SPECTACULAR ORGY (FREEDOM AMERICAN STYLE) But this is precisely the point:the high point of liberation, it’s logical outcome,is to be found in the spectacular orgy, speed, the instantaneity of change, generalized eccentricity. Politics frees itself in the spectacle,in the all-out advertising effect;sexuality frees itself in all its anomalies,and perversions; mores, customs, the body, and…
How to say it. There is so much at stake , much more than we can know. We are on the cusp, the beginning days of a second surge in deaths from the coronavirus. California, a populous state that opened prematurely, along with states in the west and south whose governors owe fealty to…
This morning I read part of a story in the NYT of a grandmother on the way to the hospital, dying in the arms of her grand daughter after receiving her diagnosis of covid-19. This was a Florida story illustrating the difficulties of testing, and the consequences of back up of lab results, in…
A friend left a comment on a recent post observing that one becomes emotionally exhausted by a deluge of bad news. The reflex is to “cocoon,” to contract inwardly in order to reduce exposure to continued erosion of the self, to further loss of sanity. I knew what he meant by his insight. I…
20 Stop thinking, and end your problems.What difference between yes and no?What difference between success and failure?Must you value what others value,avoid what others avoid?How ridiculous! Other people are excited,as though they were at a parade.I alone don’t care,I alone am expressionless,like an infant before it can smile. Other people have what they need;I…
15 The ancient Masters were profound and subtle. Their wisdom was unfathomable. There is no way to describe it; all we can describe is their appearance. They were careful as someone crossing an iced-over stream. Alert as a warrior in enemy territory. Courteous as a guest. Fluid as melting ice. Shapable as a block…
We are seeing at the moment that the pandemic can’t be fought with lies and disinformation, and neither can it be with hatred and agitation, Angelica Merkel told the European Parliament on Thursday, according to French news agency France24. “Fact-denying populism is being shown its limits,” she added. — Business Insider July 9, 2020
Tao te Ching By Lao Tsu Translation by Stephen Mitchell 8 The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to. It is content with the low places that people disdain. Thus it is like the Tao. In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In…
Admittedly, the irony of community is missing here, as is the playfulness of social life. The charm to be found in social graces and in the theatre of social relations is all transferred outwards into the advertising of life and lifestyles. This is a society that is endlessly concerned to vindicate itself, perpetually seeking…
The first day of a long weekend by Lake Michigan. The sun slowly illuminates the forest that is quite close to the patio, the tall dark trees flame with green light. The curtain goes up on another day. Do you suppose that for the living vegetation, birds, mammals that live invisibly to us —…
