Saturday, June 11, 2011

Weinergate?...What's Next?

"The great Wilheim Reich insisted, 'The pleasure of living and the pleasure of the orgasm are identical. Extreme orgasm anxiety forms the basis of the general fear of life.'"

Dear friends,

The great Wilheim Reich insisted, "The pleasure of living and the pleasure of the orgasm are identical. Extreme orgasm anxiety forms the basis of the general fear of life." In a culture where people are starving from a lack of positive emotional energy from their very relatives, much less the rest of society, is it possible that the voyeuristic tales from the mainstream media are borderline pornographic, with no other substance?

Even worse, American sexuality is very confusing. There is now, in fact, a whole group of people who estrange themselves from the rest of society - and humanity - by defining themselves by something as precarious, if not frivolous, as the human sexual appetite. Should these folks instead join their fellows in overcoming the alienation from which all of us suffer as humans in the modern world? Moreover, regarding Anthony Weiner and his playmates, why is there any surprise that the useless government- and corporate-controlled mainstream media has made this exaggerated tale of visual, literary, and audio masturbation a news item?

Additionally, in a society that, through racist arrogance, compares the centuries-old struggle of African Americans to people who deny the precariousness of the human sexual appetite, as mentioned above, and declare an "identity", as it were, that is based upon unsubstantiated claims about with whom they are having sex, what meaningful way to look at life should we expect from our youth?

It seems, at least to me, that people in this society are so used to conforming, that is, not "making waves", as well as having a "go along to get along" attitude/mentality, that they've never really taken any chances that require them to confront their inadequacies and insecurities. For that reason, something as inconsequential as someone else's activities involving consensual sex seems exciting. How sad.

I say this, because for all of the plans that are announced for the future, regarding both "economic development" and "education reform", we never see programs that are specifically designed for young people, much less the actual involvement of the aforesaid young people, that will include them in the process of building for our nation's future. Is their future going to be one of sorting through what should be the destiny of people who either tattle-tale or are "squealed on" about their sexual lives, or will it have more to do with solving the problems of our nation - and world?

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Analyzing Islam, since 9/11 - and before (originally posted 8/30/08)

The article on the link below was written only a couple of weeks after 9/11.

Dear friends,

The article on the link below was written only a couple of weeks after 9/11. Yet, considering this historical moment in recent world history, with the possible election of a man of African descent as the chief figurehead for our nation, we may consider asking ourselves: These days, how much do we as citizens actually contribute to supporting the ideal of objective analysis, much less the more lofty ones of freedom, justice, and equality?

At any rate, the author, Edward Said, has since passed. However, he was a great scholar, educator, ad statesman - in his own right, who I have been both reading and appreciating for almost thirty years. His vocabulary can be quite academic; however, he makes his points.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.thenation.com/article/clash-ignorance
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