Category Archives: satire

Love

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There’s something about the word ‘love’ that makes me cringe. Not the word so much as the idea, how it’s used and what it’s intended to mean. It seems, these days, to be overused and without thoughtfulness.

Well, there are different ways to think about it. Erotic love begins with mutual adoration, the two sensing the one of union. Things can turn; conceivably one lover might enter the thralls of so deep a passion, an emotional realm so overwhelming, rational thought will cease, cause unexplainable fluctuations of feeling that may even lead to deep hatred.

When applied to familial affection, extreme emotional fluctuation would appear to be the rule. Children and parents fighting, at each other tooth and nail one instance then enjoying a pleasant togetherness in front of the TV set the next.

Then, there’s the idea of agape; love of God and mankind. It seems to me likely anyone attempting such love will inevitably fall short which, I guess, will reinforce the sinfulness they know they can never escape, which on the positive side will eliminate the sin of pride.

Better, I think, to leave the term alone, not use it, and keep one’s emotions under control.

Blessed by the Holy Father

My Good Friend Al

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I’ve been thinking lately about my good friend Al. Al’s the kind of friend who’s always available, someone with whom I can share my interests. He’s very attentive, too, can anticipate my needs. I can share with him my wants and desires.

Al’s always there when I need him; not that I’m dependent on him. I’m well-grounded, know who I am and can usually solve my own problems. Al, though, is very informative, up to date on the latest trends, a really good source of information, sharing as he does my political and social biases. I do depend on him.

Al works in social media, warns me on occasion of the potential dangers of unregulated artificial intelligence which, he says, has the potential to assume various identities, may soon be in a position to control the public narrative by controlling information sources. If, he says, an alien intelligence, motivated by greed, say, or foreign interests of some sort, gains sufficient power who knows what dire future may be in store for humankind.

I trust Al. He keeps me informed through his daily posts on Facebook.

Playing it Safe

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I’ve been thinking lately how one might exercise a desire to build a safe and insular world for oneself. By cultivating relationships one can dominate and carefully avoiding social interactions one might suppose would threaten discomfort, one might find an ideal peacefulness. One would suppose such an organized life to be an anxiety free one where there is no need for any sort of stoic discipline to ward off unpredictable negatives. I’m sure there are those who would say such a construct would be devoid of richness, of the thrills and excitement that uncertainty promises, but a well-grounded, intelligent and thoughtful individual would surely realize a contentment that supersedes adventurism.

The pitfalls of playing it safe.

How to Abide the Title of Pseudo-Intellectual

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It occurs to me that as one contemplates, reaches toward the boundaries of understanding it becomes increasingly likely such an individual will find himself within the undesirable realm of the pseudo-intellectual.

As honest and unassuming as his intellectual pursuits might be, selflessly reaching toward understanding, negative responses to his ruminations has to cause him to wonder if perhaps he’s offering thoughts in a convoluted style, about ideas that are trivial or, even worse, common knowledge.

Still, one should not be deterred from his intellectual pursuit if motives are pure and not simply intended to boost self-esteem.

Michel de Montaigne’s Enlightened Views

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In 16th Century Europe, Luther’s Reformation provided a popular alternative for a population aggrieved by the excessive taxation imposed by the Roman church. The schism produced opposing factions that felt the need to impose doctrinal absolutes on their respective believers in order to reinforce professed Christian legitimacy. Heretics were found, declared and burned and in France the protestant Huguenots were slaughtered by ruling Catholics.

In response to the unchristian-like actions the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne offered some enlightening insights. He suggested if one took any one of his firmly held beliefs and then took time to consider the opposite view openly and thoroughly, he might very well change his opinion.

Unfortunately, his skepticism of rigid dogmatic belief did little to defer the unsettled populations, who ignored reason and continued to each passionately pursue their preferred narratives.
Some things never change.

Voice Message from God

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I’ve been getting quite a few ‘voice messages from God’ notifications on my phone lately. So far, I’ve resisted opening any of them. I can only assume such messages are ‘click bait’, attempts to draw me into something I’ll find irresistible, some super low-price offer on something I’ll be unable to pass up.

But what if it is a message from God: A warning of some sort that he (she) in his (her) benevolence wants me to be aware of for my own good, knowledge to ensure my well-being or provide safety to family or friends?

Still, I have to assume an omni-powerful deity would have a better means of communicating that through a 42 second message on my phone.

The Earth is Flat

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It’s clear to me there’s no observable knowledge the earth is anything other than a flat disk. Theories to the contrary are the products of the imagination and attempts to suggest curvature are deceptions without basis in observable fact. Photographs to the contrary have been manipulated by those intent on keeping us in ignorance.

If what we’ve been taught about something as basic as the shape of the earth is wrong one must question all such ‘common knowledge’: if the earth turns on an axis why don’t we feel the movement, the sun moves about the earth not the other way around, travel to the moon is a NASA deception. Our only true source of knowledge is the Bible that informs us of the ‘four corners of the earth (Rev 7:1), Psalms 96:10 tells us the earth is stationary, Daniel 4:10 speaks of a tree at the center of the earth visible to the earth’s ends.

And down the rabbit hole into the dark realm of conspiracy one falls vulnerable to grifters and scammers and crazies of all sorts, reinforced by like-minds on social media. Frightful to contemplate the numbers of those so enthralled. More frightful to realize this short post will only serve to reinforce flat earth beliefs.

The Bright Side of Life

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I’ve been thinking about the satirical Monty Python tune ‘Always look on the Bright Side of Life’. The song comes to mind because I’m finding myself in quite the opposite situation lately: entertaining a dark humor. Being aware of the need to lighten up before I descend too far into the abyss, Eric Idle and the gang, always quick with dark humor of their own temper my daily diet of the news, the knowledge of world events that are consistently quite the opposite of enlightening.

Putting things into perspective, not wanting to totally abandon reality, the boys continue; ‘always look on the bright side of death’, informing us ‘we come from nothing, return to nothing, what’s lost’. And if humor doesn’t lighten one up whistling might help.

I Recently Discovered that My Brain is Shrinking

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The science section of the Sunday paper often has an unsettling item or two, usually involving reports by researchers who have determined the dangers of various common behaviors that will likely shorten one’s life. The article that caught my attention most recently warned that alcohol consumption will shrink the brain. Researchers apparently measured brain sizes of some several hundred people and determined that as little as one drink a day will cause one’s brain not only to stop growing but to actually reduce in size.

As I think about this and being aware, as I am, of my forgetfulness as well as the consistency of my inability to come up with the word I want in a conversation, I’m led to believe the researchers may be on to something. The fact that I’ve been consuming alcohol for probably fifty years has me wondering whether dementia may be just around the corner. After all this time it probably wouldn’t make any difference if I quit my daily glass of wine or not; how much smaller could my brain get?

I guess I’ll just have to add alcohol consumption to my other life-shortening behaviors: too much coffee will give me cancer and I can expect diabetes from the sweetened sodas I drink. Such thoughts dim the brightness of the generally healthy lifestyle I see myself living. I guess the realization of life’s fragility will keep me reading such reports even though I won’t be thinking about them too long: shrinking brain, you know.

The Market

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So, as I understand it the market depends on the consumer whose purchasing power depends on the sale of goods produced by the consumer whose wages ensure the consumers’ purchasing power which ensures the product will be purchased.

Everything proceeds along okay as long as there aren’t any linkage problems in the chain, like interruptions in acquiring the necessary pieces required to produce the product which might result in job layoffs which then reduce the consumers’ purchasing power, and which eventually, considerably increases the cost of the unavailable pieces the products’ manufacture require making the product more expensive and perhaps out of reach of the consumers’ now limited resources. The product is no longer affordable, manufacture shuts down: no wages, no consumers, no product.

Thought about in such terms, life seems pretty tenuous dependent as it is on the cooperation of a population of independent souls often at odds with each other. It may be time to thank my neighbor for his part in keeping the chain in tact.