Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one’s own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence. Wendell Berry,. What Are People For? As I write this, the present government of the United Kingdom is preparingContinue reading “On protest”
Tag Archives: freedom
On rent
I love you You pay my rent Pet Shop Boys, “Rent” Man is born free, but everywhere he is in rented accommodation. Why is this? The relationship between landlord and tenant goes back at least to the feudal period, as does much of the legislation governing it, at least in Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions. Now the feudalContinue reading “On rent”
On being unreasonable
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman It is not often that you’ll find me in agreement with David Icke, especially when it comes to the role ofContinue reading “On being unreasonable”
On my favourite Tarot trump
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations If you know nothing else about the Tarot, you will have seen this card. It is the one that the gypsy fortune-teller always picks out in every cheesy horror film or TV show since theContinue reading “On my favourite Tarot trump”
On cars
Personally, I refuse to drive a car – I won’t have anything to do with any kind of transportation in which I can’t read. Arthur C. Clarke, Report on Planet Three The picture above is of Kathmandu. I mention this fact just because it could be a picture of almost any city that has beenContinue reading “On cars”
On discrimination
For nothing is more democratic than logic; it is no respecter of persons and makes no distinction between crooked and straight noses. Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science Languages are never static, and words change their meaning; sometimes they come to mean the opposite of what they originally did. People now use literally to mean metaphorically,Continue reading “On discrimination”
On education
When Scythrop grew up, he was sent, as usual, to a public school, where a little learning was painfully beaten into him, and from thence to the university, where it was carefully taken out of him. thomas Love Peacock, Nightmare Abbey All human societies produce children in much the same way; education, in the broadestContinue reading “On education”
On time, its uses and abuses
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Only the Maya can claim to have been half as obsessed with time as our industrial civilisation is, and even they only went as far as devising a calendar so accurate it is said to be used by NASA. (ThisContinue reading “On time, its uses and abuses”
On jobs
In an advanced industrial society it becomes almost impossible to seek, even to imagine, unemployment as a condition for autonomous, useful work. The infrastructure of society is arranged so that only the job gives access to the tools of production. Ivan Illich Once upon a time, nobody in the world had a job. Of course,Continue reading “On jobs”
The sound of falling leaves 