Steve Durham
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Steve Durham commented on The problem of evil (it's a little long but I think it's well worth a read) on January 17, 2008, 8:06 PM
I can clear this up for you very quickly. There is no God. It's a construct of the human mind and most of the ecstatic forms of "worship" are merely instances of mental fetishism. I can guarantee you that if you focus on something long enough within the context that it is the sole meaning and purpose of your life, you'll get a great buzz, especially if you also repress your sexual energy as part of the exercise.The biggest evil in the world is the ongoing subjugation of the true nature of human beings because of what is for us now 14th century superstition.
Steve Durham commented on Re: What forces have shaped humanity most? on January 17, 2008, 7:40 PM
Technology, pure and simple. That's what has affected us most. Everything else pales in comparison.
It's interesting that one of the reasons we are so dependent upon fossil fuels is that we structure our cities and towns so that in many places you HAVE to drive to get anything and yet I have seen NO references at all in supposed environment "solutions" to re-formulating our infrastructure so that driving is at least less necessary. That's because, as happens to ALL movements, the environmental movement is co-opted by anti-corporate interests.I think it's hilarious that the underlying thesis of environmentalists is that is our right to drive and that it's car companies and oil companies who are responsible for environmental damages. Guess what? They don't drive your car!Once upon a time we decided to go to the moon and we did it. Now we need to use technology to help us repair the ozone layer. This is a project that can unite the entire planet.With his massive personal carbon footprint, Al Gore is the Head Hypo! … Read More
January 17, 2008 |
Steve Durham commented on Equal Opportunity in Education on January 17, 2008, 6:22 PM
What about the necessary jobs in our culture, like janitors, store clerks, food service workers, etc.? I get real kick out of seeing how higher education institutions try to simultaneously be both the gateway of class distinction - as defined by the amount of money you make - and the aribiters of social change - making everyone equal. It's high hypocrisy. The problem is that most of the people who are making these declarations have never indeed been really poor themselves. They don't understand the mindset.Ms. Tilghman has never really thought about this issue from a systemic standpoint. She just has an emotional opinion based on her feelings of "fairness" although I can guarantee that there's nothing fair about how she or others like her actually operate in the world.Here's the solution, if you really believe in fairness - pay your cleaning lady what you make. If you're not willing to do that - if you want to dump the whole thing onto our social institutions - I leave the conclusion to you.
Steve Durham commented on Do we own the land or does the land own us? on January 18, 2008, 6:39 AM
I agree with cassiegirl. We don't own the planet, we ARE the planet. Isn't that obvious? As far as environmental damage, that is a short-term effect of about a century of nascent technology, but we are fixing it.What's most troubling about the environmental movement, as reflected in Global's comments, is the notion that we don't deserve to be here. There seem to be factions of people who essentially hate life, and it takes many different forms, from evangelicals ranting about judgement day to environmentals talking about global warming, they seem to feel compelled to denounce life.And that crap about indiginous peoples not polluting is romantic nonsense. They weren't any different than we are, they just didn't have the kind of technology we have that produces pollution on the scale we have. I think it was probably fairly common for such peoples to exhaust the resources in a given area and move on. It reminds me of the romanticization of animals and the notion that they live in harmony. Jane Goodall learned differently when she saw her precious apes eating the brains of their rival's infants.It's extremely unfortunate the the claptrap delivered by Globalone is considered expert.