As usual I received the weekend update on my iphone news feed from the New York Times. I attempted to read over my bowl of cheerios. Interesting and concise as always, but I felt repulsed. My mind resisted following the cascade of deepening “troubles.” Another Black man is shot while fleeing police; demonstrations against…
The love of money as a possession—- as distinguished from the love of money as a means to enjoyments and realities of life — will be recognized for what it is, a somewhat disgusting morbidity, one of those semi-criminal, semi-pathological propensities which one hands over with a shudder to the specialists in mental disease….
Socialization is measured by the exposure to media messages. Whoever is underexposed to media is de-socialized or virtually asocial. Everywhere information is thought to produce an accelerated circulation of meaning, a plus value of meaning corresponding to the economic one that results from the accelerated rotation of capital. Information is thought to create…
Thursday afternoon was hot, summer-like. For a change of scene I took a short drive to Geneva to find a quiet spot outside to continue my reading in Simulacra and Simulation. Walking along State Street I felt depression, saddened by the view of boarded up store fronts. The property owners, no doubt called in…
I wrestle with words to characterize the condition of our society, as I perceive it. The “Ship-Of-State” is the metaphor that comes to mind. The image comes from Plato’s Republic book VI. Plato likens the governance of the city-state to the commanding of a naval vessel. I like the image, of a large ship. …
I have two, maybe three pages left in the book written by Albert Camus, The Rebel. Camus’ generation in France and Europe survived the horror of WWII and the murderous Nazi occupation. The Rebel is a manifesto, of what was learned from that experience. Today I offer a longish excerpt of Camus words, and…
This morning the news feed conveyed word of rioting in Minneapolis. Police officers in the course of arresting a black man while he was pinned to the ground, forced a knee into his neck long enough to kill him I’ve seen rioting, burning and looting before in the aftermath of the killing of M….
After waking, then consuming a bowl of cheerios for breakfast, I listened to The Daily. The Daily is a New York Times podcast. It is an in depth audio exploration of a something that affects all of us, and I often chose to listen with the earbuds in place. I recommend it. The Daily…
Culture: a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, — transmitted from generation to generation through learning. culture as widely defined A fact is that which from being an object of the intellect becomes a matter of conscience;…
Yesterday we went for a walk in the woods, that is I and my son, with two grandchildren a boy of 6 and a girl of 5. The close proximity to life was thrilling, a reminder of how exceptional it is to observe, to be present when new life is emerging, expressing its efflorescence. …
