tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74205972706013863332024-03-08T16:48:11.014+11:00Worldwide HappinessAn opinion blog aimed at linking core human motivations and current affairs to the goal of worldwide happiness. Focus: Current affairs, politics, human happiness and potential, transcending left-wing and right-wing, progressive, conservative, seeking the third option, creative thinking, spirituality, liberation, worldwidehappiness, utopia.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-58533835637601845082019-12-26T17:17:00.000+11:002019-12-26T17:17:03.613+11:00Happiness is the Starting Place - my book is now on AmazonHi,<br />
<br />
My book <i>Happiness is the Starting Place</i> is now on Amazon in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082SP84PS" target="_blank">ebook</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1678832901" target="_blank">paperback</a> formats. This is the blurb:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Happiness is the Starting
Place</i> is for people who wonder
if the common views of humankind and life might be wrong. For example, you
might think it’s suspicious that of all the creatures in the universe, human
beings are the only ones who are lacking, flawed, and in need of fixing. If that
common view of people is wrong, then what caused it and what might be the
actual truth of the matter?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We inherited views of
people and life from a time when existence was hard. So what will happen if we temporarily
stop the old philosophical narratives? This book is about that investigation.
It is about a new freeway that is only revealed after you close the old detours.
By reading this book you will discover surprising perspectives on big issues
like:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>The power of contexts</li>
<li>The implicit meaning of life</li>
<li>Morality</li>
<li>Happiness</li>
<li>Why self-development is superfluous</li>
<li>Liberation from illusion</li>
<li>Creating utopia</li>
</ul>
<br />This is the essential outline of my philosophy:<br />
<ol>
<li>Happiness is the implicit meaning of life because everything we do is ultimately for some form of happiness.</li>
<li>There are two categories of happiness—reliable being and temporary doing.</li>
<li>But society promotes only doing, and so we forget being and become dependent on doing.</li>
<li>Subsequently, failure creates guilt, and success becomes stale.</li>
<li>The remedy is to understand how being is obscured.</li>
<li>Then we see the need to end illusion in the world, which is the same as creating a utopia.</li>
<li>This goal is easy because we only need to promote enquiry into how happiness works while staying in touch with our innate goodwill.</li>
<li>The outcome would be a world where doing optimally augments being.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div>
Here is the <b>ebook</b>: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082SP84PS">https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082SP84PS</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here is the <b>paperback</b>: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1678832901">https://www.amazon.com/dp/1678832901</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-8421343715192222632018-06-08T20:02:00.001+10:002018-06-08T20:02:38.555+10:00Happiness & utopia - a brief new summary of my philosophy<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our lives progress from survival to happiness, like trees
establishing roots and leaves, then producing flowers and fruit. Indeed, the
implicit meaning of life is happiness because that motivation underlies all our
endeavours. Even self-sacrifice makes others happier and fulfils some of our
own potential. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are two categories of happiness—being, which includes
positive states such as serenity and ecstasy, and doing, which includes
positive activities such as relationship and purpose. Both are great, but being
is innate and reliable, whereas doing is circumstantial and fleeting.
Therefore, we need to prioritise being until it is well-understood, otherwise
we will subconsciously seek its reliability in unreliable forms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, society promotes doing, as if it the only
option, so we become addicted to doing. Then, due to the natural limitations of
action, we sometimes fail to achieve our goals or we harm others in the process.
The ensuing judgement of ourselves and others fuels a vicious circle of desperate
and conflicted action. But if we stop leaking energy into society’s illusory priorities,
the energy returns to its source, and we behold the fullness and innocence of
being. Thereafter, doing augments our innate happiness without the previous
addiction, harm, and waste. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, action in the world also leads us to encounter
others’ suffering. And since happiness entails sensitivity, this encounter
contaminates our own happiness, and we feel drawn to help. Since globalisation
has brought expanded awareness about the plight of others, we eventually realise
that we need to create a worldwide utopia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Creating utopia is easy. Steven Pinker points out that we
have already reduced extreme poverty from 30% to 10% in only 30 years. If we
stay tuned into the goodwill of being, rather than fighting over conflicting
methods, progress can accelerate and diversify.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Objections to this theory are often just retransmissions of
received societal illusions. This activity is a natural consequence of our circumscribed
predicament. We have only experienced this one world and this one epoch. Lacking
an instruction manual, humankind had to wander in the dark, so falls were
inevitable. Therefore, negative conclusions about human nature and negative
extrapolations about our potential are unfair. And it seems strange that when
we gaze upon nature and the universe, we often see everything as good, except
our own species. Indeed, negative evidence is biased because it comes from a
planetary sample size of one in an otherwise positive universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Objectivity dawns as soon as we question our context, goals,
and methods. The current context is a deluded but improving world, so if we question
society’s illusory priorities, the hindrance to further improvement can be
removed. Our goals are survival then happiness, so if we complete the survival
stage for everybody, then we can fully realise happiness. Our methods are currently
based on the belief that happiness is dependent on effort and goodness, so if
we drop that, then energy will be released into being ourselves and cooperating
naturally. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I see clearing skies ahead. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-27766741926855926262017-05-01T20:03:00.000+10:002017-05-01T20:03:08.412+10:00Critiquing the Premise of Ken Wilber's new book The Religion of Tomorrow<div class="MsoNormal">
Ken Wilber has released a new book titled <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Religion-Tomorrow-Traditions-More-Inclusive-Comprehensive/dp/1611803004/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493632922&sr=8-1&keywords=the+religion+of+tomorrow">The Religion of Tomorrow</a>. Here’s a quote from the introduction:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“[G]reat adepts and ancient sages… saw into the core of
human beings and discovered… the ultimate Ground of Being, not only of humans
but of the entire manifest universe… they saw into the very essence of an
ultimate reality that not only anchored all of manifestation but, when
discovered… acted to introduce them to their own True Nature, known by many
different names, but pointing to the same groundless Ground—Buddha-nature,
Brahman, Godhead, Ayn Sof, Allah, Toa, Ati, Great Perfection, the One,
Satchitananda, to name but a few… By performing the specific practices and exercises,
an individual could… [gain]… a direct introduction to ultimate Reality itself…
it was said to be the discovery of the timeless and eternal, spaceless and
infinite, Unborn and Undying, Unlimited and Unfettered, the… One and Only,
ultimate Reality itself. All in all, they represent one of the great and
extraordinary treasures of human history… But they are… becoming less and less
influential…. One reason… is that, in the one or two thousand years since these Great
Traditions were first created… a more truly “Integral” spirituality speaks
compellingly to [the modern and postmodern] demographic.”</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So Ken is making many gigantic assertions. Let’s list them
with the obvious questions that are simply ignored by Ken:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Past spiritual leaders were great. But how does spiritual
discovery indicate greatness? Isn’t this an attempt to manipulate people by
glorifying the thing you want to partly promote?</li>
<li>They found the ultimate ground of being for the entire
manifest universe. But how could you prove that? Where is the evidence? The
bigger the claim, the bigger the evidence needs to be.</li>
<li>They saw into the essence of ultimate reality and found that
their true nature is Brahman, etc. The dictionary defines Brahman as “the
ultimate reality underlying all phenomena”, so how can a mere human claim to be
that?</li>
<li>Spiritual practices lead you to gain ultimate eternal
reality. But wouldn’t it be more important to question your motivation for
pursuing that grandiose unprovable goal and then to question your assumptions
about it?</li>
<li>The great traditions are great treasures. Isn’t this just
praising the thing you want to partly promote and improve?</li>
<li>Ken’s integral spirituality is the next step in this
endeavour. Isn’t this self-serving and grandiose? If the ancients found “Godhead”,
then why didn’t they know about integral spirituality? Is Godhead’s knowledge
limited?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You might say that if you experience these things then you
know them to be true. In reply, I would say that you cannot know these things
to be true. They might feel intensely true, even revelatory, but that’s not
proof.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More importantly, Ken’s overall message is about alleviating
our existential angst by searching for God and then developing ourselves
further. Instead, I think it’s more important to understand the starting place
for such a quest. In other words, what is your essential motivation, assumption,
and context? Surely, we need to understand those basics first. Otherwise, we
might be building upon a weak foundation. Indeed, I would say that that is
precisely what happened and is happening. People seek spiritual revelation,
then have spiritual experiences, then form beliefs about oneness or God or
whatever, then stay in unsatisfying conflict with others, then seek “integral” development.
In this way, everyone stays on the run and chasing some ideal that is never
questioned. In short, Ken, like everyone else, avoids the first step and gets
trapped at the penultimate step.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ken has always had a tendency to automatically believe and
glorify spiritual realisers. And after so many years in the philosophy game, he
has chosen to merely add more to their
narratives rather than questioning them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-66211845084391806132016-05-19T23:33:00.003+10:002016-05-19T23:33:44.166+10:00Non-Duality Teacher Illusions<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
On YouTube, I've been watching various non-duality spiritual teachers this last week - seeing them giving talks, answering questions, and being interviewed on Conscious.tv. I find three main illusions being propagated by them all:</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
1) There's a repeated belief or implication that they have reached the final realisation. They even mention God as if they know God. How can a small human being know anything about God? Both our capacity for perception and our ability to understand <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">are limited. So let's drop the grandiose claims.</span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
2) I hate this talk about everything having to be the way it is so that we would wake up. Really? So torture, gas chambers, rape, and starvation have to be here? Is the Oneness so stupid that it needs to go through all that to see itself? It's a laughable rationalisation. It's the non-duality spiritual belief system inherited from India with its belief in karma and destiny. And the misery obviously doesn't achieve the goal of waking anyone up - nearly everyone goes to their deathbeds deluded. So the claim is complete nonsense. Hope we move past that soon.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
3) They keep claiming that liberation is a mystery and will always be so. It's not true. We can sort it out. Why don't these non-separation gurus end their separation from each other by getting together and analysing how it happens and how to teach better? They are too busy being special to lower themselves by joining a group of teachers. To afraid to admit that they don't know and could do better. Anyway, here's a hint: The way to liberation for everybody is through fine-tuning of attention about what's going on inside. That ends the leaking of energy into illusion. The person might not articulate it that way, and they might not even know that that is what happened, but it is what happened in every case. It's not a mystery, so let's cut out the magical-thinking, romanisation, and mystification.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-35891188163195731032016-02-04T20:53:00.001+11:002016-02-04T21:07:27.800+11:00THe False Paradox of Enlightenment<div class="MsoNormal">
Many people and paths
say that enlightenment is paradoxical. However, it only seems paradoxical
because we are trying to grab a goal that is itself the absence of grabbing. Furthermore,
grabbing is redundant because there is no enlightenment, and therefore nothing
to grab. A better goal than enlightenment is liberation from illusion. The main
illusion is the idea that reliable happiness is found rather than being innate
to being.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Liberation is the
natural state. Illusion, on the other hand, is artificial and imposed by society. Therefore,
liberation is realised by subtraction of the false, which simply requires that
we understand the false. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Understanding means
seeing that it is futile to seek reliable happiness in things that end. Seeing
the repetitive leak of energy and attention into futile habits weakens them. As
the patterns of leaking are noticed sooner and sooner, a point comes when the
tangle of illusions quickly unravels. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, you quickly
realise that illusion in society also needs to end. A good place to start is to
work at ending illusion in spiritual circles since those people are hopefully
able to hear the message.<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-1565847697652472942015-11-24T12:21:00.004+11:002015-11-24T12:21:47.866+11:00Integralist Assumptions<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p>Here's a reply I wrote to an <a href="https://www.integrallife.com/node/268341">Integralist analysis of the Paris attacks</a>, by Jeff Salzman:</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It's always strange to read Integral commentaries. They
start with the assumption that someone is more evolved than someone else and
can therefore help those lower down on the evolutionary ladder. They fail to
see that we were all born into a totally deluded swamp. So the priority is to
see the swamp, then to stop reproducing the swamp, and then to exit the swamp.
But such a starting point isn't even on the Integralist's radar. They don't
even see the swamp. They see relative improvement and think that is proof of
having sufficient wisdom to liberate others. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The West is blaring out illusion 24/7 - "Happiness is
in money, relationships, family, career, possessions, spirituality, religion,
blah blah blah." Everyone is distracted by this swamp of illusion. So the
supposedly less evolved terrorists get to have a legitimate argument -
"You think happiness is here, we think it there, so let's fight it
out." In this way, the West is perpetuating the problem it claims to want
to solve. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If the West liberated itself from its illusions, then it
would be at home in the innate happiness of being. Then it would be a role
model that sends out good vibes rather than delusion. Whatever emergencies
arise in the immediate aftermath of that can be dealt with using force if necessary,
but it would then be quick and wise and in the context of palpable goodwill and
wisdom. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know that Integralists quickly dismiss what I'm saying by
deploying their theories. That shows how blinded they are by their assumptions.
They can't even begin exploring a new line of reasoning that doesn't fit in
with their models and "commonsense", which are themselves derived
from the swamp.<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-8524405423251408492015-11-13T23:06:00.001+11:002015-11-13T23:06:08.443+11:00Eckhart Tolle Waffles about the Refugee Crisis in Europe<div class="MsoNormal">
If you watch this video, you can see Tolle waffling about
side issues:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWcRyJ7LAXI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWcRyJ7LAXI</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It seems that he borrowed his methods from J Krishnamurti -
exploring the leaves and branches from various angles but never getting to the
root.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The question about what to do about the refugee crisis in
Europe is just the presenting issue. We need to dig below the surface. Indeed, such
questions can be rephrased as: “Here in the swamp, what should we do about X?” Obviously, the right
response is to say, “First, get out of the swamp!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we follow a living enquiry approach the next logical
question arises: “What is the swamp?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Answer: The swamp is the idea that security and/or reliable
happiness is found in such things as materialism or spirituality, when in
reality, security is in good relationships and reliable happiness is innate to
being. Europe, like the rest of the world, is shouting 24/7, “Happiness is in
this or that,” so when refuges arrive and settle, they will do so for wrong
reasons anyway. Europe is creating the problem by creating attractive
illusions, and not working on the real issues.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next natural question is: How do we get Europe to realise
the innate happiness of being?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Answer: First, we need to show them that reliable happiness
cannot be found in things that change. Then they will naturally look for that
which doesn’t change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The typical next response is to say, “Isn’t it unrealistic to get a whole continent to change?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Answer: The reason things seem hard and unrealistic is that
people keep saying it is. In reality, all we need is for each person to say yes
to the obvious truth, then to pass it on and point out to the next person that
objections are nothing but self-fulfilling prophecies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lastly, people will say, “Isn’t this a roundabout response
to an immediate problem of refugees?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Answer: No, it’s the direct response that ends the problem
once and for all.<i> </i>If each person in
turn takes a stand in the truth and in their innate goodwill, then all our
problems would be solved. The current approach of falling into so-called commonsense stops you from
digging below the surface to the real immediate issues.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-77037190290522403852015-10-19T20:45:00.002+11:002015-10-19T20:59:33.213+11:00Worst Series Finales—Dexter, Sopranos, How I Met Your Mother, Smallville<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Warning: Obviously, there are huge spoilers here if you
haven’t yet seen these series’ endings.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Screenwriting is largely about setups and payoffs. You set
up the characters’ dilemmas, contradictions, problems, etc., and then you pay the
setup off with some kind of resonant resolution. Of course, you might say that
there’s a distinction between entertainment and art - while entertainment
requires clear payoffs, art shouldn’t be restricted by that expectation. There
are two problems with this. The first is that if you do not intend to pay off
the setups you create, you should warn the audience in some way that you are
doing art rather than entertainment. The second is that if you have talent,
then you can do both entertainment and art simultaneously. The work of a
talented artist can satisfy the requirements of both entertainment and art in TV
series finales. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So let’s look at the finale examples in four TV series’:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>DEXTER</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The relevant setups were largely around the ignorance of the
detectives versus the genius of Dexter. So the resolution should have been the
detectives realise the truth, and the genius of Dexter wins or loses depending
on big picture factors of life. Instead, the finale leaves the detectives still
clueless, and Dexter foolishly tells everybody that he’s going to Argentina, which
increases the likelihood that the spotlight will be shone on himself and/or his
family after his escape from America. In reality, he would have had escape
plans worked out years ago because he is smart. He would have told everybody
he’s going to France, for example, and then would have gone to Argentina at the
last minute, even surprising his new lover in the process. The finale would then
have been about whether he succeeded or not. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Personally, I see him walking along a sunny beach with his
woman and child. I would have had a camera pointing up towards the sky with
Dexter smiling down, the wind blowing through his hair—the message being that
life and God are murderers. But the complexity of life could have interfered
along the way to take it another direction. Or the detectives could have
figured it out and caught him or there could have been a shootout. Instead, he
boats off into a hurricane and survives that to become a lumberjack, leaving
his kid alone with a serial killer in Argentina. That is a fucking ridiculous plan
for such a smart calculating guy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The writers said the setup was whether he would become human
and the payoff is that he did become human and couldn’t live with the remorse
and was punishing himself by living in seclusion. Firstly, that’s not what the
audience saw as the main setup. Secondly, his decision to be human was already
resolved, so punishing him for past crimes made it seem you can never transcend
your past, which is a lousy message.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>THE SOPRANOS</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The relevant setups were the luxurious lifestyle versus the
ugly reality behind it all, and the delusion of Tony’s wife and the daughter.
The obvious payoff, therefore, was to show the full truth about Tony to the
wife and daughter. So I would have had him arrested for the murder of many people,
including Adriana and Meadow’s first boyfriend. Then we could have seen the
wife pretending it’s all lies and the daughter finally twigging to just how
evil Tony is. Then the wife could go to jail too, and the couple spend the rest
of their lives contemplating all that they have done and lost. Indeed, I
thought Tony getting spiritual and taking drugs, and the wife going to Europe were
experiences that gave them a taste of a better life so that it would make the
restrictions of prison life harder to bear. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Instead, we get a purely artistic ending. The director said
that the audience loved Tony, and so I presume the camera cutting to black was
the killing of Tony and the audience. Actually, the director David Chase said:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“The way I see it is
that Tony Soprano had been peoples' alter ego… They had cheered him on. And
then, all of a sudden, they wanted to see him punished for all that… I thought
that was disgusting, frankly.” [<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Sopranos: The Complete Book. pp.182 -185</span>]</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So it seems the director the finale was about the director
getting revenge on the audience for enjoying the Tony character yet
simultaneously wanting justice meted out to him. Attacking the audience - how
indulgent is that? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even logically, Tony saw all these guys entering the
restaurant and acting suspiciously, so why wouldn’t he respond instead of
acting oblivious? Another setup that wasn’t resolved was Tony complaining
endlessly to the psychologist, yet the psychologist had been raped. An obvious
resolution would be that Tony finds out and realises what a complainer he is
compared to how brave she is. By the way, Tony’s son suddenly wanted to join
the army yet he suffers from panic attacks and depression. How is that even
remotely possible?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is a romcom, so we reasonably expect a light and happy
ending. Furthermore, the characters all grew really well through the series.
But, in the end, the characters reverted to their previous immaturity and they ruined
the goal of the whole series—Ted’s meeting with the mother. Horrible ending.
The first setup was, “Will he get Robin?” The answer was no. Disappointing, but
that’s life. And the real mother well and truly made up for that disappointment
by being wonderful in so many ways. So they should have ended it with Robin and
Barney being happy, and Ted and the mother on the train station under the
umbrella… “And that’s how I met your mother.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By the way, they should have had him ask her why she is
standing in the rain rather than under the station roof, and she would have
said, “Because it’s raining,” i.e. she was enjoying the rain, which is another
thing he could have loved about her. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Romcom is about escapism. Instead, How I Met Your Mother
became about regression and death. I was gutted for weeks after that finale.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>SMALLVILLE</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The gigantic setup was Lois not knowing that Clark is the Blur,
and furthermore, that he’s an alien. So I would have liked to see three
episodes of her coming to terms with that gigantic news. Instead, she accepts
it straight away. Same thing happened with Lana. Also, how does he suddenly
have the power to move a gigantic asteroid? They should have built up to it by
him getting stronger and stronger. Or have him take nukes to the asteroid. As
it was, the ending felt completely unrealistic. Sure, the series was already
unrealistic but it didn’t excessively violate its own internal realism. To do
so in the finale was incredibly lazy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>CONCLUSION</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While watching many TV series, I always get the feeling by
about the third-last episode that there’s not enough time left for the resolution.
The writers often leave it all to the last episode, and that’s never enough
time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A good ending can save a bad series. And a bad ending can
ruin a good series. A bad ending is tolerable in a film because it’s only 2
hours of your life. But a TV series can involve you for years. You owe it to
your audience to make a great finale, preferably with great payoffs while beginning
the finale a few episodes before the end so you have time to payoff all the
setups.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s hoping that producers and networks raise the standard
for finales in future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-83164335667788564522015-08-02T20:43:00.001+10:002015-08-11T20:03:18.672+10:00A Brief Critique of Ken Wilber's IntegralismHere's a letter I wrote to Frank Visser, who is both a believer and a critic of Integralism:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hi Frank,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I saw your video, and I wanted to describe what I see as three
fundamental problems with Integralism. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1) Ken said that he began by gathering all the fields of
knowledge and seeing how they related to each other. So he seems to believe
that all the fields are somewhat valuable and contain some truth. If so, he
appears to have begun with a "green" assumption ("green" in Integral Theory is partly the idea that all viewpoints have value - see <a href="http://integral-life-home.s3.amazonaws.com/SteveSelf-Altitude.jpg">HERE</a>). Thus, I believe his whole
endeavour is contaminated with green. His criticism of green doesn't negate
that. His approach is to transcend and include, but that is also green. After
all, what value would inclusion have if it somehow turned out that all the
world's knowledge is false? That leads to the second point.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2) If we consider the possibility that we are in a literal
Matrix, we would then be inclined to approach the world's knowledge from the
opposite end. That is, instead of including all the world's knowledge, we would
begin by rejecting or negating all the world's knowledge. In fact, I believe we
are in a literal matrix. That matrix is based on the idea that we are
inadequate and therefore need material, spiritual, moral, intellectual, and
physical improvement, which creates all the institutions of society (i.e. a
literal matrix). This causes us to forget the innate happiness of being and to become
dependent on the matrix for happiness, which can never work. This leads to
the third point.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3) Instead of searching for the truth, we could begin by focusing
on our motivations. After all, why did Ken care about the world's various forms
and categories of knowledge? Did he ever question his motivations? And why do
we care about Integralism? If our motivation is wrong - and it is wrong because
it is either supplied by the matrix or is a reaction to a part of the matrix
and therefore limited - then all our findings might be contaminated by our
wrong motivation. And this is exactly what has happened, in my opinion.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, Ken would categorise my negation approach as transcendent
spirituality and therefore incomplete. That idea comes from the matrix - it is
the assumption that we are inadequate and need various forms of development to
complete us. However, I can clearly see the cause of such things as the Andrew
Cohen disaster, whereas Ken fully encouraged Cohen with the Rude Boy promotion.
Also, believe it or not, I have clear answers to problems such as the
environment and the Middle East. So it might be possible that I’m onto
something. Ken and his followers would need to give what I say a sympathetic
hearing, but they are too busy - there’s an infinite amount of knowledge to
absorb and to create, so who has time for considering anything else, especially
if it can be categorised away so easily?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note: I agree that Integralism has merit, but only as an
optional extra or as a method for improving details of the world, not as a
complete system of how to live. Also, what I have written here are just headline
summaries. I could go into far more detail regarding each issue, but it amounts
to taking on the whole matrix, which is arduous since all the words have been
created by the matrix, and a swarm of “commonsense” criticisms of my approach
are easily supplied by the matrix. Furthermore, experience has taught me that
it is a waste of time for multiple reasons. I am only writing to you to suggest
a completely different approach to that of Integralism, especially since you said
that you like Integralism.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Regards,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Martin Gifford. <o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-88152687810325630852015-05-22T01:12:00.000+10:002015-05-22T01:55:09.173+10:00Andrew Cohen's Second ApologyCult Leader Andrew Cohen apologised to his disciples and has been on "sabattical" for the last two years. He has now written another apology: <a href="http://www.andrewcohen.org/blog/open-letter-all-my-former-students-upon-return-my-sabbatical" target="_blank">An open letter to all my former students upon return from my sabbatical</a>. The comments section has erupted into a big cycle of critique, blame, spiritual advice, and all kinds of irrelevant stuff, IMO.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
FWIW, I posted a comment that wasn't accepted, so I just now posted a second simplified comment:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Andrew is Perfectly Innocent</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Andrew, his critics, his defenders, and everybody else in
the world are all perfectly innocent. So all the blaming and judging that's cycling
around is a complete waste of time and energy and it distracts us away from the
real issues.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Except in the case of psychopaths, the reason why we harm
ourselves and each other is that we become distracted away from the innate
happiness and goodwill of being. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We become distracted because the world has brainwashed us
into believing that reliable happiness is in: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>objects, </li>
<li>achievements, </li>
<li>relationships, </li>
<li>spiritual states, </li>
<li>evolution, </li>
<li>punishment, </li>
<li>sex, </li>
<li>power, </li>
<li>money, or </li>
<li>whatever*. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yet, as Ramana Maharshi and many others have said, these things are
all fleeting, so they are unreliable. Pursuing them works only if we
simultaneously stay tuned in to the innate happiness of being. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Therefore, the resolution of this Andrew-centred melodrama
is to get everybody tuned into the innate happiness and goodwill of being.
Apparently, Andrew was good at that back in the 80s, so he should just travel the
world to get everyone tuned into being ASAP. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No self-flagellation or introspection is required. The world
is the problem, not individuals. If we were all born into a wise world, none of
these pains and problems would have happened.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can it be any clearer than that?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
*Note: I'd add "healing" to the list above since ex-disciples seem to be emphasising the importance of that.<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-67944192786230177562015-04-29T19:57:00.002+10:002015-04-29T20:01:01.131+10:00Capital Punishment is Murder<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Unless it's an emergency or voluntary euthanasia, deliberately killing another person is murder. I would have thought this is obvious in 2015, but many Australians condone Indonesia deliberately killing two Australians today. Of course, the US still has 32 states maintaining the death penalty.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, lucida grande, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">It is also disrespectful of humankind and creates low expectations for us.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, lucida grande, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, lucida grande, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Furthermore, it is a denial of our potential. After all, is the death penalty, which is a </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">stone-age</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"> strategy for dealing with people harming each other, the best we can imagine?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Anyway, Richard Branson has written an article about Indonesia's state-sanctioned murder today, and here's a great quote: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">'To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: “The only difference between saints and sinners is that every saint has a past while every sinner (should have) a future.”'</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, lucida grande, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/the-death-penalty-has-no-place-in-the-world-0">https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/the-death-penalty-has-no-place-in-the-world-0</a></span></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-39129646592005700382015-04-18T21:55:00.000+10:002015-04-18T22:04:28.383+10:00My philosophy in one paragraphHere is my philosophy in one paragraph. It helps if you read slowly, i.e. stop after each sentence and contemplate the implications:<br />
<br />
You were born into a world of delusion. Everyone around you is deluded into thinking that happiness is essentially in objects or states. In reality, happiness is our nature, given decent circumstances. However, even if we realise this, we still need to end delusion in the world because our happiness requires a decent circumstances, not deluded circumstances where people delude and harm each other unnecessarily. People generally reject the idea of fixing the world because they believe either it is against the principles of nature, or it is too hard. Those beliefs are merely tenets derived from the deluded world. They are the deluded world expressing itself through your mind. In reality, submitting to those beliefs is what stops the world being liberated from delusion. Most people want a better world. If they just stay in touch with that desire, rather than saying "But it's unnatural," or "But it's too hard," positive change will happen. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-81740949861201627192015-04-04T22:28:00.000+11:002015-04-04T22:41:39.514+11:00Lies, Delusion, Power, and Happiness<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.0799999237061px;">On an internet forum today, people were criticising ex-cult leader Andrew Cohen and his followers for lying. This brings up an interesting question: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.0799999237061px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.0799999237061px;"><i>Can we speak the truth all the time? </i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.0799999237061px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.0799999237061px;">I reckon that the world is currently deluded, and it is punitive if you do something it conveniently decides is wrong. So you have to lie to protect yourself, unless you are a saint who has done no wrong, which is probably impossible in this world. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.0799999237061px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.0799999237061px;">Even the most powerful people in the world lie to protect themselves, and this fact suggests that real power isn't in status or wealth, but rather in the widespread nature of delusion itself. Therefore, we should ideally focus on the real problem, not on particular individuals or groups; and the real problem is the existence of widespread delusion.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.0799999237061px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16.0799999237061px;">The fundamental delusion is the belief that happiness is found in states or objects rather than being innate to being. Until the falsity of that belief becomes widely understood, much of what we do will be a waste of time and energy, and create unnecessary unhappiness.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-85909248307531364212015-01-26T09:43:00.001+11:002015-01-26T09:43:43.705+11:00Windows 10 - your work or entertainment machine is now a marketing machine for Microsoft<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been trying the Windows 10 preview, gladdened that
Microsoft seemed willing to fix the problems they created in Windows 8.
Unfortunately, many of the problems appear permanent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Microsoft supporter on a website thread devoted to the
Windows 10 preview said that we should adapt to Microsoft’s previews, and if we
don’t like change then we should stick to an old operating system instead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, in 2012, I thought we should adapt to the Windows
8 previews because I thought many of the experiments would be fixed by the time
it was officially released. Boy, was I wrong. It turned out Microsoft was
committed its new direction without regard for customers’ desires or concerns. In
the end, it was the loud critics, not the trusting lambs, that got Microsoft to
change some things in Windows 10.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, it is obvious that Microsoft is still determined
to turn Windows into a marketing machine whereas it used to be a work and
entertainment machine. It is now designed to lure you into Microsoft tablets, Microsoft
phones, Metro apps, the Store, Onedrive, and Bing. Disliking that isn't
disliking change per se. I want changes, so long as they represent improvements.
So I like the multiple desktops and the better alt-tabbing in Windows 10, but I
hate most of this other agenda they have included.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Microsoft is making Windows 10 free for Windows 7 and Windows
8 users. I’d prefer to pay for something I want, rather than submitting to 12
hours per day of marketing to save myself a mere one-off cost of $200. Ideally,
they should have two versions – a paid version with all the marketing agenda
removed, and a free version with all the marketing agenda enforced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It mystifies me that people willingly embrace Microsoft’s
marketing agenda. It seems they are happy to have much of their lives taken
over by Microsoft marketing. The line between my life as an independent human
being and my life as a consumer is being increasingly blurred. Of course,
Microsoft isn’t the only culprit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The solution proposed by Microsoft fans is that we should
stick to Windows 7. The problem with that is that technology advances and most
people like change. Windows 7 was great in its time, but now we want something
improved. Looks like we’ll be waiting forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-32636182276553836822014-12-18T23:36:00.000+11:002014-12-18T23:37:32.162+11:00Andrew Sullivan Demonstrates that Balance can be Pathologicalhttp://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/12/16/the-case-for-jeb-or-hillary/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-21502393510046914892014-01-05T21:36:00.000+11:002014-01-05T21:36:20.724+11:00Windows 8 sucks, but Windows 9 could be greatMicrosoft could gather futurists and GUI experts to create the most exciting, fantastic, useful, non-intrusive, perfect, legacy supporting, fully customisable operating system ever, so that people can't wait to get their hands on it. Or they could plod on in the Microsoft bubble.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, here's an attractive desktop from <span id="intelliTxt">DeviantArt user RMNSkin:</span><br />
<br />
<span id="intelliTxt"><a href="http://news.softpedia.com/images/extra/NEWS/large/win9concept1.png" target="_blank">http://news.softpedia.com/images/extra/NEWS/large/win9concept1.png </a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-49592679267434539362013-11-02T10:41:00.002+11:002013-11-02T10:41:38.961+11:00The Bright Age<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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This is from the first paragraph of About page of <a href="http://brightage.org/about/" target="_blank">The Bright Age</a> website: </div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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"The Bright Age is humanity’s next stage of
consciousness evolution. It is based in the premise that we are emotive in
essence, and that becoming who we are as individuals and as a species can only
come from healing at this essential level. The Bright Age is a world where
morality is measured at the level of unconscious motivation, not intention or
behavior. It holds an entirely new view of what health and unhealth is in all
domains of human expression. The Bright Age, takes an orientation to our lives
and worlds that has never before existed: “i feel, therefore i am”."</div>
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I reckon this is wrong on every level: </div>
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<ol>
<li>Where is the evidence that consciousness evolves? I
suspect that consciousness learns, but it doesn't seem to evolve.</li>
<li>We are not emotive in essence. We are consciousness in
essence. Focusing on emotions is just a way to manipulate people.</li>
<li>
We don't need healing. We just need knowledge about how
best to progress.</li>
<li>Morality is a mere survival-level coping strategy. It has
no value beyond mere basics.</li>
<li>
Health is a wrong lens for looking at us and our actions.
Our problem is always just lack of knowledge.</li>
<li>
Instead of "I feel, therefore I am," it should
be, "I perceive, therefore I am."</li>
</ol>
<br />
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I find it shocking that such people have pretenses
of wanting to teach, help, or lead others. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-59587537500909516662013-07-03T14:56:00.000+10:002013-07-03T14:56:02.749+10:00Andrew Cohen Apologises and Steps Down<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Andrew Cohen has apologised and stepped down from his role
as guru to hundreds of disciples in his EnlightenNext organisation. In his blog
post, he writes, "<i>Over the last several years, some of my closest students
have tried to make it apparent to me that in spite of the depth of my
awakening, my ego is still alive and well.</i>" Full credit must go to his
"disciples" who pushed him into facing this reality. It is quite rare
for any status quo to be challenged by insiders. Thus, this event shows that
Cohen's organisation cultivated some deep integrity in some of its adherents
even though it was a cult. One wonders how his vocal defenders, e.g. <a href="http://www.guru-talk.com/">www.guru-talk.com</a>,
will deal with this situation.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Furthermore, Cohen writes, "<i>I’m aware that many of my
students over the years have also been affected by my lack of awareness of this
part of myself. And for those of you who are reading this, I apologize.</i>"
Full credit to Cohen who is publically humbling himself in this way. I would
say that the wording of his apology was a perfect balance of apology and
genuineness while not incriminating himself. It was very well crafted. I
encourage people to read it: <a href="http://andrewcohen.org/blog/apology">http://andrewcohen.org/blog/apology</a>.</div>
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<br /></div>
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However, Cohen writes, "<i>During this hiatus, I will be
stepping down from the leadership of my organization… My intention is to become
a better teacher…</i>" So it seems that he still wants to be a
"teacher" and that his stepping down might only be temporary. To be a
teacher, you must be confident that your understanding of life is right.
Hopefully, he will engage with smart people who disagree with him on some
fundamental points. If he can win the debate, or if he loses the debate and
adopts a new understanding that is in tune with reality, then he can be a
teacher. But if he uses his own beliefs as his standard and only listens to the
feedback of his nearest and dearest, then I fear his exploration will be
cocooned within an overly safe status quo, and any change will be superficial.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Regardless, he will now have some time to manifest his other
potentials. I am excited to see what those will be. In the early days, he
seemed to have a great talent for triggering altered states of consciousness
using advaitic enquiry. After his hiatus, perhaps he could continue having
public meetings to pursue that talent. I think he could serve as a catalyst for
spreading new perspectives on life in increasing numbers of people. In other
words, instead of playing a narrow purity game, he can now play a numbers game.
He can trigger many people into experiencing a new perspective through
straightforward advaitic enquiry, and then it can spread naturally. He can work
to raise standards once enough people are on the same page regarding
"spiritual realisation". The future can be a refreshing open
inclusive exploration into our potential and the meaning of life rather than
being a heroic moralistic straightjacket.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I have noticed people on the net are debating how people can
be well-developed in some ways but undeveloped in other ways, e.g. they say a
person can be spiritually enlightened yet morally corrupt. This is true and
shows that the old fantasy of spiritual enlightenment being a panacea is
deluded. A common approach to dealing with underdeveloped areas is to push
people to improve those areas. This is the approach pushed by Andrew Cohen, as
well as by Ken Wilber who endorses Cohen. Of course, this works for some people
to some extent. However, it is built on the illusion that we are individually
responsible for the potentials that we manifest. In reality, the potentials
that manifest are triggered and nurtured by the environment, the culture. And
the potentials that are not manifested are suppressed by the environment. So I
think we need to create a culture that triggers and supports our best
potentials, and avoids triggering our worst potentials. We are all in this boat
together and we need to work on it together.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Clearly, we need a true understanding of life to
contextualise this endeavour; otherwise, we will each have our own invented
paradigms, which will conflict. My suggestion is that the meaning of life is
happiness and that we need the enduring happiness of being
(timelessness/spirituality) before manifesting our fleeting potentials of
worldly happiness (time/materiality). Then we can see that people like Cohen
can trigger the enduring happiness of being and then work on worldly happiness
from there. Once we have the happiness of being, the desperation for worldly
happiness will be diminished and we can help each other to develop more
effectively. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Throughout most of his career, Cohen has been railing
against ego. However, the ego has a valid function, which is to protect life.
So if he can respect the ego's terrain while triggering the happiness of being,
then many unnecessary fights and conflicts can end. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Anyway, it will be interesting to see how things develop
from here. Hopefully, Cohen and Wilber will not cling to their old beliefs.
Instead, they can use Cohen's change of heart as an opportunity for a fresh
inclusive open exploration. I do fear that they are getting old and too
attached to their cherished beliefs. I mean, it would be hard for someone like
Cohen to stop railing against the ego when he has built a 27-year career on
attacking it. Indeed, in his apology he writes, "<i>Enlightenment has always
been and always will be about transcending the ego.</i>" And he is surrounded
by people who agree with him. So it looks like he will resist facing the
possibility that he is wrong about the ego. But it is precisely by questioning
your most cherished beliefs that profound progress is made. Cohen put up an
enormous fight to defend his position. All those years of resistance have now
been revealed as a huge waste of time. I hope he doesn't waste this new
opportunity. After all, when you fight reality, you can only lose.</div>
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-56942715628229160502013-03-21T19:55:00.000+11:002013-03-21T19:55:14.979+11:00Happiness is the Starting Place is finishedI finished my book. It is now called Happiness is the Starting Place. Previous titles were: Befriending Life, Befriending Reality, Worldwide Happiness, and Happiness and Utopia.<br />
<br />
It took around 14 years on and off. I would never have started it if I had have known it would take so long! I'm so glad it's over. Now I can do things I enjoy.<br />
<br />
Does anyone know a publisher?<br />
<br />
Thanks for your interest.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-12430211512272903282012-11-17T10:33:00.002+11:002012-11-17T10:33:35.219+11:00Worldwide Happiness ReturnsI've had a breakthrough, and it looks like I will be able to finish Worldwide Happiness easily after all. Of course, finding a publisher might be hard, but you never know.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-39913150900916748062012-10-05T20:26:00.000+10:002012-10-05T20:26:35.472+10:00Worldwide Happiness Cancelled<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I am cancelling Worldwide Happiness because I have 13 years
of evidence that the vast majority of people disagree with me, and I lack the
drive and the financial, social, and political capital to overturn this
momentum. All kinds of people disagree. Scholars disagree on
realist grounds. Spiritual people disagree because they cherish their own version
of idealism. They are all wrong, and I am right, but truth isn’t enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of course, I could publish at one of those online book
places, but the book still needs a solid edit and to have its presentation
polished. I lack the motivation and resources for that. I could publish it on
this website, but it has too few visitors to make a difference. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My motivation won’t return unless the resources appear, and
those resources need to be huge - big enough to force the book into the consciousness
of a large or powerful audience. That is extremely unlikely, but I’ll keep
buying lottery tickets. Note that I am not saying that worldwide happiness is
impossible or even difficult. In fact, I think it is easy. But there needs to be someone with either
the charisma or the power to get the message across.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thanks to those who have read, listened, argued, and
commented. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">GLTA.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-35980395571996094092012-07-28T10:28:00.000+10:002012-07-28T10:28:25.987+10:00Review of Windows 8 for the Desktop and Laptop<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="NormalforBlogs">
I moved from the Customer Preview to the Release
Preview, and it has turned me off Windows 8 in many ways. I presumed that there
would be significant improvements from the Customer Preview to the Release
Preview, but there are hardly any. It looks like the Customer Preview was
basically the finished interface. </div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
I love the speed, visuals, freshness, and file manager.
In fact, I was ecstatic when I first played with the Customer Preview. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's just that weaknesses in the Charms bar,
Metro apps, and the Start screen have not been fixed in the Release Preview, and
it makes this OS feel transitional and half-baked. I hate that. It means
another 3 years of limbo. </div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
By now, MS should have made the perfect Desktop/Laptop operating
system, but they have given up on that in the pursuit of regaining market share
in other categories. And in the process they are alienating Desktop and Laptop
users. Computers are such a big part of my life that I want the OS to be good. I'd
happily pay $500 for a great OS for 3 years. </div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
Regardless, I was unhappy with the old Start button. It
felt clumsy and graceless as an object. It was like squeezing through a narrow
corridor to get to a shambolic filing cabinet. It really was a hopeless mess - small
writing, small arrows, having programs in folders below individual icons, and
having a mix of recent and pinned programs. And I didn't like the layout of the
more administrative links in the other half of the Start menu. It all just felt
old and clunky. So I think it needed to be changed, so long as that change was
an intuitive evolution. </div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
At first, the Start screen looked to me to be a
wonderful solution. It's bigger, prettier, graceful, speedy, and customisable.
However, it is primarily designed for Tablets and Phones, so it simultaneously reduces
functionality for keyboard and mouse users. This is true in so many obvious ways
that I won't bother listing them all. One clear example is that when you right-click
a tile, instead of being given a contextual menu of many functions, you have to
mouse down to the bottom left of the screen to access a few limited functions. The
Charms bar is completely for Tablets and Phones, so it's just an irritation on
the Desktop/Laptop. Likewise for Metro apps - they don't give me anything that
websites don't already give in a much more controllable fashion. </div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
Unfortunately, Microsoft's probable solution for
Desktop/Laptop users will be merely to bring back the Start button in the final
version of Windows 8. Thus, Desktop/Laptop users will be stuck with the clumsy
old system for at least another 3 years. </div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
Already, I'm looking ahead to Windows 9. If it has a
Desktop/Laptop version for the Start screen that implements all the
functionality of the Start button, and adds improvements, then it could be
great. But it would have to be brilliantly done. And they have to do something
about the Charms bar too - probably turn it off for Desktops/Laptops and put
its functions on the Start screen. </div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
As it stands, W8 is a weird and annoying limbo
experience for this Desktop/Laptop user. It's like having a Tablet/Phone
operating system intruding on your computer. I suspect it will not be ideal as
a Tablet/Phone system either. So it feels like an experiment gone wrong, like
Frankenstein's Monster. I hate being subjected to experiments in this way. Microsoft
has a social responsibility to do better than this. </div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
If Microsoft bring back the Start button and turn off
the Charms bar for Windows 8, then I would enjoy the improved speed, visuals, freshness,
and file manager. It would be a nice upgrade from Windows 7, but nothing
dramatic, so it would have to be cheap too. But if you have to stick with the
Charms bar and a compromised Start screen, then I think I would skip it. Third Party
solutions might pop up, but it's risky using them for core OS functionality. </div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
Anyway, that's my take on Windows 8. What do you
reckon?</div>
<div class="NormalforBlogs">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-72816026342646817262012-07-11T15:45:00.001+10:002012-07-12T13:28:39.305+10:00Happiness and Utopia ~ excerpt 1Here is the first excerpt from my unpublished book. The book was titled <i>Worldwide Happiness ~ the necessity and easy of creating global utopia</i>. Now, I think I will title it <i>Happiness & Utopia</i>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
The three major paradigms</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
I see three major paradigms used by people today:<br />
<div class="MsoListNumber2">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListNumber2">
1. The
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">survival paradigm</i>: The belief that
the world is the source of both opportunities for survival and dangers to
survival, and that people are competitors for survival. There may be teamwork,
but the underlying thoughts and feelings are about competition—the struggle to
survive into the future.</div>
<div class="MsoListNumber2">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListNumber2">
2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dependent
happiness paradigm</i>: The belief that the world is the source of happiness,
and that people are competitors for happiness, although there may be the option
of sacrificing yourself for the sake of others. Again, teamwork can be in the
mix, but the underlying thoughts and feelings are about competition—the
struggle to obtain happiness in the future.</div>
<div class="MsoListNumber2" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListNumber2">
3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">liberated
happiness paradigm</i>: The belief that the world is for expressing and
augmenting our innate happiness, and that people are collaborators for
happiness. Of course, the lines between these blur and all three can
pop up in a single day. Also, we have moments where we transcend paradigms. But
these three categories are nonetheless very useful.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Survival paradigm</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">survival paradigm</i>
is the prevailing paradigm in poor, corrupt, and war-torn countries. It is
about seeking survival and security using competitive methods. It is the
natural response to the world as described by Darwin. That world is what Hobbes
called “the state of nature” in which life is “nasty, brutish, and short”.
Clearly, the survival paradigm had value in the early phases of our species’
development because it was a realistic response to real or imminent dangers.
Today, it has value only in emergencies and during their immediate aftermaths. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Much of our human
past can be seen as a growth phase for our species. Up to a few centuries ago,
we lacked knowledge and technology, so we relied on the basic instincts of “me
vs you” and “us vs them”. We fought for basics like money, food, and land
because we needed them for survival and we lacked efficient alternative means
to secure them. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indeed, what we
derisively call “human nature”—selfishness, violence, power-tripping—is not an
eternal human state of naughtiness or animality; rather, it is just the initial
survival phase of individual, group, and species development, and it is the
first step in the process towards expressing our greater potential. Competition
and aggression are needed to protect life in its early phases, therefore they
are good. They are prerequisites. The establishment of survival prepares us for
further strides. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Dependent happiness paradigm</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> dependent
happiness paradigm</i> is the prevailing paradigm in developed countries. We often
compete for money, possessions, prestige, and partners because we think they
are sources of happiness, and competition is the only way we know. We compete
against people, businesses, and countries. We try to get more for less in our
interactions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This paradigm can be seen as an unnecessary, yet inevitable,
experiment. It is unnecessary because it can never work, and it is inevitable
because we did not know any better when we adopted it. Since it is about
seeking happiness using the old survival paradigm’s method of competition, it
is inherently flawed. As I shall explore throughout this book, we need others
to be happy if we are to be happy ourselves, and we need others to collaborate
in manifesting our greater potential, so competition works against happiness.
Seeking happiness through competition is a contradiction.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Furthermore, the
primary source of happiness is within, not in the world, which makes
competition for happiness in the world a deluded undertaking (unless it’s just
for fun, as in sports). In fact, competition is a painful detour from the road
to happiness. Defeating others for career advancement will not make you truly
happy. Your country defeating other countries in war or in profit-making will
not make you truly happy. In reality, if everyone else is competing, then that
creates multiple conflicts that will cause you to compete as well, thereby
spreading stress and unhappiness. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note that an
alternative label for the dependent happiness paradigm could be the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">compromise paradigm</i>. When I ask people,
“Would you like a happy world?” they invariably say, “Yes.” But they think it
is too hard to achieve, and they see others competing, so they think they have
to compromise. This means they lower their expectations. However, upon deeper
reflection, they might see that it is futile because it is contradictory—you
cannot be truly happy in a competitive world. So they live with the stress of
that contradiction while the hope of a better world vibrates below the surface.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
Liberated happiness paradigm</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">liberated happiness
paradigm</i> arises only occasionally. It normally arises when we are feeling
good. Then we are inclined to generosity and wanting to see others happy. We
want to express our wellbeing and to enjoy life with others. It can happen when
we are hosting a party, or after winning the lottery, or when we are relaxing
on the weekend. It can sometimes happen in creative projects or work projects.
The vibe of grasping and struggle to get somewhere else is gone. We are already
happy and we are just naturally expressing and augmenting that happiness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After emergencies have passed, instead of replacing the
survival paradigm with the dependent happiness paradigm, I think we should consciously
opt for a liberated happiness paradigm. In my view, this paradigm is about
realising happiness by understanding that happiness is the natural state, and
by understanding life’s most important pattern: the movement from protecting
potential (survival) to manifesting potential (happiness). Then we can replace
competition with cooperation because we will notice that cooperation is free of
the wastes and harms caused by competition, and it is more effective for
manifesting our potential.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<h3>
Big implications of global
awareness</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
Given the recent advancements in knowledge and technology, a
new liberated happiness paradigm can spread easily across the world. These
days, most of us have at least a basic understanding of what is happening in
other parts of the world, and a basic understanding of our relationship to the
planet and the rest of the universe. Even in poor villages there’s usually one television
around which people gather and see something of what’s happening in the world.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It seems to me that we are right in the middle of a great
leap in a new, profound, and inevitable evolutionary process. We are already
considering issues in a new enlarged context, at least sometimes. Now, the time
is ripe for us to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">consciously</i> complete the move from the survival paradigm and the
dependent happiness paradigm to a liberated happiness paradigm, i.e. from
preparation and experimentation to fruition. We will do this if we embrace the
fact that we are all in the same boat of global awareness and we need to make
it a happy boat for our own sakes. And since survival is mostly guaranteed in
developed countries, their citizens already have a solid basis from which to
express their greater potential, so they possess the opportunity to lead the
way.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-33258915863474890012012-06-13T10:48:00.000+10:002012-06-13T10:48:31.384+10:00American Militarism: Greenwald vs Obama and Co.Gosh, this is becoming a Glenn Greenwald fansite! Actually, I'm not a total fan - he gets it terribly wrong about 10% of the time. But when he gets it right, boy it's crystal clear. Here's the latest:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/06/12/what_might_cause_another_911/singleton/" target="_blank">What might cause another 9/11?</a><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"One of the many reasons I oppose Obama’s ongoing aggression is precisely
that I believe the policies Sullivan and Packer cheer will cause
another 9/11 (the other reasons include the lawlessness of it, the
imperial mindset driving it, the large-scale civilian deaths it causes,
the extreme and unaccountable secrecy with which it’s done, the erosion
of civil liberties that inevitably accompanies it, the patently criminal
applications of these weapons, the precedent
it sets, etc.). I realize that screaming "9/11" has been the trite
tactic of choice for those seeking to justify the U.S. Government’s
militarism over the last decade, but invoking that event strongly
militates against the policies it’s invoked to justify, precisely
because those policies are the principal cause of such attacks, for
obvious reasons."</blockquote>
America can be great in so many ways, but it has been extremely blind militarily. It destroyed so many countries in the Cold War because of the misguided fear of the domino effect regarding communism. And it missed so many opportunities to create unity and goodwill because of it's fear of so-called "appeasement".<br />
<br />
I can understand people making big stupid mistakes, but when the stakes are so high (risk of terrorism in America plus causing so much harm to other countries), you would think they would bring all their resources to bear in getting it right.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7420597270601386333.post-24718617378961844112012-06-08T20:17:00.001+10:002012-06-09T11:48:27.989+10:00Obama Double StandardGlenn Greenwald is kicking Obama's butt again:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The prevailing rules under this administration are definitively corrupt: if you leak to expose government corruption and in the process embarrass political officials, then you are severely punished (whistleblowers); but if you leak to glorify the President and his highest-level advisers, then you are protected and rewarded (senior Obama officials)."</blockquote>
<br />
Exactly. It truly is mystifying that Obama has sunk so low. He has youth, talent, and power yet he is wasting it in the service of evil and illusion.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the <a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/06/07/probing_obamas_secrecy_games/singleton/" target="_blank">Greenwald piece</a> is a great read - check it out.<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE:</b><br />
<br />
Uh-oh, it looks like Obama is in trouble now:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/08/politics/white-house-leaks/index.html?hpt=hp_t2" target="_blank">Holder assigns prosecutors to investigate leaks</a>.<br />
<br />
Gee, I reckon this could bring Obama down!<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0