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| QUOTATIONS 1098-1109 |
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| 1098. As far as Nature is concerned the only purpose of Sex is Procreation, and as both men and women go thru the life cycle Nature makes sure that sexual relations between the two contributing to procreation genders continue for as long as possible to maximize the fulfilment of this ultimate goal. That is why we can observe that as man's sexual desires are gradually decreasing with aging ( due mainly to the declining production of sperm) the woman's libido is increasing in roughly the same proportion, thus insuring the optimal mean level of the sexual intercourse throughout child bearing years. Accordingly, in their younger years it is a man who is largely responsible for initiating the sexual intercourse, for then his sex drive at the peak being in addition stimulated by corresponding peak of beauty in a women of the same age. But as women grow older and begin slowly to lose their physical attractiveness, men's interest in them, already being weakened by the receding sexual drive, diminishes even more and women then have to compensate for it by increasing libido and by taking the initiative in their own hands in order to continue sexual relations. Thus, these different sexual strategies, admittedly mostly instinctive, employed by the respective genders at the different stages of life, guarantee in a state of Nature the continuation of procreation for as long as it is biologically possible which as has been stated at the beginning is the one and only true purpose of Life. 1099. Throughout human history, from the ancient to modern times, from East to West there were always some people who would be so disgusted and so incapable to cope with what was going on around them, that they would eventually choose to completely withdraw from their contemporary society, preferably to the places as far removed from it as possible in their particular circumstances. To achieve this goal they would usually unite into relatively small groups of the like-minded individuals, for no matter how self-sufficient one is, it is hard to survive on one's own for a long time. Being invariably the refugees from the society based on inequality and oppression (for history had never known any other type), such groups quite naturally always tried to establish some form of communal living with the commonly shared property, common work, common meals and some times even common families. But the most prominent and the most important feature common to all these groups was a strong belief that the world they had rejected and run away from, because of its immorality, wickedness and injustice, has no right to exist and shall inevitably perish - the eschatological views vividly reflected in the frequent use by the adherents of these groups of such vague but terrifying concepts as "apocalypse", "end of times", "the day of judgment", etc. And so reassured by their religious beliefs in the imminent destruction of the World, they would initially settle to wait patiently for its coming, spending their time in preparation for this cataclysmic event. But since no matter how long and patient their waiting was, it had never happened, at least not on the envisioned by them grandiose scale, all these groups would eventually begin to display the strong tendency for a collective suicide and very often would act them out. For their hate of the World left behind would be so vehement, that if it was not going to be destroyed, they would rather destroy themselves and through their own death be liberated from it. Thus they almost inevitably would proceed, sooner or later, from the separation from the World to the separation from the Life itself. History affords us many instances of this universal phenomenon. The most famous in the ancient times is that of a splinter Jewish sect in Qumran of the Dead Sea Scrolls' fame, who among the other things rejected the official form of Judaism of their days and withdrew as a group to the most inhospitable part of Israel, the shores of the Dead Sea, where they led typical for such sects communal life waiting for the end of the world, which in their case was partially accomplished, as far as Israel was concerned, in the act of destruction by the Roman legions in 73 A.D. of the Temple and Jewish state. The early Christians on the whole could be viewed in the same light as the Qumran dwellers (the reason why they are so often confounded with each other). For they also withdrew from their contemporary society, organized themselves into communes and were waiting for the impending end of the World and the second coming of Christ. The only thing that had saved them from the fate of their Qumran brethren was the historical accident of Emperor Constantine, who had made Christianity the official religion of Roman Empire. After that most of the Christians were quite eager to return to the "world of flesh", and despite the ostensible Scriptural proclamation to the contrary, for centuries tried to rule it. Nevertheless, even in our times, as the tragic events of Jones Town mass murder-suicide or Branch Davidians perishing in fire had shown, there are still, as on similar occasions in the past, living amongst us various groups of people who find enough compelling reasons to withdraw from the world at large, wait (and wish and pray) for its destruction, and in certain circumstances be ready to do the ultimate escape from it through personal death. Now what conclusions could be made from all this? The first is that humans are apparently the only animals we know (with exceptions of the wales who perhaps in their primordial longing to return to the place of their origin, dry land, beach and die ) that have the suicidal tendency. The second - that the social suicide in its various forms, i.e. alienation, separation, withdrawal, etc. usually precedes, and sometimes followed by the physical. 1100. Every time I hear (which happens on average at least once a month) about Jews making a lot of money doing this or that unsavoury thing, but mostly nothing more definite than taking advantage of the poor, helpless Gentiles, I rush to the bank to see if the balance on my saving account has got any bigger. Alas, I'm invariably left disappointed, for contrary to the thus aroused expectations it always is either the same or smaller since the last time I had checked it. 1101. Without denying the fact that every human society, no matter how primitive it is, consists of smaller or larger number of different groups and sub-groups, it must be nevertheless acknowledged as obvious that each society can be roughly divided into the two main groups - the rulers and the ruled. And regardless of how ethnically homogeneous the society is, i.e. when the rulers and the ruled are of the same ethnic origin, their respective attitudes toward nationalism, despite being ostensibly professed by both groups, is quite different both in motivations and in goals. For the ruled, who labour (in more than one sense) under the gross misapprehension that the rulers belonging to their own ethnic group are going to treat them better than the rulers of different ethnicity (misapprehension largely based on confusion of nation with family and the rulers with collective father figure), would invariably prefer the first to the second. And no matter how often in the past they were disabused of this proverbial notion that "blood is thicker than water" they would almost blindly continue to cling to this unity of the national interest myth, driven perhaps as much by their powerlessness and desperation as by any strong beliefs. On the contrary, the ruling classes, who don't wait for favours but take them by force, not only don't mind but eager (provided their grip on their own co-nationals is secured) to take "under their wing" as many other nations as possible, the actions which can only increase their power and wealth. 1102. I wonder sometimes if people who claim to be supersensitive, vulnerable and easily wounded are merely egotistical and self-centred and simply, in order to get what they want, are playing on everybody's else fear to hurt them. 1103. We all have witnessed occasionally (and undoubtedly are guilty ourselves of similar offences) people who suddenly would blow up at the slightest provocation, or have listened more than once to someone bitterly complaining about things totally insignificant by any objective standards. So how can we account for such seemingly illogical phenomena? The answer lies in the understanding that the effects of pain, both physical and emotional , are like that of a radiation, in a sense that they have a tendency to accumulate from month to month, from year to year, never really completely disappearing, but throughout our lives continuously adding up almost from the moment we are born and utter the first cry or perhaps even before that. In the light of this, it should no longer surprise us when someone reacts with what seems at the moment as unduly excessive violence to some relatively minor irritant or endlessly complains about rather mundane, even innocuous matters, for both the violence and complaints are in truth not the reactions to the immediate causes but to the accumulated store of frustrations and grievances and what triggers the explosion here and now is but a spark which has ignited the powder keg waiting for it for some time to go off. And though the reasons, if any, given by the "offender" for the outbursts and complaints often sound trivial indeed, the emotions themselves should not on this account be easily dismissed as unfounded, but be treated instead as the outward manifestation of some accumulated, deep and long suppressed pain. And no human being, no matter how rich and successful he appears to be, is free or immune from it. I would go even so far as to claim that such accumulated pain is the main thing that unites all of us as members of one human race. 1104. When so many people in the world are subjected daily to so much suffering through no fault of their own, the suffering they are absolutely powerless to protect themselves from, I have little empathy for the self-inflicted pain caused by all kinds of addictions, indulgence and perversions against which the will of an individual so afflicted should be a sufficient weapon of liberation. 1105. As far as the overall view of Life is concerned humanity could be roughly divided into three categories: the extreme pessimists who see it as "a valley of tears", the extreme optimists who claim that all, even if in a long, long run, is for the better, and, of course, those in the middle, swayed easily in ether direction, depending on their most recent experience. Now, both extremes represent, understandably, the tiny minorities, for otherwise we would have never survived as a species. The overwhelming majority, which is in the middle, is always looking, almost instinctively, for some balance of good and bad, apparently equating it with security which is its main preoccupation in life. The people in the middle are also, by their very nature, pragmatic and realistic (as far as it's humanly possible, of course). They know that life is not a bed of roses, but, on the other hand, they also, every now and then, benefit from some of its small mercies. And so the balance they seek, and the balance they find (or so they think), the balance which in their case comes in a form of the view of the world as being divided between Good and Evil, constantly confronting each other. But since in everyday life none can be satisfied with just abstract notions but is always looking for their physical embodiments, and since Reality seldom affords us the clear division between these two polarities, such people would usually "designate", so to speak, the living, breathing representatives of Good and Evil respectively. Moreover, quite often they would do it seemingly completely arbitrarily, just to satisfy their need for balance and order. It is not surprising then that such arbitrariness in the name of balance would often lead instead of the sought tranquillity to a lot of unnecessary interpersonal conflicts and overall strife. For it is not rare to have a basically innocent of any intended malice person being "appointed" as a villain and, at the same time, and for equally mysterious reasons, to have a real scoundrel being declared "a nice guy" and after that no matter what each of them does wouldn't change the roles they are expected to play. All this, understandably, instead of the desirable balance creates a real chaos in human relationships, which proves once more the wisdom of a saying that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". 1106. The history of Philosophy can be summarized in short as the seemingly endless succession of very intelligent men asking again and again the same few and, lets face it, rather foolish, as far as the real existence of the real men and women is concerned, questions, and wasting in the process theirs and everybody else's, who had the misfortune to get caught in the seductively intricate web of their almost infinite arguments, lives. 1107. How can Man hope to find Paradise when wherever He goes He carries Hell within Himself? For no matter how beautiful and peaceful a place was before He entered it, the Demons dwelling in Man's soul would take it over, turning the beauty into the ugliness and peace into war. 1108. Unlike some poets, however skilful and sophisticated they may be metaphorizing Death in the dazzling array of the most imaginative and yet appropriately solemn and full of significance and deep meaning similes and analogies, I personally see nothing poetic or meaningful in death. For me it will always remain the worst abomination, the epitome of the senseless madness of Nature. I share both the despair of Omar Khayyam: Be happy! Unhappy ones lose their minds. The stars are eternal, the darkness is blind. To know that man, after all turns to dust How one can get used to the thought so unkind? and the bitter irony of Shakespeare: "Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay Might stop a hole, to keep the wind away 0, that that earth, which kept the world in awe Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw!" To have the brain of Shakespeare or the hands of Michelangelo devoured by worms to make a fertilizer "to push the daisies" what could be more disgusting and revolting to the human spirit. And no matter how beautiful the flowers that spring atop the grave might be, their beauty, as far as I am concerned comes at too high a price. And so I consider the poeticizing of death as both tasteless and cowardly. It is like putting a make up on the corpse and dressing it up in its finest. It is also the feeble and essentially futile attempt to avoid the sheer obscenity and irrational brutality of death. And neither the philosophical proclamations about the unity of Universe and change of the matter from one form into the other, while Life goes on, can be of any help to more than a few philosophers. But even in their case, I sometimes wonder how strong a protection against the horror of death this high-minded serenity provides them with, when it is their turn to disintegrate into the atoms out of which something else is going to created by Nature. That's why from the time immemorial along with man's realization of his mortality the quest for immortality, expressed in one form or another in each religion, began and will never be quenched or abated, neither by the deep thinking philosophers nor by the eloquent and imaginative poets. The thinking flesh will never accept Death - the contradiction and negation of its very essence. And though I am no more inclined to "rage, rage against the dying of the light" than against the law of gravity which keeps me from flying, neither am I willing (or able) to deceive myself about the true nature and implication of death, and therefore reserve for myself the right to call a spade that digs the grave a spade that turns man into the dirt of nothingness and not a plow preparing it to bring forth the harvest of the future. 1109. Does personal suffering in itself have the power to make a man or a woman better? Some people believe it has, and I wouldn't try to argue with them. Perhaps their experience was different from mine. But if asked, I would have to answer this question in the negative. For though I wouldn't deny that it is possible, my own observation of people's behaviour in such situations has led me to conclusion that it is not necessarily so and as a matter of fact extremely rare. Most of the times the suffering tends only to amplify the characteristic traits we already possess but which are mildly displayed in the normal circumstances. Thus, one who is usually kind and attentive to the other's needs becomes even more so when his personal suffering increases his awareness of the common plight of humanity and makes him so much more empathetic to the problems of others. On the other hand, the one who is self-centred and generally inconsiderate under the best of circumstances, would become even more preoccupied with himself when things turn for the worse, and his customary indifference would often be replaced by an open hostility toward those who don't suffer in the same way, or to the same extent as he thinks he does. And instead of the arousal of empathy, the growing envy, jealousy and even hatred would follow, and on the top of this often the malicious wish that everybody else should experience the same pain as one does. Thus the suffering makes an altruist more altruistic and an egotist more egoistic. |
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