if there is no struggle, there is not progress... power concedes nothing without a demand // frederick douglass

que quemada...

 ( pre-swelling/peeling )

from knowledge to wisdom...

science has been very successful at producing knowledge. but knowledge without wisdom, or science without civilization, is a dangerous thing, according to nicholas maxwell. and the reason we have the one without the other, he believes, is that science, as now practiced, does not question its own purposes or investigate its own presuppositions. it transforms the world but cannot transform itself. maxwell, a philosopher of science, argues that “we need a revolution in the aims and methods of academic inquiry, so that the basic aim becomes to promote wisdom by rational means, instead of just to acquire knowledge.” // how to think about science, CBC

( kramer on the daily show: part one )

( fifty artists // fifty albums // fifty songs )

the realities of empire...

imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of texas there was a large foreign military base, say chinese or russian. imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling american streets in military vehicles. imagine they were here under the auspices of “keeping us safe” or “promoting democracy” or “protecting their strategic interests.”

imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that the constitution did not apply to them. imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally killed or terrorized innocent americans, including women and children, most of the time with little to no repercussions or consequences. imagine that they set up check points on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked entire neighborhoods of homes. imagine if americans were fearful of these foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought america would be better off without their presence.

imagine if some americans were so angry about them being in texas that they actually joined together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or were unable to do so. imagine that those americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their defensive actions, and routinely killed, or captured and tortured by the foreign troops on our land. imagine that the occupiers’ attitude was that if they just killed enough americans, the resistance would stop, but instead, for every american killed, ten more would take up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. imagine if most of the citizens of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return home. imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home and put an end to this horror.

imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office... // ron paul, 03.10.09, ICH

u.s. media blackout on single-payer healthcare...

major newspaper, broadcast and cable stories mentioning healthcare reform in the week leading up to president obama's march 5 healthcare summit rarely mentioned the idea of a single-payer national health insurance program, according to a new FAIR study. and advocates of such a system--two of whom participated in yesterday's summit--were almost entirely shut out. // FAIR, 03.06.09

chomsky sessions, z comm, 02.27.09...

( part one )

whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent // wittgenstein

...can belief and rationality be reconciled?

i know that belief is necessary to inspire and motivate, this is what makes it such hot property for advertisers and activists alike, yet i still find it hard to believe. too many of the most atrocious, and just plain moronic, events in the history of the world have been the result of those who truly believe. belief is blind and i prefer acting in the world with my eyes wide open...

can belief and skepticism, rationality and faith, be reconciled? i don't think so, for each cancels the other out. belief is an edifice built upon ephemeralities like hopes and dreams; rationality demands a firm foundation constantly tested through inspection and deconstruction. yet every day i carry this warring opposition within me...

we need to believe, but we also need to remember that we are the ones who have constructed (and can thus deconstruct and reconstruct) the objects and rituals of our belief. this critical belief is the nightmare of both politicians and advertisers, both of whom would rather have us feel "loyalty beyond reason" or express cynical skepticism, as neither of these subjectivities demands a self-conscious awareness that we are the architects of our own ideals... // stephen duncombe, 07.01.08, afterimage