Concrete kisses

Ciao, Montreal. Stay beautiful.

Don't stop! Give it all you got!

Modern capitalism is truly astounding. It’s the absolute pinnacle of dysfunction. Its only purpose is to allocate limited resources efficiently, yet it requires an enormous number of managers; allocates wealth inequitably and irrationally; wastes resources on useless or harmful things; has unpredictable and damaging boom/bust cycles; and fuels internecine and international warfare. Its underlying theory is absurd and its implementation criminal, but somehow its evangelists have convinced the general population that this is the best possible system. I won’t belabour the point, but I’d like to share a minor epiphany I had.

I’ve tried to live in opposition to this warped system, but I realized lately that I fell into one of its traps. One of its intellectual pillars is the notion that progress comes from a Protestant work ethic. If we all work harder, we can build a better society with the fruits of our labours. Politics is then relegated to the decision of how to spend the wealth generated via capitalism—roads, weapons, schools, solar panels. This apparent flexibility explains why ideologues of all stripes support capitalism. This logic can be extended to any group or individual. There is no problem that cannot be solved through hard work.

Historically, this was largely correct: when there wasn’t enough food or clothing or firewood, someone needed to work to produce more. But with 20^th-century mechanization, our material needs were met long ago, and we have become so productive that extra work actually reduces our quality of life. These days, half of the work done is to create the demand for more work: in order to create jobs in an SUV factory, workers in marketing and sales need to create the demand for SUV’s. Overall, people work longer hours, consume more, and produce more waste, but they are not happier. This system favours disposable consumer goods or military hardware because the shorter its useful life, the more people who can work to extract, assemble, sell, and dispose of the product. This aggravates social and environmental problems beyond what the government can deal with, despite increased tax revenue.

One symptom of this perverse work ethic is that the more lucrative the work, the more damage it causes—corporate senior managers, arms dealers, or financial speculators are handsomely paid while students, parents, and artists often have no income at all. Any work that raises productivity is rewarded, yet this extra productivity causes environmental damage, invasive advertising, and curtailed leisure time without providing any lasting benefit for the citizen.

It sounds ridiculous to suggest that we can solve problems without working, but that’s just because the notion is so deeply rooted. Of course, it is not possible or desirable for everyone to stop working. We just need to sort out which work improves our quality of life and which is pointless or harmful. In fact, it isn’t difficult: if a job seems futile and soulless, it probably is. The lucrative jobs I named earlier are generally high-profile, so they are also easy to spot. Failing that, we can be proactive and enumerate which work does provide benefits.

But what can we actually do? There is no way to stop someone from working a certain job. First we can stop treating paid work as a virtue in and of itself. If there is less status associated with a job, perhaps people will be more mindful of whether the work brings them wellbeing and fulfillment. Collectively, we should provide a living wage to the unemployed and limit very high incomes in order to deter those who enter destructive careers for the money.

I don’t claim to understand the cause and effect of this yet, but it’s something I’ll keep an eye on now that I’ve noticed it.

Aside

I originally intended to use this space to assemble and field-test new ideas and opinions. However, I find myself unexpectedly reluctant to do so--as someone who is used to the thoroughness and nuance of academia, a one-page exposition seems flippant or even churlish. That’s why I haven't discussed what's really on my mind: our threadbare democracy; pollution of our physical and mental environment; and water, food, and energy security. I hope to give these the attention they deserve, but until I overcome my timidity, I'll stick to peripheral topics.

Lullaby for a traveler

Sleep well, dear heart. The road may be long, but in dreams you are always home.

Ещё раз для русских

Bот первая страница моего э-памфлета. Мне некогда переводить каждую на русский язык, а мне кажется, что может быть эта поинтересует читателям.

Здравствуйете мир!

Меня зовут «Любимый Миллионами». Сейчас я малоизвестный аспирант на инженерном факультете в Монреале. Через несколько недель я уеду и начну новую жизнь (поэтому я не знаю как долго я буду продолжать писать Вам). Пожалуйста, не думайте, что я эгоцентричный отклонянный любитель из-за картины наверху: я объясну внизу.

Как каждый самиздатель, я хочу место, где я могу искренне сказать свои мысли и чувства… свой собственный микрофон. Наверно никто не прочитает это; мне не нужно узнавание или одобрение. А я надеюсь, что кто-то прочитает и научится больше о человечестве. Ну так, начнём…

Во время своих занятий я встретил женщину снов. Она настоящая Муза c неукротимым духом, очаровательным умом, ангельским лицом и красивой фигурой. Я мог бы целый день петь о ней, но подробности не важные. Тот, кто встретил такую женщину уже понимает, а другие не понимут. Как показывает картину наверху, постоянная любовь не последовала. Мы ещё верные друзья, a она живёт 9000 км от меня в Ближнем Востоке.

В течение прошлых трёх лет я пишу ей писма с кристаллами своих мыслей и чувств. Она редко отвечает и когда мы говорим по телефону мы обычно говорим о неважных вещах. Она говорит, что она любит мои писма, и я писал так долго, потому что так я чувствовал себя близкo от неё. А недавно я стал неуверенным: может быть, вредно мне оставаться так исключительным к кому-то, с которым у меня нет будущего. Поэтому я создал этот сайт: таким образом, кто-нибудь, который интересуется, может знать, чтó я думаю. Символическо я представляю себя открытым миру. Хотя сайт создан благодаря неё и наверно она в публике, моя возлюбленная не его тема. Отныне я вуду обогащенный любовью a не стеснённый. Прозвище «Любимый Миллионами» тихо признаёт, что мало знает или любит меня… но эти стоят весь мир.

Немедленно я подиду к микрофону. «В действии ли микрофон?...»

Island in four parts

Here ashen saplings hold their ground through winding days. Lined up and down, they wink a thousand blackened eyes at shooting stars. A serried regiment of dust, immune to tears and time, defies the sun as broken streams of grey prepare for shaking hands.

A weave of clockwork dragons keeps unsteady pace. In shining days, their plucky, toothless cousins search the gaps from higher ground. Oblivious, a sound and charming wardrobe fills the space from den to din and back again.

In spring, the sneezing red and yellow lights become the sport of kings. A breezy crowd looks on as local artists draw a pitcher. Not long ago, a prince would watch the dancers sleep with hat in hand; but colour fled to landscapes made of trembling sands and left him grey.

I watch as driving sighs press winter into hard retreat. Montreal awakes to sweep away her grey and cold; but this year it is I the swept. No more will forest, dragons, kings or vanished colours haunt my days. My future is not grey, or loud, or warm, but simply

In a cement garden, only plastic flowers grow

Montreal always wakes up from winter with a hangover. When the snow melts, the streets and alleys are choked with garbage, and it takes a few days of cleanup and rain to look presentable.

What's the opposite of jurisprudence?

No serene introspection today. I’m in a belligerent mood, so instead I’ll join Cyberia’s (second) most popular pastime—uninformed political commentary!

America has forgotten herself. The wellspring of her greatness has become a river of blood. Since Bush took office, military spending increased from $312 billion per year to $800 billion; a new gulag archipelago was created; corporate fraud became systemic; half of Bush’s $180 billion-per-year tax cut goes to the richest 0.1% while social programs are gutted or replaced with “faith-based alternatives.” I could go on, but I’m sure you all read the news. How did this happen?

In a sense, this is nothing new. Other presidents have been corrupt and unconstitutional. Yet we all feel that something unprecedented has happened. The Twin Towers attacks were a shock to the system, but the jihadis themselves did not create this nightmare State. The White House was prepared, and within a few weeks of the attacks, the foundation of a new America was laid. (There is no evidence that the US government was complicit in 9/11; neoconservatives are single-minded and well-organized, and they simply saw their opportunity.)

In 2000, Eisenhower’s “Military-Industrial Complex” finally gained direct control of the White House, in the form of Dick Cheney. What would a defense contractor do with the keys to the White House? Declare a permanent war with an unlimited budget, of course. But war spending is controlled by Congress, so new executive powers were needed. After 9/11, “loyal Bushies” were appointed throughout the government. The White House also created its own parallel defense department, civilian administration, and army to avoid oversight (Department of Homeland Security, Halliburton, and Blackwater/DynCorp/etc.). However, I believe this was a symptom, not a cause of America’s deterioration. The essence of the Bush revolution is legislative, starting with the 2001 Patriot Act. The corruption and abuses of power which followed are consequences of this legal blitzkrieg.

No president since Lincoln has passed such openly anti-Constitutional laws. Previous presidents have ignored Congress and the Constitution, but since 9/11, Bush has compelled Congress to make executive privilege official government policy. Nixon and Reagan broke the law—Bush rewrote it. Consider these gems: Patriot Acts 1 and 2, which give the president the power to suspend privacy rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of association; the Military Commissions Act, which abolished habeas corpus and protection from cruel and unusual punishment; the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which gives the right to wiretap and intercept e-mails anywhere at any time without oversight; the Authorization on the Use of Military Force "to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States" and "to restore international peace and security"; the Defense Authorization Act, which gives the right to deploy troops within the US in the event of "natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition"; and the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, which establishes an executive committee to stop terrorism (defined as the "use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence ... in furtherance of political or social objectives") by any means necessary. This untrammeled executive power applies to “unlawful enemy combatants,” a secret list which already includes more than a million people worldwide. The majority of this new jurisprudence was originally White House memos, but many have been upheld in court.

This is not simply words on a page. The secrecy and license provided by this legislation were prerequisites for the corruption and abuses of recent years. Each new law removed another obstacle to perpetual war and perpetual Halliburton contracts. Many seem to think that Bush and Cheney achieved their designs out of sheet chutzpah, but in fact the law insulates them from consequences. Furthermore, the longer this lasts, the more the country will adjust to and reinforce these perverse rules. Until the White House memos are expunged and the aforementioned Acts are repealed—which none of the presidential candidates have proposed to do—Bush and Cheney cannot be prosecuted, and America will not return to the rule of law.

One final note—although Bush and Cheney are universally vilified, there are hundreds of others in the pre-2001 legislative and judicial branches who drafted and approved these policies. And in the final reckoning, all Americans are responsible: imperfect as it is, they still live in a democracy, and they still have the power to reverse this descent into dictatorship and barbarity.

Jello Ganges

This experiment in exhibitionism/mental spelunking is a lot trickier than I expected. My thoughts are a churn of suspicions, samples, and silhouettes, and they refuse to organize themselves into a coherent facade. I can readily describe superfluous, superficial impressions, but my own handiwork is coded in an arcane pattern that defies translation. I may choose to lay down my pen rather than choose between irrelevance and incoherence.

A Manifesto for clean livin'

Lately, I've been left with relatively little to do. With most of my friends dispersed to distant lands, I spend my newfound spare time in solitude. I've withdrawn from the world of daylight and movement to do some weeding and pruning in the gardens of my mind (hence this blog). My musings are probably unintelligible to outside readers, but I'll articulate them as best I can.

These days I feel like a well-educated drifter. I withdrew from my social and community groups because I know I'll be leaving town soon, and I now realize that those were the major anchor connecting me to Montreal. I still enjoy living here, but Montreal just doesn't feel like home anymore.

If all goes well, by August I'll begin a new life out west. I'll start with a clean slate, although no doubt my calendar and address book will soon be full again. I decided that before I go I should create a modus vivendi, an ethical framework to follow as I adjust to my new surroundings. I would never impose a code of behaviour on others (except my own children), but I think a personal code of behaviour would be beneficial. I want to find a way to enrich my life while enriching my community. In other words, I've been pondering the age-old question: What is the good life?

Material goods don't have much to do with goodness or happiness, but I'll address them briefly. I'm quite minimalist, if not ascetic: the less possessions I have, the better. I'd like to do without a car, home computer, TV, robot butler, etc. for as long as possible. I make an exception for art and literature plus major labour-saving devices like a washer/drier. Some say a good life is one of simplicity, so I have a head start in that respect.

Regarding intangible matters, I've decided upon three overarching goals: (1) to support a happy and prosperous family; (2) to contribute to the culture and scholarship of my community; and (3) to fight against injustice. Obviously I’ll also do things I enjoy—spend time with friends, read, study martial arts, etc.—but I want these rules to help me live an ethical life. I'll address them one by one.

(1) For some reason, getting married and raising a family are very important to me. It seems to me that is a fundamental responsibility of adulthood. I don't know anything about parenting, or even about maintaining a stable relationship, so the details on this are decidedly fuzzy. Nonetheless, I feel it is important enough to list first... I can always sus out the details later.

(2) I'm an academic at heart. Scientific and artistic scholarship is perhaps mankind's greatest achievement, and I would be remiss if I didn't contribute to it. I also feel that those who can appreciate scholarship are richer for it, so insofar as possible I should help make it accessible to the public. If I had the time and money, I could organize free movie screenings, lectures, performances, exhibitions, etc. (Who am I kidding... I'll probably just donate money to the local library and call it a day.)

(3) There is a lot of exploitation and injustice in the world, sometimes transitory but usually endemic or institutional. This could be social, environmental, economic, political, or some variant thereof. This makes life needlessly harsh for many people and also keeps them from contributing to society to their fullest potential. Most forms of injustice have a half-life of years or decades, so I won't “heal the world” in my lifetime, but it's still important to carve out justice wherever I can. I adopt the maxim that "the personal is the political"—if healthy relationships are created on a local scale, then society becomes that much healthier in the aggregate.

To make a long story short, I want to bring more beauty into the world. I don’t mean to create works of art—I don’t have the talent for that—but rather to reshape the tangible and intangible world itself into a more beautiful and healthful form. If I can do that, then I’ll consider my life worthwhile.