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"Utility"

"Utility"
by Jan Sand
2008-10-17 09:31:38

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We know that they are there
Lurking in their secret passageways,
Hooting high frequencies through their lair.
The sound itself chills the blood. It dismays
Any attempt to communicate, to find
Congeniality within this horrid race,
This concealed threat moved by its evil mind.
Counter-reaction must be made apace.

These Martians' cleverly concealed canals
Sharply spotted by the Lovell scope.
H.G. Wells' long-recognized these nasty animals
Who would descend to ravage Earth of hope.
But our wise leader now can foresee
This interplanetary threat to our nation
Which plans to assail our liberty.
Brave astronauts shall dispense annihilation.

The project must be made at high expense.
Education, health care, pensions will be sacrificed.
Huge benefits will nurture businesses of defense
Whose contributions will be generously priced.
Our delusions now are lost of WMDs
But we are confident of the threat from Mars
Which belittles terrorists in our communities.
We must now gird NASA for the stars.

Our wondrous foes are lost back in the past.
The Commies now gone but Mars retains ability
To endow a threat, perpetual, to last
For decades. What a magnificent utility!

Cover photo credit:
Jodrell Bank, University of Manchester

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Emanuel Paparella	2008-10-17 11:04:56
A reflection on utilitarianism: "To the Greeks not just slaves had to be excluded from the democratic franchise and public debate but also merchants, bankers, all money-grubbing banausoi, because any society stupid enough to entrust its ultimate values to be determined by the caste of utilitarians deserves fully what it gets. It would be like entrusting our sports to couch potatoes and paraplegics. Such a foolish society would get what we have in fact got, a civilization too fucking stupid to realize how hard cultural, political, spiritual and philosophical cripples labor to cripple everyone else to become just like them." --Kenneth Smith


Sand	2008-10-17 13:38:19
To put it more clearly, Mr.Smith disdains giving government over to those proved capable of dealing with the everyday problems of living which, of course, demands "grubbing" with monetary problems. Much better hand control over to cloud cuckoo land philosophers who play with fantasies never checked with realities.


Emanuel Paparella	2008-10-17 14:40:59
"The worldview of modern scientism and capitalism are profoundly wrongheaded, rooted in an artificialism and arbitrarialism that cannot begin to see the primordial truth of the way nature actually works, in animals and in ourselves as well. All modern culture and ideology that try to disestablish these principles -- radical egalitarianism, capitalist or bourgeois materialist-artificialist hierarchicalism, arbitrarial libertarianism, etc. -- are flying in the face of the headwinds of both nature and values, the tides of human nature and human character. But these ideologies' fallacies are incomprehensible to them just because their culture systematically prohibits them from thinking about issues at the level of structural principles, of ultimate preconceptions: nothing but good pedestrian mechanical bourgeois logic, as remote as it can possibly be from philosophy." --Kenneth Smith


Sand	2008-10-17 16:58:25
Men who have made "life" easier and more bountiful for moderns have done nothing to make life more eminently VALUABLE, fit to be valued. We appreciate our inventors and benefactors but in truth they have done nothing whatsoever to teach us how to make ourselves more excellent, more WORTHY of freedom and life and culture. It is all very well to feed multitudes with self-replicating fishes and loaves; but the question that goes unperceived is, AS WHAT are we helping man to survive? What are we encouraging this consumer to BECOME, to AIM AT, to HUNGER AFTER as the fulfillment of the whole purpose of his living? Kenneth Smith This quote of Smith's puts him squarely into the teleological viewpoint and indicates he is positive, without any evidence whatsoever, that there is a general purpose to life. Since he nowhere reveals what this purpose is or could be he is obviously either looking for someone or something or some undiscovered principle to dominate himself or he is chasing rainbows. Religion or any other coercive discipline, of course, which would force people to their viewpoint is exactly in tune with Smith. Evolutionary biologists in general deny this nonsense since no purpose is evident in evolutionary development other to survive in circumstances which continuously vary and are unpredictable in the long run.


Emanuel Paparella	2008-10-17 19:45:28
Of course what the nihilists always fail to answer is why bother to survive if there is no discernible purpose to it all? What is the point of it all? The logos of it all is no longer discernible; qualitatively speaking that is an incredible jump backward. The ancient Greeks, who were no religious fanatics but people who believed in reason and reason's ability to reach truth were certainly not nihilists and seemed to manage their civilization a bit more wisely than what is discernible in our relativistic hubristic times. Indeed, ideas do matter.


Sand	2008-10-17 20:42:16
Paparella again unashamedly demonstrates his confusion with the nature of existence by mixing up the non-teleological structure of existence with nihilism which denies any laws altogether. For a philosopher to make such an obvious error is both extraordinary and rather sad. It must be noted that the bulk of Smith's work is rife with contempt for the person coping with modern life by taking advantage of all the innovations which make life easier and more fruitful. He sneers at the astounding precision and intricate capability bestowed on human activity by the deep technological comprehension that resulted from the understanding of the patterns of forces that direct modern life. He yearns for the elitist aesthetic of the luxury classes of ancient Greece that subsisted on the labors of slaves and poverty afflicted lower classes that had to deal with the physical realities of coping with the forces of nature. Those elitist classes amused themselves with unsubstantiated speculative maunderings with little or no basis in physical realities and he exalts this nonsense as the ultimate purpose of humanity.


Sand	2008-10-17 21:13:35
It seems that whatever topic is presented in the various articles in this publication Paparella finds no difficulty in shifting conversation to events in ancient Greece as if nothing else in current events or the long history since the demise of that old culture has any relevance. Like a door to door brush salesman who can turn any remark about the weather, politics, hobbies, sex, pets or anything else back to the potent need for purchasing new brushes. The poem obviously is a satire on the Bush administration's need for a perpetual enemy to frighten the US population to do its will, but this Paparella entirely ignores.


AP	2008-10-17 22:07:23
The Catholic Vacuum Cleaner door to door salesman. Multi-speed, steam mode, five different mechanical heads with distinct voices, spreads dust instead of sucking it, possibility of lighting barbecue bonfires as an extra. Brand? The Vatican Vacuum Cleaner. Old and Recent Models, varied sizes: John Paul I and II, Benedict XVI, Pius XII and VI, Leo XIII, John XXIII, Savonarola, Inquisition, Crusaders and Richelieu. Available in the following colours: pink pedophile panter, blood of Christ, dark ages, bonfire coal, white Host, green giant shoulder, Ratzinger's marron Prada shoes, celestial blue.


AP	2008-10-17 22:41:52
Brand New Colours: Pietà's marble, fig leaf green, Botticelli's Venus golden hair hank. Vatican Vacuum (against Nihilist Souls).


Emanuel Paparella	2008-10-17 22:45:24
Mock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau; Mock on, mock on; 'tis all in vain! You throw the sand against the wind, And the wind blows it back again. And every sand becomes a gem Reflected in the beams divine; Blown back they blind the mocking eye, But still in Israel's paths they shine. The Atoms of Democritus And Newton's Particles of Light Are sands upon the Red Sea shore, Where Israel's tents do shine so bright. --William Blake


Emanuel Paparella	2008-10-17 22:52:17
"The most striking about modern industry is that it requires so much and accomplishes so little. Modern industry seems to be inefficient to a degree that surpasses one's ordinary powers of imagination. Its inefficiency therefore remains unnoticed." . . . "Ever bigger machines, entailing ever bigger concentrations of economic power and exerting ever greater violence against the environment, do not represent progress: they are a denial of wisdom. Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology towards the organic, the gentle, the non-violent, the elegant and beautiful." --Ernest Schumacher


AP	2008-10-17 23:39:55
Mock on, mock on, Of de la Barre's body burning Along with Voltaire's Dictionary Or Calas and Sirven's yearning When all abuses were ordinary Mock on, mock on But do not mock of Blake's visions Of Archangels and God on the window Trees are filled with angels all the seasons Extraordinary imagination though Disdaining the wit hidden in irony Calling mockery to sarcasm While saying a true miracle instead of phony And eye-blinding sand in place of a spasm.


AP	2008-10-18 00:29:12
Blake criticizing Enlightenment As a true Enlightened While Rousseau was so important To his Romantic ideas Is not much of an argument Nor bad puns and a tent Voltaire built a chapel between pleas His Pantheism is no rant The Brahmins he complimented Between exiles and Bastille imprisionment. Arouet à rouer Je newtonise Better to explore the properties of fire Than to throw his books to the bonfire Together with human bodies.


AP	2008-10-18 00:53:47
Schumacher, Ernst not Ernest For whom Einstein was a culprit Died thirty years ago, to be honest Not such a great esprit The catholic economist Known at The Times as the coal fist. ahah "I can't really imagine life without Formula One" M. Schumacher


AP	2008-10-18 01:01:08
ps - the economist loved the economic advantages of most Vacuum Models, and I'm sure he would prefer the bonfire coal colour. :)


AP	2008-10-18 01:03:32
"The Brahmins he complimented Between exiles and Bastille imprisonment"


AP	2008-10-18 01:15:21
As for Blake, he would surely prefer the celestial blue or sun cloth coloured Models. You prefer the dark ages or fig leaf colour, right, Mr. P.? Although the golden Model "hank of Venus hair" matches the living room carpet!


AP	2008-10-18 01:27:25
"Some Lines from Voltaire's Poem on the Disaster at Lisbon 1. Will You Say This? Will you say, "It is the effect of everlasting laws Which necessitates this choice by a free and good God"? Will you say, seeing this heap of victims: "God is avenged, their death is the payment of their crimes"? What crimes, what bad things have been committed by these children, Lying on the breasts of their mothers, flattened and bloody? Lisbon, which is a city no longer, had it more vices Than London, than Paris, given to doubtful delights? (...) 6. Voltaire Tells of a Caliph A caliph once, at his last hour, To the God whom he adored, said, for all prayer: "I carry to you, O Only King, Only Unlimited Being, All that which you don't have in your immensity— Deficiencies, regrets, evils and ignorance." But he might, also, have added: Hope. 7. This Was Earlier in the Poem What is needed, O mortals? Mortals, it is needed that we suffer, Submit ourselves silently, adore, and die. 8. This Is in a Note O God, give us a Revelation that we should be humane and tolerant."


AP	2008-10-18 01:59:33
"Si quelque pédant fanfaron Vient étaler son ignorance, S'il prend Gillot pour Cicéron, S'il vous ment avec impudence, On lui dit : " Taisez-vous, Fréron. " .................. "Insipid writer, you pretend to draw for your readers The portraits of your 3 impostors; How is it that, witlessly, you have become the fourth? Why, poor enemy of the supreme essence, Do you confuse Mohammed and the Creator, And the deeds of man with God, his author?... Criticize the servant, but respect the master. God should not suffer for the stupidity of the priest: Let us recognize this God, although he is poorly served. My lodging is filled with lizards and rats; But the architect exists, and anyone who denies it Is touched with madness under the guise of wisdom. Consult Zoroaster, and Minos, and Solon, And the martyr Socrates, and the great Cicero: They all adored a master, a judge, a father. This sublime system is necessary to man. It is the sacred tie that binds society, The first foundation of holy equity, The bridle to the wicked, the hope of the just. If the heavens, stripped of his noble imprint, Could ever cease to attest to his being, If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. Let the wise man announce him and kings fear him. Kings, if you oppress me, if your eminencies disdain The tears of the innocent that you cause to flow, My avenger is in the heavens: learn to tremble. Such, at least, is the fruit of a useful creed. But you, faulty logician, whose sad foolishness Dares to reassure them in the path of crime, What fruit do you expect to reap from your fine arguments? Will your children be more obedient to your voice? Your friends, at time of need, more useful and reliable? Your wife more honest? and your new renter, For not believing in God, will he pay you better? Alas! let's leave intact human belief in fear and hope." Voltaire


AP	2008-10-18 02:09:28
ahahahah Man, you cannot say he wasn't wonderfully wit! :)


Sand	2008-10-18 06:57:47
Emanuel Paparella wrote: 2008-10-17 22:52:17 "The most striking about modern industry is that it requires so much and accomplishes so little. Modern industry seems to be inefficient to a degree that surpasses one's ordinary powers of imagination. Its inefficiency therefore remains unnoticed." . . . "Ever bigger machines, entailing ever bigger concentrations of economic power and exerting ever greater violence against the environment, do not represent progress: they are a denial of wisdom. Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology towards the organic, the gentle, the non-violent, the elegant and beautiful." --Ernest Schumacher Evidently Schumacher is totally unaware of the huge advances industry had accomplished in putting ordinary people in touch with each other and the sources of information brought about by the computer and mobile phones and even TV, as awful as that can be. He seems to exist in a vacuum or perhaps he's merely stupid.


Emanuel Paparella	2008-10-18 11:21:15
Birds of a feather together they fly. They fancy themselves birds of the sky Free in flight, gravity transcending. Alas, they are in a dark cave. They are mere blind bats Confusing nature’s laws for moral freedom And the wisdom of the ages for stupidity.


Sand	2008-10-18 11:43:47
Cliches do not do well even if placed in a pseudo poetic form.


AP	2008-10-18 12:46:37
Man, I haven't read so bad poetry in a very long time.


Emanuel Paparella	2008-10-18 13:08:54
Is it the form or the content that troubles you most? Forget the form, forget the messanger, who may be long dead, pay attention to the message. It may be relevant still.


Sand	2008-10-18 13:15:42
Sorry, Mr.P., as I pointed out in my comment, the content is all prejudicial cliche. Since all you have in your head are cliches there is no content involved. Poetry,if your understanding is lacking in that area, is composed of original thought conveyed in original language. Even you can see that is totally missing in your contribution.


AP	2008-10-18 13:45:48
Calling bats to birds That is to confuse nature's laws Not saying of the truth two thirds Or virtues instead of the flaws That is moral freedom to confuse By not fancying Voltaire but the ones who gave use To his books in such an awful manner Flaming acquaintances or hide of a tanner. You disdain La Pucelle and Candide With the same vigour as La guerre civile Not very aware of quarrels and pride Just storming against a private windmill.


Sand	2008-10-18 14:01:16
This descent to poetry(or is it rise?) May infuse this thread with artful rancor But the sentiments will not surprise Or unfasten Paparella's anchor Of stodgy dodgy silly manipulation Of outworn ideas, sterile thought, Lacking in entire any imagination, A good, obsolete, no intellect has bought.


AP	2008-10-18 14:16:00
"Le seigneur Dieu prit donc l' homme et le mit dans le jardin pour le travailler et le garder. Et il lui ordonna, disant, mange de tout bois du paradis, mais ne mange point du bois de la science, du bon et du mauvais. Car le même jour que tu en auras mangé tu mourras de mort très certainement" Voltaire: La bible enfin expliquée par plusieurs aumôniers That's dangerous!


AP	2008-10-18 15:00:49
Voltaire, that Hinduist bastard who built a chapel Defended religious freedom, inside out the Bastille he knew In his language une belle fille with an apple A poem is. One that clergy wanted to screw. In La bible expliquée he explains very well Or in L'Ingénu, after Le Dictionnaire Philosophique was condemned to hell As the fruit of someone who can dare. To be.


AP	2008-10-18 15:44:37
Voltaire, your sarcasm is needed no longer With our Bible fantasies we'll do just fine Nor can your lucidity conquer Old stories for bedtime. Paine's Rights can be trashed all the way Ready we are to get back to old Britain. God writes and Rights dismay What a heresy the Bible rewritten!!


AP	2008-10-18 16:13:51
Mr. P., in the quality of a philosopher Ignores the querrelles between Voltaire and Rousseau And all glad he accepts Blake's sandy offer As exortive tents of the Beau.


AP	2008-10-18 16:42:32
That he defended civil rights is conveniently ignored Voltaire l'historien is not there Voltaire du Châtelet dubiously restored No poems for Émilie nor De Lubert.


AP	2008-10-18 18:43:50
"Blown back they blind the mocking eye" Is this a threat of divine punishment for humour??! :)

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