The Truth: My Conviction

I despise the way society churns on. I hate it.

That to "change society" is to correct a blemish in an inherited structure, that we blindly celebrate that we build on top of, and that we build on.

That we erect pillar after pillar under a prehistoric rock and think to boast "look, we are holding up better than before".

That we have unthinkingly laid our ground so thickly that to change would mean yanking it from under our feet.

Society has become a monster that even the brightest and most intelligent of us helplessly feed through inaction and compliance and, in doing so, are starved by for a decent living.

I hate that the verbs "to mold" and "to shape" have taken on positive connotations despite the implication of an objective (and, truthfully, horribly wrong) standard of perfection.

I hate that society has pressed its members into its building blocks instead of its builders, that we have allowed built on ourselves a heavy, heaving monstrosity, and let develop its uncooperative nature.

I hate that society is no longer defined by its individuals; society now does the individual mass-produce and define.

Call me a futurist. It seems today is not mine.

Our Pale Blue Dot

"..The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

"Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings. How eager they are to kill one another. How fervent their hatreds.

"Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.

"In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere, to save us from ourselves."

Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot

Words Never Truer

“When we look at modern man, we have to face the fact that modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit, which stands in glaring contrast to his scientific and technological abundance;

We've learned to fly the air like birds, we've learned to swim the seas like fish,

and yet we haven't learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters.”

Martin Luther King Jr., The Quest for Peace and Justice

Now, Kids, This Is What We Call An Atom.

"Every chemist’s dream – to snap an atomic-scale picture of a chemical before and after it reacts – has now come true, thanks to a new technique developed by chemists and physicists at the University of California, Berkeley."

One short newspaper article, another giant leap for mankind.

Wishing Well.

Water poured over a flat surface will never form, will never stay, will never rise.

Water represents our time. Our energy. Our lives. We must, ourselves, mould the cup that embodies our motivation and ambition.

Only then will our lives be lived not in vain.

Only then can our future generations drink from our well.

Only then can humanity float, fly higher than ever before.

What Misdirection!

I have had enough.

There is so much good in the world. Yet it is all so poorly directed.

We have factions and loyalties. The warrior is loyal to his leader, and that is good; however, a leader in a fractious world is less a building block than a wave in competing seas.

Greatness is wasted when spent against another's, and amplified when united against gravity.

How peaceful this world would be, how much would we have accomplished, were all the warriors in the world united not under different banners, but by their sheer humanity!

Enlightenment is not redefinition; it is direction.

I appeal to you with all sincerity, my small and independent audience: consider! Try to consider humanity as a whole as a factor in your next decisions, no matter what they might be.

Perhaps, just perhaps, our little act of rebellion and willfulness could yet change the world!

This Is Water

In memory of David Foster Wallace.

On the Crass Politician

Bigoted. Hypocritical. Corrupt. Selfish. Ineffective. Indulgent.

Irrelevant.

There will come a day when leaders will triumph over the crass politician; only then will justice to the people be served.

Is it really that difficult?

To think not of individual gain, but of mutual benefit. To consider more than one's own perspective, and that of the world. To love one another.

I pose you this question: is it really that difficult?

To help people in need.

To act in spite of selfish inclination for a greater good.

Be it an elder with shopping bags or a pregnant lady in need of a seat on a rocky bus.

Be it sacrificing a bagel and a few minutes of satisfaction so that a beggar can get a few hours from his.

Be it offering sincere condolences or a gift at a stranger's wake, or buying a cup of coffee for that receptionist, or that small-shop cashier, or that worker at the movie ticket gantry you may have unintentionally offended with your demeanor.

Simple, easy acts of kindness that go a long way. That could make someone's day. That could make the world a much better place.

Why, then, aren't we doing them? It's not that difficult.

~

First and foremost, I raise the lack of proper enlightenment in modern society, resulting in vastly different sequences of prioritisation, as one of the main causes of human apathy. When we are first plunged into the world, we know not which idol to worship; the importance and relevance of various areas of attention are subsequently ingrained into us.

Our children are taught that money is important, and its possession is responsible for every convenience and every pleasure perceivable (as a child). Our children are taught that race and religion are divisive factors, be it by the intolerant teacher or by peer discrimination. Our children are taught that, to paraphrase Orwell, some people are "more equal than others", and that they thus need to be treated differently.

They are not reminded that, despite differences in language, nationality, race or religion, we are a single Mankind, battling against the forces of Nature and the unknown. They are not reminded that we remain human by simple, small acts of humility and kindness each day, the willingness of one to humble or sacrifice him/herself for the comparatively great benefit of another. They are not reminded that, unlike money, charity and consideration and understanding can multiply, and spread, and expand, making everyone richer and the world happier by a disproportionate degree. As they should be.

And they will grow up to be parents one day, too. They will fight and strive for money, and power, and dominance, just so they can bring their children up in their image. We, the teachers, the parents are not absolved of guilt. In our hectic daily lives, it's easy to pass up a beggar's plea, or drive by a helpless hitchhiker. We do not realise that our children recognise every small act of heartlessness, and, in associating it with the parent figure, will resolve to emulate and magnify it.

"It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption."

~

Another reason, I postulate, would be the disbelief in the concept of reciprocity prevalent in many societies, an attitude which is also becoming increasingly rewarding in the highly competitive world. In other words, people don't believe in karmic retribution. Good guys finish last. A word of thanks is insignificant recompense when weighed against the inconvenience of generosity. After all, we do live in a society which exalts the successful thief and hoarder.

Corruption spawns where there is an unwillingness to give. Where personal interest outweighs public benefit, there will be corruption. Where one thinks of bankbook numbers as a score instead of equating them to societal contribution, there will be corruption. Where one takes from the needy under the guise of legislative requirement, there is corruption. Familiar? All-too.

From where did this culture arise? How have we fallen so far?

Fear.

Fear of helplessness. Fear of misplaced dependence. Fear of betrayal. The coward cannot trust. He can only rely on himself. And when everyone relies on him/herself, the culture is propagated. It becomes a necessity. It becomes a way of living. It becomes unquestioned, unquestionable.

~

That is what scares me, and that is what prompts me to take action in writing: our apathy to the degenerate state we are in. Who are we if we lose our humanity? What would have been had we, in the name of self-preservation, abandoned our comrades in the heat of prehistoric battle? What is to come if we completely ceased to prioritise the advancement of humanity over our petty, selfish games?

"The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference."

Yet, there is hope for humanity. The little acts of kindness you see every day, be it around the corner or across the world, are testament to that. The seemingly tiny, distinctly human acts that extract us from our dark and lonely shells. The small bits of altruism that keep us afloat.

A neighbourly smile and wave.

A kind gesture to a stranger.

A "thank you".

The small things that remind us that we are, together, human.

And that to be human is an honour we must fight for each and every day.

~

On Ambition

Ambition is of a certain, proper type of hunger.

It is not the self-starving and rationing such that one amplifies the perceived pleasure from minuscule accomplishments.

It is not the formulation of excuses to pacify oneself in possession of mediocrity.

It is not the distraction from crucial matters, the feeding on fake sustenance that would ultimately leave one's soul, and one's society, empty.

It is the whetting of the appetite, the creation of capacity, the extension of the conceivable boundary.

It is knowing everything one has achieved, and starving to go beyond, past the unachievable.

It is acknowledging, understanding that one's only obstacle to greatness is oneself, and consciously choosing to overcome it.

It is the drive to change.

We Begin

First off, greetings to all after a long-enough hiatus! Forever, it seems to have been, or perhaps my days have been drawn beyond their recognisable length. Either way, good day to you reading these words!

This blog looks to have ceased its most promising venture (the expansion of the Apocalyptic mind-map) due to certain minor inconveniencing factors.

Simply put, it didn't happen.

As much as I'd like to confess my slight disappointment, I am actually marginally more grateful that Humanity would live to, perhaps, die another day, or perhaps not at all! Perhaps we have a more tragic, Oedipus-esque downfall ahead of us, or perhaps we can transcend past the horrid, horrid threat of mutual destruction. Who knows?

This will be a short post; there is more to come later. Yet how better to end off than with a Quote of the Post! Here, a world that remains blissfully oblivious to its own undoing. Here, consider the words of Kierkegaard (Either-Or, 1843):

“It happened that a fire broke out backstage in a theater. The clown came out to inform the public. They thought it was a jest and applauded. He repeated his warning. They shouted even louder.

So I think the world will come to an end amid the general applause from all the wits who believe that it is a joke.”