-- UNKNOWN :
If we do not understand them, we can never love them. They will remain in the opposite side of the fence, and this is a sad and tragic reality.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Love, Understand)
There are two kinds of people in the world -- those you love, and those you don't understand.
-- UNKNOWN :
If we do not understand them, we can never love them. They will remain in the opposite side of the fence, and this is a sad and tragic reality.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
-- UNKNOWN :
If we do not understand them, we can never love them. They will remain in the opposite side of the fence, and this is a sad and tragic reality.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Capitalism's motivating force
“The only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain.”
-- Karl Marx
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- In Das Kaptial, Karl Marx, a German philosopher and social scientist, proposed that the motivating force of capitalism is in the exploitation of labor.
Marx believed that labor’s unpaid work is the ultimate source of surplus value and then profit both of which concepts have a specific meaning for the author of the Manifesto of the Communist Party.
We will not dwell on Das Kapital in this article.
We have no illusion that we would be able grasp the book’s depth and permanence in the minds of many followers of the socioeconomic system structured upon common ownership of the means of production and characterized by the absence of social classes, money, and the state; as well as a social, political and economic ideology and movement that aims to establish a social order called communism.
Political and social scientists are more knowledgeable on this subject matter.
SUFFERING
We are more curious about Marx’s thinking when he wrote: “Religion suffering is at one and the same the expression of real suffering and a protest against a real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”
Marx mentioned this in the “A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Rights.”
We will notice two things right off the bat, according to author Michael Macrone.
First, Marx says that religion is the opium, not the opiate, of the people—a small difference, but worth getting right. (Opium is a particular drug, while opiates are a class).
Second, Marx is very fond of italics.
Characterizing religion as a painkilling drug, shocking as it still is to many, was even more radical in its day, Macrone explained.
And yet Marx, more than condemning religion itself, was actually critiquing the condition of a society that would lead people to it.
Nonetheless, forever after we would hear about “Godless communists,” implying that Marxist thought lacks values and morals.
This isn’t quite true, argued Macrone. What Marx really meant was that religion functions to pacify the oppressed; and oppression is definitely a moral wrong.
IDEALIZATION
Religion, Marx said, reflects what is lacking in society; it is an idealization of what people aspire to but cannot now enjoy.
Social condition in mid-century Europe had reduced workers to little better than slaves; the same conditions produced a religion that promised a better world in the afterlife, observed Macrone.
Religion isn’t merely a superstition or an illusion. It has a social function: to distract the oppressed from the truth of their oppression.
So long as the exploited and downtrodden believe their sufferings will earn them freedom and happiness hereafter, they will think their oppression part of the natural order—a necessary burden rather than something imposed by other men.
This, then, is what Marx meant by calling religion the “opium of the people,” explained Macrone.
It dulls their pain but at the same time make them sluggish, clouding their perception of reality and robbing them of the will to change.
What did Marx want? He wanted the “people” to open their eyes to the harsh realities of 19th-century bourgeois capitalism.
SQUEEZING
Macrone pointed out that the capitalists were squeezing more and more profit out of the proletariat’s labor, at the same time “alienating” workers from self-realization.
What workers deserved, and could have if they arose from their slumber, was control over their own labor, possession of the value they created through work, and thus self esteem, freedom, and power.
To that end, Marx, called for the “abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people.”
He wanted them to demand “real happiness,” which in Marx’s materialist philosophy was freedom and fulfillment in this world.
Since the rich and powerful aren’t just going to hand these over, the masses shall have to seize them.
Thus class struggle and revolution.
Would that it was that simple, concluded Macrone.
-- Karl Marx
NEW YORK CITY -- In Das Kaptial, Karl Marx, a German philosopher and social scientist, proposed that the motivating force of capitalism is in the exploitation of labor.
Marx believed that labor’s unpaid work is the ultimate source of surplus value and then profit both of which concepts have a specific meaning for the author of the Manifesto of the Communist Party.
We will not dwell on Das Kapital in this article.
We have no illusion that we would be able grasp the book’s depth and permanence in the minds of many followers of the socioeconomic system structured upon common ownership of the means of production and characterized by the absence of social classes, money, and the state; as well as a social, political and economic ideology and movement that aims to establish a social order called communism.
Political and social scientists are more knowledgeable on this subject matter.
SUFFERING
We are more curious about Marx’s thinking when he wrote: “Religion suffering is at one and the same the expression of real suffering and a protest against a real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”
Marx mentioned this in the “A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Rights.”
We will notice two things right off the bat, according to author Michael Macrone.
First, Marx says that religion is the opium, not the opiate, of the people—a small difference, but worth getting right. (Opium is a particular drug, while opiates are a class).
Second, Marx is very fond of italics.
Characterizing religion as a painkilling drug, shocking as it still is to many, was even more radical in its day, Macrone explained.
And yet Marx, more than condemning religion itself, was actually critiquing the condition of a society that would lead people to it.
Nonetheless, forever after we would hear about “Godless communists,” implying that Marxist thought lacks values and morals.
This isn’t quite true, argued Macrone. What Marx really meant was that religion functions to pacify the oppressed; and oppression is definitely a moral wrong.
IDEALIZATION
Religion, Marx said, reflects what is lacking in society; it is an idealization of what people aspire to but cannot now enjoy.
Social condition in mid-century Europe had reduced workers to little better than slaves; the same conditions produced a religion that promised a better world in the afterlife, observed Macrone.
Religion isn’t merely a superstition or an illusion. It has a social function: to distract the oppressed from the truth of their oppression.
So long as the exploited and downtrodden believe their sufferings will earn them freedom and happiness hereafter, they will think their oppression part of the natural order—a necessary burden rather than something imposed by other men.
This, then, is what Marx meant by calling religion the “opium of the people,” explained Macrone.
It dulls their pain but at the same time make them sluggish, clouding their perception of reality and robbing them of the will to change.
What did Marx want? He wanted the “people” to open their eyes to the harsh realities of 19th-century bourgeois capitalism.
SQUEEZING
Macrone pointed out that the capitalists were squeezing more and more profit out of the proletariat’s labor, at the same time “alienating” workers from self-realization.
What workers deserved, and could have if they arose from their slumber, was control over their own labor, possession of the value they created through work, and thus self esteem, freedom, and power.
To that end, Marx, called for the “abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people.”
He wanted them to demand “real happiness,” which in Marx’s materialist philosophy was freedom and fulfillment in this world.
Since the rich and powerful aren’t just going to hand these over, the masses shall have to seize them.
Thus class struggle and revolution.
Would that it was that simple, concluded Macrone.
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Forgiveness, Trust)
If we are bound to forgive an enemy, we are not bound to trust him.
-- THOMAS FULLER :
Forgiveness is a virtue while trust is a choice. To trust an enemy is not a mandatory string to be attached on a package deal of forgiveness. We may forgive, but we don't forget, of course; and as long as we remember, our cognitive power will put trust in the backseat.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
-- THOMAS FULLER :
Forgiveness is a virtue while trust is a choice. To trust an enemy is not a mandatory string to be attached on a package deal of forgiveness. We may forgive, but we don't forget, of course; and as long as we remember, our cognitive power will put trust in the backseat.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Mistake)
Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can't accept your imperfections, that's their fault.
-- DR. DAVID M. BURNS :
When we are mocked and rejected because of our errors, we mustn't vow our heads in shame. It's more derogatory and disgraceful to quit without trying to bounce back than to permanently fall after a gallant attempt to correct our mistakes.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
-- DR. DAVID M. BURNS :
When we are mocked and rejected because of our errors, we mustn't vow our heads in shame. It's more derogatory and disgraceful to quit without trying to bounce back than to permanently fall after a gallant attempt to correct our mistakes.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Suspicion)
Suspicion is the cancer of friendship.
--PETRARCH :
If our friends fail to "like" our Facebook posts, we shouldn't be quick to conclude that "they have changed a lot" and/or "are motivated by jealousy and envy." Ouch. Either we have become too big for our breeches or just plain and simple paranoid. This will only happen if we magnify unimportant things into major events and, thus, offend the wrong persons and shatter relationships.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
--PETRARCH :
If our friends fail to "like" our Facebook posts, we shouldn't be quick to conclude that "they have changed a lot" and/or "are motivated by jealousy and envy." Ouch. Either we have become too big for our breeches or just plain and simple paranoid. This will only happen if we magnify unimportant things into major events and, thus, offend the wrong persons and shatter relationships.
-- ALEX P. VIDAL
Alex P. Vidal Quotes (Fear)
Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
-- MARIE CURIE :
Ignorance is the precursor or No. 1 cause of our irrational fears, paranoia, prejudice, discrimination, bitterness, sadness, and cruelty. If we can at least be culturally literate and magnanimous, learning and understanding will altogether complete our intellectual development and healing process.
--ALEX P. VIDAL
-- MARIE CURIE :
Ignorance is the precursor or No. 1 cause of our irrational fears, paranoia, prejudice, discrimination, bitterness, sadness, and cruelty. If we can at least be culturally literate and magnanimous, learning and understanding will altogether complete our intellectual development and healing process.
--ALEX P. VIDAL
Sunday, November 27, 2016
A kiss and tell Lothario
"Classy bitch, don't kiss and tell. Smack her ass and then wish her well. Life sucks, better give em hell."
-- Mac Miller
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Any public official, or private individual for that matter, who intends to engage in illicit affair must beware when choosing a partner.
If she is a woman and makes a mistake of picking a kiss and tell Lothario like Ronnie Dayan, God have mercy on her.
If he is a man and thinks his decision to admit that he is the lover of Ai-Ai delas Alas or Dionisia Pacquiao will give him instant fame, God have mercy on Ai-Ai and Mommy Dionisia.
If he is a matinee idol and Kris Aquino discloses in a gossip talk show she had sexual relationship with him, God bless that guy.
Even in a permissive society that accepts any male-female, male-male or female-female dalliance, those who will kiss and tell are considered as traitors.
DISCUSS
Those involved in any romantic or sexual affair are not supposed to discuss their relationship's prurient details in public--unless they are under duress or drugged.
Dayan, former bodyguard of Senator Laila De Lima, was neither under duress nor under the influence of any substance when he shamed an enamorata, who happened to be a prominent national figure, in a congressional hearing.
The hearing was supposed to be conducted "in aid of legislation" or to establish De Lima's link to illegal drug trade, not to determine the degree of the senator's sexual appetite.
Kris Aquino was not under the influence of drugs or liquor--and was not under shotgun testimony--when she announced on national TV that she had STD or sexually transmitted disease after having a tryst with comedian Joey Marquez.
ADULTS
What transpired between two consenting adults should be "treasured" privately and valued mutually. Since they both "benefited" from the affair, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth if any of them brags about their conquest.
A quarrel that resulted in break up is not an excuse for one party to expose the relationship's lurid content. But not Dayan.
Even if he was under the behest of the congressmen, he could have just admitted his affair with De Lima and stop there; without prejudice, of course, to his testimony that he received millions from drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.
Dayan revealed something about him other than being a Lothario that the public did not know before he made the testimony that turned into a slut-shaming binge: he had no utang na loob or debt of gratitude.
In his seven golden years of erotic liaison with a former boss, he probably made money. He was "on top of the world", to say the least, if testimonies of those privy to his closeness with De Lima, a former justice secretary, were to be believed.
Prosecutors and even judges who wanted promotions sought his "blessings", among other "sidelines."
No to mention the "tips" he probably got for his alleged errand job for De Lima and the drug lords, if his admission in the House hearing was true.
You don't kick a former boss-lover who is already down.
-- Mac Miller
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Any public official, or private individual for that matter, who intends to engage in illicit affair must beware when choosing a partner.
If she is a woman and makes a mistake of picking a kiss and tell Lothario like Ronnie Dayan, God have mercy on her.
If he is a man and thinks his decision to admit that he is the lover of Ai-Ai delas Alas or Dionisia Pacquiao will give him instant fame, God have mercy on Ai-Ai and Mommy Dionisia.
If he is a matinee idol and Kris Aquino discloses in a gossip talk show she had sexual relationship with him, God bless that guy.
Even in a permissive society that accepts any male-female, male-male or female-female dalliance, those who will kiss and tell are considered as traitors.
DISCUSS
Those involved in any romantic or sexual affair are not supposed to discuss their relationship's prurient details in public--unless they are under duress or drugged.
Dayan, former bodyguard of Senator Laila De Lima, was neither under duress nor under the influence of any substance when he shamed an enamorata, who happened to be a prominent national figure, in a congressional hearing.
The hearing was supposed to be conducted "in aid of legislation" or to establish De Lima's link to illegal drug trade, not to determine the degree of the senator's sexual appetite.
Kris Aquino was not under the influence of drugs or liquor--and was not under shotgun testimony--when she announced on national TV that she had STD or sexually transmitted disease after having a tryst with comedian Joey Marquez.
ADULTS
What transpired between two consenting adults should be "treasured" privately and valued mutually. Since they both "benefited" from the affair, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth if any of them brags about their conquest.
A quarrel that resulted in break up is not an excuse for one party to expose the relationship's lurid content. But not Dayan.
Even if he was under the behest of the congressmen, he could have just admitted his affair with De Lima and stop there; without prejudice, of course, to his testimony that he received millions from drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.
Dayan revealed something about him other than being a Lothario that the public did not know before he made the testimony that turned into a slut-shaming binge: he had no utang na loob or debt of gratitude.
In his seven golden years of erotic liaison with a former boss, he probably made money. He was "on top of the world", to say the least, if testimonies of those privy to his closeness with De Lima, a former justice secretary, were to be believed.
Prosecutors and even judges who wanted promotions sought his "blessings", among other "sidelines."
No to mention the "tips" he probably got for his alleged errand job for De Lima and the drug lords, if his admission in the House hearing was true.
You don't kick a former boss-lover who is already down.
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