Sometimes I’m stoic, but occasionally I become a ‘feelings guy’. Whenever this happens I am more likely to detect and recoil at the rancid stench of a bad break-up. Conscience nags like a college girl as I stare at the associated phonebook entry and wonder why I’m not calling it. I regret things I did, said and neglected on purpose or absentmindedly. An itch of sadness accompanies the idea that I could actually have squandered the big L-word experience for real this time, a feeling magnified by the stale half loaf The Ex turned out to be.
(That introduction is not an invitation to shrinks to start naming psychological complexes and disorders.)
Without leaving room for a debate on what I was not smoking those days, let us just accept that I suddenly and inexplicably became very courageous and got down to texting Ailis. It was a disinterested text for all intents and purposes, but there was real concern hidden in there somewhere.
“howyadoin” Out of character. I don't use shorthand.
“LOL go hang” the elaborate reply.
Talk of a mixed message. Women! But at least it was a message with a LOL somewhere in it. Lots of love. Right? Think BIG, they say.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The World is Ending!
One tranquil evening, amidst slow walks amidst paths that led through the quiet of nature, I took a break from flooding my nostrils with the smell of flowers, and looked up for once. The most beautiful orange sunset astounded me. A solitary bird flew towards a sun ensconced in a pillow of clouds (according to my point of view). Various species of birds sang an uncoordinated symphony in the trees nearby and afar, and my hypnotization was complete.
It was hard at that moment to believe that the world is ending, with all the beauty in it and all the good things it has and all its charms and breathtaking moments. Even so, we all know that the world is not all beauty and goodness.
In case the title has not already warned you, I am an avid reader of the signs of the times – events that were predicted to portend the end of the world as we know it today. Earthquakes, wars, crises, famines and pestilences combine into one real-life cliff-hanger of a thriller called “The End of the World is Nigh!” It’s got high crime and grand corruption and sleaze in it too. You bet it ought to be rated something strict, considering just the war and bloodshed thereon. It’s more dramatic than any Latin American soap opera. Blow by blow updates, albeit grossly inaccurate ones, are available in newspapers and televisions. And it gets more gruesome as the stakes increase each passing day.
Yet this is not sufficient occasion to give in to despair. The end of the world will be the climactic finale of the age-old battle between good and evil. Today, evil attracts, seduces and advertizes itself as progressive, liberal, fun – it’s all just plain old deception. But Good will win in the end and will be justified then. The Creator of the universe will end this corrupted order of things and “make all things new.” You want to be there.
Take sides, then. There is no middle ground. It’s either the good fight or the bad fight. Just you remember: it’s a fight to the very end. And I know one thing: God is good, thus, good is immortal!
It was hard at that moment to believe that the world is ending, with all the beauty in it and all the good things it has and all its charms and breathtaking moments. Even so, we all know that the world is not all beauty and goodness.
In case the title has not already warned you, I am an avid reader of the signs of the times – events that were predicted to portend the end of the world as we know it today. Earthquakes, wars, crises, famines and pestilences combine into one real-life cliff-hanger of a thriller called “The End of the World is Nigh!” It’s got high crime and grand corruption and sleaze in it too. You bet it ought to be rated something strict, considering just the war and bloodshed thereon. It’s more dramatic than any Latin American soap opera. Blow by blow updates, albeit grossly inaccurate ones, are available in newspapers and televisions. And it gets more gruesome as the stakes increase each passing day.
Yet this is not sufficient occasion to give in to despair. The end of the world will be the climactic finale of the age-old battle between good and evil. Today, evil attracts, seduces and advertizes itself as progressive, liberal, fun – it’s all just plain old deception. But Good will win in the end and will be justified then. The Creator of the universe will end this corrupted order of things and “make all things new.” You want to be there.
Take sides, then. There is no middle ground. It’s either the good fight or the bad fight. Just you remember: it’s a fight to the very end. And I know one thing: God is good, thus, good is immortal!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Life over Death
If I may quote Ernest, “you need life to enjoy things, not things to enjoy life.” That statement neatly sums up my philosophy of life in one simple clear witty statement. It gives me a good vibe from just being alive.
Now I set out fully intending to proceed with my usual regular declamations of the evils in the world today. But that releases a lot of negative energy, which often leaves me feeling drained and down myself. While it’s true, at least from my perspective, occasionally it becomes therapeutic to turn my glance to the more positive aspects of life, to consider the good things and simple pleasures which give me hope to fight the good fight, because all is not lost; to count my blessings and revel in losing count and smile again. It keeps hardships in their correct perspective. Shreds of beauty lie scattered amidst gloomy wastes. They give me reason to press on when I would otherwise have given up, when all things seem to have failed on me.
Once, after an exceptionally stressful turn of events in my personal and academic life, details withheld, the resulting all-pervasive depression refused to be shaken away by all my usual pick-me-ups. It lasted days. Not even the “Churchill Live” stand-up act was doing it for me – rarely does anyway. I could even feel myself infecting people I met with malevolent breeds of existential unease. Someone truly caring even ventured to suggest I visit the Student Counseling Centre (I thought that was uncalled for, an extreme case, “too manual”). But everywhere I turned for distraction, I just happened to find more reasons to give up on everyone and everything. A vortex of depression was swallowing me whole into its vacuous centre and everything I could find to hold onto was headed into it as well...
Suddenly, I can’t fully explain how good it was, but I got a very good feeling straight out of nowhere - simply because I remembered doing ONE tiny thing right. I wasn’t high. The memory was a random moment in the middle of a soccer match a long time previous. I had received a pass, dribbled past someone and passed the ball on to someone else. Simple and routine. Yet somehow, the mere memory of that fluid moment washed away all the dark gloom that had settled on my whole being. I could smile again - just because I once dribbled past some guy.
The mere fact that I was still alive and could still enjoy such insignificant moments was weirdly beautiful encouragement. Real tears of joy came to my eyes as the depression collapsed into itself and vanished instantly. It was a load off my shoulders a cold drink and a breath of fresh air all at the same time. Some might say I wasn’t depressed enough if such a stupid memory is all it took to set me straight, but that’s not the point.
While I have life, I thank God for it and enjoy its moments. The enemy cannot take EVERYTHING away after all. Things happen, life’s like that. Better that than death by far.
Now I set out fully intending to proceed with my usual regular declamations of the evils in the world today. But that releases a lot of negative energy, which often leaves me feeling drained and down myself. While it’s true, at least from my perspective, occasionally it becomes therapeutic to turn my glance to the more positive aspects of life, to consider the good things and simple pleasures which give me hope to fight the good fight, because all is not lost; to count my blessings and revel in losing count and smile again. It keeps hardships in their correct perspective. Shreds of beauty lie scattered amidst gloomy wastes. They give me reason to press on when I would otherwise have given up, when all things seem to have failed on me.
Once, after an exceptionally stressful turn of events in my personal and academic life, details withheld, the resulting all-pervasive depression refused to be shaken away by all my usual pick-me-ups. It lasted days. Not even the “Churchill Live” stand-up act was doing it for me – rarely does anyway. I could even feel myself infecting people I met with malevolent breeds of existential unease. Someone truly caring even ventured to suggest I visit the Student Counseling Centre (I thought that was uncalled for, an extreme case, “too manual”). But everywhere I turned for distraction, I just happened to find more reasons to give up on everyone and everything. A vortex of depression was swallowing me whole into its vacuous centre and everything I could find to hold onto was headed into it as well...
Suddenly, I can’t fully explain how good it was, but I got a very good feeling straight out of nowhere - simply because I remembered doing ONE tiny thing right. I wasn’t high. The memory was a random moment in the middle of a soccer match a long time previous. I had received a pass, dribbled past someone and passed the ball on to someone else. Simple and routine. Yet somehow, the mere memory of that fluid moment washed away all the dark gloom that had settled on my whole being. I could smile again - just because I once dribbled past some guy.
The mere fact that I was still alive and could still enjoy such insignificant moments was weirdly beautiful encouragement. Real tears of joy came to my eyes as the depression collapsed into itself and vanished instantly. It was a load off my shoulders a cold drink and a breath of fresh air all at the same time. Some might say I wasn’t depressed enough if such a stupid memory is all it took to set me straight, but that’s not the point.
While I have life, I thank God for it and enjoy its moments. The enemy cannot take EVERYTHING away after all. Things happen, life’s like that. Better that than death by far.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Faith is not Ideological
One does not ask of one who suffers ‘What is your country and what is your religion?’ One merely says, ‘You suffer, that is enough for me.’ – Louis Pasteur
Look at the world today. All it would take for the complete degradation of societies is for people who know the truth to fail to stand for the right. And it’s happening right now: widespread failures by individuals and societies to undertake simple stating of truth, speaking out against injustice, helping in any small way to aid the downtrodden, ACTING out faith instead of making a pompous theory of it and looking down on others from atop imaginary artificial vantage points.
Organized religion has repeatedly replicated ideological zeal in many of its proponents. Today ideologies like capitalism have gone so far as to straddle the line between religion and ideology. With the rapid decline of religion in Europe following the so-called Enlightenment era, SOMETHING had to fill the gap! Psychological experts say one habit is only eradicated by replacing it with another; thus, today, especially in the first world and its satellites, we see faith replaced by any number of highly variant ideologies. Arrayed types of capitalism for one to choose at leisure, including liberalism and its distant cousin nihilism, are freely to be mixed with whatever remains of culture, party loyalty and individual expression.
You see, ideologies are limiting - because they simply do not admit that there are unknown variables and plain old random events. By every indication, nor even do they recognize “acts of God” as real causes or terminating agents of events. They presume to be able to explain everything. MEMO: Only God is all knowing, “omniscient”. True faith, in contrast, knows just enough to get along and does not quite “know” all what will happen as much as trust that God is in charge and that is enough.
The thing about lies is that eventually they are uncovered for what they are. A little fib may do little harm, but the problem becomes critical as more little fibs are added to the original little fib to cover it up. Eventually we have a mega-ideology constructed entirely of lies and backed up by loads of misapplied data and sustained at high bio-ecological expense to maintain vested interests of every shape. The cracks show. However, when the inevitable truth exposes the foundational lie, the financial vastness and complexity of the system of supporting lies constructed around it will count for nothing, however hip, weaponry-skilled, technologically advanced or globally interconnected. It will be a great collapse, the end of lies. However long it seems to take, it is only a matter of time before the lie and the truth confront each other once and for all. Only one must win, right?
Do unto others what you would have them do unto you. At the very least, it is very fair. Light is better than darkness; the difference is openly apparent. Believe! Good actions are the manner in which faith is completed. Actions speak louder than words. Beware then of those who would reduce good and evil to merely intellectual multiple-choice preferences, claiming one to be as futile or pointless a decision as the other. Because when we come right down to it, good is better than evil, life better than death, light better than darkness. It don’t take no intricate ideology to figure that.
Walk in the light, people. Our times require it of us. Though truth is unpopular, “a hard teaching”, only truth has staying power. Pay no attention to the father of lies. He and his spawn shall be forgotten.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
IQ tests soon to become irrelevant
What if I said that there was an intentional international conspiracy to make the world’s inhabitants dumber? Would you call me a “Conspiracy Nut”? Nevertheless, I must take that risk and blog the possibilities.
Why would anyone intentionally make us dumb, you ask? Short answer: the world is run by mad men.
That is not an insult to your governments and presidents, though you might think so. These merely supervise the world for elites. Many of them are glad to absorb the blame for whatever goes wrong; it gives them the opportunity to play fireman and look important. If you’re in the developing world, simply forget the possibility that your leaders will take stated elites to task about a fast-declining national average IQ, as if anyone has noticed at all. (The political heads are still busy with dodging questions about their campaign promises to this day. And they were sellouts to start with.) If you’re in the developed world, your governments’ policies are in the very handwriting of corporate lobbyists, evolving in season into campaign donors.
The world’s real and shadowy elite generally makes decisions beyond the reach of parliaments and legislative authorities, which are only occasionally called upon to provide their tacit complicity as elected rubberstamps of exploitation of the not-so-equal.
As for the title of this post, if we do become as dumb as the elites plan to make us eventually, IQ tests will quickly become a relic of the past, a CGI FX prop in tales of legend. They will have been rendered useless by our own ready willingness to suspend our intelligence to the equivalent level of sheep,
and to operate contentedly at that level where we would perform as well in our sleep,
in which we have chosen to trust ourselves to wolves to keep.
Why would anyone intentionally make us dumb, you ask? Short answer: the world is run by mad men.
That is not an insult to your governments and presidents, though you might think so. These merely supervise the world for elites. Many of them are glad to absorb the blame for whatever goes wrong; it gives them the opportunity to play fireman and look important. If you’re in the developing world, simply forget the possibility that your leaders will take stated elites to task about a fast-declining national average IQ, as if anyone has noticed at all. (The political heads are still busy with dodging questions about their campaign promises to this day. And they were sellouts to start with.) If you’re in the developed world, your governments’ policies are in the very handwriting of corporate lobbyists, evolving in season into campaign donors.
The world’s real and shadowy elite generally makes decisions beyond the reach of parliaments and legislative authorities, which are only occasionally called upon to provide their tacit complicity as elected rubberstamps of exploitation of the not-so-equal.
As for the title of this post, if we do become as dumb as the elites plan to make us eventually, IQ tests will quickly become a relic of the past, a CGI FX prop in tales of legend. They will have been rendered useless by our own ready willingness to suspend our intelligence to the equivalent level of sheep,
and to operate contentedly at that level where we would perform as well in our sleep,
in which we have chosen to trust ourselves to wolves to keep.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Who ARE you?
Variety is the spice of life. Therefore, simply by being yourself, you do the planet a whole lot more good than by blindly aping some alleged megatrend, personality or product. In other words, the fact that there is no other you means that you are a limited edition collector’s item of inestimable value. Priceless. Even if it somehow became possible to clone you, that other thing would NOT be you in any form simply because you always see yourself as “Me.” When you identify any other identity that doesn’t refer to “Me,” well, that certainly is not you. You own the patent on yourself, you see. Sort of obvious really.
Question is, why waste your patent by making it look suspiciously like another already registered patent? Any sober judge would disqualify you as a fraud and refuse to consider your case any further if you were lucky. Since we can expect seriousness too he would urgently require you to compensate such theft of intellectual property through the nose, as if you hadn’t already scored a major own goal in life against your own “Me”. Though I have previously been accused of speaking too harshly, still, consider the possibility.
But by being yourself, you are in charge of at least yourself. Consider now the average football fanatic, which term can be used to describe me every now and then. His joy and sorrow are leveraged on the outcome of eleven uniformed guys out of twenty two chasing one leather ball between two nets under the supervision of a referee who along with his two checkered-flag-bearing assistants, dash up and down a length of grass. This set up determines the average man’s moods and ruins or enhances his outlook on life, even if only for that instant when the final ninety-minute whistle blows (which is a severe allowance: It usually lasts, on the average man, a whole season over cycles of games.) The man has come to identify himself with the team and in his head, its struggles are his too. I’m sorry to declare this to be a temporary confusion of identity; a failure to be yourself – You – that guy staring at a screen, continents away from the action thereon. Someone say “Me.”
But they say I speak too harshly. And hypocritically.
Question is, why waste your patent by making it look suspiciously like another already registered patent? Any sober judge would disqualify you as a fraud and refuse to consider your case any further if you were lucky. Since we can expect seriousness too he would urgently require you to compensate such theft of intellectual property through the nose, as if you hadn’t already scored a major own goal in life against your own “Me”. Though I have previously been accused of speaking too harshly, still, consider the possibility.
But by being yourself, you are in charge of at least yourself. Consider now the average football fanatic, which term can be used to describe me every now and then. His joy and sorrow are leveraged on the outcome of eleven uniformed guys out of twenty two chasing one leather ball between two nets under the supervision of a referee who along with his two checkered-flag-bearing assistants, dash up and down a length of grass. This set up determines the average man’s moods and ruins or enhances his outlook on life, even if only for that instant when the final ninety-minute whistle blows (which is a severe allowance: It usually lasts, on the average man, a whole season over cycles of games.) The man has come to identify himself with the team and in his head, its struggles are his too. I’m sorry to declare this to be a temporary confusion of identity; a failure to be yourself – You – that guy staring at a screen, continents away from the action thereon. Someone say “Me.”
But they say I speak too harshly. And hypocritically.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Things of the Heart
How attitudes change! Not too long ago I equated The Ex to a Minotaur terrorizing people in a maze (I being the ‘people’ in that analogy). She was still interested in making up and I was thinking otherwise. Then Ailis and I hooked up and broke up. Then Pearl and I hooked up and broke up. Then I embraced singlehood, to which Ailis gave her complete and unedited opinion, but I was firm and ideological and there was probably a mad glint in my eyes so that I never saw her again. Much later, I started to reconsider whether The Ex was a Minotaur after all and I eagerly headed back into the maze hoping to disqualify my initial judgment. She turned out to be worse, sorry to say.
But this is not about my personal history. I’m trying to point out that for the longest time it didn’t bother me at all that I had broken up with The Ex. The thought rarely surfaced, and not even the multitude of her keepsakes dredged up any sentiments soever from the bottom of my heart.
Yet lately the symptoms have struck with a vengeance. Just like some movie characters become werewolves when the moon comes out, I also clam up and retreat into my darker self when The Ex appears. Probably not helping anything by such impulsive behavior, but better than venting at her, which is what I really want to do. Closure is important for things like break ups, but we reached for the shortcuts and never really faced a frank discussion squarely in the eye. It could have turned out another way but now, it is too late to turn back some of the damage. Thankfully, I don’t get opportunities to interact closely with her boyfriend Bryophyta, whom I don’t think the world of either.
The delayed reaction is the part I hate most. Which is ridiculous, because before I ventured to ask her out again for the third time, I didn’t give a real damn. Well she turned me down in favor of Bryophyta and maybe that’s what lit the inferno so now I hate her and she hates me, which I don’t mind; I want to leave it alone in the subconscious background - but the sight of her throws me into red hot rage EVERY TIME. My formula for dealing with rage – immersing myself in activity – often just means I direct my furies at innocent pastimes.
And Sister of The Ex is a real piece of work, at the head of a gang of mutual friends who are always trying to get us to reconcile. “You two were good for each other,” she insists. She’s right, but she talks a lot past tense. Going by recent events between The Ex and I, we’d be as good for each other today as David was good for Goliath.
(In the process of writing this introspective piece, I’ve half solved the problem. The key is “Out of sight, out of mind.” AMEN.)
I’m moving away. Soon. In the meantime, I’ve burnt the last of our drawings, those useless sentimental relics.
But this is not about my personal history. I’m trying to point out that for the longest time it didn’t bother me at all that I had broken up with The Ex. The thought rarely surfaced, and not even the multitude of her keepsakes dredged up any sentiments soever from the bottom of my heart.
Yet lately the symptoms have struck with a vengeance. Just like some movie characters become werewolves when the moon comes out, I also clam up and retreat into my darker self when The Ex appears. Probably not helping anything by such impulsive behavior, but better than venting at her, which is what I really want to do. Closure is important for things like break ups, but we reached for the shortcuts and never really faced a frank discussion squarely in the eye. It could have turned out another way but now, it is too late to turn back some of the damage. Thankfully, I don’t get opportunities to interact closely with her boyfriend Bryophyta, whom I don’t think the world of either.
The delayed reaction is the part I hate most. Which is ridiculous, because before I ventured to ask her out again for the third time, I didn’t give a real damn. Well she turned me down in favor of Bryophyta and maybe that’s what lit the inferno so now I hate her and she hates me, which I don’t mind; I want to leave it alone in the subconscious background - but the sight of her throws me into red hot rage EVERY TIME. My formula for dealing with rage – immersing myself in activity – often just means I direct my furies at innocent pastimes.
And Sister of The Ex is a real piece of work, at the head of a gang of mutual friends who are always trying to get us to reconcile. “You two were good for each other,” she insists. She’s right, but she talks a lot past tense. Going by recent events between The Ex and I, we’d be as good for each other today as David was good for Goliath.
(In the process of writing this introspective piece, I’ve half solved the problem. The key is “Out of sight, out of mind.” AMEN.)
I’m moving away. Soon. In the meantime, I’ve burnt the last of our drawings, those useless sentimental relics.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Soccer Love
That evening, soccer practice was taxing and injurious as usual. I wasted a free kick spectacularly because I figured I knew exactly which direction the goalie would dive; so I thought to smash the ball past him before he got there. Tough luck. Coach didn't like that stunt, so I got subbed out for it and subbed back in again when someone pulled a hamstring. And the ref was high on fiery spirits, the type whose exhaled vapors can corrode metal. He flashed me a red card when I pointed this out. We lost the match.
While I trudged home after practice, sweaty and tired after a hard evening, I saw The Ex from afar, walking towards me. Upon eye contact, a momentary attack of high blood pressure inflamed my insides - which surprised me, that I still felt raw and red towards her. I had a mind to turn around but that would be, to quote my brother, "too manual." Still the option remained open to walk past and openly refuse to acknowledge her presence while glaring right into her eyes.
As it turned out, I couldn't keep a straight face. (I can't act to save my life!) My glaring was out of character and she knew it. So she lured me into laughter, and when I was caught in the thick of it, she suddenly pulled on what my brother calls a "stone face" and abandoned me in mirth alone. So sudden was the transition from smile to scowl on her face that I laughed some more. You see, until that point in my life, I'd sincerely believed that only clowns could do that.
But while I was still laughing, she did to me the very thing I had plotted against her: glaring straight into my eyes and walking away. The soccer equivalent is having your penalty kick saved ad immediately conceding a goal on the counter-attack.
Thus I learned that I hadn't hardened all the soft spots for The Ex as well as I thought I had. That little fact made me miserable, despite knowing that I fully wanted to reject her and never have anything to do with her again. But all it took to upset my inner tranquil was to spot her.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Scramble and Partition of Africa
"Cape to Cairo..."
Quoting Cecil Rhodes in the first sentence of a post portends doom and boredom but the thing has to be done. Since his day, the colonial dream of world powers to dominate dark continents lives on, indeed it is reality in part. Simply because the colony was permitted to fly a flag and choose a puppet leader, the fact of neocolonialism is obscured and denied hotly.
Armies were used in the olden days when commerce still followed the flag. The colonial enterprise in its initial stages had to engage official state powers in their efforts to create world-spanning empires. First the army went in and "pacified the natives," with clergy in tow. Only then did salesmen venture forth with merchandise. Since then, there has been a revolution in the colonial format such that the flag follows commerce. Today, while global corporates carry more financial clout than most individual third-world states, the flag merely represents a market for commerce to target. Global corporate firms bring their influence to bear upon their governments and international trade bodies (WTO comes to mind) to write trade policies and make economic and political alliances.
Hence, political alliances and their geopolitical ramifications are intertwined indivisibly with the economics of neocolonialism. Corporates want their raw materials and markets and are bent on getting them on their own terms. While the end justifies the means (in their estimation), the misuse of political clout for economic gains is not beneath them. One can be certain that at any one time there are any number of paid lobbyists agitating for any number of imaginable alliances because of the promise of lucre. Money makes the world go crazy.
The current tug of war between China and America over African states (read markets) leaves little to the imagination. No one is going to outright say "colonialism," because autonomous flags still fly and it's supposedly still a free market. If you chance to see a foreign army marching down your CBD, or an unmanned drone buzzing threateningly out of reach, that's just the War on Terror or KONY 2012 being operationalized. But the political pretext for such interventions always masks a more concretely lucrative inspiration underneath. Infrastructure development will also continue on such an ostentatious scale as to claim the territory for the political overlord to claim raw materials and markets. Keep your flag, though.
And they say the Cold War ended in 1990.
Quoting Cecil Rhodes in the first sentence of a post portends doom and boredom but the thing has to be done. Since his day, the colonial dream of world powers to dominate dark continents lives on, indeed it is reality in part. Simply because the colony was permitted to fly a flag and choose a puppet leader, the fact of neocolonialism is obscured and denied hotly.
Armies were used in the olden days when commerce still followed the flag. The colonial enterprise in its initial stages had to engage official state powers in their efforts to create world-spanning empires. First the army went in and "pacified the natives," with clergy in tow. Only then did salesmen venture forth with merchandise. Since then, there has been a revolution in the colonial format such that the flag follows commerce. Today, while global corporates carry more financial clout than most individual third-world states, the flag merely represents a market for commerce to target. Global corporate firms bring their influence to bear upon their governments and international trade bodies (WTO comes to mind) to write trade policies and make economic and political alliances.
Hence, political alliances and their geopolitical ramifications are intertwined indivisibly with the economics of neocolonialism. Corporates want their raw materials and markets and are bent on getting them on their own terms. While the end justifies the means (in their estimation), the misuse of political clout for economic gains is not beneath them. One can be certain that at any one time there are any number of paid lobbyists agitating for any number of imaginable alliances because of the promise of lucre. Money makes the world go crazy.
The current tug of war between China and America over African states (read markets) leaves little to the imagination. No one is going to outright say "colonialism," because autonomous flags still fly and it's supposedly still a free market. If you chance to see a foreign army marching down your CBD, or an unmanned drone buzzing threateningly out of reach, that's just the War on Terror or KONY 2012 being operationalized. But the political pretext for such interventions always masks a more concretely lucrative inspiration underneath. Infrastructure development will also continue on such an ostentatious scale as to claim the territory for the political overlord to claim raw materials and markets. Keep your flag, though.
And they say the Cold War ended in 1990.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Inside Joke
Writers often modify stories on their blogs when the opportunity arises to exercise plot liberty. However I would like to declare that I never garnish my allegations on the New World Order.
Economics continues to be a complicated body of knowledge, such that an argument rages on in some campuses as to whether economics is a science or an art. To cut that argument short: economics is an inside joke.
Someone almost asphyxiates themselves with laughter to see us poring over graphs and theories in our search for economic literacy. The thing is far more refined than we glimpse. But we still go through the motions of learning about the Invisible Hand of supply and demand. Friends, the real Invisible Hand wields a variety of silent weapons against the population - not mechanical but psychological 'invisible' weapons of manipulation.
I begin: Economies survive on the public's faith that their money holds value. Money is believed to represent actual existing wealth. Once this faith is shaken, financial instability or even collapse may follow. Thus the real power in economics is mass psychology, because, thanks to inflation, we know that that there is more money flying around than the supposedly real wealth it claims to represent. This makes the Invisible Hand's main job that of crowd control, lest market confidence should fold its tail and banknotes become firewood. By that time, the system has collapsed, and the Invisible Hand feels it can do without that.
Yet at the same time, information warfare is directed at the consumer. Global corporates are busy collecting all sorts of data. Analysts pore over it and psychologists digest it so that marketers can more effectively exploit the weak links in your subconscious awareness. They have the computers to constantly monitor such massive amounts of data and the guts to perform practical social experiments therewith. Like jolting energy prices just to see how the shock waves move through society.
Sometimes, when the data is too diverse, it becomes difficult to sort. The Invisible Hand's solution to this is to require conformism in the population. Conformism lends itself to simpler algorithms for data analysts. Continued public dependence on the socioeconomic system - whatever its name - testifies to the success of the conformism aspect.
The public sinks into the mire of existential doubt amidst creature
comforts of every machination. Insanity multiplies, and suicide.
Meanwhile, an active program of psychological rape continues via transmissions of violence, sex and 'language' on the mass entertainment media. Endless distraction thereby also leaves no room or quiet time for commoners to identify the problem.
When inflation becomes ridiculous - when the money and the population far exceeds the real wealth available, as it often does - then the societal cauldron ignites and its time for war. But for the Invisible Hand, war is an great opportunity to amass wealth by killing off the owners of real wealth - NOTE: not money. Thus, the Invisible Hand desires war and ensures that it is inevitable and regularly cyclical. Even communists confessed that imperialism is the natural extension of capitalism, confirming that a self-reliant capitalist economy eventually turns on itself. Thus, despite economists claiming to want to reduce the rich-poor gap, this is only achieved in fantasy fiction. With each cycle of war, the Invisible Hand claims more wealth for itself and its minions.
But war is a last resort, wasteful and potentially terminal. An alternative method favored by the Invisible Hand is the use of aforementioned silent weapons. It resorts to modern day 'enslavement of the mob' to remain in control. While the masses rely on the elite for their livelihood, the piper calls the tune. Subtle but thoroughgoing social engineering is the means by which the slaves fall in love with their slavery, with the fact of being a source of cheap labor.
But war is a last resort, wasteful and potentially terminal. An alternative method favored by the Invisible Hand is the use of aforementioned silent weapons. It resorts to modern day 'enslavement of the mob' to remain in control. While the masses rely on the elite for their livelihood, the piper calls the tune. Subtle but thoroughgoing social engineering is the means by which the slaves fall in love with their slavery, with the fact of being a source of cheap labor.
Our politicians are clever enough, they know they need only delay the consequences of their economic ineptitude until after they've left office. Against the invisible Hand, our potentates are cuckolds, and most dare not hope for better than to escape untainted.
Economics? The Invisible Hand has played us for fools, and continues to move quietly behind the scenes towards its agendas. Our ignorance is its free pass. Suddenly we will wake up to find the New World Order fully constructed around us.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Gaps in Logic
Utopia has been a stated goal of various individuals and governments throughout human history. For instance, Hitler led Germany down a path he was convinced would end in Central Utopia, a land he visualized as chock-full of blue-eyed blond purebred Aryans. So much for that.
Utopia is an admirable goal. Who doesn’t want a perfect life of ease thrilling with ceaseless joy? A world free of pollution, unrest and suffering is simply so good that to not want it should warrant jail. Kidding, To each his own. But I like the idea.
All previous attempts at establishing Utopia developed crimps at the conceptual stage. Scenic spots might be fenced out and investments of every kind pumped into the project. Still the project will fail if it is to be populated by imperfect human beings led by fallible rulers. Hitler for example was racist. Anyone read “King of Flies”? or “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley?
Now I cease beating about the bush and directly attack the philosophy behind the coming New World Order, admittedly a favorite target of mine of late. It is anchored on the thought that a world united under One World government will be ideal. Their symbol of this “Great Work,” a pyramid whose missing capstone is replaced by an All-Seeing Eye (check your dollar bills), represents the masses below being led by an “enlightened aristocracy of wisdom” above. This is their formula for banishing ignorance, superstition and fear (so they say), their pretext for doing away with the state, the church and the mob.
The mob is anyone who is ignorant of, or refuses to buy into, their vision. Does that define you? If so, then you are in “the mob” whether you knew it or not.
(Where was I? Yeah.) A “benevolent despotic aristocracy of wisdom” will lead a united world into one religion and one government and this is their formula for Utopia. My question remains: will the people and their ruler be infallible, perfect? (Right now, I am generous enough to avoid speculating on what the All-Seeing Eye stands for.) To agitate placid mental waters some more, the real question is “Can man make himself perfect by his own efforts and learning?” How you answer that question identifies your doctrine. If not, any Utopia involving just one imperfect man in it will surely fail.
The only sustainable Utopia is one led by a Righteous Savior-God-King over righteous redeemed saints. I put my hope in that one any day.
Utopia is an admirable goal. Who doesn’t want a perfect life of ease thrilling with ceaseless joy? A world free of pollution, unrest and suffering is simply so good that to not want it should warrant jail. Kidding, To each his own. But I like the idea.
All previous attempts at establishing Utopia developed crimps at the conceptual stage. Scenic spots might be fenced out and investments of every kind pumped into the project. Still the project will fail if it is to be populated by imperfect human beings led by fallible rulers. Hitler for example was racist. Anyone read “King of Flies”? or “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley?
Now I cease beating about the bush and directly attack the philosophy behind the coming New World Order, admittedly a favorite target of mine of late. It is anchored on the thought that a world united under One World government will be ideal. Their symbol of this “Great Work,” a pyramid whose missing capstone is replaced by an All-Seeing Eye (check your dollar bills), represents the masses below being led by an “enlightened aristocracy of wisdom” above. This is their formula for banishing ignorance, superstition and fear (so they say), their pretext for doing away with the state, the church and the mob.
The mob is anyone who is ignorant of, or refuses to buy into, their vision. Does that define you? If so, then you are in “the mob” whether you knew it or not.
(Where was I? Yeah.) A “benevolent despotic aristocracy of wisdom” will lead a united world into one religion and one government and this is their formula for Utopia. My question remains: will the people and their ruler be infallible, perfect? (Right now, I am generous enough to avoid speculating on what the All-Seeing Eye stands for.) To agitate placid mental waters some more, the real question is “Can man make himself perfect by his own efforts and learning?” How you answer that question identifies your doctrine. If not, any Utopia involving just one imperfect man in it will surely fail.
The only sustainable Utopia is one led by a Righteous Savior-God-King over righteous redeemed saints. I put my hope in that one any day.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Change is Coming
The Hegelian Dialectic is a political theory which generally states that “Thesis plus Antithesis is equal to Synthesis”. Its philosophical underpinnings escape me, but I understand its practical application to be a horror of mass manipulation and deception. Simply, two opposing sides (or theories) are made to unite into an apparent compromise, except that this compromise was always the predetermined outcome of the conflict in the first place!
Now that I think about it, I recall a favorite phrase of secret societies: “Order out of Chaos”. This is the type of rationale that makes the Hegelian Dialectic operational. The real government of this world has no qualms against staging chaotic bloody conflicts so that the resolution of those conflicts engenders their New World Order agenda, their “Great Work”, their ultimate Synthesis. To them, the end justifies the means, now therefore, wholesale murder is righteous if the survivors will unite. But the evil genius of it all is the complicity of the leaders of fighting factions in the whole arrangement. They’re usually in on it.
Consider one conflict which is engineered to end in the “Thesis + Antithesis = Synthesis” mold: the Cold War. Notwithstanding the historical collapse of communism by 1990, we are yet to hear the end of the thing, judging by current displeasure with how capitalism is handling the family jewels. Now, “alternatives” are being discussed. (Remember headlines out of the latest G8 summit?) So the great Synthesis of capitalism and communism, the ultimate New World Order envisioned by the real world government, will feature aspects of both.
Contrary to widely available disinformation, the New World Order is not primarily an economic restructuring of societies. Economics is but one pillar of the plan. At any rate, such a fragmented view of life which compartmentalizes it into political, economic, social and religious spheres (as though these could be independent of one another) only complicates issues.
The New World Order as envisioned by its architects is supposed to be a total transformation of human society (note the singular), a “New Age”, a new way of doing things – even into the family and the workplace. All nations, races and religions are to be homogenized within its scope of activities – One World Government. And no, we won’t vote in referenda to accept or reject it, because our rulers and governments are complicit in the arrangement.
Should we worldlings prove too slow of wit or stubbornly unwilling to embrace the New World Order as sold to us, then the tools which will accelerate our enthusiasm are called war, violence, famine, social unrest and economic depression - currently ongoing, but the frenzy can always be tweaked a few notches higher. Then, when the outcry to resolve these conflicts hits a crescendo, peacemakers will call for Thesis plus Antithesis. The answer will be New World Order every time. Classic Hegelian Dialectic.
Now that I think about it, I recall a favorite phrase of secret societies: “Order out of Chaos”. This is the type of rationale that makes the Hegelian Dialectic operational. The real government of this world has no qualms against staging chaotic bloody conflicts so that the resolution of those conflicts engenders their New World Order agenda, their “Great Work”, their ultimate Synthesis. To them, the end justifies the means, now therefore, wholesale murder is righteous if the survivors will unite. But the evil genius of it all is the complicity of the leaders of fighting factions in the whole arrangement. They’re usually in on it.
Consider one conflict which is engineered to end in the “Thesis + Antithesis = Synthesis” mold: the Cold War. Notwithstanding the historical collapse of communism by 1990, we are yet to hear the end of the thing, judging by current displeasure with how capitalism is handling the family jewels. Now, “alternatives” are being discussed. (Remember headlines out of the latest G8 summit?) So the great Synthesis of capitalism and communism, the ultimate New World Order envisioned by the real world government, will feature aspects of both.
Contrary to widely available disinformation, the New World Order is not primarily an economic restructuring of societies. Economics is but one pillar of the plan. At any rate, such a fragmented view of life which compartmentalizes it into political, economic, social and religious spheres (as though these could be independent of one another) only complicates issues.
The New World Order as envisioned by its architects is supposed to be a total transformation of human society (note the singular), a “New Age”, a new way of doing things – even into the family and the workplace. All nations, races and religions are to be homogenized within its scope of activities – One World Government. And no, we won’t vote in referenda to accept or reject it, because our rulers and governments are complicit in the arrangement.
Should we worldlings prove too slow of wit or stubbornly unwilling to embrace the New World Order as sold to us, then the tools which will accelerate our enthusiasm are called war, violence, famine, social unrest and economic depression - currently ongoing, but the frenzy can always be tweaked a few notches higher. Then, when the outcry to resolve these conflicts hits a crescendo, peacemakers will call for Thesis plus Antithesis. The answer will be New World Order every time. Classic Hegelian Dialectic.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
The Power behind the Throne
“And as the axe came into the forest, all the trees said, ’At least the handle is one of us!’”
A story broke in the late 90s about the then multiplication of occult symbols, ritual murders and strange disappearances of individuals in Kenya. It aroused widespread alarm and hinted at the pervasiveness of devil-worshiping. Then, I was still a little impressionable primary school kid. After a while, the shock value in such news fizzled out and the whole thing sank out of view.
Today, secret societies are all the rave. Honest exposés of secret orders like the Illuminati and Freemasons are losing steam and sinking out of view and inspiring indifferent yawns. Now is a solemn opportunity to make the connection, while the information on the guiding doctrines of these societies still lingers online. The scope of these things is terrifying.
To summarize my findings (though I prefer each find their own findings), secret societies have infiltrated all religious, government and corporate organs. Their one and only allegiance is to their fraternity and their objectives. Any shows of nationalism or religious piety are secondary, but are outwardly demonstrated in order to preserve credibility. Their doctrine is Luciferian (there is no way to sugarcoat that one! And they won’t confess it either!). Their agenda is global in scope, namely, the creation of a New World Order, in which:
Which calls for:
A story broke in the late 90s about the then multiplication of occult symbols, ritual murders and strange disappearances of individuals in Kenya. It aroused widespread alarm and hinted at the pervasiveness of devil-worshiping. Then, I was still a little impressionable primary school kid. After a while, the shock value in such news fizzled out and the whole thing sank out of view.
Today, secret societies are all the rave. Honest exposés of secret orders like the Illuminati and Freemasons are losing steam and sinking out of view and inspiring indifferent yawns. Now is a solemn opportunity to make the connection, while the information on the guiding doctrines of these societies still lingers online. The scope of these things is terrifying.
To summarize my findings (though I prefer each find their own findings), secret societies have infiltrated all religious, government and corporate organs. Their one and only allegiance is to their fraternity and their objectives. Any shows of nationalism or religious piety are secondary, but are outwardly demonstrated in order to preserve credibility. Their doctrine is Luciferian (there is no way to sugarcoat that one! And they won’t confess it either!). Their agenda is global in scope, namely, the creation of a New World Order, in which:
- One World Government
- One World religion
- Enslavement of the mob
Which calls for:
- Destruction of the state
- Destruction of “superstition” (AKA the church)
- Enslavement of the mob
“The mob,” friends, is you and me, non-members of powerful globally connected secret society. In their allegedly enlightened syntax, we are referred to as “Profane, Unwashed,” and our role in the New World Order is to conform and to provide labor for this their “Great Work,” because we are sheep, following blindly.
Don’t believe me? Watch trends.
Don’t believe me? Watch trends.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Conceptual Framework
Thank you all, readers who visit and make me feel like the internet is not like typing directly into a black hole. Your audience is the only reason I do this. Which is why I try to say something important or useful, to be worth your time in a way that matters.
There is no end to the tons of things I could post on here. Readers may have noticed that my posts of late have turned away from this blog's original themes. This reflects, in part, a change in my lifestyle and environment. More importantly, the old adage GIGO ("Garbage In Garbage Out") shall no longer apply to this my blog. Firstly, because "Life and Times of Antony" coincides ominously with the Biblical "Signs of the Times of The End", of which a willful ignorance seems to have seized the masses.
Therefore be not dismayed if I tackle trends in local and world politics, religion and pop culture. Not to say I no longer exist as a free-thinking individual; rather, I prefer to think of myself as a conscious participant or witness to the excesses or victories of the age.
Sure, my faith might have become a turn-off for certain readers, especially when I make hasty generalizations every commercial writer is warned against making, but forgive the zeal. If you can't stand by what you believe, preferring rather to be slave to Political Correctness, your funeral. While I have life, I can not maintain silence while darkness overspreads the world and ignorance is celebrated. I'm dead serious.
Otherwise, events in my life will also continue to feature here on this my online journal. In other words, the blog continues.
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