MIDNIGHT SNACK

 I grow older. My joints creak. My water is weak, and my eyes are dim. I hear faint footsteps behind me —  remote, soft and mysterious. I feel a chill wind at my back, and I sense the presence of a shadowy, hooded being who waits, patiently, as the fisherman who knows no haste, secure in knowing that the fish will soon come to him.

So that while I push myself to study, in haste to satisfy the hunger for knowledge, I ask myself, “Why do you bother? Would it not make more sense to relax?  Soul, ...  take thine ease,  knowing and accepting the imminent closure? All the knowledge that you today so eagerly seek will be lost, will go for naught.” 

Yet I must continue my quest. I have a stack of books that await my eager perusal. They are filled with wisdom from many who have gone before, and my regret is that I waited so long to sip from this precious spring.

My intellectual curiosity is a strange thing. It compels me – always has – to seek the how, and the why. The more I know, the more I must learn. Each new vista, standing atop the shoulders of much older and wiser men, inspires curiosity anew, leads me to greater urgency, and increased awareness of my own low worth. For so often have I read in the latest new book the expert’s revelation of the secrets and details of some obscure, arcane principle I had attempted, in my own feeble way, to understand and explain.

I desire pardon, to have the record of my greatest offense —  ignorance —  expunged from my record. Not for the sake of having others look and find no indictment, but for my own pride and satisfaction in creating a useful and admirable body of work. My efforts will never be published, and much of it is soon dated by the changing tides of research and world events, and therefore worthless. But there is delight and gratification in the vindication, the validation of insights —  obvious to me —  which seem to have escaped others. 

I remember the first time I read True Believer, by Eric Hoffer.  I was stricken with a sense of awe, for he placed in cogent phrase the things which had been ever before me, and were yet not seen. What miraculous construction gave his eyes the power to extract meaning, where mine saw only a blank? And wondrous the motivation that drove him to put in writing the explanation so needed, so eagerly consumed, so graciously accepted.

That I might serve to but a fraction of the attainment of Hoffer would be the only necessary justification of my efforts. I must persevere. I could as well sit at the table and decline to eat, saying that it would go for nothing, because day is done and the night is upon us. If I can enjoy but one more meal, I shall eat heartily. And if my outflow of expression illumes but one furrowed brow, it will not have been in vain.

Mitchell     Jan 23,2011                                            

Arrogance of Power

 

Mere consumers seeking services from/by the powerful — ordinary citizens eager to pay for the privilege of becoming a customer, tenant or patient, are required to sign an agreement binding them to provisions that are arbitrary, and egregiously favorable to the company or doctor, and to the significant disadvantage of the consumer.

for example:

“We have the right to assume that any letter we send to you is received”

“If we place a notice on the door of your apartment we have the right to assume that you have received it.”

The two above provisions suggest that a company may impose legal requirements and obligations without actually notifying the client. Or even trying to. They may simply assert the document was sent — and that's that.

“You agree to accept any treatment or medication that we propose for you.”

This stipulation by a medical provider is in violation of the accepted principle of a patient's right to refuse any treatment.

“In the event of a dispute between the parties of this contract you agree to arbitration in lieu of legal proceedings n a court of law.”

This imposes on the consumer a process which is regarded by some as a device to force the victim – uh, the client — to meekly submit to the will and power of the mighty.

“Arbitration clauses ... require parties to waive their rights to a jury trial. ... opponents of arbitration condemn the clauses for limited appeal options, allowing large corporations to effectively silence claims through 'private justice.' "

                                                                                                From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

My personal reaction to these impositions is an impotent fury. I have not consulted a doctor for years. And if I sign an agreement containing such as the above it is with reluctance — recognizing that my choice is to abandon all hope as I enter there.

“All hope abandon ye who enter here.” From Dante Alighieri's allegorical epic poem 'Divine Comedy'

BEWARE

 “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

from Eisenhower's Farewell Address, 1961; oft paraphrased as 

“Beware the military-industrial complex.”

Updated by Victor Davis Hanson:

“ … Beware the military-industrial, intelligence, and investigative complex.”

from Victor Davis Hanson Diagnoses The Dying Citizen

@ timestamp 28:22/49:13

Nov 3, 2021

Confession

 I have sinned.

As I read these three  words I have just now written I recognize that they are simplistically naive and redundant

For when have I ever NOT sinned?

Which demands that I decide WHAT CONSTITUTES SINNING? in context of my declaration.

So I turn to Google. There I am immersed in lengthy discussion and definition.

Didn't really learn anything new.

So I return to my confession.

No, no — not that kind of confession. I am not Catholic.  Not even religious.

My sin of the moment is a violation of a self-imposed rule — that I must avoid, or at least limit  the consumption of sugar.  Because it has noticeable harmful effects on my physical well being.

So I forego the delight of cookies and cake.  But, oh, how I love chocolate!

Like an old song that keeps playing in my mind, my consciousness is infected by a craving.  A remorseless demanding, longing  . . . for Oreo cookies.

After long, interminable restraint I yielded.  I bought a package, wrapped in blue, and set about to satiate my longing.

I placed the Oreos on my dining table, and lustfully gazed in delicious anticipation at the illustration on the package. Carefully, with a sharp knife, I slit the wrapper, and opened it like an eager husband undressing his bride. I gazed upon the three rows of brown, crispy cream filled sandwiches, inviting me, tempting me …

I shall eat but one.

It will eat only one .

I will not eat more than one.

And when I was done I realized that the row of Oreos which I so quickly consumed had contained fifteen cookies.

Amen.