Whoa, long break since the last post. What an exciting life I lead...
I guess it's time to comment on the complete fuck up by the government. Or not, to be honest, I don't really know what to add that hasn't been said already - what the hell was the government doing when they sent them by disc? Is e-mail to "modern" for them?
Ok, I know, you've heard it all before. Government department makes a mistake, public outcry, another mistake is made and everyone forgets about the first one. Isn't mass-media wonderful?
I'll stop there since I'm not really in a position to comment on it, since I couldn't really be arsed to listen to all their propaganda. Either way, it probes questions about the government, not so much in its members, but more in its setup.
We all know that countries are too big. How the hell does one president expect to rule a country as big and powerful as America properly? Society functions best when everyone knows each other, and can see the old cliché of "strengths" and "weaknesses" in each other. Yet how small do we want this to get? It's obvious to see that lots of smaller communities will lead to more rivalry, and therefore more war. Yet a larger community will lead to each person's view counting less and less.
I'm all for free speech and democracy, but I can't help feeling that at the moment, one person's view count for less and less. How many people actually read this blog other than myself? Very few, if any I'd imagine. And I know that this is hardly the best place to make a political standpoint, but without a vote (I'm "too young" apparently, despite the fact that I obviously have strong views, and want them heard) I have no other way to express myself. I can think of plenty of ways to rectify this (the most obvious being having anyone who wants to vote younger make a claim to the school, which decides whether the person is mature enough to be able to make his/her own decisions) but that isn't the focus of this post.
So what is the focus of the post? To prove that mankind is hopeless. No matter who we put in charge, we will feel oppressed by this person. What is "freedom"? Whatever it is, we don't have it. We may never have it. Unless of course, we're in charge. Even then, we feel limited.
Why is it that people can't be satisfied with what we have? Why can't we be happy with our current state? I probably sound like I have manic depression, but I can assure you I haven't. However, it's not hard to see that we are stuck in cages, and no one will be freed. Everyone's views are different - if everyone on Earth were to somehow read all of my posts, not a single person would agree with me. And the same goes for everyone else's views.
Still wondering why there's so much war?
Sunday 25 November 2007
Saturday 10 November 2007
Er Gwaethaf Pawb a Phopeth
I don't think I've been patriotic enough in these writings, so I guess it's time for a Nationalistic rant.
Oh no, not that type of Nationalism. The second word of the title says "Socialism", not "Nazism". I'm not going to kill anyone for my country, nor would I die for it. That's just stupid. However, I wont let the culture of Wales, its history and language die on my watch.
Wales, for those who don't know, is a country bordering England, and has been oppressed by them for hundreds of years. To such an extend that in the 60s, Welsh - widely cited as the oldest living language in Europe - could die out. This sparked a wide campaign - led by people such as Dafydd Iwan and Saunders Lewis - to save the language. However, despite the fact that it is now growing again, Wales is still to shake of the shackles of this oppression.
Until a few years ago, Wales did not have its parliament. This, from a country that supposedly believes in Democracy. People complain about the break up of Britain. Well sorry but as far as I'm concerned, Britain doesn't even exist any more. When the "good old Empire" broke up, so did Britain. And all these people wave flags as some old person drives by, struggling to hold a hand up. Oh, they'll sing "God Save the Queen" all day without realises that the monarchy does fuck all today. They're just an in-bred family, that happened to be descended from some guy who came to Britain and won a battle.
These same people are the same deluded ones who, for the most part, tried to kill off anyone different. Just look what the xenophobes did in India, Africa, China and - although unnoticed by many - Wales. It's not that long ago when if a child was caught speaking Welsh in school, they would be given a piece of wood with the letters "W N" ("Welsh Not") engraved on it, and the last person wearing it at the end of the day was caned. What a great way to make yourself look good.
I'm not saying that everyone was like this, but something must have gone wrong when the people with these opinions were put in charge. Or is it just coming down to the fact that "Power Corrupts"? Either way, once again, the words of Dafydd Iwan sum it up best:
Er gwaethaf pawb a phopeth,
Ry'n ni yma o hyd.
Despite everyone and everything,
We're still here.
Oh no, not that type of Nationalism. The second word of the title says "Socialism", not "Nazism". I'm not going to kill anyone for my country, nor would I die for it. That's just stupid. However, I wont let the culture of Wales, its history and language die on my watch.
Wales, for those who don't know, is a country bordering England, and has been oppressed by them for hundreds of years. To such an extend that in the 60s, Welsh - widely cited as the oldest living language in Europe - could die out. This sparked a wide campaign - led by people such as Dafydd Iwan and Saunders Lewis - to save the language. However, despite the fact that it is now growing again, Wales is still to shake of the shackles of this oppression.
Until a few years ago, Wales did not have its parliament. This, from a country that supposedly believes in Democracy. People complain about the break up of Britain. Well sorry but as far as I'm concerned, Britain doesn't even exist any more. When the "good old Empire" broke up, so did Britain. And all these people wave flags as some old person drives by, struggling to hold a hand up. Oh, they'll sing "God Save the Queen" all day without realises that the monarchy does fuck all today. They're just an in-bred family, that happened to be descended from some guy who came to Britain and won a battle.
These same people are the same deluded ones who, for the most part, tried to kill off anyone different. Just look what the xenophobes did in India, Africa, China and - although unnoticed by many - Wales. It's not that long ago when if a child was caught speaking Welsh in school, they would be given a piece of wood with the letters "W N" ("Welsh Not") engraved on it, and the last person wearing it at the end of the day was caned. What a great way to make yourself look good.
I'm not saying that everyone was like this, but something must have gone wrong when the people with these opinions were put in charge. Or is it just coming down to the fact that "Power Corrupts"? Either way, once again, the words of Dafydd Iwan sum it up best:
Er gwaethaf pawb a phopeth,
Ry'n ni yma o hyd.
Despite everyone and everything,
We're still here.
Monday 5 November 2007
Amused to Death
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
Don't give me all that shit.
What exactly is being celebrated tonight? On the one hand, you have religious bigotry on a grand scale, on the other, you have people celebrating a failure. And, on the basis that the latter is such a stupid reason, no one (even in today's society) could celebrate it, I'll focus on the first.
I'm cynical, but not cynical enough to suggest that everyone realises what they're doing. The gunpowder plot was a very religious plot, deriving from the usual Catholic/Protestant rivalry. How many people realise that they're actually celebrating a state murder for believing a religion that's exactly the same as the state religion? I may not be very religious, but that doesn't stop me from respecting other people's views. I won't celebrate any murder, let alone one where the intentions were to oppress other religions.
It's just showing how people don't understand history, don't understand the importance of why we are in the current state. Think, say, 200 years in the future today. Fireworks are going off, as per usual, but do people actually know why? I doubt people do know, let alone in the future. And you don't need to be a history buff, surely natural curiosity forces you to find out more? Obviously not.
In the words of Roger Waters, we are "Amused to death", that is, we have reached such a state where everything is given to us, we don't think any more. Yes, computers are a form of this, but to be honest, I think there are enough resources on computers to redeem it. But television? There is no one who can tell me that reality TV is thought-provoking (or entertainment, for that matter...).
But if we use history, and scan back through civilisation, you notice that the "slaves", "serfs", "proles", whatever you want to call them very rarely do anything about their state, allowing themselves to be oppressed. By now, we even have easy access to the information that would free us from this monotonous life, yet we refuse to seek it.
And even if you are somehow reading this, will you make any changes, or allow yourself to be "Amused to death"? I know that everyone allows this - do you?
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
Don't give me all that shit.
What exactly is being celebrated tonight? On the one hand, you have religious bigotry on a grand scale, on the other, you have people celebrating a failure. And, on the basis that the latter is such a stupid reason, no one (even in today's society) could celebrate it, I'll focus on the first.
I'm cynical, but not cynical enough to suggest that everyone realises what they're doing. The gunpowder plot was a very religious plot, deriving from the usual Catholic/Protestant rivalry. How many people realise that they're actually celebrating a state murder for believing a religion that's exactly the same as the state religion? I may not be very religious, but that doesn't stop me from respecting other people's views. I won't celebrate any murder, let alone one where the intentions were to oppress other religions.
It's just showing how people don't understand history, don't understand the importance of why we are in the current state. Think, say, 200 years in the future today. Fireworks are going off, as per usual, but do people actually know why? I doubt people do know, let alone in the future. And you don't need to be a history buff, surely natural curiosity forces you to find out more? Obviously not.
In the words of Roger Waters, we are "Amused to death", that is, we have reached such a state where everything is given to us, we don't think any more. Yes, computers are a form of this, but to be honest, I think there are enough resources on computers to redeem it. But television? There is no one who can tell me that reality TV is thought-provoking (or entertainment, for that matter...).
But if we use history, and scan back through civilisation, you notice that the "slaves", "serfs", "proles", whatever you want to call them very rarely do anything about their state, allowing themselves to be oppressed. By now, we even have easy access to the information that would free us from this monotonous life, yet we refuse to seek it.
And even if you are somehow reading this, will you make any changes, or allow yourself to be "Amused to death"? I know that everyone allows this - do you?
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