East vs West - 5

“My witness is the empty sky.”
— Jack Kerouac

I long for empty spaces. They don't have to be natural or man made, just empty - empty skies, plains, plateaus overlooking empty clouds, deserted roads late at night, broken down factories and backwater roads - the wonderful feel of an empty space is the touch that God could never give.

The universe is empty, a magnificently huge expanse of nothingness. However, it should be noted that nothing is everything.

THE SEARCH FOR SELF IN THE MATRIX OF SOCIAL GOVERNANCE

We are social animals, aren't we?  Game theory has suggested that evolution has favoured humans with a cooperative gene.  However, recent research suggests that genes that lead to extortion and not cooperation are more useful for survival.  Well, I suppose extortion is as social as cooperation, after all, you need a broad selection of humans to extort if you want to be a successful capitalist.  Yes, I long for empty spaces. 

East vs West - 4

“You cannot step into the same river twice.”
— Heraclitus

Like a river, all things fall into the scope of this quote. Time changes everything. Therefore, anything you encounter will have transformed into something slightly different than the previous version you had interacted with. What does this mean? In reality, nothing, but it is something to think about.

THE SEARCH FOR SELF IN THE MATRIX OF SOCIAL GOVERNANCE

In the above example, the self is a drop of water in the plethora of water particles that make up the societal flow.  We are always carried on to a new now, lost in the current of game theory tit for tat mathematical equations which result in a data model that is constant but never the same.  We are like the enigma of quantum entanglement, the truth is illusive and changes depending on who and when the observer is.  This is the time to reach for a book onTaoist philosophy and relax by the fire with a fine glass of wine and ponder why you have a bellybutton.   

East vs West - 3

“
Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion.”
— Jim Rohn

I have many Chinese students who, because I teach them one to one and have forged a relationship, tell me a great deal about their personal life. One of the things I have learned is that Middle School and University students spend time, during grade 7, 10 and their freshman year in university, training in the military.

Personally, I would hate it and don't ascribe to its practice. However, as an observer of political economy and nation states, I must admit that it is an incredible benefit. China has a vibrance to it and it owes this in part to the level of discipline that exists throughout its society.

On the contrary, in the US, there is a malaise that runs deep within its core. It is rotting from the inside out. Everywhere, you here the cry of how great America is, an affirmation without any discipline. It is a profound self-delusion and it is about to bite us all squarely on the ass.

THE SEARCH FOR SELF IN THE MATRIX OF SOCIAL GOVERNANCE

The need for discipline, a common belief, or common cause is an imperative when controlling a social structure.  In order to design a strong social system, the self must become subject to the whole.  The self must become like the whole, lose a piece of its identity, so as to retain a piece of the material gain that the whole can provide.  It has always been so, and the delusion that in the west, the US being a shining example, there is greater access to the self is a grand illusion.  

East vs West - 2

“Clever tyrants are never punished.”
— Voltaire

THE SEARCH FOR SELF IN THE MATRIX OF SOCIAL GOVERNANCE

Society is a collection of individuals.  That is the only truth we can work with.  The rest is speculation, theory, or a collection of ideas emanating from history's wise men.  However, one other constant in the matrix of social governance is that their has always been a strong ruler at the head of society's governing structure (the only aberration that I know of are the Zapatistas) .  It could be argued that this is a natural order stemming from the social structures within nature where the alpha male and females control the 'herd".  Whatever it may be, the consistent state of affairs has been king, emperor, warlord or democratically elected leader.  A leader that was judged not merely upon their merits, but their cleverness, their ability to avoid being punished.

East vs West - 1

“With hard work and effort, you can achieve anything”
— Antoine Griezmann

And what of this man? Did his hard work and effort help him achieve anything? Certainly, he achieved something and that can be argued to be in the province of "anything", but I hazard to guess he might have issue with Antoine Griezmann's quote.

Don't get me wrong, I admire this man a great deal. I see many like him, moving about the streets of Kunming in search of plastic, paper and cardboard - materials of value for them. I marvel at their fortitude. This is the drive for survival at its core, at times shocking, at other times frightening.

In this time of Trump and the oncoming destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, he is a breath of fresh air. A simple minded existence, bone crushing in its searing glow of reality, that has a subtle taste of poetry in it. I wish thee well and good fortune in your pursuit of plastic wealth, my good man.

 

The Search For Self In The Matrix Of Social Governance

This is the journey.  This is the crux of the problem.  This is what drives the engines of productivity.  It hides behind the obvious reasons such as, "The will to power", "The instinct of survival", and "The need to procreate".  These are, of course, central when one tries to explain who we are, but, in the end, it is the search for "I" in the rubble of "we" that truly defines us.

I have travelled half way around the world in the pursuit of an answer.  I have hidden from the shadows of the West, in the shadows of the East, because I feel that a cocktail of thesis and antithesis is the only drink worthy of intoxicating the mind enough to find a clearer vision.  It hasn't yet produced the desired effect, but it has prompted movement within my slumber, providing glimpses of what may be a slice of truth.  I am quite aware that it is more likely another mirage in the existential desert that one must traverse in order to find a semblance of meaning,  and while I am most likely to end up in a contorted heap, this is the price of admission.  Besides, what else is there?

In the foreseeable future, I am going to try and explain the human predicament in the opposing mirrors of China and North America.  It may turn out to be futile, but it might prove useful to those willing to listen, those who realize that life is a search for more than just the usual trinkets offered by society. 

Collateral Damage

“I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.”
— Jack Kerouac
“Art is the proper task of life.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche

The world, for a brief moment, bent its light and painted a motionless landscape of indecisive contrast. For a tantalizing second, I felt a definite maybe. That is the best it could do for me or I just lack the courage to judge.

When the artist awakes from the dream, that sleepless tremor in the night where sweat fills in the edges of fear, what do they feel? When they break bread in the silence of a misty morning, what do they see? It is that moment which one yearns for. That moment on the edge of ecstasy where only madmen and birds of prey can breathe for the air is thin and cold. Yes, art is the proper task in life if one can still find an opening.

Trumpy Nightmares

“Life begins on the other side of despair.”
— Jean-Paul Sartre

As I write this account of the hike, the world is about to move into the uncertainty of a Trump presidency.  To be honest, I am happy that Trump won.  America needs a wake up call if we hope to survive this century.  America needs to feel a fever so powerful that it thrashes about in a sweaty nightmare, which frightens us all to our core.  We cannot live upon childish dreams of flowers and rainbows.  We need to watch our horizons bleed from cuts induced by the repetitive lashes of a tyrannical narcissistic beast.  We need to have clouded dreams.

“Skepticism is the first step on the road to philosophy.”
— Denis Diderot

And what if all the steps are skeptical? What if the very definition of humanity is encased in cynicism? My mentor is Nietzsche, and he taught me to doubt everything, even philosophy. And, now, how can I believe in anything when a clown such as Trump is elevated to president of the USA? I continually ask myself: why? Why that’s why. The president of the USA is comparable to the habit of shitting every day. It is a nasty smelly affair that is, for reasons escaping me, important in life, but certainly not something you should define your life by. The only answer to why is to be even more skeptical.

 

Yes, the road is narrow and walled in by nasty bushes, but it has always been so. Tear the fuckers down so we can have room enough to build a greater road. Even if it is in our imagination, it is better than having one’s life defined by the foul need to shit out the remains of simple-minded clowns like The Donald and his minions. Just keep the mantra alive: Why Donald Trump? Don’t bother with why. Just tell him to go fuck himself. Really, it is the only person he loves anyway.

The Fear Of Freedom

“Truth is on the side of the oppressed.”
— Malcolm X

The problem is that the oppressed don't have the time or the money to promote the truth.  That is on the side of demagogues who are backed by the corporate elite.  The best that can be done is to stay out of the game.  Book out of madhouse central and take a long walk and don't come back.

“If you’re not ready to die for it, put the word ‘freedom’ out of your vocabulary.”
— Malcolm X

This is why humanity is no longer free.

Who in their right mind would wake up at 6 - before the sunrise - in order to go to a job that they don't like just so that they can make enough money to put their child through the same madness? The overwhelming majority of humanity does exactly this because they are afraid of dying. I would have to count myself among them.

That is why we are no longer free.

The Elusive Child

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.”
— Albert Einstein

I love Albert.  It isn't due to his great ideas, though they are truly great.  No, it is because, at his core, he remained a child throughout his life.  Picasso felt you needed to keep the child alive in order to become an artist.  I believe that this is true for really great scientists.  They must keep that child inside them that is incessantly wondering why for them to have great vision.  Here is to those who still have the child within them.  Feed the monster for it is truly who you are.

“Your illusions are a part of you like your bones and flesh and memory.”
— William Faulkner

And how are we to separate our illusions from our bones, flesh and memory? Are illusions just reality emanating from the ephemeral world of matter and energy, or is reality an illusion? The deeper I look into the black hole of science, the weirder the world gets. Illusions move closer to the world of reality, and reality shuffles over to the border of illusion. Sometimes, it is just better to stare into the fire and have another drink after a good, long walk on the beach.

Misanthropes Dream Too

“To hell with reality! I want to die in music, not in reason or in prose.”
— Louis-Ferdinand Celine

mis·an·thrope

ˈmis(ə)nˌTHrōp,ˈmiz(ə)nˌTHrōp/

noun

a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society.

 

I have spent the majority of my life as a misanthrope.  I am not sure how I got there, but reading people such as Celine and Nietzsche probably had something to do with it.  And, I am neither proud nor apologetic of this fact.  It is who I am.  However, once someone finds out this is how you are, it changes the relationship.  It's like when someone finds out that you are a Christian or a Muslim, they hide all the lucifer dolls and pork sandwiches in the house when you come over.  Being a Christian, Muslim or misanthrope doesn't define you.  It is merely a part of you unless you make a point of having it define your life.  I don't.  Actually, I like people.  Only, I prefer to meet them one on one and usually in quiet secluded places.  Then, you will find I am actually quite a happy sort.

“We live at the edge of the miraculous. ”
— Henry Miller

Yet, I can't help feeling that we are walking around the edge and not moving toward its centre. Perhaps, we are not meant to do this. Perhaps, we are destined, like Tantalus, to forever see but not touch what could be. Perhaps, it is the long march which paints the final touches of a utopia.

Whatever it might be, take time to say hello to your friends and family and enjoy the magnificent views that the edge of miraculous offers us. It won't last forever.