It is said that there is this classical distinction between labour and capital. In this vision labourers tend to do jobs that are dirty, physically demanding and mentally exhausting. Capitalists on the other hand are said to be exploiting labourers. I have become interested in this topic, as I look for a fulfilling occupation of my life. I feel that it is my moral obligation to get as much out of my physical talents as possible.
In a fair world each investment should yield a return that fully reflects the value of the effort made and the risk taken. High risk and intensive efforts should be rewarded by a fat return. The logic seems obvious: those who stick their necks out, gain. In the real world these gains are less obvious: [...]
… to keep yourself busy.
It is utterly frustrating. I am not referring to the title or line above. I am jumping nervously on my chair. Below the line I am writing right now, there are a dozen of other lines. All starters for a text. All of them… weak… both the content and English grammar. [...]
When I wrote seducing the female I ended the article by saying the following about mating: “exchange your fluids, call it love and claim it will last forever”. I think it is illustrative of the strong contrast when it comes to love. At the beginning when the love is huge, there is an intention to [...]
Since the beginning of the century the term ‘culture’ has gradually moved to the foreground. After Mr. Bush’s ‘axis of evil’ the line between them and us has become more pronounced. By considering groups of human beings to be evil, they are set apart from those that are apparently not. The good belong to those that call themselves sophisticated and cultivated, the bad to the illiterate and barbarians. Both groups proclaim the others are the uncultivated evil, while they see themselves as being part of a high culture.
It is like talking a drug addict out of his problem… rationally the addict knows it is a strange thing to do, but intuitively he likes to have more of it. I think this also holds for mating. Think of any gathering where boys and girls go to meet a partner. There is a lot going on… just to find someone to exchange body fluids with in the end. There goes the romance.
Some have asked me: what do you want do (in life)? I found this question rather strange, as if my raison d’être would be to do whatever pleases me. There is an automatic responder inside of me that bounces back this question. It implies the hedonistic presumption that we are on earth to do what we want to do. This is too easy to me. Strolling the earth in my I-need-to-do-what-pleases-me outfit does not suit me. It should not fit anyone.
A few weeks ago the US comptroller general, Mr. Walker, issued an assessment of the future of his country. In a statement he drew parallels between the present state of the US and that of the Roman Empire before its fall. Mr. Walker distinguished several causes for the decline, i.e. “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”. I wonder what it means when moral values decline.
Last week I wanted to buy a small pack of cigars (yes, I smoke incidentally). When I could not find them at the grocery store I went to another, and had to wait for quite some time. The girl behind the counter was pretty occupied helping a customer and she left two times to go fetch something. I decided that I would wait till the customers (there was one more) were being served. I should emphasise “I decided”. Last summer I decided that I did not want to walk home through the rain. So I waited. My flat mate thought differently and had his 15 minute shower. I, on the other hand, waited for over an hour and made my point till it stopped raining. I would have waited all night…
Suppose that you are eager to show yourself and others that you are the best. You work hard. You climb mountains in rainy conditions in December and you run 40 km with snow in your face in February. As the summer season approaches, the season during which competitions take place, you participate in competitions. You [...]