Here is a link to the CHRIST of St. John on the Cross essay
describing my meeting with the male model used by Salvador Dali to
creating his painting.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5129662540808192/my-conversation-crucified-man
Posts by Terry
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4
Bring Me The Head of Jesus Christ! (A true story)
by Terry in__________________bring me the head of jesus christ________________i have a story to tell.
if there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.here goes ...toward the end of my so-called art career, i had devolved from a beverly hills art consultant slinging etchings, lithographs and paintings to movie stars in california ... all the way down to a local mom and pop art gallery and frame shop in fort worth, texas.i was now a custom-framer providing advice for graduation photos, paintings of jackrabbits, velvet elvis renderings, and even folded flags belonging to grieving mothers._____friday 1986the ting-a-ling bell attached to the front door brought me out from the workshop in back.a man standing in front of me appeared worried; very worried.he said his name was steve and was - he professed - "desperate.
"on the counter between us he'd laid out a very old portfolio of sketches, charcoal drawings, and preliminary studies.
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Terry
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1
Locate Your Brain Parasite (before you go Cuckoo)
by Terry incan you locate your brain parasite?_____________________________________is something troubling you?does your life often seem to make no sense at all?is your logic ...well...illogical?you just might have a brain parasite.scary, huh?but this planet is filled with opportunist species using you, exploiting you to aid its own purposes.sure, sure - we all know about one-cell organisms, worms, bloodsucking insects - but do you realize there are other kinds of parasites to worry about?meet the cuckoo!would this bird fit inside your clock?
?no, you silly!terry is about to use the cuckoo bird as an analogy of a brain parasite.stay tuned and follow along ...the cuckoo doesn't build a nest.
it lays its eggs in another bird's nest.
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Terry
CAN YOU LOCATE YOUR BRAIN PARASITE?
_____________________________________
Is something troubling you?
Does your life often seem to make no sense at all?
Is your Logic ...well...illogical?
You just might have a Brain Parasite.
Scary, huh?
But this planet is filled with opportunist species USING YOU, exploiting you to aid its own purposes.
Sure, sure - we all know about one-cell organisms, worms, bloodsucking insects - BUT do you realize there are OTHER kinds of parasites to worry about?
MEET THE CUCKOO!
Would this bird fit inside your clock??
No, you silly!
Terry is about to use the Cuckoo bird as AN ANALOGY of a BRAIN PARASITE.
Stay tuned and follow along ...
The Cuckoo doesn't build a nest. Doesn’t have to.
No. It lays its eggs in another bird's nest.
The other bird does all the work. Free childcare!
CUCKOO is a parasite.
(Brace yourself - here comes the analogy)
Cerain ideas are like those Cuckoo eggs.
You have them in your nest (brain) and as those cuckoo ideas hatch -- problems happen for you that may not be your own.
QUESTION: Who laid those cuckoo ideas in your brain?
Broadening this query - where did your cuckoo ideas come from??What is an IDEA?
DEFINITIONS (of "idea") are frequently too broad and so ambiguous that they end up having no IDENTITY. In fact, you may THINK you KNOW something and you are so confused you can’t really articulate it. ("Go get me that thingy ma jiggy")
To KNOW something is to UNDERSTAND what you know and HOW you know it.
______
BRAIN PARASITE SYMPTOMSWhen our definitions are fuzzy and indistinct we can’t reason effectively.
We reason by linking ideas.
A chain is as strong as the weakest of the links.
The cuckoo egg is the weak link in our thinking.
The idea we don't own is the idea that wrecks our thinking and cripples our logic and derails our life plans.
________DEFINITION OF IDEA:
Our BRAIN (our consciousness) is inside our skull - but - the rest of the world is
Outside.
For us to KNOW and UNDERSTAND the world and how it operates we use our 5 senses to SEE, HEAR, SMELL, TASTE, and FEEL.
Example Analogy:
A robbery.
A witness to the robbery.
A Police sketch artist.
The witness verbalizes a description. The artist creates a sketch of the robber.
THAT IS HOW IDEAS WORK.
The more accurate the eyewitness description, the better the sketch will be.
Otherwise ...a FALSE ARREST occurs.
OUR IDEAS are sketches of what our 5 senses perceive.To be CONSCIOUS is to be conscious of SOMETHING.
To be AWARE is to be aware of SOMETHING.
To be is to be SOMETHING.
By continually making sketches of our surroundings we form our lists of Fact and Truth.
The IDEA IS THE EGG that hatches into -----something----eventually. Fact? or Lie?
We want no cuckoo surprises!Warning! Warning!
OUR mind can be stocked with self-examined and tested IDEAS or cuckoo eggs laid
by ruthless exploiters using us for their own purposes.What we do not test for ourselves we swallow whole.
Rumor, urban myth, fallacy, superstition, fear, propaganda --these cuckoo eggs penetrate our thinking if we are not ON GUARD.
The BRAIN PARASITES we must test by careful examinations and inspections.IDEAS RULE THE WORLD
ARE YOUR IDEAS YOUR OWN?
How do you make an idea your own?
TEST Example: What is JUSTICE?
Here is my definition: Justice is the principle by which each of us gets what we deserve but not what we don’t. If you do the crime you do the time. If you’ve done nothing wrong you can’t be punished.
Justice demands a balance - not an excess.
Justice is concerned with restoration.
Importantly, LOGIC is free of self-contradiction.
Nothing can be True or Just if it contains self-contradictions.
This is how I choose to understand these terms: logically.
Otherwise, I’m merely memorizing the dictionary.
I’ve learned to be very cautious (skeptical) about accepting definitions without examining them first.
CONSIDER THIS FACT:
When a newly interested person starts a Bible study with a JW, the questions are printed at the bottom of the page. ( PREEMPTS natural curiosity)
Insidious methods designed to lay eggs.Remember, if you cannot clearly define an idea it is NOT YOUR OWN.
WATCHTOWER EGGS with CUCKOO IDEAS
How many JW's clearly understand how the year 1914 is the KEY foundation of the Governing Body's hold on JW's worldwide?
How many comprehend the nature of the forced reasoning that leads to 1914?JW's are too busy raising Watchtower cuckoos to have their own agenda, their own life, their own purpose. It is a hijacking of the entire viewpoint to that person's own detriment.
What is the moral of the story?
IF 1914 teachings were Truth - no counter-factual statements would ever apply.
But the last 100+ years are filled with contradictions. Lies and Logic are incompatible.
Watchtower publishes and teaches things at the WRONG TIME (the events predicted do not occur)
This is incompatible with their own SELF DEFINITION "Faithful" "Discreet" "Food at the PROPER time."BRAIN PARASITES infest all of us from early childhood, school, friends, religious upbringing, News reports, political discourse, reading materials, advertising, technology -- the whole F-ing world is eager to dump a parasite egg in your noggin.
Detection is simple: Which ideas are your own and which are not?
Ask: What is the key idea and how do I define it?
Listen to your answers. How vague are the connections?
BEWARE THE SOURCE TELLING YOU :1.You can't "know" anything. (Although he seems to "know", doesn't he?)
2.You can't rely on logic because it is manmade and imprecise. (While using that logic to present that view)
3.Each person has their own reality; what is true for one person isn't true for another. (This relativism dilutes the concept of evidence, proof and facts. Very convenient preparation for a takeover.)
4.You can't really ‘define” anything. (Math works, doesn’t it? We send rockets to Mars, don’t we? Computers and A.I. depend entirely on strings of exactly defined procedures).
https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-know/ -
4
Bring Me The Head of Jesus Christ! (A true story)
by Terry in__________________bring me the head of jesus christ________________i have a story to tell.
if there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.here goes ...toward the end of my so-called art career, i had devolved from a beverly hills art consultant slinging etchings, lithographs and paintings to movie stars in california ... all the way down to a local mom and pop art gallery and frame shop in fort worth, texas.i was now a custom-framer providing advice for graduation photos, paintings of jackrabbits, velvet elvis renderings, and even folded flags belonging to grieving mothers._____friday 1986the ting-a-ling bell attached to the front door brought me out from the workshop in back.a man standing in front of me appeared worried; very worried.he said his name was steve and was - he professed - "desperate.
"on the counter between us he'd laid out a very old portfolio of sketches, charcoal drawings, and preliminary studies.
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Terry
In my Beverly HIlls days (70's-80's) I learned the investment aspect of Art collecting.
In those years, a business could buy art and depreciate it as "office furnishings" for tax purposes while, simultaneously, looking forward to the same item 'appreciating' in collector value for resale.
People with lots of money must keep that money churning constantly with all sorts of investments - or else -taxes and inflation eat away.
Consequently, particular artists and art items acquire a reputation as investment-worthy ENTIRELY APART from the eye-of-the-beholder quality of an image.
If 'so-and-so' owns a particular artist's work - it is like buying a house next a millionaire.
Property values go up.
In fact - the average layperson, outside of this bubble of prosperity and speculation, is often astounded at the enormous sums of money knocked down at Sotheby's auctions.
EXAMPLE:
In 1987, a Monet sunflower painting sold at auction for $39.9 million dollars . Almost instantly, other Monet painting's valuations jumped in estimated worth.
A tidal wave
Note: why did a Japanese insurance company want this Monet oil painting?
1. To replace an earlier painted destroyed in Allied bombing.
2. To celebrate the founding of the firm .
A tidal wave of sudden interest in owning art instantly kicked in because of FOMO.
(Fear of missing out.)
The 'knock-on' effect?The day after the ’Sunflowers″ auction, Christie’s reported record annual sales of $644 million, up from $591.6 million.
The firm is second to U.S.-owned rival, Sotheby’s, which the same day reported their total as $980 million, up from $803.5 million.
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4
Bring Me The Head of Jesus Christ! (A true story)
by Terry in__________________bring me the head of jesus christ________________i have a story to tell.
if there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.here goes ...toward the end of my so-called art career, i had devolved from a beverly hills art consultant slinging etchings, lithographs and paintings to movie stars in california ... all the way down to a local mom and pop art gallery and frame shop in fort worth, texas.i was now a custom-framer providing advice for graduation photos, paintings of jackrabbits, velvet elvis renderings, and even folded flags belonging to grieving mothers._____friday 1986the ting-a-ling bell attached to the front door brought me out from the workshop in back.a man standing in front of me appeared worried; very worried.he said his name was steve and was - he professed - "desperate.
"on the counter between us he'd laid out a very old portfolio of sketches, charcoal drawings, and preliminary studies.
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Terry
__________________BRING ME THE HEAD OF JESUS CHRIST________________
I have a story to tell. If there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.
Here goes ...
Toward the end of my so-called Art Career, I had devolved from a Beverly Hills art consultant slinging etchings, lithographs and paintings to movie stars in California ... all the way down to a local mom and pop art gallery and frame shop in Fort Worth, Texas.
I was now a custom-framer providing advice for graduation photos, paintings of jackrabbits, velvet Elvis renderings, and even folded flags belonging to grieving mothers.
_____
Friday 1986
The ting-a-ling bell attached to the front door brought me out from the workshop in back.
A man standing in front of me appeared worried; very worried.
He said his name was Steve and was - he professed - "desperate."
On the counter between us he'd laid out a very old portfolio of sketches, charcoal drawings, and preliminary studies.
"These belonged to my grandfather", he began to explain.
"My grand dad painted the most famous painting in the world."
He said it with utmost sincerity and immediately I tensed up.
It was an "Oh no, I don't need this" kind of pull-back feeling.
I took a deep breath and forced a weak smile. In my mind I was trying to figure the fastest way to end the conversation.
Why?
My experiences in life with people who owned paintings was a comedy of delusional over-estimation as to value.
Why did I always have to be the bearer of the bad news? They never believe it and immediately a "shoot the messenger" attitude erupts.
This time - why would anything be any different?
I shrugged. "Tell me all about it."
Thus began a remarkable story - an unbelievable tale which, as it turned out, happened to be completely true.
__________
The man, Steve, was Stephen Sallman.
Steve's grandfather was named Warner, Warner Sallman. Son of Swedish immigrants and graduate of Chicago's famed Art Institute.
Okaaaay. (I'm really thinking - So what?)
He reached down and flipped over the cover sheet on a charcoal sketch.
The image of Head of Christ.
I instantly recognized it from --well--my whole frickin' life!
As very small boy, I saw this portrait of Jesus EVERYWHERE!
It was hanging on the wall at home, for instance.
My great-grandmother had several of Sallman's Jesus images on her walls as well.
It never occurred to me a person - an artist - had created the portrait. It was ...was...it JUST WAS.
It was a fact of life. THIS is what Jesus looked like.
At least - I thought this when I was a child. As an adult -- I certainly knew better!
But - an emotion was stirred..
I had seen Sallman's paintings reproduced inside THE HOLY BIBLE, on clocks, lunch boxes - like I said: EVERYWHERE.
Steve's grandfather had passed away a couple of decades previously (1968) and his only mission was to find a church, a gallery, a museum who would curate and preserve these remaining documentation of the genesis of Head of Christ (and other famous images) which had been reproduced over HALF A BILLION TIMES!
_______
What was the problem which made Steve so 'desperate'?
Ready for this? NOBODY HAD THE LEAST INTEREST!
("That's nice - now go away.")
This stunned me. Steve was beaten down by the negativity and downright scorn he'd encountered. Yet, undaunted.
Fortunately, the man I worked with was a devout Catholic ex-Major in the Army who never took "NO" for an answer. He owned the Gallery and he was over-the-moon in his enthusiasm for helping Steve Sallman.
Frances Woods could do it "Even if it hare-lips the Governor." Said he.
Woods and Steve Sallman devoted well over a year going from pillar to post fulfilling the mission to find a home for Warner Sallman's legacy.
The result?
"Since May of 1987, Anderson University and Warner Press have jointly shared ownership of more than 140 works by Warner Sallman, with Warner Press holding the copyright and distribution rights, while Anderson University possesses the actual paintings and drawings. "
________
But wait!
Why am I telling you this story?
Neither you nor anybody else we know has any feelings attached to a painting of Jesus!
Not anymore.
We now live in a completely different world mostly uninterested in such things.
I'm an Ex-Jehovah's Witness, for crying out loud.
We had our own illustrations of a manly-man Christ Jesus.
No, the reason I'm telling you this story is simple. And very personal.
Ready or not - here it comes.
As a child - an innocent - Warner Sallman's illustration actually reached my heart. I was opened to the IDEA of being grateful that such a person was willing to give his life to rescue anybody and everybody who wanted to accept his offer and willing to listen.
The word "Salvation" was something real when I was growing up. It was on the lips of everyday people without embarrassment.
NAIVE? GULLIBLE? STUPID?
No, I don't think so.
This how young boys and girls were brought up in the Bible Belt in the South and even in Fort Worth "Where the West Begins."
Cynicism and doubt?
For me, that came later -- later when I was indoctrinated by a completely different idea of - not Jesus Christ - but Christ Jesus. (Jehovah's Witnesses have everything backwards.)
The JW version of Jesus - who was he? He wasreally the Archangel Michael.
Soon to return with a sword of destruction slaying billions of non-Jehovah's Witnesses at ARMAGEDDON. The Jehovah's Witness Jesus didn't die for all mankind. No no no. He only died for a tiny group who run the Watchtower Organization. The rest of us can... maybe...(if we follow the Governing Body's every word) manage Salvation through them.
(Bumper sticker : "Jesus is coming - and boy is he pissed!"
Yeah -Warner Sallman's Christ would not fit that image at all!
____
More to the point - in that gallery that day way back in 1986 - already I was 39 years old and deeply cynical.
Not an atheist so much as angry at religious indoctrination and more than bitter I had squandered my youth parroting
propaganda from door to door with "Jesus" attached like the tag on an old mattress - the WARNING not to remove upon penalty of law!
Gazing at the sketches with a peculiar emotion inside of me - I questioned the grandson about what sort of person his grandfather had been.
(Biography)
Born in 1892, Sallman was a devout member of the Swedish Evangelical Mission. He met his wife singing in church.
He attended the Chicago School of Art Institute.
Working for most of his life out of his bungalow, he never showed his art in a gallery setting. Nobody wanted it.In desperation he turned to commercial art to earn a living.
He was a prolific illustrator for advertising agencies and publishers, creating images for magazines and ads.
Working from sketches (the ones in front of me on the counter), in 1940 Warner Sallman woke up from a dream he'd had one night and painted his first of five Jesus illustrations.
He donated one to a hospital The Master Healer.
"Sallman produced a number of images which have become virtually archetypal for such groups as Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Church of God, and the Evangelical Covenant Church, his own church body."
WIKIPEDIA:
Head of Christ was reproduced more than 500 million times, appearing on church bulletins, calendars, posters, bookmarks, prayer cards, tracts, buttons, stickers and stationery. Tens of thousands of wallet-size copies were distributed to servicemen during World War II. In the mid-1950's
____
At a symposium at Yale University, this was shared:
"When we showed these works, there was a passionate reaction unlike anything I'd ever seen, Ex-G.I.'s would weep as they told me stories about carrying 'Head of Christ' in their wallets, and how it kept them alive."
His last painting, 41 x 46 inches was created in 1964 and donated to a chapel, where it hung for 28 years. Then? Well, the chapel tossed it and it ended up in the local Salvation Army Thrift Center on sale for a hundred bucks.
_____
By the early 60's, Sallman's Jesus was beginning to show signs of age. Even in its heyday, "Head of Christ" had been criticized by some for presenting a too-effeminate Jesus. The silken, wavy hair, especially, was singled out for attention.
____
As we now all know - unless you are uneducated, backward, and living in a 3rd world country - the idea of a portrait of Jesus depicted the way Warner Sallman painted him - would only result in scorn, ridicule, and rejections. Ironically - may I add - the same way the Bible version of Jesus was scorned, ridiculed and rejected by most people.
I leave you with the following comparison of ART VALUES demonstrated below.
As I said at the very top:
If there is a moral to this story - well - it's for you to figure out.
________________
Warner Sallman painting donated to Salvation Army Thrift Store and sold for ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS
Leonardo da Vinci painting sold for FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY MILLION
Willem de Kooning painting sold for THREE HUNDRED MILLION
Jackson Pollack painting sold for TWO HUNDRED MILLION
Mark Rothko painting sold for ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY SIX MILLION
Jackson Pollack painting sold for ONE HUNDRED FORTY MILLION
David Hockney painting sold for THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS -
19
"I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)
by Terry intwo things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.
these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .
(what the hell does that mean?).
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Terry
cofty:
Since you have contempt for democracy, how do we get to this state that you call 'how things ought to be', and what would that state look like?
_____
Wrong.
I have contempt for CORRUPTION of Democracy in the same way bedbugs in Luxury Hotels is unacceptable.
I think you are disingenuously misreading because I've been excruciatingly clear.
Democracy with fair elections, neutral Media, and the absence of money (i.e. oligarch puppeteers) works great because THE PEOPLE can access reform and credible information to analyze what sort of leadership and policies they are asking for.
There is a movie embodying the spirit of what I'm saying.
Watch the movie and see what I mean by "ought to be".
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jit3YhGx5pU -
19
"I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)
by Terry intwo things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.
these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .
(what the hell does that mean?).
-
Terry
cofty: I think you could condense this entire thread into three words - 'democracy is imperfect'.
_____
Democracy in America is corrupt. That's a wee bit more precise and alarming.
The 'ho-hum' malaise is also part of the emergency.
Rigged elections, false media reporting, and the buy-out of the political establishment (by the Oligarchy) requires action on the part of the constituency.
All over the world, a despised and displaced middle class has resorted
to bizarre, flailing choices (Trump and Brexit, for instance) and the rift
between the 'basket of deplorables' and the Elite is an erupting pustule of
of volcanic heat and no light.
Not as pithy as your synopsis, Cofty - but more accurate. -
19
"I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)
by Terry intwo things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.
these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .
(what the hell does that mean?).
-
Terry
I'm still hoping that you might begin to even hint at an alternative Terry.
_____
Cofty -
Think of it this way:
We all die. What's the alternative? Resurrection to heaven or paradise?
You are calling for the role of RELIGION which is to create an alternative to reality itself.That escape /alternative is, as Willy Wonka sang, "Pure Imagination."
There IS NO ALTERNATIVE to reality!
Now there is pragmatism for you.
Quack medicine cures are an alternative to chemotherapy and when
you are desperate and dying --why wouldn't you try coffee enemas?
Seriously Cofty ...
Getting a small group to agree on something is easy peasy.
But it is all those "other" small groups which spoil the party.
Liberal vs Conservative
House of Commons vs Parliament
Democrat >Social Justice Democrat
Republican > Tea Party
Judaism >Zionist
Christian >Catholic >Protestant > Orthodox > Cults
Islam >Sunni > Shia > Wahabi
and don't forget:- Sunni Hanafi.
- Sunni Maliki.
- Sunni Shafi'i.
- Sunni Hanbali.
- Shi'i Imāmī (followers of the Ja'fari jurisprudence)
- Shi'i Zaydi.
- Khariji Ibadi.
- Sunni Ẓāhirī
Bolshevik / Mensheviks / Monarchy
... - And the beat goes on ...
______
THE VERY BEST THING a Western Democracy can hope for is a slow
rot into corruption by the Oligarchy.
Well - it is here!
Now what?
Enough common people must arise in an insurrection to overthrow that Power Cabal.
In doing it - the economy will crash.
Is that really an ALTERNATIVE? Sure but burning the barn to get rid of rats
is bad for the environment :)
ALTERNATIVES aren't as beautiful as make-believe solutions.
The current model in the U.S.A. is fake elections.
______________Pure Imagination
Hold your breath
Make a wish count to threeCome with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imaginationWe'll begin with a spin
Traveling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy explanationIf you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Wanna change the world?
There's nothing to itThere is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to beIf you want to view…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVi3-PrQ0pY -
19
"I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)
by Terry intwo things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.
these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .
(what the hell does that mean?).
-
Terry
DEMOCRACY: Two wolves and a sheep voting on 'what's for lunch'.
-
19
"I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)
by Terry intwo things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.
these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .
(what the hell does that mean?).
-
Terry
Terry - So how do we get to this state that you call 'how things ought to be'?
And what would that state look like?
______
Not just a good question; the only question.
First, we need a reality check about the concept of THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS.
If "politics is the art of the possible", (A BIG IF) then, political structure would platform such a world.
But- the notion of "best" is a kind of asymptotic construct.
_________
The population of a set of constituents in confronting a UTOPIA would
produce conflict, disagreement, friction, and division simply due to the human condition (all politics is local). The more "local" the more specificity vis-a-vis the whole.
Here is why I think this is an insurmountable obstacle to Utopia.
The function of an ideal begins in the imagination.
Just as there is no final number (you can always +1) a better world can always be imagined. (Better for who? At what cost to others?)
"Consequently, the poor you always have with you."
In the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks chased the Communist ideal to its logical end which = murdering the opposition and gulags.
What else can you do with political opponents when you've got a revolution to run?
I personally don't believe any public Utopia is worth much more than a human life costs.
The enemy of the people isn't much more than POWER in the hands of people who don't include you in their own conceptual ideal.
Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, get along just dandy at the cost of reality.
They're willing to go to their death for such comfort.
Others are cheerful to see them pay that price.
As far as secular politics and democratic elections, I don't see them as "real" but only a sop to masses to give the illusion of participation and the consolation of "better luck next time."
I've lived long enough to know the next time is like the last time. It is repertory meets Kabuki.
That's earned cynicism on my part :) -
19
"I'm As Mad as Hell - and I'm not going to take it anymore" (First Principles)
by Terry intwo things we all need to know; may already know; have known for a long long time - but nothing at all has changed .... first principles.
these are assumptions that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption.. .
(what the hell does that mean?).
-
Terry
Agents for change (in politics) have emerged worldwide.
(Set aside momentarily their obvious defects of character and/or presentation)
There is a visceral hunger for CHANGE (if not revolution) which has placed
these people in power.
Voters want the dishes shattered by the bulls.
Revolutionary instinct is :BREAK THINGS.
The question in my mind is how long and how deep?
IF Trump is re-elected (don't think it will happen) the next notch is ratcheted up.
Enough angry people must hit the point of no return for actual Revolution.
It all starts with angry people who won't take "it" anymore.
Democrats in the U.S. have been completely ineffectual in the Never-Trump movement because the core impulse is NOT CENTERED ON POLICY.
It is merely anger.
The population is not helped existentially.