From: Blunderov (squooker@mweb.co.za)
Date: Mon Feb 04 2002 - 07:07:22 MST
<Blunderov tries his hand at mimetics. Ahem.>
"War is Peace"
The war against terror will take a long time, an indefinitely long time we
have been told, but already the newsreaders at CNN seem to be vaguely
embarrassed by the unrelenting blazoning of "The War against Terror". They
have the air of a dutiful nephew who has become almost used to flinching
every morning at the sight of a horrible painting by a beloved aunt.
Considering the number of intractable conflicts in the world, is it not
possible to wonder whether the reason for this is that war (special powers,
the patriot card etc) creates great security of tenure for politicians of
whatever stripe? Are we in the grip of a meme that predisposes us to
choosing bellicose leaders ?
"Freedom is Slavery"
Who will free us from the free market? We are indentured to money from birth
and then taunted with a promise of freedom that can never quite be bought.
Money is an amazing invention. Societies that didn't find it necessary to
invent the wheel, nevertheless invented some medium of exchange, some agreed
store of value - money. Without it the space-shuttle would never have been
built, without it the splendours of the technological age would never have
been revealed.
But does money not have it's own particular price? While it is probably true
to say that you need to be smart to make money, it is probably even more
true to say that money will select for greed before it selects for
"smartness".
"Ignorance is strength"
Of course we all know her; Faith , the blinkered bride, marches down the
aisle with proud ignorance for her train and she is not alone. Education
systems the world over seem designed to produce cannon fodder for industry
."Negotiated mediocrity" (thanks Kirke Steele) is the order of the day.( In
South Africa the ridiculous slogan "pass one, pass all" was a rallying cry
amongst militant youth, and astoundingly, was taken seriously by those in
authority). Martriculation examinations are routinely "marked up" or "marked
down" to achieve a politically acceptable pass rate. And media, both
electronic and print, reinforces all of the above.
It would seem that our dearest institutions are favouring the survival of
the violent, the greedy and the stupid .
Virians, teach you children to read. Teach them as soon as possible. Teach
them [em]how[/em] to read before the schools and the churches do it for
you. If you do nothing else, do this.
Regards
Blunderov.
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