ALMOST HUMILIATING !!!

Since my first visits to the U.S. back in the late sixties, and later in the early eighties when with my family,  we officially emigrated  to  America , until very recently, I could not easily adapt myself  to the notion of our strange relationship with the state of Israel.

Though with time I reconciled with this strange policy of ours, and accepted certain very publicised notions and aspects of our behaviour, as taking for granted that Jewish influence in all local elections is so powerful and essential to succeeding, and of course the known influence and lobbying tactics of AIPAC over congress is above all other consideration. It led me to think and believe that our extreme pragmatism lead us to such twisted behaviour.

Lately though, or at least in the last decade, matters have gone, and are going, more out of any control , going in ways that are against any rational or sensible policy, or even the simple safeguarding of our interests.

Never in the history of this great country of ours, did we humiliate ourselves, our leaders, our policies, by such begging for the approval of another state over our decisions and decision making . For whatever we want done, being it our elections, foreign policies, wars, or even decisions at our states and city level.

WE even resorted over the years to bribing and buying their acceptance and approval of our governing ourselves, and our interests, and it amounts to many , many billions of our tax money. Their leaders nowadays visit us as conquerors who come and dictate. It's a  strange, indeed very strange, and sad, state of affairs we have reached in our independence, our freedom of choice, our electoral decisions. It is so unAmerican, and so undignified, and we insistently keep at it.

We are firmly and assertively making it a way - our way- of life.




Thanks for your time and patience. 

ARISTOTLE AGAIN.......

THE Oxford dictionary defines "magnanimous, magnanimity" as : nobly generous, not petty in feelings or conduct.


Magnanimity the accomplishment of humanity, as in the man who has integrated all the virtues , courage , temperance ,  amiability,  generosity, such a person is really at the peak of moral happiness, that is to say, happiness plain and simple.

He is the happiest of men because his humanity is truly accomplished and radiant. This blossoming of a human being who has integrated all the virtues so that they have become inner and almost natural dispositions, Aristotle call magnanimity.

The magnanimous man is the most autonomous. He has no need of others. He is not worried about what others may think of him. It is as if he were above all that. His  great concern is the good, moral perfection , he knows how valuable it is, and because he is capable of great things, he expect recognition and honours, but he is truly worthy of them. Thus he is or could be called the perfect man.

"Now the proud [ magnanimous] man, since he deserves most, must be good in the highest degree." Aristotle thought of him as a great man, "a capable man who does not demean himself with petty concerns,he is a little like a god , superior to ordinary mortals. He is the sort of man to confer benefits but he is ashamed of receiving them , for the one is the mark of a superior , the other of an inferior." 

He must speak and act openly, for he is given to telling the truth, except when he speaks in irony to the vulgar. For it is not the part of a proud man to have a long memory, especially for wrongs, but rather to overlook them . Nor is he a gossip, for he will speak neither about himself nor about another, since he cares not to be praised nor for others to be blamed.

With regard to necessary or small matters, he is least of all men given to lamentation or nagging , the asking of favors . He is one who will possess beautiful and profitless things rather than profitable and useful ones ; for this is more proper to a character that suffices to itself.

At a first glance , this magnanimous man might be taken to be a very proud man in the modern sense of the word , almost pompous, He seeks to be perfectly accomplished .  Is he not, underneath it all, seeking his own aggrandizement and perfection ??

This is not in fact the case at all . The proud man (in the conventional modern sense) is the centre of his own world . He is not interested in others . Whereas, for Aristotle, the magnanimous man is interested in others, and in a manner that is great and noble , and in that, would be all the difference.




I have used the word "man" in the generic sense , whereby "human being" or "men and women" could have been more appropriate.
Paragraphs in italics are direct quotations from Aristotle.
English translations of Aristotle texts were by W. Ross , T. Irwin , and the texts and expertize of J. Vanier . MY  thanks to all, and to my readers.

ARISTOTLE !!!

SO who was Aristotle ??  I would like to tell you, on the strength of what is known about his life, how I imagine him to have been, and how I imagine him to have led his life.


IT seems to me that Aristotle, in his mature years, would have been one of those highly cultured men who knows how to listen, is passionately interested in reality, and is curious about everything there was to be discovered. Such men remain alert and attentive without being overwhelmed by information, because they have judgement. They know how to distinguish between what is true and what is false, what is essential and what is secondary. They know how to identify good intuitions. They are steady and open, capable of enthusiasm. They know how to join in the heat of the chase but also  how to stop, be silent, look, and contemplate. They seek to unify their knowledge, to establish a unity within themselves. That is why they take time alone to meditate and internalize what they know, to weigh things up. they are less interested in the sum total of their knowledge than in having an accurate vision of the world, less interested in what people think of them than in the truth itself.


I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that Aristotle was a uniquely exceptional person, he was a kind of a walking encyclopedia. Plato actually nicknamed him "the reader".

What is the highest activity in life ? For Aristotle, the quest for happiness is linked to this question. By "highest activity" we are meant to understand the finest, most sublime activity, the one that is going to to enable us to progress furthest in the development of our humanity.  Happiness, virtue, the quest for truth and friendship -- especially friendship, constitute the essence of a fulfilled life, at least according to Aristotle.

The questions that interested Aristotle passionately had also been a passionate interest of  many men and women throughout the ages, they are timeless questions of serious concern to anyone wishing to live his or her life to the full, to parents wanting to point their children in the right direction, in accordance with certain values. What kind of education leads to a life that is fully human? What should be taught and how should it be taught?? There are also social and political implications . Indeed, the task of any government, or political leader is to organise society in such a way  that the largest possible number of people can live well within it, and not just for a certain and definite elite. 





With the help of  J. Vanier, an authority on Aristotle, thanks as usual for listening.

THE SPICE OF LIFE !!

Happiness, whatever else people may say, is the great concern of our life. To be happy, to know happiness is the great desire of every man and woman. We may differ perhaps in ways by which we attain happiness, but we all want to be happy. That is our great goal and aspiration.

I  believe in human intelligence, I'm convinced that our capacity to think, to know and analyze, to make the right choices, to orient our lives in one direction or another.  I do not accept that we are merely a collection of predestined desires or impulses, I  think that each of us is, more or less, master of our own life and destiny.

Seeking the truth in all things, avoiding lies, acting in accordance with justice, and transcending oneself to act for the good of others in society.  Other axis of the quest for happiness as in ;  pleasure, power, esteem and honour are as important in our daily lives, as we need to give friendship a generous place in our existence.  But these last elements even though essential for our happiness and our life, do not have the value of a final end.

In order to be truly human and lead a fully human life, we need a certain substance, or inner structure to enable us to act correctly,  respect others' rights, be our masters, speak the truth, and be upright and honest.

When it is said that happiness is self sufficient,  it is not a matter of happily shutting ourselves away in splendid isolation , it is a matter of working with and for others, for parents, children, wife, and in general for ones friends and fellow citizens.

If life is a long term accomplishment, we have time in which to learn

Simply some thoughts for our betterment, thanks as usual for your time and patience, and salamat .