Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.

Goodnight everyone, sleep well.

Mention of the word ‘philosophy’ switches many people off, possibly because they associate it with long dead Greeks. That is a pity because, contrary to the view that philosophy is irrelevant to modern life, it is the determinant of the direction we take. It is the hidden hand that guides our actions and controls the way we think. This came to mind recently when someone argued cogently in support of the ‘rule of law’. So, at the risk of switching people off, I wish to make a few points about the prevailing philosophy presently guiding Britain.

The philosophical ground on which we stand has never been stable, and its movement accounts for most of the political and social conflict witnessed over centuries, but a significant shift occurred in the nineteen-seventies when a stream of psychological-philosophical theories crossed the Atlantic.

There were a number of theories involved, transactional analysis being the one that I found myself contesting in particular, but the thrust of them all was the promotion of individual ‘autonomy’. I happened to be working in a management college when a couple of my colleagues became enamoured with TA and began to promote the theory. It is inappropriate to go into my theoretical objections here, I published two attacks at the time, but the crux of the matter is the pursuit of individual autonomy.

Autonomy is not simply another word for individualism, but gives credence to a form of individualism that is essentially a lie. The insubstantial theories that promoted that lie have long since evaporated, deservedly, but the deception buried itself deep in the psyche so that it survives today. Ironically, it is the people who most firmly believe themselves autonomous that are the least free: projecting themselves as cheap copies of some adman’s version of reality.

There is an alternative form of individualism that rejects the falsehood: authenticity. A skilful painter could copy a Rembrandt masterpiece, perhaps producing a more attractive image than the original, but it can never be an authentic Rembrandt. Similarly, a person who basis his identity on what is claimed to be fashionable at the moment, is neither authentic nor genuinely free.

Those embracing autonomy rather than developing the authentic self are walking into a philosophical cul-de-sac, and there are many of them. Indeed, given the state of Britain today, they appear to be in the majority.

Dr Jolyon Faria and Leeds University for this little gem:

‘They found that pedestrians were up to 2.5 times more likely cross a busy road if someone else stepped out in front of the traffic first. Men were also more likely to follow others into the road than females.’

How much taxpayers’ money was wasted on finding out that, in stress situations, people always look for a leader…  All they had to do was ask a soldier, or a fireman, or, well, anybody who works in an occupation where dangerous, stressful situations go with the job.

Sheesh!

Governments ruin economies if they let the public sector get too large!

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

Goodnight everyone, sleep well.

Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is free.

A lady whose example of moral courage I have admired for some time.  The question is, how long will the Nazi thugs who run Burma let her stay free?  We should not forget that her party won a general election in Burma the last time one was held – in 1990 –  but, instead of letting her take her place as the country’s leader, she was placed into house arrest.  I hope, for the sake of the people of Burma, that the Nazi Junta has finally accepted that their time has come.

Pav – Una furtiva lagrima

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me for the path is narrow.. In fact, just piss off and leave me alone.

Goodnight everyone, sleep well. Continue reading “Zen snippets – 4”

You may talk o’ gin and beer
When you’re quartered safe out ‘ere, Continue reading “For those from the colonies”