Kinda blew (what's left of) my mind

[mnaz]

I googled around yesterday
and found a link to yet another link,
which shocked me out of a good buzz.
Something about troubles in France.

Some guy wrote another novel about
the demise of culture, as if that topic
hadn't already been beaten to death.
Maybe freedom is derilict, he hinted.
Maybe total obedience is heaven.
And I sipped another sip.

[mnaz]

(Houellebecq, on LK)

[mnaz]

Sorry to indulge, but it was just such a weird article. Houllebecq put the whole idea of "freedom" on trial and convicted it in his book. Called its demise "inevitable," and that we're living at the end of a historical "aberration" that started with the "Enlightenment" (not sure how "enlightened" all those cannon wars were, btw), a temporary deviation from the norm of religiously-defined and dominated human society, and the true path to fulfillment is to completely obey . . .

Yeeesh ...

[revolutionR]

it already came to that other poetry site, the owner of the site, apparently thinks that its ok for one poet to attack another, and its not ok to defend yourself against attacks, because its called critique, reminds me of 1984.

[Doreen Peri]

There is no freedom. There never has been. But, of course, I'm in a bad mood today so maybe that's why I feel that way but seriously, even if I were in a good mood, I don't think there's ever been freedom in any society. Society demands structure, apparently, and structure eliminates freedom. I may become an anarchist like my son is. I liked this poem. Interesting you found that link. I find links of my own material on sites I've never even visited. It's weird. Some site owners apparently create a site then crawl the web to steal material to create content for their site... and of course there are ads running on this site so they're making money on my material. There should be NO freedom to allow these people to do that! It's copyright theft!
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Yeah, Revolution, that's the way it is over there ... 1984. You and your material are both owned by the owner and you don't have rights to defend yourself. By the way, never use the word "attack" or "insult"... find other words in your vast vocabulary. Those two words are not allowed to be typed on the page or you will be in big trouble and lose even more of your freedom by being placed on restriction with a dunce cap on your head. One day we'll be sent to the principal's office for a spanking with a horse whip. Or something. I was just talking to you there last night and all my posts were deleted. Weird shit. No freedom.
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You have freedom here, to a degree. I mean, at least until I'm unable to afford to pay for the site. Say whatever you want. You're free to do that. You're free to come and go as you please, also. Unfortunately, though, the hosting isn't free. Why? Because there's no freedom. Nothing is free .... except your words which people can steal, apparently.

[revolutionR]

I did not tell Bob to go fuck himself, I just implied that to me his comments
were like some hysterical bullshit. Today I referred to him as being like Elmer Fudd,
and it was removed. Oh, Lord, Elmer Fudd, not that.

[revolutionR]

this author Houellebecq looks intersting, I am checking him out.

[mnaz]

Ton, that's true. There's little doubt about the slow (or not so slow at times) march toward expansionist, consumer-addicted Western corpo-fascism-- for better or worse-- powered by materialism and mega (hyper?)-greed, which are emerging "religions" in their own right. This juggernaut is voracious for power and resources, and has proven adept at framing everything in binary Good vs. Evil terms, and over the last several decades in particular, has been able to shape-shift and play older religions against themselves, reliant of course on the ever-entrenched religion of militarism.

And within that unfolding global transformation, the process and all of its sub-plots play out. Houellebecq's latest novel is about Muslims taking power in France (next decade, I think), not via radical revolution, but by peaceful participation in the electoral process. And this is only possible (according to the reviewer's article) due to the ongoing malaise of a gradual decline and decay of European civilization since the Enlightenment-- supposedly a precursor to the inevitable failure of all freedom-based society and surrender back into religious-based society based on complete obedience . . . Yeesh ...

And I agree, R. That other place continues to suffer from erratic, capricious modding. Hard for me to take it too seriously anymore.

[mnaz]

I don't think there's ever been freedom in any society. Society demands structure, apparently, and structure eliminates freedom.

True. Structure seems to be at odds with freedom. And there never has been freedom in any society-- well, not total freedom at least. The most we can say is that some societies have been "freer" than others. Erosion of free expression and suppression of dissent are always the main red flags signaling any authoritarian slide.

[saw]

yeah Ton, Fear is the great controller...it's nearly foolproof....fabricate scary shit, and watch the sheep amble along nose to butt....9-11 really paved a whole new road for stealing liberties...things like the removal of habeas corpus for any "enemy combatant" that the government gets to label have virtually gone under he radar, and if it is discussed by an asshole like Rush, well he assures the public that if you're not breaking the law, you have nothing to worry about...unless of course you open your mouth

the patriot act allowed for activist protesting blowing the tops of mountains off in search for various goodies to be labeled "eco-terrorist" , and disappeared...one way or another...snowden knew this, so he had to expose the gigantic lies the way he had to, by sacrificing his citizenship...we live in an era where corporations run the world, and most are as ruthless as any despot that ever lived....and let's not forget, they are just "people"...ha

many still believe we still have freedom, because they can choose between frankenberry
and count chocula...between BP gas and Shell....whoopdedoo.....

The Obama administration has come down harder on whistle-blowers than all the previous administrations combined....open your mouth and pay a heavy price...and there you go, we just circled back around to Fear...our citizenry and government that adore the constitution seem to have forgotten that dissent is the cornerstone of democracy...of course, i jest

the government and the corporations ( devious bedfellows that they are ) haven't forgotten
at all....it's all orchestrated by the Koch Bros. and the like.....most folks haven't a clue, lost in their endless array of electronic amusement, that Alito and Thomas have had plush visits to the Koch's ranch....unbelievable...Supreme Court justices that not only do not recuse themselves from decisions, they render decisions as they are instructed

freedom my ass...freedom is a slogan, a buzzword....nothing more....and it's getting worse by the day

[mnaz]

It's all corporate at this point. Maybe it will supply and rescue the world (which needs both). We'll see. Maybe Corporate is smarter and better than we think, and can suddenly stem the tide of malaise of Western "freedom" culture. Jesus, that would be better than surrendering the mind to religious authority, right?

[WIREMAN]

"when i hear the word culture i reach for my revolver".....was it ezra pound said that?.....

addendum....decided to look this up on google...was a little off.....1st heard a reference to the term in a henry miller essay....