06-02-2022, 11:01 AM
'At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols.'
Aldous Huxley
"The Hopi Indians thought that the world's religions each contained one spiritual thread, & that these threads are always seeking each other, wanting to join. When all the threads are finally woven together they will form a rope that will pull us out of this dark cycle of history. More contemporarily, the Dalai Lama has repeated the same idea, assuring his western students repeatedly that they needn't become Tibetan Buddhists in order to be his pupils. He welcomes them to take whatever ideas they like out of Tibetan Buddhism & integrate these ideas into their own religious practices."
From Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert.
'Women constitute HALF the world’s population, perform nearly TWO THIRDS of the world’s work, receive ONE TENTH of the world’s income, own less than ONE HUNDREDTH of the world’s wealth.'
From: Reflecting Men At Twice Their Natural Size.
Sally Cline & Dale Spender
"The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphne Moran had her throat cut..."
The scarecrow, Ronald Hugh Morrieson.
"The screed that followed bemoaned the decline & fall of the white man, a slow but sure reduction of power over several centuries. The worrisome feeling one has of slipping down the food chain, with those unlike you increasingly vilifying you as a racist, sexist, imperialist, o matter what your personal beliefs might be.
Wincing as multiculturalism overtakes your society, celebrating every heritage but your own. Stinging from memories of what once was, especially in the face of China casting a wider-than-ever shadow of influence, & both America & Europe weakened by the Clash of Civilisations, unsure what to do."
Everfree, Nick Sagan.
"Some thawed proved difficult at first, but sooner or later Fan’s virus would catch up & set them right. There was no need for any Doctrine, not per se. Not when complaints were so few & helping hands so many. Not when everyone behaved as they should. ………….. There are things the patch didn’t do. It didn’t stop criminality. Not altogether. However, it put a huge dent in it. Why take advantage of people when you feel better looking out for them? Why resort to theft when society truly wants to meet all your needs?
It didn’t stop stupid decision making. Still no shortage of that. But it made the vast majority of those stupid mistakes well intentioned.
It didn’t stop magical thinking. It put no end to faith-based reasoning. Nor did it unify everyone under the same religion. Rather, it made everyone more tolerant of other’s beliefs.It didn’t create universal vegetarianism, but it encouraged it. Those who did hunt did so for food, not sport. Compassion with the prey made it so no one would take a life lightly.
It didn’t put an end to jealousy, deceit or hard feelings, but it pushed people to talk their problems out & be a little less cruel than they otherwise would.
One thing it did do, Fantasia had warned us about ahead of time. It contributed to a lot of consensual sex. Question: What do you get when sharing pleasure with someone gives even greater chemical highs & even greater feelings of trust? Answer: A Puritan’s nightmare. Along with Chimpanzees, Bonobos re our closet genetic relatives, but for years they were barred from zoos for fear that their constant sex play might offend delicate visitors. Fan joked that she’d unleashed everyone’s inner Bonobo.
Better to be fucking than fucking each other over.'
Everfree, Nick Sagan
Aldous Huxley
"The Hopi Indians thought that the world's religions each contained one spiritual thread, & that these threads are always seeking each other, wanting to join. When all the threads are finally woven together they will form a rope that will pull us out of this dark cycle of history. More contemporarily, the Dalai Lama has repeated the same idea, assuring his western students repeatedly that they needn't become Tibetan Buddhists in order to be his pupils. He welcomes them to take whatever ideas they like out of Tibetan Buddhism & integrate these ideas into their own religious practices."
From Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert.
'Women constitute HALF the world’s population, perform nearly TWO THIRDS of the world’s work, receive ONE TENTH of the world’s income, own less than ONE HUNDREDTH of the world’s wealth.'
From: Reflecting Men At Twice Their Natural Size.
Sally Cline & Dale Spender
"The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphne Moran had her throat cut..."
The scarecrow, Ronald Hugh Morrieson.
"The screed that followed bemoaned the decline & fall of the white man, a slow but sure reduction of power over several centuries. The worrisome feeling one has of slipping down the food chain, with those unlike you increasingly vilifying you as a racist, sexist, imperialist, o matter what your personal beliefs might be.
Wincing as multiculturalism overtakes your society, celebrating every heritage but your own. Stinging from memories of what once was, especially in the face of China casting a wider-than-ever shadow of influence, & both America & Europe weakened by the Clash of Civilisations, unsure what to do."
Everfree, Nick Sagan.
"Some thawed proved difficult at first, but sooner or later Fan’s virus would catch up & set them right. There was no need for any Doctrine, not per se. Not when complaints were so few & helping hands so many. Not when everyone behaved as they should. ………….. There are things the patch didn’t do. It didn’t stop criminality. Not altogether. However, it put a huge dent in it. Why take advantage of people when you feel better looking out for them? Why resort to theft when society truly wants to meet all your needs?
It didn’t stop stupid decision making. Still no shortage of that. But it made the vast majority of those stupid mistakes well intentioned.
It didn’t stop magical thinking. It put no end to faith-based reasoning. Nor did it unify everyone under the same religion. Rather, it made everyone more tolerant of other’s beliefs.It didn’t create universal vegetarianism, but it encouraged it. Those who did hunt did so for food, not sport. Compassion with the prey made it so no one would take a life lightly.
It didn’t put an end to jealousy, deceit or hard feelings, but it pushed people to talk their problems out & be a little less cruel than they otherwise would.
One thing it did do, Fantasia had warned us about ahead of time. It contributed to a lot of consensual sex. Question: What do you get when sharing pleasure with someone gives even greater chemical highs & even greater feelings of trust? Answer: A Puritan’s nightmare. Along with Chimpanzees, Bonobos re our closet genetic relatives, but for years they were barred from zoos for fear that their constant sex play might offend delicate visitors. Fan joked that she’d unleashed everyone’s inner Bonobo.
Better to be fucking than fucking each other over.'
Everfree, Nick Sagan
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)