DELUSIONS — Pragmatic Realism

by Stanislaw Kapuscinski (aka Stan I. S. Law)

  The average age before and after the great flood differs substantially.

  I would, again, suggest that these periods corresponds in Hindu mythology’s Silver and Bronze Ages, although how the knowledge of such correspondence between the Bible and esoteric Buddhism occurred remains a mystery.

  The present, evidently extremely materialistic Age, must belong in the Iron or Kali category. Of course, there is considerable disparity between the overall duration of each period. Alas, time in metaphysics is extremely flexible.

  Below, once again, an excerpt from my book Visualization, the Chapter on Aging and Longevity, which discusses, inter alia, the flexibility of time.

  “The concept of flexibility of time is not new. St. Thomas Aquinas proposed three types of time. Tempus concerned the ‘temporal’ or earthly time. It measured the duration of changes taking place on earth. The second type of time Aquinas called aevum or time affecting changes in or of mental processes. It did not concern material changes but rather changes in mental states. It also applied to all that is incorporeal, to angels and to states of consciousness. The third type of time Aquinas called the aeternitas. It concerned the divine. While it was the domain of God, it also embraced our ability to experience infinity or immortality in a single instant. It is the time that permits the present and infinity to be one.

  In science, Aristotle and Newton measured time unambiguously as the duration between two events. They believed it was absolute time. Then, Einstein destroyed the misconception that time is absolute. In his theory of relativity he married the concept of time and space into a single idea of space-time. According to the physicist Stephen Hawking, the distinction between space and time disappears completely when using imaginary time; time measured using imaginary numbers. There is no difference between going forward or backward in imaginary time. We can also go in any direction in space. Other scientists took up the banner and came up with different definitions of time responding to different qualities and/or events of past, present and future. Another Professor of mathematical physics, Frank Tipler, offers us an elaborate menu of different ‘times’. He measures duration in terms of proper time, as measured by our clocks in the present astrophysical environment. Using this definition, time and space is measured in the same units, i.e. if time is measured in years then distance is measured in light years. He also computes in conformal time, which is measured in terms of a specific scale factor. We don’t have to worry about it because, as far as I understand, it is used only to calculate the behavior of light rays. Then there is the entropic time, which “is a more physically significant time-scale than proper time.” It is used to measure the amount of entropy that exists in the universe at a specific proper time. Next is the subjective time defined as the time required to store irreversibly one bit of information. Rather as in the speeds of computers. Finally the theoretical physicists use the York time, so called after the American physicist James York, which simplifies mathematics of the field equations.”

  Quite a choice...

  Over the years, the whole concept of time underwent considerable adjustment. In John 8:58 Jesus says, "before Abraham was, I Am”. I’d suggest that he was referring to his state of consciousness, not his physical, or biological envelope.

  I would further suggest to you that if we define our world in terms of mass and energy, then a statement “before the world was, I am,” would make equal sense. In metaphysical terms, consciousness must exist before its manifestation can be embodied in any physical or even quasi-physical form, even as an idea must exist before we can begin thinking about it, ignite it with the fervour of emotions, and begin to bring it out into physical manifestation. As is the case with this book.

  Just think. As I write this on my computer, the book is being constructed entirely of photons. Entirely of light. Just think of that.

  Chapter 12

  The End of the Beginning

  Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.

  John Kenneth Galbraith

  Canadian-American economist and author, (1908—2006)

  From the point of view of esoteric Buddhism, the USA, being by far the most successful nation from the strictly materialistic wealth point of view, is also the closest to having reached its nadir. By definition, economic success equates with materialism. This includes the supposed bastions of spiritual life, wherein the TV preachers seem never tired of filling their deep pockets with poor peoples’ money. Poor people who are seeking solace. There is ample evidence to back up this observation.

  Then there is the secular aspect.

  Most, if not all inventions that facilitate the so-called quality of life are intended and produced for lazy people. What made the USA so rich had been principally the ability, willingness, and the acumen of the few to exploit this amazing desire for laziness and mental inertia of the many. This mental malaise is evident in the vast majority of its citizens. The actual inventors are the few and far between individuals who actually enjoy intellectual challenge. Yet… without the market on which to unload their ideas, they would die of starvation, or, at the very least, they would not become billionaires.

  Before looking down our noses at others, assuming that was ever the case, let me state right here that I, too, suffer from symptoms of laziness. I am writing this book using a wonderful labour saving device known as MacBook Pro, referred to affectionately as the Macintosh. I could use a quill or a pen, but, well, I am lazy. Also, I can work 5-6 times faster, thus not lose my train or thoughts, and later do my preliminary editing without having to rewrite hundreds of pages. There is a difference though. While I admit to being lazy, the use of the genius of the few, in my case Messrs. Jobs and Wozniak, enabled me to write more than thirty (yes, 30) books since I retired from my profession. Not much, but it’s the best excuse I can offer.

  For the moment, let us leave the few and return to the many, to the masses—to the silent majority, which of late is becoming more vocal.

  It should be made clear that genius and hard work alone does not, necessarily yield stellar financial rewards; although it has been said that genius is 5% talent and 95% sweat. It does, on occasion, though. Once again, I have Steve Jobs in mind. But he’s one of the few exceptions. One can also become rich by cheating, stealing, lying, and indulging in political games and abuses. I am told that all, or nearly all, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives in the USA are said to be multimillionaires. In Britain, David Cameron’s coalition Government is said to be run by a £60million Cabinet. 23 of the 29 ministers entitled to attend Cabinet meetings are estimated to have assets and investments of more than £1million. Not much by American standards, but it’s a start.

  There are many ways to skin a cat, and there is hope.

  It seems that natural selection appears to take care of such mutant products of its evolution, and the abusers, if such they are, will eventually pay for their misdeeds. They will no longer be elected to their illustrious offices; they will be imprisoned for genocidal acts; or they will be rejected by society, which will eventually become aware of their vile characters. In the East, this is called the workings of Karma. Here, in the West, we say that justice has long memory and long arms, though sometimes the memory seems to try our patience. Both concepts work in a pragmatic sense.

  There are those who claim that only a small percentage of those caught are punished, and even fewer are caught. Since many share the views of the accusers, this may have been why at the beginning of this chapter I mentioned esoteric Buddhism and Karma. And since particularly the members of the Republican Party and their henchmen never fail to quote the Bible, let me add a few reminders:

  “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians (6:7)

  “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew (5:18)

  “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pas
s, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke (16:17)

  Neither Karma nor the Law have any statutes of limitations on any crimes. And punishments can be extracted in many different ways. Perhaps by nature herself.

  But what really destroys any organized society is greed, and greed is usually the direct result of envy. Keeping up with the Jones’s is the mildest symptom of this, affecting even the disaffected masses. Usually, the malaise goes much deeper. In my essay The Green Eyed Monster, I recounted a little story, and later I shall offer a few examples to show that even the scientists are not immune from this disease. Here’s brief excerpt.

  “I am reminded of a story I heard from a kindly old man. He said he had a vision of Hell. He saw a dark place filled with great cauldrons wherein the perpetrators of various crimes were slowly stewed in their own oil. Devils, armed with barbed tridents, surrounded virtually all the cauldrons. They pushed back the sinners who were struggling to escape their just deserts back into the simmering oil. All cauldrons with the exception of one. The pool filled with those who committed the sin of envy needed no guards. The other fryees pulled the aspiring escapees back into the oil themselves.”

  Such is the nature of envy.

  Now, a word about her sister—greed. (or ‘brother’, just to be politically correct). Greed is defined, inter alia, as intense desire for wealth, power or fame.

  Most of us associate greed with financial dealings— the multi-million bonuses being the best example of this. There is also the presumed benefit of the resultant power—as in political ambition, or a prestigious position—as in grossly overpaid and ‘over-bonused’ CEOs, who consider themselves much, much “more equal than the others”. To these people we must add the Hollywood conclave who get paid many millions of dollars, sometimes for little more than stripping in front of a camera, or pretending to kill people with a plethora of weapons starting with knives, pistols or weapons of semi-mass destruction, like machineguns, dynamite or other explosives, all to amuse the young and impressionable minds, who henceforth dream of following in their idols’ footsteps. It is a strange world we live in when a third-rate actor in a third-rate sitcom is earning 10x more than a neurosurgeon.

  Finally we must add to the entertainment industry the professional sportsman and sportswomen, pumped full of performance-enhancing drugs who, seemingly, would do almost anything to be signed up for a few extra million dollars in their contract.

  This select group is followed by thousands of ‘hungers-on’, agents, sleazy physicians who supply the drugs, over-ambitious trainers, go-betweens, political pollsters, and an army of other, lesser greed-mongers, who together comprise a nation at the end of its world domination. By now one might change the government, but the malaise is set too deep to be eradicated from above. Soon it will be time to start again, at the beginning.

  As for peoples’ greed for power, I read somewhere that only a fool would want to be the president of the USA—only a saint would agree to be one. Somehow, watching various primaries over the years, try as I might, I could not detect any symptoms of sainthood. Perhaps this was just me.

  To be fair to the USA, as of writing this chapter, Italy was in the throes of an austerity program. Their politicians, however, were paying themselves about twice the European governmental average. Bravo Berlusconi!

  This malaise may have infiltrated also the lower financial levels of the society but, due to lack of power and influence, members of this group are more likely to hurt themselves than others.

  With the collapse of the trustworthiness of the media, there remain a few brilliant exceptions. A wise man by the name David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times, is one of them. He said that the “American socioeconomic system was built on trust.” He was speaking of the past. The consequence of greed and corruption is loss of trust. A hermit does not rely on it, but when two or three meet, trust becomes sine qua non. And the American system has been built on cooperation.

  Now imagine 7 billion people who don’t trust each other… The latest consequence of this malaise is that people, the world over, no longer trust their governments. If greed and corruption in the western world might spell economic disaster, the pandemic threatens humanity.

  Is there hope?

  Pragmatic Realism demands strict ethical standards. If a person’s indomitable will to achieve is not tempered by humility, sooner or later greed will show its ugly head. Do you know many successful people who are humble?

  As for envy, greed’s younger sister (again, brother for avowed feminists, although diamonds are said to be girls’ best friends), its insidious influence is not limited to business, politics, big business or the entertainment/sports industry. It is not even limited to egos suffering from obscurity. Another example from my essay referred to above.

  “Thomas Alva Edison held over 1300 patents. His accomplishments evidently led to such an inflated ego that he fell under the spell of envy. At one time, rather then offer congratulations, he preferred to destroy the reputation of Nikola Tesla, by spreading garrulous nonsense about the dangers of his competitor's invention—that of electric alternating-current (A/C). He laid nonsensical claims as to the efficacy of his own discovery, the direct-current (D/C), though he was already well aware of its limitations. In time Tesla was well and truly vindicated, but not before Edison drove him to near bankruptcy by his envy.”

  Tesla, in turn, condemned Albert Einstein's early achievements out of hand, without ever giving them the benefit of the doubt, let alone a serious study.”

  Ain’t we got fun? And these were scientists!

  For readers interested in the subject, there is more, much more, in my essay. But… it’s not very pleasant to read.

  The USA only declared its independence on July 4, 1776, yet, all too soon, it reached the end of its beginning. Each successive empire, be it political, military or economical, lasts a shorter time. What destroys it is greed. The Declaration of Independence of 1776 was probably the most wonderful document ever written. In ancient history, some empires lasted many centuries. America has already reached the End of its Beginning. Wouldn’t it be a shame if the American hegemony also reached the Beginning of its End?

  As of the date of writing this book, the democracy in the USA was dead. It existed only among the rich. The very rich respected each other. They held the masses in deep disdain. The media did not report the truth. They, too, were in the pockets of the wealthy ruling class. They were little people with inflated egos who knew so very little, yet were telling the masses about so much. The blind leading the blind.

  There were exceptions—few and far between.

  Yet, within this quagmire of greed and envy, there were two unique, and diametrically opposing rays of hope. The first was the philanthropic movement started by billionaires. Strangely enough, those who derived the greatest benefits from the action often resided outside American borders. Nevertheless, if this wonderful idea were to catch fire among the ‘ordinary’ men and women, we might have to ask not how much the rich had given, but how much they had left. And then, perhaps, the masses would give also.

  The second ray of hope might have far greater repercussions.

  Recently a movement has started, first among the Arab countries, then among the Europeans, and finally in the USA. It appears that very ordinary people—those who have never been consumed by the contagion of greed—raised their heads. They grew fed up with dictators, be they political, economical or of any other sort. At least closer to home the protesters, as they chose to be called, didn’t shoot, didn’t fire guns—unless someone shot at them, they didn’t make demands on anyone or anything. They just said that they were fed up with the greedy plutocrats who were stealing their hard-earned keep. They said that the greedy ones must find a solution. It’s their job. They stole, robbed the middle class, the masses, they must find a way to return all stolen goods. The stolen money. Trillions upon trillions of dollars. They, the protesters, were a quiet, almost humble lot of people, who normally didn�
��t complain.

  The strange thing was that, to start with, even the media didn’t take them seriously. The quiet protesters were not newsworthy. They were too quiet. They didn’t burn cars or destroy property. They were nice people. And the media were… in the pockets of the very rich. They destroyed, twisted the truth, or simply ignored it. They, too, would have to go. Permanently. Together with the devils they served so obediently.

  For people who study such social fermentations, these quiet, pensive upheavals were merely just another expression of the Age of Aquarius. It is the Age in which we would, in which everyone must learn, to water his and her own garden. To stand up on our own feet. The atheists must find their own explanations. I hope they will not blame Darwin.

  But one thing is certain. Unless the people, yes, the ordinary people, succeed in tearing down the Corporate America, the USA and all the glorious ideals it stood for will collapse sooner than anyone dared imagine. I single out America, but the whole Western world must be included. We all share in the guilt.

  As for the scourge of unemployment, one look at the Plaza di St. Marco, in Venice, would show clearly why the Doges never had to face the problem of unemployment. Quality requires work. And work requires manpower, with the accent on man. Just look at those facades! Shall mankind ever forsake quantity for quality? Quantity is the prerogative of natural selection—we must rise higher. Some of us need two or three automobiles, two or three houses, two or three boats, four or five TVs, and five or six millions of dollars in the bank. Are we past the point of no return?

  Or are we too decadent already?

  Old America is dying. New—has not been, as yet, defined.

  And then, there is also the political angle. In Pragmatic Realism one is forced to search for the most practical solution to all problems, including the nation’s problems. In the USA, the triumvirate of power: the Executive, the Senate and the House of Representatives, have only one purpose. To find best solutions to serve their country. Of late, this function, this purpose, was not evident from their actions, or lack of actions. Of late, they did not represent the people. They represented the financiers who, inter alia, according to the 60 Minutes CBC (CBS in the USA) news program aired in November 2011, enabled the members of both houses to indulge in the highly illegal insider trading. It appears that the honorable members are running short on honor.