Thursday, November 10, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Opinion 107
Paul Roche's translations of Euripides are a sorry affair, sorry for both men and their unfortunate readers. They leave you embarrassed for Roche and uninterested in Euripides. Never have I so appreciated the brevity of Euripides' works.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Opinion 106
The Romans punished parricide by sewing the guilty into a sack with a rooster, a serpent, a dog and a monkey, and then throwing that unfortunate bundle into the sea.
Opinion 105
He looked at the glass of whiskey on the counter with the same look a puppy gives his master when he needs to go outside. Ah, but whiskey is a harsh master!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Opinion 104
Plato and American Oligarchy
Polemarchus: And what kind of constitution would you call oligarchy?
Socrates: The constitution based on a property assessment, in which the rich rule, and the poor man has no share in ruling.
Polemarchus: What is it like?
Socrates: The treasure house filled with gold, which each possesses, destroys the constitution. First, they find ways of spending money for themselves, then they stretch the laws relating to this, then they and their wives disobey the laws altogether....from there they proceed further into money-making, and the more they value it, the less they value virtue. Or aren't virtue and wealth so opposed that if they were set on scales, they'd always incline in opposite directions?
Polemarchus: That's right.
Socrates: So when wealth and the wealthy are valued or honored in a city, virtue and good people are valued less....Then, in the end, victory-loving and honor-loving men become lovers of making money, or money-lovers. And they praise and admire wealthy people and appoint them as rulers, while they dishonour poor ones....what would happen if someone were to choose the captains of ships by their wealth, refusing to entrust the ship to a poor person even if he was a better captain?
Polemarchus: They would make a poor voyage of it.
(Later on) Socrates:...of necessity it isn't one city but two - one of the poor and one of the rich - living in the same place and always plotting against one another.
--------
I've edited down a rather large discussion towards the end of Plato's Republic concerning a state's decline into oligarchy. A few thoughts:
-First, an American cannot but think of America's current political mess. Particularly the fact that at this point, only the rich are allowed to pilot the ship, despite the fact that, by and large, they appear to be hopeless idiots.
-One would have to disagree, however, with Socrates' last statement, namely that they poor and rich are "always plotting against one another". Let's be honest: the poor in these United States don't plot against the rich, rather they sloppily and often mindlessly plot to become rich, or at least to imitate some of the marks of the rich. In this case, the rich have completely neutered the poor by producing from them hopeless imitation rather than righteous indignation.
-Of course, we must also admit that Socrates is describing a descent into oligarchy from aristocracy. His ideal city is not a democracy, nor is it some Marxist utopia (though it does share a few common threads). This actually seems somewhat fitting as far as the States are concerned, as without a doubt the founders of this nation considered themselves to be and actually were the aristocracy of the thirteen colonies. These were educated, land-owning men who read their Classics and knew they were in the upper crust. This begs the question as to whether aristocracy can ever not slide into oligarchy. Clearly in our case it has.
Polemarchus: And what kind of constitution would you call oligarchy?
Socrates: The constitution based on a property assessment, in which the rich rule, and the poor man has no share in ruling.
Polemarchus: What is it like?
Socrates: The treasure house filled with gold, which each possesses, destroys the constitution. First, they find ways of spending money for themselves, then they stretch the laws relating to this, then they and their wives disobey the laws altogether....from there they proceed further into money-making, and the more they value it, the less they value virtue. Or aren't virtue and wealth so opposed that if they were set on scales, they'd always incline in opposite directions?
Polemarchus: That's right.
Socrates: So when wealth and the wealthy are valued or honored in a city, virtue and good people are valued less....Then, in the end, victory-loving and honor-loving men become lovers of making money, or money-lovers. And they praise and admire wealthy people and appoint them as rulers, while they dishonour poor ones....what would happen if someone were to choose the captains of ships by their wealth, refusing to entrust the ship to a poor person even if he was a better captain?
Polemarchus: They would make a poor voyage of it.
(Later on) Socrates:...of necessity it isn't one city but two - one of the poor and one of the rich - living in the same place and always plotting against one another.
--------
I've edited down a rather large discussion towards the end of Plato's Republic concerning a state's decline into oligarchy. A few thoughts:
-First, an American cannot but think of America's current political mess. Particularly the fact that at this point, only the rich are allowed to pilot the ship, despite the fact that, by and large, they appear to be hopeless idiots.
-One would have to disagree, however, with Socrates' last statement, namely that they poor and rich are "always plotting against one another". Let's be honest: the poor in these United States don't plot against the rich, rather they sloppily and often mindlessly plot to become rich, or at least to imitate some of the marks of the rich. In this case, the rich have completely neutered the poor by producing from them hopeless imitation rather than righteous indignation.
-Of course, we must also admit that Socrates is describing a descent into oligarchy from aristocracy. His ideal city is not a democracy, nor is it some Marxist utopia (though it does share a few common threads). This actually seems somewhat fitting as far as the States are concerned, as without a doubt the founders of this nation considered themselves to be and actually were the aristocracy of the thirteen colonies. These were educated, land-owning men who read their Classics and knew they were in the upper crust. This begs the question as to whether aristocracy can ever not slide into oligarchy. Clearly in our case it has.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Opinion 103
A Prayer for Today:
Good Lord,
I'm tired
I'm going to die
Lord, remember that I had good intentions
Okay, sometimes I had good intentions
Good Lord,
I'm tired
I'm going to die
Lord, remember that I had good intentions
Okay, sometimes I had good intentions
Friday, October 14, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Opinion 100
It is the battle against self-deceit that is a special vocation for the religious person. For we very easily establish an idea of God in our minds, and it spawns many, many phantasies, erroneous notions, solipsistic arguments and miserable binds. The religious person, perhaps very particularly in these age and culture, spends most of his time talking to the various idols which his mind has spawned, and obeying the edicts which these idols have ordained. Good Lord, he is talking to himself.
It is important and helpful to remember that the truth - the way things really are - is what the religious person is or should be after. The truth, however, is not a religious possession. If is is truth at all, it is reality, it is how things are when viewed with clarity and sobriety. If we run from anything that is true out of fear for protecting the religious, we do ourselves a great disservice.
Prayer should always be an exercise in quieting down. The truth, by God's grace, will involve love. It will also scare the shit out of us, and most likely we will have to die if we hope to have it emerge from our lives.
It is important and helpful to remember that the truth - the way things really are - is what the religious person is or should be after. The truth, however, is not a religious possession. If is is truth at all, it is reality, it is how things are when viewed with clarity and sobriety. If we run from anything that is true out of fear for protecting the religious, we do ourselves a great disservice.
Prayer should always be an exercise in quieting down. The truth, by God's grace, will involve love. It will also scare the shit out of us, and most likely we will have to die if we hope to have it emerge from our lives.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Opinion 99
School is back in session; I begin what I hope to be (please God, please) the last year of my bachelor's degree. The freshman are now nine years younger than I. As far as I can tell, all of them are biology or neuroscience majors. Let that chilling fact be its own condemnation.
The weather has cooled and there is at night a distinct autumn smell. Our tomatoes - many not yet ripened - hang on the vine in fear.
The summer has come and gone at an almost incomprehensible pace. What a free fall! We picked up a child somewhere during the plummeting. She is doing well.
There are many things a man does in his life for no discernible reason, which take too long and which ultimately do not bring about any discernible profit. Wie wenn man Sein und Zeit liest. Aber was kann ich tun? Mein Geist wandert wo er will, und ich muss ihm folgen.
A true spirituality begins when all sentimentality has been abandoned. Also: if you cannot tell the truth, you will never escape pettiness.
The weather has cooled and there is at night a distinct autumn smell. Our tomatoes - many not yet ripened - hang on the vine in fear.
The summer has come and gone at an almost incomprehensible pace. What a free fall! We picked up a child somewhere during the plummeting. She is doing well.
There are many things a man does in his life for no discernible reason, which take too long and which ultimately do not bring about any discernible profit. Wie wenn man Sein und Zeit liest. Aber was kann ich tun? Mein Geist wandert wo er will, und ich muss ihm folgen.
A true spirituality begins when all sentimentality has been abandoned. Also: if you cannot tell the truth, you will never escape pettiness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)