These fingers have been asleep for sometime now and I never thought I would actually come back to this place to write something. As for me, I take this as another phenomenon yet to be understood thanks to the great mysteries of chaos and turbulence; another one of my moments of entropy that has very well decorated my life with colors both vivid and somber. Its rude to be talking about myself especially since I've already breached the boundaries of my egocentricity when I am not filling this cyberspace with jibber-jabber but water flowing through a spring would always carry that which it has caught up along its way. I shall share with you the pie I baked from the panic we have with the Iranian government and their relentless love affair with nuclear energy.
We have the USA and the rest of the cowboys of the western world going bananas over Iran's nuclear enrichment programme, not forgetting North Korea as well with their own nuclear mania. The cream on top of this cake is how the very thought of someone like Ahmednijad would seem like he has a ball, not unlike North Korea, playing America's boogie man. Makes you think that the Americans have not gotten over their trauma of the October crisis and hence starts feeding their nightmares of a nuclear fall out to the rest of the world which is perpetuated even further by the ever so eager Israelis itching to toss their paper planes across the region to eliminate the "threat".
I guess one could see where I am getting with this. The idiosyncrasy of the whole situation just leaves my wits tickled by a downright blatant question: why the hell do we yank our hair to the follicles trying to get these kids from blowing us all up? Here's a more pragmatic approach; Iran wants to catapault their herd of nuclear cows upon the rest of this fair world, GO AHEAD! NUKE US ALL...let's see who would play with you when your toys return us to the dust from which we came. Asking, demanding and even threatening them has just made us look like paranoid fools so much so that its probably entertaining for Ahmednijad to see the rest of the world zapped by the "nuclear threat" electric collar every time he pushes the button. Now we love Earth. No place like Earth with all her beautiful curves, her intoxicating scent and her gentle caresses of the wind not forgetting of course the rest of us who share and live off her; but I don't see any interest in sticking around for the after party of a nuclear brawl. So, if Ahmednijad wants to nuke a chunk of the Earth and stick around after, I say, be my guest. Try feeding yourselves let alone trying not to turn into radioactive masses of flesh. Now, is he really going to open Pandora's nuclear silo?..I don't think so.
Considering that humans are supposed to be rational, at least when it comes to our survival, triggering war like this isn't in anyway going to get anybody what they want but, even if, the powers that be lack consideration, then we're sooner or later doomed.
Its like nature. We have created a huge mess in our chaotic endeavors of civilization and technology when instead we are descending into deeper levels of purgatory. We refused to work with nature and hence she decided to let us go ahead and amuse ourselves with our grand hallucinations of progress however knowing very well that if we were to mess up the balance, we aren't going to be able to survive for long. So its a choice we make whereby the consequences would eventually affect ourselves, our survival. I recognize that such a proposition would be absurd and we should be guardians of our own survival and civilization; but burning ourselves out while trying to keep ourselves from running off a cliff is no solution either. We drive ourselves through brick walls and walk out with heads bleeding just so we can keep ourselves alive? Has the cost of living gotten so high that we pay with our lives just so we can keep breathing?
We lack a sense of collectivity; the acknowledgement of our interrelated minds and the vital communication in between that we need so dearly. Too much has been said among us but evidently nothing has been heard. Words of wisdom and love have been over reiterated through time to be nothing more than passing thoughts of that which should be. I find myself adding to the redundancy of it all just by writing here. It is, and has been for a long time, efforts of vain trying to speak to each other when we lack the capacity to listen.We instead run around the bush while clanging pots and pans as we deafen ourselves to the whispers of our salvation. We unceasingly scream out the questions into the face who could answer us.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Friday, January 28, 2011
The chaos machine
Actions speak louder than words but we never understand anyone’s actions. The problem isn’t that we can’t hear whatever that is being expressed but we just don’t understand what’s going on which caused a certain action to take place. Hey probably its because actions speak so loud that whatever intended result of the action gets drowned in the chaos of an action.
Humans are just like Americans. The world is whatever they see around them. We only go as far as acknowledging the fact that EVERYTHING we know is based on our senses. And our senses are inferior receptors compared to the vastness of the world or the universe if u will. We do nothing to remind of ourselves that whatever we discover isn’t what it is, that is if its anything to us. Its just simply bottom line, no more complicated than,whatever you see, hear, touch, feel, smell and think. Our senses only receive a narrow bandwidth of whatever there is. Our minds use that to build whatever we know. So if we think we see all that there is, damn child, hawks see more than we do, dogs smell and hear more than we do, plants feel more than we do, and we....we just think too much. Our ego tells us that we are the only ones thinking in this world so we overdo it just so we feel like we are, in a fantastical way, a contributing, if not superior, being in this world. Lets not even argue on the intellectual capacity of animals and plants. We think our capacities are extended by what we build and, yeah sure, we may be able to see what we cant see with our bear eyes, hear that we can't with our bear ears, feel that we can't with our bear skin but when we go beyond what we are ready to accept, we bight more than we can chew and get overwhelmed in the immense chaos which ironically is actually just in our minds and hence, for obvious reasons, we can’t accumulate that which enters in it the first place.
My point is this, why do we feel like we have found all and every reason to draw conclusions on the world and each other when EVERYTHING is greater than what it is? We only focus on what our senses give us and with pride, fuel our minds to conjure an abomination we call justice and hence we conjure all reason, all judgement, all perceptions and conclusion, all in vain. We live in a world of our own and as a result all the mess we live in is a result of our conjuring and meddling.
Humans are just like Americans. The world is whatever they see around them. We only go as far as acknowledging the fact that EVERYTHING we know is based on our senses. And our senses are inferior receptors compared to the vastness of the world or the universe if u will. We do nothing to remind of ourselves that whatever we discover isn’t what it is, that is if its anything to us. Its just simply bottom line, no more complicated than,whatever you see, hear, touch, feel, smell and think. Our senses only receive a narrow bandwidth of whatever there is. Our minds use that to build whatever we know. So if we think we see all that there is, damn child, hawks see more than we do, dogs smell and hear more than we do, plants feel more than we do, and we....we just think too much. Our ego tells us that we are the only ones thinking in this world so we overdo it just so we feel like we are, in a fantastical way, a contributing, if not superior, being in this world. Lets not even argue on the intellectual capacity of animals and plants. We think our capacities are extended by what we build and, yeah sure, we may be able to see what we cant see with our bear eyes, hear that we can't with our bear ears, feel that we can't with our bear skin but when we go beyond what we are ready to accept, we bight more than we can chew and get overwhelmed in the immense chaos which ironically is actually just in our minds and hence, for obvious reasons, we can’t accumulate that which enters in it the first place.
My point is this, why do we feel like we have found all and every reason to draw conclusions on the world and each other when EVERYTHING is greater than what it is? We only focus on what our senses give us and with pride, fuel our minds to conjure an abomination we call justice and hence we conjure all reason, all judgement, all perceptions and conclusion, all in vain. We live in a world of our own and as a result all the mess we live in is a result of our conjuring and meddling.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Choose damn it!
Wrote this in the train a few days back:
Law and all the rules that we place over us are but figments of our statutes. Most people are aware of this in fact. We all realize that the values that we possess are according to the standards which we are taught or a result of our environment and the interaction wenhave with it. Eventually, as we live our lives, we have a set of rules that we adhere to. All that is obvious but what we probably don’t realize is that it is always a question of choice. This is to say that we always choose what we hold on to. Sure...we all agree and realize it but it is larger and stronger than what we probably think. Or maybe some of us just haven’t given it a lot of thought and hence its lingering somewhere in the back of our minds...a place most shrinks would call the “subconscious”. Wherever it may be in the mind, it is inevitable that whatever we believe in, hold true to, adhere, disregard, detest, adore is based on NOTHING but choice. Choice is the result of will. We make a choice as a reaction to our will. We want something so we choose to get that something. It is no more complicated than that.
We constantly consider our thoughts, morals, beliefs, actions to be something of a larger source. That it is always for or from something greater or beyond us. If not so, one would consider it to be as a result of another action, or an inspired thought, or granted truth and of course not forgetting everything else around us. Basically, there is always a source for everything, regardless if we acknowledge it or not, we tell ourselves that everything comes from something and if we don’t know what it is, we use all that we have to come up with something that fits. Leaving something in our minds without a reason or a source would make us distressed and we are ever searching for a reason or a source. And once we find a reason or a source, we claim it as the truth. Something isn’t the truth when there is no reason or source that defines it.
But here’s the beauty of it, if we choose to believe in something, we never fail to find a reason or source behind ANYTHING. In a nutshell, if we want it we have. Yeah, thats exactly what all of us have at the back of heads somewhere, if i want something ill get it somehow, all i gotta do is find a way, a source, a reason and i have it. Hence, anything we do, say, think, believe is a matter of will. If one wants to believe in something, one will and rest assured that one will fine a reason or a source that he agrees upon which will finally evolve to a truth he holds on to.
The sad part about all this is, we give in to the power or that reason to dictate our will. We never allow ourselves to cut the crap of searching for reason or a source to justify or define whatever we do, say, think, believe. We don’t realize that after all that ‘soul searching’ or ‘deep thought’ it all comes down to YOU. What YOU want. We go on a journey looking for a destination. We never let ourselves go on a journey without a destination. The destination doesn’t matter because it is wherever u make it to be. It is never a road that arrives at a point. Its just a ROAD. Just choose where u want to stop. If u choose to continue, then get up and walk again. The destination is nowhere and everywhere hence anywhere. Choose.
Since charbs is working on prostitution and the laws that bind it, i’ve read JUST some stuff on the philosophical, social and political aspects of prostitution. Its amazing how people continue to struggle to figure out wether or not to legislate it. Mainly because they’re not sure if they like it or not. Nobody really knows what they want to do with it. They can’t decide if they should or should not want it. But as time goes by, people ‘evolve’ and come up with new ideas and reasons to accept it or reject it which leads to another amendment of the law. We can accept pornography in the most part, well because many people have found a reason or a justification for it. But does that really matter? Anything that started in this world was accepted proportionally to the amount of change it will cause in the environment. If there’s a big change ppl find it hard to accept it...why? because the source or reason of that change is harder to grasp. When that happens it creates the same effect of darkness where we get stricken by fear and just freeze. When things are more subtle, we tend to be able to swallow it with ease. Prostitution, like many other ‘taboo’ has the same effect on ppl as darkness. Although it has been around for so so long, it is something that most people can’t accept openly. Simply because we do not choose to. For those who do accept it, they’ve chosen to accept it only after having found a suitable reason to support it. But if you look at it,reason doesn’t really amount to anything. It is just a means to an end. Since we choose such a means, we are bound to its consequences.
Anyways, it proves that there isn’t anything behind everything. In fact, everything is nothing so u can make it anything you want.
Law and all the rules that we place over us are but figments of our statutes. Most people are aware of this in fact. We all realize that the values that we possess are according to the standards which we are taught or a result of our environment and the interaction wenhave with it. Eventually, as we live our lives, we have a set of rules that we adhere to. All that is obvious but what we probably don’t realize is that it is always a question of choice. This is to say that we always choose what we hold on to. Sure...we all agree and realize it but it is larger and stronger than what we probably think. Or maybe some of us just haven’t given it a lot of thought and hence its lingering somewhere in the back of our minds...a place most shrinks would call the “subconscious”. Wherever it may be in the mind, it is inevitable that whatever we believe in, hold true to, adhere, disregard, detest, adore is based on NOTHING but choice. Choice is the result of will. We make a choice as a reaction to our will. We want something so we choose to get that something. It is no more complicated than that.
We constantly consider our thoughts, morals, beliefs, actions to be something of a larger source. That it is always for or from something greater or beyond us. If not so, one would consider it to be as a result of another action, or an inspired thought, or granted truth and of course not forgetting everything else around us. Basically, there is always a source for everything, regardless if we acknowledge it or not, we tell ourselves that everything comes from something and if we don’t know what it is, we use all that we have to come up with something that fits. Leaving something in our minds without a reason or a source would make us distressed and we are ever searching for a reason or a source. And once we find a reason or a source, we claim it as the truth. Something isn’t the truth when there is no reason or source that defines it.
But here’s the beauty of it, if we choose to believe in something, we never fail to find a reason or source behind ANYTHING. In a nutshell, if we want it we have. Yeah, thats exactly what all of us have at the back of heads somewhere, if i want something ill get it somehow, all i gotta do is find a way, a source, a reason and i have it. Hence, anything we do, say, think, believe is a matter of will. If one wants to believe in something, one will and rest assured that one will fine a reason or a source that he agrees upon which will finally evolve to a truth he holds on to.
The sad part about all this is, we give in to the power or that reason to dictate our will. We never allow ourselves to cut the crap of searching for reason or a source to justify or define whatever we do, say, think, believe. We don’t realize that after all that ‘soul searching’ or ‘deep thought’ it all comes down to YOU. What YOU want. We go on a journey looking for a destination. We never let ourselves go on a journey without a destination. The destination doesn’t matter because it is wherever u make it to be. It is never a road that arrives at a point. Its just a ROAD. Just choose where u want to stop. If u choose to continue, then get up and walk again. The destination is nowhere and everywhere hence anywhere. Choose.
Since charbs is working on prostitution and the laws that bind it, i’ve read JUST some stuff on the philosophical, social and political aspects of prostitution. Its amazing how people continue to struggle to figure out wether or not to legislate it. Mainly because they’re not sure if they like it or not. Nobody really knows what they want to do with it. They can’t decide if they should or should not want it. But as time goes by, people ‘evolve’ and come up with new ideas and reasons to accept it or reject it which leads to another amendment of the law. We can accept pornography in the most part, well because many people have found a reason or a justification for it. But does that really matter? Anything that started in this world was accepted proportionally to the amount of change it will cause in the environment. If there’s a big change ppl find it hard to accept it...why? because the source or reason of that change is harder to grasp. When that happens it creates the same effect of darkness where we get stricken by fear and just freeze. When things are more subtle, we tend to be able to swallow it with ease. Prostitution, like many other ‘taboo’ has the same effect on ppl as darkness. Although it has been around for so so long, it is something that most people can’t accept openly. Simply because we do not choose to. For those who do accept it, they’ve chosen to accept it only after having found a suitable reason to support it. But if you look at it,reason doesn’t really amount to anything. It is just a means to an end. Since we choose such a means, we are bound to its consequences.
Anyways, it proves that there isn’t anything behind everything. In fact, everything is nothing so u can make it anything you want.
Monday, November 30, 2009
WATCH THIS!!!!
Thanks to Suresh and Saurav, my friends from college, i have been introduced to this extremely eloquent and comprehensive documentary that would in a way correct or more like elaborate that which i've been trying to convey in the first article, No Better Than Ass Wipes and it is also relevant to the article The Rise, The Fall, and The Resurrection. The documentary is called Zeitgeist: Addendum. One can get it free from its website....watch it....its good stuff..
Monday, September 21, 2009
Immortal
Guess what...i have finally got my extremely lazy ass to type something out in this blogspot cyberspace that i got myself. The reason i've not written anything as of now may be long enough for an entry in this blog but eventually it all boils down to me being a bum. Speaking about procrastinating, yes i may have been busy and i may have denied myself some certain luxuries that i enjoyed while doing a-levels but that is no excuse for my inconsiderate withdrawal from Royal Rangers. I still have some guilt because i joined them before getting into ICOM thinking i would at last go back to the blissful days of being part of this awesome youth group but i gave in to the pressure of college and left Royal Rangers. So for whatever it is worth, i would like to sincerely apologize to Cmdr. Terence and the rest of the group for my cowardly withdrawal from the Royal Rangers. Now moving away from that.......
To fathom what i am about to write, one may need to understand that which may seem cliche to those who think they have it, but laughable to those who deny it, nonetheless nobody, including me, can describe it hence it is utter faith that i and all of us who embrace it recognize it; so no creature can claim that you do or don't have it simply because they do not recognize it.It is the soul. The tragedy is the oldest one we know, that is if you believe in the Bible or the story of Eden. Adam and Eve have denied themselves of the soul when they ate the forbidden fruit which was and still is why we are supposed to be in God's image. That's what being in His image was and is all about. It is what allowed Adam and God to have a bond and it is also the same thing that allows us to have faith and hence a bond with God. Man and God were one because they were the same and they had a bond called love which is the what happens when two souls meet. Now it is written that Adam was yet lonely and was still wanting, why? It is not that Adam didn't love God anymore neither was it the other way around heck it wasn't even the probability that they got bored of each other. So God told Adam to try to find what he's looking for with all the other creatures that He has created on Earth. Yet Adam couldn't find it. So at that point God was certain that it was a longing of Adam to spill his soul physically for Adam had a body, he had flesh, and God is void of the flesh for flesh is his creation and not He Himself. Thus, Eve was created by God to be just in the image of Adam which is hence the image of God. Eve had a soul so Adam could love her the same way he love God and Eve, like Adam is also of the flesh so Adam and Eve could both physically express their love to each other.
Now before i move on, let me clarify firstly, that it did not mean that now Adam loves Eve more than God and etc. NO. There is no quantity for love for it is of the soul and love is not of the flesh, furthermore, speaking about love, sex is the physical manifestation of the love between two souls. Fucking is just fucking and it is not the physical manifestation of the love between two souls and since sex is of the soul no creature can judge if a man or woman are fucking or having sex. It is between them and Him who knows. Sex is never appalling to God but fucking just pisses Him off. Simply because it is not of the soul. I will hopefully elaborate on that pretty soon. Second, Eve was not a possession that God gave Adam to have. Eve was made to be WITH and not FOR Adam. Same way Adam was created to be WITH and not FOR God. The beasts on the Earth and all the other creatures are for God and Man(adam and eve) for they were one and the same. It was a union of the soul and love kept them together. Thus, love is love and there is no quality and quantity of it. The Greeks were flawed when they said had 3 different qualities of love; agape,the love between a divine entity and man; eros, the sexual passion between a man and a woman; phillia, any form of love which is non-sexual. Love is the same love as the love between God and man, man and woman, and man and anyone or anything else.
When Adam and Eve had the fruit, they were stripped of the soul. They as a result were only of the flesh and felt naked because they were of the flesh and that which is of the soul has left them. The serpent was right in a way, they did become "wise". Adam and Eve now perceive and reason. They were now intellectual beings. They were just like every other creature on the Earth and have lost the image of God. And when God wanted to see them, they, like other creatures of the Earth perceived God to be feared, the One with the power and they glorified God like the other creatures do. With that in mind, they also know that they have wronged Him by having the fruit hence being of the flesh, they were struck with fear and fled. The fact that God lost his beloved made Him upset and broke His heart. Adam and Eve were banished not because of a law that God had put for Man, but it was because Man after being of the flesh, placed a law upon himself which in turn caused him to loose his soul. It was not the act of eating the fruit but it was that which has become of Adam and Eve after they had the fruit that caused them to loose their love for God. After the fruit, the bond between Man and God was not love but was the bond between a superior being and his subordinate and God didn't want that for Man for that is of the flesh. Hence following that great fall, since every man after Adam and Eve are of the flesh and void of a soul, God had no choice but to introduce to man the law. For the flesh is about perception and reason and if man were to live according to the flesh, man would never sustain to have a chance to find his soul again. This brought rise to everything that affects the lives humans live today. We adhere to the laws that we perceive and to the laws that we find has sound reason. The laws of science and nature are the laws we perceive and the laws which govern our behavior and conduct, our interaction with each other is what we call justice. God loves us that he has not allowed the laws of nature to subdue humans and he gave humans a stepping stone for justice that we may not cause our own demise. But, those laws were not going to bring man any closer to his soul and thus any closer to God. In fact, it is the law that has caused man to not be able to face God let alone love Him. The law has made man fear Him instead. It is what we have become and it is the basis of every religion, including Christianity. Heck its the basis of everything that governs us wether one believes in God or not. We have put above us a set of rules which we call the law so we can have order and we live because that's what our flesh drives us to do. Yes, we are governed by the flesh, by our reason and perception. Everything that we do and are has to have reason and not because we simply just desire it. Look at nature and we will understand the flesh. We need to be at the zenith and above everyone else so we get the power and glory that we desire just like every male lion must defeat the other lions to be an alpha male. It all makes perfect sense to adhere to the law because it is natural to us. It is natural to us because we are void of that which makes us what we truly were made to be. It is also because of the flesh that we have religion, heaven, hell and etc. which is the law because we need a reason to do what we do. And we need to constantly feed our perception with religion or justice(there is no difference in either) so we get what we think we want, what our flesh perceives as our desires. For those who impose and exploit the law, use it again for the same reason which is to acquire what the flesh perceives as our desires. For example, many if not most Christians or followers of any other religion for that matter do according to what is told, or in other words a law, and they get to enjoy a blissful, never-ending reward of eternal and "abundant" life without any sorrow and blablablablablabla.... if not u get the total opposite and each and everyone of these religions are hardly any different than the other....reason being they are ALL of the flesh. The flesh desires an eternal life of abundance and no sorrow and balablabalbalbalbalba..not the soul.
Thus in due time, God sent Jesus Christ, who, like Adam before the fall, was both of the flesh and had a soul. Jesus Christ is the one who is sent to save man and allow man to find his soul again. You see, Jesus Christ came not to give us a set of new and improved law that every man should follow to acquire the great treasure of eternal life. Neither did he come to reiterate the good old laws of Moses and etc to get the kids to behave again. Heck he didn't even come to give us eternal life like many Christians think he did. He come here to get man to recognize his soul. To have faith. For it is the only way we can recognize that we have one and as the faith grows you gradually will have one and it will be you and that's how Jesus Christ reunites Man with God. We all know Christ's message was of love and redemption and forgiveness and etc.... but hardly anyone actually got it and to those who understood. The whole message of God's love has been defined according to reason and logic. That is why Christianity isn't what Christ and his early church set it out to be. It has been made into another religion preaching kindness, compassion, with an added touch of so called faith and miracles(not that i am belittling miracles) that God's message to man has been obscured. It is supposed to be about being redeemed of your soul so that one could be rid of the law; so that one can be one with God. And eternal life? Who cares...we have our souls and that never dies....and that allows us to love and that's all we need....it is the sweetest thing of all to be able to have that bond....it doesn't matter how long we live, heck life isn't and issue anymore....it is infinity...it is.......well.......i don't know how to say it.....like i mentioned earlier....nobody can describe it because its beyond us...its beyond our flesh......it may seem cliche to those who think they have it, but laughable to those who deny it, nonetheless nobody, including me, can describe it hence it is utter faith that i and all of us who embrace it recognize it; so no creature can claim that you do or don't have it simply because they do not recognize it....i can go on trying to explain it but it will be just in vain because.........It is the soul and only those who have it recognize it....
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Rise, The Fall, The Reason and The Resurrection of The Revolution
This is a post which is way behind its scheduled publication. I meant to post this up in July but i got petrified after receiving my AS results, which weren't as savory as i would've liked it to be mostly because of my distractions; and this article is about one of them. So now with A-levels out of the way i can finally post this without being stricken with a phantom guilt i burden myself with.
Socialism or communism is a political and social system or if you may,a philosophy, which comprises of the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels of Germany. I won't go too deep into what communism is about and the ideas that define it but let me explain its basic principles. Lets take for example two blacksmiths, one much younger than the other with the older one having a family of four children and a couple of elderly parents and in-laws under his roof but the younger one who hasn't got married to anyone yet and is living alone. The younger blacksmith being stronger than the older one would obviously be more productive than the older one. In a capitalist regime, one gets what he earns so the younger one being the more productive one would be much more better of than the less productive, older blacksmith. Whereas, in a socialist government, EVERYTHING that one earns belongs to the nation and EVERYONE gets what they need hence in the case of the blacksmiths, the older one being the one who needs more to provide for those who are dependent on him would receive more than the younger blacksmith although the younger blacksmith is more productive. This is simply because the older blacksmith needs more than the younger blacksmith. Also take into consideration a corporate company in current times, has many employees and would pay its employees according to the employee's services or his/her "value" to the company. If the company were a socialist company, so to speak, EVERY employee would receive an equal amount of the company's profits no matter what position the employees hold or his/her 'value' to the company. I studied American syllabus for a year and according to the books i used at that time, i was told that such a system(socialism) is biased and unfair because the yield doesn't balance with the sweat of the worker's brow hence socialism will lead to a decline in productivity because the workers will loose motivation and drive to be more productive. That being said, socialism is at its roots is a system of equality and all levels. Karl Marx believed that everybody who is playing a part in the economic machinery of a nation, is essential; and whatever that is being achieved would not be achieved if even one of the laborers were compromised. So everyone no matter who or what they do has the right to receive an equal amount of the yield because it was the product of the collective effort of everybody in the nation. That is what i believe to be equality void of adulteration. Another major misconception of socialism is the issue on religion. Yes it is true that the communist principles explicitly forbids religion and me being my God's disciple stand firmly against religion. Karl Marx stated that a god is a yoke humans puts upon him/herself so that the community is in fear and would be under the scrutiny of dogma which will effectively maintain order and control to those who hold the power. Religion, just like race, wealth, and other social classes, divides the people giving them a sense of superiority. Socialism will die if it is enforced in a population who disregard the well being of everyone else as a whole. It is hard to grasp it but just look around and one can find that every man is for his own and would only consider the other man who is in the same group(religion, race, and other social classes) as him. Believe it or not, religion is the biggest divider of populations in the world today.
Besides, it breaks my heart to see that humans walking on this beautiful earth do not realize that religion is what humans have made it to be what it is now and it is not about God AT ALL!!!! And that's exactly why i can understand the need to rid ourselves of religion. A believer in the Bible should agree with socialism. In fact, the first people to practice socialism were the first church of Christ after the death and resurrection of Christ. The church submitted ALL that they had to the church and those who wanted to be part of the church but wouldn't submit would be smitten to death(the story of Anais and Sephira in the book of Acts).
The Rise
Communism grew somewhere between The Renaissance and The First World War. It was a time when Europe was rapidly growing and as it would happen in any form of growth, groundbreaking revolutions and reformations were taking place. It was a time when the zeal of the Renaissance was still evident. European monarchies were being overrun to make way for a more justified and civic government. For example, the morbid years of the French Revolution was the fall of her monarchy and the rise of democracy where the voice of the masses is that which decides the fate of France. In Germany, there was a slight struggle between the Germans and the Jews who inhabited Germany. The Jews were unsatisfied of their rights and were demanding the government to act on it. The Germans however were somewhat insecure because the Jews being Jews(even until today) have claimed territory on almost every economic field in Germany(sounds pretty familiar considering the current national climate...don't you think?..hahah). But as far as i know there weren't anything violent that brewed up from it...until the World War of course. Bruno Bauer, a German theologian, had a reply to a petition sent to the German government demanding the emancipation of the Jews and Karl Marx wrote an essay en titled "On the Jewish Question" criticizing Bauer's reply. Nonetheless Karl Marx, being born in a Jewish family himself, didn't write the essay in support of the Jews but he drew out an explanation to be rid of Judaism and generally any religion. [If you would like to read the essay i would gladly email it to you, my email address is stonedbohemian@yahoo.com . The essay will serve as well defined, auxiliary explanation to why religion can't be part of a socialist society]
Marxism quickly spread in parts of Europe after the composition of The Communist Manifesto. The communist movement in parts like France and England did not see much fruit and was much criticized by Marx himself. Russia however, being the last standing monarchy at that time was experiencing a revolution. As a result the fall of the Czars led to the rise of a charismatic leader Vladimir Ilych Lenin who brought a socialist revolution in Russia and uniting the Eastern European nations under a banner we know now as the Soviet Union. Lenin, after laying the foundations of the Soviet government, was replaced by Joseph Stalin and thereafter a brand of communism called Lenin-Marxism was born. Meanwhile, Stalin was faced with another socialist who disputes Stalin's regime and his name was Leon Trotsky. Trotsky's Fourth International organization failed to bring Stalin down(i'll get back to Trotsky's ideas shortly). Now of course, as the World War ended and with Soviet Union roaring majestically in the East as Mao Zedong of China successfully brings Communism into China, and also other regions in South America, Middle East and Africa joining the socialist cause, the Soviet Union had made the Americans run for their money and thus ignited the Cold War.
The Fall and The Reason
In a war, its hard to really define which side has won or lost but in the case of the Cold War, we can clearly see that America has in a way "won" the war, especially in the present age when globalisation can easily seem to be Americanization and much social, technological, and economical standards have been calibrated with American standards. Many would claim that it was when America sent a man to the moon before the Soviets could marked the end of the Soviet Union and consequently, the Cold War. But i strongly disagree because i believe that the Americans won the Cold War by winning the minds of the global population which is due to their extraordinary gift of marketing and selling the idea of capitalism sugar-coated with democracy to the world. What amplified America's efforts were the support of the Allied nations(United Kingdom and France) who endorsed capitalism and implemented it into their governments. The problem with the Soviet Union, China and Korea was their system, which incorporated tyranny and spartan lifestyles obviously did not(and won't ever) appeal to the masses thus allowing the Americans to spread their propaganda more effectively.
This brings me to Marx's dispute against the Russian communist movement. Karl Marx mentioned clearly that before a revolution of the proletariat can take place, the nation must be under a bourgeois system. It basically means that before a people would accept socialism, they need to know the climate of a capitalist reign. Soviet Union and China embraced communism as a substitution of monarchy and not as a result of a putrid capitalist reign. This would mean that the revolution was a reformation of the leadership and government system but not in the hearts and minds of the people. The hearts and minds of the people need to be revolutionized before a revolution of a nation could take place. A capitalist reign would eventually give humans a reason to reform for they know that capitalism will eventually fail. Unfortunately the people of the Soviet Union fell victim to there covetousness of the capitalist having a comfortable and lofty lifestyle. Of course the leaders of the communist movement at that time are to be blamed because they gave a reason for their subordinates and consequently the global population to reject the socialist system due to their corruption. One would say that any man with the power held by the leader of Soviet Union and China would succumb to corruption but this corruption arises in an individual when the individual covets the wealth of the bourgeois and doesn't posses a revolutionized heart and mind. So i think it would be safe to say that the fall of Soviet Union is because the people were not absolutely reformed due to their premature acceptance of socialism. We can see certain countries who still stand as true communists today have been through a fair era of bourgeois domination. Take for example, Cuba. They were under, what Che Guevara and Fidel Castro believed to be, a suppression by the Americans and it was their goal to rid Cuba and the rest of Latin America of the suppression. That is why until today America and Cuba have a mutual hatred for each other. Of course, Fidel Castro had insurgents who weren't, as i mentioned earlier, revolutionized in their hearts and minds so they demanded Castro to make Cuba a nation that they felt Cuba should be which was a capitalist nation. Castro dealt with them by giving them exactly what they wanted which was by deporting them to the United States of America.
All that being said, the world wasn't, and still isn't ready for Marxism simply because people are too selfish and divided for a revolution to take place. The population needs to evolve to finally embrace Marxism.
The Resurrection
The world may not be ready for socialism but a day will come when the world will be reformed and accept socialism as the system. We can already see it happening during the American Presidential campaign when Obama's economic plan was criticized by McCain's camp as socialist which is true. Obama's idea of "sharing the wealth"(which was made evident during the Joe the Plumber fiasco) is a form of Marxism, although a very subtle form of Marxism, but Marxism nonetheless. Now, with Obama winning the elections we can draw a fine conclusion that the udea of Marxism is starting to be accepted in the population and the revolution of hearts and minds is taking place at a very very gradual state.
But i have a theory, which is founded on Biblical prophesies, on how Marxism will resurrect itself from the ashes of the Soviet Union. Consider the current economic pandemonium and recognize that this is a result of capitalism greed and disregard. Not surprising, a time will come(i'm afraid its sooner than later) when money will be stripped off its value and there'll be a global economic lockdown. This will call for a unanimous agreement in the, lets say, United Nations, to withdraw all borders, and bring the world under one nation. This will then give way to a unified currency, philosophy, and etc. Hence it is this time when Marxism will rise like a phoenix and bring about a revolution. The world will be under one leader, who will share whatever wealth that can be compiled. This will require everyone to be dedicated to the cause and so i believe this is when the dreaded Mark of the Beast shall be enforced. Take note, that the mark would of course most probably not be called the mark of the beast but it shall be a mark whereby if you are for the cause, you'll take the mark if you aren't you shall be an infidel and banished from those who are for the cause; just like the Bible said that those who do not take the mark shall not be allowed to buy nor sell. Indeed there those times will be blissful and there will be world peace as the beauty pageant contestants have wished for. As much as i would like to be part of this Marxist utopia of mine, i personally shall not be part of it based solely on faith. The cause is good and i couldn't agree more with the Marxist principle more but i love my God and my faith is for Him no matter if He's evil or good.
So as a summary, communism is ideal but unfortunately a philosophy ahead of our time. The public perspective of communism is tarnished because of both the in inadequacy of communist leaders that preceded the revolutionists(the people who brought about the revolution (Lenin, Mao and etc) and the iron grip that America has on the media of the world today which makes it easier for her to spread her propaganda of capitalism. We can see it happening all the time for example Cuba is always being degraded as a country filled with poverty and how everyone wants to leave Cuba because of the socialist dictatorship that reigns there. But what we do not see is how Cuba has the best medical service in the world for her people and how the people there can be at most times almost care-free. Until the day comes when there will be a global economic meltdown, this shall remain an unscratchable itch for i still walk among neanderthals. LOL!
Socialism or communism is a political and social system or if you may,a philosophy, which comprises of the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels of Germany. I won't go too deep into what communism is about and the ideas that define it but let me explain its basic principles. Lets take for example two blacksmiths, one much younger than the other with the older one having a family of four children and a couple of elderly parents and in-laws under his roof but the younger one who hasn't got married to anyone yet and is living alone. The younger blacksmith being stronger than the older one would obviously be more productive than the older one. In a capitalist regime, one gets what he earns so the younger one being the more productive one would be much more better of than the less productive, older blacksmith. Whereas, in a socialist government, EVERYTHING that one earns belongs to the nation and EVERYONE gets what they need hence in the case of the blacksmiths, the older one being the one who needs more to provide for those who are dependent on him would receive more than the younger blacksmith although the younger blacksmith is more productive. This is simply because the older blacksmith needs more than the younger blacksmith. Also take into consideration a corporate company in current times, has many employees and would pay its employees according to the employee's services or his/her "value" to the company. If the company were a socialist company, so to speak, EVERY employee would receive an equal amount of the company's profits no matter what position the employees hold or his/her 'value' to the company. I studied American syllabus for a year and according to the books i used at that time, i was told that such a system(socialism) is biased and unfair because the yield doesn't balance with the sweat of the worker's brow hence socialism will lead to a decline in productivity because the workers will loose motivation and drive to be more productive. That being said, socialism is at its roots is a system of equality and all levels. Karl Marx believed that everybody who is playing a part in the economic machinery of a nation, is essential; and whatever that is being achieved would not be achieved if even one of the laborers were compromised. So everyone no matter who or what they do has the right to receive an equal amount of the yield because it was the product of the collective effort of everybody in the nation. That is what i believe to be equality void of adulteration. Another major misconception of socialism is the issue on religion. Yes it is true that the communist principles explicitly forbids religion and me being my God's disciple stand firmly against religion. Karl Marx stated that a god is a yoke humans puts upon him/herself so that the community is in fear and would be under the scrutiny of dogma which will effectively maintain order and control to those who hold the power. Religion, just like race, wealth, and other social classes, divides the people giving them a sense of superiority. Socialism will die if it is enforced in a population who disregard the well being of everyone else as a whole. It is hard to grasp it but just look around and one can find that every man is for his own and would only consider the other man who is in the same group(religion, race, and other social classes) as him. Believe it or not, religion is the biggest divider of populations in the world today.
Besides, it breaks my heart to see that humans walking on this beautiful earth do not realize that religion is what humans have made it to be what it is now and it is not about God AT ALL!!!! And that's exactly why i can understand the need to rid ourselves of religion. A believer in the Bible should agree with socialism. In fact, the first people to practice socialism were the first church of Christ after the death and resurrection of Christ. The church submitted ALL that they had to the church and those who wanted to be part of the church but wouldn't submit would be smitten to death(the story of Anais and Sephira in the book of Acts).The Rise
Communism grew somewhere between The Renaissance and The First World War. It was a time when Europe was rapidly growing and as it would happen in any form of growth, groundbreaking revolutions and reformations were taking place. It was a time when the zeal of the Renaissance was still evident. European monarchies were being overrun to make way for a more justified and civic government. For example, the morbid years of the French Revolution was the fall of her monarchy and the rise of democracy where the voice of the masses is that which decides the fate of France. In Germany, there was a slight struggle between the Germans and the Jews who inhabited Germany. The Jews were unsatisfied of their rights and were demanding the government to act on it. The Germans however were somewhat insecure because the Jews being Jews(even until today) have claimed territory on almost every economic field in Germany(sounds pretty familiar considering the current national climate...don't you think?..hahah). But as far as i know there weren't anything violent that brewed up from it...until the World War of course. Bruno Bauer, a German theologian, had a reply to a petition sent to the German government demanding the emancipation of the Jews and Karl Marx wrote an essay en titled "On the Jewish Question" criticizing Bauer's reply. Nonetheless Karl Marx, being born in a Jewish family himself, didn't write the essay in support of the Jews but he drew out an explanation to be rid of Judaism and generally any religion. [If you would like to read the essay i would gladly email it to you, my email address is stonedbohemian@yahoo.com . The essay will serve as well defined, auxiliary explanation to why religion can't be part of a socialist society]
Marxism quickly spread in parts of Europe after the composition of The Communist Manifesto. The communist movement in parts like France and England did not see much fruit and was much criticized by Marx himself. Russia however, being the last standing monarchy at that time was experiencing a revolution. As a result the fall of the Czars led to the rise of a charismatic leader Vladimir Ilych Lenin who brought a socialist revolution in Russia and uniting the Eastern European nations under a banner we know now as the Soviet Union. Lenin, after laying the foundations of the Soviet government, was replaced by Joseph Stalin and thereafter a brand of communism called Lenin-Marxism was born. Meanwhile, Stalin was faced with another socialist who disputes Stalin's regime and his name was Leon Trotsky. Trotsky's Fourth International organization failed to bring Stalin down(i'll get back to Trotsky's ideas shortly). Now of course, as the World War ended and with Soviet Union roaring majestically in the East as Mao Zedong of China successfully brings Communism into China, and also other regions in South America, Middle East and Africa joining the socialist cause, the Soviet Union had made the Americans run for their money and thus ignited the Cold War.
The Fall and The Reason
In a war, its hard to really define which side has won or lost but in the case of the Cold War, we can clearly see that America has in a way "won" the war, especially in the present age when globalisation can easily seem to be Americanization and much social, technological, and economical standards have been calibrated with American standards. Many would claim that it was when America sent a man to the moon before the Soviets could marked the end of the Soviet Union and consequently, the Cold War. But i strongly disagree because i believe that the Americans won the Cold War by winning the minds of the global population which is due to their extraordinary gift of marketing and selling the idea of capitalism sugar-coated with democracy to the world. What amplified America's efforts were the support of the Allied nations(United Kingdom and France) who endorsed capitalism and implemented it into their governments. The problem with the Soviet Union, China and Korea was their system, which incorporated tyranny and spartan lifestyles obviously did not(and won't ever) appeal to the masses thus allowing the Americans to spread their propaganda more effectively.
This brings me to Marx's dispute against the Russian communist movement. Karl Marx mentioned clearly that before a revolution of the proletariat can take place, the nation must be under a bourgeois system. It basically means that before a people would accept socialism, they need to know the climate of a capitalist reign. Soviet Union and China embraced communism as a substitution of monarchy and not as a result of a putrid capitalist reign. This would mean that the revolution was a reformation of the leadership and government system but not in the hearts and minds of the people. The hearts and minds of the people need to be revolutionized before a revolution of a nation could take place. A capitalist reign would eventually give humans a reason to reform for they know that capitalism will eventually fail. Unfortunately the people of the Soviet Union fell victim to there covetousness of the capitalist having a comfortable and lofty lifestyle. Of course the leaders of the communist movement at that time are to be blamed because they gave a reason for their subordinates and consequently the global population to reject the socialist system due to their corruption. One would say that any man with the power held by the leader of Soviet Union and China would succumb to corruption but this corruption arises in an individual when the individual covets the wealth of the bourgeois and doesn't posses a revolutionized heart and mind. So i think it would be safe to say that the fall of Soviet Union is because the people were not absolutely reformed due to their premature acceptance of socialism. We can see certain countries who still stand as true communists today have been through a fair era of bourgeois domination. Take for example, Cuba. They were under, what Che Guevara and Fidel Castro believed to be, a suppression by the Americans and it was their goal to rid Cuba and the rest of Latin America of the suppression. That is why until today America and Cuba have a mutual hatred for each other. Of course, Fidel Castro had insurgents who weren't, as i mentioned earlier, revolutionized in their hearts and minds so they demanded Castro to make Cuba a nation that they felt Cuba should be which was a capitalist nation. Castro dealt with them by giving them exactly what they wanted which was by deporting them to the United States of America.
All that being said, the world wasn't, and still isn't ready for Marxism simply because people are too selfish and divided for a revolution to take place. The population needs to evolve to finally embrace Marxism.
The Resurrection
The world may not be ready for socialism but a day will come when the world will be reformed and accept socialism as the system. We can already see it happening during the American Presidential campaign when Obama's economic plan was criticized by McCain's camp as socialist which is true. Obama's idea of "sharing the wealth"(which was made evident during the Joe the Plumber fiasco) is a form of Marxism, although a very subtle form of Marxism, but Marxism nonetheless. Now, with Obama winning the elections we can draw a fine conclusion that the udea of Marxism is starting to be accepted in the population and the revolution of hearts and minds is taking place at a very very gradual state.
But i have a theory, which is founded on Biblical prophesies, on how Marxism will resurrect itself from the ashes of the Soviet Union. Consider the current economic pandemonium and recognize that this is a result of capitalism greed and disregard. Not surprising, a time will come(i'm afraid its sooner than later) when money will be stripped off its value and there'll be a global economic lockdown. This will call for a unanimous agreement in the, lets say, United Nations, to withdraw all borders, and bring the world under one nation. This will then give way to a unified currency, philosophy, and etc. Hence it is this time when Marxism will rise like a phoenix and bring about a revolution. The world will be under one leader, who will share whatever wealth that can be compiled. This will require everyone to be dedicated to the cause and so i believe this is when the dreaded Mark of the Beast shall be enforced. Take note, that the mark would of course most probably not be called the mark of the beast but it shall be a mark whereby if you are for the cause, you'll take the mark if you aren't you shall be an infidel and banished from those who are for the cause; just like the Bible said that those who do not take the mark shall not be allowed to buy nor sell. Indeed there those times will be blissful and there will be world peace as the beauty pageant contestants have wished for. As much as i would like to be part of this Marxist utopia of mine, i personally shall not be part of it based solely on faith. The cause is good and i couldn't agree more with the Marxist principle more but i love my God and my faith is for Him no matter if He's evil or good.
So as a summary, communism is ideal but unfortunately a philosophy ahead of our time. The public perspective of communism is tarnished because of both the in inadequacy of communist leaders that preceded the revolutionists(the people who brought about the revolution (Lenin, Mao and etc) and the iron grip that America has on the media of the world today which makes it easier for her to spread her propaganda of capitalism. We can see it happening all the time for example Cuba is always being degraded as a country filled with poverty and how everyone wants to leave Cuba because of the socialist dictatorship that reigns there. But what we do not see is how Cuba has the best medical service in the world for her people and how the people there can be at most times almost care-free. Until the day comes when there will be a global economic meltdown, this shall remain an unscratchable itch for i still walk among neanderthals. LOL!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
A reply to Dr. Azly Rahman's article "To Malaysian music fans -- is Black Metal a threat to our mental security?"
My friends wouldn't expect any less from my reaction to Dr. Azly Rahman's article in his column at Malaysia today, A Republic of Virtue, entitled To Malaysian music fans -- is Black Metal a threat to our mental security
Yes it is true about Aarseth from the band Mayhem took a picture of Dead's blown up corpse as a picture for their album Dawn of the Black Hearts. In fact , what also happened was, Euronymous, another band member, was said to eat some of the fragments of Dead's brain (Dead killed himself by shooting a shotgun to his head). I don't know how far that's true, but either ways, its pretty sick of them to even make up a story like that and be glorified for doing such a thing. Nonetheless, Mayhem's fans do not listen to Mayhem because of what they did when Dead died...sheesh. That way, we should say that all Eric Clapton's fans (before the awful death of his son) liked his music because he was always high on cocaine. Or, Queen's fans enjoyed their music because Freddy Mercury was swinging on the other side of the team. To those fans of Mayhem's who like Mayhem cuz of what Aarseth and Euronymous did, they are what metalheads like to call "posers". They don't like the music, they just like the fact that black metal is all bad-ass and etc. In fact i would agree that many poser "black metal"-heads out there think they are so cool because they are grim and necro but its not the music they are truly enjoying, just the "attitude" they think people who enjoy such music have.
It is heartbreaking when i get remarks that " ooo metal is unsophisticated and noisy so it is bad...and yeah it has evil messages in its music too, so its evil...". Music doesn't need to be all complex and sophisticated, like Dream Theater(who are by the way my favourite), to be nice. It is a matter of individual opinion. Popular music is utterly unsophisticated, so does it mean that it sucks? Well, of course if one asks me if pop sucks i would say yes. But that's me. I used to be that person who thinks that just because a piece of music doesn't have weird time signatures and complex solo's, it is shitty music. Thank God i've finally matured out of that nonsense and realized that music is something where, truly, its beauty is in the eye of its beholder. That's the reason not EVERYONE appreciates the same style of music. We listen to whatever music that ignites our senses whether it is jazz, classical, pop, rnb, world, traditional, trance and yes...metal. An individual who really likes certain kind of music listens to it because he or she likes the music and not necessarily the conduct or personality of the musician. I have a friend who really enjoys hip hop but he looks nothing like those "brothers from the West-side" with the huge pants and over-sized shirts, talking like he's from the "hood". I am a metalhead but i don't have locks running down my back or chains around my waist. I listen to death metal but i don't have the desire to burn anybody or start a massacre to glorify "Almighty Satan". NO! Once again, my point is, its not the music that makes the character but its the character who finds him or herself akin to the music. And if the only reason he or she listens to the music is to because its all violent and brutal, then that is just sheer bullocks and its not the music he or she truly enjoys. Say a violent person listens to death metal because its brutal and "grraaawww" then maybe in another life, that same person would be listening to gangster rap instead..who knows.
Threat to mental security?- Indeed the titles and lyrics of metal bands might raise a few eyebrows especially in an extremely conventional society like ours. If we were to analyze other works of art the same way, then works like David and Creation of Adam by Micheangello Bvonarotti should be considered pornographic and blasphemous to God. Music like any other form of art is a form of expression. Now metal bands are just really blunt and frank when it comes it to their music. (I'm reiterating)Metalheads listen to metal because they like the music not just because its demonic or kvlt(cult). In fact, if one wanted occult music, metal isn't the only genre which plays such music, but so does the nursery rhyme "Hot Cross Buns". In witchcraft, the covens give out hot buns to everyone after the Great Rite which has a cross on it which is the symbol of Thamuz the Babylonian god who was the son of Baal(weird huh..). Metalheads listen to metal because we like the style of music. Art isn't suppose to be about the matter being expressed but the expression itself. Thus one can't blame music for a society being plagued by decadence. It is the decadence itself which gives rise to decadent individuals and if they turn out to be metal musicians, they would be expressing their decadence. In short, it is the man who makes the art and not art the man.
Besides, most metal bands have very poetic lyrics and beautiful(as i said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder) music to accompany them. Take lyrics from bands like Opeth, Kalmah, and Dark Tranquility for example(if you're really interested, go to Dark Lyrics). Yes their music may be dark and lyrics quite disturbing, but once again, it is not about the matter being expressed but the expression itself that makes an artwork.
A Culture of Thrash- Metal is not an effective way to invade the minds of the masses....not anymore. It would be a much more profitable and effective to use a form of music that appeals to a bigger portion of the young population. Metal is now labeled as alternative and underground especially in Malaysia reason being most young Malaysians do not listen to metal. Hip hop and RnB are even bigger in Malaysia and everywhere around the world. Pop is called pop for a reason. The reason is because, well , its popular. Hence if anyone wanted to poison the minds of the youth, it would be through these channels. And for argument's sake, 'mainstream' music is no different than metal when it comes to its message and etc. Its just that mainstream is much much more subtle. Its all about the presentation and packaging. Like a capitalist would say, "Its half sold when it has a good packaging". So why all the fuss about metal....isn't mainstream, in that sense, a bigger threat to the minds of our youths?
All this stereotype about metal is just a result of a lack of understanding metal or, as a matter of fact, art in general. Enough said...i'm hungry after all this typing...and i can't think now when i'm hungry.
Yes it is true about Aarseth from the band Mayhem took a picture of Dead's blown up corpse as a picture for their album Dawn of the Black Hearts. In fact , what also happened was, Euronymous, another band member, was said to eat some of the fragments of Dead's brain (Dead killed himself by shooting a shotgun to his head). I don't know how far that's true, but either ways, its pretty sick of them to even make up a story like that and be glorified for doing such a thing. Nonetheless, Mayhem's fans do not listen to Mayhem because of what they did when Dead died...sheesh. That way, we should say that all Eric Clapton's fans (before the awful death of his son) liked his music because he was always high on cocaine. Or, Queen's fans enjoyed their music because Freddy Mercury was swinging on the other side of the team. To those fans of Mayhem's who like Mayhem cuz of what Aarseth and Euronymous did, they are what metalheads like to call "posers". They don't like the music, they just like the fact that black metal is all bad-ass and etc. In fact i would agree that many poser "black metal"-heads out there think they are so cool because they are grim and necro but its not the music they are truly enjoying, just the "attitude" they think people who enjoy such music have.
It is heartbreaking when i get remarks that " ooo metal is unsophisticated and noisy so it is bad...and yeah it has evil messages in its music too, so its evil...". Music doesn't need to be all complex and sophisticated, like Dream Theater(who are by the way my favourite), to be nice. It is a matter of individual opinion. Popular music is utterly unsophisticated, so does it mean that it sucks? Well, of course if one asks me if pop sucks i would say yes. But that's me. I used to be that person who thinks that just because a piece of music doesn't have weird time signatures and complex solo's, it is shitty music. Thank God i've finally matured out of that nonsense and realized that music is something where, truly, its beauty is in the eye of its beholder. That's the reason not EVERYONE appreciates the same style of music. We listen to whatever music that ignites our senses whether it is jazz, classical, pop, rnb, world, traditional, trance and yes...metal. An individual who really likes certain kind of music listens to it because he or she likes the music and not necessarily the conduct or personality of the musician. I have a friend who really enjoys hip hop but he looks nothing like those "brothers from the West-side" with the huge pants and over-sized shirts, talking like he's from the "hood". I am a metalhead but i don't have locks running down my back or chains around my waist. I listen to death metal but i don't have the desire to burn anybody or start a massacre to glorify "Almighty Satan". NO! Once again, my point is, its not the music that makes the character but its the character who finds him or herself akin to the music. And if the only reason he or she listens to the music is to because its all violent and brutal, then that is just sheer bullocks and its not the music he or she truly enjoys. Say a violent person listens to death metal because its brutal and "grraaawww" then maybe in another life, that same person would be listening to gangster rap instead..who knows.
Threat to mental security?- Indeed the titles and lyrics of metal bands might raise a few eyebrows especially in an extremely conventional society like ours. If we were to analyze other works of art the same way, then works like David and Creation of Adam by Micheangello Bvonarotti should be considered pornographic and blasphemous to God. Music like any other form of art is a form of expression. Now metal bands are just really blunt and frank when it comes it to their music. (I'm reiterating)Metalheads listen to metal because they like the music not just because its demonic or kvlt(cult). In fact, if one wanted occult music, metal isn't the only genre which plays such music, but so does the nursery rhyme "Hot Cross Buns". In witchcraft, the covens give out hot buns to everyone after the Great Rite which has a cross on it which is the symbol of Thamuz the Babylonian god who was the son of Baal(weird huh..). Metalheads listen to metal because we like the style of music. Art isn't suppose to be about the matter being expressed but the expression itself. Thus one can't blame music for a society being plagued by decadence. It is the decadence itself which gives rise to decadent individuals and if they turn out to be metal musicians, they would be expressing their decadence. In short, it is the man who makes the art and not art the man.
Besides, most metal bands have very poetic lyrics and beautiful(as i said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder) music to accompany them. Take lyrics from bands like Opeth, Kalmah, and Dark Tranquility for example(if you're really interested, go to Dark Lyrics). Yes their music may be dark and lyrics quite disturbing, but once again, it is not about the matter being expressed but the expression itself that makes an artwork.
A Culture of Thrash- Metal is not an effective way to invade the minds of the masses....not anymore. It would be a much more profitable and effective to use a form of music that appeals to a bigger portion of the young population. Metal is now labeled as alternative and underground especially in Malaysia reason being most young Malaysians do not listen to metal. Hip hop and RnB are even bigger in Malaysia and everywhere around the world. Pop is called pop for a reason. The reason is because, well , its popular. Hence if anyone wanted to poison the minds of the youth, it would be through these channels. And for argument's sake, 'mainstream' music is no different than metal when it comes to its message and etc. Its just that mainstream is much much more subtle. Its all about the presentation and packaging. Like a capitalist would say, "Its half sold when it has a good packaging". So why all the fuss about metal....isn't mainstream, in that sense, a bigger threat to the minds of our youths?
All this stereotype about metal is just a result of a lack of understanding metal or, as a matter of fact, art in general. Enough said...i'm hungry after all this typing...and i can't think now when i'm hungry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)