Saturday, December 28, 2013

There is hope

It is possible to give up smoking,
even if you are heavily addicted to nicotine.
It is also possible to recover from alcohol and drug abuse.

There are so many alcoholics and drug addicts
who have managed to overcome the addiction,
and who did not replaced it with a destructive religious cult,
or some other wacky activity.

It is also possible to recover from neurotic ideas of inferiority,
meaninglessness and wretchedness.
Such ideas can fade away and lose their power
when they eventually are taken for what they are, ideas, imaginations.
Finally the penny drops:
'I am worth exactly as much as anyone else.
Life is something very important. How stupid I have been.'

It is possible to abandon political and religious belief systems.
You don’t have to be a Nazi for the rest of your life
just because you used to hang out with Nazis in your youth.

You don't have to hold on to neoliberal or conservative ideas.
You don't have to live for career and money.
You don't have to exploit other people.
These are not natural laws.

It is possible to wake up and get out of bed.
There is hope.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Why do we deceive ourselves?

You lie, but this is not something you need to be ashamed of.
All people lie, to a greater or a lesser extent.
And everyone pretends that it is important to be honest.

Observe yourself.
How many fibs do you use a typical day,
how many white lies, how many stupid lies
and how many times did you withheld something?

Also the question why we lie to ourselves is trivial, as I see it.
You feel better when you tell yourself that you're OK.
If you are telling yourself, loud and clear, that you are a selfish idiot,
when you really are a selfish idiot,
then you're throwing a spanner in the works.

For many people are lies and self-deceptions absolutely essential
to make life worth living.
A religion, for example, regardless of how crazy,
provides both consolation and community.
Common sense and truthfulness provides no consolation.

Self-deceptions can also be very helpful for frustrated upper class housewives
who need to keep up the illusion of success
and they can also help losers who need justifications and excuses
for their excessive alcohol consumption.

Negative people may be more realistic than optimists
but optimists live a more enjoyable life.
It is in so many ways better to deceive oneself and have some fun
than to hound for truth.
Truth fundamentalists are such tedious boors.
Nevertheless,
it's much nicer to spend time with people who do not live in denial,
and delusional dream worlds.

So, white lies and little lies are necessary in modern life, I believe.
However, problems arises if you lie too much.
A few glasses of wine now and then is a pleasure,
but a bottle or two wine everyday
you will end up as an alcoholic.


Robert Trivers: Why do we deceive ourselves?


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Be normal

Act normally.
Use regular clothes.
Say ordinary things.
Smile normal smiles.
Be like an undercover agent.
You're in great danger if they blow your cover.
It helps a lot if you can forget about your true self.
A true self is useless here.
Do not question their views.
Get yourself a hobby.
To be a supporter of a sports team can be helpful,
but do not go to extremes.

Monday, December 23, 2013

How is it, really

If you happen to be born and raised in a right-wing family
or if you for other reasons have acquired strong right-wing views,
then you'll see the world through right-wing glasses.
If you read the Bible, you'll find that Jesus was rightist;
if you study biology, you'll find that life is a dog eat dog business.

We look at the world through colored glasses,
right-wing glasses, left-wing glasses, neurotic glasses,
spiritual glasses, Buddhist glasses, Christian glasses...

What would the world look like, do you think,
if we could take off our colored glasses?

http://www.momentum98.com/colorther.html

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Fallacies

Delusions, misapprehensions and crazy ideas,
can make you very, very ill.

Depression, the powers of Darkness,
leaden beliefs that drag you and your family
deeper and deeper down,
to a totally meaningless and dirty dungeon,
or,
religious fantasy worlds, superstition,
suicide bombs, exorcism and fear of imagined Gods,
ethnic cleansing, hallelujah, praise the Lord.
or,
political fanaticism,
Nazism, racism, neoliberalism,
surrendering to the God of Money,
the God of Madness or the God of Destruction,
or,
alcoholism, wet pants, endless lies,
idiotic smiles and imaginary elegance,
anger, whiny self pity, excuses, selfishness ...

Delusions can take so many different forms.
The only important question is:
Is it possible to wake up?

Is it possible to give up drinking?
Is it possible to give up political beliefs?
Is it possible to leave religious cults?
Is it possible to stop feeling sorry for oneself?

What do you think?

Monday, December 16, 2013

Self deception

Imagine a selfish and false old man.
His falsity began to grow in his teens, because it paid off well
and he made his career in politics.
He devoted his life to promote right-wing views,
competition, tax cuts for the rich
and restrictions on public expenditures on the poor.
He had a trusting image and a winning smile.

Now he sits in a wheelchair, in a nursing home, staring out a window.
A faint odor of urine surrounds him.
Of course he regrets a few mistakes, but on the whole, he is proud of himself.
He has done his bit for freedom and democracy.

His children wish that he would die soon.
They make courtesy visits and say nice and polite phrases to him.
When he eventually passes away,
there will be an obituary filled with bullshit in the local newspaper,
the priest will say nice things at the funeral
and the loved ones can finally relax.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

We need our shells

Hermit crabs are not protected by their own shells.
They generally use abandoned shells of sea snails as armor
but they may also use other suitable containers.
So, when a hermit crab outgrows his shell,
he must seek another larger shelter.

I once saw a small plastic jar walking about in the Philippines.
It was a hermit crab and I came to think of religions,
worldviews and ideologies, as kinds of protective shells.

Therefore, in your life, when your religious beliefs, your political opinions
or your worldview begins to feel restrictive and tight,
then you have to do something.
Then you have to start searching again.


                                  *


I look at it in this way:
Religions, worldviews and ideologies are important
because they give us a group affiliation.
We need a group to belong to.
We're pack animals, after all.
We can't fend for ourselves.
It's difficult to change worldview, it's difficult to change identity,
but it's possible, nowadays.
A cult member can leave his cult and become a careerist,
an alcoholic can stop drinking and start running,
an atheist can suddenly be saved...


                              *


I believe that it is possible to drop all religions and ideologies.
You don't have to become an atheist or a nihilist.
You don't have to become anything.
It's not necessary any longer.
You don't have to follow this or that spiritual teacher.
You don't have to belong to any particular group.
Many people can afford to be just humans, nowadays.
We belong to a big group.


                             *


Well, those who belong to a group,
those who are possessed by a religious faith or a political ideology
neoliberals, political Islamists, careerists or whatever,
they are always so much stronger.
They will forever be the rulers on the this planet.


Friday, December 13, 2013

Reveries

Life sucks and then we die.
We have to create fantasy worlds in order to get warmth and shelter.
Caves and campfires do not suffice.

And of course we have to believe that our stories are true.
What else can we do?
It would be crazy to believe that our explanations and interpretations are wrong,
wouldn't it?

Nevertheless, we change.
We replace our beliefs with new beliefs, as we grow older.
Nothing is written in stone.

Monday, December 9, 2013

The Vietnam war

In 1945, after the atom bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
when the Japanese had finally surrendered,
France wanted their former colony Indochina back.
Vietnam, (a part of Indochina), that had been occupied by France for decades
and then by Japan during the second world war, 
wanted to become an independent country.

France did not want to give up their territory,
and thus the First Indochina War began.
US paid the French costs for the war, as France was ruined
and also helped them with air support.

Where did the French get the idea that Vietnam belonged to them?
Why did not any western democratic country
support Vietnam in their struggle for independence;
not before World War II, and not after?
Where could Vietnam find help?
Why did United States assist the French army in Vietnam?
Why didn't US give support to democratic endeavors in Vietnam?

Because The US was not a democracy at that time.
The US was a racist, right-wing extremist state.
Black people and native Americans
did not have the same legal rights as the white people.

Anyway,
In 1954, the Frenchmen were kicked out, despite all US support.
In the peace talks in Geneva that then followed,
it was decided that Vietnam should be divided in two parts
and that an election should be held within two years,
where the people of North and South Vietnam should decide
if they wanted to unite and if so, what kind of regime they wanted.

US prevented these elections and thus began the Vietnam War.
Two million Vietnamese died in this war, conservatively estimated,
and nearly sixty thousand young American men.
Seven million tons of bombs were dropped
with an explosive force equivalent to 600 Hiroshima bombs.

Ask young Americans or young Europeans of today,
if they know what this war was about,
and they will probably answer
that it was a war to defend freedom and democracy against Communism.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Free will



I found this one somewhere on the internet.