We live in treacherous and perilous times. In many respects, we live in the 'Age of Abuse' since forces of abuse and undue influence impinge on us from every direction, seeking to shape our attitudes, beliefs, values, opportunities, and behaviors.
By using the term "abuse", I am not referring to just sexual and physical abuse -- although these forms of abuse are taking place in epidemic proportions in many different parts of the world. Unfortunately, the nature of "abuse" encompasses a much broader set of possibilities, ranging from: the already mentioned dimensions of physical and sexual abuse, to: spiritual, educational, economic, political, scientific, constitutional, financial, analytical, militaristic, as well as media and corporate forms of abuse.
There are some commentators (e.g., Steven Pinker) who have put forth an argument which claims that, relatively speaking, we live in one of the least violent, most peaceful periods in history. Such individuals have devoted hundreds of pages trying to prove their point.
The Achilles heel of such analyses is that a problematic metric is often used to measure the incidence of violence in the world. For instance, war, in the traditional sense of two, or more, armies fighting battles which have been, in some way, officially declared may occur less frequently now than in the past and while the proportion of the world population that are engaged in such wars might be less today than in the past, nonetheless, war is only one of the possible indices to use as a measure of the extent of violence which exists in the world.
Any time that people are deprived of the truth, they are being abused in a very violent manner since without the truth, we begin at no beginning and work toward no end, and in the process, considerable damage is done to understanding, values, beliefs, purposes, identities, and lives. Any time that people are deprived of sovereignty, they are being abused in a very violent manner since only when we are ensconced in real sovereignty do we have the opportunity to push back the horizons of ignorance and realize the truth of things. Consequently, denying someone his or her sovereignty constitutes a violent attack upon the existence of a human being since denying sovereignty undermines and destroys the very heart of what it is to be human -- namely, to freely seek the truth concerning the nature of one's own existence.
Today, there is a massive, multidimensional assault on the condition of sovereignty among people almost everywhere on Earth. This is not necessarily the result of a conspiracy of some kind, but, rather, a variety of people who have power have decided -- for their own self-serving reasons and motivations -- to abuse that power and, in the process, their decisions and choices have ended up destructively affecting the opportunities of many people to be fully sovereign and, thereby, be able to freely seek the truth about an array of possibilities.
If one adds up the array of financial, economic, educational, political, constitutional, militaristic, corporate, scientific, governmental, institutional, philosophical, religious, and psychological forms of abusing human beings that is transpiring today, one will have considerable difficulty concluding anything other than that we live in one of the most violent times in history. The assault on the bodies, minds, hearts, souls, and spirits of human beings is relentless, continuous, and ubiquitous. Consequently, contrary to what people like Steven Pinker wish to argue, we do not live in the best of times, but, instead, we might just live in the worst of times -- both qualitatively and quantitatively -- when it comes to the issue of violence against sovereignty and the huge costs to human life that such violence entails.
You do not have to use bullets and bombs to destroy people. Indeed, far more destruction is accomplished through: governmental, educational, economic, political, financial, religious, media, and corporate abusive policies than is done through war.
Wars are not waged to protect and defend the sovereignty of citizens. Wars are fought to protect and defend the institutions of power. War is merely the continuation through other means of the sort of abuse of power that goes on every day in a less militaristic, but no less abusive and destuctive manner by the institutional purveyors of power that frame and shape social understanding.
National security is the antithesis of sovereignty. National security is about the likes and dislikes of the way of power and, as such, it has little, or nothing, to do (except in a problematic sense) with the issue of sovereignty.
Although most -- but not all -- of the nations on Earth are labeled as being democratic to one degree or another, none of those nations actually protect, encourage, or nurture anything that resembles true sovereignty. Having the right to vote for representatives of equally questionable character and integrity, or having the right to vote for individuals who, for the most part, do not serve, and are not interested in advancing, the rights which are inherent in sovereignty is not an expression of sovereignty and, consequently, is not something to be cherished.
Democracy leverages the vocabulary of: freedom, liberty, and rights to bring about forms of governance that are a great deal less than what sovereignty requires. Democracy and sovereignty are not neccessarily co-extensive terms.
Sovereignty is richer, deeper, as well as more nuanced and subtle than the power-brokers of democracy would have one believe. Indeed, the power-brokers spend considerable resources in an attempt to dumb people down and misdirect the latter away from realizing the nature of sovereignty and the rights which are inherent in that principle.
To find out more about various forms of abuse and the issue of sovereignty, please go to:
Forms of Abuse (1)
Forms of Abuse (2)
Friday, July 05, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Ramadan Special - Free Qur'an with Arabic Recitation and English Translation
The holy month of Ramadan is just about ten days away. May Allah make this month easy for all of us to observe and a source of great blessings.
For those who might be interested, a software package has been put together which contains both Arabic recitation and English translation (spoken and written). It is free.
The software package is rather large -- nearly 500 MB -- and, therefore, depending on your Internet connection, the download process could take a little time. However, I believe the time invested should prove to be, God willing, quite rewarding.
The software package comes with a search function. Although that function is relatively simple, it does permit one to find a lot of important words and terms, as well as their usage contexts, in the Qur'an (at least in translation ... which might not do full justice to the original, but, does offer, nonetheless, a starting point for reflection and exploration).
You can download the software package through either:
Qur'an - Site 1
or
Qur'an - Site 2
I hope, God willing, the software package will be of value and engaged with sincerity.
Anab Whitehouse
For those who might be interested, a software package has been put together which contains both Arabic recitation and English translation (spoken and written). It is free.
The software package is rather large -- nearly 500 MB -- and, therefore, depending on your Internet connection, the download process could take a little time. However, I believe the time invested should prove to be, God willing, quite rewarding.
The software package comes with a search function. Although that function is relatively simple, it does permit one to find a lot of important words and terms, as well as their usage contexts, in the Qur'an (at least in translation ... which might not do full justice to the original, but, does offer, nonetheless, a starting point for reflection and exploration).
You can download the software package through either:
Qur'an - Site 1
or
Qur'an - Site 2
I hope, God willing, the software package will be of value and engaged with sincerity.
Anab Whitehouse
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Searching for the Truth, Corporations, and the 'Saving American Democracy' Amendment: A Sufi Perspective
Current Affairs Are Often Hidden
The news tends to cover -- in an extremely condensed manner and usually to the point of distortion -- the events of the day ... or, at least, some of those events (whatever can be fit into an hour or half-hour program format). These reported events are, then, repeated throughout the day as if they are the only things of importance which are happening at any given time (assuming, of course, that such events even can be considered to be of real importance in the larger scheme of things rather than merely serving as a source of distraction intended to drown out matters of true, substantive significance).
The process starts all over again with the next news cycle. Consequently, time is occupied; attention is captured, resources are wasted, and a hermeneutical narrative is constructed through the news which comes to frame our understanding of reality ... a narrative that is hardly ever critically examined and, therefore, with time, becomes a dominant force in shaping the way many people think about the past, the present, and the future.
The foregoing sorts of news events take place in a context of social, constitutional, political, economic, educational, and scientific forces that are rarely discussed within the news. Or, if such forces are explored, the accompanying analysis tends to be through the filters of power -- economic, financial, political, militaristic, scientific, institutional, and so on -- which serves to misdirect people's attention away from what might actually be transpiring. As a result, acquiring a clear understanding of the nature of current affairs is very difficult because, in many ways, they are hidden from view ... even if they are sitting in plain sight.
The process starts all over again with the next news cycle. Consequently, time is occupied; attention is captured, resources are wasted, and a hermeneutical narrative is constructed through the news which comes to frame our understanding of reality ... a narrative that is hardly ever critically examined and, therefore, with time, becomes a dominant force in shaping the way many people think about the past, the present, and the future.
The foregoing sorts of news events take place in a context of social, constitutional, political, economic, educational, and scientific forces that are rarely discussed within the news. Or, if such forces are explored, the accompanying analysis tends to be through the filters of power -- economic, financial, political, militaristic, scientific, institutional, and so on -- which serves to misdirect people's attention away from what might actually be transpiring. As a result, acquiring a clear understanding of the nature of current affairs is very difficult because, in many ways, they are hidden from view ... even if they are sitting in plain sight.
Searching For The Truth
The process of trying to discover the truth of any matter is fraught with all manner of difficulty. Quite frequently, those difficulties begin with the problems surrounding the issue of discerning the quality of the information which someone is presenting to us.
Without accurate information, one's search for the truth tends to be compromised from the very beginning. Bad information leads in many directions but rarely, if ever, toward the truth ... unless, of course, one somehow comes to understand that such inforamtion is bad, and this leads one to reassess the credibility and realiability of the source through whom or through which the information arrives are our front door stoop.
Even with good information, the process of analyzing, interpreting, and critically evaluating such material is not necessarily straightforward. Among other things, we each have our own conceptual biases and blindspots that introduce a home-grown set of distortions or errors into the search for truth, and, therefore, while we all extol the virtue of "objectivtity', this tends to be easier said than realized.
Everyone subscribes to the importance of applying reason to the problems before us. Unfortuately, the notions of 'reason' and 'reasoning' can mean very different things to different people, and, therefore, one could sincerely believe oneself to be rational even as one might be thinking in a most irrational manner.
A delusion is a fasely held belief. In other words, the essential nature of all delusions involves an individual maintaining that his or her beliefs are rooted in the truth even though this is not the case.
Moreover, the fact that there might be many other people who share precisely the same delusion as one holds doesn't render the delusion true as a result just because it enjoys some degree of popularity. A generally accepted falsehood is stll false.
Coming to understand that one's manner of thinking or believing might be delusional tends to lead to a very difficult and usually quite traumatic set of ramifications and circumstances. In fact, this aspect of difficulty and trauma is why most people are inclined to remain entangled within the cozy cocoon of delusion since the alternative is very threatening and potentially disruptive to the flow of one's life.
Without accurate information, one's search for the truth tends to be compromised from the very beginning. Bad information leads in many directions but rarely, if ever, toward the truth ... unless, of course, one somehow comes to understand that such inforamtion is bad, and this leads one to reassess the credibility and realiability of the source through whom or through which the information arrives are our front door stoop.
Even with good information, the process of analyzing, interpreting, and critically evaluating such material is not necessarily straightforward. Among other things, we each have our own conceptual biases and blindspots that introduce a home-grown set of distortions or errors into the search for truth, and, therefore, while we all extol the virtue of "objectivtity', this tends to be easier said than realized.
Everyone subscribes to the importance of applying reason to the problems before us. Unfortuately, the notions of 'reason' and 'reasoning' can mean very different things to different people, and, therefore, one could sincerely believe oneself to be rational even as one might be thinking in a most irrational manner.
A delusion is a fasely held belief. In other words, the essential nature of all delusions involves an individual maintaining that his or her beliefs are rooted in the truth even though this is not the case.
Moreover, the fact that there might be many other people who share precisely the same delusion as one holds doesn't render the delusion true as a result just because it enjoys some degree of popularity. A generally accepted falsehood is stll false.
Coming to understand that one's manner of thinking or believing might be delusional tends to lead to a very difficult and usually quite traumatic set of ramifications and circumstances. In fact, this aspect of difficulty and trauma is why most people are inclined to remain entangled within the cozy cocoon of delusion since the alternative is very threatening and potentially disruptive to the flow of one's life.
What to Expect From This Web Page
I can't promise that you will discover the truth merely by engaging the material to be found here. What I can promise is that all of the postings and commentaries which appear here are intended to induce the visitor to critically reflect on the current affairs materials which are given expression through such postings and commentaries ... and, to this extent, the ideas, thoughts, comments, and perspectives to be found through this page provides one with an opportunity to search for the truth.
There is a perspective which states that philosophy is not so much a desitination as a process. Spirituality might be described in this manner as well.
In either case, if one accepts the idea that 'truth', whatever it turns out to be, is likely to be a lot more complex, richer, and nuanced than most of us have the capacity to grasp, then searching for the truth becomes a process rather than a destination. This does not mean there is no such thing as the truth but, rather, it suggests that one's relationship with the truth might, at best, be tangential (touching only at one point) or, possibly, like the notion of an asymptote (coming closer and closer without ever actually touching the truth).
Most of us are inclined to long for the comfort of absolutes. However, in a universe where the ultimate nature of reality might be beyond our capacity to circumscribe, a good coping strategy may have more to do with a sincere attempte to continuously refine the process we use while seeking to uncover the character of reality -- according to our capacity to do so. Hopefully, this page provides one with an opportunity to do precisely that.
There is a perspective which states that philosophy is not so much a desitination as a process. Spirituality might be described in this manner as well.
In either case, if one accepts the idea that 'truth', whatever it turns out to be, is likely to be a lot more complex, richer, and nuanced than most of us have the capacity to grasp, then searching for the truth becomes a process rather than a destination. This does not mean there is no such thing as the truth but, rather, it suggests that one's relationship with the truth might, at best, be tangential (touching only at one point) or, possibly, like the notion of an asymptote (coming closer and closer without ever actually touching the truth).
Most of us are inclined to long for the comfort of absolutes. However, in a universe where the ultimate nature of reality might be beyond our capacity to circumscribe, a good coping strategy may have more to do with a sincere attempte to continuously refine the process we use while seeking to uncover the character of reality -- according to our capacity to do so. Hopefully, this page provides one with an opportunity to do precisely that.
Bernie Sanders Proposes a Constitutional Amendment
The following video concerns a speech which Senator Bernie Sanders (from Vermont) gave back in late 2011. He proposed introducing a Constitional amendment indicating that corporations are not people, and, therefore, they have no protected rights -- especially with respect to the First Amendment, but extending, as well, to all of the other rights which are to be enjoyed by persons via Constitutional provisions (e.g., Although the 14th Amendment was ostensibly about protecting the rights of minority peoples -- such as African-Americans -- corporations have sought protection under the provisions of the 14th Amendment far more than racial minorities have done so.).
The proposed amendment went nowhere. Unfortunately, too many people who run for public office are dependent on the money which is supplied by coroporations, and in the quid pro quo of such arrangements, so-called public servants have become the thralls of those corporations and, as a result, will acknowledge -- wink, wink -- that corporations are 'persons' even though there is absolutely no rational, defensible grounds for doing so.
Supreme Court Justices (at least five of them in the Citizens United decision) might speculatively and delusionally mumble about this or that legal precedent in case law for claiming that corporations are entitled to the idea of personhood. However, there is absolutely no basis in the provisions of the Constituion or in any of the colonial history surrounding, or leading up to the writing and ratification of the Constitution or the subsequent passage of amendments which indicates that corporations were considered to be or thought of as: 'persons'.
In fact, precisely the opposite was the case. From the very moment that independence was declared, most Americans considered corporations to be expressions and agents of royal tyranny. Corporations were despised by Americans for the manner in which they were used by royalty to undermine the economic, political and social fabric of Americans ... indeed, the Boston Tea Party was one of the first organized acts of rebellion that was directed as much against the corporate world as it was against royalty.
I consider the speech by Bernie Sanders a current affair (even though the speech was given more than a year ago), because the issues he is addressing continue to adversely affect the sovereignty of actual people in the United States. If corporations were denied the perks of 'personhood', there would be a tremendous set of constructive differences in how things proceed -- politically, economically, legally, militarily, and socially -- in the United States. Much of what takes place in the United States is filtered through, framed by, and hidden within the legal delusion which considers corporations to be persons.
The proposed amendment went nowhere. Unfortunately, too many people who run for public office are dependent on the money which is supplied by coroporations, and in the quid pro quo of such arrangements, so-called public servants have become the thralls of those corporations and, as a result, will acknowledge -- wink, wink -- that corporations are 'persons' even though there is absolutely no rational, defensible grounds for doing so.
Supreme Court Justices (at least five of them in the Citizens United decision) might speculatively and delusionally mumble about this or that legal precedent in case law for claiming that corporations are entitled to the idea of personhood. However, there is absolutely no basis in the provisions of the Constituion or in any of the colonial history surrounding, or leading up to the writing and ratification of the Constitution or the subsequent passage of amendments which indicates that corporations were considered to be or thought of as: 'persons'.
In fact, precisely the opposite was the case. From the very moment that independence was declared, most Americans considered corporations to be expressions and agents of royal tyranny. Corporations were despised by Americans for the manner in which they were used by royalty to undermine the economic, political and social fabric of Americans ... indeed, the Boston Tea Party was one of the first organized acts of rebellion that was directed as much against the corporate world as it was against royalty.
I consider the speech by Bernie Sanders a current affair (even though the speech was given more than a year ago), because the issues he is addressing continue to adversely affect the sovereignty of actual people in the United States. If corporations were denied the perks of 'personhood', there would be a tremendous set of constructive differences in how things proceed -- politically, economically, legally, militarily, and socially -- in the United States. Much of what takes place in the United States is filtered through, framed by, and hidden within the legal delusion which considers corporations to be persons.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Science and Technology -- Prospects and Problems: A Sufi Perspective
Releasing the Genie
In a variety of movies, the discovery of how to release a given genie from captivity in order to do one's bidding or grant one a certain number of wishes is often accompanied by an ensuing realization that the process is not without potential risks and dangers. Siimilarly, on the surface, everything might seem straightforward with respect to various instances of scientific and technological creativity that, supposedly, will do our bidding, and, as a result, people speak about the wonders of progress and the promise of the future which scientific and technological breakthroughs generate.
However, the shadow of the 'Black Swan' event (or events), along with other possible unpleasantries, tend to lurk in the background awaiting the opportunity to suddenly manifest themselves and turn what seemed to be paradisical into a living nightmare. For example, when people began to unlock the secrets of the atom toward the beginning of the twentieth century, no one anticipated the advent of: nuclear weapons, depleted uranium, Chernobyl, Fukushima, or the problems associated with disposing of nuclear waste materials, but now we know the tragedies which might, and often do, ensue from the nuclear wombs of such scientific and technological fecundity.
Most of us are mesmerized by the amazing capabilities of the increasingly savy smart phone inventions that are rolling off the assembly line with each new generation. Yet, there is an ugly underbelly to this technology which is rooted in the 'coltan wars' which, for more than a decade, have been taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa and during which thousands have died fighting over the possession, mining, sale, and distribution of the metalic ore: Coltan (which is an amalgamation of the words: "Columbite" and "tantalite"). Coltan happens to have rather unique abilities when it comes to the storing and retaining of electical charges ... a capacity which is utilized in many smart phone capacitors.
Moreover, the lives of people all over the world have been transformed through the presence of computer technology. Yet, the appearance of computers in the world also introduced a huge problem -- which still remains largely unsolved -- involving the disposal of the toxic wastes (e.g., involving heavy metals such as: cadmiun, beryllium, and lead) that are entailed by the process of manufacturing computers.
Once the genie has been released, it is not always so easy to try to control what has been set free and, thereby, been enabled to haunt, if not terrorize, the world. People who are good at creating new science and technology are often blind, if not indifferent, to the ramifications and implications of that which has been manifested through them.
The creators -- and associated vested interests -- often label anyone who resists what the former individuals are trying to do as "Luddites" (textile craftspeople in England who resisted the introduction of labor-saving machine technology in the early 1800s). Nevertheless, history is replete with incidents in which, like Pandora's Box, technology and science became like conduits for the flow of problems (social, political, environmental, moral, and legal) into the world.
However, the shadow of the 'Black Swan' event (or events), along with other possible unpleasantries, tend to lurk in the background awaiting the opportunity to suddenly manifest themselves and turn what seemed to be paradisical into a living nightmare. For example, when people began to unlock the secrets of the atom toward the beginning of the twentieth century, no one anticipated the advent of: nuclear weapons, depleted uranium, Chernobyl, Fukushima, or the problems associated with disposing of nuclear waste materials, but now we know the tragedies which might, and often do, ensue from the nuclear wombs of such scientific and technological fecundity.
Most of us are mesmerized by the amazing capabilities of the increasingly savy smart phone inventions that are rolling off the assembly line with each new generation. Yet, there is an ugly underbelly to this technology which is rooted in the 'coltan wars' which, for more than a decade, have been taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa and during which thousands have died fighting over the possession, mining, sale, and distribution of the metalic ore: Coltan (which is an amalgamation of the words: "Columbite" and "tantalite"). Coltan happens to have rather unique abilities when it comes to the storing and retaining of electical charges ... a capacity which is utilized in many smart phone capacitors.
Moreover, the lives of people all over the world have been transformed through the presence of computer technology. Yet, the appearance of computers in the world also introduced a huge problem -- which still remains largely unsolved -- involving the disposal of the toxic wastes (e.g., involving heavy metals such as: cadmiun, beryllium, and lead) that are entailed by the process of manufacturing computers.
Once the genie has been released, it is not always so easy to try to control what has been set free and, thereby, been enabled to haunt, if not terrorize, the world. People who are good at creating new science and technology are often blind, if not indifferent, to the ramifications and implications of that which has been manifested through them.
The creators -- and associated vested interests -- often label anyone who resists what the former individuals are trying to do as "Luddites" (textile craftspeople in England who resisted the introduction of labor-saving machine technology in the early 1800s). Nevertheless, history is replete with incidents in which, like Pandora's Box, technology and science became like conduits for the flow of problems (social, political, environmental, moral, and legal) into the world.
The Cautionary Principle
Prudence, patience, and wisdom tend to indicate that the activities of science and technology ought to be engaged with a certain degree of circumspection. One application of this sort of perspective is to exercise caution when it comes to such activities For instance, wouldn't it be nice to come up with solutions to problems inherent in technological and scientific innovation before the fact rather than after the fact ... only after tremendous damage already has taken place?
There is a teaching principle among Native Americans which says that unless one understands what impact a given action will have on the seventh generation to follow, one should refrain from such an action. Another related teaching is: we do not bequeath the present world to our children but, rather, we borrow that future from them since what we do today will affect the quality of their lives tomorrow. In both cases, the underlying moral principle is that we need to exercise -- not abandon -- caution when it comes to decisions concerning the release of new scientific and technological innovation into the world.
----------
3D-Printing Technology
The following video is about the emerging technology of 3D printing. One is introduced to some of the potential -- and a few of the possible problems -- associated with 3D printing.
However, although there is a short section near the end of the video concerning one conceivable environmental application of 3D-printing technology, absolutely nothing is mentioned, or even alluded to, in the video with respect to the question: What sort of impact might the heavily plastics-based technology (at least as it is currently operated) have on the world's ecologies? Unless we can find an ecologically safe way to handle the plastics which will be released into the environment, then it is hard not to perceive something like 3D-printing technology as being as big a problem -- if not bigger -- as it is a potential boon. After all, to date, humanity does not have a great track record when it comes to the successful and safe disposal of plastics ... or, for that matter, many other environmentally unfriendly manufactured substances.
For instance, currently one can find 'The Great Pacific Plastic Garbage Flotilla' off the the coast of California which has been estimated to be anywhere from 600,000 square miles to nearly 4 million square miles in size. Furthermore, there is ever-increasing evidence to indicate that all sorts of micro-sized plastic molecules are entering into the food chain and doing irreparable harm to many species of animals ... the micro-sized plastic components give direct expression to the fact that plastics are highly resistant to being completely broken-down into harmless substances via some process of bio-degradation.
All we need now are millions of people purchasing 3D-printing technology (as it becomes cheaper, faster, and more ingenious) that will exacerbate an already extremely difficult problem. There is something deeply troubling about all of this, and, yet, the underlying issue does not seem to be even on the distant horizonal radar of the following presentation.
One can only hope that someone will come along -- sooner rather than later (if not before the fact) -- and develop a feasible, efficient, cheap way of recycling the plastic products that are generated through the 3D-printing process so that when they break or have lost their uses/attraction, they can be dumped back into the printing process instead of being dumped back into the environment.
And then, of course, there is always the possibility of creating genetically modified organisms (such as bacteria) to consume the plastic refuse and, maybe, secrete, say, gold as an end-product, so to speak. Unfortunately, this might be a 'solution' which transitions us from the frying pan to the proverbial fire.
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