ON CREATING A CREATOR .......

WE  should care in life to get things right, or as right as we can .   The man or people who created the god of Abraham supposed and assumed back then, that god feels, reacts and reasons the same way as we do . Like ourselves he is envious, jealous, curious, loving, vindictive, murderous or forgiving, cruel and brutal, in fact as his mood takes him, in a sense exactly like us .

But we never consider seriously that god has no one to envy, has no peers or competitors, no real reason to blame us the people bellow whom he created and gave them characters, nothing to forgive but what he created. God presumably created us, chose some of us, hated some others, he apparently continues to care for some , as he cares for ants and mosquitoes, albeit we keep attributing to him equal opportunities, and fatherly attitudes . How he juggles all his subjects and what criterions he follows remain a mystery to our limited brains.

He exists through shows of over confidence, illusions of comprehension, his hugely self-belief sense of righteousness , his omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience do not match well his continuous sense of grievance at having been undervalued or replaced, do not match the original intended picture of a creator, nor his self appointed divine messianic promoters and followers .

This same creation, god, who loves and hates simultaneously, who is totally dependent on his creation's praise, while looking and considering them inferior and worthless, looking constantly for their flattery, false or true, is a clear sign of weakness, only worthy of low level sapiens and not what they themselves thought to empower their own divine creator with.

Authority, absolute leadership, self admiration, superiority and arrogant levels of self absorption , exploitation of others and wicked manipulation, are all sapien attributes, we shouldn't have given or passed to the divine back then or now , as passing to the gods, our own earthly attributes, we liberate them with freedoms from moral woes, flaws, remorse and worries. We turn them into extreme and unsatisfiable.

Theoretically all of the human race, but factually only a smaller part of humans share some traits of humility, congeniality, tenderness and an honest self-criticism, unlike all of our gods throughout history, and more so since the book of genesis, written by an Ezra around the Babylonian exile of the 6th century bce, created the god of Abraham, who brutally governed over some minor tribes for years. Hellenized Christians and later, Mohamedan Musslems , both inherited and adopted the book and its concepts of creation in their entirety.

Moral improvement of Homo Sapiens throughout history, was directly intertwined with the times of rapprocheman and convergence with god. Whenever men were closer to gods and in better relation and mirroring them, their morality degraded, they behaved with more immunity, like their god. It is unfortunately the traits of our times as well . Cruelty, sin, vengeance , vanity and false pride and superiority, were an inheritance we passed on to our gods, and we loved them for it, they returned it to us with supposed benediction and protection, and we loved them even more.

On a different note, more civilized countries all over the world nowadays are recognizing and updating their existing laws . Including here in the U.S. as Mr. Obama signed a week ago, amendments to a law recognizing  non-theist  groups and individuals, a long overdue step giving atheists and non-theistic communities the same protection and respect that have been given, or should I say accaparated, hogged and monopolized,  by religious communities for long centuries .    

As always , my gratitude for your time , patience and help proliferating the blog.  

            

AUTHORIZING, LEGITIMIZING AND LEGALIZING THEFT ....

When I repeatedly keep talking about the crazy area of the world we call the Middle-East, and call them the "la la lands" I persistently include Israel, I don't really err much, as some might think or accuse, I don't consider  myself inaccurate nor inappropriate , even if it didn't reach yet the levels of the situation of say Syria, Iraq or Yemen, but surely they are on the same path , as they all are governed by some religious mysterious Divine hands, will and mind .

The recent parliamentary discussions, leading and allowing for the authorization and legalization of the law of theft, the law allowing and legitimizing settlers who previously acquired land by force and brutal methods from present or absent Arab owners, and built on it,  what is internationally recognized as illegal housing , is slowly and surely being voted in . Of course behind it all is the alt-right and the PM , Mr. Netanyahu himself with some of his religious neocons ministers.

Now assuming that with some friends , white, blue eyed of course, non Jewish couples from the U.S and Europe , make it to the occupied Palestinian West Bank, and manage to put our hands on someone Else's land and property, using bribery and applying  other forceful brutal means and designs , build it with entirely subsidized nice homes and lived in them with our families .

Would we eventually benefit from the same deal !! By legalizing and perpetuating the take over, or theft , of our newly acquired  homes ?? Or is the law strictly reserved for Jews ? Israeli Jews or foreign Jews, as all Jews in the world are automatically naturalized Israeli citizens anytime they wish . It's all being assumed hypothetically of course .

In all and any book of law or religion it is called legalizing theft , but the funnier part is , that in Israel, it's being done and applied  practically in the name of religion !! As Yahweh or their own version of Allah , promised them the land , by any means possible, and made it Halal  for them to acquire . And all Israelis believe or insist on believing that . Making it legal and the law of the land becomes trivial and inconsequential .

Now, and to add a final note ,  let's hope that words of condemnation, reprimand or criticism for such acts , for themselves or for future peace outcomes, used in this blog or other articles and publications, will not further trigger questions , investigations or surveillance  under anti-Semite false headings and pretexts, as it's all been lately reinforced by the passage of the Scott and Casey bill , here in the U.S Senate. With the sole purpose of widening the scope of controlling universities and the cultural publishing output of intellectuals  condemning or criticizing Israel or some of their misdeeds , as well as its politicians .

My very deep appreciation and thanks for your time and help spreading the word .  

NARCISSISM .......

Narcissus, was intoxicated by his own beauty and self image,  but in our times we face more politicians/leaders being as intoxicated by their own selves, their achievements, their birth and possessions and worth . To name a few ; let's look at Gaddafi of Libya , Saddam Hussein of Iraq, both gone.  We can always admire some of the existing ones, like V. Putin the Tsar, Sultan R. Erdogan, and the famous Netanyahu of Israel. Both George Bush Jr. and Tony Blair showed messianic tendencies shortly after taking office, especially before it became apparent that turning Iraq into the promised paradise was a big farce .

Of course Assad of Syria is definitely in a class of his own as well.  Our Trump the latest in elected U.S. presidents, surely is a phenomena to look at separately , Oun of small Lebanon could easily follow, as well as Zimbabwe's Mugabe who might step down soon, or not. Kim Jong-Un of N. Korea, his father and grand father before him are all solid candidates.

Vanity and greed are common in most, as it is mostly driven by total blind love of the self, it is after all not very different from Narcissism.  Arrogance is one of the least appealing of human idiosyncrasies, so again , why are so many of these horrible character flaws , shared by so many of our leaders ??

We accept our leaders at their own valuations, when they tell us, then they have no need for us, no more than god has any need for his worshipers.  It is more that they cannot comprehend the idea that they could be flawed, as we lie low outside the range of their imagination.

What Adam Smith calls "  men of rank and distinction" We make and turn our politicians into celebrities, for all to see, cherish and enjoy, and label them ourselves as men of rank and distinction. Their words and gestures become ours, they invariably turn into people who feel that the eyes and attention of the world are on them, and them alone. And mankind should be disposed and willing to go with them. They deserve to belong with the gods .

These leaders with their arrogance  fail to recognize these acts of popular admiration and applause, they are more likely to turn into indifference at best, malice and ridicule at worst. Leaders who are at any time capable of uncontrollable anger , aggression, cruelty and brutality , despair and paranoia .

It is no credit to our phase of civilization to be so easily manipulated and governed by so much vanity,  egotism and self worship . Where their ambitions are never fulfilled or satisfied . All sharing the same messianic self belief, with aggressiveness, lack of remorse, and invariably financial irresponsibility that always end in dangerous and disastrous behavior .

My, as always profound thanks for listening, and sharing the blog with as many friends all over .          

TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY ......

Generally  speaking, we were headed into a world of more development , into a world of social improvement and possibly more equitable distribution of wealth , a world of better morality and plurality . In all appearances , the new headings of our post elections times, indicate greater possible decay, and larger fanatical neo-conservatism policies, under a Alt-right banner, slogans and headings.

In some periods of any nation , men and women, could be busy building and enlightening themselves and their descendants , while in other periods they could  busy themselves destroying . We may reasonably expect that in the immediate future , a new state of affairs will arise , ideas and ways of behavior will be resurrected and brought up , some new forms of civilization or anti modernization , will be attempted .

That some new/archaic generations are and will be rebelling against the intellectual and cultured intelligentsia , trying to stop and regress,  from serious social and revolutionary times , from rebellious times against the old traditional and established old ways , norms and thoughts , that is undeniable . Regress into conformity and classical conservatism , trying to conserve fundamental orthodoxy .

Modern morality , plurality, will be abandoned for some deep rooted xenophobic and a white religious male misogyny , and for some more traditional stereotyped ways of instinctive responses . Who was it who said  "Great empires and little minds go ill together."

The results , politically , economically and socially are less predictable . There is no certainty that the immediate or long term future will repeat and continue the present progress . Every year from now on could be an adventure of its own . Social economical equity , or more fair equitable systems of distributing and living , plus the preservation of our natural habitat and environment , we cannot leave for our children and grand children to solve and deal with .

Things are far worse in our world and times now than previously thought, we need all our intelligence and resources to continue improving to reach safe shores . And not stopping or reversing courses for reactionary and old times thinking , living and fears, Definitely not religious dogmas where their only solutions were doomsday and  apocalyptic solutions .

Finally, and on a different note , it's funny to watch the game of calling among people in power ; Mr. Trump addressing the late Fidel Castro as a brutal political dictator , while many would call Trump a brutal and cruel business dictator, president Assad of Syria would be the humanitarian savior of his people dictator, minus few millions of them, As Mr. Netanyahu would be classified as the ultimate injustice dictator, All share the same ugly dictatorial tendencies,albeit of the different twist , and the world keeps rotating .

My usual gratitude for your time and help mentioning the blog and its ideas .         

DEMOCRATIC ILLUSIONS ......

Mr. Trump, the American president elect, clearly belongs to a cult, that cherish superficial charm, grandiosity, and an exaggerated self importance . A need for continuous stimulation, an obvious leaning and relying on lying, deception and manipulation, with no feelings of remorse or guilt .

His first ten days in politics already show numerous flip-flops and reversals on most previously promised issues.    I don't think Mr. Trump wanted deep down to be elected president, he wasn't ready for the job, and dreaded the responsibilities, thus the hastily stupid choices of people and advisers around him, mostly previous political failures, plus his immediate family. Good he didn't have few more kids and  in-laws of age, we would have had to watch a whole family soap opera running the white house and the country, plus their various businesses.

Mr. Trump, his team, and family, obviously belong to a cult of distraction, a cult of rich imitative consumptionist and consumerists, and pseudo thinkers steering the population from real social injustices, growing economical inequalities and disparities, absurd wars, major health care problems, political corruption and your periodic cyclic economic recessions . Despite the heated and promising rhetoric he used through out his campaign. Totally denying the facts that he grounded his workers and his contractors, disempowered them, used them, and later discarded them.

In America, we have become a society that praises entertainment above substance, with a total degradation of our culture, so a majority of men and women whole hearted, espoused and elected a 5th grade speech, rhetoric and slogans. Fewer and fewer are the keepers of values and a culture that is being denied and passively and willingly being given up. versus a majority leaning more every day to a popular culture, that cannot properly separate illusions from reality, and are so easily prone to manipulation .

To quote Chris Hedges ; " functional illiteracy in north America is epidemic, there are 7 million illiterate Americans, another 27 millions who are unable to read well enough to complete a job application, and 30 millions who can't read a simple sentence, there are 50 millions who read at a 4th or 5th grade levels, nearly a third of the population is illiterate or barely literate, a figure that is growing by few millions each year".

Propaganda, simple talk and cheap TV entertainment, have become a substitute for ideas and ideology, and in this rapid decline of values and culture, more than half of voters, became fertile ground for new Trump adventures. America is becoming every election year, more captive to smaller groups and their Alt.right demagogy , groups who cast their ballots based on how candidates make them feel, they vote for any slogan, a charming smile, a glimpse of sincerity and attractiveness. Candidates using narratives and speeches, prepared by very well paid professionals, mostly dumping and trumping reality for the illusionary promise of brighter future, and the implicit basic greatness of the gone by nation.

The results are junk politics, that leads to no changes, junk politics that neglect complex problems facing the nation, while maximizing marginal threats imported from abroad . Politics have surrendered to the hands of high manipulative few, and voters who neither seek nor want honesty or reality, as reality is complicated and boring. Voters who only ask to be comforted by cliches, stereotypes and inspirational messages, that only promise them they can be whoever they seek to be .

The ability to amplify lies, to repeat them and have everyone repeat them, has become a fixed pillar of our elections. Truth is irrelevant, we have become manipulated by illusions and those who create and fabricate the most convincing fantasies, and half the population went for it. We were fed many empty rhetorics , people believed what they wanted to believe, and voted. If this is who we really are, this is who we will be .

Finally, and to conclude this election period , I hope Mr. Trump would keep America nearly as safe and in good shape as he received it, and not turn it into the casino he himself and his likes only, like it to be. Or otherwise face history big time, it could turn very harsh on him and his line .

Chris Hedges, in his excellent "Empire of illusion" was inspirational for better understanding the elections, Trumpism, and writing the blog. My many thanks , and as well to all my good readers .                       

RIGGED OR HYPOCRISY .....

WELL !!! First of all , bravo Mr. Trump, well played, well done, it is show time big time, and the show must go on .

Now to look back at what took place on this election day, one cannot but wonder, if the whole upset was not really rigged, as Mr. Trump himself suggested numerous times, with different arguments and insinuations . Including that it could be rigged to his favor !!!  But, as we all admit that it wasn't rigged nor tampered with , then we fall into the second possibility, whereby many American voters proved themselves hypocrites .

Americans including  white educated middle and upper classes, liberals and cultured from all races and colours , college graduates , Blacks, Latinos, Musslems and Arabs, women, democrats leaning left or right, Asians, markets investors and Wall Str. managers, city people and their suburbs, and a good portion of our youths .

If we add all these , like the official pollsters and media polls with their analysts and projection people did, Secretary Clinton should have won with a landslide or at least very comfortable margins , as originally and till last minutes indicated and predicted. Where are the 41 points lead with women ?? the 67% of educated college grads ?? the 90% Latinos ??  the whatever numbers for Blacks, the almost totality of Asians and the Musslem million plus population , plus all regular democrats filling the ranks, not to mention the publicized republican refuseniks ??

It has to indicate hypocrisy and duplicity big time !! If all these groups behaved at the polls differently from what they claimed , and didn't vote their declared positions or didn't vote at all . While the other camp went ahead with its promised position all the way .

Unless , and otherwise it could have been a total show, created and staged by the media, the polling agencies, in good collaboration with either or both election machines, which gets us back to rigged . But the show goes on ....  with a different twist this time . Surprisingly America proved itself  Republican in its majority, as results managed to keep both the Senate and the House, plus the presidency , again contrary to all projections.

If the U.K. had and continues to suffer Brexit, we have created Amexit , and it's a bigger , wilder and more ferocious beast for sure . But the show must go on ....  So Ladies and Gentlemen of the elites, fasten your seat belts , hold your breaths and enjoy the show . While America realizes suddenly , that their forgotten men and women are enough in numbers to elect their leaders and both houses of Congress big time .

People all over , recognize themselves in their leaders, who espouses their dreams and struggles, I don't believe either candidates offered this choice for Americans , but hey, one side won big . As a good friend reminded me that when Athens democracy was created no one thought much of the issue that every voice counts equally, the educated and cultured and the peasant .

Although all the hows and whys of the election vote will be analyzed for months or even years, hypocrisy should always be considered in any analysis . Brexit should have been an example to emphasize and avoid, and Micheal Moore should have been listened to more attentively .

But cheer up America !!  our 45th president just promised us all , he will not let us down .  And the show must go on .....

My as always many thanks for listening.       

" DISORDERED WORLD " ......

Considering the expression " Disordered world"  one would think it real and factual in our times, just by looking at some hot and crazy spots around the world . To name just a few ; The American presidential elections, Brexit and its aftermath, the ongoing situation in Ukraine , the amazing ascent of Mr. Putin with his oligarchy and many of their past glorious dreams , the glory and supremacy of Israeli Neocon Zionist and religious politicians , and their live visions for the greater Israel, promised by their God ,  vis-a-vis a deteriorating and evaporating  Middle-East, and the ascent of religious fervor in both camps, Musslem and Jewish .

An alarming imbalance of wealth distribution and disparity all over the world, threatening social fabrics and stability . Alarming numbers of prison incarceration and torture the world over . A looming malicious terror wave, from all sides, threatening civilization as we know it . An astonishing rapid rise of Yellow power, economical as well as military, reminding the world of some old fears of new waves of hegemony , they called it the Yellow peril some decades ago .

And finally a newly mix of religious fanatical dogmas , popular taboos , and archaic social customs, invading different societies at all levels, threatening basic social fabrics and modern ways of conduct, as well as hundreds of years of advancement and progress .

Old dictatorships , oligarchies , autocracies and theocracies , that used to put a hold on their populations, limit their aspirations and movements , are not anymore the regular norms, even if existing in many unfortunate spots,  instead some pseudo democratic ideas are replacing them all . Thus making it more loose and dangerous , especially for new developing societies .

All versus more bizarre and grotesque leaders and their autocrats , and political establishments  dictating their narrow policies under new slogans and pretexts of fighting terrorism and immigrants, while drifting into State terrorism themselves, backed by highly repressive security and police forces, militias and armies . And manipulating monetary and economical policies to suit their benefits and the people behind them .

With some clear and evident responsibility of both the U.S. and Israel for the Middle-East state of affairs, one could rationalize that you don't suddenly see a young Musslem  militant behind his truck's wheel, packed with explosives, ramming through market places and see side cornice and promenades.  They all result from known injustices , and deep historical and actual reasons behind them .

Lack of basic dignity,  poverty and marginalization makes them resistance fighters , martyrs and heroes . Apartheid tactics, hegemonic policies and colonialism , invariably provide enough fuel for most deadly conflicts and acts . As is cruelty , detention , torture and legal state violence . Arrogant statements by aspiring American politicians , encouraging the Israelis to kill 200,000 Ghaza Palestinians,  instead of 2000 on their next barbaric adventure is deplorable, and sick to say the least.

Holding and preserving through military superiority and brutality , as many countries and regimes continue doing , what they can not preserve any more with economic superiority , moral and pluralistic authority .

Some real problems like major global recessions , high and uncontrollable unemployment, pollution and global warming , spreading deceases and deadly virus outbreaks , urban violence , cultural , moral and pluralistic tolerance , disparities of wealth, all have to be solved, eased and eliminated on planetary levels , if Sapiens aspire to go beyond our actual century .

My usual appreciation for your time and help spreading the blog and its ideas .