The Dualism Of Western Thought

 

 

The Berlin wall has stood as a symbol of the divide between the East and the West, the East with its socialism and equality and the West with its decadence and capitalism (see Goodbye Lenin (directed by Wolfgang Becker)). Of course, this division is merely illusionary with both the East and West being decadent capitalistic societies, however, if one was to move away from the politics of economics and the economics of politics one will find that the East is one of the very foundation stones of Western thought.

 

In Buddhism there is what is known as Bodhisattva, one who has reached enlightenment but has chosen to forgo enlightenment to help those suffering who has not yet reached a level of transcendence. Sound familiar? In Plato’s Republic there is the allegory of the cave. I am sure that this is known to you so I won’t go into details but will briefly give an outline of the allegory. In the cave there are people (us) and we are looking at the wall in which shadows are living life. For us, this is our true reality and the shadows are what we know. However, there are those who realise that we are actually in a cave and attempt to leave the cave and to enter the light of the sun outside (ascend the cave to reach enlightenment). Sound familiar?

 

Pythagoras, who is probably best known by school children as the a² +b² = c² guy, spent time in China and whilst in China learnt about Buddhism and then brought it back to Greece where the likes of Plato and Socrates enjoyed the logic of only a few being good or bad enough for reward/damnation. Other parallels with other Western thoughts are also self-evident here but I won’t go into them. Rather, I’ll consider a saying (I’m not sure of the origin as it has oft been quoted ad nauseam)

 

‘If you see the Buddha on the road to enlightenment kill him’

 

Why is this? Surely it should be encouraged? The notion stems from the deluded thought that happiness is a place that one can go (a bit like going insane- so many people do it and it seems like such fun, hence why so few come back!) when it is, rather a journey of self-discovery.

 

In the brilliant documentary Cry Of The Snow Lion (a film about China’s colonisation of Tibet) one monk says (to paraphrase) the West went to conquer lands and we went within to conquer our minds (see how that worked out for Tibet). And surely this is the crux? If one wants to be happy and all that jazz then maybe one should stop looking around for happiness and pleasure and start looking within, after all, one of the basis of Western thought is Eastern so maybe the illusionary division between East and West should be eradicated and both should become one?

 

 

Just a thought, after all that is all we truly are

 

‘till next time

Human Rights (and Wrongs)

 

Recently a river in New Zealand was afforded the same rights as a human. ‘…the roughly 90-mile Whanganui River will be represented by two guardians in legal matters that concern the waterway.

The legislation marks a monumental victory for the local Māori people, who view the river as “an indivisible and living whole,” Gerrard Albert, lead negotiator for the Whanganui tribe, tells The Telegraph. “It has been a long, hard battle” to earn legal recognition of the river, which is known by the Māori as Te Awa Tupua.

Under that name, the river will be appointed representatives — one each from the tribe and the government — in court proceedings. And the BBC notes the settlement also includes $80 million in financial redress and $30 million toward improving the river’s health.’

 

However, what rights do people have and are all treated equally? When Tom Jefferson, some millennial, was doodling in his notebook he wrote ‘all men are created equal and free’, however, once he wrote up his work he wrote ‘all men are created equal’.

 

Watching CNN, the other day, the blood in my veins turned to ice and fear set upon me as I watched ICE officers kicking down the doors of illegal immigrants in America and drag parents away from their crying children. In case you don’t know, ICE is an acronym that stands for ‘Nazi Secret Service’. Having promised to use the armed forces to deport illegal immigrants, and having found out that this is impossible, Mr Trump has increased the number of ICE agents and, essentially, formed his own private army. ICE usually round up murders and rapists who skip bail a few months after they do so. However, now ICE are rounding up anyone with a different accent on the off chance that they are illegal.

 

Whilst I agree that one should not be an illegal immigrant, do it properly, that is why the system is there, one cannot help but feel nauseated by what is happening. The lies and disinformation, the attacks on intelligence and the media must terrify one. The question must be in one’s head, if there is nothing to hide why try so hard to hide? The answer is, you wouldn’t so the scarier question is ‘what is being hidden?’

 

With the legitimate news being declared illegitimate, with leaders too weak admit being wrong, with a rise of hate crimes, unelected people taking positions of power, breaking of unions and the radicalisation of the left and the right everything seems to be heading back an era the west had hoped it had learnt better from…

 

Still, there is hope. Syria are hoping to qualify for the next football world cup and events in London yesterday (22/3/17) show that people still can stand up to the darkness, after all if a river can be given human rights then surely humans can too?

 

‘till next time

 

 

We Need To Talk, Albert

Usually when I express my opinion I either get shouted at or ignored, usually by those who preach that sameness is a sin. However, with most bloody minded fools, I refuse to give up my opinion until I have examined it in depth, made it into a ‘fact’ and then set about trying to destroy the very foundations of my ‘facts’. Facts, as I am sure you know, are just opinions enough people like to call a fact. Facts are, in no real way, facts.

 

One of the people whom, when I read them or think about them, makes my jaw drop so that I must swerve to avoid tripping over it is Albert Einstein. Albert is discounted by many people for being popular, however, if one was to actually read his work, not only his work on physics but also his works and opinions away from physics, one will see the justification to my claim (fact!) that Einstein is one of the greatest philosophers with regards to perception (fact!).

 

Albert is best known for his work on relativity, and if you are familiar with my blog you will now expect be to write about some obscure element of Einstein which is usually obscure for the simple reason that nobody cares. If you took that bet, unfortunately, you would be wrong.

 

Einstein once said that ‘reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one’. The theory of relativity was created as a theory and then Einstein went back over it to work out the mathematics. Therefore, as a theory, relativity is a philosophical treatise. If you wish to know more about the work then go and read it! There is a conceit amongst academia that the (so-called) giants can only stand up if being propped up by little folk who believe that they can understand the work better than those who wrote it and that those who wrote it need them to protect their legacy. Hopefully I am not (quite) that dumb. So, if you want to know, go to the original source! What I will talk about is why relativity is (arguably as I will try to argue) the greatest theory of human perception.

 

My thoughts on the matter are (surprise, surprise) very simplistic. Relativity shows that no two people see the same thing exactly the same way, everything comes down to subjectivity, and that the only reality that we can agree upon are the constant and certain natures of space and time which are, as relativity show, neither constant or certain. Even space and time conform to subjectivity.

 

However, to reiterate the earlier comment, ‘reality is an illusion, albeit a very persistent one’, Albert was once in a conversation with a young poet who shouted at Einstein ‘matter is not real!’ to which Einstein replied ‘if your suitcase is heavy wouldn’t you rather someone else carried it?’ to which ‘poet’ said ‘yes, obviously’ to which Einstein threw up his hands and exclaimed ‘then how can you say that matter is not real!’

 

Our reality in an illusion and this knowledge can be potentially dangerous for one’s ontological security, however, if it is just an illusion then surely one must learn to treat other people better, for if nothing is real, then what else can matter? (pun intended, tee hee)  

 

‘till next time      

The Measure Of The Man

 

(note- this was written in January)

 

At the end of every presidency people look back at the legacy of the president and decide how he was (Leonard Cohen said that titles such as poet should be attributed only after one’s life).

 

But how are such things judged?

 

Longevity? Thomas  Jefferson was thirty-three when he wrote the constituion and the aveage age was of those who signed was fourty-four- merely children.

 

The second president, John Adams used to write letters to his wife (who is probably more famous than he is outside of the United States) before and after he became president and he would address his wife in the letters with a derivation of ‘my best friend’. Highly sceptical of democracy Adams helped it to over come its birth pains.

 

Nixon much vilified and remembered negatively desegregated the schools, the darling JFK, a believer in communism escalated America’s interest in Vietnam and severed ties with Cuba 

 

But of course what I really want to talk about is the ending of the 44^th presidency, Barack Obama. Obama came in upon a tidal wave of popularity however, the expectations put upon him by people were unrealistic and when he could not live up to them they attacked him. Hollywood and the liberal arts vilified him for only walking on water but not skipping, Democrats, fearful of Republicans, refused to back many of his initiatives and the Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell (‘our main priority is to prevent Obama being re-elected’) and aided by the Koch Brothers and some vain-glorious businessman called Trump who kept demanding to see Obama’s birth certificate), failed to prevent his re-election so then set about blocking him and then calling him a lame-duck.

 

In spite of Congress and the rest, Obama recovered America’s fortunes after the 2008 crash, provided affordable health-care to all people, raised the minimum wage, scaled back America’s involvement in wars, caught the most wanted criminal (Bin-Laden), stood up to Israel, who were taking American support for granted, imposed sanctions upon Russia, essentially crippling large aspects of Putin’s power and led the way on climate change and emissions control managing to get even China to agree to the sanctions (and that is just things off the top of my head).

 

However, Hollywood still decried him, Republicans forced him to shut down the government (back a person into a corner and you’ll see what he is made of) and even then Obama managed to win.

 

There is the old saying- you don’t know what you have until it is gone and this has been echoing in my head every time I hear the anti-Obama sentiment. Yes there are things he could have done better, such as in Syria where if Obama says stop they will stop such is his awe and fear factor but a president can only deal with the time he has and thanks to Clinton’s repeal of Glass–Steagall  and the growth of the risk-taking-bond-market (for more information read Michael Lewis) Obama inherited a country that was on the verge of another great depression, but more importantly the way he acted with dignity and poise is an inspiration to young people everywhere.

 

 

Obama, we miss you

The Price Of Success

 

Nine months ago the world was shocked when the team I have supported since childhood won the English Football Premier League. Nine months later the world was shocked again when the owners (mentioning no names Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha HALAPULA, formerly Vichai Raksriaksorn Chutmarani, a Thai billionaire businessman, football manager, founder, owner and chairman of King Power Duty Free. (from Google)) sacked the Leicester City manager (FIFA manager of the year) Claudio Ranieri.

 

Having taken a 5000-1 team (who were favourites for relegation) to win the most competitive (and maybe best) and prestigious league in world football, getting to the last 16 of the Champions League (with the possibility of making the last 8) it is easy to see why a small blip this season (struggling in the league with a relegation battle) makes a person who redefined sporting history sackable, I mean fairy tales happen every day, right?

 

What was the reason for the dip in form? I think there are two main reasons- firstly Ranieri and the players thought the players were better than they are (essentially a squad of rejects). Ranieri tried to develop the club by giving the team new styles as the old style that won the league was now too well known, not realising that the players aren’t good enough to play anything than the good old English 4-4-2 and secondly the players thought they were too good to bother with things such as playing football when they can be in magazine and have £100,000 per week new contracts.

 

If the well placed rumours have truth it was the players who spoke with the chairman (up to 4 times, I have read- players who, when he was sacked didn’t say a word until the press said they were to lame and then came out at the same time en masse to protect themselves ) to get the man who made them champions sacked. When the players listened to him they won the league, when they didn’t they end up in a relegation battle (both before Ranieri and this season). Yes Kante left and was not replaced, but how can you replace a player that is now, seemingly, the missing link in Chelsea’s almost certain league win this year? The answer is you can’t (or Kante).

The excuses need to stop. The problem with the club is the players, the players who never thought they would be stars (Vardy was non-league, Mahrez was league 2 in France (about 4^th division by English standards)  became stars and lost their heads and hunger and instead of looking at themselves turned on the manager and the chairman followed a disturbing pattern in football

(Seasons after the manager won the league

12  Mancini sacked

13  Fergie retired

14  Pellegrini replaced

15  Mourinho sacked

16  Ranieri sacked)

 

And removed the man who gave them their wildest dreams.

 

If the decision was made to protect the brand and the £100 million that would be lost if the team are relegated then this action (which may still see the team relegated) then it would be akin to shooting Bambi’s mother to protect the meat industry.

 

It seems there is no longer any room for sentiment in football, but luckily no one told Ranieri, a man who in the age of media cynicism would shake the hand of every journalist (even if there were 100) before every press conference), this

 

Yesterday, my dream died. After the euphoria of last season and being crowned Premier League Champions all I dreamt of was staying with Leicester City, the club I love, for always. Sadly this was not to be.

I wish to thank my wife Rosanna and all my family for their never ending support during my time at Leicester. My thanks go to Paolo and Andrea who accompanied me on this wonderful journey. To Steve Kutner and Franco Granello for bringing me the opportunity to become a champion.

 

Mostly I have to thank Leicester City football club. The adventure was amazing and will live with me forever. Thank you to all the journalists and the media who came with us and enjoyed reporting on the greatest story in football. My heartfelt thanks to everybody at the club, all the players, the staff, everybody who was there and was part of what we achieved.

But mostly to the supporters. You took me into your hearts from day one and loved me. I love you too. No one can ever take away what we together have achieved, and I hope you think about it and smile every day the way I always will. It was a time of wonderfulness and happiness that I will never forget. It’s been a pleasure and an honour to be a champion with all of you.

 

Arrivederci Claudio, and thank you

 

‘till next time