I hate when people say "We're living in interesting times!" No: the early 21st century is not at all interesting; it is torment-by-tedium. Living in this eon is like finding that one has been birthed into a dustbin. All you can do is lie there and wait for the reaper.
I'm not one of those art aficionados who worships the past; in fact, I'm accustomed to teasing anyone who is only comfortable with very old, established, traditional art, who shrinks back from what's new and strange. I try to remain open to everything and let my appreciation be unbounded. So I love the ancientest texts as well as the poem that shall be written tomorrow. But whatever the artwork is, it must be strong and demanding and provoking; it must give pleasure while it perplexes, and it must offer rewards proportionate to the attention that it demands. The art of our current Generation of Angels does none of these things. (I use the label "Angels", because Saint Matthew's gospel's Jesus calls his contemporaries a "Generation of Vipers"; plus the note about John Milton's PARADISE LOST, in William Blake's MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN & HELL, explains that "The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet and of the Devil's party without knowing it".) Everything that the present age makes is saturated by the cautious impotent noncreative essence of the corporate financiers who've become the gatekeepers of culture. One might call them THE BOTTLENECKS. "Want your movie greenlit? Talk to THE BOTTLENECKS." Thus the art of our moment ends up proving correct the frumpy attitude of those scholars I mentioned above — the ones who are covered in a layer of dust because they worship the past.
I had planned to offer examples of old and new art, with the former being good and the latter being bad; but I'm tired of this subject, plus I hate that I'm just complaining; I'd rather even just reverse course and say:
I'm wrong; there's still great art being made, it's just utterly underground. All the great new music is "unsigned" & not officially distributed; same with the best visual art and of course books.
Let me change the subject and think of something positive to say...
I'm very happy that I recently stopped using the Twitter network. Quitting Facebook, way back around 2012, was difficult: it took me multiple tries, and I kept feeling psychological withdrawal. But I never enjoyed using Twitter, so abandoning the network is as liberating as leaving one's day-job. (I do not even need to specify the nature of this day-job, since it's common knowledge that ALL day-jobs are bad. The only work worthwhile is with the ladies of the night.)
ON KARMA
The system of karma appeals to me and I also hate it. The aspect of it that I find appealing is that it lures me to think of every creature as part of a system where righteousness shall always be maintained... albeit in a delayed fashion. – I like the righteous part of this idea, of course, not the delay. But what I hate about karma is that it seems to justify the mean treatment of creatures by hypothesizing that any injured individual might have deserved this injury. I’d rather simply admit that injuries occur haphazardly and without justification; then allow forgiveness to quell any vengeful instinct, while attempting to lessen the likelihood of future harm. Why not even attempt to make the phenomenon of injury impossible?
ABOUT PARENTING
My mom said "Parents struggle to manage financial demands, health concerns, work-related challenges, and other stresses."
I said "When parents encounter the types of problems you listed, usually children are placed in the foster care system. So why did you not place us, your children, in the foster care system? We would have been much happier."
My mom said "God's first priority is the family. It is better if parents can overcome their difficulties and minimize trauma, so that their children do not need to be removed from home."
I said "But Paul & I would've LOVED to be removed from home." (Paul is my brother.)
My mom answered "The more quickly we can reunify the nuclear family, so that it is a UNIT with top-down control by the Father, the better off everyone shall be."
I said "Ah, NOW I understand. You have a good point." (I allowed the discussion to end here because God's commandment in Exodus 20:12 sez "Honor thy folks.")
CONVO TWO
My boss said "Parents want what's best for their children."
I said "That is almost never true."
Boss said "Yes it is. They work hard to give them good lives."
I said "Again, that's untrue, almost across the board."
"You don't think parents work hard?"
"Many do, but it's not on account of their children; it's because they're compelled by necessity."
"You don't think parents want to give their children good lives?"
"They want society to see them as having done so, but the reason they work is that the present economic system is a taskmaster."
"But they DO want the best for their kids!"
"They want to avoid being seen as neglecting their kids, so they provide them with the minimum care that is expected by modernity; but if you offer them the opportunity to escape from the responsibility of child-rearing, they will relinquish it in an instant."
"Would you care to make a wager & then put your theories to the test?"
My boss & I then both took some money out of our billfolds, placed it on the table, & shook hands. Leaving the office, we went out into the street, to test my theories. And it came to pass that I was proven correct; thus my boss inherited many adoptees. This made me laugh. But then the tables turned: for my boss worked extremely hard to provide the best lives for all those children. Ultimately I was forced to admit that my boss had become the exception to my rule and won our bet; so he collected the money; and I shook his hand again while sincerely praising him for being kind to the kids. Finally, this little parable that we were acting in flashed forward multiple years, and we saw the future: My boss's kids were now grown up and had all found jobs in either finance, insurance, or real estate.
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