The tears I'm shedding suggest to me that this is an essay that I will be returning to regularly. Not tears of sadness from events taking place, though those are there as well, but tears that recognize the vulnerability of our "being" or "essence" and how easily it is corrupted by those who wish to do humanity harm.
One other thing. When I hear you speak of the center, I have always been interpreting that to mean the center of who we are as moral/thoughtful/thinking human beings, not allowing ourselves to be pulled apart this way or that way, but grounded, centered. I have never interpreted it to mean politically centrist.
Hopefully I've got this right, but if not, perhaps a further explanation in another essay might be helpful.
I believe you've got that right, Jamie. "The center will not hold" is a line from W.B
Yeats' poem, The Second Coming. It seems Yeats' nightmare vision is manifesting. Mike is making the connections, and performing an invaluable service in doing that. Take care.
Thank you so much for letting me know! Perhaps Mike mentioned that previously in another essay and I didn't catch it or remember it, but regardless, I appreciate you letting me know about the poem...I'm going to go read it now.
Yes 2+2=4 in normal world. But in Trumps upside down world 2+2=-4
“Dems are stealing elections” becomes “Republicans are stealing elections.
Make America Great Again becomes Make America ungreat again.
If they cared about industrial jobs they would not kill the offshore wind industry, whose permits required new factory jobs making the steel and the parts for the project. Apparently their real plan is deindustrialization.
I was really glad to discover your blog. I agree with most of what you are saying, and it provides me with inspiration and reminders that keep me from slipping into depression and hopelessness. But at the same time, I get really frustrated with your chosen mantra about reality: "two plus two equals four and there are 24 hours in a day" because those are both things that are humanly created and intersubjectively agreed upon, rather than actual physical, universal facts. I wish you'd chosen things that not subject to human invention like the existence of tides or gravity or day and night or seasons. The revolution of the earth is a physical fact, but dividing it into 24 sections that are called hours is entirely a human invention and a relatively recent human invention. Mathematics may help describe and catalog the physical world, but it is also a human invention: 2+2=4 in base 10 only, choose any other base and it is no longer true.
I think that it is really important these days to distinguish between those things that really are unchangeable facts of nature - such as the rotation of the earth, and the impact of CO2 on the heat absorbing capacity of the atmosphere, and those things like politics, capitalism, economy, religion, etc. that are all humanly created and can change. It would be possible to redefine time seconds, minutes and hours are all arbitrary, useful but arbitrary. Where as the "day/night" cycle, the annual cycle of seasons, the phases of the moon, the actions of gravity, those are non-negotiable.
Well, while I have a deep appreciation and understanding of the socially constructed nature of meaning—I write about it all the time—I might suggest that your take here is a bit pedantic and somewhat besides the point I'm making in the essay.
yes, it probably is pedantic, after all I'm a retired college professor who taught sociology - which is all about how we intersubjectively create society - and it's hard to break old habits. I really did get the point of this piece and found it inspiring, as I do all your pieces, and since you've made this mantra your signature - included it in every single thing you write I doubt you'll change it, because once you've got a "catch phrase" that works why get rid of it. My thought is that it's all a little sad because it undermines your excellent points. You want people to pay attention to the things that are real, rather than get distracted by the ephemeral. But then most people aren't that reflective, and for most people the mantra works, it feels like unalterable fact.
The tears I'm shedding suggest to me that this is an essay that I will be returning to regularly. Not tears of sadness from events taking place, though those are there as well, but tears that recognize the vulnerability of our "being" or "essence" and how easily it is corrupted by those who wish to do humanity harm.
One other thing. When I hear you speak of the center, I have always been interpreting that to mean the center of who we are as moral/thoughtful/thinking human beings, not allowing ourselves to be pulled apart this way or that way, but grounded, centered. I have never interpreted it to mean politically centrist.
Hopefully I've got this right, but if not, perhaps a further explanation in another essay might be helpful.
I believe you've got that right, Jamie. "The center will not hold" is a line from W.B
Yeats' poem, The Second Coming. It seems Yeats' nightmare vision is manifesting. Mike is making the connections, and performing an invaluable service in doing that. Take care.
sotoportego,
Thank you so much for letting me know! Perhaps Mike mentioned that previously in another essay and I didn't catch it or remember it, but regardless, I appreciate you letting me know about the poem...I'm going to go read it now.
Yes 2+2=4 in normal world. But in Trumps upside down world 2+2=-4
“Dems are stealing elections” becomes “Republicans are stealing elections.
Make America Great Again becomes Make America ungreat again.
If they cared about industrial jobs they would not kill the offshore wind industry, whose permits required new factory jobs making the steel and the parts for the project. Apparently their real plan is deindustrialization.
Trump loves the Saudis! That's the model he is thrivig for. One family ruling tyrannically over all!
I don't know how you ended up on my feed, but I am glad you did.
Nice secessionist flag. Which 32 states are we ejecting? 😁
Just kidding. I'm sure the real thing will be more creative.
Beautiful!
You are a gift, providing meaning and a tether to reality in the surrounding insanity. Thank you
I was really glad to discover your blog. I agree with most of what you are saying, and it provides me with inspiration and reminders that keep me from slipping into depression and hopelessness. But at the same time, I get really frustrated with your chosen mantra about reality: "two plus two equals four and there are 24 hours in a day" because those are both things that are humanly created and intersubjectively agreed upon, rather than actual physical, universal facts. I wish you'd chosen things that not subject to human invention like the existence of tides or gravity or day and night or seasons. The revolution of the earth is a physical fact, but dividing it into 24 sections that are called hours is entirely a human invention and a relatively recent human invention. Mathematics may help describe and catalog the physical world, but it is also a human invention: 2+2=4 in base 10 only, choose any other base and it is no longer true.
I think that it is really important these days to distinguish between those things that really are unchangeable facts of nature - such as the rotation of the earth, and the impact of CO2 on the heat absorbing capacity of the atmosphere, and those things like politics, capitalism, economy, religion, etc. that are all humanly created and can change. It would be possible to redefine time seconds, minutes and hours are all arbitrary, useful but arbitrary. Where as the "day/night" cycle, the annual cycle of seasons, the phases of the moon, the actions of gravity, those are non-negotiable.
Well, while I have a deep appreciation and understanding of the socially constructed nature of meaning—I write about it all the time—I might suggest that your take here is a bit pedantic and somewhat besides the point I'm making in the essay.
yes, it probably is pedantic, after all I'm a retired college professor who taught sociology - which is all about how we intersubjectively create society - and it's hard to break old habits. I really did get the point of this piece and found it inspiring, as I do all your pieces, and since you've made this mantra your signature - included it in every single thing you write I doubt you'll change it, because once you've got a "catch phrase" that works why get rid of it. My thought is that it's all a little sad because it undermines your excellent points. You want people to pay attention to the things that are real, rather than get distracted by the ephemeral. But then most people aren't that reflective, and for most people the mantra works, it feels like unalterable fact.
Before you go further, you might want to reference my philosophy page. Where I talk about the intersubjectivity of meaning, quite a bit. https://www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/mikes-philosophy
Beautifully expressed. Thanks.
thank you. this was comforting and encouraging
And remember what is right and just.
👍