Text 28321, 135 rader
Skriven 2015-09-21 18:02:05 av Lee Lofaso (2:203/2)
     Kommentar till en text av Björn Felten
Ärende: Patriotism
==================
Hello Björn,

I must take issue with this, as both you and Matt seem
to have overlooked some very elemental things about the
very nature of man.  Here is your message to Matt, in
its entirety, unedited -

                   -=quote=-

MB>Only a non-technical person would make an issue out
MB>of that in my opinion.

Of course!

Everything related to keeping boundaries is purely political.
Most humans want to belong to the world rather than to a political
entity.

The reluctance by some fido politicians to grant access to our
network based on some kind of twisted patriotism is of course
absolutely non-technical and entirely political.

How else can they keep up the zonal wars that they need to stay
in power?  Patriotism is the only way to make people go to war
against his brothers -- especially true in the US civil war... :(

                  -=end quote=-

Everything we do is political.  Everything.  Without exception.
Not just keeping boundaries.  But everything.  And I do mean
everything.  As in ALL HUMAN ACTIVITY.

All humans belong to the world, whether they want to or not.
That is a simple reality.  All human activity takes place within
a context.  And it is within this context that everything exists.

Man is both a social and a political creature.  Not just one
or the other, but both.  Thomas Aquinas said that.  Others have,
as well.  I am merely repeating the obvious.

Twisted sister was twisted.  And those who listened to twisted
sister were just as twisted.  While twisted sister meant one thing
to a particular audience, it meant quite another if your name was
that of a socialite.

Poets are political.  Musicians are political.  Writers are
political.  Editors are political.  Sysops are political, too.
In fact, we are all political.  Each and every one of us.  No
matter who we are, or what we do, we are all political!  DUH!

There are many ways to make people go to war against his
brother, patriotism being just one of them.  It just so
happens that patriotism is the easiest way to get youngsters
to williingly give up their own lives (for cheap!) so that
old folks can profit at their expense.

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" is not an
empty saying, but is a reality that has been played and replayed
throughout history.  And it will continue repeating itself for
as long as there are those who are willing to listen.

War is an exchange of human lives for real estate.  Part of
that real estate, for most of the history of mankind, was slaves.
"To the victor go the spoils" meant not just women to rape, and
babies to kill, but also lots of free labor.

But hey.  That's another topic, for another day.  Back to the
real issue under discussion -

How to combine politics with creative work.  That remains an
unsettled question (except among extremists, who always have
all the answers to all the world's problems).  Since this is
fidonet, I have a few solutions to offer -

We can do like the Communists of old and build statues.
But rather than building statues of Marx, Lenin, Stalin,
Mao, etc., the sysops of fidonet can build statues of
Tom Jennings, Frank Vest, Michiel van der Vlist, Björn
Felten, etc.

What do you think?  You like that idea?  I thought you
would.  Maybe we can allow a few murals and poster-art
of muscle-clad sysops at their computers, along with
rosy-cheeked youngsters staring at their computer screens
while typing messages to others around the fidoworld in
this bright vision of the future.  This is, of course,
the stereotype.

But I am not entirely sure these public portraits and
monument scuptures, poster art, etc., would really do a
whole lot of good, as this is only a small portion of
a culture's art.  And it is most certainly not the best.
I mean, how many sysops can draw a picture, much less
paint a portrait or chisel a statue out of stone?

Maybe we should find ourselves a mountain and do a
real masterpiece that can rival that of Mount Rushmore.
That would really grab the world's attention and get
the ball rollling.  We can put Ward Dossche in charge
of the project, as he has many scouts who can help
with this massive project, and apparently lots of
free time to make it happen.

Journalism reports facts.  Poetry tells the truth.
The words we use are chosen by us for a purpose.
Whether as journalists, poets, musicians, editors,
scientists, or whatever else it is we do, those
words are our own.  And there is nothing wrong with
using words such as "capitalism", "working class",
"revolution", or any other word that has or may
have a political connotation.

The challenge is not the words themselves, but
rather the context in how we choose to use those
words and phrases.

Try writing a love poem if you have never been in love.
It would not make much sense, if any.  Try writing a story
about nature if you have never touched a tree.  That would
make even less sense.

In order to write effectively about love, or war, or
discrimination, or anything else, one has to have had actual
experience of those things.

Fidonet is not a technical document.

Fidonet is people.

And people are human.

--Lee

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