Saturday 25 March 2017

278. CONSCIENCE - good or bad?

STAT-VIEWS@18442 

Preamble:
Once up on a time quite far away my past, I studied theatre in a fine British establishment. I was nigh nineteen those days and, during one term, given to portray Shylock's servant's role of 'Launcelot Gobbo' in Shakespeare's the Merchant of Venice.

Contemplating whether to follow his conscience or betray it for certain gains, the speech is rendered to himself. I have posted it here, since I feel it applicable to my today's conundrum with life on earth.

http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=merchantvenice&Act=2&Scene=2&Scope=scene&LineHighlight=566#566
 =========================================================================Act II, Scene 2
Venice. A street.

[Enter LAUNCELOT]
  • Launcelot GobboCertainly my conscience will serve me to run from
    this Jew my master. The fiend is at mine elbow and
    tempts me saying to me 'Gobbo, Launcelot Gobbo, good
    Launcelot,' or 'good Gobbo,' or good Launcelot
    Gobbo, use your legs, take the start, run away. My 570
    conscience says 'No; take heed,' honest Launcelot;
    take heed, honest Gobbo, or, as aforesaid, 'honest
    Launcelot Gobbo; do not run; scorn running with thy
    heels.' Well, the most courageous fiend bids me
    pack: 'Via!' says the fiend; 'away!' says the 575
    fiend; 'for the heavens, rouse up a brave mind,'
    says the fiend, 'and run.' Well, my conscience,
    hanging about the neck of my heart, says very wisely
    to me 'My honest friend Launcelot, being an honest
    man's son,' or rather an honest woman's son; for, 580
    indeed, my father did something smack, something
    grow to, he had a kind of taste; well, my conscience
    says 'Launcelot, budge not.' 'Budge,' says the
    fiend. 'Budge not,' says my conscience.
    'Conscience,' say I, 'you counsel well;' ' Fiend,' 585
    say I, 'you counsel well:' to be ruled by my
    conscience, I should stay with the Jew my master,
    who, God bless the mark, is a kind of devil; and, to
    run away from the Jew, I should be ruled by the
    fiend, who, saving your reverence, is the devil 590
    himself. Certainly the Jew is the very devil
    incarnal; and, in my conscience, my conscience is
    but a kind of hard conscience, to offer to counsel
    me to stay with the Jew. The fiend gives the more
    friendly counsel: I will run, fiend; my heels are 595
    at your command; I will run.
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Torn between 2 'fiends', Launcelot decides to follow the Devil's counsel, since it presents itself as the lesser evil. He overcomes his conscience and decides to run from his master.

We are, as such, ultimately all responsible for our own conscience.*
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conscience |ˈkän(t)SHənsnounan inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behavior: he had a guilty conscience about his desires | Ben was suffering a pang of conscience.
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As I view our troubling species, I wonder now how inherent and wide-spread the essence, and value  of conscience runs through humanity; whether any shortage could make a difference to our continued  existence and general well-being.
Could a lack of conscience become a deterrent to our ultimate survival?

Do any other creatures have a conscience or a soul - whatever it is we mean by it?
I Googled: 'do other creatures than man have a conscience?' Here's a bit.
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http://bahaiteachings.org/do-animals-have-a-soul-or-a-conscience

From 'BAHAITEACHINGS.ORG' (Universal House of Justice)

".....but we are special and unique among the animal kingdom. We are capable of making judgements about our own and other people’s behaviour, and have the capacity consciously to change the way we behave and society as whole."

========================================================================

Hugely intriguing to me, the reference: "Universal House of Justice." I have grown to have the greatest suspicion for the word 'Justice,' since I have experienced huge hypocrisy in its usage. There appears to be minimum adherence to it, especially from those we expect it of the most. Those who have a sworn allegiance to it.

So then, we are 'capable of,' having 'the conscious capacity' to behave as we see fit. No other earthly creature with that capacity eh? So at least we believe to date.

Next I ask: Is the person with a steadfast conscience an inherently more honourable, higher developed human? Superior to the thief, the lier, the opportunist? Or is he/she merely weaker, by being held back by it, as if suffering from some mental illness?

After all, is life not all about 'Survival of the Fittest'? If you allow your 'noble' conscience "hanging around the neck of my heart," to stop you from progressing, would you not be the greater fool?
More 'Pure' maybe, but essentially blatantly STUPID?

Aye! There's the rub!

My above reasoning may help me better understand our present global dilemma.
[Please readers, remember the above is a Shakespearian quotation....]
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Wednesday 22 March 2017

277. Is TALK more than just CHEAP?

stat-views@18,372

" No man is above the law!" " The law, according to the facts of a particular case."
"Anyone is going to get a fair deal with me." Supreme Court Judge Gorsuch, during his senate hearings...

noun: 'deal'an agreement entered into by two or more parties for their mutual benefit, especially in a business or political context:the band signed a major recording deal.• an attractive price on a commodity for a purchaser; a bargain: we've got great deals on the latest camcorders.• with adj. ] a particular form of treatment given or received:working mothers get a raw deal.a significant but unspecified amount of something: he lost a great deal of blood.

=======================================================================

" No man is above the law!" Sure! Go tell ISIS! Hey guys! Just a minute there. WHAT do you think you are doing? EH? ..... I'm warning you! Better stop that right now, or else! We're gonna take these FACTS and you'll be sorry....

"The law, according to the facts".....in a case.... a 'particular' case...
So, OK......... its all just ........ 'WORDS'

Does anything mean anything anymore?  What are facts? When are facts 'FICTION?'  What is a 'LAW'? A 'Rule'? The MINISTRY OF JUSTICE? ......  RU bloomin kidding me?
It's the SYSTEM - The LEGAL SYSTEM of LEGALESE and gobbledygook WORDS! Spoken by pretenders in robes, up on a pulpit, mesmerizing you to DEATH and DESTRUCTION!

How about the Ministry of SILLY WALKS? (Member that one? Monty Python?)  So who wrote the Bible? The book of 'ID?'  Don't know about the book of 'ID?' Like. ID-iosyncracy'; ID-iom.  Just make it up and sell it with conviction. They'll buy it. Just make sure to wear the right gear, promote it in a suitable place, and adjust the voice according to the scripture, and presto! Take it to the bank.

Next chapter: No Accountability / No Credibility!  

Friday 10 March 2017

276. Species on its Knees?

STAT VIEWS @ 18,313

If the shenanigans in the USA is to take global root ('they' can do it, 'we' can do it) ; if facts based on reality and truth are evaporating in to thin air - watch out! Because NOTHING will mean ANYTHING, and EVERYTHING will be acceptable. All reference to solidity and roots are being annihilated and chaos will break out. Like the circus elephant too long suppressed, rampage will explode.

Each society is built on its chosen foundation. Every family unit, every form of collective structure guiding its off-spring towards a certain behaviour, is mimicked. Here we do it like this; there you go like that. A thumbs - UP in one society means: all is WELL; in another it means: UP YOURS! 

Some organized religions have tried to bridge the gaps, but failed. Which brings us to our present morphing phase. We are imploding! Like fruit flies over-multiplying in confinement, we too are now crowding our Mother Gaia's global jar! And, knowingly, she is showing signs she is not happy about our greedy, inconsiderate ventures. UP YOURS - Homo Erectus!  OUT! OUT! Damned spot!  

Quickest way she is telling us is with her weather! Climate change is showing us the way. While there is a crack in the Antarctic ice-field the size of a US State, Millions are starving in Africa.      Immobilized by war and political madness, other millions are aimlessly wandering the globe.

Chaos will become the new way of elimination. Prepare for it; anything will go. We ain't seen nothing yet. The age of Protectionism is upon us. George Orwell is alive and kicking!

Sanity is in the eye of the beholder. Let your conscience be your guide.