At long last, I’ve exhausted all of the subjects that can be sermonized in this weblog. I’ve lamented being born into a militarist Elysium; I’ve explained why poetic artistry is the highest calling for humans; I’ve recounted the non-events of all the walks and bike rides that I’ve endured; and I’ve talked about many other things as well. So, at this turning point, I ask myself: “Should I stop posting entries, now that I’ve conquered the blogosphere; or should I keep on writing, despite the fact that I have nothing more to say?”—& I’ve decided to keep on writing, for no good reason.
Swimsuits. I like the old swimsuits and the new. I miss waterparks. I’d like to slide down the curvy tube and splash into the pool from the downspout; but I stay away from water because I wear glasses, and I’m afraid they’d fall off.
Just think of all those weapons that were built during the so-called Cold War. People expended copious amounts of money and labor on piling up nuclear arsenal. I hope we henceforth invest our efforts differently.
Are the superheroes of comic books commensurate with the gods of ancient myth? Back in the days, whenever I entered a foreign city to vend my wares, if I were to meet, say, the worshipers of Minerva, I would recognize their deity as my Athena; according to the wisdom of divine Juliet:
That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet…
Yet does Superman translate in this way? With whom? And what about the other cartoon persons? Not that they must correlate—I’m only wondering if the analogy can be extended. Maybe our modern “heroes” usurped this mountain from mythology, like the Olympians versus the Titans.
And as regards 2016 politics, I feel just as guilty for spending my time following the news as I formerly felt for avoiding it. I hope I’m wrong to conclude that it doesn’t matter how informed one is; for at least two major forces will always undermine everything: (1) money, and (2) the ignorant multitudes.
I don’t mean that ALL multitudes are ignorant. For there are masses wise and otherwise in the Americas. It’s just that the thoughtless multitudes have great sway. Not on account of powers derived from organizing, but because they are easily influenced by wealth. So the forces above are really one lone root-force: The love of money.
Transnational corporations will be, as they have been, the bane of our globe. Why do countries allow them to exist? I suppose it’s because they were already too strong to subdue before anyone noticed them. They’re like ghosts that found out how to become real living humans when the Rules of Science weren’t looking. …Allowing a corporation to shirk allegiance to any particular nation while yet remaining able to move about and act in multiple nations—that’s like allowing a single contender within a circle of players at a poker game to get up and walk around the table and view everybody else’s cards. How does one even compete against that, let alone win?
I repeat: Never argue with a liar; there’s no beating cheating.
And the lesson that I have learned from watching the successes of the angry billionaire in this year’s race for the U.S. presidency is: It’s all about marketing. No matter that your product is inferior: just make sure that your advertising is superior and you will outsell everything. All of those ideas familiar from the world of public relations and the promotion of pop stars, like “No press is bad press”—they’re bleeding into politics. But I say this like it’s a new thing; that only exposes the fact that I’m middle-aged. This point in time is my introduction to the old familiar corruption. I’m nearing the end of the big book by Stone & Kuznick, The Untold History of the United States, so it’s fresh in my mind that our moment’s fiasco is commonplace. Yet I regret stating it like I just did, because my phrasing has a defeatist ring to it—against giving in, I believe we can realize the most compassionate agenda. But (this will be my last complaint about this) I hate that when you look at what should be the left side of the aisle, you see a warmonger posing as a progressive.
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
That’s what Jesus is rumored to have said in the Gospel of Matthew (7:15). If the phrase “false prophets” can be taken to mean “saber-rattlers masquerading as liberals,” I can’t see Jesus voting for [name withheld]. (I shudder and recoil from specifying creepy politicians.)
I apologize to my soul for grousing about current events in this entry. I promise to never touch these topics again. Now I’ll give William Blake the final word, because my other entry mentioned his anti-atom rant but I ended up sharing a different passage that day—here’s the one that I originally thought to put there:
I know too well that the great majority of Englishmen are fond of The Indefinite which they Measure by Newton’s Doctrine of the Fluxions of an Atom. A Thing that does not Exist. These are Politicians & think that Republican Art is Inimical to their Atom. For a Line or a Lineament is not formed by Chance: a Line is a Line in its Minutest Subdivision[s] Straight or Crooked It is Itself & Not Intermeasurable with or by any Thing Else …but since the French Revolution Englishmen are all Intermeasurable One by Another: Certainly a happy state of Agreement to which I for One do not Agree.
P.S.
I did not mention the presidential candidate of tertiary popularity because the mobsters who raised me taught me to follow this maxim: If you have nothing bad to say, then say nothing at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment