December 2011
“
Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience.
Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.
“Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into a sadist or a destroyer.”
—Erich Fromm, The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (1973)
30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself →
marcandangel.com
not to get too real on ya’ll’s asses, but this is well-articulated, worth a look, and apropos at this time of the year.
So this is basically what I wrote about yesterday but far more well put than I could’ve accomplished.
Much of my moodiness for the last month or so can be attributed to dealing with the issues presented in this list. Confronting one’s shortcomings, developing a clear vision of one’s life, purging internal structures built on assumptions and lies, and taking responsibility for what happens daily is exhausting. It’s the beginning of hard work, but at least it is a beginning.
“Spreadsheets are the best. I love spreadsheets.”
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A co-worker of mine, said completely unironically.
I just… I don’t understand. I cannot take this place today.
“One of the characteristics about (Roman festivals) Sol Invictus and Saturnalia, the days preceding it, is that it’s really a period of misrule, a period of topsy-turvy inversion. And (much of) that aspect was maintained in the Christmas festivities in Britain and in much of Europe well into the late Renaissance, even into the 18th century. You have in the Renaissance all kinds of partying and every court, every household, would appoint a “Lord of Misrule” who was a master of the party for the 12 days of Christmas. His job was to stir up the revelry, stir up the disobedience, and play with the idea that this was a time to break from the ordinary routines of our lives. The church didn’t like that aspect, but that’s how people celebrated the day.”
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‘The war on Christmas’ dates back centuries (via blaaargh)
Let’s take back Christmas for disobedient revelry.
