1. On War: sec3 SS: Chap 6

There were three reasons cited in my department's notes for the causes of conflicts. They were 1. for resources 2. for territory and 3. over ideological differences. The notes then stated that ideological differences were the quinessential reason why parties would end up in conflict. I disagree strongly and maybe I am taking too much offence since it serves the argument at thier point in education. But yet, it seems so wrong to me so I must state my case.

Firstly, war and conflict are totally two different concepts. War is armed conflict and presupposes a significant number of casualties for it to qualify as war. Conflict is a much looser idea and thus should not be used for the purposes of such a statement.

Secondly, the argument that ideological differences are the quinessential reason why parties end up in conflict seems to be supported only by the Democratic Peace Theory (DPT) and only holds true between Democracies. This lack of interstate war between democracies may only exist because I would argue firstly that since Democracy had "won" the Cold War and has since had the benefits of emplaced and established conflict management devices (trade sanctions, international dialogue mechanisms, Supranational and regional organisations and the list goes on and on) I wonder if the USSR had won. Would the "Iron Fist" of the "Iron Curtain" not also be successful in dowsing any potential interstate flare-ups and prevented large scale conflict with its authoritarian ways? Also, Democracies are only less likely to war with Democracies. What about the other camp? Two authoritarian states may clash. And you may argue that at least the DPT supports the essential claim. I say no. Why? Because nothing is monotheistic in color and hue, especially when it closes to ideologies which are colored by context and unique social and political histories. So to say similar ideologies would firstly be a huge no-no to me and to further the argument and say that there is such a thing as ideological similarities is certainly pushing the logical coherency of an argument too far.

Lastly, ideologies are evolving creatures of the mind. Even if I assume that two ideologies have a common origin or common point in thier trajectories, they are definitely not asymmetrical for eternity. We often forget that ideologies bend to our will and are often tokens of what we really stand for. Indeed, the real tangible concerns like oppression, resources and territory are what counts in sparking a conflict. Ideologies are tools that justify our claims and unite us under a common flag. Case in point, I refer to the "Contigent Democrats" theory. Conflicts exist in states at all levels and the "Contingent Democrats" theory rightfully shows and assets that groups will push for democracy within society only when it serves thier position at that moment. Even if they were supposedly the democratising force, they would renounce democracy if it were in conflict with thier interests. Thus this shows the reality that real tangible concerns bite us at our cores. They rumble when our tummies are unfed. They bleed when we are cut. We cannot deny them. They are the real undenieable facts of life. Ideologies on the other hand, often just serve to help us deny.

Introduction

Summer is such a beautiful time of the year. Flowers bloom. Fruits ripen. (describe children tossing their books and pencils aside as they ran into the streets to watch the parade floats pass their houses. Welcoming the arrival of a carnival.) Carnivals come very often to (town name) the whole year round. (town name) is the best place for entertainers to entertain. (town name)'s folks are the most (welcoming/ helpful/ cheerful/ fun) Performers make a lot of (money/revenue) in (town name. They love this place so much and sometimes they never leave. Even though the folks are (fun), they have a very close relationship with God because he is the one making the town rich. They are very fervent Catholics. (Describe their resentment towards taboos, blasphemy)The crops never dies out. The river never dries. Disease comes and goes but never stays long making the people strong, rich and prosperous. They ostracize/ cast out/ exile/ banish criminals. Sometimes when it gets too personal, they tale the law into their own hands. Because it is their town and the people do all they can to keep it safe and prosperous.

Loud thuds of long handled hammers knocking nails into the earth. Large men hoisting up canvases and ropes. (Describe a tent falling apart)Putting together tents can be quite frustrating and chaotic sometimes. Especially when you are missing a few helping hands. (At the corner, fat Jim sleeps. Slapped by his brother) The site of the carnival is by the sea by the cliff. The winds bring the fresh scent of the ocean waters to (brighten up/ refresh) carry the workers' sweat away and (revitalize/cool) their bodies.

Away from all the noise, the rustles of construction, at the corner of the cliff stood a tall white steeple. A light house. It used to be busy. A place to warn incoming ships of the sharp coastal rocks.

Franz Kafka- The Fasting Artist

Another short story marvel. Here goes.

Can you be honest about a dishonesty? To be perfectly transparent, I did register a hint of disappointment at the end of this tale when I realised the truth.

The man was to me, a fraud. He was honest about a dishonesty. This dishonesty was his whole life. It informed others of him. Can one thing make a man? Can one thing break a man? Yes, it does and it did. It broke and hollowed him out to the core.

He never wanted to fast. It was forced upon him and yet often he adopted a "holier than thou" attitude which was best brought out by comparison with the guards who doubted him and yet they couldn't have lasted the night and executed their duties if they had not been nourished.

Yet again, was it a true blue dishonesty? Or did he choose this fate because he was simply too choosy by nature.

Yet the paradox continues for he is honest about it. He is honest about the rules and formalities. He sticks to his craft/ art lawfully and is even ambitious about it. Is this akin to Kant's conception of "A truly virtuous act" whereby it is born out of duty (which he sees his art as) and not personal inclination.

The last point that struck me is how we are all innately attracted to the gory. We all seek and obtain some form of perverse pleasure from experiencing rationed-out and controlled fear. He is the embodiment of what would be. He is the gory spectacular which would have no meaning if we did not feel this particular inclination.
He is still an enigma to me. I hope one day, I will gather the full picture.

The Circle

Love is selfish
Only within our circle, are we both happy
If we even know what happiness is
Once out, we are no longer on the same track
My happiness with someone else makes you sad
And vice versa

Our happiness together deprives others
If we even know what happiness is
This would make a bad song
As many thing in life do
I ask myself, do I know what love is
I dare say that I don't
I know what it means to love
But of Love, it eludes me
I only know when I am within our circle
Yet when I am, I am blind
When I leave, I am bitter
I do not know what Love is

Our love exists in the circle
Yet it lives in reality
Within our circle, all is possible
In reality, possible is not all
Our circle collides with other circles
Each testing its limits and strengths
Reality exists in time
Time, time binds us
I wanted to be with her
It was too soon
Time, it controls us
Because we will die
So we let time play us
It dictates us
Too soon, too late
It speaks to us
Not right, good or perfect
We measure ourselves on its scale
It is timing
Good timing makes the good "perfect"
Bad timing makes it not to be
Yet we were the masters of time
We gave it meaning and set it free upon ourselves

Time, when you have more of it, it becomes pointless
When you have little of it, time is all you think about
Not so much what you can do with it
But how it slips away
You do so much yet all the while at the back of your mind, you worry
How it slips away

Time, does not make how you feel
If you don't feel how you are supposed to, it is a bad feeling
Others get with the time's programme
If you don't, you feel bad
Yet again, we have lost control

Full Nelson

I won't say that this Indie film is good. It is just that it leaves food for thought. Of course it helps that Ryan Gosling is the lead.

But onto the "smart stuff"..... He says "One thing doesn't make a man" or so he says.

This is true and false at the same time.

Dunne's addiction is but one thing. Yes, it does not make him. His mind, his teaching and many more aspects all make him. Not just that one thing. So this is true.

But yet it is so wrong. It is precisely the nature of that one thing which breaks him. As Epicurus would criticize, that one pleasure of his is not within his control. Worst still, it is beyond his control and controls him. Not only that, it also compromises all other pleasures (like having a meaningful relationship, like being able to function normally and healthily throughout the day)

Thus the danger is apparent to see as it is not the quantity but the nature of it all. The nature of one thing that may break a man.

Franz Kafka- The Metamorphsis

What a great read. I think I have not been impressed thus far since "The Outsider" and that is one tough cookie to live up to. "The Metamorphsis" has left me with many thoughts and bugging questions and suspicions.

Gregory suffers from Alienation. And this alienation is multifarious in its dimensions. Firstly, he is alienated from himself. He has become something that he does not quite recognize. Even if he had not changed into a cockroach, he was already at a point of "non-self-recognition". He is alienated by who he is (who he has to be) from who he is and was. Secondly, Gregory is alienated from his family. Similarly, his biological metamorphsis only serves to highlight the fact that they had developed a complacency towards his generosity and had effectively typecast him as just the provider. Lastly, he is alienated from humanity due to the nature of his work which makes his never stay long enough anywhere to be of any impression and permanence. In effect, his travelling salesman occupation renders his existence among any community a nature of fleeting weightlessness.

Of course, the text is peppered with absurdity as well which always underlines such thought-provoking plots. But it is all true. The absurdity of pressing concerns/ practicalities still remains even though Gregory has had the worst happen to him. As a flailing cockroach which is struggling to understand and discover his biomechanics, he still has to contend with a supervisor which actually makes a house visit on account of him being late. Everyone suffers from wrong priorities in that particular part of the story and this really highlights how perceived importance triumphs over real importance.

Absurdity rears its ugly face once again later in the story when the "normalcy of the unusual" strikes. The family members show us that humans are all but creatures of habit and memory. We can get used to suffering. Is it too tiring to go on mourning forever? Is this a self-defense mechanism? Gregory's plight (which is highly unusual!) becomes normal in due time. Habit and memories then snuff all meaning out of his suffering till he feels himself redundant and guilty of being a burden. And that is when he goes through his last phase of the metamorphsis and becomes null.

Read this with the knowledge that for now this is just my interpretation of the text and I have not studied any prior analysis of it as of yet. I am sure once I have that I will be back eagerly to develop on this text more. :)

Miraculous coincidences

Can you imagine when the universe was not yet in existence? When it was suspended in imaginary time.

If you think about how things come to be and the myriad of miraculous coincidences that have propelled or rather brought us to where we are now.

The fact that I can write this blog post. The fact that I can apply my cognitive reasoning. The fact that the atoms on my laptop are holding up with the strength of its bonds and not disintegrating. The fact that the moon is high in the sky and regulating the earth's waves.

And then I think about us. About our meat vessels, about our consciousness and witness-consciousness and how at our core, we are but a highly complex system of atomic systems. How at essence, we are integrating as a system of atomic systems with other atomic systems. How we must leave energy residues and parts of ourselves with everything that we interact with.

Our lives and all we hold dear are miraculous coincidences. Let us begin at the beginning or rather the point of non-being.

Imagine all (or rather the lack of all) before the "Big Bang", when all that was to be was suspended in imaginary time.

And then the universe expanded out into time and space as a hot, glowing fireball and rapidly cooled while it expanded. Protogalaxies contracted and began to break into fragments. Gravity then caused the fragments to contract even more and to become very hot as they compressed. Nuclear fusion then began within their cores.

Our solar system begins its birth dance as the cloud of interstellar gas and dust condenses. As the cloud collapsed, a dense, slowly rotating core was formed. This would become the sun.

Our nascent earth experienced numerous collisions with asteroids. This produced so much energy that our earth formed a molten core that was composed mostly of iron. the lighter elements then floated to the surface and created our rocky mantle. Our early earth's surface was molten, it had no solid surface.

The atmosphere consisted mainly of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. photosynthesizing bacteria were not present as of yet. We had no oceans either. Most of the water that is present on the earth;s surface was released from the mantle in volcanic eruptions and had come originally from collisions with comets ("dirty ice balls").

Our surface cooled enough for the oceans to form and created a hospitable environment. Amino acids, on the tails of comets that brushed the earth's atmosphere, blessed us with the building blocks from which proteins are formed.

Amino acids and the other organic chemicals were present in the primordial oceans only in small quantities. Darwin suggested a highly likely warm pond where chemical evolution took place. RNA (the primitive form of DNA) then could form. The first living organisms were primitive algae and bacteria.

It then took 3 billion years for multicellular life forms to evolve on earth.