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I was taking my usual walk to work via a shortcut I've just recently discovered and I was following two young mothers pushing prams. There was also a young boy probably no older than say 3, perhaps 4 years old straggling some 6 - 10ft behind them. As I was following them I happened to eavesdrop on the conversation which these two ladies were having. They were discussing motherhood in general with a certain disingenuous tone. However, this little boy was struggling to keep up as these two ladies marched on at an adult pace. My sympathy was raised for this boy's poor little legs which had probably only learnt to walk in the past 18 months to 2 years. I thought how amazing that this young lad had managed a task we all take for granted now. The ability to stand on ones two legs and walk require enormous reserves of energy and thought. Balance does not come naturally to our species, as we must learn how to balance firstly. What I found profoundly interesting of this little boy, was that he wasn’t complaining about having to keep up, indeed it would seem that his distance reflected his need to be closer to his mother as he gritted his small teeth to try and keep up to speed. It was at this moment that his Mother's friend asked her if she would consider having any more children. To which she stopped walking, turned around to face her little son and said, 'I take one look at him and say, never, never again'. The little boy stops for a moment and looks up at his mother for a momentary glance into her eyes and then runs headlong towards her and wraps himself around his Mother's leg. One could see his Mother visibly warm towards this gesture as she reaches down to rub his back. But rather than lose face with her friend over what she had said earlier, she makes some comment about not having enough time to raise more children.
Now this situation would seem on the surface to have no more meaning than a light conversation juxtaposed by a small child’s interaction with their parent. However, I was struck by a powerful epiphany during this interplay which is what led me to write my thoughts in the first place. I should preface this experience by first explaining that unless you have empathy for the child you knew best, yourself of course, you are most unlikely to understand the very palpable reaction that I experienced during this observation. This young boy knew his place in the world or rather I should say he knew best the strategy for his own survival. He knew it would be pointless to complain to his Mother that she was walking too fast and that he was struggling to keep up. Of course, I cannot know exactly why it would be pointless for him to complain. But it was clear from his determination to keep up in such an unflinching manner, that his experience of this situation had been one in which he should just gather all of his energies and resources into just 'keeping up'. Whether it was punishment or derision that he recieved, who knows. But the concentration written on his little face said it all - Keep up!! It didnt require his mother to tell him to keep up, as she was seemingly unaware of his plight at this time, as she and her friend marched on. It was then that as I slowly caught up with this boy that his Mother turned around and passed her little judgement upon him.
'I take one look at him and say, never, never again'
I was struck by a powerful empathy for that little boy, but was also frozen by my own paralysis to intervene. But watching him glance into his Mother's eyes for just a split second, said it all. In that moment he appeared to be thinking and passing through his memories of past experiences. He understood his Mother had a deep resentment for something, that she was sad and unhappy with her lot. He may not have known why of course, but he knew how it affected his short life thus far. He knew, albeit maybe not in its entirety that he needed to soothe his Mother's anguish somehow, if only as a means to preserving his own existence. So it was, that a passionate hugging of her leg could melt her otherwise stone cold affection for him. That it was he that instigated the affection and not his Mother meant this little boy was completely aware of his predicament. I was saddened and deeply amazed at the powerful knowledge this little boy had. Amazed by his ability to strategize so effortlessly at such a tender age, but deeply saddened by the immense loss of his own feelings and desires as he navigates his life around these tormented adults.
It should be noted that this whole experience happened for me within less than 2 minutes from start to finish. Time seemed to slow down for me as a means to digesting this moment, not just for this little lad, but for myself as well. Of course, most adults would suggest that this was the child showing empathy for their parent. That this was a sweet moment between Mother and son. But I ask you, what would you say of a friend or relative, as an adult. If they were to face you and say to their friend that your company wasn't welcome? That in fact your very existence meant they could never aquaint themselves with another? You would most likely be deeply hurt, perhaps enraged even. How dare they speak so ill of me! Who do they think they are?! I would imagine eventually you would cease being around that person and rightly so in my opinion. Imagine how horrible his Mother's words were to that little boy. If only understood from body language and tone alone, her petulance was acutely clear. But in his tiny presence he was most unlikely to change compared to that of our own adult choices. He is a prisoner of this abuse and he must find a way to cope and exist in a world that shows him scant regard. Therefore he hugs his Mother's leg, not out of love, but from a deep need to survive.
This post is also available on the Lost Liberty Cafe where non VOX users can leave their comments.
Firstly I must warn you that this film is very violently graphic. That for some reason I was unable to watch it twice. That my first impressions were one of complete shock and horror. So I ask you to consider that feeling as you decide to watch it.
Some of the memories of the men from this most awful of battles..
Watching ‘The Hell of Verdun’ had a real effect on me in ways I never imagined. The horrors of the 1st world war are only to apparent in this video, not least but at the very end, when we see the after effects on some of these soldiers. The terrible remnants of the human psyche and body from the violence inflicted are all too evident from the horrendous physical effects of mustard gas to the chilling psychological symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome, known then, as only ‘shell shock‘. The scarring of souls, forever damned to a life of hellish nightmares and physical disability that is beyond words and indeed often recovery. That we emerged from this war and the next to think and consider that statism was our only saviour is an awful testament to that horrific scarring. That we make excuses for an ever increasing strangle hold on our liberties as a reflection through the generations of that distress our forefathers suffered. That now our leaders are of a generation when statism was booming (1960’s) is no surprise to me. I myself a late child of the 60’s, my mind seared by the greatness of government. That I thought in my own timidity incapable of not being ruled. That I possessed no power to make all of my own decisions. That to me, the ultimate sacrifice was to die in a war for ones country. To die for rulers I would never meet or come to know, except through news bulletins and excerpts on the radio or television. And indeed to die for a country that was itself constructed from within the imagination for those that would wish to hold us within its prison’s shores.
Lest we forget
What is so incredible about this statement, because indeed I find it a very useful indictment of such a war. Is the way in which this proclamation has been twisted to suit those in power. That we must not forget these soldiers sacrifice for our great state and noble nation. That they can so cruelly twist our psyches to consider these wars as a useful application towards freedom is to rob mankind of his own mind. That to consider murder, violence, imprisonment and theft on the grandest scale (taxation) as virtuous and noble is to doom mankind into the deepest abyss of his mind. As to make him swim into the most turgid waters of his subconscious towards a blackness in his heart that cannot see beyond these acts of violence and aggression. Lest we forget the horrors of statist power that can damn our minds in this way. Robbing us of our own ability to feel not only for others but too feel for our own selves as well. That we can damn ourselves in this way and pretend that this is the ultimate sacrifice for morality is a cruel irony of modern philosophical thinking. That we imagine ourselves to be unable to control our futures is by its very nature ruthlessly used against us by the powerful and mighty. Lest we forget how the mighty decapitates our minds into believing death to be more virtuous than life itself.
People have often asked me why I consider politics to be unworthy of my respect. Indeed that I see politics as the cause and not the protection from our fears. How can I respect an order, whether left or right, which insists on me making sacrifices for those I do not know and will never know, perhaps may never wish to know. Why can my voluntary action or inaction be construed as immoral or selfish against whom I will never meet and break bread with. If by my very nature I am meant to be powerless, why then should my freedom be considered dangerous? For those that know me, can you honestly say that I could be a danger to those around me? That I might murder, rape and pillage in ways not dissimilar to this video? Is it possible for me to become like this, as you know me now? In my heart and mind I know that I am completely incapable of these kinds of atrocities. That the only way I could, would be to have my mind and consciousness seared by an anti rationality and a taught belief in my own timid powerlessness. A stolid choice to believe in my own inability to make important choices and decisions for the improvement of my life. Because they have been taken from me by righteous dictate for the ‘so called’ betterment of others. That these men could throw themselves into a war which so obviously wounded and killed many men before them is testament to a belief that ones own life was superfluous to that of others or was for the benefit of the greater good. That one can throw their life away so carelessly for those in power for whom they would never meet or engage with, is incongruous with ones very will to survive. That to sever ones consciousness from the reality of the destruction it reeks and to say that it is a good thing to die. That indeed to say that I die so that others may live should not be considered as perverse in the most extreme. That I should consider my own death as a benefit to others, when in life I could bring more joy and happiness to them around me than I ever could in my death. No, only the most deviant amongst us, our rulers, can suggest this subservience of the mind to our fellow man. That they can indeed throw away our lives with such disdain and dishonesty as to make us beholden to them. That we can think of them as our benevolent leaders that seek out our own personal justice and peace. That they can distort our own view of ourselves by turning us against our very own natures.
Of course people will suggest that we are no longer thrown into these wars anymore and indeed I agree that the state would have a hard time convincing us of this kind of sacrifice for the greater good anymore. That they do indeed try, as they seemingly enjoy taking large swathes of power from us in the form of stories about terror and fear. That they will always seek ways to undermine our very natures through our projections and fears of others. That they seek to take away our will for survival and replace it with the needs of others. Peoples wills are stronger today than they were during these world wars. At that time, statist rule was considered a new path to glorious harmony. Can any of us seriously say that today? Of course to me I see only the irrational mechanics of our religious pasts being foisted onto the modern citizen, as if by it’s very being ‘the state’ replaces God as the new saviour of our lives. That we see ourselves as small and insignificant to that of our chosen masters. That we embrace our own mental slavery and presume that our masters mean us well. That they will feed us, clothe us, provide us with health and shelter and indeed protect us from ourselves with security such as their police and armies. That we can now enjoy the fruits of some of our labour in the form of holidays, mobile phones, international cuisine. That many of us still presume that this has been provided to us by our munificent rulers is to disregard the individuals that thought long and hard about our self improvement and took great personal risks to themselves both financially and personally. That to profit individually, is not to profit those around us, is to be inconsistent with what we see with our own eyes. That the world has indeed profited from the profit of others in the form of mans inventions in medicine, food production and mechanical devices. That as individuals they had their own personal vision that could and indeed did transform the world in ways we never imagined. Why should not a person such as this profit from that risk? Why are they to be considered as selfish and greedy? What one of you would say they cannot benefit from their own labour? That to sit around benefiting from others should be seen as meaningful to the minds and passions of them that provide us with more time with our friends and families. That my own days labour should be taken from me for the benefit of those I will never even know. As if by its very essence I preserve them like a specimen in a bottle for the posterity of future unknown generations. That if indeed the future generation is worth considering this way, why not my own? If we say the future generation deserves more than us, what say that generation when considering its own anonymous future generations. To have sympathy with a generation that is yet to exist at the exclusion of ones own very real existence is to not be considered as discordant with our own personal will to survive. Should we not consider this as a maddening of our minds? To whom are we forfeiting our pleasures, wealth and happiness? Who gains from this ignorance of our own desires? Our leaders complain and grumble how they themselves have given up great wealth and careers for serving us with our needs. That this lie can be so manifold in nature and consistent. That our senses are so dulled into contrition as to not see the resultant greed and lust for power that is so well exhibited by their action or inaction. That to give ones power to someone you don’t even know personally with a trust so strong that we would unlikely extend too our own friends and family. What kind of madness or sickness of the mind is this? That never questions, merely grumbles momentarily about their ineffectiveness. That we watch these parasites of the mind (politicians) praise fallen men that have been sent into a senseless battle for their own pernicious desire to have power over all of us. That these parasites can be considered as honourable, whilst we consider all others as untrustworthy? At what point do we take self ownership for ourselves and rise above the ashes of our minds and say enough with being ruled, enough with being told how to feel through a preordained morality, given to us by them that wish to profit from us with no reciprocation. That to take from us is seen as a right and just part of living in a world with others. When do we say this is my life to choose for myself how I live and partake in it. That to take from others by force, when few complain, is to desensitise oneself from the violence used in extracting it.
An interesting look at how corporatism goes hand in hand with statism
Marlena Shaw's version of wade in the water was always one of those tunes that got my feet a moving and sends goose pimples all over my body every time I listen to it. It's the mixture of brass, drums and soulful lyrics of Marlena that put me in a haze of pure ectasy. No exagerattion, believe. Watching Elanor Powell dance to this tune, I am truly amazed by her elegance, style and I am aware of moves she is using that could be considered as slightyly unhinged. When I say unhinged, I guess I mean in particular at 2:10 of the video below when she starts tapping the table and chair with her foot. In any ordinary instance, this action would be considered odd at best, but given the context of such an upbeat song one can fully understand her decision to improvise in this manner. Dance allows us to expresss ourselves on an emotional level that is almost imposible to do in any other circumstance normally, without being attacked by others for our candidness.
There is something quite liberating about dancing, particularly when you can. I guess I've been blessed with a lean frame and a good understanding of beat and rhythm, that I was always able to express myself quite well in dance. I feel completely comfortable on a dance floor, as I allow myself to be completely enveloped by the music and I can transfer myself to a place that can only be described as heavenly, not to mention joyful as well. I think we are all capable of this, except for many people they feel uncomforatble being looked at by others. I haven't trained or been instructed in dance, but I did learn to gather my confidence with how my body reacted to music and decided to go with it. This brought about a huge sense of liberation like no other. Lets face it, it is very rare to express yourself in public without people attacking you. But when you dance how you feel, people notice you and become transfixed and rarely if ever complain about this kind of expression. Somehow, people take it for gratis that the way you move in dance is personal to you and admirable in its construction. Just so long as you are doing it for yourself, rather than others.
Now something that I was unaware previously about this song was that it was originally a song for black slaves. As described by the YouTube author of the video.
"Originally one of the 'Songs of freedom'(Wade in the water) was sung by way of instruction to escaping slaves .. travelling along the water's edge or across a body of water, would throw dogs and their keepers off the scent."
Now there is something quite synominous with ones fight for personal freedom within the self and that of the freedom to dance in an entirely expressive way for which people will implicitly understand. To be able to show people the way you express life (with integrity), like dance, albeit often seen as extreme in nature, can be liberating for those watching you from the periphery. If you can live a life with virtue, being true to yourself and your feelings, people around you cannot help but notice and be drawn to you.
So, for all of you out there desperate to be understood by your fellow man, why not try to understand your own feelings first and express them in your way, with the confidence of your own virtue and integrity. You will be guaranteed an audience of like minded souls for sure. Once you become yourself, no one will criticise you and the scent of your fear will have disappeared completely. So people, keep wading in the water and try to escape the serfdom that tells you to keep those personal expressions in check. Those expressions are there to inspire others..
More info about the origins of this song can be found here.
EDIT - This article was published on Lost Liberty Cafe as well...
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu was quoted in an article in the Daily Mail today called, "People think Christians are 'mad' ".
"Christians are seen as 'mad' by the rest of society because they are motivated by compassion rather than the greedy pursuit of money, the Archbishop of York said yesterday. "
This is quite typical of the pious in times of economic struggle. Christians have a particularly spiteful way in which they inflict guilt on the masses in the hard times. This is but one of many examples in which the church has used feigned morality as a means to furthering their nonsensical beliefs. A comment left at the end of this article reminding the Bishop of where his own wealth comes from, struck a cord quite well I felt.
"He has got it all wrong, the rich coutries all run on "Greed", greedy people set up business in the hope of making a lot of money and by doing so create jobs. People invest their money in other peoples business to make money.
When greedy people go bust, all the jobs go = slump.
The whole World-Economy runs on "Greed", (think about it). Nothing to do with God what so ever. The next time John Sentamu goes around with his begging-bowl - He should ask himself, did this money come from greed?
- CJ, Ireland, 18/2/2009 9:25"
The Reverend Jerry Falwell made similar statements after the 9/11 attacks as pointed out below. I cannot help but wonder what magnificently corrupt world can create such hypocrites as these. For which he later had to recant on. They know nothing about humanity except their own pious dogma which tells them to preach self sacrifice at the cost of ones own personal gain. A gain for which can benefit many with jobs and prosperity. No, these pious men would like us to lay face down in the mud, begging for forgiveness for a made up belief in 'original sin'. Whilst they attempt to psychologically rob us of the little wealth that we have to benefit their own greedy desires.
The madness of Christians has less to do with their so called compassion, but more to do with their pious morality, for which manages to benefit the minority (the pious and the powerful) in favour of the majority. Without some form of greed, where does Sentamu imagine electricity comes from? Or the plentiful variety of food in our supermarkets? Maybe Bishop Sentamu would like us eating curds and whey next to a flickering candle, whilst re-sighting the nonsense of the bible that calls for the heads of all non believers. Now I agree that the bankers and politicians have clearly been in cahoots with each other regarding the recent bail outs. But to lay the foundations of blame on the common man that has chosen a more rational belief in the non belief of God is truly the most audacious excuse for those that produce nothing except veiled spittle and bile in the name of God.
An interesting take on our unseen incarceration, loosely based on the theme of the movie The Matrix.. I am fairly sure that I cannot add anything more to this otherwise wonderfully scripted video.. I did try, but profoundly failed.. Please enjoy.. For more of this click here..
"World War I was the first modern global military conflict which took place in Europe between 1914 to 1918. Archaic military tactics met modern industrialised warfare for the first time, resulting casualties on a previously unimaginable scale. Men rotted in the mud, then were sent to face massed machine gun fire, modern artillary, tanks and chemical weapons. Over 20 million soldiers and civilians died and countless others were physically maimed or mentally scarred by the horrors of trench warfare."
Of course our states no longer inflict war on our own soil any more. However, in this case it took them another war to finally seek diplomacy in Europe. We now make war in far flung places like Iraq and Afghanistan, with false claims of liberty. But the futility of state aggression is well marked within this footage and the idea that this war gave us freedom is as much to mock our intelligence as the claims that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. The state clearly lies for its own ends and the men that start the war never pick up a gun or finish it. No, they leave that mess to the rest of humanity.
Music: Clint Mansell - The Last Man
XCowboy2's continuing adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, looks at the value of life and that it is our choice to live it. Life is very much about the living of it and the virtue and honesty that we can bring to that life. That to hide behind illusion may bring us temporary comfort, but will ultimately destroy our reason to live.
"But it is a wish one must learn to deserve.. Virtue is not an end in itself.. Virtue is not its own reward.. Life, is the reward of virtue.. And happiness.. Is the goal and the reward of life.."
The tail end of this speech is perhaps its most profound.. Please enjoy..
I think if there was ever a way to disrupt the thoughts and machinations of the mystic, both religious or political. Then perhaps Socrates parting speech to his judges and accusers deals a blow better than no other.
Stefan Molyneux narrates his speech with what can only be described as a true admiration for a man that exposed the hypocrisies of such mythologists. But for which the cost to his own life and future generations is made and felt abundantly clear.
Another stunning collection of graffiti from Napoli, Italy. I particularly like the religious iconography used here. For a country so steeped in Catholicism it makes perfect sense that the street should reject it.. More of this
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