Oh my god it's been forever

Years since I last thought about this thing. And I found it by googling for another old blog a friend of mine used to run, and just to see if it might have been up. And I land here...how...fitting.

You know, lately I've been feeling that I need an outlet for a lot of things, and blogging, despite becoming totally passe, is a great way to get things out. Everyone's got their tumblrs and their twitters and I'm not sure I'm really that soundbitey.

I ramble. A lot.

There's a lot of thoughts bouncing around my head right now. There was this article, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/whatever-happened-to-the-american-left.html?pagewanted=1, talking about the American Left. And two thoughts hit me on this - first, the American Left is there, down in the square, getting maced by NYPD for doing nothing other than protesting about things that would only serve to benefit the NYPD by encouraging a more stable world. But you know, that's passe, and ridiculous, and silly, that we'd make the sort of connection that less economically unequal societies are safer (and I wonder why! at least I'm sure this more or less applies to developed countries, but I'd wager to a degree it applies to less developed nations as well, particularly because it strikes me as engendering a situation where people would have to cooperate more and hence be less likely to be all stabby with each other).

The second was from this bit from Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism, which addresses the other part to the question of "whither the american left?" http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/09/welcome-to-the-police-state-nyc-cops-mace-peaceful-protestors-against-wall-street.html (listen, after awhile, i'll figure out how to do these linky things again. it's html right? yeah, i'll learn it later). So here's where the American Left has gone - swallowed by the corporate overlords who have structured society in such a way that there are millions of us who would love to go to, for example, the Wall Street protests, but really can't afford to do so. We can't afford to lose our jobs protesting the society that fucks us all over (except, you know, the Koch brothers, those assholes). Now realistically, I could take a vacation, head up there, and protest with these folks. And yeah, that'd be standing by my principles. But what happens if I get arrested? What happens if I lose my job because of it? What do I do - move back in with Mom and Dad? Because that's really the alternative.

Now, maybe I don't get arrested, and maybe I don't lose my job, and maybe it makes a difference. But you see, the risk that's there is too great, because there isn't much of a social safety net left to catch me. The American Left put it there, and keeps fighting for it, but where's the help for it? It's not in the media, really, because they're wage slaves, to borrow Yves' phrasing, just like I am (albeit with undoubtedly more in the bank, but probably with more debts), and they can't really afford to lose their job for telling truth to power.

And can the union guys help me? Well maybe, except that they're really in the same space, and protesting as something like OccupyWallSt is a little too outside of the mainstream for their union to support (after all, these guys are in it almost as much as Wall St is - they're another cog in the system, and have a lot at stake as well). I can go on pulling out examples of the classic left who have too much to lose by doing what needs to be done to keep us safe from the Kochs of the world.

But do you want to know where the American Left is? I see so little mention of this - those protestors on WallSt (and really, they were forced off of WallSt, because, you know, safety hazard or something...regardless of that right to peaceably assemble, and all that)...they were fed by people who donated to them. They were sheltered in tents, bought for them, by the wage slave american left, who can't afford to lose their jobs, but care deeply about the torturous path this country is on, and want to support those who can go out there and represent a portion of what needs to be fixed.

So you want the story of where the American Left is? Look at those donators, find them, talk to them. They're the ones who will tell you what they feel inside, the pulling, between immediate responsibilities to loved ones like remaining employed, and ultimate responsibilities to loved ones, which means fixing this horribly broken system.

Yeah, I just needed to get that out. Feels good to write that rambly stuff out. Maybe I'll go and clean it up later, but hey...solid enough, right?

Well, I figure since this thing has lain fallow for some time, I'd use it to post up some old stuff I wrote years and years ago. Maybe I'll get back to putting something current up, but not any time soon. So here we go.


An Open Letter to Socrates,

Socrates, greatest of men, what ills have befallen the race of man since you were unjustly put to death! The day of your passing was indeed the darkest day ever lived by any man in any epoch of time. For when those cruel purveyors of law sentenced you to death, they condemned the best of all men. Would that the earth itself had refused your death, and the hemlock you drank turned to the fairest of wines!

How can I express to you how sorely we now require your guidance? I fear words are unable to capture our need, our dire need, for your assurance, your presence. With each passing day I see man falling further and further into the cave; you were the one who held the key to our bonds, the one who could free our heads and our legs so we could see that there was light. You were the first of men to be freed, and whether by divine providence or the resilience of the human spirit, your fetters were shattered. Yours were the eyes that first gazed upon the light, and you stood there on the path, hand outstretched, beckoning us to join you.

Alas, the hearts of men were tied too strongly to corporeal accouterments, our shackles too firmly fastened of our own devices. Willingly we chose the path of the blind man, and the hand you held out to us was rejected. Had we but embraced you as you hoped we would, every sunrise following that day would be brighter and more beautiful than the next! Instead, each day the sun rises it shines a glimmer less, and the beacons that are the lives of men shimmer not as brightly as the preceding shone.

The defamation of you, Socrates, and the denunciation of your words were symbolic of man spurning wisdom for the perils of folly. Instead of the Just, we have the Law. Instead of the Beautiful, we have the Glamorous. Instead of the Excellent, we have the Moral. Instead of the True, we have the Believed. Instead of the Reasoned, we have the Supposed. Instead of the Contemplative, we have the Ignorant. Instead of the United, we have the Divided. Instead of the Loved, we have the Hated. Instead of the Philosopher, we have the King.

You, Socrates, were the Philosopher. You were the lover of wisdom, the paragon of excellence, the embodiment of reason. Upon your death we were given the King, the truly ignorant, he who believed he knew. And the King spread through the hearts and minds of men, whispered in their ears of images they thought to be the Forms. The imagination replaced the intellection.

Oh Socrates, today more than any other day we require your aid! The men who chart our course steer our vessel more and more awry. The shadows upon the wall of the cave are almost no longer merely our perceived verity; our masters deign to make the illusory the reality.

The Kings seek to tell humanity who they are; but you, the Philosopher, knew you could only tell us who we were not. Ah, the frailty of man that drove so many to the false assurances of Kings for comfort! Socrates, how we have need of you and your maieutic teachings! You, great catalyst, could drive us to open our eyes and awaken to the Virtuous. With you, our path would be set!

But no, those sophists of Athens, those twisted and warped sinners against wisdom, sealed off that hope for us. And thus we are left in a cave, knowing not what we are, only what we are not: just, beautiful, excellent, true, reasoned, contemplative, united, loved- wise.

The only reason I'm really writing here is because it's yet another avenue of distraction from div3. Ha.

As I'm writing this thing I've been thinking alot about the problems of our current nation-state framework, as well as the problems of how liberalism can't address abuses of power. It's an incomplete system - it's not even a political system, merely a legal system. What we really need is a political system - that is, a system which governs the interactions between men, not men and the state. Or maybe not so much as governs as educates and elucidates. We've got lots of problems. I'd wager some of them have to do with a lack of education.

So few bother the challenge the liberal model. So few bother to actually investigate whether or not the current system adequately represents mankind. And so few notice the huge, gaping hole in liberalism that doesn't allow it to check abuses of power, which is why structural violence plays such a large part in today's world. We talk about human dignity, yet it's seemingly only white folks in white-majority nations who can find it.

We're living in a post-colonial era where neocolonialism has a stranglehold on minorities. And we've got to work our way out of this. We've got a find a way to get to a point where all human beings are viewed as being of equal human worth. I'm not entirely sure how we get there, but I know the first step is ensuring that everyone can see that we need to get there - essentially, that there is a problem. But as long as no one bothers to challenge the fundamental established order of things, we'll continue to live in a hollow civilization. And we could do so much better.

As we approach the end of our college careers, we're forced to consider what our futures will be, or at least the direction it should take. I'm at that stage now, having to juggle a div3 with job opportunities. You know, Naomi, a good friend of mine from the admissions office last year, once said that Hampshire students in their final semester had it opposite most other college students in their final semesters. Most college students find their final semesters to be smooth and easy, a time where they can nicely transition from the university world to the 'real' world, so to speak, the business world if you will. Of course, I'm no more sure that the business world is the 'real' world then the university world, but I'll go with the prevailing majority and say it is more 'real' then uni, although it's still a fiction. Anyway, Hampshire students find that their final semesters are the most stressful semester of their college career as they're simueltaneously writing/finishing a div3 and figuring out what the hell they're going to do after college.

After all, Hampshire doesn't really prepare us for the 'real' world. That is its explicity stated goal - not to turn out prepackaged businessmen and businesswomen. We train independent thinkers here (or at least, that's what we're aiming at), not corporate stooges. It's easy to teach people to be good little peons in the system, to set them up to find a mind-numbing 9-5 job without reward. What's more difficult, and ultimately more rewarding, is a Hampshire model which trains people how to learn and how to love learning while also giving them a physical product to be proud of: namely, a div3. It's stressful as hell, but far, far more intellectually stimulating, and I really wouldn't have wanted to do it any other way.

That brings me back to post-Hampshire. Or rather, leads me to look post-Hampshire. Of course, my post-Hampshire might not actually be post-Hampshire, as I'm seriously looking at applying for a position as an Admissions Counselor since we're losing two this year. I'm good at selling Hampshire - I like selling Hampshire to prospective students and their families. And it would be ideal to stay up in the Amherst area for a few years until I can figure out more direction to my life - also so I can raid my uncle's library. Over the past week I've discovered that my uncle is a veritable goldmine of books I want to read and should read, and I know he enjoys my company. Plus, I know the area and I like the area and it's starting to feel like home.

Plus, working as a Counselor gives me a certain level of work experience and provides a great jumping off point to continue my life. It'll give me some time to apply for internships, fellowships, and jobs more in lines with what I'm planning to do with the rest of my life, which is somewhere along the lines of saving the world. Like every other Hampshire student, I want to save the world. It also gives me time to continue refining my div3 and all my ideas.

So after that, I don't know. Hell, I don't even know if I'll get the job. But it sure would be nice.

*sighs*

Well, we lost on Alito. We, the American people lost, because they, the Democrats, seriously dropped the ball. The progressive blogosphere should have been writing the Dems talking points, and then Dems should have been hammering about just how detrimental a judge like Alito will be to the American people in general. But, that's okay. It ain't all over.

Things continue to look up for 2006, not to mention 2008. Certain Dems are starting to rediscover a backbone and maybe, just maybe, our chances will look up. The progressives have got to have hope that eventually, our views will see the light of day. We just can't give up. It's an uphill battle, and it's gonna be a long battle, but ultimately, we'll win it.

Why will we win it? The Progressives will win because the Progressives are right. We care about people. And finally, our elected leaders have stopped kowtowing to the Right and developed some balls. And we're getting our say.

Sure, we lost today. But we'll win the future.

Some endings are nothing more than just beginnings of another sort. Today, Serenity fades from memory. Today, a new Serenity arises.

I like the above quote. Part of it implies that some things just aren't possible. And there are those things. But I don't believe that fixing humanity isn't one of those things that can't be done. It's not gonna be easy, but that's what courage is for. The courage to do the right thing. If you can't do something smart, at least do something right.

We have to set out to do the impossible. Those lofty goals are the source of humanity's strength. The fact that we can be visionary, that we can have unattainable dreams, is part of what sets humanity apart from the flora and fauna of the world. We are not above them, but we are different from them in that we can conceive of perfection and set out to attain it. We can never reach perfection, but why that should stop us from working towards that I'll never understand.

We should never settle. We should never settle in our academic lives, our professional lives, our personal lives. And as a people, as humans, we should not be content with the status of the world. But at the same time we have to recognize that things cannot be fixed in a day, and it's very likely they will not be on track within my lifetime. But that its not what we have at the end thats important, its what we did to get there.

We're entering an important time in the evolution of the Political. We're returning to a sense of community on a global scale because of technology akin to something that hasn't existed since the era of the Greek city-states. Because someone in New York can talk to someone in Tokyo in an instant, because grassroot can network from India to Latin America, because the transfer of ideas and information can happen instanteously, we're in a new world. We're in a new time, a time where we need to re-envision the concept of the citizen and see them as more than just someone possessing certain rights. The citizen must be drawn back into the political process more than just casting a vote once every two or four years. And this cannot happen until a host of other changes occur. But the process is the important part, a process which makes equality and equal treatment for all the norm.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that until we realize that how we're proceeding just won't work, we won't really get anywhere. We aren't striding towards perfection, we're barely hobbling. But I've got the courage to do the right thing, even if it isn't the smart thing.

Post before bed

Harry Reid makes my heart happy. With his middle-finger raised high, he loudly proclaimed 'Fuck you!' to the Republicans today, and jesus, if that doesn't give me hope for this country I don't know what does.

Coming after the nomination of a guy nick-named Scalito because he's so conservative he's actually batshit fucking insane, this was like a kick in the balls, only it was a good thing, like sex. Or Grand Marnier...mmmm, Grand Marnier.

On the new computer! It's great, having tons of fun, transferring all my files from my laptop to my brand new, shiny 160gb hd. Whee hee hee

Then I get to ship my laptop back to Dell, have them fix everything that's busted with it, get it back, and begin div3 truly in earnest.

Lately I've been rocking the 2-3 books a week, but I did Spheres of Justice by Walzer in a day, now I'm ready to start on this collection of essays all about Spheres. And then probably some stuff by Bernier, who talks about the transformation of citizenship, or maybe the necessity of such, or some other nonsense.

Reminds me, I'm going to see what the library has of Habermas.

Anyway, we out. Also, check out the other blog I occasionally post it, ran by Flex Flexerson, called Central Control, URL is http://ccontrol.blogspot.com/

It's totally full of <3