got up, and most of the other people froze when it started approaching …
but the man who raised him had no fear, and just waited until finally the lion ran up to him, and jumped up to put his huge front paws on the man’s shoulders…
I remember how Mr. B described the expression of the lion who raised his head, the mix of emotions and joy, and how very moving it was…
what made me cry is the complete trust and acceptance, the love and affection, and the pain also of having to let go for the best of the other, in this case the lion and his free life with his own family.
boy, am crying again…
i think it has to do with the utter trust and care and the vulnerability involved, the huge amount of love, combined with the inevitable goodbye…
Margaret: I remember the film (movie) of Elsa the lioness in Kenya and that moved me greatly. What I found interesting is that on release into the wild, they went back the following day and Elsa was still where they had left her. Sometime later they went bask again and she had had cubs. She still remembered and went to them and wanted to show her cubs to them. It brought tears to my eyes and is doing so now just wring about it.
I remember that film (“born Free” i think it was called) too. As a child I’ve seen it several times. THis is the first time in many years that I’m reminded of it. Thanks for that Jack.
Daniel: Yes, “Born Free” that was the name. I was taken to see it by a friend who was born in Kenya, and his purpose was to show me his country. My take was about life in the wild and our complete misunderstanding of other creatures.
writing about the man and the lion led me into very deep this time adult crying.
it is certainly the combination of deep love and goodbye…
still leftover feeling there, but glad I could process some of it, could feel how my whole body, specially back and neck muscles, were involved in the sobbing…
Renée,
Your comment shows exactly what I mean when I talk about academics and truth. Instead of grappling with the subject matter you turn your analysis to my speech. And the hell with the subject matter. You didn’t show (prove): 1) look, here are Al-Firhi’s great works that have made an important contribution to our society and culture; 2) we don’t know about them because these contributions were suppressed; and 3) They were suppressed because they were not produced by white men. Had you shown (proved) that it would have been sound academics that deals with the actual world (in this case, of ideas).
But if you turn your look to the power relations in our discussion you excuse yourself from the need to show anything but those power relations. I agree that it’s important to uncover such relations, but it does not in any way provide a sanctuary from studying the subject matter, i.e – the world. And regarding the world, where are Al-Fahi’s scholarly works?
Let’s take an example. If you want to understand the American ideals you will need to study the United States Constitution and what it was originally meant to be. That means you have to study the Federalist papers; and if you want to understand the Federalist papers, you’d have to go back to the authority guiding the American founding fathers, especially Hamilton and Madison. That authority is Montesquieu. And so on, if you keep going you are eventually led back to classical antiquity.
The basic principles of our culture and social structures were imagined by the likes of Plato, Aristoteles, Montesquieu, Nietzsche, Machiavelli, Hobbs, Locke, Rousseau, etc., and our history which laid the current foundations went through Renaissance, Enlightment, scientific revolution, the rule of law, the separation of state from church, meritocracy, etc.
We can deplore or rejoice, but the fact is that the vast majority of those ideas that became our culture were produced by white men (some of whom I listed above) and it’s only natural that will crowd our University syllabi.
Of course, in other cultures they have different emphases and I’m sure they have their own scholars who contributed to those emphases. But they are not ours.
Like I wrote before, I’m sure that in time, as more scholarly works are produces by minorities, they too will join the western canon.
After spending 37 years in US I have began to doubt the wisdom in the US written Constitution. That Constitution is what has made the current political mess, we are witnessing now with Trump.
Why did they create the article that created an Electoral Collage that ACTUALLY means, a President is not democratically elected, but selected, as with Bush 2 and Trump. It’s a scam and the burden to impeach is made almost impossible. AND worse still, why the second amendment??
I don’t see any resolution to our human neurotic state within politics, science, religion, culture nor within psychology. We’re looking, as Janov suggested, in all the wrong places. But there is a way IMO.
I do see why the writers of the Constitution wrote what they did. Had they not created a Senate, that gives all states 2 members, however, small the population of that state is, AND the Electoral College, also 2 members,
The 2nd amendment, such that the white settlers could shoot any Native American that attempted to take back their land, could be shot dead without any repercussions,
Should the original 13 states have not been given these concessions, they would not have agreed to a union. It’s not ‘rocket science’ if you care to look closely.\
I have a very good contact with my mentor at the university who often helps me with some practical issues, often computer related hurdles.
I was thinking about a mail she just sent me about some upcoming courses and suddenly had a clearer insight about a lingering feeling with her.
while she helps me out or gives me information, I often feel a bit uneasy, and afraid she will get fed up with my needs for example.
suddenly I realized myself how deeply ingrained that worry is in my system, that even while getting the best of help freely and spontaneously offered, I seem to brace myself for what seems the unavoidable moment of rejection…
what comes to mind is my mom, scolding me with ‘it is never enough for you!…’
the devastating feeling of it is that I am to blame, I am shamefully needy…
i feel how sadness is the underlying effect and fear, please don’t hurt me…
I hate to think of what different kinds of act outs that feeling has provoked in my life, often reinforcing the feeling…
the thing is too, realizing this, makes me feel, right now at least, open and vulnerable, thinking of being helped by my mentor, but at the same time I know these insights will help me in continuing that good relationship with her without my fear or anxiety messing it up unnecessarily, hopefully.
getting my needs met seems a much better trigger than the opposite, certainly a more pleasant one.
M
That’s a big feeling and connection, it sounds like, Margaret. That you expect after being helped you may be fearful for asking for more because you were shut down for it with harsh disapproval when you were growing up. We are vulnerable when we ask for help in the first place, aren’t we, and then asking for more help makes us more vulnerable too.
I sometimes think we are like robots remembering how we were treated and repeat that program forever until we recognize it doesn’t fit the present circumstances. We have to get a clean slate by feeling feelings, I guess, to function well in a life that is outside the family we grew up in.
S
Hey Jack, it looks like your idea of abolishing money might be getting traction with the government shut-down here. When told to the dept. of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, that furloughed workers and those working with no pay were going to food banks, his answer was: ‘I don’t know why that is.’ And trump said that what wilbur meant was that people should just go to their grocer who has known them for ever and just ask for the food, or run a tab. See, Jack, your idea is catching on. Who needs money-just ask for what you want. Night all. I’m off to bed. You guys over there in daylight time zone, have a nice day.
S
Sylvia: Wowee !! it seems I might be getting through to one person here, but there’s a long way to go.
I would have thought with the total mess that so many governments are going through, US, UK, France, Poland, Venezuela, and somewhat in Russia, China, Germany, and other countries.
We all know there is something wrong … what we don’t quite know yet is:- what IS wrong, and are far from seeing how we might get out of it. IMO it’s not politics, it’s not science, it’s not education, it’s not even tolerance and understanding. It goes deeper than all those things.
We’re the only creature that does mathematics, science, art, when those other creatures seem to get along fine, as best we can ascertain.
You’ve given me some encouragement Sylvia, and (to use an expression I learned somewhere about 2 y/o) “Ta”, muchly..
Renee: You’re still arguing from “inside the box”. that box that is constituted of laws, governments & money. But I doubt you get what I mean.
If there were no government and no money, firstly there’d be no shutdown, there would be no federal employees, there would be no starvation since all one would need to do is to go to a distribution food center, (grocery store and take what one needed. AND one would be willing to do whatever was necessary for the community, since to sit around ‘contemplating ones navel’ gets boring within a few hours.
It requires some deeper level of thinking.
I did look at the clip.
Jack, I do get what you mean, that we would all better off with anarchy and no money. My response to you was not about thinking in or out of the box. It was merely to let you know that your comment to Sylvia about one person understanding these ideas, namely billionaire Wilbur Ross, was not accurate.
The Unitarian congregation here split into two factions last spring as a result of distress caused by a very serious disagreement that came to a head between two principal players in the congregation. A serious consequence of the rift is that some people pulled away from involvement in the congregation and took their pledge money with them, putting the congregation in financial difficulty.
Of course the congregation feels horrible about the huge amount of hurt that has been stirred and about the severing of relations with some people who had until then been long time members and who had made significant contributions to congregational life. Also because of hurt feelings many people have taken sides in support of this or that party and have demonized the other. Some people blame the Board and the Minister for not handling the conflict in a less hurtful and divisive way. On the road to trying to heal hurt feelings, the Board and congregation has adopted the attitude that we are human and make mistakes, and that we should learn from this mistake how to never repeat it. For years the congregation has adopted a Covenant of Right Relations to help resolve conflict in the congregation. Because the Covenant failed in this situation, people want it amended or beefed up somehow to make it more effective in the future.
The Board has tasked a committee to explore better ways of conflict resolution, and to invite the congregation to participate in discussion groups led by the committee. Last Sunday I attended the first of many scheduled discussions. The presentation was a summary and discussion about one author’s ideas in his recent book about how to successfully resolve conflicts. The ideas were all reasonable insights to be aware of by both parties in the middle of a conflict that each wants resolved constructively. I felt the ideas were intuitively obvious to anyone who’s been in Primal Therapy and in a relationship for a long time. The author inferred that successful conflict resolution hinges upon the condition that both parties have faith and trust in each other’s integrity and that their bottom line goal is perpetuation of the relationship well into the future.
Near the end of our discussion I suggested that without that condition being met the conflict isn’t satisfactorally resolvable and his suggestions are useless. I remained silent though that after talking to many of the parties at the leading edge of the conflict last spring, my observation is that the condition of trust and a desire to preserve the relationship no longer existed among the main principals involved and that the real learning here but that the congregation seems not willing to face is that some conflicts can’t be resolved and it is healthier accept the uncomfortable end of the relationship. I think the congregation isn’t prepared to face this truth because people aren’t willing to know or accept the disturbing root details at the cause of the rift last spring.
The lesson of many years of witnessing interactions with Patrick has taught me the disturbing truth that conflict resolution has its limits. The lesson from contemplating the rift in the congregation has me sadly concluding that Patrick seems barely able to afford any faith and trust in the integrity of any person he gets in conflict with and above all he seems unwilling to or is uncomfortable to or is ignorant of how to preserve long term relations with anyone, and is powerfully compelled toward destroying his relationships with people.
Larry: you make a lot of sense. The problem, as I see it, is that before therapy, all we know is to “act-it-out”. Even within Christianity and all other religions, they don’t resolve matters, they just tell us how we ought of behave.
In my mind Jack, at its essence religion is about how to form community. In its most basic teaching it invokes how to behave to foster healthy community. It was the only way that they knew then about how to resolve matters. I respect their attempt.
I agree with both of you, Jack and Larry, about what you say about religion. I think Jack is expressing the drawbacks of religion and Larry is expressing the benefits. And whether we agree more with Larry or or more with Jack, will depend on our own personal experiences of religion. I’ve experienced both at different times in my life.
I’m not trying to be facetious Jack. It appears that you and I, and all species of social mammals whose evolutionary success stems from their living and cooperating in herds, packs, or groups of others of their species, …we all have an innate sense of fairness, right or wrong, that greases cooperation among us, the degree of which varies among individuals. Individuals who don’t conduct relations fairly tend to be outcast if the group is powerful enough to do it. On the other hand if the rogue is powerful enough he can get away with being unfair. In our species our culture absorbs from the group and promulgates what is right or wrong behaviour, determined by whatever aids or hinders the health of the community in the era that it’s in. So different communities in different eras responding to different conditions will have different agreed culturally permeated values that are deemed healthy for the community. As times and conditions change, cultural values can change, although not usually easily, in my observation.
Phil and Renee and Jack, I don’t want to leave the mistaken impression that I am a religious church goer. Far from it, from as far back as I can remember I’ve felt repulsed by church and religion, but I’ve been curious about and thought about why religion has been a millennia old ongoing institution.
Phil, the Unitarians don’t have a dogma or creed. They come from all kinds of beliefs and tend to be disillusioned with other established religious practices and dogmas. Unitarians tend to be united in agreement on a set of 7 principles, that are:
“The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”
Their principles reveal to me that they are a community I don’t mind being a part of, but I live my life according to my intuition, not according to their itemized principles. I’ve found that the unitarian congregation is a good place to make friends and community. It’s not my only source of community or friends. The unitarian community has given me support and strength, and has been a safe community in which to risk new experiences that help me to grow. For me it’s been the next best thing to a primal community.
Some famous Unitarians whose names are familiar to me are:
John Quincy Adams
Bela Bartok
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Edvard Grieg
Sylvia Plath
Christopher Reeve
Pete Seeger
Ray Bradbury
E. E. Cummings
Charles Darwin
Charles Dickens
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Buckminster Fuller
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Thomas Jefferson
Herman Melville
Ashley Montagu
Isaac Newton
Paul Newman
Linus Pauling
Utah Phillips
Joseph Priestley
Beatrix Potter
Paul Revere
Albert Schweitzer
Kurt Vonnegut
Joanne Woodward
and
Frank Lloyd Wright
Larry: That’s interesting about Unitarians, but I was struck with some dogma, and it’s that, that makes me squirm a little.
I’ve often wondered what would become of all those church and cathedral buildings once there is almost no congregants. They could become community center if all the lined pews were realigned. But there should be no leadership, just letting people wonder in and out and talking among themselves and perhaps holding some entertainment like dancing etc.
This morning I dropped my son at the train station and then came back home because I had over an hour before leaving for work. I thought I would have a cup of coffee and listen to some music, but I felt a twinge of some sad feeling, and swerved towards music which could help me feel. The house was empty, maybe that had something to do with it, or maybe it was just due to come up.. I had a huge cry, really about past occasions when no one was there for me, and I couldn’t do anything about it; except act out a terrible feeling of being all by myself with no hope..
At least now I can let it out.
Phil
Jack, sorry for the misunderstanding about abolishing money, but I do applaud your passion for wanting to fix the society of our ills. I think my approach would be to gravitate toward structure, working and changing within, as a result of my childhood experiences of a chaotic family–maybe your family situation the appeal of anarchy is more suitable to you, since we are all products of how we grew up.
My thinking about money though, jogged my memory about what it meant to me growing up and how my mom used to let us go into her purse and get money for the ice cream truck when it jingled its tune in the neighborhood. And how I spent much of my money I earned from allowance on candy, my sweet, sweet tranquilizer. My siblings seemed not to care much for candy, they didn’t need it. I was born a nervous wreck unable to cope without it all through life. Sweets made me feel so good. So anyways, thanks for the jogged memories, Jack.
If I were to have a cause, it would be to make it known how important it is for a pregnant mom to take good care of herself so babies can grow up with a good nervous system and not be prone to depression or worry themselves needlessly into adulthood. Better late than never, though, that some of that can be undone by therapy.
Sylvia: Interesting about your childhood … incidentally where was it? Mine was in the North of England just north east of Manchester, a dirty industrial cotton town.
On the money thing, there sure is some childhood stuff, since we were quite poor … not the poorest, but getting up there. However, that was not the whole reason for it. It was something I got involved with in my early 20’s. At first I did not take to the idea as my background was in believing in the whole system, since my father was conservative politically. I initially followed suit, and the only time I ever voted was for the Conservative party.
It was a slow process, since I was very curious about some of the thinkers, throughout English history. Even when I joined the hippies in my Ibiza days, I questioned the establishment more than most. It’s a process and what I never did was, ridicule those who thought deeper than the rest and was helped by a German Jew who fled Germany when Hitler came to power. He came from a wealthy family, on fleeing they left it everything behind. He became my mentor and turned me onto many ideas. He was not an anarchist, To this day he’s the brightest mind ever encountered.
Why I feel, most reject the notion, is from fear of change .. the unknown. and our civilized sense that we need order We actually don’t, and order is our greatest feeling running deep within even the least neurotic of us. It show plainly with most politicians.
Sylvia: I found it interesting about your childhood … incidentally where was it? Mine was in the North of England just north east of Manchester, a dirty industrial cotton town.
On the money thing, there sure is some childhood stuff, since we were quite poor … not the poorest, but getting up there. However, that was not the whole reason for it. It was something I got involved with in my early 20’s. At first I did not take to the idea as my background was in believing in the whole system, since my father was conservative politically. I initially followed suit, and the only time I ever voted was for the Conservative party.
It was a slow process, since I was very curious about some of the thinkers, throughout English history. Even when I joined the hippies in my Ibiza days, I questioned the establishment more than most. It’s a process and what I never did was, ridicule those who thought deeper than the rest and was helped by a German Jew who fled Germany when Hitler came to power. He came from a wealthy family, on fleeing they left it everything behind. He became my mentor and turned me onto many ideas. He was not an anarchist, To this day he’s the brightest mind ever encountered.
Why I feel, most reject the notion, is from fear of change .. the unknown. and our civilized sense that we need order We actually don’t, and order is our greatest feeling running deep within even the least neurotic of us. It show plainly with most politicians.
Hi, Jack, I remember the hippie movement too that coincided with the women’s movement. Seems it started in Berkeley/ San Francisco area on the west coast like it did in the east at Woodstock. I was lucky to hear a primal therapist on the L.A. radio station here in California at the time. I thought, that’s the real deal. Though I never got to primal therapy its theory always stayed with me as a key to peace of mind and I’m fortunate to pick up what I could from what this group offers and from the books and info online, and of course from lousy defenses that made me feel too easily when i gave in to feelings. At times they were, ‘here-I-come-feelings, ready or not.’ Though I would always recommend to do the therapy properly and safely with a certified therapist.
S
Thanks Larry. I’ve been buddying for a couple of years and it has helped me open up. It was helpful to open up to another person and not feel judged. I think back to what odd thoughts I had about sharing anything about myself, a keeper of the maze of feelings and thoughts trapped, and found that it wasn’t necessary to guard any more. How strange we become in the grip of neurosis. I’m glad I’ve been able to feel free.
S
My experience, if useful to you, is that retreats get me appreciatig and working on emotional roadblocks that would otherwise have taken me a lot longer to become aware that I had. In other words, upon reviewing my life I see that I am am years ahead in my healing from where I would be had I never gone to retreats. Mind you, there’s always much further to go and I’ll run out of life before I get to the end.
Sylvia: Doing “feeling therapy” with or without a therapist is dependent on many factors, Most of which, I feel, is ones understanding of Primal theory, that supports it.
just back home from seeing ‘Beautiful boy’ from Felix van Groeninghe, directed by Brad Pitt.
about a father trying to help his 18 year old son, who is into all kind of drugs and then really adicted to Crystal met…
very confronting movie, went to see it with a girlfriend as I knew it would trigger me.
it did.
on many moments, but specially when during an NA meeting, a woman cries and talks about a girlfriend who just overdosed.
it hit me, that it could have been me…
I overdosed a couple of times in my younger crazier years, and was very lucky to squeeze through…
and no, i did not see any clear light at the end of any tunnel, and no smiling relatives welcoming me.
nothing, just an empty gat in my conscience…
it was very confronting to se e the situation through the eyes of a parent…
so sad and desperate and frustrating and painful!!!
so grateful I managed to survive, get therapy and keep growing healthier and healthier.
it was very nice to talk with the girlfriend at a nice dinner afterwards, she had had a husband who was alcoholic and getting violent, and who died of cirrhosis two years after she left him.
this movie was not a very cheerful one, but I am glad I went, feels very useful for me…
M
I’ve considered seeing that movie, Margaret. Your endorsement makes me want to see it for sure now. My sister-in-law’s nephew, now in his late 20’s, has been an alcohol and cocaine addict for 10 years. For the last 2 years in addition he’s been using crystal meth. I feel very sad when I think of the emotional pain that he is using the drugs to get relief from and ruining his life and the sadness he is causing his family. I feel sad that he’ll likely never understand or be able to get help for the childhood pain that he is an innocent victim of and that his way of coping will likely shorten his life drastically.
Gosh Margaret, how lucky for you that you survived.
I haven’t seen this movie, Margaret, but I’ve heard that it is good. Did you know that the title,
‘Beautiful Boy’ is from the John Lennon song. It’s the song that he wrote for his son, Sean. David Sheff, who wrote the book is a journalist. He interviewed John and Yoko a few months before John was killed in 1980, for Playboy magazine. It was an awesome interview. Anyone interested can find it here: http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbjypb.int4.html
I’m still thinking in songs (and working on my Spanish), everyone. A ‘fixed’ blog reminds me of this song, which we all know. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSOVVwLhx3Y ……..”I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in, And stops my mind from wandering, Where it will go”. And if you’re like me and what to know what the song means, you can find it here: https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/fixing-a-hole/
Daniel, we are coming from different belief systems. You say that, “Instead of grappling with the subject matter you turn your analysis to my speech. And the hell with the subject matter”. No, I am not saying the hell with subject matter. I am saying that I don’t believe that you can separate the subject matter from the person who is speaking…. like disembodied words. Somehow, to you that gives words more ‘truth”. Not to me. To you, “sound academics deal with the ‘actual world of ideas’. As if this terrain is somehow neutral, bias-free, and separate from human beings who have belief systems and are profoundly rooted in our histories. I know nothing about Al-Firhi. This could be due to my ignorance, due to her work and legacy being destroyed and forgotten, either in Western history or all history, her work being suppressed or ignored, or any number of factors. My hunch is that it is likely connected to patriarchy. Based on your belief system, my hunch is that you would probably not see it as connected to patriarchy.
To me, understanding power relations is not about “providing a sanctuary from studying the subject matter, i.e. -the world”, as you say. Rather, for me, it is about understanding how power relations and our place within these power relations, deeply influence how we study subjects and the world. They are very connected. I get that you disagree with this.
You say that, “the vast majority of those ideas that became our culture were produced by white men…. and it’s only natural that will crowd our University syllabi”. There is nothing ‘natural’ about this. It is the result of a profoundly racist and sexist academia. I have had professors who are not white males and have names that sound ‘foreign’. They have encountered considerable difficulty getting their work published. Yet, when they have found another academic with a Western sounding name who will ‘co-author’ their work, suddenly publishers are interested. For this reason, I disagree with your statement that, “I’m sure that in time, as more scholarly works are produced by minorities, they too will join the western canon”.
Actually, I don’t think it’s a different belief system but rather a category error – we’re not talking about the same thing. You’re concerned with the “the person who is speaking” and I’m concerned with what he or she is speaking about. You seem to think that I don’t ascribe any value to subjectivity, but you are mistaken. I do. It’s just that for me it’s not the main issue. I don’t mind somebody offering a scholarly alternative to the ‘reality’ described by another. This is within the academic tradition where there are huge and often vehement debates about subject matters. What I do mind, as I’ve been trying to explain, is the turning away from the world to the discourse where you don’t really have to study the subject matter (for example, the Orient) but just the way the West constructs it in its speech when studying it.
One does not have to learn, as past scholars did, the difficult languages of Arabic or Farsi and spend decades hovering over ancient texts trying to decipher and interpret, connecting dots, and synthesizing them to an explanation of reality as he or she sees it. No. Now one only needs to know English, claim that in their studies past scholars merely construct the Orient according to their white colonial prejudices, and then just deconstruct their speech.
This is what Edward Said did. Although he turned our attention to an important facet of the limitations of inquiry he settled for such deconstruction, without ever offering an alternative explanation. In the epilogue of his book he actually says he has no idea what the Orient is. The only thing that he concerns himself with is that “every European, in what he could say about the Orient, was a racist, an imperialist, and almost totally ethnocentric.” Said, in other words, and as the Middle East historian Albert Hourani observed, went too far, and his lasting effect was to turn a respectable discipline (“”Orientalism) into a dirty word.
I don’t want to get into Said’s facts (that since the publication of Said’s book have been refuted more than once) but to the general attitude borne by him and carried over into the old field of Middle East studies, and the new fields of post-colonial studies, Women Studies, etc. Having abandoned the study of the world and its realities for the deconstruction of speech, these fields only subvert the existing explanations of the world without putting alternative ones. In other words, they destroy without building up.
(As an aside, I think this connects to important psychological issues, but this is for another comment at another time).
By turning away from the world to the speech these academic attitudes risk falling into the narcissistic traps they have set up for themselves. For once you believe that speech constructs the world rather than describes it, and that academicians are the ones creating that speech, then you (academicians) are turned into creators, becoming more important than the reality you presume to describe.
And after having embraced this flattering description of themselves the subscribers to this attitude just got stuck in the hand-washing ceremony. They constantly purify themselves before getting down to the sacred work of re-creation, lest they be defiled by the old sin which most of us call reality, which mustn’t be touched, mustn’t even be looked at, for the fear of, God forbid, replicating it.
Your assertions about racist and sexist academia that will not publish the works of people with foreign names doesn’t hold water considering this discussion began with Foucault and Said (which by the way in Middle East studies is today the orthodoxy). Empirically you’re wrong, many books and papers are published by women academicians or those with foreign names.
Lastly, the fact that white males are in our syllabi more than other groups is, again, because for whatever reason (even if it’s sexism and racism) they are the ones who wrote most of our founding documents. The only access to the greatest minds of our culture, from the ancient Greeks onward, is through the study of the books they left behind. Empirically, most of these great minds who left books behind that became the foundations of our culture and which we study were white man. This is a fact of life which of course is also the result of women in history having no power or access to higher education. But it still is a fact. Since they now have this access I’m optimistic women will contribute their share of great knowledge that will eventually join the western canon.
Daniel: In your response to Renee you state:- “For once you believe that speech constructs the world rather than describes it, and that academicians are the ones creating that speech,”.
I don’t agree. How else do we neurotics express anything other than speach, academically speaking? I don’t feel that ‘describing’ it, relieves us from simultaneously constructing it. Said another way:- It’s all ‘Words ……’
It’s somewhere in the middle, between what’s really out there and what we make of it. Regardless of how I would see or interpret them, the Acropolis (I was in Athens over the weekend and still influenced by it), Carlos Santana’s Europa guitar solo, the book ‘The Primal Scream’, are really there as is the fact that women in Yemen don’t have the vote.
If everything is just words constructed by the person uttering them, how do most of us stop at a red light (see something which is really out there and even obey its social norm)?
Renee, sure I know that song, I am a big Lennon fan as well.
I have that record here, and love it, even Yoko’s songs on it.
part of the song was used in the movie too, and that was very touching, as I always loved the degree of tenderness it expresses.
so sad Lennon was killed shortly after, when finally he had his life sorted out…
Sean has good music too, I remember one of his first cd’s I rented at the library back in the nineties, some very good and original stuff on it, and a very personal style.
Margaret, you are big Lennon fan? Well, you have excellent taste on music…..and that is Scientific Fact! And no, I am not being biased. Scientific, double-bind, triple-bind, peer reviewed research has confirmed this:) I agree that Yoko’s songs are awesome too on Double Fantasy. If anyone one wants to see the spirit of John in Sean you can see it here (as a child): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5-7AF6Iyy8…… Or you can see it here (as a teenager): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib67nXNCbfg. Or you can see it here (as an adult): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2YTURFEWc.
by the way, the father in the movie was also named Sheff, was the story about his own son?
the only thing lacking in the movie was some insight in what laid at the root of the son’s bad feelings. just a minimal light was shed on it.
but well, the atmosphere compensated and viewing the whole situation from a parent’s view was very confronting, as I said already probably.
it hit me quite hard to realize how close i have come to being just one more casualty, causing enormous grief for my family and wasting my life with a sudden unwanted ending.
luckily that did not happen, and as my mom so nicely replied when I apollogized to her one day for all my stupidities, ‘oh well, but you are fine now, arent you?’, and the way she said it made so clear she did not hold any grudge or even leftover pain. that felt so very healing, it was beyond forgiveness…
M
Margaret, I am glad that you were not “just one more casualty”, with your substance abuse. By the way, I think we might have the same mother. My mother also said to me a few years ago, “Oh well, but you are fine now, aren’t you?” I interpreted this partly the way you did, and partly my mother wanting reassurance that I was okay now (hence the question), so she could keep her worry barometer about me on ‘low’.
Oh, Margaret, in response to my mother’s comment/question, I almost told her about my death wish and my death anxiety and my ambivalence about living…….but thankfully clear thinking prevailed and I decided to keep my mouth shut.
Larry, I heard someone say recently that perception is reality and of course I thought no it is not. I’m not sure why or where this idea that there is no truth began or what it really means ( though I have a few theories) but I do agree that ultimately there is a truth. Not my truth or your truth but the truth. I think it’s the individuals responsibility to look at all sides of a situation and as you say weigh the evidence and at some point I think most of us will have clarity. I also tend to think that when we are not weighed down by a truckload of feelings we often just know and sense what is true in this life. It is true that most humans have bias but even those with bias, on occasion, can discern the truth. After all there were men who fought for women’s rights and whites who fought for civil rights and straight people who have fought for the rights of gays, even with bias they spoke out. Actually I think the Paul McCartney story is another wonderful and simple example of this. Patrick believes Paul is really Faul. I think Paul is Paul. We can agree we have different opinions but there is only one truth. The man is either dead or alive. I remember saying to Patrick on the blog, when he first began with his conspiracy theories, that he should read and weigh the other side of the argument , I also remember his refusal. Gretchen
The assertion that perception is reality is a good example. If a person loses their eyesight, their perception of reality changes ….yet reality doesn’t. Gretchen it surprises me how in some peoples’ minds there is no distiguishing between opinion and truth, perception and reality, no striving for truth. I wonder in how many. When I imagine in a lot it makes me feel uneasy.
Gretchen: I hope my response to Larry shows where I’m coming from. It’s trying to figure out what constitutes ‘truth’ that “gets our knickers in a truss”.
Where is everyone??
Hi Sylvia, Maybe others are having the same problem. This might help, I was finally able to get on myself! Gretch
We are still on page 1 Sylvia. Catching up.
I managed with the help of my Jombo to get page 2 to be my current page … yippee!!!! cos I thought I might be losing my mind. Things getting a bit dodgy and not sure if it’s me OR Trump.
I suspect it’s me cos I don’t think Trump is a “full shilling” as the used to say in the nick of the woods, I was ‘dragged’ up in.
Jack
Re: your Trump remark, Jack. … ,or a brick shy of a full load, or lights on but no one home. This page does really crazy things; bumps me, changes posts……. turns maroon… cheers , Jack.
dave h
Dave: the one, a nephew of mine used was ” not a full shilling”.
I suppose it shouldn’t really care what Trump is doing to himself, his party, or for that matter, his country since it’s not mine, nor do I reside there anymore … BUT there’s this little thing buzzing around in my head that he’s actually appealing to a lot of people and that is the most disturbing factor for me.
Maybe I’m just jealous or envious … but I can’t get it out of my head that the 2016 election did not give the presidency to the winner of the election, but gave it over to 540 Electoral Collage members to select who should occupy the White House.
All that reveals to me is that the United States of America is NOT a DEMOCRATIC country when it comes to selecting a president. I can see why the F.F. made it so, since had they not done so, a Union of states might never have happened. Each governor (who, incidentally at that time, was selected by Westminster), needed to feel they still had some autonomy. Trouble is:- it seems having created it; it’s not possible to get rid of it. But that applies equally to many other things we humans create.
Jack
Subscribing
Recently I’ve been thinking about how easy it is to have strong negative feelings when reading Patrick’s posts where he repeats the same dehumanizing, derogatory and stereotyping narrative of the Jews as the ‘problem’ people. (Much like he was/is seen as the ‘problem’ child in his/our family.) After thinking more about Edward Said’s view about the prevalence of us in Western/dominant cultures doing a similar thing to other cultures/peoples, I have started thinking this tendency might be more prevalent and ‘normal’ than we would like to think. As much as it is almost automatic to want to condemn Patrick, I think it is much harder to see how we might be doing this ourselves, inadvertently. Besides Trevor Noah, who brilliantly pointed this out with his joke, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-nafiUG6j8&t=27s (which I posted once before) , Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie does an incredible job (IMO) of pointing this out in her TED talk, “The danger of the single story”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg&t=212s (listen for the line, “It’s such a shame that young Americans are serial murderers…….good stuff!)
I’ve seen where there is more of a push in asking for aid to under privileged countries to show more dignity of the people and less pity. They want a say in what ads are shown. They don’t want such down-trodden looks on their faces. Of course when starvation scenes of children in war-torn Yemen on the news, no ads are needed, their dire needs are obvious–stop bombing and let the humanitarian efforts through.
We might feel pity for the African countries, and not have a grasp of what day to day life is about besides the poverty. But we don’t hate those countries. We don’t see them as a power-threat. But Jews, the government, those who we think screw us out of what’s rightfully ours–whether they do or not in reality, they become the focus of hatred. And usually that hatred is born far before we even have a concept of ideas or adult thinking. That hatred of presumed power from the skinheads, the fanatics, et al, is merely a plug in to conduct the energy already stored. It’s a hatred of resonance. How’s that…
Sylvia, I appreciate you pointing out that I did not say anything about the differences between Patrick’s beliefs about the Jews, and our tendency in Western countries to dehumanize and have only ‘one story’ of groups other than our own. I only pointed out what I saw as a similarity. Which, I think, ends up weakening rather than strengthening my argument. So I’m glad you mentioned that. I wanted to add that critiques of traditional white, Western views do not just come from people from so-called ‘third world’ countries. They come from within our countries too. This is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwIx3KQer54&t=3s. (Deconstructing white privilege.) I guarantee it will be thought-provoking. This actually did blow my mind! See if it does something similar to your mind.
Renee, I can see how as a society we have continued our unconscious racism. Maybe we only really see it in the Archie Bunkers and others when it is overt. I wonder too, how much of it is tribalism, and somehow innate. I suppose there’s always the wanting to keep things status quo and seeing differences as a threat to that. I’m thinking our society may not be the only ones to be guilty.
I recall during the Vietnam war, that babies born half Vietnamese and half American were looked down upon as being impure. Guess we aren’t as well-liked in other countries as we thought.
I think the integration of children of different ethnic cultures may be the only way to make things right. Children have the capacity to not judge. My nephews and niece grew up in a diverse school system and are married to non-Caucasian spouses. I think it has to start early to make headway–like the old saying, ‘you can’t teach old dogs new tricks’ , maybe I would add: ‘unless they have gotten rid of their hang-ups and hatred and hurts through therapy, and don’t feel a need to project them onto others.’
Sylvia, maybe in some happy future people will all be light brown with slightly slanty eyes.
Larry, maybe some day….
Oh maybe one day white genocide will be complete! Oh Happy Day! It’s amazing how people welcome their own destruction. Then our ‘masters’ (you can guess who they are) can really rule over us a mulatto, mixed up mess with no history, no culture no nothing…………..well maybe McDonalds. What a great future to look forward to………….
It’s hard enough I know just to FEEL your own pain. We’re all in the same boat, the Good Ship Planet Earth.
While living in LA I men an Israeli Jew through work. He was rather pro Palestine. One of the stories he told me was how his grandparents and parents told him and his sibs how Arab Palestinians welcomed them to their homeland. Then one morning they woke and discovered that the entire population had moved out during the night and how later some non entitled foreigners appeared claiming rights to the lands. He said they were told that those foreigners were suspected to have killed the Palestinians. He claimed that this fantasy was very popular when he was a child. Only after moving from the Middle East did he learn the truth of how the Israeli, ” homeland,” get created and why certain allies are so adapted to accepting Israeli atrocities. Almost as entertaining a story as the christian bible. best thoughts , david h
Renee: It’s always a tricky problem when we read or hear another person saying things and having opinions about matters that we ourselves don’t share.
What is hardest is to allow them to have their opinions, views and ideas and let them be.
I rarely now, more recently, due to some insights I have been having,, find someones opinions, views or idea to be offensive. If I do I need to look into myself as to why I’m offended.
There is a caveat I apply for myself and that is if they act upon those opinions, views, or idea, that are harmful to me, then I sure need to do whatever I can to protect myself. I do not always succeed.
Jack
Sorry, here is the link for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg. It starts at the beginning. I think even those of you with short attention spans will find it interesting:)
Are you saying that Patrick is a “ victim “ of the single story Renee ? Therefor any “ negative” reactions are unfounded? If not then I’m not clear how this connects to Patrick. I also wonder if there isn’t a message about good and bad reactions or feelings. I think people can have both positive and negative feelings, some of those feelings might be old and some are firmly rooted in the here and now. They are all valuable. I worry a little that we have all been sold a story. Parents for generations have told their children “ Don’t get angry, don’t be negative” well, I say why not ? Those feelings and reactions are as important as any other. Gretchen
Gretchen: that is precisely what I prefer never to use that word “negative … or ‘positive’ for that matter unless I’m talking mathematically.
It automatically connotes BAD.
Jack
I do like to use negative when it is below zero fahrenheit but I guess that’s math.
Fred: Me too.
I see you on a roll today. I will respond later to some other/s.
Jack
David and Jack, First, Thanks Jack for what you wrote about growing up gay. It really was very interesting. David , I thought your question to Jack was thought provoking. The story about painting the house pink was just that …a story but it is a great story and might have been a pretty good strategy at the time. I think Jack knows that I disagree with him about Homosexuality and in fact I disagreed with Art, and told him so, from the very beginning. That being said it was a different day and age. As you may or may not know Homosexuality was listed in the DSM as a mental illness until the 70’s. Even after it was removed I believe there were many clamoring to have it put back in. Gretchen
Gretchen: Hey!! that has made my day acknowledging my story about my “gaynesss’, it being first thing in the morning for me.. Not sure I remember you disagreeing with me.
One other thing is that we call our selves being Gay. There was nothing ever gay (joyful) about our sexual orientation. Even now, when I am at my most contented with my state of being … to characterize it Gay I always thought was a bit off, though I do use the word.
I believe it has it roots with Oscar Wilde and established when Ivor Novdello (an English musical writer in the 40’s and 50’s consolidated the word in his Musical “Gay is the Word”.
Jack
Gretchen: Hey!! thanks for that. It’s made my day acknowledging me/it, being first thing in the morning for me.. Not sure I remember you disagreeing with me.
One other thing about us calling ourselves Gay. There was nothing ever gay (joyful) about our sexual orientation. Even now, when I am at my most contented with my state of being … to characterize it Gay I always thought was a bit kinda off, though I do use the word.
I believe it has it roots with Oscar Wilde and established when Ivor Novdello (an English musical writer) in the 40’s and 50’s consolidated the word in his Musical “Gay is the Word”.
Jack
Love is love, regardless of “form” it may take. For me is far far more preferable to be in an heterosexual relationship but Ole Art DID say “homosexuality if no a-historical”, if you will. I do think that in almost all homosexual relationships, one person is “subconsciously” the male, the other female. Can’t recall if Janov said this or someone else.
Fred: That is definitely not the case between Jim and I. I see him and myself as another human being. That I was erotically stimulated with the male body, relates solely to my sexuality. I never wanted to be anything but male and Jim says the very same. We both have female friends.
Jack
The christian right, here at least, still promotes conversion therapy. Belief in a myth will bring the healing. Like many hatred targets I fear that developing sensitivity too often translates into avoiding revealing personal biases in the wrong places. Words like tolerance are 2nd class compared to genuine intrinsic acceptance. In First Nations beliefs, the ant, the smallest bit of vegetation is at least as important as I am. I admit to bias, bias against greedy wealth, hoarding more than we need.
Jack, What you say is true but I think we need to protect not only ourselves but those who possibly can’t protect themselves. As Renee pointed out words are not neutral. Not just the words that hurt me but the words that can potentially do damage to others. Our silence can be equally damaging I think. Gretchen
Gretchen; I agree, I thought about just that after posting it.
Jack
z: do i know where the water main is, and a wrench to turn off water if it is flooding? z: mary had to do that. feelings schmeelings. no there is no flood here. just days of heavy rain and i pray often to the big tree not to fall on someone because of loosened soil. anyway. “he’s gone, and nothing’s going to bring him back” drove in rain and darkness so old dog could take a walk by the pet store and take her poop; on the way home, grateful dead with above song. image of my good uncle, my mom, and then me. nothing was going to bring me back once she left. i was gone for good. still. no return. stop thinking l am just a cold asshole, it is just who i am.
z’s kale gravy over sweet potato. gravy was good but should have been white potatoes or biscuits. i see the remaining potato skin from afar and it looks like pizza. and di wish it was pizza. “he’s gone” on radio, wham comes the feeling, driving in car with wife and i can let the feeling tears push into my face, but surrpress the feeling. too hard to mfeel with wife there or even to tell her about it. she says she will support me (emotionally) if i keep going back to group. but she said it herself, she is a primal renegade, convert to aa. even though some people say aa aligns with pt, i disagree. seems more of a way to shut down the feelings. i spoke up about z’s money spending a day after group sinced i opened up a little. but it would sound like an asshole if you heard me. no tenderness in explaining how that has destroyedx me for 4 decades. tendernes is goned, not coming back.
Z SUPPORTING ME EMOTIONALLY FOR GOING TO GROUP WAS THE WRONG PHRASE. I MEANT SHE WOULD SUPPORT ME IN TAKING THE CAR AND TIME ON A SATURDAY. WHICH IS A FAIRLY HUGE BIT OF SUPPORT.
Huge bit of support? It seems like a normal thing to do for someone cared about.
Two days ago I was informed by the Dutch government that if Brexit goes through I am going to have to make a fresh application to stay here in the Netherlands. I thought that had all been taken care, of since we, Jim and I, went through a process to become legal partners, not marriage but amounting to the same thing, since we had to do it through a judge and two witnesses. The cost being in the eqiuvelent of $300.
So naturally I want Brexit not to happen. I watched the hearings last night in Parliament and the debate before the vote. What an unholy mess the whole things was. Arguments and counter arguments and all going nowhere. What it demonstrated to me was:- ‘neurosis’ at it’s utmonst stupidity.
Why, oh why?? do we humans create these stupid problems for ourselves, by not looking inwards towards ourselve, FIRST. It’s the same mess, as I see it with Trump and his wall I thought building walls had been thought through years ago with the Chinese “Great Wall” then Hadrians wall dividing Enlgland and Scotlant, then more recently the Berlin wall.
Walls don’t work as intended these days, with all maner of ways to get round them … yet Trump NEEDING to win, and be able to claim that he kept his campaigne promise … little caring what happens to others in the process.
It’s all about EGO PM May does it, Trump does it, and most leaders do it.
Sorry! but I needed to get all this ‘off my chest’. I almost want to cry for all the babies and young children growing up to have to live with it all. 😦 😦 😦
Jack
Sorry for all the typos and spellings. I’m having trouble posting long comments and have to jump through hoops to do it without spelling mistakes and typos. Obviously it didn’t happen this time. Grrrrr!!
Jack
Geez Jack. How precarious it must feel to have your future dramatically hinging on the confusing ramifications of the (non)settlement of Brexit by the deadline in the next few weeks, which looks dismal.
Larry: yeah!!! that and the prospects that in getting older. I am likely to need a lot more support; which I do get from Jim who’s 13 years my Junior … BUT what if he dies before me and/or what if he, in getting older, is not able to support like he does now. It’s mind boggling … BUT as they say in all the 12 step programs:- “One day at a time”.
So! best I can, I’ll enjoy today, and try not to think of horror scenarios for the future.
Jack
Jack,
Well, you could always come back here, Trump should be gone soon, I hope. Not because I’m marching on Washington however; snow storms coming have caused us to cancel our trip.
Phil
Phil: Yeah! perhaps as a last ditch scenario I could go back there, but then I would have to sell this place and find a place to live over there. Not easy. Seems like there are very few easy solutions.
EXCEPT ……… to die. That;s one option; BUT not one I have in mind at the moment.
This I feel is where this blog excels …. in so far as we can put it all out there and just to express it.
Jack
I know what you mean. I find myself thinking more about how I should plan to support myself when I’m older and less mentally and physically able to.
Larry: Just another feeling ……… but at least we have this blog.
Jack
By the manner in which you cavalierly dismiss “Just another feeling….” Jack, sometimes I wonder whether you understand what feelings are. They have a biological purpose after all, which is to direct us toward optimal wholesome, healthy outcomes for our life and away from harm. To dismiss them leads to trouble ultimately. I guess your point is no use worrying about something that might or might not happen until it happens.
This afternoon I will help a friend of my age. She has suffered an inexplicable, serious, dramatic drop in blood pressure and can barely walk a few yards without becoming exhausted. To be able to navigate the hospital system of diagnostic tests she’ll need to be pushed around in a wheel chair. Like me, she has no relatives in the city. Last night I found out that she’s been languishing at home for weeks, too weak to get to a doctor to find out what is the cause of her health crisis and hasn’t asked anyone for help.
The irony is that before she retired a few years ago, she taught doctors in medical schools how to teach doctors in residence. She was invited to conferences all over the world to speak from her expertise. Last night she told me that she’ll feel embarrassed to run into some of those doctors when she seeks medical help today. Despite all their intelligence, some people can’t manage their lives well.
Retirement and aging has posed challenges that therapy has helped me to meet. Otherwise I could see myself in a similar predicament to hers, feeling overwhelmed by facing problems alone and maybe not being able to get the help that I need. Coping with aging and the certain decline of mental and physical capacities is a reality I have to consider these days, as with one eye always glancing toward the future I try to nudge my life toward optimal outcomes. I’m beginning to wonder whether I should move to be nearer to family, but I don’t like the prospect of giving up the life I have now and starting over somewhere else.
General reflections: I see that many many countries are having governing problems; all the way from the US, UK Valenzuela, all the middle eastern countries, even China and Russia, and others.
It begs the question from me:- are governments solving problems? … seems not. But then I would, l wouldn’t I?
Jack
Jack,
it could also be we pay too much attention, but I can’t help it, it interests me. If I never read the news on the internet, turned on the TV etc, it wouldn’t make any difference for me, as to who is president. As for Brexit, I’ve never been to the UK, so that’s all theoretical I’ve never seen it, it might all just be a hoax, like Patrick says about the moon landings.
Phil
Phil: I agree, about the contents of your comment. I feel all this “Breaking News” is as a result of the easy access (social media) we now have to things going on all over the world.
The problem, as I have observed it with Britain, is the fact that we are an island nation and therein is the root of it. We felt insulated even from Europe for centuries, but being a sea faring nation, by necessity we sailed the oceans (after defeating the Spanish at Trafalgar) and colonize a good chunk of it … North America the whole of Australasia large swaths of Africa, but with little success in Asia, though we tried with India, and very little success in south America.
We became, to coin a phase, “toffee nosed” about it all and preened ourselves for it UNTIL the declaration of independence, led by those 13 states in the, now, US. Sadly for them, the US,, took most of the cultural notions from whence those people came … Britain.
That cultural belief, still exist in the country today and Brexit was a glaring demonstration of it. Theresa May, if you watch her body language expresses it so boldly. “We wish to take back control of our borders”. Well! once you/we helped create the “Chunnel” we actually, without knowing it, bust that argument wide open. Whether we like it or not, we are a fundamental part of Europe both culturally and politically.
I had to learn all this at school, reading and been taught history, BUT actually only British history.
For most Americans, on their first visit to Britain, get a good glimpse of their own roots, though not actually admitting it. It is where the notion of “White Supremacy” was born.
Hope that gives you one aspect of Britain and the US’ background to it.
Jack
Jack,
Many or most of us in the US have no actual ties to Britain, but become homogenized in the Anglo culture. But that culture is under threat now, or it appears that way to white supremacists.
What I think is, there is nothing so good about anglo culture that needs preserving, except for wealthy folks who want to keep their privileges and position. The most enthusiastic supporters of capitalism in the world are here and in Britain, the birth place of the industrial revolution.
Phil. .
Phil: Yes, now the US is a make up of many people with roots in many lands, but the overall culture is still, as I sensed it, the Anglo culture.
I agree that there is nothing worth preserving; least of all that aristocratic notion, that ‘Money is Speech” Which, to me, shows the stupidity of 9 people siting on a bench (no better than any other park bench) and dictating what is right, and what is wrong for the rest of us. They’re just fellow neurotics … mouthing off.
Jack
tomorrow is the day of the exam.
I looked a bit to some parts of the course, but not much, focused more on the other things I had to do.
someone came by to repair the leaking water pipe in the kitchen, so to be ready for that I got up early and put an early load in the washing machine so it would be done, and emptied the kitchen cupboard where the water pipes come together.
after he was gone, I cleaned the floors, and put all the stuff back in.
yesterday I accompanied my mother to go to the hairdresser from her nursing home, as the hairdresser, a nice lady, told me mom had been unwilling to let anyone do her hair.
so me and my half sister went there early, and while she tidied up the xmas stuff in mom’s room, I remained with mom. every time she started to become rebellious about being there, I could distract her by suggesting to sing, and that worked very well.
in the end she, me and the hairdresser were singing together all kind of old popular songs, even while om’s hair was being dyed, washed , cut and dried.
some struggles occurred, but brief ones, and I promised the hairdresser to come again the next time as I see it would be very hard for her to convince my stubborn mom these days…
the hairdresser, Veronique, told me that same morning she had reassured and comforted my mom as she had noticed she was feeling very bad, feeling no one likes her.
the trigger for that feeling was one other old lady that is very critical all the time, who often focuses on my mom.
it is sad it affects my mom so much some of the time, but I am very grateful for some people being around to give mom a hug and some reassuring words, that is so valuable!!
but well, I did a good thing that afternoon but was exhausted as well.
this morning I was reading a ‘chicklet’ book, in which finally ‘true love’ strikes and while reading I started crying, and ended up stopping the audio book for a while to go deeper into the crying.
it was some kind of sequel from a feeling , or an insight earlier on, about how literally all the time, with everyone, I am (gradually more consciously now) trying to prevent, defend against, for people to disapprove of me.
that is so sad, as it means I monitor myself all the time through virtually disapproving glasses, to the point of disapproving of who I am.
at the same time I desperately crave attention, friendliness, to feel accepted and liked.
it explains why groups can be so hard for me, especially groups with Gretchen in which I feel less safe than with Barry.
I am expecting criticism all the time, which either paralyzes me or makes me react clumsily in a counter phobic attempt to speak up anyway.
that often goes wrong, as people easily can make me feel stupid and awkward and crazy, you name it…
that probably sounds familiar to many of you, but for some reason I seem at a point where it is all so close to the surface like a raw sore burn, making me shrivel away just by the thought of a finger coming closer to touch me on the sore spot…
I just let it happen, to the degree I can while functioning as well, as it also feels reassuring the primal process still continues, and the cry I had by reading about the love story, turned into very young child’s crying.
I could sense that took away the overload of stress, which feels very welcome with the upcoming exam…
OK, now I am gonna read how the love story ends, while to be honest, I still hope, but feel more and more i might be on my own for the rest of my days, no loving partner by my side, my close family older than me.
it makes me sad to think of that possibility, but well, there is only so much I can do about it, and the rest is accepting reality and making the best of it, isn’t it?
M
Margaret,
who was it that was so critical like that, in your past?
Phil
Margaret that sounds right on, to me.
At least, you allowed to say all you need to say on this blog, and I feel that is good for all of us.
Take care Margaret ….. AND you never know …. that lover could happen .
Jack
Jack,
it seems very uncertain whether the Brexit will happen, and even then, I hope your new application will easily be accepted in the Netherlands.
I would think so in your situation, but of course I am no expert.
the main thing is to make sure as well you have a good medical insurance, these are mainly private there, if you want to be well covered.
I personally hope there will be no Brexit, but maybe a new referendum which will take this decision…
pretty crazy how people can complicate life…
M
Margaret: Just watched the “No Confidence” vote on parliament and May just manage by 19 votes to survived it.
I feel sure she’ll now ride high on that, but the whole thing is still problematic. I want to see a “Remain” in the EU, not only for personal reasons, but also as a first step in a wider union of all countries whereby we humans should be able to roam all the lands of planet earth.
There surely NOTHING special about “Merry Old England” OR The United Kingdom … just another piece of soil like here in this little garden of ours. BUT to get the Brits to accept anything close to that is impossible. IMO.
However, I am covered by medical insurance. And yes “pretty crazy how people can complicate life…”, and I’ve done my fair share of that in the past
Jack
We are getting much colder weather here and snow is predicted because the “polar vortex” has changed. This is good news as it could mean a snow day off from work for me. Otherwise, it’s a very long time until our next holiday. I’m in favor of having a real winter with real winter weather.
Phil
One of the my main complaints still has to do with my boring job, but there’s not much I can do about that. I think it does build up to be triggering for me. There’s a lack of stimulation and social contact which is similar to parts of my childhood history. Being ignored and abandoned. We received an improvement in benefits this year resulting in a few extra vacation days for me, but that doesn’t relieve the boredom, or fix the problem, although it does help me to feel a little better about the job.
Phil
Phil: Great until you retire, then snow becomes a bit of re-tired-ness 🙂 🙂
Jack
Phil,
my dad made me feel disapproved of by his lack of interest and response.
it was all pretty subtle, no violence or anything.
my half brother, not his son, once asked our mom , when he was still a little kid, why daddy did not love him, for him it was even worse.
just a lack of something, which felt very much like rejection, like something was wrong with me…
with mom it was different, it felt kind of like her love was conditional, on her terms, if not she played a guilt trip.
then with my brother, I never felt entirely safe, emotionally, even though we played a lot together, there too I felt well, tolerated maybe, not all the time, with all my family members we luckily had good times, mostly on instigation of my mom, who urged my dad to play along, board games, petanque, a few times he made a kite for us and went kiting with us, very exciting.
also we had fine holidays.
so a lack of genuine interest on one part, and also I felt like having to keep my mom ‘at bay’ from a certain age on, as it felt like she would get too much into my head otherwise, take over, swallow me, and once I just went to my room and had to say out loud if only once, ‘my mommy is crazy’, and then I immediately started slapping my own face…
like i said, guilt trip…
mom being very much like a child is both a quality of her and a curse as I longed very much, on hindsight, for an adult loving reasonable and reliable mom…
one thing maybe says it all: ‘What about me????’
M
Margaret: perfect last line:- “What about me?”.
Jack
wow!! I wonder what %age of us lived that story ? In addition except for my Grampy, the whole family targeted me for not being like them. A narrative I’ve likely helped construct, and survive, the rest of my life. unlovable, unrespected, I should, I wish, have died in utero. My mother said she’d continue to harm me even after death. I don’t believe in gods, fate, nor mystical thinking, but it’s true anyway, because at 73 I remain her suffering victim.
come to think of it, all I was left with was to try to do what might be liked, or at least not disliked…
feels very sad, as it feels like if I did not do that, I would get nothing at all…
and even then, no true attention and care, at least a lot of the time.
mom could be very nice and playful, but was also very controlling.
with dad I felt like a disappointment.
later on as an adult I understood the pain of missing his first born daughter who his former wife kept away from him, hurt him deeply, but well, that did not help little me of course.
I noticed the pain, which looked like fear in his eyes, and did my best to make him feel at ease and to please him.
did my best to take care of everyone, protect my brother, make him feel happy, take care of mom.
boy, looking back on all of that it feels so sad and lonely , hopelessly so, or with just enough hope and crumbs to keep me struggling.
that feeling rises in group invariably, the feeling no one will ask me how I am, nothing will come my way unless I struggle for it, while what I really need is for it to come ‘for free’, spontaneously…
now I start crying…
M
Margaret,
That’s very sad how your father treated you. I often get a similar feeling as you describe in group, and I can relate to a lot of what you said about your childhood.
Phil
Phil & Margaret: In my case with a strict authoritarian daddy I simply thought all daddies were like that. That, that was the job for mammies to be caring. It’s weird how we get so much confusion stemming from the way they treated us kids. Looking back, when I’m out of the feeling, I see they too got ‘done over by their parent, then they in turn got done over, and so the ‘Merry; goes round and round.
Is it possible to stop this ‘Merry’ from going around????
In talking to my siblings about our childhood I sometimes wonder why they see it all SO differently. They never were interested in this therapy … like as Joanna thought: “Why would they want therapy … nothing horrific happened to them. They see me as:- “Well!!! that’s our Jack”
Jack
That’s a clear, feeling loaded summary Margaret. Seems like a feeling isn’t far away.
Today I got my chuckle not from any blog entry but rather from Eckhart Tolle and Oprah. I’m not a big fan of Eckhart, as he is a little too cognitive and ‘heady’ for me. Earlier today I met with one of my university professors and she was telling me how much she is learning from reading one of his books. I told her some of my dislikes about him and she told me how his ideas are helping her to address some challenging job situations. I left the meeting feeling like perhaps I should give Eckhart a chance. I came across this 3 min. interview with Oprah, which I sent to my professor and she enjoyed. My chuckle, as well as Oprah’s chuckle/laugh came when he answered her question about what he believes in. Funny and ironic words to come out of the mouth of someone who considers himself ‘spiritual’! I also liked his definition of love and agree with him on this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em83BIDBfxA.
Renee: I watched the clip and didn’t get a chuckle. What I got was:- what is all this believing stuff?. I would always prefer to substitute believing with:- “I understand ………”
It puts another perspective on it.
Jack
That’s fine. But it makes me wonder……where do you get your chuckles from these days?
Renee: Lots of chuckles by the hour, with me and my partner, Jim
We both have this same sense of humor. and being silly with one another.
He’s even resorted to a sign language that is also humorous. AND funny ways of walking like drunks and ballet dancers on point.
Example: He’s forever locking the gate and the front door and says he’s protecting us against all those rapist; and I say “WHY???? let them in … it could be fun”. Bad taste … probably but it’s just between us.
Jack
Well, right now, Jack, it’s just between you and Jim. Are you open to visitors who are in need of more chuckles? Or visitors who want to expand their repertoire of ways to walk drunk or ballet dance on point?
Btw, Jack, my day has just begun, but my morning chuckle comes straight from you. Take a look. Haven’t seen this in a while but it never fails to crack me up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2ViNJFZC8.
Renee: I’m open to different chuckles from anyone. Occasionally I’ll get one off the blog and some other places and I liked and laughed over the clip you posted,
Both Jim and I loved John Cleese and we often use one of his scenes from “Faulty Towers” where Manuel the buss boy is told he has to know nothing, over something … I’ve forgotten. Later when Cleese asks him something Manuel replies “I know nothing”. Manuel in the series, often says he comes fro Barcelona
So now when either of us accuse the other of not knowing or understanding, we’ll reply Yes … cos I come from Barcelona. then laugh
Apparently Cleese now lives in Monticito, close to the ‘Casa’
One of my best laughs came from my Secret Santa at one retreat with a card and a small cup with the name Dick on it. the card read:-
Poem to a Jack
A rack of Christmas ornaments
with names from Adam to Zack
All the William’s, James’ and Jonathon’s
even Jeremy, but no “Jack”
Oh there was a peg, a place,
a space for Jack
but all the Jack’s were gone
— so did the next best thing
and got you a DICK
I turned out my Santa was Vicky. She must have put a great deal of though into that whch I appreciated. and to this day I still have pinned to the Wall over my bed. If I can arrange it, I will try and post a pic of it. Right now not sure how to place that pic on the blog.
Jack
Vicki: SorrreeeeI did it again and spelled you name wrong. Yuikes I must be getting too old. Sorry again.
Jack
Thanks, Jack. I do still enjoy that poem too. I was a lousy “poet” in school, so I love the fact that this one came out so well.
Vicki: I still love it, and often look a it hanging above my bed. I took 2 pics of it and wanted to post them on the b log but have no idea how. If you know how or, would do it for me I will email you if you either reply to me vial email jackwaddington@yahoo.com or, give me yours.
Jack
By the way, when Eckhart talks about ‘ego’, which I don’t connect with, I substitute being in old feelings. That makes more sense to me. When I am in old feelings I am not fully in the present moment and I am not always aware when this is happening. I liked what he said about being ahead of the game when we can be aware that this is what is going on.
Renee: For me the only way to be ahead of the game is, to be very cognisant of Primal theory. Most of the others are “a fools paradise” better still “in denial”. As my Jimbo and I laugh by saying “being in de Nile”
Jack, those poor souls who are not cognizant of Primal theory. They’re stuck in a fools paradise somewhere in de Nile. They missed out on the Way, the Light and Truth. I feel sorry for them. Aren’t you glad that we are the enlightened ones? 🙂
Renee: the first step, that I doubt will happening is to get the medical profession to understand the whole total dynamics of Primal theory … in-so.far as it suggest that all illnesses have their roots in early childhood and perhaps in utero.
From there, they might; or a least some of them might see a “way ahead”.
“Enlightened” is not quite the word I would use since it suggests some high state of being, whereas I see it as being simply aware OR conscious of.
Neurosis implies (a la Janov) not being totally conscious leaving some things “in the back of the mind” … or, in the subconscious.
Jack
Jack, you’re right. “Enlightened” is not the right word. I meant to say, aren’t you glad that we Primal people are the aware and conscious ones? The rest of the world…..well, not so much:)
Renee: Yes I am.
Jack
When thinking about Eckhart Tolle and being in the present moment, two songs came to mind. I couldn’t decide which one to post so I decided to post both of them. Hope you like them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZRiraUs2QY……..”Last night in the sky, Such a bright light, My radar send me danger, But my instincts tell me to keep, Breathing, (Out, in, out, in, out, in)”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38YEnQWDLvo……..”I want to live where soul meets body, And let the sun wrap its arms around me and, Bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing, And feel,
Feel what it’s like to be new”.
it is amazing how having some of these feelings yesterday and shedding tears probably full of stress hormones, caused my dreams to ‘take a U-turn’, emotionally.
this night I had a dream full of attractive men, no woman around at all but me, one of them already feeling like ‘with me’ as we had kissed a few times, and many of the others showing interest in various degrees.
so the feeling was ‘getting attention’, and ‘being liked’, and ‘having a companion’…
I got up early, needing to get ready for the exam, and taking care of the cats etc. first.
I felt tense, it was a 60 multiple choice questions exam, each question with three possible answers.
some of these questions were of the kind:
here are two propositions, a and …
question: is only a right, is only b right, or are a and be both right?
but overall the exam was less difficult than I feared, but still not easy and required a huge amount of concentration.
now i have to wait for about ten days to know if I passed or not…
but in any case I ordered the next course already, as it only starts in april and gives me time to buy and install a new laptop first.
it will be ‘history of psychology’, and consists of a presentation we will have to give and of a regular exam.
back home now, very tired but also with a good feeling.
I had felt good about the exam, except for some questions I was not sure about which answer was right, and then some other questions in which I felt I new the material well, but the question itself was unclear.
for example, a part of the question is having to reply about a correlation, from which I felt sure it was zero, but the option was ‘is this correlation between zero and 1?’
now, is zero between zero and 1? that is open for interpretation so it is not a clear question for me.
so in case I would not have passed I can demand to look into the results and if necessary protest, we’ll see…
sorry if all of this is boring, I feel a need to share….
and thanks, Phil, Larry and Jack for the responses about my last comments, and Renee for the other response.
a bit vague but my neurons are fried and need to rest now, smiley…
M
They probably were trying to assess whether you understood that a correlation greater than 0 is a positive correlation, less than 0 is a negative correlation, and 0 is no correlation.
I’m glad you felt good about your exam, Margaret. But with a statement like, “having to reply about a correlation, from which I felt sure it was zero, but the option was ‘is this correlation between zero and 1?’ now, is zero between zero and 1?”, of course your neurons are fried and in need of rest!
Since I’m still thinking in songs, your exam question reminded me of this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOiZP8FS5Ww……….”So, maybe I’ll win (saved by zero), Maybe I’ll win (saved by zero)”.
I’ve been waiting to hear from you about how your exam went, Margaret. Thanks for the update. I’ve been touched by what you wrote a few days ago or yesterday. Like you, I too find myself stepping back and seeing the bigger overview of my life, seeing and understanding threads and connections that I was never aware of when I was living it.
Yesterday I took a friend to hospital where she had an ECG and she gave blood, urine and poop samples that will help her doctor try to diagnose the cause of her recent unusual health symptoms. This month she’s had a dramatic and alarming drop in blood pressure and can’t walk a few yards without getting painfully out of breath. She is my age. Like me she has no relatives in the city, but she does have friends here who she stays in touch with. Two days ago I found out about her health deterioration this month, and that this month she’s been languishing at home too weak and out of breath to get herself to hospital to have the tests done. I’m dismayed that she hadn’t asked any friends for help. The irony is that before she retired a couple of years ago, she taught doctors at teaching hospitals how to teach medical school courses. She was in international demand to speak at medical conferences, yet this month when it came to her own health she felt unable to reach out to friends for help.
The tests indicate that she has severe anaemia. Today she went to hospital for a blood transfusion. One of her of her friends took her there. Shortly after noon I texted and found out that she hasn’t had the transfusion yet but that they insisted on taking blood samples again. She and her doctor are waiting for the further analysis and interpretation.
I feel good that I helped her to get to her tests yesterday. I can imagine the anxiety that she is feeling about the precariousness of her health. I feel grateful for the relative soundness of mine and that though I am aging and wearing down physically, for now at least I’m still able to take care of myself and find enjoyment in life. I’m looking forward to a rare for me dinner tonight with a married couple who live on an acreage that another friend and I have been invited to. The weather is cold today. Temperature is -23 C (-9 F). With the wind chill it feels like -32 C (-26 F), but the blue sky is clear and the morning sun shining into my living room brings warmth and cheer. I feel good today, yet with an undercurrent of anxiety about Life’s harsh, blunt realities that I wish I could have protection from.
I remember playing happily in a sunbeam like this in my Auntie’s living room one winter morning when I was three and living with her and Uncle. I remember marveling at the sunbeam and asking Auntie what it is. As I contemplate the thread of my life from then until now, I notice the underlying theme that at least since then I’ve been forever struggling with a need to belong that was only occasionally temporarily satisfied. I see and feel little Larry’s almost incessant underlying want to fit in and to figure out how to. Now with misty eyes I am seeing how he could not see that there was no Mommy and Daddy who were able to be there for him, that for his entire life there never would be, that his trying to fit in throughout all of his (my) life was a diversion from seeing the truth that he was OK just as he was and needn’t have to do anything to fit in and they, not he, were the ones who were flawed.
As I feel my friend’s anxiety for her future, I want to be wrapped in my parents’ love and reassurance that mine will be OK. Which it wasn’t.
As someone who thinks a lot about death, I came across this interesting article in the Atlantic. “What People Actually Say Before They Die”. https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/01/how-do-people-communicate-before-death/580303/. It made me think that perhaps we die the way we live. “Military men had the “relatively highest number of requests, directions, or admonitions,” while philosophers (who included mathematicians and educators) had the most “questions, answers, and exclamations.” The religious and royalty used the most words to express contentment or discontentment, while the artists and scientists used the fewest.” “Almost everyone is calling for ‘Mommy’ or ‘Mama’ with the last breath.”
I am continuing to visit with sister’s 96 year-old father-in-law. My family appreciates this because they find him hard to be around as he is mostly complaining about things, which they find challenging and frustrating. I don’t mind this, perhaps because I am not in his immediate family, and can just be interested in his discontentedness. I also get to ask him about what it’s like to be “past his expiration date” (his words), and be stuck waiting to die. I particularly like this conversation because I can relate in some ways to this feeling. Recently I said to him that if he really didn’t want to live anymore, why didn’t he just stop eating. He said that he promised his son (my brother-in-law) that he wouldn’t do this. I said that no-one could force him to eat if he didn’t want to and that maybe he was ambivalent about dying and that it wasn’t that simple that he only wanted to die. He thought for a while and then said that this was probably true. I was left thinking that little in life (and end-of-life) is simple with only either/or answers.
I expect that when they are dying people will be the same as who they were during their life. I expect they will express themselves in the ways they always had in life. I think the thing about dying is that it is a reality we never want to face. I would think that the dying cope with the reality of dying and interacting with people in ways that they coped with people and difficult reality throughout their life, except that if the reality of dying to too big to face they would deal with it more symbolically as it drew nearer.
Until her final dip into unconsciousness and death, my wife’s mental state was crystal clear and she remained true to who she had always been. Throughout life together we had bravely tried to confront and surmount life’s challenges. That’s the approach you soon learn when you do this therapy. In the last weeks of her life, we exchanged some heartfelt feelings and insights just like we sometimes did throughout our marriage. In the last weeks before her death, she expressed to me her feelings and worries about her transition to death that she wasn’t sure I was ready to hear so she expressed them symbolically. I was expecting that. I correctly interpreted that she was letting me know that she was tired and wanting to go, and that she was worried for me. I anticipated these themes would come up near the end. We talked about them. I was able to reassure her, and she died in peace, with a sparkle in her eye and a smile on her face, feeling loved, before she lost consciousness for the last time.
Larry: What a very moving recount of the death of Noreen and you at her side. I think we all wish for something akin to that.
So far, all I’ve said is that I hope it’s all quick and painless. BUT I suppose it will happen in it’s own good way and time.
For the moment Jim and I have talked about death, with most of the variations we can think of. I feel that is something many don’t discuss. How the final outcome, is something I try not to contemplate for too long. The one thing I am certain of, is there is no more for me after it.
I do think it’s worthwhile thread for this blog,
Jack
I expect that leading up to death due to illness would feel as undesirable as feeling ill and incapacitated or in pain normally would but much more so because of growing expectation of the end. The contemplation of the end would likely be a very sad, sometimes anxiety laden exercise, but how the dying person copes with it would I expect tend to be similar to how they coped with other difficult situations in their life. Sometimes I wonder whether the dead person knows that they died, especially if they died while unconscious as in non-dreaming sleep. Maybe before they blink out the brain shutting down and dying generates stress hormones that create symbolic visions in the unconscious person’s sub-conscious that informs them that they are in some final transition. I’ve read that some people fight against their death, while others accept it peacefully. I believe that having had a meaningful life and being with a loved one who will manage OK would make it easier for the dying person to let go at the end. My understanding is that sometimes they try to hang on in the hope of finally resolving an issue with someone who they care about.
Larry: “The contemplation of the end would likely be a very sad, sometimes anxiety laden exercise,” and “how they coped with {it}”
Sure enough, I had a dream last night that was very,very anxiety laden, the details of which are unimportant, but It put me into the same state I endured for the first half hour of my life outside the womb. They wrapped me up in blankets and put me in a nursery where according to my father who came less than ten minutes after my birth and viewed me through a glass windows screaming for my dear life. For that one half hour I was totally and utterly ABANDONED.
Arrgggg!!!! fuckin idiots … and my father thought it was all OK, idiot him also. He related the story to me in my teens.
I feel one way or another, in the end … we all ‘COPE’ with it … if that is the right word. We just die; as we observe it objectively. How it is, subjectively, no-on seems to know since none of have returned from death: other than Lazareth and Jesus … a likely story.
Contemplating it I feel is a forlorn endeavour. Simply, just that.
Jack
Renee,
my neurons have cooled down by now luckily, smiley…
I am already thinking about the short presentation we will have to do in the next course, which is ‘pioneers of psychology’.
I would love to bring Primal somehow in the picture, as the subject is of our own choice, but of course has to relate to the course.
one vague idea is seeking links between the Freudian concept of ‘catharsis’, and the healing by having the old feeling finally come to the surface, for example.
but well, that certainly is just a very vague kind of idea and I don’t know if I will be able to do something with it.
so far I have little experience with using scientific search engines, that will have to be one of my next classes, ‘Literature study’, which I dread, as it is very technical in combination with all the APA regulations and one of four specific obligatory subjects and having to form a research plan, brrrrrr…
worries for later…
M
Margaret, I wrote a paper a number of years ago that explored the personal and political reasons that Freud abandoned his theory of the reality of childhood trauma (which came very close to PT). Email me on my personal email if you want explore this option for your presentation.
I believe I said this already but I think bears repeating, Freud almost HAD to abandon his theory about all the abuse and trauma he encountered………………..since most all of his patients were Jews it would put that group in a very bad light. He probably did not want to accept this himself plus to put it mildly it would NOT be a good ‘career move’ Just like if Janov had emphasized male genital abuse (MGA) aka circumcision that would not have been a good career move either. Does anyone think he would have even ‘survived’ in Los Angeles with all the lawyers running around if he took THAT tack? Better blame on ‘birth’ or any other number of things
I imagine worse things than having his house painted pink would have befallen him. Lots worse.
Patrick: Quote:- “Freud almost HAD to abandon his theory about all the abuse and trauma he encountered………………..since most all of his patients were Jews ”
I don”t see that the one follows the other. a la “since most all of his patients were Jews ” As I understand Freud; he started by attempting to understand what he, Freud coined as ‘hysterical women’.
Another quote:- “Does anyone think he [Arthur Janov] would have even ‘survived’ in Los Angeles “.. Yes!!! ME. His survival or lack of it, had nothing to do with “male genital abuse” … it was ABOUT “early childhood trauma”. That’s what made the book “The Primal Scream” a best seller.
l
YOU, as I see you, are the one playing the ‘blame game’
Jack
Patrick, your assertion that “Freud almost HAD to abandon his theory about all the abuse and trauma he encountered………………..since most all of his patients were Jews it would put that group in a very bad light,” is inaccurate. That was not one of his reasons for abandoning his original theory. If/when you get your radar fixed, I would be delighted to have this discussion with you.
Renee: I loved that phrase of yours and it EVEN gave me a chuckle. The phrase “your Radar”.
I’m adjusting mine and hope to Godo, it’s a real fix.
Interestingly I have an endearing phrase that I call Jim. “Chckle Egg” It all came about when I was discussing with one of my SCA friends, and I told him the story about my Granny, when I was little, and she would ask me if I wanted a Chuchy Egg … meaning a fried egg. He thought I said Chuckle Egg and Jim and I laughed and now it’s a standard phrase for us.
Funny how we all pick on phrases, that are relevant to each of us.
Jack
I love you, Jack! At 86, to still be concerned with adjusting your radar! I think your radar is just fine:) BTW, What is a ‘SCA friend’?
And speaking radar and love, Jack……I just couldn’t resist. I am dedicating this song to you today, Jack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf53Pg2AkdY. Oh, to be young again. Back in the 70s.
Renee, before I clicked on that I just KNEW it had to be ‘Radar Love’ one of my all time faves. BTW this band Golden Earring were Dutch and if I remember correctly this song was a hit in 1974 the same year the most awful football (soccer) team every assembled the Dutch in the 1974 World Cup. So that was another reason to love that song not that I needed any more Love that bit (from memory I did not play the song now) slow down/almost there/gotta be cool/gotta take care. Also it seemed to me pretty much the ONLY cool rockers were English with the occasional American one this was Dutch so it was special for that reason too. Continental Europe could actually produce real rockers which was not the impression I got when grape picking in France in 1972. Charles Aznavour was about as hip as it got
Sorry that reference to the Dutch football team should have said ‘awesome’ not ‘awful’ the most awesome football team ever produced NOT ‘awful’ exactly the wrong meaning
Renee: thanks for the dedication … I listened to the song but it did not move me.
On the music scene, my first long term relationship, he introduced me to classical music and much of it I liked, then because of my stint working in an Opera house I became very deeply moved by Operas of Puccini and Verdi in particular. I was no fan of Mozart for his his masterful musical abilities.
On the non operatic music, my favourite was Stravinsky.
It was not until the Beatles and rolling Stones that I began to appreciate pop music.
I listened to a great deal of it while I was living with that girl who was a heroine addict, who did nothing but shoot up and play all the classical pop music of the time … 1970’s in Ibiza.
These days I do not feel the need to stimulate feeling through music … I am getting it by other means.
Jack
Renee: SCA = Sex Compulsive Anonymous. I attended their meeting for over a year. Most were gay people but there some straight guys as well and a couple of Women.
Jack
Oh, okay. Wouldn’t these meeting be in Dutch, though? Does Jim translate or do the members speak in English?
Renee: the problems for me are not about language ie. Dutch or English. It’s about the hoops I/we have to go through to obtain these documents and then to renew every so often. and having to have available at AT all times.
There’s the irritating factor also with Brexit, and also the off chance that I may not get my UK pension … little as it is. For me … AND … I’m fully aware, it ONLY me. it would ALL be solved “once and for all” for us humans by the simple device of abolishing money.
It further, boggles my mind that so few see this as a major solution; for/to most of our human problems. Even resolving the problem of neurosis.
Jack
Patrick, I am still eager and happy to discuss why Bob Dylan would name a song Positively 4th Street, when the song is neither positive, nor about the number 4, nor about streets. I am okay if you cheat, BTW. I did. I don’t think there’s any way you connect this subject with the badness of the Jews.
Yes Renee I will accept that! I did TRY to ‘cheat’ about the title of that song and came up with nothing. There was a few speculations about was 4th St in NY or Minnesota beyond that nothing, so yes I am curious and would like to know
OK Renee tell me why Freud abandoned his original ideas. Why exactly did he go from believing it was real abuse to just something that was already in the ‘structure of the unconscious’ of the child. That’s a fairly big jump but yes again I am curious as to what your thinking is on the matter
Larry,
a brief reply before I read the rest of the comments.
no, the question about the correlation was not that simple.
the main issue was to have to say whether a statement, two statements , where right or wrong, and one of them was about the standard error, and its correlation with the scores on an entirely different variable.
now of course this is no correlation, but well, if you measure the error with a random set of numbers, it is possible the correlation is for example 0.04 for example, isn’t it?
in that case it would be yes, the correlation is between 0 and 1.
but if you go for the bottom line of ‘well, there is no real correlation, we can call it 0’, then it is 0, and not between 0 and 1…
that last option is what I chose, so I chose to say the statement was not right, that a correlation between a certain standard error and a different variable is between 1 and 0, no not right in my opinion.
but that question is not really clear if you ask me, and specially not as it was in combination with another statement to be evaluated.
well, hm, sorry to bore some people.
another example was a question about whether the mean value of different standard errors of repeated tests comes down to 0, where I said no, the next question was whether the mean, average error of a group of people is 0, there I said yes, as well, in the course it was said somewhere in a group of people random measurement errors of a large group cancel each other out…
so those are a few questions I really was not certain about, but we’ll, overall I was feeling good with knowing I was very sure about many other questions…
but it is always hard to assess how I did, sometimes it is worse than expected, sometimes better…
so far I have passed at first go all the time, despite one double exam where I had a 5, but there was some compensation regulation where I could accept having one 5, without having to do the exam again, luckily!!
I just saw in my favorite soap, a part in which a young child finally becomes brain dead after being shot accidentally, and after having been in a coma…
it was so sad, everyone grieving for that little life coming to an end, and it made me think of how, getting older , that finality of death is something we all need to come to terms with somehow.
it can feel so unacceptable at first, iI remember how when I lost my husband unexpectedly, my first automatic reaction was ‘no, no this cannot be true!’ for a while.
with a child it must be so horrible…
M
From your explanation it sounds like you chose the correct answer Margaret. Seems like they were cleverly trying to tease out how deep your insight is regarding statistical correlation.
Larry,
that was very touching to read , I am glad you could be there for her in that way.
already now I feel I am accompanying my mom on her journey as when you are 88, it is impossible to ignore the end is not that far probably…
I am glad she is good at expressing her feelings and at being pretty real about things.
and often with a spark of humon, and always with tenderness and care as her main worry is for us, in my case ‘who will take care of you?’
and her repeated question whether I already have a boyfriend, probably has its roots there as well…
it would be lovely to have a loving companion by my side in the fall of my life, but well, my hopes are slowly withering.
a consolation is that I feel so much more able to connect with new people and to find a lot of pleasure in that.
so I face being possibly alone getting old, but not that alone either, as there are always people around, hopefully that is…
we in the richer part of the world have a good chance to have a fairly comfortable life ending, how much worse must it be to be wounded somewhere alone and have to endure what must feel like an eternity of suffering before death comes as a liberation.
sorry if I am ‘spooky’ and glum, but well, this is all too real for far too many living beings.
it even seems to form a strong argument for me for there not being any god, as he would be pretty nasty in that case, far too much suffering on this planet…
but well, it is what it is and that is what we have to deal with, no?
M
Margaret: It seems your mom is faring well and seems up beat and full of humour, and that’s worth a lot … especially for you as well as herself.
I thought your last line said it all:- “but well, it is what it is and that is what we have to deal with,”.
Jack
This comment began as a short response to Renée but grew to monstrous proportions. Be forewarned.
Both Said and Foucault were brilliant men who added an interesting critical layer to our understanding of socio-political phenomenon. However, I believe their ideas have corrupted academia (and some politics) to the point of academic deterioration and even moral breakdown. For the result of making the truth completely relative is not the enhancement of understanding of the world and social phenomenon but quite the opposite, it’s relinquishment, selling it for the quick fix of a conscience disburdened.
In the public sphere we call it Political Correctness which is explained more or less thus: The West suffers from a guilty conscience, over colonialism, imperialism, its treatment of the 3rd world, its treatment of minorities, women, people of other sexual preferences, and other “others”. And since “we” (i.e white males) have hurt all the above groups we must now accept them without any criticism, and sometimes without even raising questions.
We can easily see that it’s about a guilty conscience rather than stable moral foundations. For example, just days ago the UN gave Yemen the vice presidency of the executive board of UN Women, the UN gender equality and women’s empowerment agency, for 2019. Would it surprise you to learn that out of 146 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum in categories of women’s rights, Yemen came in last? Most women in Yemen marry before they are 18 y.o and a lot of them undergo female circumcision. A Yemenite woman cannot get medical care without permission from her husband, and as a woman not only her testimony in court is worth half that of a man’s, but she will be legally discriminated against in laws of inheritance, divorce and child custody. Not surprisingly given those facts, Yemen has no women in parliament. None.
Yemen’s bordering country, Saudi Arabia, which is currently in the news because of a young woman fleeing similar male guardianship laws over there, was recently elected as a member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, a body whose mission is to “promote gender equality and the empowerment of women”. Well, I’m sure that mission will be well served when administered by a county which stones women (but not men) to death for adultery, where women still don’t have the vote, and where women until recently were not allowed to drive.
You would expect such conditions for women will be pointed out, even called out, if not by the a politically oriented UN than at least by academia, for example the US National Women’s Studies Association. But you will not find any reference, or statement or recommendation issued by them regarding either Yemen or Saudi Arabia. Of course, you will find plenty of those regarding Israel, a western democracy ranking 43 in that same index, way above the global weighted average (and above other western democracies such as the USA, Austria, Italy and Greece). In comparison to Yemen and Saudi Arabia women’s rights in Israel are heaven on earth.
Now, in what bizarre world can this happen? Well, in the world borne by Foucault and Said where the Saudis and Yemenites are “others” and any moral stand that criticizes them, and even simple statements of facts, if deemed negative, are nothing but the continuation of colonialism and blaming the victim.
In that same world a white artist cannot paint a tribute to Emmet Till who was lynched by racists, because “White free speech and white creative freedom have been founded on the constraint of others, and are not natural rights”; and the University of Ottawa is forced to cancel a Yoga class, including a class for disabled students, because practicing Yoga in a western university is insensitive to Indian culture that suffered colonialism and “cultural genocide” at the hands of the West that now has the audacity to enjoy its fruits.
Behind the politics of political correctness lies a philosophical standpoint that Renée succinctly and favorably summarized, one which in my opinion directly attacks truth, reality and values such as universal human rights. That standpoint is called post-modernism and it has had terrific public relations that hide its grave consequences.
Post-modernism presents itself in a rather harmless, even democratic fashion: We used to believe there is a single, universal, absolute and objective truth. It made us vain and ultimately oppressive. It gave us legitimacy to enforce that single truth – our hegemonic class’ truth – on the rest of the “others”. But we have grown up and matured since and came to the understanding that we were wrong, that there isn’t a single truth, only differing viewpoints, and so we became more tolerant.
Seen through liberal glasses it looked as if post-modernism will only make us even more liberal: we will extend equality from human beings and apply it also to values, and so will be sensitive not only to the human and legal rights of the other but also to his or her culture and preferences.
But there is a contradiction between equality of people and equality of values. When you put the values of those believing in stoning women adulterers on an equal moral footing as the values of those who believe in gender equality, you don’t really advance the cause of equality, do you?
Apparently, in some circles of liberal academia it is much cooler to deduce latent or implied oppression than to look at oppression which is staring you in the face (perhaps it is no coincidence that Michel Foucault supported the Islamist revolution in Iran).
This (the implied directive to deny what is staring us in the face) has terrible consequences for the seekers of factuality, and has weakened academia in certain fields of study to the point of evaporating scholarship and deteriorating rigor in favor of the shallow sanctuary of political correctness. And academia in turn corrupted much of the elites who were supposed to understand the world, take care of its future, and interpret it for us. Edward Said’s ideas were major influence in bringing this about. But this comment is already too long so we’ll leave it at that.
Daniel, I am curious as to what you are wanting from this continued exchange. It is clear that we see things differently. I believe that our ‘social location’ and subjectivity based on our gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical abilities etc. affect to a large degree what we decide to believe is true and what is reality. You disagree with this and believe that there is some ‘neutral’ and ‘bias free’ Truth out there and that this Truth is not a predominantly white, Western, and male truth. I’m okay with this disagreement. In addition, I have already shared in the past where I fall on the essentialism—post-modern spectrum. Maybe you didn’t read this. It feels to me like you are trying to convince me that I am wrong. If so, I wonder why that is important to you. So important, in fact, that a comment that you said was supposed to be short morphed into one of “monstrous proportions”.
Renee: About Truth:- true and false, good and bad, right and wrong, even up and down. are all arbitrary and relative It’s the “relativity” to WHAT; that denotes what is …. .
It is for that reason I personally am wary of using any one of them, UNLESS I state it as MY opinion or ‘as I see it’. That way it becomes more of my feelings and thus is not arguable. It’s the argument that, invariably, is unconvincing to our adversaries/opponents/enemies/what have you’s.
Jack
Daniel,
I don’t know anything about Foucalt and Said, but from your examples I’m not seeing the terrible effects of political correctness. I would want know how the UN decided to put Yemen in charge of the UN commission on women, and what was the reasoning. Was this decided by a vote, or by executive action? What effective actions can that commission take in regards to women’s issues anyway. What has been done, and what can be done, to change conditions in that country? What is the best way of advancing the cause of equality. Whatever has been done up until now in regards to Saudi Arabia and Yemen hasn’t been successful. Maybe they will have to evolve and reform themselves.
Before this era of political correctness were western leaders any more moral? I’m doubtful. Colonialism has been over, in name, like slavery, but continued in other forms. Western democratic nations have been perfectly willing to support oppressive authoritarian countries if they had something we wanted, like oil, or other natural resources. We have also been willing to sell them weapons. So I don’t think we had an excess amount of moral authority to begin with, in that sense.
And as to Iran, I see their Islamic revolution as a way they were finally able to take charge and control their own country, a good thing for them.
Phil
I imagine my take on this might not be welcomed by just about anybody…………..but for what it is worth (not much) I tend to agree with Daniel as far as his criticism of the excesses of the ‘relative truth’ crowd. Trouble is getting rid of the idea of ‘truth’ as some kind of absolute solves little as the ‘relative truth’ put in it’s place becomes the new absolute. And we see this a lot now or maybe a bit of a different example the new ‘anti Fascists’ so called antifa is very ‘fascist’ at least the way that word is mostly misused. They violently break up groups they do not agree with all in the name of ‘preventing fascism’ hense their name antifa.
I have a bit of a different take on the examples of Yemen and Saudi Arabia. A lot of this discussion assumes there are ‘enlightened’ or ‘progressive’ values in the West esp that these countries need to catch up on. And the UN being one of the main pushes of this kind of agenda like to appoint these so called ‘backward’ countries so as to pull them along. Also keep in mind any Yemeni who is even in the UN is unlikely to be a typical member of that society. They are already inclined to be ‘globalists’ with quite likely contempt for their own tribal and traditional cultures. I see this in Ireland a lot you have a ‘educated elite’ and then the common people who hold the traditional ways of doing things.For myself I used to aspire to being one of the ‘educated elite’ but these days I tend to clump much more with the ‘common folk’. In general I see anything ‘old’ as wiser and better than much of anything ‘new’. Most all of the stuff being promoted here as ‘new’ I see as very destructive and though I guess nobody will agree much with this the pushing of ‘women’s equality’. This is actually more pushing women to be more like men and men more like women also. Which is the situation we have now more and more……………….hard for me to see that as ‘progress’ but the dawn of a frightening dystopia where all traditional wisdom and values are swept away. One of those values would be a mother’s dedication and love for her baby which was done without regard to cost or notions of ‘equality’ In that way I feel the ‘enlightened’ countries are worse than the ‘traditional’ ones. It probably would not surprise Daniel that on any moral scale Israel would come well behind any of these so called ‘tribal’ societies imo regardless of what the UN says. Israel can stand in so many ways for out future too……………..it’s hard for me to imagine a worse nightmare. We will have it all total surveillance, shooting on sight of undesirables, gay and transgender ‘rights’ all in all not a happy land to live in.
Also Daniel I feel it is poor form to ‘pick’ on Yemen, it is after all the latest sacrificial lamb in the Zionist wars. The latest ‘burned victim’ to this God that can’t seem to ever have enough victims. That country is being tortured, starved and bombed I imagine ‘women’s rights’ might be low on their list of concerns right now.
Patrick: If your FIX to our human problem is to first get rid of Judaism, then how do YOU propose we go about that?
Jack
Jack, if Jews would REPENT especially from the practice of circumcision that would be a good start. But only a start but without that things are going nowhere fast imo. I don’t believe in wars and violence it has to come from the Jews themselves but they sure could use a push from non Jews and I guess in my own very small way that is what I am trying to do. I do feel I have this ‘understanding’ about circumcision which maybe a lot of Right Wingers might not be so aware of and it’s consequences. I don’t believe ANYONE is inherently evil there is always an explanation or an understanding.
Patrick: Quote:- “I don’t believe in wars and violence it has to come from the Jews themselves”: what exactly has to come from Jews themselves??????
First off:- Solve your own problems. OR at best, let us know EXACTLY, what bugs you about Jews and where, from within YOU does that stem??
I also don’t believe anyone is inherently evil, Not even Hitler. If one can look into Hitler from a Primal perspective, his Jewish Daddy seemingly drove him to all that he wrote in “Mein Kampf”. We are born innocent little babies with not one single notion about anything. It’s the process of growing up that formulates ones ideas, opinions, beliefs et all. Primal Theory supports just that, To me, it’s the genius of Primal Theory.
Jack
I have seen nothing convincing that Hitler’s father was ‘Jewish’ and even if he was it is not really a matter of ‘blood’ I think probably the Jews themselves are being used, or Judaism is used as a convenient means to some end that the average Jewish person has no clue about. Also and I have actually read Mein Kampf’ (something I doubt you have done as you are too busy repeating ad nauseam how ‘true ‘ Primal Theory is you don’t seem to have much time for anything else) and I got no particular feeling that his father drove him to anything. He said his father was disappointing a bit in the career he choose which was some studies in Architecture. But even that seemed fairly mild his father was a civil servant and was big on a ‘secure job’ and wanted Hitler himself to go into the civil service as some kind of secure Government worker. This is far from the fantasies of the likes of you who never feels the need to find out anything much about anything like a Fox News blowhard you are content to ‘mouth off’. In general reading Mein Kampf I was stuck by how ‘normal’ a family he had he seemed to have been very close to his mother and even his father not any unusual problems. He called his father the ‘old gentleman’ and though I did not get the feeling they were close they was no hint of any kind of abuse or violence. All of these ‘stories’ I read when I was young about how he was beaten everyday and how that turned him into some kind of monster seems to be the usual lies and nonsense that has become such a big ‘industry’ and you as a lazy consumer of ‘fake news’ pretty much swallow it all so that you can then regurgitate it back on us. You are such a know nothing as far as ‘solve your own problems’ advice why didn’t you ever solve yours. Why not solve your problems instead of going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on about ‘abolishing money’.
Patrick: It seems that in many ways I bug you also. However, you are correct, I never read “Mein Kampf”.
I love “mouthing off” this blog gives me that opportunity. I take it, you don’t like anyone “mouthing off”?
Just as you go on and on about Jews or Judaism, I go ‘mouthing off; about getting rid of that one major inhibitor, that is preventing us from being our true selves:- M O N E Y
On another issue unrelated to you OR anyone here, and that is about the “Fake Revealer”: Trump. It seems he and his administration are adamant that Michael Cohen is a ‘pathological liar’
I see that as : “The kettle calling the frying pan, black”. I see others doing the same thing.
Jack
Daniel: I liked your comment here, but have a couple of questions and one remark of my own.
On stating:- “if deemed negative, are nothing but the continuation of colonialism and blaming the victim.” Could Israel be also one of those countries? I fully agree that all our human efforts to govern ourselves seem to be falling apart, which I feel is your reason for expanding the origin response to Renee.
I also agree:- “and has weakened academia in certain fields of study to the point of evaporating scholarship and deteriorating rigor in”, BUT should we look a little deeper into the very academia you mentioned. I contend we ought, based on the premise that A. S. Neill saw in education, wither it be early childhood or Universities?
My personal Feeling/remark:- I thought the creation of Israel, by mainly the Brits and the US was a gross political mistake and has had some of the most profound consequences. I felt it was a mistake in-so-far as it punished a whole group of people, the Palestinians, for some underlying political reasons by the US and UK. I do not have any doubt that Jews have undergone some of the most horrific incidents down time, particularly by Christians and Christian nations.
The question I pose is:- Did giving the Jews resolve their problem? … I think/feel not. I don’t know how it should have been resolved or even if there is a good or perfect resolution. I do not feel creating a nation of their/your own did so. Just MY opinion.
Jack
And you are careful as always to see Christians as more to ‘blame’ than Jews. In that way also you know what side your bread is buttered on. You and pretty much the whole world now. And it’s mostly all ‘received wisdom’ put out by the likes of CNN, the BBC etc……….aka Zionist propaganda. So you will ‘pose’ but deep down you always line up with the ‘winners’
Patrick: It is not my intent to BLAME anyone or anything. My intent is to state MY feelings on all matters … nothing more, nothing less.
I’m curious:- How do you KNOW humans never went to the moon?
It’s your ‘knowing’ I question
Jack
Nice to hear from you Daniel. Your posts are intellectually stimulating as always. They introduce me to philosophical concepts that I don’t normally use to organize my thoughts. To try to grasp what is the point this time that you want to get across I had to reread your comment a couple of times. As I perceive it, the gist of what you are worried about is that our current era of post-modernism has given birth to a culture of political correctness in the West that has eroded academic vigor (I take it you mean in reference to the humanities) and moral values, such that we can no longer rely on our elites (I assume you are referring to intellectual elites trained in the liberal arts) to lead society toward a cultural outcome more desirable for most if not all.
My insight from recent reading is that the elites (here I am referring to those who have power and wealth) tend to drive social change in ways that secure and increase their power and wealth, and if that means subverting morals, facts and science to attain more power, many will, regardless of whatever philosophical movement is called upon to define the times. Societal counter currents, weak or strong, try to resist the consolidation of power and wealth into the hands of the few. It has been that way in every society that gave up a hunting and foraging lifestyle for a settled, ‘domesticated’ one. As disparity between the rich and the not rich grows, and it always has, the less cohesive, more fractious, or more repressive the society becomes.
After WWII inequality has been on the rise in the West. It does feel like there are disturbing trends in some of Western society towards revisionist ideas about what is true and moral. I fear that if the powerful elite who lead us completely abandon morals and values, and go even so far as to abandon the truths and idealized objectivity of science and engineering, we are doomed to a dark period of ignorance and suffering. I cynically think that some of the powerful won’t care about the plight of us commoners so long as they can surround themselves with their henchmen to maintain their privilege. When I was young I never believed it could happen in western democracies, but now I do.
Geez, I honestly believe what I wrote just above, and now I feel, uhm, scared that I believe it and wrote it. I feel that in writing it I’m breaking my bubble of numb naivete.
Larry: That you are believing it; I get a sense of why. All this elitism is something that does not have to be … in-so-far as, why are there Elites, and what purpose do they perform? I suspect Daniel was hinting at the very same thing.
I pose it somewhat differently, but means the same. “why do we humans set one person above another and for what purpose??????” We might can call it post modernism, but as I see it …. it’s one of those “back of the mind” things OR a Subconscious factors..
So! what is it that is at the back of our minds. My take:- Nothing as we’ve set up our social communal living is working … we’re beginning to realise we’re all one and this this national, religious, cultural, gender, preferences, relationships to one another, is not working out. We get a sense that those we’ve left in charge are not capable; and worse still no-one seems to know a way forward.
Put by Jung:- there is a collective unconscious. For all of us we are still assuming each one of us, knows best. Alas, it’s not up to ME or any other me. there are 7 billion ‘mes’ out there. We sure need to get along and by getting along; allowing all the others we come in contact with, to be themselves … instead of all this:- letting others fix it for us.
Jack
Larry, I like the way you start to probe into some of this stuff. I think it is probably a lot ‘worse’ that you imagine for example it is not only in the ‘humanities’ you have all this kind of stifling from my ;point of view even MORE dangerous is the science and medicine is largely very corrupted. Right now our kids are being poisoned for life with vaccines for example and we are all being irradiated by wifi and other worst stuff to come. I don’t know if you have delved in the 5G issue………………not a good story at all. Anyway I think the ‘hard’ sciences have also largely succumbed. You mention WW2 the way I see it from then on ‘lies’ have ruled the day starting with the big ‘message’ we are all supposed to take from that war. The wrong message…………….imo
I disagree with you, Patrick. I think Larry’s radar is just fine on the issues you mention.
When you say that “lies have ruled the day”, I think you are talking about your history, once again. Yes…..you sure did yet the “wrong message”. And you keep letting us blog readers know that.
Patrick: Some quotes; “I think it is probably a lot ‘worse’ that you imagine for example it is not only in the ‘humanities’ you have all this kind of stifling from my ;point of view even MORE dangerous is the science and medicine is largely very corrupted.” Corrupted!!!! in what way? If you are suggesting the corruption factor is due to profit, I agree. So is there a way out of the profit/corruption factor??.
“Right now our kids are being poisoned for life with vaccines for example and we are all being irradiated by wifi and other worst stuff to come.” How does this suffering by kids manifest itself? What is all this “irradiated by wifi”, doing to your brain. OR are you running around with foil over your scull?
“Anyway I think the ‘hard’ sciences have also largely succumbed.” To what has it succumbed to?
“You mention WW2 the way I see it from then on ‘lies’ have ruled the day ” What particular lies AND who is deciding what is a ‘Lie’ and what is the ‘Truth’. The one person I read that is doing a lot of deciding is Patrick Griffin. What credibility does he (PG) have?
Jack
Yes Patrick, I’ve read a little about 5G technology and am concerned. I wish we as a society were more cautious and did more research on possible harmful effects before any new technologies or chemicals are introduced to public use, but the prospect of making profits by meeting public need seems to drive companies to push these things forward sometimes before thoroughly researched, the philosophy being if anything goes wrong deal with it later.
By the way I somewhat sympathize with you on your anti-vaccine stance. I understand the theory of how vaccines are supposed to work, and vaccinations have saved many tens or hundreds of thousands or more of lives. I’m glad that when I was a child I received the polio and smallpox vaccine. Because I have asthma I’m more at risk of serious consequences from getting the flu, especially the older I get (and I am already old). Nevertheless I’ve intentionally never had a flu shot. For one thing I”m allergic to eggs, which are a component in the making of the vaccine, so even my doctor advises against my getting a flu shot. But also I’ve read of some research that cautions that getting the flu shot yearly is not necessarily the best thing for the immune system, and that maybe how it acts on our immune system and the long term effects are not fully researched and understood yet. For instance, in the previous outbreak of H1N1, some Canadian researches discovered that people who regularly got the flu shot were more susceptible to H1N1 than were people who never got the flu shot. Instead of a flu shot, I do whatever I learn that can help my immune system to combat the germs and viruses that invade our bodies. This winter so far I’ve only had a couple of mild colds that were gone in a day. I haven’t had the flu in decades, although when I did it sure scared me because recovery was so difficult and I got a clear sense of how a bad flu could lead to a heart attack or rheumatic fever. Each autumn I feel conflicted about whether or not to get the flu shot, and I inevitably fall back on my allergies for an excuse not to. I’m receptive to any new reliable research that would convince me more strongly for or against getting the flu vaccine.
Patrick I appreciate your explaining that it’s your opinion that lies ruled the day following WWII. I don’t need to say this, but if you were a close friend and if I thought you cared for my opinion, I would tell you that i worry that you are at risk of falling over the edge. Taking the lead from Renee, for me the truth of what you say is that lies had a big impact on your life.
Larry: The line that struck me in this comment of yours was, that there are consequences to all these chemicals and vaccines …. Larry there are consequences to EVERYTHING, and and I mean every-thing. Even profit, laws, doctors, and yelling at ones partner.
I too never take a flu shot, because on the three times I did, I got the flu; so I refused them and I’ve never had flu since … BUT that does not mean I can draw ANY conclusion that applies to anyone else. It’s just how the “fucked-up me crumbles”.
I saw the clip Phil posted of the CIA pilot who is claiming that there are humanoids on the moon some 22,000 or so. It’s not my sense of what’s taking place on the moon … and the only concern I have about the moon is:- that last night the moon was shining so bright it lit up the garden and was a beautiful sight to look at. It’s highly possible that it was a total illusion on my part, and if some one informs me later today that last night there was no moon, then I will take it into consideration … that I had hallucination.
We all get “bee in our bonnet”, “a flee in the ear” as the saying goes”. Mine’s anarchy. So we seek order. But there is little order out there, as far as I can tell Seemingly we’re all afraid of chaos … perhaps due to the utter chaos of our childhood. Seems we’re forever trying to create order I see Trump doing it and the consequences, to me is:- he’s creating chaos.
Nuff said
Jack
Yes I concede that is a factor Larry (lies that were told to me) but I don’t think it is that helpful to ‘reduce’ it to that. You could look at it another way I am ‘sensitive’ to lies and liars and my experience as a child even strengthened that. So rather than seeing it as a ‘problem’ it could be seen as a strength. I for the most part do see it that way. Plus it takes courage to stand on the ledge and even ponder falling over the edge. That is my fate and maybe we could say my character not for me the go along to get along mentality. Enough people are doing that already. I think Renee (one of the few) at least can see that. I have heard no talk of ‘banning’ from her unlike some others here.
Patrick: To quote you:- “So rather than seeing it as a ‘problem’ it could be seen as a strength.”
I suspect it’s more of you desperately HOPING that it’s a strength. Seemingly to me, and perhaps most of us here, see it as a perverse thinking on your part.
You are very quick to point out MY flaws, but it appears, are very pissed when I point out what I feel, are your flaws/foibles.
Donald Trump does the very same thing. He’s so determined to PROVE he’s right and above it all, when the unintended consequences of his whole Presidency is just more chaos. Not a terrible thing in-an-of-itself, since I see it as the inevitable downfall of yet another empire/superpower, falling from grace.
I get a sense that most of us humans on the planet have a deep seated sense that there is much amiss The problem, as I see it, we are looking for a fix, but in all the wrong places. Like those farmers I met in Ibiza, they just wanted to be totally left alone to do their thing. I think we’re all slowly coming round to feeling the very same thing. The problem, as I see it is: we’re hoping someone else has THE fix. There is no FIX, merely just for us each to stop trying to fix it, by fixing others, and not seeing that we need, ALL OF US, to fix ourselves first.
Jack
Yes in some ways it could be seen as a strength as you say, but from another point of view it could be seen as a weakness. Standing on the edge could be seen as taking courage as you suggest, or it could be seen as taking the easy route. I agree yes it’s your fate for you to not go along, if that’s what you want it to be.
Daniel, First let me say that I’m glad to have you back on the blog. Both your comments were very interesting and I’m always glad to have your perspective. To be fair I would not call that a “continued” exchange but rather a response. I personally don’t think it should be assumed that because you are a white male that you are more biased than the next human. We all have bias I’m sure. Still I believe there are times, at least once in a while, where there is absolutely truth and reality. The earth is most definitely round! Gretchen
Gretchen: Oh! I thought it was spherical I stand corrected. 🙂 🙂
Jack.
BTW I want to make clear I never claimed the Earth was flat or anything like that……………I just said we never went to the Moon. Big difference.
Addendum: For me, IF the American government, or NASA staged the moon landing, then they were putting themselves in a very precarious position, and would have to do more than just an epic Hollywood production, plus: Russia would figure out early, that it was merely a Hollywood type Production.
On the other hand; the ‘moon landing deniers’ don’t have to do much, other than put out the story that it was a hoax. Not even needing to PROVE it.
Jack
The same applies to all the “deniers” of whatever.
Jack
Jack, that makes the rabbit hole a bit deeper. The Russians WOULD have and DID know about it. Just as they would and did know about ‘nukes’. So………….that puts the whole Right/Left thing in a new light. The cold war was about as fake as the war on terror. They are all wars against the goyim and ways to fleece all their money off them in spending on weapons and all the rest of it and keeping them fighting each other
BTW there is strong evidence that the original Russian in space Yuri Gargarian was hoaxed also. So yes the Russians were in on it from the beginning. Both sides were controlled by Jews that is the common factor and all the big wars of the 20th were un-necessary fratricidal wars among White people just as the wars of this century are un-necessary fratricidal wars among Arabs. Same perpetrators in both instances, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it. A ‘war’ between say Saudi Arabia and Iran makes about as much sense as a war between the UK and Germany …………..that is no sense at all. Just total waste in the ‘interests’ of others. Sad and terrible.
Hilarious. This should be a meme. The Patrick meme.
FYI, La Casa de Maria posted a photo of San Ysidro Creek flowing swiftly but healthily today, and indicated that with all the week’s storms, they suffered no more damage, thus far. So the Santa Barbara area is cautiously optimistic.
An odd occurrence to day. I am sitting in the doctor’s waiting room and a woman who sort of knows me (she went to school with my older brother) and recognizes me I know almost nobody around here. I was ‘gone’ a long time even before America I went to boarding school so was not around here. Anyway we chat a bit and talk about being ‘homesick’ she asked me if I was. I say yes and she says we all suffer from that the Irish she means. I say yes it’s like a plague and she agrees and says even any bit of land the people want to hang onto to it forever. I said ok that’s another example is it………and then mention how what I notice since I have come back is this haste to get rid of all tradition and all the ‘old’ stuff. She goes yes it drives her crazy too. So I go yeah like this global warming we keep hearing about it seems to be a way to discourage the people here turn them against their traditional ways of farming and eating and everything. She goes yeah I am not sure it if even exists and I go I feel the same way. So we chat about that for a while her grandson is studying environmental engineering in College and she argues with him about all this ‘green agenda’. So I’m thinking I like this lady she has a spark to her and an independence to her thinking.
This is the odd bit and I swear with no prompt from me whatsoever she goes ‘you know what else I don’t believe in’? I go what?. That we went to the Moon. I go OMG I feel the same way. I ask her why exactly she came to that conclusion. She say IF they had ever gone there by now there would be thousands if not millions of us going there now, instead nobody has ever been back there. Bingo! I said that’s one of the best arguments against it. We chat for a while but am aware I will be called real soon
I charge ahead I go you know what else I don’t believe in. She goes what I go the ‘holocaust’ She pauses she is inclined to believe in that she ‘knows’ someone of of someone but can’t seem to recall. I go let’s just say it is very exaggerated she does not seem convinced.
Then I go I have something else I don’t believe in. What? Nuclear weapons…………she goes what about Japan I go those cities were bombed to smithereens like all the rest. Then I was called so had to stop I wish I had asked her to meet me afterwords. It’s not often I meet a kindred spirit around here and or anywhere else for that matter
Patrick,
why thousands or millions haven’t gone to the moon by now? Well, it really sucks as a tourist destination, no atmosphere, no beaches, just a bunch of rocks. I think it’s over rated as a getaway, Mars too.
I take your point Phil. But at the same time……………don’t you think if we could do it safely and pretty much without a glitch what 6 times in the late ’60’s some let’s say really rich folk would want to do it just for fun? I actually think that is a strong argument that we did not go there the fact that nobody has been back. Think of anything else that was some kind of technological break through…………..don’t they build and build on it. For example the transistor or computer chip. The whole Moon trail has gone really cold for some reason! I actually think a similar argument works against ‘nukes’ they have ALSO never been used since even longer than the Moon thing. Humans as nasty as they are WILL and WOULD have used such a weapon…………………if it ever existed. IMO it didn’t and doesn’t.
Phil: Yeah! a very good reason …. among the hundred of others.
Jack
Renee,
yes, I would love to read it, thanks!!
M
Jack, I’m glad I could give you a chuckle today with my ‘radar’ word. I will reciprocate with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izAqFoLtzKM. I think this is the Fawlty Towers episode you were referring to. I should tell you that Fawlty Towers is the only TV show that I have literally laughed from beginning to end, with no breaks!
Renee: Yep! that’s the one. Boy! you’re great at getting all this stuff on the blog.
Jim and I had a bout this morning on “I know nothing” .
Jack
You no longer wish to be part of the educated elite.,,, no worry Patrick
Patrick, here is the answer to the meaning of Dylan’s ‘Positively 4th Street’, both the title and the song. http://www.edlis.org/twice/threads/positively_4th_street.html.
I thought of you when I read this in the above link: “On the videotape of the December 1965 press conference, someone tells Dylan he’s hard on people in a lot of his songs — “Rolling Stone,” and “Fourth Street” — and asks, “Are you hard on them because you want to torment them, or because you want to change their lives and make them know themselves?” Dylan screws up his face into a very serious and rather demonic grin and says, “I want to needle them.” Both you and Dylan are skilled in the area of needling. Sometimes I wish that if you are going to continue with your needling, you could do it with Dylan-esque style poetry. Or create your own ‘Patrick-esque’ poetry.
Renee, that’s one of the nicest things I have heard in a long while. To me at least I feel a bit ‘understood’ and I mean being compared to Bob Dylan is not bad, not bad at all. And you put your finger on something I feel I have a lot to say but no real way to say it. I was actually thinking about this yesterday how we never hardly ‘played’ as kids, what I mean is kids find outlets they like drawing, music whatever…………….it’s like we had so little to be able to ‘express’ anything no medium only raw feelings. That was true a bit in Irish culture generally I think and therefore they went in for a lot of ‘story telling’ had many famous writers etc. But say compared to Europeans the Dutch with their painters or the Italians with their architecture etc. Anyway as Margaret says it is what it is but having a lot to say and no real way of saying it is not fun. At least I feel you can kind of see that…………….plus makes a nice change from the likes of ‘primal jack’ the Ayatollah of the PI with his ‘solve your own problems’ bucket of water back in my face……
Patrick: Just Primal Jack here to say:- I thought you made some huge revelations about yourself, in this last comment, talking about your childhood and lack of connectedness, which must surely have hurt you in many ways, even if, at that time, you were not able to explain it. I suspect somewhere in there, was what brought you all the way from Brixton to the US.
Jack
‘The kids couldn’t hurt Jack/though they tried, tried,tried/they couldn’t stop the water from lapping/ and here is my bit ‘they couldn’t stop his lips from flapping/though they tried, tried, tried. At least I have done to no effect lol
I’m glad I could help you feel understood, Patrick. Your statement that, “we never hardly ‘played’ as kids, what I mean is kids find outlets they like drawing, music whatever…………….it’s like we had so little to be able to ‘express’ anything no medium only raw feelings”, made me sad. I think childhood is playhood and if we don’t get enough time to play when are younger, we somehow pay the price later as adults.
That said, I am glad that you decided to take me up on my suggestion to put your words into poetry, like Dylan did. Great song choice, BTW. I wanted to check and see if you are open to feedback from myself and others on your new and developing skill or not. While it can feel like being evaluated, feedback can also be a valuable tool to help us grow.
Sorry, people, I’m still thinking in songs. One of the themes today is that of ‘lies’. And there are just so many songs on this subject. Here are just three: Fleetwood Mac: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCGD9dT12C0; Thompson Twins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuv4f-AmKE4; and Shakira (to remind us that while our minds might lie, our hips never do): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUT5rEU6pqM.
The other day, Patrick asked my views on why Freud rejected his first theory, based on the reality of child abuse, specifically sexual abuse, and even more specifically (although not exclusively) on the sexual abuse of girls. It was a while ago that I studied this and I don’t feel like trying to remember all the details. But one of the main reasons you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ6y_Rk-ZgE&t=7s. (4 min.) Basically, his very patriarchal society was so not ready to face this truth and he was shunned by the medical community at that time. And he was in no way ready to reach out to the early women’s movement for support. (It could be argued that over 100 years later, today, this truth is still not readily faced.) In many ways, though, I don’t think Freud was ready to face this truth he discovered either. For anyone who wants to understand how sticking with this truth would have negatively impacted his friendships, his own family of origin, his ability to grieve his father’s death at that time, and other reasons, you can read the book “The Assault on Truth” by Jeffrey Masson. A fascinating read, IMO.
The only got one thing right in that clip: Freud’s name.
Renee, that’s interesting but there might be another way to look at this also. Freud was describing mostly his Jewish milieu and it was unacceptable and shocking to a lot of his contemporary Christian society well because Christian society mostly actually was not like that. They found it shocking and for a good reason. That is why I am a great believer now in ‘specifics’ we can get carried away with debating theories etc but often without the specific historical context. Marx is another case in point , he came from a long line of Rabbis, he was very ‘Jewish’ and most of this stuff about sweeping away the state the bourgeoisie etc was almost just code for Judaic hatred and aggression for the socialites they found themselves in the middle of and hated and wanted to destroy. I would say in fact that is how it played out in history, if you see what the Bolsheviks/Jews did to Christian Russia I think you might be somewhat convinced. But then of course it becomes an argument was their ‘hatred’ justified or was it mostly their own hatred of it seems all life due to their childhood traumas especially circumcision. Which Christian societies from the very beginning abhorred. St Paul is very strong on the subject and it was line a line of demarcation of the difference between a Jew and a Christian. This has unfortunately changed in modern times as the Jewish influence has grown and grown and the Christian has declined we have a situation at least in the UK and America where it is very common indeed…………………and co-incidentally or not these are the 2 worst war makers and aggressors in modern times. Just saying again…………..
Patrick: If ever anyone conflates apples with oranges, you do just that with:- “difference between a Jew and a Christian. This has unfortunately changed in modern times as the Jewish influence has grown and grown and the Christian has declined we have a situation at least in the UK and America where it is very common indeed…………………and co-incidentally or not these are the 2 worst war makers and aggressors in modern times. Just saying again…………..”.
Christianity and Judaism as religious beliefs, are fading in both religions and most people are now secular. Both are now cultures.
Islam will, I contend follow the same transition/trajectory.
What I hope and contend, is that our cultural differences will just fade away and we’ll (hopefully) just see ourselves as fellow creatures. That I feel and hope will be the case for religion, gender, race, and nationality,
These very divisions we’ve set up for ourselves eon ago (after IMO, we became neurotic). It’s exactly why, if we could go back to abolishing all these dividing factors, we’d actually automatically eliminate neurosis. Yep!!! I agree, a thought provoking notion, BUT not impossible if most of us can get beyond the “two second dismissal” of the idea.
Jack
I happened to see this today: https://worldtruth.tv/the-moon-has-over-250-million-citizens-claims-a-former-cia-pilot/
See now Phil I don’t sound so ‘crazy’ after all. At least there are people ‘crazier’. To be a bit serious I would wonder about a guy like that maybe being a pilot and basically living and working in very artificial environments involving massive exposure to artificial electric and magnetic field, radar etc and just maybe being off the earth and it’s magnetic fields etc…..did he basically go ‘crazy’ Quite likely imo. He is obviously a ‘smart’ guy but it seems a crazy one. Still I could relate to his idea the the Earth is actually a prison planet which is just there for ‘punishments’. Certainly a lot of people are being ‘punished’ and as much as we can see totally ‘innocent’ people often punished the most. Some people speculate that the amount of evil being done almost has to have an origin that is not completely ‘human’ or human in the way we think of it a being capable of empathy etc. Some of the agendas we see seems to have no ’empathy’ whatever in them. Like could just ‘money making’ alone explain say vaccination esp of children or is there an even crueler agenda at work. Or is all just pure ‘ignorance’.Any answer is not likely to be totally satisfying.
Patrick,
Patrick, yes he may be pretty crazy, and it’s not reassuring to know he was in the CIA. He also that these moon dwellers are alien humanoids. If that’s the case, I wonder if we should let them immigrate here. If they were to arrive by spaceship, no wall could keep them out. Trump said in a speech today that the wall in San Antonio is working. The thing is though, San Antonio is 150 miles from the Mexican border and has no wall. He said this when announcing his big proposal today about a deal with the Democrats for wall funding, which they quickly rejected. Phil
Well Phil if it’s any ‘white’ country in the West we probably will be told we somehow ‘owe’ the aliens to be let in for some terrible things we did to them in the past. I am sure something can be cooked up ‘imperialism’ against former aliens. Something, anything to bring down any existing ‘white’ societies and make them more ‘diverse’ and ‘tolerant’ blah blah blah
Patrick: We’re all crazy. Who decides who is crazy and who is not. I sure ain’t me.
I even thought you were crazy to spend 17 hours a day, 7 days a week, running you business.
BUT who I am I to say you were????
Jack
Phil: I too watched Trump trumping along in that speech … then watched the responses from the commentators. the Repubs, though he threw it all back onto the Dems. The Dems just thought it was the same old,same old Trumpty.
I thought, “Poor guy … he knows not what he’s saying, and little realizing how he comes across”
Jack
Where are you going now my love? Where will you be tomorrow?
Will you bring me happiness? Will you bring me sorrow?
Oh, the questions of a thousand dreams, what you do and what you see
Lover, can you talk to me?
Girl, when I was on my own, chasing you down
What was it made you run, trying your best just to get around?
The questions of a thousand dreams, what you do and what you see
Lover, can you talk to me?
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Good stuff Otto.
Today I attended a West Coast Swing ballroom dance workshop. It was held in a high school gym. There were about 70 participants plus instructors. I attended two lessons, of 1 ½ hours each with a 15 minute break in between. The instructors use a system where participants partner up and line up into three rows of partnered pairs across the gym. After the lesson starts, we change partners every few minutes when instructed that the lady or man move on to the next partner in the row. By the end of a lesson I’ll end up having danced with 25 or so different ladies a few times.
I was such a scared, tense person when I began taking ballroom dance classes more than a decade ago. In comparison I can tell how much more at ease in my life I now feel than I did then. I’m way more at ease in being with the various people, talking with the women and learning and rehearsing the patterns together. I able to experience so much more of the depth of joy that can be had from the social interaction and the unspoken emotional and physical connection and communication that goes with ballroom dancing. The pleasure from dancing with, momentarily holding, and talking with my partners today awakened in me a reminder of our human (dare I say mammalian) need for physical and emotional closeness with someone, and the mutual joy from the need being met.
Later at home, awakened by the memory of the physical and emotional intimacy I once knew, I cried more expansively than ever for my wife who is no more than dispersed atoms now. I cried in deep acknowledgement of the vacuum in my life and the enormous hurt that she for a long time now no longer exists, while I am still capable of and deserve rich emotional and physical connection, and that there is a woman somewhere out there who we would find are right for each other if I would be open to it.
Larry, that ballroom dancing sounds like a great way to meet people. There must be someone right for you out there. I hope you can find her.
Larry: I sure hope you find that lady partner that’s right for you. Your recognition of your progress over the years I feel, say a great deal about this therapy.
Good luck Larry
not sure what i feel. disappointment. lonely, blah, doing chores, washing dishes, checking out leak in water pipe, get rid of kid’s old car so landlord can paint the side of the house. feels empty like when my grandma rushed around the house and did housework and ignored me, for many many years. shoved down a feeling yesterday driving wife home from her job monthly conference upon hearing maggie may on radio. that was a dog we had, maggie, that disappeared one day in 1978 due to my drunken careless stupidity. had let her get pregnant too and then stupidly gave all pups away to some dick who probably did something horrendous to them. i could hear them callijng me laterf on, once or more but was advisedthat was not really real. also a time of breakup with z when my drinking and death of her father left us both insane. blah. rain is gone and what. emptiness. sorrow sorrow sorrow.
Renee, I was just writing something here and was mentioning the idea the Paul McCartney was ‘substituted’ and then it hit me the Who’s song ‘Substitute’ one of my all times faves again. I always have liked the song and never associated with the ‘conspiracy theory’ in any way. BUT according to the Billy Shears book the Who were well aware of all that went on and that book does a whole de-construction of ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ and relates almost every line in that song to the ‘replacement’ idea. Anyway this one could also I checked and it was released in 1970 well AFTER the Beatles events in question. You probably know the song though it is not one of their most famous though I think it deserves to be
Patrick, it seems that you are becoming a song librarian here too. Cool. Here is an alternate interpretation of Substitute: http://justasong2.blogspot.com/2009/07/who-susbstitute.html. By the way, I couldn’t help but notice that the song contains the line,
“Substitute you for my mum, At least I’ll get my washing done”. This suggests two things me…… Pete Townshend was having problems with his mother who was refusing to do his washing because she felt he was old enough to do it himself (good for her!), and that the washing machines in England do indeed work. They are not stuck on the rinse cycle, like in Ireland. Just in case you were looking for solutions:)
Renee, I notice you interpret the thing about his washing the way I understand it also. BTW I am not trying to say this song is ‘about’ the Paul thing, it is obviously about a lot of other things. But Pete Townsend like a lot of creative people has a great knack of evoking many different things in the same words. Like the ‘Don’t get fooled again’ goes on about ‘the parting on the Left is now the parting on the Right’ which is obviously about Right/Left political stuff but some people have pointed out the replacement Paul parted his hair in the opposite way to the new one. Leaving aside how true or not that is Townsend seems to be working in stuff like that. Like several meanings in the same words. And again speculating here if this happened to the Beatles and others like the Who, Rolling Stones, Donovan etc knew about it………………well it would be a big thing indeed and they would naturally work into the words of some of their songs. Another example the Stones ‘Ruby Tuesday’ some words ‘she would never say where she came from/Yesterday don’t matter when it’s gone’…………..Billy Shears book says ‘she’ is a disguise for ‘he’ Paul that is and then the reference to ‘Yesterday’ will that means yesterday but also evokes the song ‘yesterday’……………..just saying again……………..
Patrick, if we interpret Pete’s line in the same way, does that mean you also think that all men in their 20s should be doing their own washing? (Or just Pete.) And can we assume that you were doing your washing when you were in your 20s? Also, does that mean that you will start making some trips across the Irish sea to use the washing machines in England? Just want to clarify what it is we are agreeing on.
Larry, I don’t bother getting the flu vaccine but I do give it consideration every year. Those vaccines have to be reformulated annually according to the strain of flu predicted to emerge. I have been doing well avoiding infections and lack motivation to get vaccinated with it. Phil
Daniel, when I reflected on my response to your long message to me, I realized that I was neither being honest with myself, nor with you. I wondered why, if I felt confident to challenge you on some of your beliefs and ideas, I could not handle you challenging me on mine. I realized that I was being hypocritical. When I responded to you, I was in reaction mode. All I knew at the time was that it sounded like you were trying to make me ‘wrong’, so you could be ‘right’. Which made our interaction not enjoyable to me and I just wanted to end it. When I was later able to become curious about my reaction, I could see just how triggered I was. How you came across to me, was exactly how my older brother did, and still sometimes does. When this happens, I instantly shut down. I instantly felt/feel that my viewpoint cannot co-exist with his. And this is not even a conscious decision. It just happens. Over the past few days, I have been remembering how bad he could/can make me feel. He saw and sees my views as stupid, pathetic, irrelevant, ignorant, something to be made fun of and ridiculed, etc. The effects of being treated like this have been huge on me. I have a belief that I am not worth listening to and that I have nothing of value to offer anyone. I need to consciously override this belief in order to share my thoughts and ideas with others. I think we all have core issues that we spend our lives working on. This is definitely one of mine. So I wanted to thank you for helping me in this “chipping away” process of so many layers of pain. My hope is that, at some point, I can actually respond as an adult to your message to me.
Wow I respect you Renee for your self-reflection and your sharing of what you feel it revealed about you that you don’t like. Seems like pretty adult behaviour to me.
I too liked your comment Larry. I would say that my beef is primarily with academia and only secondarily with politics. Politics and politicians have their own constraints and manifestly political agenda whereas academia does not. Or should not. Academia was erected to study the world as it is, to advance our knowledge about realities physical, biological, social and psychological. Do I think, as Renée suggested, that there is in the social sphere a completely “neutral and bias-free Truth”? No, I don’t. Truth, as knowledge, is always partial and of course can be and many times is subjective. However, that is something the seeker of truth should be aware of and take under consideration rather than use it to undermine or even prevent his or her truth-seeking.
But post-modernism in general and Edward Said and his followers in particular went much further than that. In his highly original, brilliantly argued, but historically fallacious book (“Orientalism”), Said dealt a harmful and destructive blow to scholarship and intellectual life in the West by claiming that the mere pretestion to study the East means to “construct” it as a colonial object. The very act of such research positions, as it were, the West and the East at the two opposing ends of a figurative microscope: The West “constructs itself” as an investigating subject peering down the lens onto the passive and exotic indigenous objects squirming helplessly and without agency on the microscope slide. To systematically study the East, as was the practice in Oriental Studies back then, is to replicate and solidify those power relations.
Said’s ideas were carried over from literary criticism (whence he came) to other field of studies, such as cultural studies, Oriental studies, Post-colonial studies, Woman’s studies, etc. with the same agenda: uncovering the power relations (always the same one) inherent in the respective fields of study: If we described what we think is reality, we’re told, we would only entrench that reality and reinforce the power relations in it.
The brilliance and originality of these ideas were and are very stimulating intellectually and they took academia by storm. However, they went too far. Unlike former social critics (Western Marxists, for example), the post-modernists didn’t settle for the important idea that we must free ourselves from lies hiding the oppressive realities. No, we must go a step further and free ourselves also from the truth.
It is not enough, for example, to write about women as they actually were – for instance, by known categories such as ‘working women’, ‘mothers’, ‘citizens’, etc. Such writing does not effectively challenge those categories and their definitions as, we’re told, it should. The work of the historian, therefore, can no longer be limited to uncovering new information about women; he or she cannot be faithful to the past alone. For exposing the past as it was only perpetuates its power relations, and is instrumental in creating gender relations in the present.
Regardless of how brilliant the ideas, this is how academic scholarship turns into political agenda, how the historian’s commitment to the past is traded for a commitment to the future. The historian must no longer describe the past as it was but undermine it in order to create narratives that will serve current politics and will be judged not by their factuality but by the “empowerment” they provide to an oppressed group. And I don’t mean in an op-ed he or she may write but in their academic research and teachings.
As an aside, such an attitude would be thrown out the door at the PI. I’m a student of Janov -Vivian Janov that is – and Barry Bernfeld. On my first interview with Vivian she told me: “There is one pain you can never get over, and that is the pain you cause your children”. Boom. Personal accountability right at the outset. Nobody else to blame and nowhere to run.
And during the first days of my intensive I used to arrive a bit late to my appointments. Then one day I was right on time but had to go to the bathroom and that session too began a bit late. “You’re going to piss away your feelings” Barry told me. The man had no mercy, but I was never late again. Then some months down the line, perhaps even years, I once described to him how my mother used to roam the house in her bra and panties, and how those panties were always frayed at the edges revealing more of her than I cared to see. If Barry felt I was looking for some way out of my distress by turning to him for help within seconds it became clear he wasn’t about to accept the mission and comply. “What is your underwear like?”, he asked. I can’t begin to tell you how frightening that question and that moment were for me. I’m not even sure I told him how disturbed his question made me. You see, my underwear at the time were also frayed at the edges, something I never gave a second thought to but now, at that very moment, was a catastrophe. This wasn’t your regular ‘Mother did this or that to me’. No, this was ‘Mother is inside me’.
The point is, there was no “empowerment”, no placating, just truth, naked and frightening truth. Truth sometimes is flattering and sometimes not. In hindsight, it is that facing the truth which down the line truly empowered me.
But back to post-modernism.
The implied directive to not say the truth takes refuge with the claim that there is no such thing as truth in the first place. But the result is that many students of, say, gender studies will not get a true picture of the past, not even of feminism itself. A friend of mine told me that she took a gender class while at Princeton. In it she learned a lot about the women’s rights movement and key progressive and abolitionist figures such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. But she heard not a word about the biggest women’s organization of the end of the 19th century, Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, a reactionary, at times racist, movement of Christian women who demanded the vote so they could outlaw sin, especially the consumption of alcohol. Such knowledge may help to better understand the past and even the current growing evangelical movement, but will not contribute to present and future empowerment and therefore will not be taught.
So how would one now investigate his or her subject matter when, say, the study of the Orient has turned into a prohibition on studying it? What would a researcher study if such study is deemed oppressive in itself? How will a man interested in the history of women study this subject without being accused of oppressing women just by studying them? Well, instead of uncovering the facts they should turn their academic look from the world (which is not really there) to the discourse that constructs it.
In his detailed book Said says hardly anything about the Arab and Muslim world, but only about the ways this world is portrayed by the West. According to him, assertions are not judged by their factuality but by the politics of those who make them; research should not be evaluated in relation to the world it studies but in relation to the researcher alone. So, if I say that the treatment of women in Yemen or Saudi Arabia is brutal and oppressive that assertion will not be judged by whether it depicts the reality over there but by whether my description is unflattering to the East and therefore is taking part in justifying its oppression by the West.
This is an open check, a sweeping license to reinvent the past, to twist reality, and distort anything we don’t like. It also has dire consequences for politics, because if you’re unwilling to apply your values and understanding to world events, you’re creating a vacuum that is quickly filled by the very forces wishing to destroy your values, both at home and abroad.
Does this mean we at the West should invade other countries in order to enforce our values upon them? Absolutely not (unless genocide is involved). But as for me, I still strongly believe and committed to the Western ideas of freedom, equality, natural rights, and the rule of law, and I apply them to all men and women anywhere.
(Thanks Gretchen for the support).
(Renée, just as I was about to post this I saw your comment to me. I appreciate your candor. Although I felt you needed to shut this exchange about post-modernism down not for a second did I lose my respect for you and your argumentation which is, from what I read, intelligent and curious and thought provoking. If I write long it’s because your words evoked rather than killed something in me. If I write hard it’s not to convince you that you are wrong. It’s a compliment).
Daniel, you are SO ready for a good reading of ‘Culture of Critique’ you have done pretty well there but channeling Barry I would say ‘Judaism is INSIDE you’ Maybe worth a look!
Patrick: If that is all you can say of Daniel’s piece, I find that pathetic.
I’ve asked you several times and seemingly you are unwilling, for your own reasons, to answer:- what do you suggest we do with Jews or Judaism to resolve the problem as you see it???
Jack
I don’t have a ‘fix’ all I can seem to do is lament what I see. Better people than me have puzzled over this but don’t seem to have a ‘fix’ either. It’s like trying to turn the clock back you know how hard that is
Patrick: thanks for your answer.
All I wonder is how do any of us resolve things that bug us. The only thing that comes to my mind is to feel whatever I am feeling about it, and express it the best way I know how.
If I stay with it for long enough; so far, I get some resolution. I’ve manage to do a lot of this in my relationship with Jim … so far it’s working for me.
Jack
Daniel: I read and re-read your long comment with interest especially with reference to the quotes here under.
quote:- “As an aside, such an attitude would be thrown out the door at the PI. I’m a student of Janov -Vivian Janov that is – and Barry Bernfeld. On my first interview with Vivian she told me: “There is one pain you can never get over, and that is the pain you cause your children”. Boom. Personal accountability right at the outset. Nobody else to blame and nowhere to run.”
That had the same effect on me, just you stating all that
Truth = My truth. I’m somewhat ambivalent about all this “Truth” and “False” stuff. there are 7 billion of us on the planet with 7 billion truths. Who decides? … Or, is there any point on deciding,
How about;- seeing the other guys truth as his/her feeling and to leave it at that. Unless, as Gretchen pointed out to me, they act upon their truth and cause others harm
Another quote:- “Well, instead of uncovering the facts they should turn their academic look from the world (which is not really there) to the discourse that constructs it.”
We’re so pre-occupied with “studies” and yet seemingly none of it serves much for us collectively and seemingly just help some, make their point by referring to these studies. Statistical studies, as I see them, are nothing more that JUST studies … mainly for those that ‘get off’ on studies … studying.
“This is an open check, a sweeping license to reinvent the past, to twist reality, and distort anything we don’t like. It also has dire consequences for politics, because if you’re unwilling to apply your values and understanding to world events, you’re creating a vacuum that is quickly filled by the very forces wishing to destroy your values, both at home and abroad.”
I agree with that one.
Your worst line to me is:- “I still strongly believe and committed to the Western ideas of freedom, equality, natural rights, and the rule of law, and I apply them to all men and women anywhere..”
I couldn’t agree less. they are just means to promote more and more neurosis, and why I see the very way out of our neurosis is:- by abolishing “the rule of law” and all that it entails.
Jack
Well Jack, I don’t know what you imagine the abolishing of the rule of law to be, but let me quote to you the great Thomas Hobbes who said that life outside society would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”.
Daniel: It takes looking outside the box of what we preconceive to imagine (for that is all we can do as of now), what it would be like. You mention one person, Hobbs, I can mention more than a dozen that thought ‘beyond the box’. If you wish to read my 30 page short book on the subject I will send you an e-copy of it if you email me at jackwaddington@yahoo.com.
Jack
Daniel, to be honest I’m not persuaded by your argument that the ideas of Said and Foucault as adopted by academia are the cause of a breakdown of morals and values and the undermining or even preventing of truth seeking. Well, maybe some academics are affected but not all. When I try to condense your long comment into a few phrases that I think capture your concerns, I choose your sentences following, that for me summarise the essence of your concerns: “Truth, as knowledge, is always partial and of course can be and many times is subjective. However, that is something the seeker of truth should be aware of and take under consideration rather than use it to undermine or even prevent his or her truth-seeking” and ”This is an open check, a sweeping license to reinvent the past, to twist reality, and distort anything we don’t like”.
It seems to me that through the centuries history was told through the eyes on our side, and our perspective fed a myth that extoled the virtues of our side. I don’t see it as a recent problem since the writings of Said and Foucault. Regarding academic discussion in general, to try to get a picture of the truth, I feel it’s necessary to read the point of view of many authors. I think that the reader has to decide on the competence and integrity of the author’s arguments and whether the author is conscious of and doing the best to present objective truth.
My friends say that I read a lot. I rarely read fiction. For decades I have read books on a variety of disciplines, biology, archeology, anthropology, history, evolution, neuroscience, all to help me understand how humanity got where it is today. My sense is that there is a consistency and integrity across the disciplines that I read across time that forms a body of work that keeps growing deeper and more insightful at understanding the truth of who we are and how we got here. I do appreciate that if researchers and analysts stop striving to get to the truth we are in big trouble.
Lastly I believe that values, morals, and a sense of justice have biological underpinnings, and rights and laws are a human construct that we confer to each other out of empathy and to optimize our getting along. Other than that I don’t see them as being truths.
Thank you for a stimulating discussion Daniel.
I agree with what you say here Larry, and again – my beef is more with academia that with politics. The problem with politics is that once it adopts an attitude that prevents it from defending our values because it’s not politically correct to see problems as they are, a vacuum is creates and all hell might break lose.
Just as the international vacuum invites reactionary forces and trends, so does the internal vacuum invite extreme elements. When democracy’s immune system is slow to initialize the forces that waking up in its stead are its enemies.
As we continue to speak a language of guilt and its consequent PC, the public rage will not coalesce as support for those who, for example, advised caution on immigration and assimilation of populations alien to Western customs, but increasingly to support those who preach hate at the far right. The price for blind and sanctimonious liberalism will emerge in the likes of Marine Le Pen in France, Victor Orbán in Hungary, Jarosław Kaczyński in Poland, the AfD in Germany, or a less clownish version of Donald Trump.
The fear of looking, for example, like an Islamophobe will open the door to real Islamophobes, and instead of sober realism we will be drowned in paranoia and hysteria.
Aren’t we already half way there?
Daniel and Larry,
US history shows that it’s possible to assimilate multicultural groups without the existing culture being destroyed. There is a backlash going on right now, but I think it actually has more to do with globalism than immigration, at least in the US. A reasonable level of immigration will be found which is acceptable for most people in the US and Europe.. Throughout history in this country, sentiments for and against immigration have gone up and down. In democratic countries leaders can’t be too far ahead of the opinions of the population, otherwise a reaction will occur. Europe apparently was not ready to assimilate all the recent Muslim immigrants. Yet, it should be remembered that the Western powers were responsible for many of the problems to begin with, and so should have to deal with the consequences by accepting people fleeing those countries. That is only fair, just, and humanitarian, not political correctness. Much the same argument can be made about people wanting to come across our southern border with Mexico. To let people in is part of our history and system, although less so for Europe, but it isn’t going to be able to exist in isolation from the rest of the world. or restart the Crusades.
The mess in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, has a lot to do with US led interventions. There have been so many unjust wars including in Vietnam, and Iraq.. The war in Afghanistan may have been justified to begin with, but it’s now going on for over 17 years. All of this relates to what I said in an earlier post about moral superiority. Western civilization was responsible for two world wars, and the weapons which may end up destroying all life on this planet. I don’t think that’s much to brag about, so I think that other cultures and societies are due more respect than they get.
Phil
Phil, I hope everything works out and multicultural groupls can continue to assimilate and coexist under one dominant culture as has been happening in the US, Canada and Europe. I think that kind of tolerance usually happens when economies are doing well and there is relative financial relative equality, but I fear not so much when economies are in decline and there is growing financial inequality.
Phil: I totally agree with most of what you wrote here. We in the west created, inadvertently, our current problem and the worst of it is in trying to fix them we create another set of problem and often don’t resolve those we set out to fix.
the one point I might take exception to:- “that most wars …….” I would rather say “All wars”.
Jack
Phil,
I actually pretty much agree with what you’re saying here. I do disagree with the claim: “Western powers were responsible for many of the problems to begin with”. Not because the West didn’t meddle and help screw things up over there, but because saying so without mentioning the centuries old Sunni – Shia conflict and how it played out in the so-called Arab Spring. The West only enabled he unleashing of this round. This is again, in my opinion, robbing those Arabs of agency and responsibility.
Daniel: From my perspective, I see the splintering of all religions,cultures and political affiliations as natural and normal. Just as there are many Jewish, Christian and Islamic sects, also cultures and political affiliations, designates to me that even at the family level there are those disagreement. It demonstrates,to me, the absurdity of rules, laws, committees creating those laws and all the trapping we’ve created to keep it all intact.
We could … if there was enough of a critical mass, scrap the whole thing. That idea of scrapping the whole system (establishment) is far from new and as I see it is rapidly coming to the fore.
To repeat myself as is my won’t:- we all know there”s something amiss … a childhood feeling, what we struggle with is thinking there is a fix. There are, as I see it, seven billion fixes out there. Mine and yours are just one of that seven billion.
Jack
Daniel, unlike you, I agree with Phil’s comment that “Western powers were responsible for many of the problems to begin with”. (Surprise surprise.) What you say about the Sunni-Shia conflict, I also disagree with because it is not centuries old, it is recent and it is political, as explained here: https://www.vox.com/2016/1/5/10718456/sunni-shia.
You speak of “robbing those Arabs of agency and responsibility”. Spoken by someone with a crystal clear Eurocentric lens. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/sep/09/foreignpolicy.iraq…..”the US supports corrupt and oppressive governments and is “opposing political or economic progress” because of its interest in controlling the oil resources of the region”.
Your argument reminds me of American outrage that the Russians might have meddled in their elections. Yet few ask for how many decades Americans have meddled in other country’s elections and been involved in regime changes in other countries. Sheer hypocrisy, IMO.
Renee: I take you point that the US and the UK have both done the same thing, in going after rescouse rather than freeing oppressed people. BUT that is seeing it all in the micro veiw,
The macro view requires a whole different way of thinking OR put more boldly; seeing it all through feelings. I am not saying here; “through old feelings”
Jack
My point, and I think you know it, wasn’t to get into Shia-Sunni history but to show that they, like all other groups of people, have issues of their own. But that’s “forbidden” to say lest you’d be considered not anti-colonial enough. And if you refuse to see that they have issues of their own, and just keep on blaming the Big-Bad-West, wouldn’t that take agency away from them?
Daniel, maybe I’m finally understanding your concern. If you are saying that Western liberal academia is turning a blind eye to the harmful oppressive morals and values of the people it feels guilty for having oppressed, and that the feeling guilty prevents Western liberal academia from seeking truth, and it constitutes failure of leadership and it is a problem, then I agree with you it is a problem given the given the argument that you’ve made. To be honest I’m not familiar with the academic humanities. I’m more at home with the sciences.
It may be not be only feeling guilty that is holding them back from seeking truth. It may also be the case that they are too weak-kneed to see ugly truth. According to Psychology Today, “Liberals take a more optimistic view (..than conservatives..) of the world as being somewhat more benign.”
Thank you Daniel for the interesting discussion and for taking the time to reply to me.
Renee,
sounds to me like he wanted to trade his girlfriend who did not do his laundry for his mom, who did at least that…
could be wrong, smiley.
maybe Paul liked washing dirty clothes, the first Paul or the second, not sure…
M
Well Margaret on a point of order as they used to say at the meetings…………I think you got that exactly backwards he in the song is saying to his girl friend she can be a ‘substitute’ for his Mom and adds at least he will get his washing done by his girl friend which he implies his Mom would not or did not do. At least that’s how I read it. So I will then kind of assume your little quip and mockery about the Paul thing is probably equally a bit off…………….just saying…………
Margaret, that was my interpretation too, as the singer is complaining about his girlfriend all the way through. And he says in effect, he would rather be at his mum’s, at least she would do his laundry. Isn’t that what moms sometimes do when we go home, feed us and do our laundry. Also the link that Renee put up shows that interpretation too, by Citizen K., that he would rather be with his mum, at least he would get his laundry done.
S
I was ‘thinking’ here we are coming up to the 50th Anniversary of the Moon ‘Landings/Hoaxes’………….the question is did we really go there at all?
It is also very close to the 50th Anniversary of the Primal Scream (1970) but it was going strong and gestating in 1969 so same year.
The question is did Janov really go to the Antipodes of the Mind’ AND come back again bringing all kinds of treasures. Or did he really not go there at all?
In the meantime people can feel inadequate or ‘failures’ for not making the journey in the classic way described but what if the original mission was pretty much hoaxed? Then that put’s the ‘failures’ in more perspective
I mean the Chinese and even NASA feels that just landing (forget about coming back) an UN-MANNED vehicle to be a great achievement. I take a similar message from primal therapy the likes of Jack loves to paint me as a ‘failure’ well I failed to do it in the classic way as shown in Kubrink’s ‘film’ or erm Janov’s book. I think of Jack like a spokesman for NASA which is short for Never A Straight Answer. He is the ‘house philosopher’ who finds all kind of ‘real world’ issues like vaccines, 5G etc etc whatever whatever as just impinging on his ideal world of ‘Primal Theory’. That is why he is in the end degenerate and just holds everything back. I guess he sees himself as some kind of Newton of the modern age a real pretender. Well I guess he WAS an actor. Something he never gave up.
The late ’60’s was a time of a lot of hype………………I think the Primal
Scream fits well into all that. Just saying once again today…………….
Short clip on the ‘Moon Hoax’ people can apply this to other different things at least I do………….
BTW I want to say to Daniel I do admire what he is trying to do. He seems to be after ‘truth’ and shows a lot of integrity. It’s just I feel he might take some stronger medicine get ‘red pilled’ for real. The roots of what he complains about go right back to a place he probably knows very well but I realize it’s easier said than done. Also it is always easier to ‘de-construct’ other cultures than your own though in all honesty I feel the Irish can do that fairly well. They never had the ‘burden of Empire’ they were the victims of Empire much more so know what it’s like to be the underdog.
“The fault, dear Brutus, is that we are underlings ……”
Jack
Patrick, with regard to your statement regarding the Irish being victims of Empire, I have a question. In John Lennon’s song, ‘The Luck of the Irish’, he says: “A thousand years of torture and hunger, Drove the people away from their land, A land full of beauty and wonder, Was raped by the British brigands”. I get the brutality of colonization and the gazillion levels of ‘raping’ that are involved with it, but I don’t think it started a thousand years ago. More like a few hundred years ago. So do you know what John was referring to here?
Well Renee maybe as a somewhat typical example of an ‘oppressed’ people and culture I do not know as much as I might or should. There is a level of shame which kept me and a lot of other Irish people away from our ‘real history’. It is too abject helpless and in the end ‘shameful’. But to give you a potted history England was invaded by the Normans in 1066 which is a very famous date. Anyway only a 100 years later they invaded Ireland in 1169. So your’e right that’s less than a thousand years in school we were often told 700 years. The Normans subdued Britain but never really Ireland. There was always a conflict first centered on language later on religion. But a lot of bad stuff happened the Famine being the worst (1840’s) the population was halved by that event. Lots starved, fled , immigrated etc etc. But apparently there was quite a bit of ‘white slavery’ of the Irish from Cromwell’s time (1640) and many were sold into slavery in the Caribbean etc. This sort of coincided with the slavery of Blacks to the same areas. There was a lot of conflict about land also, the landlords who were typically English owned the land and the peasants suffered pretty badly under them. All in all John Lennon is not far off I think
Patrick: you state:- “somewhat typical example of an ‘oppressed’ people and culture I do not know as much as I might or should.”
I state that all governments oppress all people; always; and everywhere in one way or another.
No-one can represent anyone else; we are only able to represent ourselves, in whatever way we chose. In that sense democracy is not what it’s cracked up to be,
One only needs to watch the goings on in the British parliament right now, to see the whole facade. From the outside looking in, all that is happening is all those representatives (MP’s) are blowing off their sentiments, most of which is pure ego.
My characterisation is:- we’re looking through the wrong end of the telescope. All we need to do, is symbolically turn the telescope around and look through the other end, … see it from a wider perspective OR ……. look outside the box.
It’s all merely “words” in the end. I’m as guilty as the rest.
Jack
Patrick, what you say here with regard to the history of Ireland is interesting. I didn’t know that Irish were sold into slavery. In my research of what the caused the potato famine, it seems like it has to do with some disease and only a few genetic varieties of potatoes in Ireland at the time. Do you know if there were any other reasons for the famine besides these ones? Also, I can’t remember if you said if you had family members that died during the famine.
You have said a lot about the oppression of the Irish by the English. From my classes, I am learning that wherever there is oppression, there is resistance, But I haven’t heard you speak much about resistance movements in Ireland. I think the IRA was one. I’m guessing that there are/were others. I wonder if you have in Ireland an equivalent of Howard Zinn’s book, “A People’s History of the United States”, which tells the history of the country from the perspectives of those who resisted being oppressed and dominated. (Unlike the traditional history books that tell history from the perspective of those in power.)
Jack, I’d like to answer two of your questions and one of your comments.
I’m not sure I understand your question correctly, whether you meant Israel is the blamed victim or the colonial power. Let me give you a generic description:
They came by ships from across the sea, landed ashore, and then either 1) got into a struggle with the local population which eventually left, or was deported or enslaved; or 2) they lived under an imperial rule, and then, when feeling themselves strong enough, confronted that rule and constructed in that country they reached from across the sea a rule of their own, with their own language, culture and religion. That is a pretty accurate description of almost each and every one of the states in the western hemisphere. The only difference is that Jews, unlike other states, had returned to a place they had a prior connection to.
I’m not sure it was the creation of Israel that “punished” the Palestinians. It was more their refusal to accept it and miscalculation in starting a war. In short, when Jews began their mass return to what they called the Land of Israel that territory was ruled by the Ottoman empire. After WW1 it was ruled by the British. When the British left the UN decided that this land be partitioned into a Jewish state and an Arab one. The Arabs rejected that plan and between November 1947 and March 1948 the local Arab militias (later called “Palestinians”) attacked the local Jewish population. They were defeated and Israel was declared as a state. Subsequently, in May-June 1948, armies of neighboring Arab states invaded that land and attacked Israel. They too lost.
During that war the Jewish forces conquered about 400 Arab settlements that were bases for the Palestinian militias and later hosted the invading armies, most of the inhabitants of which either fled, smuggled out or expelled (which was the beginning of the refugees problem). Some of them followed the advice or pressure or instructions of their leaders (Notably in Haifa). During the war the Israeli government created a policy preventing the return of those Arabs (who just tried to annihilate the Jewish presence) and that policy in deed was carried out. About 160,000 Arabs, about a fifth of the total population in the state remained within its borders and later became its citizens.
I agree with your first point and disagree with the second. This ‘problem’ cannot be fully solved. We can see it in this blog, can’t we? All solutions were tried and tested. Assimilation of individuals did not work. I’m sure it worked for an individual here or there, but whenever such conversions became too many (as was demanded by the ruling Christians) they were immediately recognized again and treated and discriminated against as Jews (as was the case in Spain after the expulsion of the Jews in 1492). Then there were the Jews of Europe before WW2, many of whom had nothing specifically Jewish in their daily lives (like my Mother’s family in Berlin), who felt completely assimilated into a secular society, but nevertheless were reminded that they are Jews, then persecuted and finally butchered. And even when Jews lived in liberal democracies, they encountered all sorts of discriminations because society always has a racial or ethnic or sectarian hierarchy. This was true also in non-liberal societies such as that of Communist Russia.
There was only one solution left which made any sense: Assimilation as a nation. The problem will be solved on a national scale: we Jews are a nation just like any other nation and just like any other nation we have the to self-determination. This became political Zionism.
However, you can see that even this solution is not acceptable in some quarters. Those who wished to expel Jews from all counties in the past now wish to expel them even from the country they established for themselves. We’re not only told, “go away from here” but also, “go away from there”.
Daniel: I totally accept your point on the history of Jews and Judaism far more then I an able to accept the one Patrick offered in the clip he showed.
My take on it ALL this is:- Let’s do away with these divisions that are self created by neurotic humankind.
I wouldn’t be able to figure out on any street, who was a Jew, who was a Muslim, who was a Christian, who was an American, who was a Brit or many other of these arbitrary divisions.
The only only differences I could figure out is:- blacks from white, men from women, though sometimes that one can be difficult. I sometimes cannot distinguish an oriental like Japanese and Chinese from Europeans, nor Mexicans from Americans.
The thing that concerns me most is WHY are we so intent on making and/or promoting our differences?
The only possible way I can sense another gay male, is by what we gay people call “Gaydar”. Even then, I am often wrong. That same ***DAR takes place with hetero’s when eyeing someone of the opposite sex. We/they ‘catch on’ that the other finds me/us attractive.
– – – – – – – – – – –
If I’m being hurt by others for my differences with them, I first check myself for what it is about me that is offending them. If I’m able to stop offending them by my “Being”, I will endeavour to do just that. I even sometimes succeed in doing so. What I personally find unproductive for me, is to defend myself, being different. Hope that last one make sense.
If on it being revealed that I am gay and it disgust someone, there is little I can do about it, and no point in trying to convince them otherwise, I know my homosexuality disgusts some people. My dad was one of them. The very best I can do is to NOT flout my homosexuality. That does not mean that I cannot admit to it, if I feel it makes some point or other.
Jack
Sylvia,
thanks for your feedback!!
Daniel, great comment, very brave of you as well to share some of your personal stuff.
and there we go again with Patrick, owner of the one clear view, ha, gave me a morning cynical chuckle, saying christion society is not like that, no way, no abusing of children, ha!
everyone who has been under the ‘care’ of christion priests or even nuns, knows how many of them are.
from my own experience, and that of family members and friends, I can assure you it was and probably is common practice in those frustrated hypocrit celibatarians.
so well, Patricks truth is ridiculous , or as true as most of his other claims…
just my opinion, M
I think all very important, popular, and famous people probably have to learn the lesson of being very careful about what they say or do, because their followers are bound to take it seriously. So now we have Trump stuck with his wall promise. Another good example was the Beatles, when they were so popular, having some fun with giving hints that Paul was dead, which they later revealed was just a joke. It is amazing to find that some people still believe that against all evidence. Maybe this is how religions got started also, the belief in some miracles which supposed occurred, people rising from the dead etc. Probably someone who happened to be sleeping in a cave one day etc.
Phil
Phil: I like this comment of yours,
My short and brief take on religion is simply:-
Judaism … Abraham, then Moses with his chipping away at a stone to create the 10 commandments and then leading his followers to the promised land.
Christianity, with Jesus and his mom having sex with a ghost then rising from his death and floating off to heaven, then one of his disciples going off to Rome and thus the Vatican.
Islam from Mohamed the prophet and the building of the Kaaba in Mecca.
They are all fairy tails in a vague subconscious attempt by neurotic humankind, to EXPLAIN, why we all feel the other guy is all fucked-up. AND rarely if ever looking into ourselves. Though that guy Buddha tried, by sitting and contemplating life; as he sat for hours under a lotus tree.
I think many are now seeing them as just that … fairy tales.
Jack
I’m going a little stir crazy. Third day of hibernating in this frigid weather. The temperature outside is -21 C, (-6 F) with windchill factor it feels like -32 C (-26F). How can people live in weather like this? Larry, how do you do it? This is crazy.
Wow Renee, that’s brutally cold. I thought Ireland had a tough climate but I find it OK. Only one night so far even reached 0 C. Mostly nights are around 4C days around 8C so nothing compared to what you have. Doesn’t this make you worry a bit less about ‘global warming’ Even what we have here does to me, it seems and this has always been the traditional Irish attitude the more warming the better! I used to believe in that so devoutly I might say…………….I no longer am at all convinced. All the agendas being brought about because of it are well just that ‘agendas’ and none of them good. That’s a reason for me to reject it pretty much totally now the powers pushing it are up to no good!
Patrick: All powers, always and everywhere, are oppressive, to a greater or lesser degree. Perhaps we’re all coming round to seeing:- “we don’t need anyone telling us what we can or cannot do or be. Just let us be.
All this representational stuff also. No-one person could ever represent anyone else … It’s for that very same reason that democracy is not what it’s cracked up to be, Just now watching the sham going on the British parliament over Brexit is an example of the mess we neurotics have created for ourselves.
We’re all of us looking through the “wrong end of the telescope”.
It just needs for us to ‘symbolically’ turn the telescope round and look through the “other end”.
Jack
Yes, Patrick, it is brutally cold. I am too scared to go out. I’m afraid I will freeze to death, and it will be painful, starting with frostbite and then other stuff before I become numb and then die. As much as I have death wish, along with death anxiety, this is not the way I would like to die. So I will stay inside another day. Tomorrow is supposed to be just ‘regular’ cold.
With regard to your assertion that this cold weather might make me worry less about climate change, unfortunately, you are mistaken. Actually, I am currently reading ‘This Changes Everything’ by Naomi Klein. I am reading it for a class but have been wanting to read it for a while. I have just finished chapter one, where she goes into great detail about the agendas (yes, even with climate change deniers there is no ‘single’ story) of the people in this movement. She believes, as do I, that Capitalism and climate justice cannot coexist. She is hopeful about the climate and the earth surviving and much of her book details the many ways people around the world are resisting the fossil fuel industry and it’s horrific practices. I don’t share her optimism. Even though people are resisting, the world keeps getting warmer. Which speaks volumes to the power of money/economics/corporations/governments all working together. I was shocked to read about the billions of dollars funding the climate denial movement and where that money is coming from. I think she’s hopeful because she has to be…..she has a child. Besides a changing climate changing everything, I think having a child does too.
Hibernating is the worst strategy Renee. Wear sufficient layers to keep warm outdoors. Participate in activities. Volunteer on committees. Get to the gym regularly. Get together with a friend for coffee, dinner, a movie, or all three. Get involved in something that matters to you, that stretches and challenges you. Primal when you need to. Use a SAD light for 1/2 hour upon arising each morning. Enjoy whatever however you can. Rise to the challenge of living optimally in your current circumstances, don’t wait for some better future. Etc etc. Time flies by. i wish it would slow down.
Mind you, sometimes I HAVE A HARD TIME DOING ANYTHING, IT’S A BATTLE. People say that the cold feels more miserable where you are because of the humidity where you are. Here the cold is dry and for that reason not so uncomfortable, they say.
I’ve chosen the worst strategy, Larry? Well, I’m not sure what to do about that. Because my body refuses to go out…..it’s in self-preservation and survival mode. But as I said to Patrick, the weather will return to normal cold tomorrow. Thankfully.
Freezing to death is not so bad, Renee. The flesh on your corpse would remain well preserved in the below freezing temperatures. It would be a saving grace for someone who might discover it and happens to suffer from food insecurity. Maybe take a long tour of low income housing projects today if you need to go outdoors so you can freeze in a convenient spot for anyone who’s hungry nearby?
Guru, I’m not going to touch this comment, not even with a 10-foot pole. While some of Patrick’s comments have left me sick to the stomach, this comment of yours feels worse. Like you might have some cannibalistic and/or sadistic fantasies or tendencies. Beyond sickening, IMO.
Well, that’s interesting because I could say the exact same thing to another Primaller I know and he would instantly know I am joking.
You really thought I have cannibalistic and sadistic tendencies?
What about producers of horror movies with lots of gore? Ever read any Stephen King books?
Man, such touchy people around here (assuming Renee was not trolling me with her response)
Daniel and Larry, thank you for your kind and sweet words. I appreciated them.
Daniel, I’m curious as to what you meant when you said that, “They only got one thing right in that clip: Freud’s name.” Which was in response to this link that I posted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ6y_Rk-ZgE&t=7s. Were you referring to the title of the link, “Sigmund Fraud”? If so, why would you disagree with the clip itself? I’m confused. I agree with the clip, I just think it is a very simplified version of the many reasons that Freud rejected this theory.
Renee: I understood he was referring to Patrick’s response. I thing Daniel will make it clear.
Jack
Oh okay, Thanks Jack. I must’ve missed Patrick response about this.
“ Oh maybe one day white genocide will be complete! Oh Happy Day! It’s amazing how people welcome their own destruction. Then our ‘masters’ (you can guess who they are) can really rule over us a mulatto, mixed up mess with no history, no culture no nothing…………..well maybe McDonalds. What a great future to look forward to………….”
Clearly Patrick’s views are not only about Jews but don’t worry Patrick I’m pretty sure your gene pool will be safe from all people of color. Somehow I’m not reminded of Dylan.
Renee and Larry,
that sounds awfully cold!!
here it went down to -8 Celsius last night, and will be snowing they say tomorrow, which I like, the snow, but not the cold!
as cold as where you are must even be more threatening and hostile, cold always makes me feel unsafe.
even a chilly house during milder seasons, or a cold current are things I can’t stand…
my two cats have just recovered from a laryngitis, one last week, the other right after, now my own throat is aching a bit…
we must be similar, preferring lots of warmth!
it felt even worse actually when it was a bit less cold but very windy, in my old place here that always gives some cold air blowing in where it should not…
heating at full power now makes it ok.
one of my cats comes up to my pillow when he feels cold and I am in bed, and taps with one paw on the sheet, to request his way in, smiley, so cute!
the other cat prefers to sleep on top of me, on top of the covers, cosy and cute as well but gets a bit heavy in the long run…
take good care and stay warm, M
Stay warm Margaret.
I too hate the cold as was the situation at home in my childhood.
Currently here we have 3 inches of snow on the ground. BUT it looks lovely from the inside our very warm chalet looking out.
Jim who was born in Indonesia, seems not to suffer it like I do , and even made a SnowWoman after shoveling a clean path to the gate. It’s so artistic, and I took a photo of it, but I know no way to put it on the blog.
Jack
Thanks for your support, Margaret. Maybe the answer is just to get a cat for an extra layer of warmth and an excellent distraction from the weather!
I’m going to try and see your negative feedback about my coping strategy as a challenge, Larry. I’m going to see if I can myself to the gym later. It’s only a 7 minute walk. Hopefully, I won’t freeze to death. But if I do, I will blame you Larry……from the grave:)
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, Renee. 🙂
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, Renee. 🙂
Yes, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, Larry. But if it does……since you know some stuff about science and technology…….can dead people post on blogs? If not, how could I let you know that you should feel guilty?
Renee: Letting people know when you’re dead is done in a well. You know where you can get water …. Er! hang on a minute maybe I meant “ill” Mmmmm!!! that’s not right either/ Er ‘will’ as in Shakespeare … that’s the one.
Jack of Waddy ,… you know those watering places Oh!!! well I tried.
My guess would be as good as yours, Renee. I expect if you need to you’ll find out how when you get there. Just saying though, no dead people have gotten in touch with me yet, so I’m not too worried that you would/could guilt me.
How was the gym today?
Wise words, Larry. No need to worry about stuff that hasn’t happened yet. And you’re lucky that no dead people have connected with you or guilted you. I’m not sure if the word ‘yet’ is the operative word, though, in that sentence. Anyway, thanks for your advice. I did go to the gym. Had a great workout and survived the walk. Not only did it not kill me, it made me stronger! I will reciprocate by sharing with you another activity that is good for freezing weather. And one that you didn’t think of in your suggestions. I just heard about it. Sorry, blog readers, this one is only available to Canadians, at least for now:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVPc03Q47T8&t=16s.
Ha.
Only one “Ha”, Larry? I would hope that if I ever make it out to your neck of the woods or you make it out to my neck of woods in the middle of winter, this activity could be an option!
Ha ha Renee. Getting together and watching 22 Minutes is something to look forward to any time of the year.
I agree, Larry. But I’m sorry you’re not into Weed Beer……it could’ve been interesting:(
Sorry Renee. 😦 I never liked beer much, unless it’s really really hot out and I’m out in it or in the shade and I’m really really thirsty and someone offers me a nice cold beer. I never had a desire to take anything that would artificially chemically alter my mind and feelings. I’ve always felt that getting high with reality got me a lot longer lasting, more satisfying buzz.
Hi everyone: I’ve gotten an Audio book on Mein Kampf , it’s 16 hours, but I’ll try to plow through it, even though I find it boring, and for the most part I know the general ideas Hitler put out.
The only interesting factor is seeing where the neo NAZI’s come from. I did read many years ago Albert Spear’s account of Hitler.
I kinda see my dad in the same way, having a similar notion about keeping the British pure. He even said during the war that “we were fighting the wrong buggers” He thought we should have been fighting the Russians and communism,
We did have relatives in Germany. that, perhaps, was where he was coming from.
Godo:- we’re such a complicated creature.
Jack
I think I’ll go watch some “Soylent Green”. At least I won’t run into drama there.
Guru, your ‘modest proposal’ a la Johnathan Swift, may have met more appreciation in a Canuck locker room. But we do get your drift.
S
Sylvia, I really think Renee was trolling back at me, wanting me to feel guilty for my joke. It worked for a few minutes, but the party’s over now.
Guru, I might have been shocked at first but, like you say, I am over it. I do appreciate there was no intended hate, deep-seated nor on the surface–there’s only so much of that I can handle–so a bit of satire-relief is okay. Though Renee might have a few bad dreams about the cold and wandering off sleep-walking, I do hope it will wear off for her too. Drink some nice herb tea, Renee, or maybe some hot chocolate. I do not envy your cold weather. It will be in the upper sixties here this week. Take care.
S
Seems as though you’re in a rough spot at the moment? I’ve usually seen you as someone with evenhanded, down-to-earth strength…but when you write, “there’s only so much of that (trolling) I can handle”, I sense something you might want to talk about a bit more?
Guru, I meant that I can put up with a little satire (after all it is not me who would see myself freezing.) Satire in comparison to out and out hatred and prejudice, well that gets tiring, as it comes from a never-ending loop without any resolution. I feel bad for the people targeted and bad for the one doing it. It becomes a brick wall–not even a steel-slatted one to see thru. So in the end, I prefer comic satire with a hint of creativity to rage and hate toward a group or religion.
So I guess I should make myself clear: Guru–satirical and a little funny to the right audience–okay, fine.
Anyone who is prejudice to the point of hate coming from only their own point of view–tiring. (not you, I assume, Guru.)
S
In my case, I don’t even have much time or energy to spew hate towards groups and such. Although I find ultra-wealthy Jewish folks an interesting group for possible study, it’s not something I’m too carried away with right now.
In the meantime, it looks like Renee’s in deep trouble with Daniel again. Let’s see how things turn out with that.
I just heard a refreshing view in a debate on television, where one of the items was climate change.
one right wing populist politician had been saying how climate change was a fairy tale etc,
a female scientist at some point gave this clear opinion: there should not be a discussion about believing or not anymore, this is not about believing, this is science, scientific facts, scientific proof.
people can not believe it if they want to, but if we keep giving them too much broadcast time, we take three steps back, there is simply not enough time to do that anymore.
it fits in and clarifies what I had been feeling for a while already but could not put my finger on.
a lot of some discussions seem so pointless as they are with people denying or ignoring facts, it seems a wast of energy and time.
I have one exception, the vaccine thing is not a black and white, all or nothing issue.
also scientists are starting to have a more cautious view on which and how much vaccines are useful, not all vaccines are necessary for everyone all the time.
but reducing it to pro and con is so simplistic that it is in my opinion completely pointless.
questioning something is ok, always, but boy, I think there are many honest well meaning scientists and specialists to trust who are not blind followers and slaves of multinationals and pharma industry.
I never wanted to discuss this here and won’t go into it either, but for once I will just give this example, in the veterinary clinic I have seen the view on and use of vaccines change a lot over the years.
at some point increasing, and then declining, to a point where in certain cases it is useful and in other cases not, which to me sounds like a very balanced view.
politics is such a complicated issue with different agendas and interests that it is more prone to subjective opinions and views, but other topics as the scientist said, should not be stuck in discussions about believing.
time to make real plans for change instead to save our environment would be better.
M and
Margaret,
I’m sure that animal vaccines are tested before being approved, but not nearly as rigorously as vaccines intended for people. It’s a different process. An interesting case is the vaccine developed for Lyme disease. It was taken off the market many years ago because there were rumors and accusations that it could cause arthritis, but research showed no proof of that. The public lost interest in it anyway, apparently because they thought to be dangerous, and learned that from exaggerated reports in the media. yet there is a Lyme vaccine in use for dogs. Lyme disease continues to be a huge problem, and it’s a shame that a vaccine isn’t available.
Another thing is, doctors and vets are not scientists themselves and may recommend something based on their feelings and/or experience, which may or may not be accurate.
Phil
Phil, this is admittedly a ‘guess’ but anyway my guess is Lyme’s disease is more that likely caused by vaccines. What I mean is so many of these kinds of things basically harmless in themselves have become a huge problem for whole populations now with deranged immune systems BECAUSE of vaccines!. So at that point you and most others will just be chasing their own tails and that is I feel where we mostly are with this stuff. Vaccines are destroying people esp the young and then as more and more complications and injuries occur we look for MORE vaccines to solve a problem caused by vaccines. You couldn’t make up this stuff!!
Once you derange the immune system you have a patient for life. And that is what we are facing my ‘clinical’ experience is my dog here never vaccinated, never a shot and super healthy and lively. It is this kind of contrast I notice with Margaret’s cats and Otto’s too come to that
And Phil I don’t believe that vaccines intended for humans are particularly tested at all. And if it’s similar to animals which I suspect it is that is a low bar indeed. In this system we are just goyim either the actual farm animals or the humans that are treated just as if they are farm animals. That’s the meaning of the word ‘goyim’
Patrick
According to this link “vaccine development is a long, complex process, often lasting 10-15 years and involving a combination of public and private involvement.”
https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/vaccine-development-testing-and-regulation
I’m sure sure you won’t be believing that as it’s one of your issues, but there it is..
Margaret, if I was the owner of a dog or cat I’d certainly follow a trusted vets advice on vaccinations.
Phil
Patrick, once again you are sharing with us your history where you were treated like a farm animal. I’m sorry this happened to you. As to your assertion that ‘goyim’ means ‘farm animal’…..well, I got curious and did a little research. Take a look at this: https://www.quora.com/Does-the-Talmud-refer-to-non-Jews-as-non-human-animals. Here are the many interesting answers to this question. The majority lean in the direction that, “Anti-Semites like to quote Talmud out of context or simply misquote it to bash Jews. But a little legwork and thinking more than a millimeter deep disproves the Jew haters”. Of course, if look at people’s names (as I was taught to do a child), you can kind of, but not always, assume people’s underlying subjectivities. The personal is political, IMO.
Oh Patrick, I forgot to mention that your talk of goyim reminds me of this song, which I love, love, love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZUttFHwy10…… “All my friends are heathens, take it slow, Wait for them to ask you who you know, Please don’t make any sudden moves, You don’t know the half of the abuse.”
Renee: I saw and looked at the site you posted and I came away from it with a feeling I’ve had for some time:- why do we thing that scriptures written more than 2,000 years ago are so profound, wise or even holy.
I don’t doubt for some scholars they are worth looking at. It’s their analysis of them that I find questionable. Seemingly to me, they are used to make some modern point. Most of which I tend not to agree with.
Jack
Patrick: We’ve all gotten deranged immune system from childhood trauma ANYWUZ, and the other factor; all medications have their side effects, be it vaccines or pills. It’s a matter of individual choice. I chose to take as little by way of medications I feel the need. Jim has a whole different take. The only problem:- he feels the need to tell me what I should take; being more versed in the medical field. I don’t agree with him.
As for young kids, the parents are doing the deciding for them. Better they learn Primal theory such as I’ve stated it briefly, then let them make their own choice for their kids. I don’t see any other way forward. Your way seems more complex than mine. BUT then that’s my take on that issue.
Jack
Margaret: I agree with:- “politics is such a complicated issue with different agendas and interests that it is more prone to subjective opinions and views, but other topics as the scientist said, should not be stuck in discussions about believing. Time to make real plans for change instead to save our environment would be better”.
It always was and always will be. There is an alternative. The real “wisdom comes out of the mouths of babes” …. and they don’t get to vote.
Jack
Addendum: My Jimbo says I’m just a baby, so I too have an agenda 🙂 🙂
Jack
Renée,
The Freud clip is malicious and unbalanced. One can criticize his changing his mind without calling him a liar and blaming him for the death of millions. Here are its claims and why they are wrong:
Freud lied.
That is an outrageous accusation without supplying any proof. According to the clip, Freud didn’t change his mind, nor did he make a mistake. No, he “lied”. It is this kind of tempestuous language that right at the outset belies any claim for credibility.
It cost the lives of millions
What? Where did that come from? And to blame a single person who changed his mind about something for the death of millions is ridiculous.
Decided to find out why women in Vienna were sent by their families.
No, he didn’t. Fred never “decided” that. He was a neurologist and neurologists were the ones to whom Hysterical patients were referred. He was a genius who had the intellectual faculties and independence of mind to look at things differently.
Freud discovered that what society said was mental illness was the symptoms of sexual abuse.
No. Freud (with his colleague Breuer) discovered that Hysterical symptoms, and not the entire field of mental illness, were the result of trauma, sexual abuse being an important example of.
Freud announced his findings in April 21 1896 at the society of psychiatry and neurology
No, he didn’t. He announced it in a scientific paper in the journal Neurologisches Centralblatt on January 1, 1893. Ten days later, on January 11, he gave a lecture on its subject-matter at the Wiener Medizinischer Club. That lecture was then published in the Wiener Medizinische Presse.
Society told him he was a liar and threatened to destroy his reputation.
No, they didn’t. His ideas were met mostly with indifference.
Freud realized he would have to abandon his discovery
Another unsupported claim. There is absolutely nothing in Freud’s scientific or personal writings that would remotely suggest that he would have to abandon his theory. But it’s true that he at one time stopped believing it. To his friend Fliess in 1897 he wrote that there were basically 4 reasons why he no longer believed in that theory:
1) “The continual disappointments in my attempts at bringing my analysis to a real conclusion, the running-away of people who had for a time seemed most in my grasp, the absence of the complete successes on which I had reckoned, the possibility of explaining the partial successes in other ways, on ordinary lines”;
2) “surprise at the fact that in every case the father, not excluding my own, had to be blamed as a pervert- the realization of the unexpected frequency of hysteria, in which the same determinant is invariably established, though such a widespread extent of perversity towards children is, after all, not very probable. (The perversity would have to be immeasurably more frequent than the hysteria, since the illness only arises where there has been an accumulation of events and where a factor that weakens defence has supervened.)”
3) “the certain discovery that there are no indications of reality in the unconscious, so that one cannot distinguish between the truth and fiction that is cathected with affect. (Thus, the possibility remained open that sexual phantasy invariably seizes upon the theme of the parents.)”
4) “the reflection that in the most deep-going psychosis the unconscious memory does not break through, so that the secret of the childhood experiences is not betrayed even in the most confused delirium. If in this way we see that the unconscious never overcomes the resistance of the conscious, then, too, we lose our expectation that in treatment the opposite will happen, to the extent of the unconscious being completely tamed by the conscious.”
Freud then adds candidly: “I was influenced so far by this that I was prepared to give up two things: the complete resolution of a neurosis and the certain knowledge of its aetiology in childhood. I have no idea now where I have got to, since I have not achieved a theoretical understanding of repression and its interplay of forces.”
And then at other times he said he never really abandoned his trauma (seduction) theory. For example, in a footnote to his 1905 Dora case report, some years after he began to develop a new theory, he wrote about the trauma theory: “I have gone beyond that theory, but I have not abandoned it; that is to say, I do not to-day consider the theory incorrect, but incomplete”. And in 1925, some 30 years afterword, he wrote: “Moreover, seduction during childhood retained a certain share, though a humbler one, in the aetiology of neuroses.”
Freud looked through history for anything he might use to keep his position in society.
No, he didn’t. That sounds like he was frantically leafing through books hoping to find an excuse that will sound good to his fellow men in Vienna. This is so out of character and such a strange claim about someone who in a career produced 24 volumes, 400 pages each, which include very deep insights; and for someone who changed his mind several times in his career based on his clinical experiences. The truth is that Freud was very well read, was very much interested in archeology, anthropology, literature, history, and then especially psychology. More likely that he used the Oedipus myth to metaphorically describe what he had in mind, as he did so often using sources of literature and culture, rather than tailoring his mind to that myth.
He found an ancient myth to suggest that these women were in fact fantacizing.
No, he didn’t. See above. He used the myth to name his finding. He actually named them “Oedipus Complex” many years after he changed his mind.
This (The Oedipus complex) was the U-turn that would save Freud’s career.
No, it wasn’t. He still never got his original wishes for academic promotion. Freud was completely alone. The scientific community didn’t support these new views nor did the public.
In their fantasies these women sought to kill and sexually abuse their parents.
That’s only one possible variant and not the important point. The main thing is the centrality of fantasy and the sexual.
Freud claimed this ancient Greek fairy-tale explained why women were telling him why they were being abused… The fairy-tale of Oedipus proved it.
No, he didn’t. Again, see above. The myth never explained why women were telling him they were abused, the explanation was a psychological one and Freud only later named it after the myth. And the assertion that “The fairy-tale of Oedipus proved it” is absolutely ludicrous. The academic advisor of that clip, if there was any, never read Freud or he or she wouldn’t have made such a childish claim.
The men in Austrian society thought that Freud’s new theory was perfect. They liked it because it meant they could keep on abusing their children.
No, they didn’t. This is actually proof that the whole thesis is wrong. Look at what Freud changed his mind to: Infantile sexuality. If you think that went well with society you’d better think again. On the contrary, whereas they were rather indifferent to Freud’s abuse claims they completely lost it over his new claims that children were sexual beings. If you had wanted to attend some of the lectures that were later published as “Three essays on the theory of sexuality” you would have to cross a picket line because people were outraged at the thought that children had a sex life. Freud was denounced as a pervert and of course a Jew.
Freud’s first discovery was more or less erased from history.
No, it wasn’t. Freud not only published his trauma findings in that 1893 paper, but went on to copile 5 cases to which wrote case studies, added a theoretical chapter and published them all with Breuer in 1985 in a book (Studies on Hysteria). That book was available for all to read and reread. It’s still in circulation today. Nobody prevented anybody to pick up those ideas and carry them further.
Freud abandoned the women who came to him for help.
No, he didn’t. If you read his case material you can see that he was very attentive and devoted and curious about his patients (he was practically the first one to actually listen and believe his Hysterical patients), and took his psychotherapies as far as he could. Changing one’s mind isn’t tantamount to abandoning one’s patients.
This allowed him to keep his position in society.
No, it didn’t. See above.
Mentally ill people are the victims of their own fantasies.
No, they’re not. According to Freud, some neurotic people get in trouble because of internal conflicts, clashes between opposing thoughts and tendencies. Other factors, such as constitution and trauma, play important parts as well.
Mental illness occurs randomly without cause.
No, it doesn’t. According to Freud there is always a cause for mental illness.
The respect for Freud and psychoanalysis cost the lives of millions of children.
Again, does this assertion even makes a shred of sense?
This was Sigmund’s fraud.
Why not. Replace substance with drama and sensationalism.
In the next few days I’ll add what I think of this change of mind of Freud’s.
Wow, Daniel, I feel like we watched different videos! Clearly, I took away very different things to you.
Actually Renée, I don’t think we watched different videos at all. That’s an easy way out of it. Each and every one of the italicized lines are assertions quoted directly from the video, so how would that be different from what you saw?
I think the difference lies elsewhere. My guess is that you never read Freud enough to follow the development of his ideas and then took the video’s assertions at face value for political reasons that, as you keep saying, are also personal. The accusations against Freud in that clip sit very well with your politics so it was easy, even welcomed, to succumb to the clip’s content and tone.
But I have read and continue to read Freud and believe I have a good grasp of the development of his early ideas.
That is why we watched different videos.
Actually, Daniel, that is not why we watched different videos. I have read Freud and I am aware of the development of his ideas. And I have studied the many reasons that he needed to reject the seduction theory, of which only one was presented in the video. The reason that we watched the same but different video is that we have very different lenses through which we view information.
Daniel: sorry to chip in here, but on you last line did you not mean:- “We saw the same video … differently”???
Jack
Daniel: Very well presented, and you’ve obviously done your homework.
This is IMO a very good addition to this blog.
Jack
Daniel, I will try to address some of the stuff your raised in your other post. And remind myself that you are not my brother and I am not a child. I hope I can do it. Otherwise, I will have to postpone writing while I deal with my feelings.
I should point out that some of your posts sound like mini-dissertations! You have obviously studied this stuff, but from a very different perspective to my studies. So, as you can probably guess, I disagree with much of what you say. By the way, I am neither a liberal nor a post-modernist. But I don’t feel like explaining why right now. For now, because I dislike dissertations, either writing or reading them, I will just respond to one idea you raise, your assertion that, “Politics and politicians have their own constraints and manifestly political agenda whereas academia does not”. Since when is the academic arena not a political one? Which voices and perspectives are included or excluded from the curriculum; which voice(s) dominate(s) a class and which are silenced or overlooked; whether the teacher sees the students as having a ‘deficit mentality’ (to quote Paulo Freire) or not; whether active or passive learning is allowed and encouraged……these are all political decisions that have to be made in any classroom. As one of my favorite theorists, Linda Alcoff, stated, “Rituals of speaking are politically constituted by power relations of domination, exploitation, and subordination. Who is speaking, who is spoken of, and who listens is a result, as well as an act, of political struggle. Simply put, the discursive context is a political arena”. This is what Edward Said was trying to address, IMO. In a nutshell. By the way, it has been my experience that teachers/professors who have the same views as you (which are the majority, IMO) about trying to find a truth with the least amount of bias, often have the most biased curriculum and syllabus, with mostly the ideas of white, Western men represented in it and perhaps a token one or two views of ‘others’. Hence the resistance by many and the creation of ‘Women’s Studies”, “Black Studies”, “Queer Studies” etc. And as I’m sure you know, these subjects are often marginalized and dismissed as not “scientific” or “academically rigorous” by the academic status quo. I will leave it up to you and blog readers to figure out which people primarily make up this group. To use my favorite saying……it’s not rocket science.
Renee, I’ll only say this: I am a white male myself & I have been far, FAR more marginalized by society than you might imagine or understand. I think you’re making a mistake just applying race or gender as the primary factors towards what is inappropriately being ferreted out of the eyes of undergrad & grad students.
For instance, I look on Amazon and I see almost 40,000 publications, films, etc. devoted to the Holocaust.
Would you like to guess how many publications and films I found on the 70 million people killed in car crashes since the Holocaust? five
I get irritated because not only have I been seriously marginalized in ephemeral ways by the public at large, but my own racial heritage (white male) is being vilified as the oppressor, to boot!
Guru: right there in that comment of yours, I feel, is the greatest of your problems. You mom was killed in a road accident and it is still bothering you to this day, UNDERSTANDABLY so, I do not see the elevation of road accidents, as a way to resolve your ongoing problem about your moms death. It is indeed a deep sadness and more for you.
Jack
So my pointing out that there are five firmly established films and books on the 70 million people killed in their cars since WW2 is MY problem that should not be elevated?
And people might wonder what the textbook definition of marginalization is?
Daniel, in another post of yours you stated that, “I’m not sure it was the creation of Israel that “punished” the Palestinians. It was more their refusal to accept it and miscalculation in starting a war”. I’m sure if you were pushed off your land or out of your home, you would refuse to accept this and would find a way to resist and fight back. For some reason, this comment of yours reminded me of this little gem of a link. It is Angela Davis addressing the question of whether she approved of Black violence. I think she could easily have been a Palestinian woman being asked if she approved of Palestinian violence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU9sDDSiDwQ. Sadly, it’s always the winners of wars that write the history books and decide what is true and what is not, never the losers:(
Renee: I like many of your responses, and especially the clip of Angela Davis on violence. What I find missing is the “Whys” … why violence. My contention is that it is a misplaced anger towards others, when according to Janov, the anger is usually mommy and daddy when the violator was little and vulnerable.
One does not need therapy to begin to realize it, though this therapy is a great help in that direction and is the only .way to get beyond it All this is merely my opinion, take, or what you will.
Jack
It’s funny when you say to a Jew (which I am):
In case you forgot or didn’t know, Jews were expelled form many a home, country (which by the way includes the land Palestinians call their own), and even from life altogether. The only place we’re yet to be expelled from is the grave.
As for your main point, no Palestinian was removed from his or her home prior to the war they started, and they didn’t start it to regain those homes. This is different from violence which erupted afterwords in their attempt to undo the results of that war and which may be characterized as resistance.
Daniel: My point is:- no-one owns land. Some of us use it for good (farmers growing food), but most claim they own it in order to make profit.
It’s why I see nationality as something, we conveniently invented for gain, over others. an example is:- Trump with his towers.
Jack
Daniel, Israel is a settler-colonial state. To be believe that it could be created without violence is crazy! It is to not understand the brutality of colonialism. Take a look at this: https://www.wrmea.org/017-may/viewing-israel-palestine-through-the-lens-of-settler-colonialism.html. The British Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour. who was behind the Balfour declaration that established the State of Israel, was an anti-semite and racist! HIstory books are always told from the perspective of the winners.
You’re confusing losing or being weak with being right. The two are correlated only in the moral kitsch which is so prevalent these days: If you have more power you’re automatically the villain, and if you have less power you’re automatically right.
Regarding Israel being a “settler-colonial state”, can you please tell me what is in your opinion the difference between Israel and Canada?
Also, the Balfour declaration didn’t establish the state of Israel, it was just a first break in a very long time.
And finally, regarding history books being written by winners, Ilan Pappé has written his, didn’t he? So why keep complaining about not being given a voice?
Daniel: “Regarding Israel being a “settler-colonial state”, can you please tell me what is in your opinion the difference between Israel and Canada?” None!!! and includes all colonial conquests, going back eons.
In MY Opinion … all land belongs to us all, and ought for us all, to roam freely and settle freely, then if and when we chose, to up stakes, and go off elsewhere.
It’s Governments, laws, money, national borders, and all the other trapping of Capitalism, that leaves us all, wage slaves. It need not be.
Jack
Jack,
The difference between Canada and Israel is that Canada was colonized hundreds of years ago during the colonial period. Israel was colonized during the 20th century, pretty much after the colonial period, meaning it shouldn’t have happened. Not that much can or will be done about it now, it’s too late.
Phil
Phil: That it happened eons ago is NO EXCUSE.
Jack.
Jack, not an excuse, but I do see a difference. Hundreds of years colonies were considered acceptable among Westerners, but by the 20th century it was understood not to be, which is why Israel is especially problematic. Some people still may be alive from when it happened, that’s how recent it is. To me, this is the whole problem.
Phil
Phil: I don’t mean to be critical, but it’s not the “WHOLE problem”. the whole problem lies with governments running the show and for the most part failing . If there were no governing bodies and people were really free to roam the planet … all this other stuff would be irrelevant. It requires “thinking outside the box”. A box we put ourselves into.
Give it a thought.
Jasck
Phil,
There’s some truth to what you’re saying when you say that colonialism that was acceptable two or three centuries ago is no longer acceptable in the 20th century. But I’d like to thicken the plot here.
First, Is Israel a good example of a colonial entity in the political sense of the word? I don’t think so. A colony is a country or area under the full or partial political control of another country. All empires had colonies, sort of satellites of a mother ship. In case of Israel there is no mother ship. This isn’t Great Britain colonizing India, or the Dutch colonizing the East Indies, or the Belgians colonizing Congo.
Second, not being a colonizing force (no mother ship) Israel is better characterized as a national project, with the remarkable exception that most of the nation were at the time outside the land they wanted to build their country in. You didn’t mention the crucial fact that the Jews had prior physical and ongoing spiritual relationship with that piece of land. For 2000 years, ever since the Romans exiled them from what they called the land of Israel, they saw themselves as people in exile and prayed for their return to their homeland. Ponder over this for a moment: for 20 centuries Jews all over the world, be they in Russia or England or Afghanistan of Tunisia, were all praying every single day for their return (here is a short summary). Surely this cannot be counted as a colonial wish.
Third, having understood and accepted that second point the international community, although as you say by then didn’t take kindly to colonialism, agreed with those wishes, first in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration, and again and more importantly in 1920 when the Allies of WW1 included the Balfour declaration within the mandate the gave the British over Palestine. The international community did so yet again in 1947 in their UN Partition Plan for Palestine. In other words, the international community of the time did not perceive the creation of Israel to be colonial in nature.
The Arab-Israeli conflict is over one of two possible issues: A conflict over the size of Israel or one over the very existence of Israel. In general, at almost each step of the way Israelis have agreed to compromise over the size of Israel, and my own opinion and hope is they will do so again given the opportunity. Over the very existence of Israel there will never be nor should there be any compromise. One does not negotiate his or her own demise.
oops. The correct link is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_and_Jerusalem_in_Jewish_prayer_and_ritual
Daniel: All you state is more or less correct form what I know about it all. The deeper question is:- why are there state borders at all, and why different cultures? We’re all one creature, and we need to lean to co-exist with one another as individuals … not as nations or cultures … all that just complicated the matters
While we have this mindset there will never be peace. Real peace: where there is no reason for armies, nor policing, nor, governments. We’re dancing around the real problem which, I contend, is to go for our nature, NOT our neurotic behaviour.
Jack
Daniel, your comment that, “All empires had colonies, sort of satellites of a mother ship”, makes colonization sound so benign, just satellites of mother ships”. Yikes, is all I can say. And yes, in the case of Israel, there was a mother ship. https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-british-colonialism-prepared-way-for-israeli-colonialism-1.5461035 …. “British colonialism prepared the way for Israeli colonialism, even if it didn’t intend for it to continue for a 100 years and more”.
You are correct Daniel…………..Jews were expelled from up to 350 districts/countries/city states over a period of 2,000 years. And guess what? it had nothing to do with their ‘behavior’ ?? I would say it had everything to do with their behavior. Could something like that happen for no reason at all ……………other than so called ‘anti semitism’ Makes no sense Jews were expelled over and over again because their behavior is unacceptable in a society that wants to survive. Since the West seems to be on a death wish I guess it figures they stay now.
Patrick, you have done it again! You have given me my morning chuckle, with this statement: “Makes no sense Jews were expelled over and over again because their behavior is unacceptable in a society that wants to survive. Since the West seems to be on a death wish I guess it figures they stay now.” The million ways that you reveal yourself, in this case some of your behavior here on the blog and your numerous expulsions from it. And that you seem to get to stay, for now. I love transparency. The only factual item I might dispute is the death wish part. I know that I have a death wish but it is not clear how many other blog readers also have such a wish.
Patrick & Daniel: No event is ever in isolation. One event occurs as a result of another. it’s not a case of cause and event; It needs to be seen o seen in it’s wider perspective:- Event, event, event. Said an other way …What came first; the chicken or the egg?
Jack
I presume most people have heard something about the so called ‘white racists’ kids who were supposed to have been messing with a ‘Native American Elder’ just peacefully banging his drum. It turns out the story was about exactly backwards (I am tempted to say ‘as usual’). The white kids were just waiting for their bus back to Kentucky and THEY were the once messed with. I think it is an interesting story and connects to a lot that has been talked about here, Daniel justified concern with political correctness. also I imagine it might be of interest to Renee in that it shows how a lot of this ‘color’ and some other stuff has gone off the rails a bit. Also it ties a bit into what Guru and Sylvia were talking about. Here is an admittedly a bit long commentary by the Catholic writer Michael Hoffman. But from my point of view so good it is worth posting in it’s entirety. To me it ties many many things together and I like that If there are some words there that are not clear you can ask me I’m thinking of ‘golem’ or ‘cryptocracy’ hopefully does not cause confusion
The latest media tempest-in-a-teapot concerns Catholic teenagers from Kentucky set upon by the media and made to star in the perpetual Hate-Whitey videodrome, wherein, whether it’s a Gillette shaving commercial, or kids waiting for a bus after a pro-life, anti-abortion march in our nation’s capitol, they are cast as KKK/Nazi bigots. Of all the crimes and travesties in our land today, this minor incident between Indians and Catholic school kids is the event that propels the liberal outrage machine. Forget the mass extermination of disabled Down syndrome children with abortion, forget the forced conversion of children in our public schools to “gay” sex, forget female impersonators dictating an Orwellian regime on college campuses wherein “he” must be referred to as “she,” otherwise the truth-telling offender who terms the ersatz gal a guy, is demoted or fired from the faculty or administration.
It’s a truism that the inmates are in charge of the asylum. They are well on their way to transforming all of us into insane persons in their corporate world of relentless revolutionary change. Thankfully, the scapegoated, stigmatized Catholic youths are fighting back and showing some backbone, as noted below. That such a pitch of media hysteria could be invoked over a white kid merely staring at a Native American is more than ridiculous. This hyper-sensitivity to the least perceived slight to the new aristocracy of color is a revelation of the degree to which our media masters yearn for, indeed ache for a KKK or neo-Nazi group to attack minorities while the news cameras record it. Shaming white people is Job #1. Instilling self-hate is a psychological warfare device, a type of mental genocide that is underway 24/7 in America.
In the final analysis, let us not imagine that the Zionist ruling class in America actually cares about the welfare of non-whites. They are merely cannon-fodder on the road to a neo-Bolshevik America. The Israelis have butchered tens of thousands of native people of color in Palestine without any sustained exposure or protest from the U.S. media. The Orthodox Judaic religion teaches that black people are a divinely designated slave race (cf. the Midrash on Genesis in the Soncino edition), and sub-human (cf. Moses Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, vol. 2, in the Shlomo Pines edition). These rabbinic dogmas have caused the black race untold suffering and misery throughout history.
Meanwhile, the Cryptocracy has used the white race as its golem in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.
The Cryptocracy manipulates people of color to serve as golem in the United States, disseminating a view of American history that portrays the majority of whites as whip-wielding tormentors of colored people in bondage, when the truth is that the vast majority of whites in early America were, as Congressman David Wilmot termed them, “the sons of toil,” who arrived in this country in chattel bondage, not a dainty “indentured servitude.”
The clandestine objective of crowding whites into ever more narrow psychological categories of self-abnegation and erasure, is to inflame them into lashing out desperately with inchoate violence that can be exploited to further justify ever greater encroachment by the government on our immemoral rights, and the escalation of increasingly intense negative caricatures of conservative white people issuing from the salons of Hollywood and New York.
The only ones who will emerge mostly unscathed from this contrived race war will be the same ones who emerged largely unscathed to rule in Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik Russia, a century ago.
Whites, Blacks and Native Americans cannot be allowed to join together in opposition to the empire of usury which is choking life on this planet. Divide-and-conquer has always been the watchword of the Sanhedrin.(Synagogue) Whites with their affinity for Neocon war-Zionism, and Blacks with their partiality for the Democratic party of sodomite supremacy, non-educating public schools and unlimited cheap labor from south of the border, remain unconscious, easily manipulated golem of the six-pointed System. (Star of David)
Patrick quite a mouthful in making some point, that totally eludes me.
After all that …. What’s the feeling?? …………… You seem never to say, but it seems something is bugging you very badly, and I never quite see what it is.
Perhaps as well as being blind and deaf, I’m too dumb to understand.
Jack
Such a lovely sermon.
It IS a lovely sermon and a very wise one too. If people here were able to even begin to take some of it onboard things might be better. Jack at least admits he is clueless as to what Michael Hoffman is on about, you Daniel on the other had I feel probably know quite well but you have a hardened Zionist heart and will continue your ‘hating’ all you life. And pointing to me of course as the ‘hater’ I should have Christian charity towards you you were after all cruelty genitally mutilated and worse you propose it as an ok thing and I believe you did it to your own child if I am not mistaken. St Paul called all this out a long time ago and recommended a ‘circumcision of the heart’ (not physical of course) but the Jews did not listen then and are not listening now. Instead they have conquered the West totally, we live under their lies and nonsense every day. When I go on about all the ‘lies’ we live under of course they come from somewhere, the Zionist Jew is always a liar. Lies are absolutely central to their way of being. We have another big lie fest coming up this weekend Holocaust Remembrance day the day the liars are out in force and God help anyway who says sorry there were NO ‘human gas chambers’ EVER in Germany…………….sorry that’s a fact . No Daniel I am sure you will twist and turn about this but relax man it’s all a hoax, all a lie and something they have stuffed down the throats of white people ever since. So any attempt to pull their countries together is ‘fascism’ or ‘right wing’ and ‘scary’ watch the likes of Jack channel that crap all day long. He watches CNN a totally Zionist piece of nonsense but as I say they DO control pretty much all media.
Patrick: Ggeeezzzus man, where art thou???
Quote:- “We have another big lie fest coming up this weekend Holocaust Remembrance day the day the liars are out in force and God help anyway who says sorry there were NO ‘human gas chambers’ EVER in Germany……………”
The biggest lie of them all is “The Gospel according to Mark” A birth from sex with a ghost, Jesus overturning the tables of the many lenders, and not getting bashed over the head for it, Going off with 12 guys, walking on water, then finally coming to life again and rolling a huge bolder away from the cave entrance he was buried in, showing off his wounds to ‘doubting Thomas’, then folating off into the sky.
All the religious scriptures, to me, are one big lie … be it the Koran, Bible or Torah. Sure they are allegorical stories … to appease the masses … as Marx inferred.
If those Concentration Camps only had communal water showers, why were they NOT connected to the water mains??? You Patrick are taking someone else’ word for it all. Go over there and look for yourself … they’ve been preserved … IN THE HOPE THEY’RE NEVER RECREATED.
Sure enough I’m taking it from looking at films that were released shortly after WWII. Films that showed naked starved humans … which would impossible to fake with the best of film studio tampering, OR Disney type cartoons.
All this way before you were even born. Why did Hitler bundle off Jews Gypsies Gays and the mentally retarded, to concentration camps in the first place??? Seemingly you never explain any of that, for it would be tantamount to seeing a little beyoooond what those you follow. Mmmmmm!!!!
Jack
Yes there were real starving naked people…………..because of Allied total destruction of railways and roads, there is no mystery there at all.
As far as camps there was a war going on they were mostly prisoners of war. The Brits did it too so did the Americans. The Germans then tried to use then as slave labor the LAST thing they wanted to do was kill their work force. It’s just an absurd myth and I don’t expect YOU to ever properly even try to investigate it. You are too busy mouthing off no time to read it seems. So though you are not a Jew or a Zionist you are a perfect patsy for their agenda. And you do most all of quite unknowingly.
Jack, I guess you have somewhat of a point about ‘religion’. Is ANY religion ‘true’ but first off the holocaust is not seen as a religion though I think that’s exactly what it is. There is even a name for if ‘Holocaustianity’ and it is THE modern fake religion we all live under. It is the one thing you cannot ‘deny’ and get away with it. It informs and is the framework for the modern world. You yourself adhere to it all this ‘fear of the Right Wing’ if any country even tries to pull itself together. CNN and the BBC pump out that stuff all day long. It is and will be used to stuff whites full of guilt forever and ever. The white race is under major attack and coming back here and seeing my niece diagnosed on the ‘autism spectrum’ her and SO many others. Listen to the radio any day and the whole generation of young Irish is being hobbled and wiped out. It really seems they do not want to white race to continue at all. This is more now than ‘ideology’ they are ruining and poising all the youth. And it’s almost funny Gretchens big charge against me is I am on the side of white people. Why would I not? Judaic forces have singled them out for it seems destruction. I am meant to go ‘oh well’ as most people do at least I can go down screaming about it. Anyway this weekend is big day for the relgion that rules us, check what CNN have to say about it
Holo-Religion
“The Holocaust became the new Western religion. Unfortu-
nately, it is the most sinister religion known to man. It is a li-
cense to kill, to flatten, to nuke, to wipe, to rape, to loot and
to ethnically cleanse. It made vengeance and revenge into a
Western value. However, far more disconcerting is the fact
that it robs humanity of its heritage, it is there to stop us from
looking into our past with dignity. Holocaust religion robs
humanity of its humanism. ” — Gilad Atzmon
More volumes are published about Auschwitz than any other place on
Earth. A global, compulsory new religion is seizing a-hold in all corners of
the Earth, pushing out the tired old religions of yesteryear, in which:
> Auschwitz = Golgotha. The sacrifice of the Christ-god at Calvary has
been eclipsed by the suffering of the Jewish people at Auschwitz.
> The Saints = Holocaust survivors
> Belief in Miracles = belief in the plan to exterminate European Jews
despite the complete, total absence of any documentary evidence what-
soever; and belief in a Weapon of Mass Destruction whose primary
characteristic is physical impossibility.
> Original sin = the guilt of what we did/allowed to happen to God’s
Chosen People
> Redemption: accomplished by the ceaseless flow of money from Ger-
many to Israel to compensate “Holocaust survivors,” of which there are
now almost one million – that’s 60 years after the event. 255 On the order
of 100 billion dollars, it keeps flowing.
> Heresy: doubters of the H-story are ethically damned and experience
termination of career prospects, exclusion from clubs and polite society
etc.
> Holy Shrines = Holocaust Memorial sites and museums; every major
US city now has such a museum.
> Sin= undue interest in the German viewpoint, e.g. reading Revisionist
literature.
> St Peter = Elie Wiesel, the first pope of this new established church,
who charges $20,000 a talk on how the H. is “outside” and “beyond his-
tory,” etc. Recently accused as being the World’s Greatest Liar who was
never even at Auschwitz. 256
You become more absurd by the minute Patrick. I lived close to a German Prisoner of war camp in my town Oldham, and they played football on the roof of their housing dorm, all during the war. Though all of us Brits were rationed with food, those prisoners were not starving and when the war ended, before being repatriated, were allowed to roam the town and many people invited them into their homes.
The rest of the German nation was not starving like those in the concentration camps, nor were those prisoners of war; Btits and Americans were housed in prisoner of war camps, in Germany. I knew a few who came home after the war and they were far from starved to near death. They looked pretty healthy when they arrived home. We stretched banners across from our up-stairs window to the house oppose side of the street as a greetings to Norman, when he arrived home at that house across the street.
So that’s my EXPERIENCE … not hearsay, from someone else, as is with people in your camp.
Jack
To mirror your story about Oldham there are pictures of English soccer teams all kitted out in Auschwitz. I am glad that the English seemed to do as good as the Germans did. I won;’t bother taking all your other stuff point by point though I COULD easily if I wanted to . But you are here playing the role of the Zionist shill, you were always Janov’s and the PI’s ‘butt boy’ so that’s what you will do. I will not waste my time taking point by point with an insincere liar with an agenda. Just sell a book about ‘abolishing money’ and leave history to people who actually care about the truth
Patrick: who’s truth? Truth is ephemeral, Pre Copernicus the world was flat.
I suspect you still feel it’s flat.
Jack
I rarely read Patrlck’s stuff anymore because it is so predictable that he can’t resist arguing for some distorted, perverted view of reality that gets his desired rise out of people so that his act out of being the outcast will be reinforced and reliably (for Patrick) perpetuated.
Just now though I took a glance at his comment about the school kids and the Native American elder. Patrick’s view is a pretty sick one. I can empathize with a crazy person who is looking for help, but a crazy person who insists on becoming more entrenched in his craziness is impossible to live with, and is the role Patrick chooses as the easiest and most comfortable for him.
This is about a 7mins clip about the event in question if anyone is interested.
Phil,
you are right when you say that doctors and vets are no experts on immunology.
but even there, for example in my veterinary clinic, they do their best to follow critically the latest findings and adjust their decisions.
they changed their vaccinating policies to what sounds the best approach possible as to not give them unnecessarily.
Patrick you know nothing about whether my cats have been vaccinated or not and I am sick and tired of you going on about them.
by the way, one of my former cats became more than 20 years old and happily died in his sleep between the pillows of the bed.
very scientific to use your one dog as a proof indeed.
I hope he remains healthy for sure, I mean it, but your level of discussing is not where I want to go.
M
The 2020 US presidential race has started and is already historic because of the diversity in the announced democratic field so far, 3 major female candidates, one of whom is black, as well as a major black male candidate. I hope that a nominee will emerge who can beat Trump or any other hypothetical candidate, in case Trump has been removed or resigned. Then maybe we can move ahead to address climate change and all the other important things currently being ignored. This will be a huge contest which I find more interesting to follow than the Superbowl, although I do usually watch that too.
Phil
A correction to my above post, Cory Booker hasn’t announced yet that he’s running for president, but all indications are he will.
Hi Phil. I hope that one of the things that a new president can move ahead to address is why so many people feel so disenfranchised, afraid or deranged that they turned to someone like Trump in the hope that he could make things better from their perspective. I worry that no one in political office has the wisdom or power to address that.
Larry, Bernie Sanders addressed why so many people felt disenfranchised. He was filling stadiums. The media gave him so little attention, compared to Clinton or Trump. And when they did cover him, they usually dismissed him as a socialist, a word that scares the hell out of many Americans. (Hopefully, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, will change that.) Remember CNN showing the empty podium for an hour waiting for Trump to speak? Didn’t one CNN spokesperson say that it might not be good for democracy to give Trump so much attention, but it was good for business (or something like that).
Larry,
I agree that has to be addressed. I think a lot of people voted for Trump as someone who would disrupt the system and change the status quo. I think he’s doing that to some extant, but not in a positive way. Bernie Sanders could have been a good choice I thought, and for 2020 too. But besides that, there are several candidates who may be running, who have done well in Trump areas. There’s Sherrod Brown, democratic senator from Ohio. I think he could be an excellent choice because he knows how to represent disaffected voters in the Midwest where Hillary Clinton was defeated by Trump. He was strongly reelected in 2018, even though voters in Ohio chose a Republican governor. So I hope he will run.
Phil.
Renee and Phil, the leaders that you mention might have the wisdom with which to address the problem of disenfranchisement, but I fear they won’t have the power to do it, being that it is a complex problem that might require a long time and cultural upheaval to solve, but voters want solutions now and people with power and wealth are mostly interested in protecting and increasing their privilege, power and wealth and will use it to maintain it at the expense of the American public. I hope I’m wrong.
Larry,
I’m not that optimistic about big changes happening here. Looking ahead to 2020, a very liberal candidate could win president, with the senate remaining controlled by conservatives. Big changes are possible after major upheavals, such as the Great Depression and Franklin Roosevelt. Things were shifted for decades after that, and to this day. But with Trump as president, that kind of upheaval could happen, including impeachment, and the public turning away from the Republican party, which to a certain extent has already been happening.
Phil
I hope you are right Phil. I”m not entirely pessimistic.
https://www.yang2020.com/
Andrew Yang is my fave.
Vote twice, once for me.
Guru,
I hope his idea gets some coverage. It’s a good one.
Ha, upon rereading my reply to you UG, what I meant is vote for him twice please, one representing your vote and a second representing my vote.
Larry: I don’t think you are wrong at all … Quite the reverse. It needs to be addressed, but it won’t be IMO , we’ve accepted that we need them … B UT do we???
Until we abolish governments … all of then in all countries. it’ll continue and is on the news nightly. Corrupt … , usually the head of the government
Look at them through the lens of Primal therapy.
Jack
Phil: I can’t wait to see Trump gone; the only reservation I have is will his replacement be better. Granted it could hardly be worse. I would much prefer that no-one was given the power allotted to ANY president of any land.
Jack
Phil, who knows, after Mueller’s report trump and pence may both be in trouble and Nancy Pelosi, being next in line may take the reins for a while.
S
Sylvia,
I wonder if you saw the same opinion article that I did; about the contradiction of impeaching and removing Trump, and getting Pence, when he was on the same ticket in a possibly invalid and corrupt election process. So he would need to go too, which would be great. But I can’t see senate Republicans acting in such a way to install a Democratic president, unless there was overwhelming evidence also implicating Pence. and they had no choice Not much has been said about Pence up until now.
Phil
Phil, no I didn’t read that article. Just seeing wishful thinking on the web. There seems to be speculation about Pence’s involvement, in what I don’t know. He seems way too compliant with trump. I think the Dems don’t want trump impeached because he would be so easy to beat in 2020 with a Dem candidate running against him. But you never know, we’ve been fooled before by a fool-er.
Sylvia,
I think that Trump could still be difficult to beat. The Democrat will have to be somewhat acceptable to a few Republican voters, unlike Hillary Clinton. Here’s the article I was referring to: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-trump-is-impeachable-so-is-pence/2019/01/21/f4274962-1902-11e9-8813-cb9dec761e73_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6f7257463673
Phil, I hope you are right, that they will see the election as invalid and get rid of pence and trump both. Wouldn’t Hillary be the rightful winner then? Too late, I guess for her, though.
Then all the judges and laws trump put in and signed respectively, would be undone too. Maybe we could get better environmental laws back. Let’s have a re-do. Sounds good to me!
Sylvia: I thought about that also. In my case it’s a wish; but I need to careful of what I wish for.
Jack
In the Angela Davis clip she says something which in my opinion is relevant to the academia discussion. She says: The real content of any kind of revolutionary thrust lies in the principles and the goals you are striving for, not in the way you reach them”. My point about certain parts of academia was that this is exactly the attitude which drives teaching and research in those fields. The political goals sanctify the means, and if we’re bending the truth a bit, or omitting things that may hurt the cause, and so be it. The next thing is you get academic travesties such as the Ted Hill story.
I think the only criteria for including a “voice” in a curriculum is academic, and what sound academics are has been established over centuries. I don’t mind if the teacher/researcher is Gay, Black, White, Red or a Woman. I don’t mind there being Gender or Women’s or Black studies, as long as it is taught and researched with intellectual integrity rather than a political agenda and as long as it will study the world.
Merely having a “voice” is not a criterion for inclusion. Otherwise, why not carry it further and have Nick Kollerstrom and David Irving have a chair at Jewish studies? What about their voice, why is it “silenced”? And what about the voice of Sharia clerics who feel tormented by the sight of women, why “silence” them? Perhaps after listening to them we will in the name of multi-culturalism and liberalism introduce the Burqa into society.
The reason these two are not in the curriculum is clear and is academic rather than moral: they are both very poor science (or even no science at all) and have no academic merit whatsoever.
By the way, it’s an easy way out to criticize the representation of white, Western men in curriculum and syllabi without taking into account that that group by far produced most of academia for a thousand years. They are the ones who built the University system and its academic tradition in the first place; they are the ones who wrote the great works, the founding documents, of our culture. Taking this fact into consideration is what I mean by intellectual integrity. Not all is “oppression”, unless of course you have a political agenda to advance the cause of “oppression” and, like Angela Davies, you think the aims justify the means. You will then summarily cast that fact aside.
Finally, as a citizen I also deplore the demise of the big struggles in favour of splintering society into ever smaller sub-groups of identity politics. I mean struggles such as the struggle for fairer income distribution, the civil rights movements, the labor movements, struggles that united groups rather than splintered them.
Daniel, you talk about facts being cast aside. But whose facts will be embraced and whose will be cast aside? To believe that this is somehow not political is ridiculous. Like who created the university system. The University of Al Quaraouiyine which was founded in Morocco by Fatima al-Fihri in 859, was the oldest degree-granting university. Somehow, I don’t think that Fatima al-Fihri was a white, Western man. Or that Jesus was white and Western either, for that matter. You will likely have different ‘facts’. I don’t believe, like you do, that you can separate your identity from your politics, any more than you can separate it from your personal life. The personal IS political. It is all connected. However, we do agree on something when you say that all struggles should be connected and not splintered. That is why I so fully approve of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s views. She has a beautiful way of bringing together all the struggles and has a deep understanding of what the bigger struggle is for and what it is against, without pretending that identities to not matter.
Also, Daniel, you state that, “Not all is “oppression”, unless of course you have a political agenda to advance the cause of “oppression” and, like Angela Davies, you think the aims justify the means”. Are you saying that what she was describing in that link I posted was not oppression? Then what would you call it? As for her comment that the aims justify the means, I think you missed the point. I think she was saying that at what point do stop being peaceful when you are continually being responded to with violence and brutality. I seem to remember this was one the critiques of MLK. I also seem to remember that this is an issue where Nelson Mandela came to think like Angela Davis and shifted from his position of non-violence. Or was it Angela Davis that came to think like him? (Oops…..sorry Angela, you are much younger than Mandela who was already in prison by the time you became politically active.) By the way, another reason I liked the Angela Davis clip was that she so clearly demonstrated how the personal is political. Could you have experienced what she did as a child and not have that shape your politics? I like that she doesn’t hide behind the illusion of neutrality and is so fully connected to her feelings in a real way. I think she is inspiring.
Oh, and regarding the Angela Davis clip, I specifically meant that in academic setting, not the one she talks about in the clip where her description is compelling.
Daniel, in an academic setting, I have no doubt that Angela Davis would have responded in the same way, had a student or another professor asked her the same question. She doesn’t disconnect from her feelings and herself when being intellectual. This is what I have been trying to say to you with regard to the stereotypical (or essentialist, if you like big words) white, Western, male way of thinking. I have obviously been unsuccessful. This is not about condemning white, Western men. When this subject came up before on the blog, I posted two videos, both of white men, talking about PT, one who exemplifies this way of thinking (disconnected from feelings, pretending neutrality, no disclosing of lived experience of the subject, valuing scientific over all other evidence, using big words to establish his authority etc), and one who does not. For those of you who missed it, I am posting them again because I believe it is better to show than tell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNlDToOXU8s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru9PNE0A9o8&t=190s (start at 3:00). When I posted these videos last time, I think it was to share my view that this way of thinking is not necessarily an inherently bad way of thinking and can be helpful at times. I think we all grew up with this way of thinking as it dominates our school system. The problem with this way of thinking, I believe, is that it tends to marginalize, silence, and/or invalidate other ways of thinking and knowing. That’s all. I love you, Angela! Way to go, girl!! Here she is a month ago, as emotionally connected as ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0zIhFElp8c
……”White people are are beginning to change significantly.” There is hope for us, after all.
Renee, I don’t see that Dr. Grande uses scientific evidence. He is presenting his opinion. I don’t see that he presents any direct evidence for or against the efficacy of Primal Therapy. His argument is based only on conjecture. I think you are wrong to generalize his thinking as a typical example of white, Western male way of thinking. I feel he is typical of a lot of peoples’ way of thinking, from across all spectrum of power, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or culture.
Larry, it seemed to me that Dr. Grande was presenting his argument based on scientific evidence. And is stereotypical of whites, Westerners and males, whether or not we see it as typical. I think that the reason many adopt this way of thinking is that we have internalized it from our educational and cultural institutions. As I said, I don’t think it as an inherently bad way of thinking and knowing…..it should just be seen as one of many that we can choose from, not the only valid one.
Rene, in the video he says there is no scientific evidence that Primal Therapy works. Then later in the video he conjectures on why he thinks it probably doesn’t work. It is his conjecture. His isn’t an argument based on any scientific evidence of Primal Therapy that disproves the therapy. He doesn’t even seem to understand what Primal Therapy is. The manner of thinking that he demonstrates in this video is not scientific and is typical of a broad spectrum of people, including but not exclusive to whites, Westerners and males. People adopted this way of arriving at ill informed opinions way before we even had our Western educational and cultural institutions
I’m beginning to recall that you and I had this exact discussion before, maybe a year or two ago, so I’m not going to pursue it any further.
Renee: You have a good point.
Jack
That’s cool, I didn’t know that. Thanks. However, it’s anecdotal, a Guinness World Record type of achievement. Where are the scholarly products? Perhaps there are quite a lot that are relevant for Al-Fihri’s culture, but are you claiming that University or that woman produced important and relevant scholarly works that were “oppressed”?
Just go through the shelves of any Western university library, or see who wrote the great texts of Western civilization, from the ancient Greeks onward. In time I’m sure this impressive canon will include contributions form what you call marginalized populations, provided of course sch contributions will stand the test of time.
Daniel said ‘ Otherwise, why not carry it further and have Nick Kollerstrom and David Irving have a chair at Jewish studies? ‘ what a great idea! It really in some kind of alternate universe would be the beginning of sanity on some of these issues. But Daniel has a very long way to go I see now. He is very invested in his Jewish identity and his ‘version’ of things. For all his ‘learning’ does not pass the smell test at all for me at least. Not even close. But then he thinks the same about me probably. That’s not a good situation and it is mirrored in society in general. Sad and bad situation really.
Ultimate Guru, it’s interesting in Ireland there is a very big push on to reduce road deaths. Last year 149 died in the whole country in car accidents and it was the LOWEST since records began in 1959. There are many many more cars here now than in 1959 so the authorizes are proud of their record. I think at a high point deaths were between 300 and 400 a year. They have done this by cracking down on drinking and driving and also speeding and generally making it tough to get a driver’s licence. For myself I have not got one yet and I HAVE to take 12 one hour classes before I can even be tested. Anyway I thought of you when I heard that just wanted to let you know that at least somewhere people are trying to do something about it.
Thanks Patrick….I’m kinda overloaded here. Dad needs to be on morphine because the pain is too much…referral to hospice today, giving up his cancer treatment.
So I visit him this morning and someone stole $500 from his wallet last night and threw the wallet with credit cards, drivers license, insurance.business cards in his bathroom toilet full of urine. I had to talk to cop, witnesses, etc.
The road deaths thing and the crass marginalization of victims is going to have to be revisited some other time, but thanks for your concern Patrick.
Guru: The only way I can imagine something akin to the elimination of road death is perhaps by driver-less vehicles that are so sensitive to any possible obstacle. We are getting technology to solve many problems, BUT is there a likelihood that there may be some unintended consequences?
BUT, that I feel will not resolve your problem … of your mothers death,
Jack
OK Guru, all the best to you with your Dad. And again I am sorry I did not communicate a bit more with you last Spring but anyway I was distracted and I do procrastinate. Not an excuse really so again sorry. I like and always have you independence of mind here you have always been about my favorite blogger on this channel though I don’t think you feel that about me. I understand and can’t win them all. I like the way you do not get caught up in group think or playing ‘winner’ all the time. Plus you’re funny…………
Patrick, it’s not that I have a ‘favorite’ blogger here or not…It’s just that you’ve put me in a very difficult position here. You and I both know a lot of people on here dislike you. Some of the people disliking you are one who I would still value some sort of relationship with as well, so a huge conflict ensues.
If I contact you, the people who dislike you would now dislike me as well and I possibly lose those relationships for myself.
So this puts me in a terrible bind, OK?
Also, the fact my dad was robbed this morning has made him feel so stupid for leaving the $500 in his wallet (completely unnecessary in an institution), that I feel he might be pursuing hospice as a form of punishing himself for his mistake…making a rash decision towards self-destruction when his previous oncologists said he still had a hopeful diagnosis (maybe 1-2 more years). I and another relative are trying to convince him to continue his medication for more time.
Actually, I’m in several terrible binds here, trying to make a critical decision for someone’s med care…end of life comfort or not?
Really, I gotta forget the cars topic for now.
Lemme just add that I don’t understand why you went in the direction you did over the last several years with opinions that I truly do not understand & don’t feel I could be a part of. What happened to the good old days of just the Paleo diet and just going after Jack?? You were doing fine until Kollerstrom took over some years ago. Can’t we just put that all back in a box and be Paleo dieting entrepreneurs with a Gentle Giant flair once more? Maybe invite Tim here for fun once more and such…?
I don’t know, just thinking….Been a ridiculous day for me
Terrible news about your dad getting robbed, Guru. At least he’s unharmed.
You can befriend Patrick all you want. I for one will not change my mind about you one iota. I’d still like you.
Hey Daniel, OK, well that’s good to hear at least. We had a good discussion some years ago about why would it be so important to follow any religious conventions or ethnic labels in light of Janov believing this life is all there is (ie, “although the brain is an exquisitely complex organ, there is nothing mystical to it.”)
Whether someone was Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, etc. seemed irrelevant when confronted with Janov’s writings alluding to religions being simply organizational labels conjured up by firing neurons to herd people like advanced forms of thinking cattle in stable sections of land for mutual survival .
You expressed your disappointment in what Janov wrote when I shared this with you, along with my own surprise that you were not aware of his materialism at the time.
From a hardcore materialist viewpoint (death is oblivion) why bother getting worked up or bent out of shape over Israel or Palestine knowing they may be arbitrary labels with no real meaning behind them?
I think we only partially confronted this question when we spoke of it last, so there might be some more life to it somewhere.
And, thanks for your comments on dad.
Guru: To and for me, your best paragraph yet. “Whether someone was Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, etc. seemed irrelevant when confronted with Janov’s writings alluding to religions being simply organizational labels conjured up by firing neurons to herd people like advanced forms of thinking cattle in stable sections of land for mutual survival”
Jack
Guru: To and for me, your best paragraph yet. “Whether someone was Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, etc. seemed irrelevant when confronted with Janov’s writings alluding to religions being simply organizational labels conjured up by firing neurons to herd people like advanced forms of thinking cattle in stable sections of land for mutual survival”
Jack
Guru, if I remember that discussion back then correctly then I’ll be repeating myself: regardless of what Janov had in mind, the reality is that people find it important – to various degrees in various places on earth. I would say that it has to do with identity and the need to belong to something which is bigger that yourself, a family if you will, but one which vertically goes back several generations and horizontally spreads to include others of similar background and values. Is it a neurotic phenomenon? My thoughts are that neurosis can surely take refuge with it.
As for Judaism, it is an unusual type, because it’s not only a religion but a type of ethnicity, a type of nation. I, for example, am not religious in any way but still am a ethnically a Jew and belong, whether I like it or not, to the Jewish people. As a people, a nation, Jews wished for the same right as all other nations – a right to self-determination and a country of their own.
It’s more dear to some Jews than to others, but it’s a fact.
Daniel: sorry to but in here, but being a Jew, religiously or, otherwise IS a choice. I know two Jews who’ve renounced their Judaism without any seeming effect. I too have rejected my Christian faith, culture, and western culture, though I suspect you’ll state that is impossible. I am able to reject being white, since if I compare my skin colour to a blank piece of white paper, I look nothing like white … more like a pale reddish yellowish colour. I don’t see African natives as black either… my preference to see people as people, and decide which of them I like and which of them I have little or no feelings about, and those I just don’t like. that way I relate it all to my feelings.
I see it all as just words to PROMOTE our differences, whereas I prefer to not look through that lens … it does not serve me … going by my feelings is the way I choose: not the truth, reality, or ‘what is’. All that does is just create a mindset.
I may well be crazy, but to quote something I once said in group to another patient; that said I was crazy:- “The only difference between me and you is; that I know I’m crazy, whereas I see you as doing your utmost to prove you are not”
It’s ALL dependent on the we we CHOOSE to look at ourselves and the universe I/we are occupying.
Jack
Guru,
I hope your father can be convinced about medication possibly giving him some more quality time. Maybe some kind of counseling would help clarify things for him, besides the efforts you and other family members are making. It’s sounds like you’re on top of it but I’m sure it’s terrible stress to deal with all of this, Best wishes getting through it all. Phil
Phil, I just caught this post among the many posts crowding the blog here, thank you, Yes, I spent lots of time with various nurses from three different doctors (pain, physical/orthopedic, and oncology). I even spoke with my dad’s insurer to see if it could cover the $500 loss. Turns out to be the exact deductible amount, so no go there. I might write to the nursing home asking for reimbursement. I feel bad doing this because most employees seem well meaning and work very hard, yet one rogue employee ruined everything. So yeah I feel like an ass writing to the company wanting the $500 when they didn’t want this theft to happen either.
After 20 phone calls overall, I also convinced dad through a relative to hold off on the hospice and resume immunotherapy for one more chance at a bit longer life.
A Gentle Giant flair! Too funny! G.
Guru: It’s really is sad about your dad and I understand you, particularly your worries about him, BUT it is his life, and I feel you need to let him chose to do things his way. Listen to him, and be careful about advice and suggestions… he’s probably thought about all that. What I feel he needs is support, by his son just being there. That, I feel is the very best gift you can give him.
Take care and good luck.
Jack
Geez Guru, what a bad day piled on top of the already difficult time that you and your Dad are already going through. That’s a lot to cope with.
Daniel,
with all due respect, with in mind some books I have read (not at all from the right wing), I don’t think it is true no people were chased away from their homes until Palestine ‘started a war’.
what I have read is that long before world war II Arab families had to move out of their small farms and what used to be Jaffa fruit, Arab was taken over, maybe just with the power of money mostly, I have not recalled all the details.
and well, if some Palestinians protested in a violent way, that is no excuse to expel the innocent ones from their homes, which did happen.
what about the settlements where they are actually not legal?
people now all stashed together in the Gaza area not even allowed to go to the seaside anymore or to the land they once worked on?
I am not an expert on all the details, but I feel strongly that how you described it was the entire truth either.
there have been plenty of mistakes on both sides, and as all the territories and roads are so entertained now, I believe the only true solution might be in a shared government, Arabs and Jews together, even if that takes extra safety supervision from for example the UN.
but well, I am no expert, but find it a very sorry situation there.
M
Margaret: Just to push my point again… How about NO borders, no fences and no walls.
The UK and Theresa May, want to take control the the UK’s borders. That natural border of water (seas), was broken the minute the ‘Chunnel’ was completed.
It;s all such backward thinking, as I see it.
Jack
M, I’m not trying to condone the actions of the Jewish side in the war of 1948. The upshot of it all was in deed a great disaster for the local Arab population. Hostilities between the two sides erupted long before that crucial war, with both sides behaving terribly.
In our current context my point was and is that, in accordance with the new holy post-modern PC scriptures, Arabs will never be considered responsible for anything that happened or happens to them. They belong to the East, the “Others”, and therefore are never to be blamed for anything. They are always victims and therefore always right. This is the true patronization, where they are always infantilized and robbed of their agency.
Israel on the other hand is considered Western. Jews are “Others” when least convenient and “Us” also when least convenient. And being, for this specific purpose, both Western and white they are eternally the oppressors and therefore never right, always colonial, and unlike Arabs, those infants without agency, are always blamed and demanded accountability.
By the way, I strongly object to the Israeli occupation and support the-two states solution. However, please be reminded that the Palestinians/Arabs rejected such compromise in 1937, 1947, 1967, 1978, 2000, and 2007-2008.
A one-state solution at the present time is a recipe for a bloody disaster, and such a solution really worked in only three countries: Switzerland, Switzerland and Switzerland.
Daniel, now your concern about political correctness comes more into focus. You are engaged in that very old game of ‘is it good for the Jews?’ That would seem to be your MAIN concern and all this academic la di da sing and dance man is just fluff. As usual I might say, scratch a Jew and that’s what comes out usually ‘is is good for the Jews?’
Daniel: I liked: “only three countries Switzerland, Switzerland and Switzerland.
But in an other way the British did that also with the Gaelic Welsh, Pitts o’Scots, and the Anglo Saxon English. Even so, the subdivision within each, are still there, to this day.
Jack
Guru,
that is so sad and upsetting what happened to your dad, and to you at the same time.
must be so infuriating and frustrating on top of what already is such a difficult situation.
wish you strength and some good moments still with your dad, and that he may be well taken care of.
hope you can get some support as well.
Margaret
Thank you for thinking of me, Margaret. I’m scared the incident might have spurred dad into making a rash decision towards hospice as a form of self-punishment for carelessly leaving money out, but he’s in a lot of pain centered around his leg and he can’t leave his bed.
I don’t know.
A few things …. Guru, So sad about your father and now a robbery! That is just horrible. Daniel, I could not agree more with your post about “ others “ and “ us” and I actually think this issue comes up in a number of ways, both in therapy and in the world in general. It felt like a relief to read it. Margaret, I have been meaning to tell you how grounded you seem to be lately. It’s really nice to see. On to a bigger issue….. when I told Patrick he would be kicked off the blog if he continued with his name calling and then he promptly continued I assumed you all knew that I meant that and though it was pointless to immediately block him ( you may recall I mentioned he put some effort into finding apps that allow you to avoid being blocked) as he would return the next day still I was indeed looking for another solution. I would not tell someone they would need to leave and then not follow through or if I changed my mind I would say that. In any case I believe there is a way but I will come back to that in a moment. Vaccinations….. I wish there was one that could treat the toxic crap infecting this blog. That is what it is …. toxic, sick revolting. First of all Patrick wants to be banned …. period ! It will always be the only satisfying ending to this old worn out scenario. I ask him not to call someone a faggot and he instantly has an adult tantrum using that word multiple times. No one mentions the possible banning for two weeks, not one word but then who brings it up yesterday ? Patrick when he mentions that Renée does not want him banned. Is that what you would do if you felt you had escaped the guillotine? I don’t think so. Please tell me why we are discussing things like whether Paul is really Faul or whether there was a Holocaust or his “ gut “ feeling that Lyme disease was caused by vaccines as if any of this makes sense to any thinking person. Let me tell you something else Patrick is not our lovable but cranky Uncle and this is not about Jews. The more he speaks the more he reveals and it is clear to me this is a hatred for anyone who is not white and not Christian. This is really ugly and what’s more he has zero insight and zero interest in getting help. His hero David Irving spoke at a neo nazi conference in 2017 and began his speech by saying he was glad to only see white faces in the audience. I feel sorry for Patrick, I understand why he never answers questions that threaten his belief system or why he repeats the words of his mentors without investigation, I do get it and I understand how it relates to his past. We have heard it all multiple times. I think if he were to let in an ounce of reality the shame would be overwhelming. Far from helping his views are escalating and becoming all the more bizarre. Satan has now been introduced to the mix! The odd thing and frankly the toxic nature of this behavior seems to infect almost everyone. Almost as though it’s normal to listen to this insanity. This goes on while he screams about not being heard while repeating the same hideous lies not for days, weeks, months but for years! In my opinion in Patrick’s world there are only good guys and bad guys and he is the perpetual victim. He will be banned because Jews like to censor or because I’m a bitch but not because he did anything. On top of that it’s all about Patrick and a rare moment when there seems to be concern for anyone else. Along those lines I don’t understand why you were so insulted Renée by Daniels quote and use of what you considered to be the wrong pronoun ( in a quote) while claiming that words are not neutral but not one word about the use of the word faggot or bitch . I have to believe it’s the toxic nature of the situation. We all might have our view of politics, religion etc but I have never heard from anyone else here a single derogatory comment when referring to someone of another race, religion or sexual preference ….ever, except of course Patrick. Do I feel for him, believe there may be something else going on, wish that he would get help? Yes, yes, yes but that is up to him. There is only one bully here and I truly don’t think we are helping him by denying that reality ( and actually I think there is a part of Patrick that wants honesty) . I will write later to explain what will happen on the blog. If you want to stay in touch with Patrick do so of course. Exchange emails or phone numbers, Do what you want. Gretchen
Gretchen,
I’m glad you wrote all this because I’ve been confused as to what’s happening or will be happening with Patrick on the blog.
Phil
My impression about Daniel’s pronoun and Renee, not that I quite remember it, is that Daniel is a reasonable, thoughtful guy with who it is safe and productive to have disagreement and discussion with. Patrick not so, even seems out of touch with reality, out of reach and volatile and needs to be placated or ignored in order to coexist on the blog with if coexistence is what has to be.
Thanks Larry,
I copied your sentence: “Daniel is a reasonable, thoughtful guy with who it is safe and productive to have disagreement and discussion with”; enlarged the font, decorated the paper I printed it on, and handed it to my wife.
Oh oh. Wait a minute. Then enlarge and add to the decorated paper, that I defer to your wife’s opinion, as she has a deeper, longer perspective on you than I do.
Here is something both Gretchen and Daniel might read but won’t of course. It is written by a Jewish man who actually has integrity (it happens here and there) Henry Makow and he traces it all very well how it happens. It starts with fooling and oppressing their own and once that is done go on from there.
https://www.henrymakow.com/2019/01/NWO-is-Throwback-to-Totalitarian-Judaism%20.html
Patrick: read most of the site you posted, was not convinced, but then I wouldn’t be be, would I,
I’m boxed into my thing … PT.
Jack
Jack, I think what you call ‘neurosis’ I call ‘Judaism’. They are both pretty broad strokes but I prefer mine as I think it is much more SPECIFIC about what went wrong and IS going wrong even today as we speak. Henry Makow himself is Jewish so it is not impossible for Jews to step outside their programming but with the likes of Daniel that will be a long wait. He is a Zionist and full of it. Makow makes clear it is not the average Jewish’s person fault they are victims as much as anyone else maybe more so from a certain perspective. I thought his description of the ‘mind control’ was brilliant in traditional Judaism, in Communism and now here in the West. Combine that with the wholesale poisoning of the youth and is it any wonder I am not a happy camper. What’s to be happy about?
I Quote:- “I think what you call ‘neurosis’ I call ‘Judaism’.”. Judaism is only 5,000 years old at best … neurosis is 20,000 – 30,000 at least. Therein is a huge distinction. Some of the outcomes of ‘neurosis’, as I view it, sitting here at my desk with snow all over the garden 3″ thick. are:- Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Sooooo!!! I know you THINK you are specific, but from where I’m sitting it does not look that way.
There are good Jews and bad Jews and all the in-be-tweens, just as there are good Christians and bad Christians and all the in-be-tweens, just as there are good Hindus and bad Hindus and all the in-be-tweens, and on and on and on.
You’re far, far, far from being specific. Lenin and none of the Bolsheviks or Mensheviks were in anyway affiliated to any “ism” other than Communism a la Marx. You’re doing a “Lazy dog syndrome” on here …. and it shows. Refer back to an earlier comment of mine if you’re not cognoscent of ‘the Lazy Dog syndrome.
It’s way beyond ‘WONDERMENT’ that you are a ‘happy camper’ You make 3 = 23. AND you do not see it … Yikes!!! Donald the Trump-etor does the same, as does many highly neurotic people.
Jack
So when the next Arab or other country in the region (for example Iran) is attacked, starved and slaughtered can it better be explained by ‘neurosis’ or ‘Judaism’ Maybe it’s just me but I find the 2nd explanation way more USEFUL and SPECIFIC. That is the trouble with your nonsense it totally vague and not useful.
It’s so annoying being compared to Trump all the time. We know what you think of him and they you try to tar me with the same brush. Again very non specific indeed, it’s no wonder your ‘thinking’ never seems to find traction anywhere. And then of course it’s because the world is ‘neurotic’ boo hoo if only someone would listen to you then you might sell a book about ‘abolishing money’
Interesting that it annoys you … Now there’s a feeling
You “Tarred” yourself.
Jack
Daniel,
I think you put the picture of how in the current politically correct academic views Arabs are always right and victims, and carry no responsibility, and Israels are always wrong and responsible, might be a bit black and white.
‘always’ seems to indicate there might be some feeling at stake too, as well, I am not even gonna start to try to give examples of the opposite.
but you might be right of course in the fact that it is getting extremely hard to distinguish who the perpetrators and victims are in general, as all the information is so colored in every way possible.
it is sad and painful to witness how much unnecessary suffering by innocent bystanders is caused by miscommunication or worse, disinformation.
and how big monetary interests make those in power close their eyes on the crimes their ‘allies’ commit.
I feel mostly sorry for all the poor civilians , Jewish, Arab or otherwise who are stuck between ongoing struggles they have little or nothing to do with except for the suffering.
M
Gretchen,
thanks, that sounds like a very nice compliment.
I still need to say sounds like, as it is difficult really letting it in…
to the point I will probably look at what comments I wrote recently as to check, what did I say that both from you and from Larry got a compliment in the last weeks? what made it different from what I wrote before?
but in any case it feels nice to be addressed, yeah, could sound pathetic if not in a primal context, and so much better still as it was the opposite of criticism, while I write this down I start choking up…
maybe that is just it, being more in touch with my feelings in general, more in the present…
this morning before getting out of bed I was thinking of what I would feel like being in a group, and what came up was ‘I NEED!!!’, and the idea of wailing to the point of giving up hope…
have to give this feeling some attention right now.
sad…
M
glad I took the time to let the feeling come up…
at first it was toddler wailing without a clear focus for a while.
the next step came when I whispered ‘Gretchen please love me’, deeper and earlier wailing, and then the last step came, ‘maaamaaaa….’, very sad and needing wails on the verge of hopelessness…
thick fat tears filled with stress hormone, great to get rid of that stuff!
M
Margaret,
that’s great that big feeling came out. I agree on your posts seeming grounded. I’m often not happy with what I’ve written recently after it’s already posted and too late to take back.
My take on what’s been going on here is that Daniel is around because Patrick is triggering, understandably so, Renee is trying to fix Patrick, why I don’t know, and I don’t have anything real to say about all of that. The rest of us are kind of drifting with that.
I can easily feel left out. I’ve already said in the past that Patrick shouldn’t be on the blog, and that hasn’t changed, although I do feel bad about that, and saying it.
Phil
Please keep posting Phil. You bring a welcome air of sanity. Like you I often hesitate to post a comment on the blog and risk sticking my neck out for the chopping block, but taking thoughtful risks is the only way to grow.
Phil,
I always enjoy reading every single comment of yours, as they are always informative, intelligent and often very funny.
I think apart from being an old painful feeling, it is getting natural here to feel left out as so much attention and time is taken by what Gretchen rightfully calls toxic crap…
that takes up so much energy, if alone to start reading the comments a bit before deciding to delete…
and the whole atmosphere is not very inviting to share personal stuff when this goes on.
so please keep commenting as you are for me actually one of the sanest persons around, stable, reliable and also grounded.
and funny, smiley…
M
Thanks Margaret, it’s hard to take in that you could feel that way.
The situation here is reminiscent of my childhood situation. I had a brother who was
very difficult in his behavior, hard to understand, who couldn’t seem to quite say or know what he wanted from my parents, and he pretty much didn’t get what he needed. With him around the peace was continually disturbed, it was hard for any good feelings to exist in that atmosphere. Years later he went completely crazy.
I had some feelings this morning as well. About my mother, opening up just a little more about what she was like, and sadness about losing her. wanting from her what only she was going to be able to give.
Phil
Phil, I am not interested in fixing anybody. And I hope no-one is interested in fixing me. As I said before, if Patrick is going to be on the blog (and I am okay if he is not), I want to find a way to connect with him in a way that feels meaningful and real to me, and hopefully him too.
Renee,
OK, it’s just noticeable to me how occupied you become with Patrick, and I have wondered what that’s about. Good luck finding a meaningful connection with him, aside from all the craziness.
Phil
Phil, as I have said before, there are sides of Patrick that I like, and I see myself in him in some ways. I feel that I have had meaningful connections with him, even though the craziness/old trauma being acted-out, has made it challenging at times.
Phil,
reading your last comment I can only start to imagine how it must have been to grow up like that…
even in my own family my focus seemed to be fixed on trying to make everyone feel happy or at least not get hurt too badly.
in your situation it must have been so very very stressful and painful with huge deprivation.
and still you are such a nice decent person with a couple of kids that do very well, congratulations seem in order, really.
M
Thanks Margaret,
The problem for me has been being able to connect and enjoy what I do have, and make it work.
Here’s the song which got my feelings started this morning, Dinah Washington. Maybe my mother heard this song playing on the radio she had on the kitchen counter in the 1950s, or maybe not. https://youtu.be/giowQ7wenU8
Daniel, I found this comment of yours interesting: “it’s anecdotal, a Guinness World Record type of achievement. Where are the scholarly products? Perhaps there are quite a lot that are relevant for Al-Fihri’s culture, but are you claiming that University or that woman produced important and relevant scholarly works that were “oppressed”?” It sounds like you are skeptical that a Muslim North African woman could found the first university ever, but if she did, that accomplishment either has to be marginalized to only ‘her’ culture, likely did not produce ‘scholarly products’, or that perhaps it was a freak event, kind of a Guinness World Record kind of thing. Then you wonder if I think that this knowledge/fact was “oppressed”, with oppression in quotation marks, as if it doesn’t really exist. Just a figment of the imagination and excuse for people who, I think you said once, don’t want to take personal responsibility for their behavior. That’s a lot to digest! All this reminds me of this little gem of clip. Take a look at clue no. 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG_hhWV4LHk.
Renee: First off I did not go to any University… not bright enough. However, most of these higher Schools of learning use sport to make profit to keep them running.
Trump saw the profitability enough to open one or more of his own.
It’s really a game. Get a degree and supposedly you’re in for a lucrative career in something and not necessarily in the subject you studied.
But then not having gone to one I’m totally biased.
Jack
Jack, do you have any regrets that you didn’t go to university? By the way, I think you’re bright enough for university. Whoever thought you weren’t, obviously didn’t know you!
Renee: In my 20’s yes I did regret it, then later in my late 30′ I began to see that it could also be an encumbrance. I was on very friendly terms with my doctor and when I decided to go off to Ibiza and try to live a whole different lifestyle . I made one last visit with him … not for medical reasons, but I did see him in his surgery, On getting there he put his legs on his desk, took a bottle to whiskey from under his desk and took a big swig right out of the bottle and said “God how I envy you; I’m stuck here having to try and fix people and it as boring as all hell”.
I knew at that instant I was more free than most. Even though I had no money and was not sure what I was letting myself in for, I just went off. Eventually, after several month, found an old primitive farm house on top of a mountain about 1Km from the nearest village and lived the most idealic 10 years of my life .
I would never have left there, but during that time I was lent a book “the Primal Scream” … and the rest is history.
It’s all relative. Relative to what one eventually wants out of life. It’s why I see education as something being forced on us … rather than leaving us learn whatever we want to learn and when we want to learn. I don’t envy any other person. Regretting is futile. My cookie crumbles this way and I feel very lucky … and it was all pure luck. I would never even want to be an actor either. It’s a trap.
I hope that reveals another aspect aspect of Jack the Anatolia of Primal. the low life one, the great liar. et al
Jack
Jack,
I think you’ve certainly have had an interesting life, and I enjoy hearing about it. I go to Spain and Ibiza has a reputation as a party place nowadays, but I’ve never been there.
Phil
Jack,
My understanding is you did some programming for Patrick’s company, did you have some training in computers? Renee is right, to me you could have easily qualified to attend a university, but you were such a free spirit, that I guess you were better off not going.
Phil
The main truism for today’s matriculants is pretty simple: If you’re not majoring in a STEM field, your degree is increasingly a garbage one, economically speaking.
Phil: Yes I did some development for Patrick’s business (programming). No! I had no training I used an app, Foxpro database management program, and just started small, as Patrick told me what he needed. In that sense we were a good teem. A time passed he wished for more and through the Command Manuel I figured a way to create the result he wanted.
What was great for me, was that Patrick knew exactly what he wanted, which is a great asset for any developer.
On the question of Higher Education, it’s only in hindsight, that I now know, It was not for me.
Reason:- It ties ones hands the minute you get that longed for degree.
I want to live in the land where there is no money, no laws no restriction what-so-ever and no one telling me what I should or not do. For now SADLY that place does not exist …. BUT i yearn for it.
Jac
Phil: It was a very lovely and primitive Island until we hippies went there and inadvertently destroyed it. We didn’t mean to and we did appreciate it’s beauty and simplicity, nevertheless with certain things we tried to improve on it, especially inside those simple and beautiful fincas. I couldn’t go back there now. It would break my heart.
Also Phil it is by shear good luck that my life is/was as interesting as it has been, because of luck. Nothing to do with me thinking it out. It started by have a lovely mammy, not perfect, far from it, but a great start for me. I even got a better deal than my siblings, being the first born
Jack
Just a brief note, not on the topic at all. I really enjoyed the movie “summer 1993” , I think was recommended by Jo? The two little girls were such natural actors. And definitely a primal movie.
Also, on the practical side, those who buy U.S. stamps the price increase going by 5 cents up to 55 cents for 1 oz. first class on January 27th. Those who are wealthy–just ignore.
P.S. you can buy stamps on-line to avoid the standing in line, before they go up.
S
Sylvia, Stamps? Those are still around?
Indeed they are, Phil. That’s why the P.O. is always broke, no one hardly uses them. And there are mail carriers too–you know those people in the blue uniforms?–that’s them, though they don’t walk, as much as they drive around now.
I don’t trust my computer enough to receive and send payment. Those pesky russians are always up to something, fiddling around with our security, don’t ya know. Guess i might be stuck in the last century, but i’m ready for them with my canned goods, flashlites and stamps.
Sylvia,
On line payments might be safer than mailed checks. A friend of mine had a check stolen recently he had mailed. It was altered to read $7K rather than $70, using white out, and then cashed. It passed through the bank probably because machines now scan checks. I only pay by check when there’s no choice.
Phil
Yikes, I hope they caught up with the thief. I don’t seem to have any problems with bills coming but I will keep an eye out for those flagged-mailbox opportunists. My neighbor takes her out-going mail right to the post office. Times are so different now, guess that’s what is meant by the good ol’ days, fewer baddies around then.
Sylvia: “fewer baddies around then.” Not really, it’s just that in those ‘bad ol’ days’ we didn’t see them like we do now, on social media.
Jack
Sylvia, I know you said you don’t trust the computer for sending/receiving payments, but if you change your mind I’ll show you some techniques I use to game the payment system to my financial advantage completely legally every single month.
Remind me whenever you’re ready & I will send you a confidential mail with valuable info, thanks.
Unhackable Sylvia?
Sylvia, glad you enjoyed the film Summer 1993 😊
Larry, as soon as you said about unhackable my computer froze. I’m back on but the universe seemed to have a message there for me.
Jack, let’s just say there are more people now and more strangers, less of a community feeling or care about the next person. Not as much of a small town feeling. Drugs haven’t helped either.
Sylvia: with those small communities came small outlooks and small mindedness, gossip and lots of other traits. I prefer to see a larger world as a community with more open attitudes and learning how other people brought up in other lands.
Just my take …that’s all
Jack
Hi all , We have made a slight change in the blog. The way that it is suppose to work is that the first time you post I will approve you. After that you can post as you have always done. If you post with a different name or email I will need to approve you again but that is no problem. Again, no approval needed after that. If someone gets on using a different name or email I can simply remove them and they would need to reapply. We set this up earlier today and I have received a few “ awaiting approvals” but I noticed some are still commenting without approval. So this may take time to work out the glitches. It’s a start however! Gretch
Gretchen wow … I’m scared to death fearing that I may get disapproved because my gravitar is showing a pic of me that is from almost another epoc. I’d be lost without this blog … it keeps me as straight as I am … not in the sexual orientation, as that didn’t change other than my sexuality evaporating. Hope you get the glitches out, not that I’ve noticed any … so far.
Jack
Gretchen: It seem that just one person, abusing the blog; and thinking he’s merely just having his say, and feels this is what the blog is about, you have to go through all this extra work.
I grant there’s seems little alternative.
Jack
Thank you Gretchen!
It is such a relief to have your sanity and commitment to helpfulness here!
L
Daniel, I am re-posting my last message to you because I was told that the link I had included was not available. Here it is:
I found this comment of yours interesting: “it’s anecdotal, a Guinness World Record type of achievement. Where are the scholarly products? Perhaps there are quite a lot that are relevant for Al-Fihri’s culture, but are you claiming that University or that woman produced important and relevant scholarly works that were “oppressed”?” It sounds like you are skeptical that a Muslim North African woman could found the first university ever, but if she did, that accomplishment either has to be marginalized to only ‘her’ culture, likely did not produce ‘scholarly products’, or that perhaps it was a freak event, kind of a Guinness World Record kind of thing. Then you wonder if I think that this knowledge/fact was “oppressed”, with oppression in quotation marks, as if it doesn’t really exist. Just a figment of the imagination and excuse for people who, I think you said once, don’t want to take personal responsibility for their behavior. That’s a lot to digest! All this reminds me of this little gem of clip. Watch for the “Racism Detective” skit in this link and particularly clue no. 4. https://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow/videos/is-rep-steve-king-racist-enter-trevor-noah-racism-detective/534300623723528/
Gretchen, thank you for executing the much needed changes to the blog..😊
Jack, You have a lifetime membership! Thanks Jo and Leslie 🙂 Gretch
Gretchen: Hey! that’s a great honour and I will remember that when I meet St Peter cos I’m sure he’ll not let me in. So! I’ll tell him I have a lifetime membership to the Primal blog and ask if that makes a difference.
I’m sure Patrick’ll see this as me as ‘brown nosing’ you … but I care little of that. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Seriously … “Ta mommy, dearest.
Jack
Jack, are you sure you are an atheist? And not an agnostic like me? Your talk about St. Peter letting you in hardly sounds like an atheist to me! But it does sound like one of my favorite songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmb7YIKqLeM…….. “For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name”. My God, I love this song!!! It’s one of the few songs that I can listen to over and over and over again and not get tired of.
Renee: It was my little joke, that obviously was not clear. Ah well … WTF
Yes I am absolutely sure there no God, no afterlife, just simply there is one life and to make the best of it. My only concern is just how we are still damaging our babies.
It’s of great concern to me … perhaps for reasons that I need to explore.
I’ll plow on with my little theory:- that an Anarchic future is the ONLY way out of it. I don’t see any other way, nor do I see anyone offering any other way, It’s ‘all well and good”, to critique Anarchy, but to not offer an alternative is tantamount to giving up on the ‘status quo’.
Jack
Atheist Jack, thanks for clarifying. I did wonder if it was ‘tongue in cheek’ when you were describing your meeting with St. Peter. You say that, “My only concern is just how we are still damaging our babies. It’s of great concern to me … perhaps for reasons that I need to explore”. From my experience, what often brings up more feelings, is not witnessing babies (and children) being damaged, but seeing them being treated well, with love and respect. I remember being brought to tears on my first visit to Play Mountain Place, witnessing the way the teachers and some parents interacted with the children.
Renee: I understand all that, but for me it’s when I see a child being mistreated.
Why? I dunno for certain.
Jack
For those of you who are interested in the story of what happened to the Native American elder recently at the demonstration in Washington D.C., I would encourage you to take a look at this:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/23/how-conservative-media-transformed-the-covington-catholic-students-from-pariahs-to-heroes. “Conservatives have realized they can construct a parallel reality and have it accepted”. Yikes! Of course, whether we choose to believe this as true or not, will depend a lot on our personal experiences and our politics.
I would hope that people would try to find information from many sources and points of view to test the robustness of why they believe something to be true, and be prepared to change their mind if they find information that contradicts their belief. That is the ideal of the scientific method, Renee.
Unfortunately, unless we are in Primal Therapy we are almost unable to let go of what we believe to be true even when information doesn’t support what we believe, and we’ll narrowmindedly select only information that supports our belief.
See this other video on the teens and the old Native American man.
Larry, I think you are deluding yourself. What information we seek out, what information we don’t, where we choose to go for our information, or not go, whether we believe more my clip of the recent incident in Washington D.C. or your clip ……these are all results of our biases. As much as we would like to believe otherwise. I don’t think that being in Primal Therapy makes us immune to confirmation bias or implicit bias. If anything, it should help us become more aware of these biases and not pretend we don’t have them. Because then we would be pretending to not be human.
Of course we have biases Renee. I don’t understand how you get the idea that I don’t think so.
Larry: Our greatest bias is in thinking we are the most INTELLIGENT of all the species. My bias is in thinking we’re the most STUPID.
Jack
Larry, I think you misunderstood me. I wasn’t saying that I didn’t think you believed we have biases. I was responding to your statement that, “I would hope that people would try to find information from many sources and points of view to test the robustness of why they believe something to be true, and be prepared to change their mind if they find information that contradicts their belief”. I interpreted this to mean that we can decrease our biases by ‘finding many sources and points of view’. Due to confirmation bias and implicit bias, I would argue that few, if any, of us do this, even thought we might like to think that we do.
Renee I agree that few if any of us can decrease our biases, but I wish that we would at least try, and if we are undergoing primal therapy we have a better chance of recognizing our biases because some of them are rooted in primal pain. I would add that what I’ve also been trying to say is that scientific thinking is a method, though flawed, of at least trying to acknowledge and overcome bias in discovering truth.
Larry: I would be tempted to say:- “another way at looking at things”, rather than “truth”. that word has so many connotations as to become misleading. Just seeing how Patrick and Trump use that word.
Jack
I say “in discovering truth” Jack. If we don’t try to arrive at truth we are in big, serious trouble.
Larry: That”s fine … B UT who decides what is the “Truth”? Patrick thins, believes, and is convinced he has it. To refute his argument one need to go beyond who’s truth,When it become “my feeling/s” then there is no counter to that. Ive been doing just that for some time now and it stops the truth.false argument right there/
Least-way that’s my preference.
Jack
Truth is truth, Jack. No one decides. You can have your opinions. Patrick can have his. The ideal is to go beyond opinion and delve into what is true.
In my opinion you committed the crime. In Jim’s opinion you didn’t. Ideally the truth is uncovered before you are sentenced. There is always the truth, whether we find it or not.
Larry: There are historical examples of not knowing what is true and what is false. It was considered ‘true’ that there was a God, and the Bible then, and even now, is considered “true” ie. “Bible truth”. Swearing on the bible that you are telling the truth, and innumerable instances where the courts of law stated, they had found the truth; then years later it was discovered it was not true.
Donald Trump is a prime example of a ‘truth teller’ by his followers. George Washington, never told a lie. The Pope speaks the ‘truth’ for he’s immaculate, and relays the word of God, and my favorite of them all:- before Copernicus and Galileo, the world was flat, and all those things in the sky went round planet earth.
The first line of the second paragraph of Stephen Hawking’s book “A Brief History of Time” states:- “Most people would find the picture of our universe as an infinite tower of tortoises rather ridiculous, but why do we think we know better?”
Indeed; WHY do WE think we know better? Einstein posed the notion that it’s all … ‘relative’.
Jack
Jack we are going in circles. What I’m trying to get at is that there is truth, and there are our opinions or feelings about what the truth is. Maybe sometimes we have all the evidence to 100% know what the truth is, maybe we’ll never have enough evidence to be totally certain of what the truth is. My whole point is that we gather evidence to help us determine what is true. A little evidence can convince us that our feeling or opinion is correct that something is true. More evidence can change our mind from thinking something is true to thinking it false. Changing our mind is a good thing so long as we are open to gathering and evaluating all evidence. I’m glad that new DNA evidence proving their innocence is freeing innocent men from jail who were formerly convicted as guilty.
It boils down to your feeling that something is true combined with whether or not the evidence also indicates that something is true. It was once people’s opinion that there was a God or gods, but evidence that there is a God or gods is questionable. It is his followers’ opinion that Trump is a truth teller, but their feeling about him isn’t evidence that he is telling the truth. The point of Stephen Hawking’s statement is that …..it was a tribe’s opinion carried down through myth that our universe is an infinite tower of tortoises, but we know better because we have better evidence. Einstein’s insight is that time, mass, gravity, and the speed of light are connected to each other in a way relative to each other, that can be expressed in a mathematical formula that evidence continues to show to be a very true representation of the large forces determining our physical reality.
I’m kind of surprised that we are having this disagreement. That there is anything to disagree about on this concept is a bit of a learning moment for me.
Larry: I don’t think we’re talking in circles though it could be seen that way by looking through that specific lens OR, as I would rather state it, we’re comparing apples to oranges.
I prefer to see it differently BECAUSE it helps me to not get into arguments, of who’s right, and who’s wrong. I don’t see us arguing, I see it as discussing, my presentation, my way, and you’re doing the same from your perspective. I personally enjoy our banter. Always interesting to see how the other guy tics. I did the same with Patrick.
It’s not that I am telling the truth and you are in ‘de Nile’ as t’were.You’re giving me your perspective (that obviously suits you) whereas I’m presenting an alternative … my preference.
Jack
I was just thinking about this video, don’t know if any of you remembers, or was it a documentary, and just thinking about it made me cry.
it was once mentioned in a group, about a man who raised a lion cub if that is the right word, by hand.
at some point he had prepared it to go out into the wild again, and left it on the savanna where it joined other lions.
some time after, one or two years or so, he went there with some other people, and spotted the lion in the middle of a little group of lions that clearly formed his own group now.
the lion suddenly spotted him as well, and got up, and most of the other people froze when it started approaching …
but the man who raised him had no fear, and just waited until finally the lion ran up to him, and jumped up to put his huge front paws on the man’s shoulders…
I remember how Mr. B described the expression of the lion who raised his head, the mix of emotions and joy, and how very moving it was…
what made me cry is the complete trust and acceptance, the love and affection, and the pain also of having to let go for the best of the other, in this case the lion and his free life with his own family.
boy, am crying again…
i think it has to do with the utter trust and care and the vulnerability involved, the huge amount of love, combined with the inevitable goodbye…
OK, off now tears rolling.
M
Margaret: I remember the film (movie) of Elsa the lioness in Kenya and that moved me greatly. What I found interesting is that on release into the wild, they went back the following day and Elsa was still where they had left her. Sometime later they went bask again and she had had cubs. She still remembered and went to them and wanted to show her cubs to them. It brought tears to my eyes and is doing so now just wring about it.
Jack
I remember that film (“born Free” i think it was called) too. As a child I’ve seen it several times. THis is the first time in many years that I’m reminded of it. Thanks for that Jack.
Daniel: Yes, “Born Free” that was the name. I was taken to see it by a friend who was born in Kenya, and his purpose was to show me his country. My take was about life in the wild and our complete misunderstanding of other creatures.
Jack
writing about the man and the lion led me into very deep this time adult crying.
it is certainly the combination of deep love and goodbye…
still leftover feeling there, but glad I could process some of it, could feel how my whole body, specially back and neck muscles, were involved in the sobbing…
loving and losing, so much sadness…
M
Renée,
Your comment shows exactly what I mean when I talk about academics and truth. Instead of grappling with the subject matter you turn your analysis to my speech. And the hell with the subject matter. You didn’t show (prove): 1) look, here are Al-Firhi’s great works that have made an important contribution to our society and culture; 2) we don’t know about them because these contributions were suppressed; and 3) They were suppressed because they were not produced by white men. Had you shown (proved) that it would have been sound academics that deals with the actual world (in this case, of ideas).
But if you turn your look to the power relations in our discussion you excuse yourself from the need to show anything but those power relations. I agree that it’s important to uncover such relations, but it does not in any way provide a sanctuary from studying the subject matter, i.e – the world. And regarding the world, where are Al-Fahi’s scholarly works?
Let’s take an example. If you want to understand the American ideals you will need to study the United States Constitution and what it was originally meant to be. That means you have to study the Federalist papers; and if you want to understand the Federalist papers, you’d have to go back to the authority guiding the American founding fathers, especially Hamilton and Madison. That authority is Montesquieu. And so on, if you keep going you are eventually led back to classical antiquity.
The basic principles of our culture and social structures were imagined by the likes of Plato, Aristoteles, Montesquieu, Nietzsche, Machiavelli, Hobbs, Locke, Rousseau, etc., and our history which laid the current foundations went through Renaissance, Enlightment, scientific revolution, the rule of law, the separation of state from church, meritocracy, etc.
We can deplore or rejoice, but the fact is that the vast majority of those ideas that became our culture were produced by white men (some of whom I listed above) and it’s only natural that will crowd our University syllabi.
Of course, in other cultures they have different emphases and I’m sure they have their own scholars who contributed to those emphases. But they are not ours.
Like I wrote before, I’m sure that in time, as more scholarly works are produces by minorities, they too will join the western canon.
Time to give up the struggle. White guys rule the roost!
After spending 37 years in US I have began to doubt the wisdom in the US written Constitution. That Constitution is what has made the current political mess, we are witnessing now with Trump.
Why did they create the article that created an Electoral Collage that ACTUALLY means, a President is not democratically elected, but selected, as with Bush 2 and Trump. It’s a scam and the burden to impeach is made almost impossible. AND worse still, why the second amendment??
I don’t see any resolution to our human neurotic state within politics, science, religion, culture nor within psychology. We’re looking, as Janov suggested, in all the wrong places. But there is a way IMO.
Jack
I do see why the writers of the Constitution wrote what they did. Had they not created a Senate, that gives all states 2 members, however, small the population of that state is, AND the Electoral College, also 2 members,
The 2nd amendment, such that the white settlers could shoot any Native American that attempted to take back their land, could be shot dead without any repercussions,
Should the original 13 states have not been given these concessions, they would not have agreed to a union. It’s not ‘rocket science’ if you care to look closely.\
Jack
I have a very good contact with my mentor at the university who often helps me with some practical issues, often computer related hurdles.
I was thinking about a mail she just sent me about some upcoming courses and suddenly had a clearer insight about a lingering feeling with her.
while she helps me out or gives me information, I often feel a bit uneasy, and afraid she will get fed up with my needs for example.
suddenly I realized myself how deeply ingrained that worry is in my system, that even while getting the best of help freely and spontaneously offered, I seem to brace myself for what seems the unavoidable moment of rejection…
what comes to mind is my mom, scolding me with ‘it is never enough for you!…’
the devastating feeling of it is that I am to blame, I am shamefully needy…
i feel how sadness is the underlying effect and fear, please don’t hurt me…
I hate to think of what different kinds of act outs that feeling has provoked in my life, often reinforcing the feeling…
the thing is too, realizing this, makes me feel, right now at least, open and vulnerable, thinking of being helped by my mentor, but at the same time I know these insights will help me in continuing that good relationship with her without my fear or anxiety messing it up unnecessarily, hopefully.
getting my needs met seems a much better trigger than the opposite, certainly a more pleasant one.
M
That’s a big feeling and connection, it sounds like, Margaret. That you expect after being helped you may be fearful for asking for more because you were shut down for it with harsh disapproval when you were growing up. We are vulnerable when we ask for help in the first place, aren’t we, and then asking for more help makes us more vulnerable too.
I sometimes think we are like robots remembering how we were treated and repeat that program forever until we recognize it doesn’t fit the present circumstances. We have to get a clean slate by feeling feelings, I guess, to function well in a life that is outside the family we grew up in.
S
Hey Jack, it looks like your idea of abolishing money might be getting traction with the government shut-down here. When told to the dept. of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, that furloughed workers and those working with no pay were going to food banks, his answer was: ‘I don’t know why that is.’ And trump said that what wilbur meant was that people should just go to their grocer who has known them for ever and just ask for the food, or run a tab. See, Jack, your idea is catching on. Who needs money-just ask for what you want. Night all. I’m off to bed. You guys over there in daylight time zone, have a nice day.
S
Sylvia: Wowee !! it seems I might be getting through to one person here, but there’s a long way to go.
I would have thought with the total mess that so many governments are going through, US, UK, France, Poland, Venezuela, and somewhat in Russia, China, Germany, and other countries.
We all know there is something wrong … what we don’t quite know yet is:- what IS wrong, and are far from seeing how we might get out of it. IMO it’s not politics, it’s not science, it’s not education, it’s not even tolerance and understanding. It goes deeper than all those things.
We’re the only creature that does mathematics, science, art, when those other creatures seem to get along fine, as best we can ascertain.
You’ve given me some encouragement Sylvia, and (to use an expression I learned somewhere about 2 y/o) “Ta”, muchly..
Jack
Not quite, Jack. Take a look at this: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/24/wilbur-ross-on-shutdown-is-out-of-touch-with-reality-says-david-bach.html.
Renee: You’re still arguing from “inside the box”. that box that is constituted of laws, governments & money. But I doubt you get what I mean.
If there were no government and no money, firstly there’d be no shutdown, there would be no federal employees, there would be no starvation since all one would need to do is to go to a distribution food center, (grocery store and take what one needed. AND one would be willing to do whatever was necessary for the community, since to sit around ‘contemplating ones navel’ gets boring within a few hours.
It requires some deeper level of thinking.
I did look at the clip.
Jack
Jack, I do get what you mean, that we would all better off with anarchy and no money. My response to you was not about thinking in or out of the box. It was merely to let you know that your comment to Sylvia about one person understanding these ideas, namely billionaire Wilbur Ross, was not accurate.
OK Renee, I stand corrected/
Jack
The Unitarian congregation here split into two factions last spring as a result of distress caused by a very serious disagreement that came to a head between two principal players in the congregation. A serious consequence of the rift is that some people pulled away from involvement in the congregation and took their pledge money with them, putting the congregation in financial difficulty.
Of course the congregation feels horrible about the huge amount of hurt that has been stirred and about the severing of relations with some people who had until then been long time members and who had made significant contributions to congregational life. Also because of hurt feelings many people have taken sides in support of this or that party and have demonized the other. Some people blame the Board and the Minister for not handling the conflict in a less hurtful and divisive way. On the road to trying to heal hurt feelings, the Board and congregation has adopted the attitude that we are human and make mistakes, and that we should learn from this mistake how to never repeat it. For years the congregation has adopted a Covenant of Right Relations to help resolve conflict in the congregation. Because the Covenant failed in this situation, people want it amended or beefed up somehow to make it more effective in the future.
The Board has tasked a committee to explore better ways of conflict resolution, and to invite the congregation to participate in discussion groups led by the committee. Last Sunday I attended the first of many scheduled discussions. The presentation was a summary and discussion about one author’s ideas in his recent book about how to successfully resolve conflicts. The ideas were all reasonable insights to be aware of by both parties in the middle of a conflict that each wants resolved constructively. I felt the ideas were intuitively obvious to anyone who’s been in Primal Therapy and in a relationship for a long time. The author inferred that successful conflict resolution hinges upon the condition that both parties have faith and trust in each other’s integrity and that their bottom line goal is perpetuation of the relationship well into the future.
Near the end of our discussion I suggested that without that condition being met the conflict isn’t satisfactorally resolvable and his suggestions are useless. I remained silent though that after talking to many of the parties at the leading edge of the conflict last spring, my observation is that the condition of trust and a desire to preserve the relationship no longer existed among the main principals involved and that the real learning here but that the congregation seems not willing to face is that some conflicts can’t be resolved and it is healthier accept the uncomfortable end of the relationship. I think the congregation isn’t prepared to face this truth because people aren’t willing to know or accept the disturbing root details at the cause of the rift last spring.
The lesson of many years of witnessing interactions with Patrick has taught me the disturbing truth that conflict resolution has its limits. The lesson from contemplating the rift in the congregation has me sadly concluding that Patrick seems barely able to afford any faith and trust in the integrity of any person he gets in conflict with and above all he seems unwilling to or is uncomfortable to or is ignorant of how to preserve long term relations with anyone, and is powerfully compelled toward destroying his relationships with people.
Larry: you make a lot of sense. The problem, as I see it, is that before therapy, all we know is to “act-it-out”. Even within Christianity and all other religions, they don’t resolve matters, they just tell us how we ought of behave.
It’s just another form of control.
Jack
In my mind Jack, at its essence religion is about how to form community. In its most basic teaching it invokes how to behave to foster healthy community. It was the only way that they knew then about how to resolve matters. I respect their attempt.
I agree with both of you, Jack and Larry, about what you say about religion. I think Jack is expressing the drawbacks of religion and Larry is expressing the benefits. And whether we agree more with Larry or or more with Jack, will depend on our own personal experiences of religion. I’ve experienced both at different times in my life.
Renee: Yes, but I feel we fail to see how it created all those preconceived, Keeping us firmly in the “box”
Jack
Larry,
I have seen that the Unitarian Universalists are open to a wide range of beliefs. Is that what your church group is?
Larry: I understand your point , BUT who decides, what is right and wrong, decent or not decent?
Jack
You do, Jack.
Larry: I never decide for anyone else. I now know better than that. I do indeed, decide for myself and ONLY myself.
Jack
I’m not trying to be facetious Jack. It appears that you and I, and all species of social mammals whose evolutionary success stems from their living and cooperating in herds, packs, or groups of others of their species, …we all have an innate sense of fairness, right or wrong, that greases cooperation among us, the degree of which varies among individuals. Individuals who don’t conduct relations fairly tend to be outcast if the group is powerful enough to do it. On the other hand if the rogue is powerful enough he can get away with being unfair. In our species our culture absorbs from the group and promulgates what is right or wrong behaviour, determined by whatever aids or hinders the health of the community in the era that it’s in. So different communities in different eras responding to different conditions will have different agreed culturally permeated values that are deemed healthy for the community. As times and conditions change, cultural values can change, although not usually easily, in my observation.
Phil and Renee and Jack, I don’t want to leave the mistaken impression that I am a religious church goer. Far from it, from as far back as I can remember I’ve felt repulsed by church and religion, but I’ve been curious about and thought about why religion has been a millennia old ongoing institution.
Phil, the Unitarians don’t have a dogma or creed. They come from all kinds of beliefs and tend to be disillusioned with other established religious practices and dogmas. Unitarians tend to be united in agreement on a set of 7 principles, that are:
“The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”
Their principles reveal to me that they are a community I don’t mind being a part of, but I live my life according to my intuition, not according to their itemized principles. I’ve found that the unitarian congregation is a good place to make friends and community. It’s not my only source of community or friends. The unitarian community has given me support and strength, and has been a safe community in which to risk new experiences that help me to grow. For me it’s been the next best thing to a primal community.
Some famous Unitarians whose names are familiar to me are:
John Quincy Adams
Bela Bartok
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Edvard Grieg
Sylvia Plath
Christopher Reeve
Pete Seeger
Ray Bradbury
E. E. Cummings
Charles Darwin
Charles Dickens
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Buckminster Fuller
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Thomas Jefferson
Herman Melville
Ashley Montagu
Isaac Newton
Paul Newman
Linus Pauling
Utah Phillips
Joseph Priestley
Beatrix Potter
Paul Revere
Albert Schweitzer
Kurt Vonnegut
Joanne Woodward
and
Frank Lloyd Wright
Larry: That’s interesting about Unitarians, but I was struck with some dogma, and it’s that, that makes me squirm a little.
I’ve often wondered what would become of all those church and cathedral buildings once there is almost no congregants. They could become community center if all the lined pews were realigned. But there should be no leadership, just letting people wonder in and out and talking among themselves and perhaps holding some entertainment like dancing etc.
I can well understand you liking the gathering.
Jack
This morning I dropped my son at the train station and then came back home because I had over an hour before leaving for work. I thought I would have a cup of coffee and listen to some music, but I felt a twinge of some sad feeling, and swerved towards music which could help me feel. The house was empty, maybe that had something to do with it, or maybe it was just due to come up.. I had a huge cry, really about past occasions when no one was there for me, and I couldn’t do anything about it; except act out a terrible feeling of being all by myself with no hope..
At least now I can let it out.
Phil
Phil: good for you.
Jack
Yes Phil, it sounds like another step on the difficult road to becoming you.
Jack, sorry for the misunderstanding about abolishing money, but I do applaud your passion for wanting to fix the society of our ills. I think my approach would be to gravitate toward structure, working and changing within, as a result of my childhood experiences of a chaotic family–maybe your family situation the appeal of anarchy is more suitable to you, since we are all products of how we grew up.
My thinking about money though, jogged my memory about what it meant to me growing up and how my mom used to let us go into her purse and get money for the ice cream truck when it jingled its tune in the neighborhood. And how I spent much of my money I earned from allowance on candy, my sweet, sweet tranquilizer. My siblings seemed not to care much for candy, they didn’t need it. I was born a nervous wreck unable to cope without it all through life. Sweets made me feel so good. So anyways, thanks for the jogged memories, Jack.
If I were to have a cause, it would be to make it known how important it is for a pregnant mom to take good care of herself so babies can grow up with a good nervous system and not be prone to depression or worry themselves needlessly into adulthood. Better late than never, though, that some of that can be undone by therapy.
Sylvia: Interesting about your childhood … incidentally where was it? Mine was in the North of England just north east of Manchester, a dirty industrial cotton town.
On the money thing, there sure is some childhood stuff, since we were quite poor … not the poorest, but getting up there. However, that was not the whole reason for it. It was something I got involved with in my early 20’s. At first I did not take to the idea as my background was in believing in the whole system, since my father was conservative politically. I initially followed suit, and the only time I ever voted was for the Conservative party.
It was a slow process, since I was very curious about some of the thinkers, throughout English history. Even when I joined the hippies in my Ibiza days, I questioned the establishment more than most. It’s a process and what I never did was, ridicule those who thought deeper than the rest and was helped by a German Jew who fled Germany when Hitler came to power. He came from a wealthy family, on fleeing they left it everything behind. He became my mentor and turned me onto many ideas. He was not an anarchist, To this day he’s the brightest mind ever encountered.
Why I feel, most reject the notion, is from fear of change .. the unknown. and our civilized sense that we need order We actually don’t, and order is our greatest feeling running deep within even the least neurotic of us. It show plainly with most politicians.
Nuff for now, It’s way past my bed time.
Jack
Sylvia: I found it interesting about your childhood … incidentally where was it? Mine was in the North of England just north east of Manchester, a dirty industrial cotton town.
On the money thing, there sure is some childhood stuff, since we were quite poor … not the poorest, but getting up there. However, that was not the whole reason for it. It was something I got involved with in my early 20’s. At first I did not take to the idea as my background was in believing in the whole system, since my father was conservative politically. I initially followed suit, and the only time I ever voted was for the Conservative party.
It was a slow process, since I was very curious about some of the thinkers, throughout English history. Even when I joined the hippies in my Ibiza days, I questioned the establishment more than most. It’s a process and what I never did was, ridicule those who thought deeper than the rest and was helped by a German Jew who fled Germany when Hitler came to power. He came from a wealthy family, on fleeing they left it everything behind. He became my mentor and turned me onto many ideas. He was not an anarchist, To this day he’s the brightest mind ever encountered.
Why I feel, most reject the notion, is from fear of change .. the unknown. and our civilized sense that we need order We actually don’t, and order is our greatest feeling running deep within even the least neurotic of us. It show plainly with most politicians.
Nuff for now, It’s way past my bed time.
Jack
Hi, Jack, I remember the hippie movement too that coincided with the women’s movement. Seems it started in Berkeley/ San Francisco area on the west coast like it did in the east at Woodstock. I was lucky to hear a primal therapist on the L.A. radio station here in California at the time. I thought, that’s the real deal. Though I never got to primal therapy its theory always stayed with me as a key to peace of mind and I’m fortunate to pick up what I could from what this group offers and from the books and info online, and of course from lousy defenses that made me feel too easily when i gave in to feelings. At times they were, ‘here-I-come-feelings, ready or not.’ Though I would always recommend to do the therapy properly and safely with a certified therapist.
S
I hope that you get to a session or group or a retreat some day, Sylvia.
Thanks Larry. I’ve been buddying for a couple of years and it has helped me open up. It was helpful to open up to another person and not feel judged. I think back to what odd thoughts I had about sharing anything about myself, a keeper of the maze of feelings and thoughts trapped, and found that it wasn’t necessary to guard any more. How strange we become in the grip of neurosis. I’m glad I’ve been able to feel free.
S
Sylvia: I find that shedding ones defenses is the greatest asset, towards becoming feeling-full and being oneself.
Jack
Good for you Sylvia.
My experience, if useful to you, is that retreats get me appreciatig and working on emotional roadblocks that would otherwise have taken me a lot longer to become aware that I had. In other words, upon reviewing my life I see that I am am years ahead in my healing from where I would be had I never gone to retreats. Mind you, there’s always much further to go and I’ll run out of life before I get to the end.
Sylvia: Doing “feeling therapy” with or without a therapist is dependent on many factors, Most of which, I feel, is ones understanding of Primal theory, that supports it.
Jack
just back home from seeing ‘Beautiful boy’ from Felix van Groeninghe, directed by Brad Pitt.
about a father trying to help his 18 year old son, who is into all kind of drugs and then really adicted to Crystal met…
very confronting movie, went to see it with a girlfriend as I knew it would trigger me.
it did.
on many moments, but specially when during an NA meeting, a woman cries and talks about a girlfriend who just overdosed.
it hit me, that it could have been me…
I overdosed a couple of times in my younger crazier years, and was very lucky to squeeze through…
and no, i did not see any clear light at the end of any tunnel, and no smiling relatives welcoming me.
nothing, just an empty gat in my conscience…
it was very confronting to se e the situation through the eyes of a parent…
so sad and desperate and frustrating and painful!!!
so grateful I managed to survive, get therapy and keep growing healthier and healthier.
it was very nice to talk with the girlfriend at a nice dinner afterwards, she had had a husband who was alcoholic and getting violent, and who died of cirrhosis two years after she left him.
this movie was not a very cheerful one, but I am glad I went, feels very useful for me…
M
I’ve considered seeing that movie, Margaret. Your endorsement makes me want to see it for sure now. My sister-in-law’s nephew, now in his late 20’s, has been an alcohol and cocaine addict for 10 years. For the last 2 years in addition he’s been using crystal meth. I feel very sad when I think of the emotional pain that he is using the drugs to get relief from and ruining his life and the sadness he is causing his family. I feel sad that he’ll likely never understand or be able to get help for the childhood pain that he is an innocent victim of and that his way of coping will likely shorten his life drastically.
Gosh Margaret, how lucky for you that you survived.
I haven’t seen this movie, Margaret, but I’ve heard that it is good. Did you know that the title,
‘Beautiful Boy’ is from the John Lennon song. It’s the song that he wrote for his son, Sean. David Sheff, who wrote the book is a journalist. He interviewed John and Yoko a few months before John was killed in 1980, for Playboy magazine. It was an awesome interview. Anyone interested can find it here: http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbjypb.int4.html
I’m still thinking in songs (and working on my Spanish), everyone. A ‘fixed’ blog reminds me of this song, which we all know. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSOVVwLhx3Y ……..”I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in, And stops my mind from wandering, Where it will go”. And if you’re like me and what to know what the song means, you can find it here: https://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/fixing-a-hole/
Daniel, we are coming from different belief systems. You say that, “Instead of grappling with the subject matter you turn your analysis to my speech. And the hell with the subject matter”. No, I am not saying the hell with subject matter. I am saying that I don’t believe that you can separate the subject matter from the person who is speaking…. like disembodied words. Somehow, to you that gives words more ‘truth”. Not to me. To you, “sound academics deal with the ‘actual world of ideas’. As if this terrain is somehow neutral, bias-free, and separate from human beings who have belief systems and are profoundly rooted in our histories. I know nothing about Al-Firhi. This could be due to my ignorance, due to her work and legacy being destroyed and forgotten, either in Western history or all history, her work being suppressed or ignored, or any number of factors. My hunch is that it is likely connected to patriarchy. Based on your belief system, my hunch is that you would probably not see it as connected to patriarchy.
To me, understanding power relations is not about “providing a sanctuary from studying the subject matter, i.e. -the world”, as you say. Rather, for me, it is about understanding how power relations and our place within these power relations, deeply influence how we study subjects and the world. They are very connected. I get that you disagree with this.
You say that, “the vast majority of those ideas that became our culture were produced by white men…. and it’s only natural that will crowd our University syllabi”. There is nothing ‘natural’ about this. It is the result of a profoundly racist and sexist academia. I have had professors who are not white males and have names that sound ‘foreign’. They have encountered considerable difficulty getting their work published. Yet, when they have found another academic with a Western sounding name who will ‘co-author’ their work, suddenly publishers are interested. For this reason, I disagree with your statement that, “I’m sure that in time, as more scholarly works are produced by minorities, they too will join the western canon”.
Actually, I don’t think it’s a different belief system but rather a category error – we’re not talking about the same thing. You’re concerned with the “the person who is speaking” and I’m concerned with what he or she is speaking about. You seem to think that I don’t ascribe any value to subjectivity, but you are mistaken. I do. It’s just that for me it’s not the main issue. I don’t mind somebody offering a scholarly alternative to the ‘reality’ described by another. This is within the academic tradition where there are huge and often vehement debates about subject matters. What I do mind, as I’ve been trying to explain, is the turning away from the world to the discourse where you don’t really have to study the subject matter (for example, the Orient) but just the way the West constructs it in its speech when studying it.
One does not have to learn, as past scholars did, the difficult languages of Arabic or Farsi and spend decades hovering over ancient texts trying to decipher and interpret, connecting dots, and synthesizing them to an explanation of reality as he or she sees it. No. Now one only needs to know English, claim that in their studies past scholars merely construct the Orient according to their white colonial prejudices, and then just deconstruct their speech.
This is what Edward Said did. Although he turned our attention to an important facet of the limitations of inquiry he settled for such deconstruction, without ever offering an alternative explanation. In the epilogue of his book he actually says he has no idea what the Orient is. The only thing that he concerns himself with is that “every European, in what he could say about the Orient, was a racist, an imperialist, and almost totally ethnocentric.” Said, in other words, and as the Middle East historian Albert Hourani observed, went too far, and his lasting effect was to turn a respectable discipline (“”Orientalism) into a dirty word.
I don’t want to get into Said’s facts (that since the publication of Said’s book have been refuted more than once) but to the general attitude borne by him and carried over into the old field of Middle East studies, and the new fields of post-colonial studies, Women Studies, etc. Having abandoned the study of the world and its realities for the deconstruction of speech, these fields only subvert the existing explanations of the world without putting alternative ones. In other words, they destroy without building up.
(As an aside, I think this connects to important psychological issues, but this is for another comment at another time).
By turning away from the world to the speech these academic attitudes risk falling into the narcissistic traps they have set up for themselves. For once you believe that speech constructs the world rather than describes it, and that academicians are the ones creating that speech, then you (academicians) are turned into creators, becoming more important than the reality you presume to describe.
And after having embraced this flattering description of themselves the subscribers to this attitude just got stuck in the hand-washing ceremony. They constantly purify themselves before getting down to the sacred work of re-creation, lest they be defiled by the old sin which most of us call reality, which mustn’t be touched, mustn’t even be looked at, for the fear of, God forbid, replicating it.
Your assertions about racist and sexist academia that will not publish the works of people with foreign names doesn’t hold water considering this discussion began with Foucault and Said (which by the way in Middle East studies is today the orthodoxy). Empirically you’re wrong, many books and papers are published by women academicians or those with foreign names.
Lastly, the fact that white males are in our syllabi more than other groups is, again, because for whatever reason (even if it’s sexism and racism) they are the ones who wrote most of our founding documents. The only access to the greatest minds of our culture, from the ancient Greeks onward, is through the study of the books they left behind. Empirically, most of these great minds who left books behind that became the foundations of our culture and which we study were white man. This is a fact of life which of course is also the result of women in history having no power or access to higher education. But it still is a fact. Since they now have this access I’m optimistic women will contribute their share of great knowledge that will eventually join the western canon.
Daniel: In your response to Renee you state:- “For once you believe that speech constructs the world rather than describes it, and that academicians are the ones creating that speech,”.
I don’t agree. How else do we neurotics express anything other than speach, academically speaking? I don’t feel that ‘describing’ it, relieves us from simultaneously constructing it. Said another way:- It’s all ‘Words ……’
Jack
It’s somewhere in the middle, between what’s really out there and what we make of it. Regardless of how I would see or interpret them, the Acropolis (I was in Athens over the weekend and still influenced by it), Carlos Santana’s Europa guitar solo, the book ‘The Primal Scream’, are really there as is the fact that women in Yemen don’t have the vote.
If everything is just words constructed by the person uttering them, how do most of us stop at a red light (see something which is really out there and even obey its social norm)?
Daniel: Simple:- …….. Just follow your gut feelings. For the most, part we really don’t have any other choice.
Jack
Renee, sure I know that song, I am a big Lennon fan as well.
I have that record here, and love it, even Yoko’s songs on it.
part of the song was used in the movie too, and that was very touching, as I always loved the degree of tenderness it expresses.
so sad Lennon was killed shortly after, when finally he had his life sorted out…
Sean has good music too, I remember one of his first cd’s I rented at the library back in the nineties, some very good and original stuff on it, and a very personal style.
M
Margaret, you are big Lennon fan? Well, you have excellent taste on music…..and that is Scientific Fact! And no, I am not being biased. Scientific, double-bind, triple-bind, peer reviewed research has confirmed this:) I agree that Yoko’s songs are awesome too on Double Fantasy. If anyone one wants to see the spirit of John in Sean you can see it here (as a child): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5-7AF6Iyy8…… Or you can see it here (as a teenager): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib67nXNCbfg. Or you can see it here (as an adult): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2YTURFEWc.
by the way, the father in the movie was also named Sheff, was the story about his own son?
the only thing lacking in the movie was some insight in what laid at the root of the son’s bad feelings. just a minimal light was shed on it.
but well, the atmosphere compensated and viewing the whole situation from a parent’s view was very confronting, as I said already probably.
it hit me quite hard to realize how close i have come to being just one more casualty, causing enormous grief for my family and wasting my life with a sudden unwanted ending.
luckily that did not happen, and as my mom so nicely replied when I apollogized to her one day for all my stupidities, ‘oh well, but you are fine now, arent you?’, and the way she said it made so clear she did not hold any grudge or even leftover pain. that felt so very healing, it was beyond forgiveness…
M
Margaret, I am glad that you were not “just one more casualty”, with your substance abuse. By the way, I think we might have the same mother. My mother also said to me a few years ago, “Oh well, but you are fine now, aren’t you?” I interpreted this partly the way you did, and partly my mother wanting reassurance that I was okay now (hence the question), so she could keep her worry barometer about me on ‘low’.
Margaret, yes, the story in the movie was about David Sheff’s own son.
Oh, Margaret, in response to my mother’s comment/question, I almost told her about my death wish and my death anxiety and my ambivalence about living…….but thankfully clear thinking prevailed and I decided to keep my mouth shut.
Larry, I heard someone say recently that perception is reality and of course I thought no it is not. I’m not sure why or where this idea that there is no truth began or what it really means ( though I have a few theories) but I do agree that ultimately there is a truth. Not my truth or your truth but the truth. I think it’s the individuals responsibility to look at all sides of a situation and as you say weigh the evidence and at some point I think most of us will have clarity. I also tend to think that when we are not weighed down by a truckload of feelings we often just know and sense what is true in this life. It is true that most humans have bias but even those with bias, on occasion, can discern the truth. After all there were men who fought for women’s rights and whites who fought for civil rights and straight people who have fought for the rights of gays, even with bias they spoke out. Actually I think the Paul McCartney story is another wonderful and simple example of this. Patrick believes Paul is really Faul. I think Paul is Paul. We can agree we have different opinions but there is only one truth. The man is either dead or alive. I remember saying to Patrick on the blog, when he first began with his conspiracy theories, that he should read and weigh the other side of the argument , I also remember his refusal. Gretchen
The assertion that perception is reality is a good example. If a person loses their eyesight, their perception of reality changes ….yet reality doesn’t. Gretchen it surprises me how in some peoples’ minds there is no distiguishing between opinion and truth, perception and reality, no striving for truth. I wonder in how many. When I imagine in a lot it makes me feel uneasy.
Gretchen: I hope my response to Larry shows where I’m coming from. It’s trying to figure out what constitutes ‘truth’ that “gets our knickers in a truss”.
Jack