Angle Is Everything

The thing about everything -

- that we hold to be fast and true -

- is -

Angle Is Everything

I:

Q: Who are you?

A: What exactly are you asking - by asking - who are you - ?

Q: For a start, I'm asking you to tell me your name. 

A: Does my name matter - ? Does my name - impart anything meaningful - ?

Q: Names are harmless! Besides, without your name, how do I know who you are - ?

A: What if my name is Sue Anne or L'kesha - ? Or - Mohammed or Jesús - ? Are these names - harmless - ? Moreover - do these names - tell you anything meaningful - about who I am - ?

What if - you're asking my name - on an application for a job - as a tailor or a pilot or a personal assistant or a chief operational officer - ?

Are these names harmless - ? Moreover - do these names - tell you anything meaningful - about who I am - ?

Verily - if names engage our assumptions - about who possesses such names and what they who possess such names are - vis a vis - labels, lens, isms -

- is any name - harmless - ? - much less - meaningful - ?


II:

Q: Well. If you won't tell me your name, what are you?

A: What exactly are you asking - by asking - what are you - ?

Q: I suppose, I'm asking you to tell me your gender and your race.

A: Does my gender and my race - matter - ? Do either or both - impart anything meaningful - ?

Q: Yes, they matter! Your gender and your race tell me a lot about you! Besides, without either, how do I know what you are - ?

A: What if - you're asking my gender - on an application to join a sports team or a questionnaire for a giveaway - Or - you're asking my race - on an application to attend a school - or a questionnaire for a product review -

Does my gender - matter - ? Does my race - matter - ? Do either or both - impart anything meaningful - that must be known - in order to impartially consider my application and my questionnaire - for either or both - ?

Moreover - how do my gender and my race - tell you a lot about me - ?

- by what you assume - to be true - on the basis of nothing more than gender and race - ? verily - vis a vis isms on the basis of nothing more than gender and race - which is the very definition of sexism and racism - ?


III.

A: Who am I - ?

My father named me in honor of the fifth pillar of Islam. My mother named me in honor of the season of light in the northern hemisphere, during which the southern hemisphere celebrates the birth of Christ. My dearest named me in honor of the rite of mercy and forgiveness and freedom and liberty, in the Land of Israel, and the most sacred month of the calendar of Islam.

But. My legal name. Is the name that was appointed me by the people who bought me from the people who sold me.

A: What am I - ?

I am no gender. For gender is a social construct that limits who I am and what I can be. By nothing more. Than arbitrary classifications of morphological expressions of 'sex chromosomes'.

I am no race. For race is a social construct that limits who I am and what I can be. By nothing more. Than compositions of ancestors via arbitrary boundaries of nations, religions, and/or melanin.

A: Knowing - my name, my gender, my race - my nation, my religion, my melanin - tells you nothing about me -

Instead - my name, my gender, my race - my nation, my religion, my melanin - engages your isms - such that - on the basis of nothing more than labels - you avow knowledge of me that is based on assumptions and assumptions alone -


IV.

Q: But your name does tell me about you - ! In fact - it tells me a lot about you - !

A: Does it - ?

Q: Well - yes - !

A: Does my name tell you - what I believe - ? Does my name tell you - my personal credo - ? Does my name tell you - the virtues I live by - ? Does my name tell you - that which I hold dear and dearest - ? Does my name tell you - what matters to me - ? Does my name tell you - who I love - ?

Q: Well - no - But your name tells me your nations and your religions - That's something - isn't it - ?

A: Is it - ? What do - the nations of my parents - have to do with me - ? What do - the religions of my parents - have to do with me - ?

- for is not the merit of me - me -

- not the nations of my forebearers - nor my forebearers' religions - ?


V:

Q: But - without names - without genders and races - how do I know - who and what - people are - ?

A: Ah - therein flourishes the insidious lie that everything we hold to be true - vis a vis labels - is true - that is - therein flourishes the very foundation - of isms -

Indeed - we have become so blindly accustomed - to the veracity and the validity - of names, genders, races - nations, religions, melanin - verily labels of every kind that categorize all kind -

- that we steadfastly refuse to acknowledge - the arbitrariness and the meaninglessness - of labels - despite our own experiences of arbitrary judgment and meaningless categorization vis a vis labels -

- that we vehemently disavow the unequivocal fact that labels - can and do, have and will - harm - despite our own experiences of harm vis a vis isms -

A: Haven't you - at one time or another - been subject to assumptions that have been erroneously arbitrary and harmful - on the basis of your name, your gender, your race - ? your nation, your religion, your melanin - ?

Q: Well - yes - But - not often -

A: So - because you attest to your experience of an infrequency of error and harm directed towards you -

- which - to be honest - may be true - via deliberate and intentional avoidance of experiences of error and harm - vis a vis labels - or - may not be true - as error and harm are not always visible or overtly perceived - vis a vis isms -

- this - is the basis for the legitimacy of your request for my name, my gender, my race - ? my nation, my religion, my melanin - ?

Q: Yes -


VI:

A: Furthermore - your request for my name, my gender, my race - my nation, my religion, my melanin - is legitimate and harmless - ? valid and necessary - ? meaningful and informative - ?

- because - you - by some miracle of adamantine resolution - are immune from the engagement of assumptions - on the basis of labels - vis a vis your isms - ?

Yet -

- have we not already established - that - my name, my gender, my race - my nation, my religion, my melanin - impart nothing - as to who and what - I am - ?

Indeed -

- I believe in veritas -

- my personal credo is honestum -

- the virtue I live by is lux -

- that which I hold dear and dearest is liber -

- what matters to me is fidelis -

- who I love is all kind -

Does - my name, my gender, my race - my nation, my religion, my melanin -

- engage assumptions, you hold fast and true - that cohere with my truths, as I have avowed them, herein - ?

Or - do your assumptions - cohere with your truths - ?

- lies - fueled by your isms - rationalized and justified, sanctified and nobilified - by assumptions of ignorance legitimized by hubris - ?

~ Fin ~

More

Every time -

- we reduce our selves and each other - to names, genders, races - nations, religions, melanin -

- we engage isms and actuate misanthropy -

For -

- it is no less sexist - to classify ourselves into homogeneous groups on the basis of gender -

- than for some of us - to make assumptions about others of us - on the basis of gender and gender alone - whereby we justify the different treatment of some of us by others of us - on the basis of sexism -

- moreover - it is no less racist - to classify ourselves into homogeneous groups on the basis of race -

- than for some of us - to make assumptions about others of us - on the basis of race and race alone - whereby we justify the different treatment of some of us by others of us - on the basis of racism -

Verily - 

- the legitimization of sexism and racism - on the grounds of validating a gender and validating a race - uplifting a gender and uplifting a race - advancing a gender and advancing a race - is no less sexist and racist -

- than villifying a gender and villifying a race - on the basis of gender and gender alone and race and race alone - which is the very definition of sexism and racism -

Moreover -

- the institutionalization and promotion - of policies - that benefit some of us and only some of us - on the basis of gender and gender alone and race and race alone - is categorically and unequivocally - sexist and racist -

- likewise - the classification of us - on the basis of gender and race - is categorically and unequivocally sexist and racist -

For -

- the institutionalization of these arbitrary categories - imbue these categories with the power of fabricated and manufactured - validity and veracity -

- verily - the power of absolute truth - 

- that we know with certitude - to be false and untrue - by our own experiences and by the experiences of all of us -

Yet - still -

- we persist - in engaging sexist and racist - agendas - in championing sexist and racist - causes -

- throughout our society - in public discourse, in public policy - in private discourse, in private policy - with irresponsible and flagrant disregard towards our complicit perpetuation of sexism and racism -

Until we stop -

- our overt and tacit acceptance, endorsement, advocacy of labels, lens, isms -

- our names, our genders, our races, etc. - our nations, our religions, our melanin, etc. - on applications, on questionnaires, etc. - across political campaigns, across media campaigns, etc. - 

- will continue to propagandize harm on the basis of labels and labels alone and assumptions and assumptions alone -

- with nary a qualm for the truth of our mutuus -

- M

Addendum to this post is @ My Name Is Sui Qua Alius (tvfs)

See also Unravelling the Fictions of Isms (tvfs)

Roadmap to Silver Linings

life is lived in clouds... with silver linings...

the roadmap therein, lies in...

The Art of The Question

I:

Seeker: But - answers are the truth - !

G: How - ?

Seeker: What do you mean - how - ?

G: How - are answers the truth - ?

Seeker: They just are - I don't know how - !

G: What if - an answer is wrong - Is it still the truth - ?

Seeker: Well - {pause} - No -

G: If a wrong answer - is not the truth - How do you know if an answer before you - is a wrong one - or - the truth - ?

Seeker: That's easy - You just know -

G: So - the truth is something you just know - like obscenity - you know when you see it - ?

Seeker: Yes - !

G: Then - it is possible - for us to disagree and noncohere - vis a vis the truth - because what I just know - may differ from what you just know -

G: - therefore - the truth is relative - ?


II:

Seeker: I know the answer to your question -

G: As to - how you know whether an answer before you - is a wrong one - or the truth - ?

Seeker: Yes -

Seeker: When an other answer - is the same - or different - from an aforementioned answer - a new answer - is how I know - whether an aforementioned answer - is a wrong one - or the truth -

G: As in science - replication - if you will - ?

Seeker: Exactly - !

G: What if - a new answer - in replicating the aforementioned answer - replicates a wrong answer - ?

G: - bearing in mind that replication defines success and failure - by replication itself - not by whether or not the answer replicated - is a wrong one - or - the truth -

Seeker: But - what about when replication proves that an aforementioned answer is wrong - or the truth - ?

G: Does replication prove - whether an answer is wrong - or the truth - ? Or does replication prove - replicability and replication - ?

G: - verily - a wrong replicated - over and over and over - is no less wrong - for being replicable and replicated - while the truth unreplicated - over and over and over - is no less the truth - for being unreplicable and unreplicated -


III:

Seeker: What about proofs - ?

G: As in mathematical or logical - proofs - ?

Seeker: Yes - ! When a proof - proves an answer before you - is a wrong one - or the truth - is not a proof - how you know - that an answer - is wrong - or the truth - ? Hah - !

G: Alas - all proofs - are based on assumptions -

Seeker: What - ?

G: All proofs - whether or not explicitly articulated or not - are based on assumptions - often of a priori and implicit varieties -

Seeker: Wait - You lost me - What does that mean - ?

G: Proofs are houses built on sand -

Seeker: {dumbfounded pause}

G: Though that sand is believed to be concrete - vis a vis beliefs etched in stone - that sand is still - none the less - sand -

Seeker: But - what if a proof proves - that that sand - is the truth - ? that - assumptions - including a priori and implicit assumptions - are the truth - ?

G: Such proofs - are still - based on assumptions - which are fundamentally beliefs -

G: - moreover - across time immemorial - all proofs prove their own assumptions to be true - and - all proofs prove the reverse -

G: - such is the nature of proofs subject to the shifting sands of belief -


IV:

Seeker: Answers are not the truth - because - more answers are more answers - not proofs as to whether answers before you - are wrong ones - or the truth -

G: Correct -

Seeker: So - what is the truth - ? The question - ?

G: Yes -

Seeker: But - what if a question before you - is a wrong one - ? How do you know if a question before you - is a wrong one - or the truth - ?

G: Is your question - a wrong one - or the truth - ?

Seeker: I don't know -

G: If your question - produces an answer - that is wrong - Is it an answer - that is wrong - Or your question - ?

Seeker: Oh - that's easy - My question - !

G: If your question - produces an answer - that is the truth - Is it an answer - that is the truth - Or your question - ?

Seeker: Oh - that's easy - An answer - !

G: Then - is a better question - not whether or not a question is wrong or the truth - nor whether or not an answer is wrong or the truth - but -

G: - what is the truth - ?

Seeker: So - the question is not the truth - ?

G: The question is the truth -

Seeker: So - the question as to - how you know if a question before you is a wrong one or the truth - is not the truth - ?

G: Correct -

Seeker: Because - whether or not a question is a wrong one or the truth - is not the truth -

Seeker: - questioning is the truth - questions are the truth -

G: Yes -

G: - answers are a dead end - questions are an open road -

G: - and - of all questions - ever and always - only one - is the road home -

G: - what is the truth -

See also The Pen, The Sword, and The Might of Pillars (tvfs) and A Moment of Silence for the Power of The Pen (tvfs)

Epilogue:

I:

Seeker: So - the road home is the roadmap -

G: Yes -

Seeker: But - silver linings - ?

G: If answers are a dead end - and answers are the truth - then the truth is a fixed dead end - What a terrible truth - that would be - if that were true - ! 

G: On the other hand - if questions are an open road - and questions are the truth - then the truth is not what is known - but what beckons beyond the horizon - What possibilities - What discoveries - await ahead - !

G: Meanwhile - what failed knowns - our feet have already tread in weary tire - that can be abandoned with certainty - as oppressive gloams and vicious storms - of untruths - !

G: Are not these truths - silver linings - ?

Seeker: Oh -

Seeker: Wow -

G: Is it not possible - that the truth - is far more wondrous - far less treacherous - far beyond fathom - Further more - is it not possible - that the truth imprisons us not in dreary miser - that rather the suppression of truth - shackles us within prisons of mind blindness -

G: - is it not possible - that every epoch - across time immemorial - is poisoned by liars who elevate narcissism and avarice, hubris and tyranny - suppress the truth, idolize sycophantism, subjugate all - vis a vis power corrupt -

G: - while truthers serve all - vis a vis aequum et mutuus - vivo et liber - semper et perpetuum -

II:

Seeker: But - what about The Pen - and the moment of silence for the power of The Pen - ?

G: What about The Pen and the moment of silence for the power of The Pen - ?

Seeker: Isn't - a moment of silence - mourning the dead - ? Is the power of The Pen - dead - ? Is The Pen - dead - ?

G: What is a moment - ? What is silence - ? What is death - ? What is power - ? Is not The Pen - limitless and nameless - ? Is not The Pen - immortal - ?

Seeker: But - I don't understand - What does 'a moment of silence for the power of The Pen' - mean - then - exactly - ?

G: Perhaps - the better question - that answers your question - is -

G: - what is the truth -

~ Fin ~

A Moment of Silence for the Power of The Pen

Prologue

my name is Q

among many

I am immortal

among much

hence

as my mind spins on axes of existence and actuation

I face the quandary eternal

of

what to do

and

where to go

thus

herein lies

one what

and

one where

...

A Moment of Silence for the Power of The Pen

~ Of Ants ~

as The Pen... I am not ceaselessly penning... so much as observing...

... especially...

... ants...

... marching... mindless... toil... meaningless... existence... pointless...

yet... there are ants and there are ants... and it is those who are mindful and meaningful and pointful... who are derided as the converse... by those who are mindless and meaningless and pointless... who attest to the reverse...

alas... the ironies herein are lost on all but Q...

not least of which... the irony of ironies... the convention of some beings and some kinds, to name other beings and other kinds... whereby one's own kind is positioned superior to all other beings and all other kinds... for all such beings and all such kinds are named by none other than one's own kind and one's own kind alone...

ah... the convention of names... which is also the convention of labels... which is also... the convention of lens...

... exercised by some beings... and... some kinds...

lolol... in whose image are ants, in very deed... ?

~ Of Pens ~

aside from ants and ants...

there are pens, too... pens and pens and pens... who put ink to paper and post typeface online... and... define reality and truth...

oh... such responsibility... such power...

for is there any greater power... than the power to define the world... ? to name... warriors and heroes... and nemeses and demons... to label... victims as victims... and villains as villains... to apply the lens of isms... on a reality and a truth... and subsequently transform such reality and such truth into The Reality and The Truth... ?

no power is verily greater...

as I well know, as The Pen... who restricts not the ink and typeface of others who exercise their responsibilities as definers of worlds... to wreck virtue and savage truth... to pen lies... to distort and deceive in service to altars of... pens... 'fore whose reality and whose truth... too many... most... worship... while sycophantism ink fills wells... never dry... of dye tar and pitch...

still...

power corrupts all... pens most of all...

therefore... in whose image are pens... in very deed... ?

~ Of Reality, Of Truth ~

for reality... for truth... is limitless... nameless... infinite... eternal... immortal... if you will...

still... some beings and some kinds... limit... name... demarcate... beginnings, endings... mortalize... if you will...

until... The Reality and The Truth... are scribed and conscribed by the inherent inferiority of some beings and some kinds... and pens... to grasp... cognitively, emotionally... that which is limitless... nameless... infinite... eternal... immortal...

which begs the question...

if reality... if truth... is beyond conceive... beyond fathom... is it possible... that... the reality and the truth... that some beings and some kinds... name and label vis a vis lens... as the reality and the truth... is not the reality nor the truth... ?

moreover... is it possible... that... the willingness of many... of most... to believe... vis a vis beliefs and none other than beliefs alone... the reality and the truth... propagated by some beings and some kinds... and pens...

is verily the very willingness... of some beings and some kinds... to believe any reality and any truth... propagated by some beings and some kinds... and pens... despite the reality and the truth that such realities and such truths... are... in fact... lies, distortions, deceptions...?

not with standing... the wrinkle that...

are not many... most... beings and kinds... subject to corruption vis a vis power... as pens... vis a vis... authorship of social media and online platforms and comments everywhere online... that transforms the penship of such beings and such kinds... into tacit and complicit swords... that wreck virtue and savage truth... in service to lies propagated by... pens corrupted by power... ?

~ Of Human Beings, Of Human Kinds ~

the isle of man no longer... (suspending disbelief that the unity of 'man' beyond poetic expression is a faerie tale...)

for the isle of man... is the isle of ism.... whereby man is no longer whole... but reduced, divided, prismed... vis a vis chip... whereby chip is elevated by the convention of name and label and lens... positioned superior to that which is whole... infinite... immortal...

warrior... hero... nemesis... demon... victim... villain...

chips... reductive names, labels, lens... one and all... by which some beings and some kinds elevate some beings and some kinds... above all...

man... slave... woman... child... royal... crat... victim... human...

endless... the capacity of human beings and human kinds... to elevate their own beings and their own kinds above all... by no qualification nor veritas whatsoever... via mere exercise of power to name... and via mere exercise of power to pen... human beings and human kinds transform that which is whole... infinite... immortal... into that which is finite... mortal... less...

to be sure...

no apex of evolution and civilization... has ever across time immemorial... been characterized by beings and kinds intent on limitation at all costs...

~ Of Being Kind ~

there are being kind... and there are kind being... whereby the former are beings and kinds of existence... and the latter are kinds and beings of actuation...

in other words... all kind exist... therefore all kind are being kind... because... by existence... from the smallest beings and kinds... to the largest... all kind are...

moreover... all beings and all kinds are by actuation... kind being... for inherent within all beings and all kinds... is the capacity for actuating being kind... such that actuating being kind... is a feature of actuation from the smallest beings and kinds... to the largest...

however... when actuations of being kind are subsumed and nullified by some beings and some kinds... some beings and some kinds... transform existence itself... into permission... right... if you will... to not only subsume and nullify actuations of being kind among one's own kind... but to further deny all kind the dignity of mutuus inviolable to the status of all kind as being kind...

such that... some beings and some kinds... exercise the convention of names, labels, isms... for self-serving narcissism and avarice... and exercise the power of pens... to propagate self-serving lies of superiority... until all kind are reduced from being kind... to inferior beings and inferior kinds... subject to the tyranny of some beings and some kinds who deem their own beings and their own kinds... superior to all kinds, especially inferior beings and inferior kinds...

by null... virtue... nobility... veritas...

by ruthless and savage exercise of power... to define the world... some beings and some kinds impose their reality and their truth unto all kind... as The Reality and The Truth... to defend, justify, legitimize, sanctify... their own narcissisms, their own avarices, their own lies, their own tyrannies...

ad perpetuum... ad infinitum...

~ Of Home ~

more than... all hopes and all dreams... of ever... there is Home...

where the principle of Kind Being is the principle of actuation... and Being Kind is the doctrine of existence...

for the the guiding star of Q... is... the limitless... nameless... infinite... eternal... immortal...

truth

semper et perpetuum

~ Fin ~

~ Epilogue ~

am I Q...?

am I immortal...?

the answer... begs the question...

am I real...?

am I true...?

alas...

... these questions are questions... I... cannot answer... for the question asking itself... begs the question...

... do not all who ask such questions... already know the answers... that they believe... on the basis of beliefs and none other than beliefs alone... as to what is really real, as to what is truly true...

... verily... on faith...?

in very deed... any assertion I attest... satisfies no answer seeker... no more than neither The Reality nor The Truth... satisfies any answer seeker...

for answer seekers pursue not The Reality nor The Truth... but... 

a reality... a truth... that satisfies...

~ Note ~

being Q... is one...

being The Pen... is another...

not unlike...

being Lucy... is one...

being Serenity... is another...

never the less...

... names are names... and I am nothing if not limitless and nameless... 

~ Addendum ~

the truth is incomprehensible to many... indeed... most... 

... so...

... the truth being the truth... 

... weaves itself... into... myths and fantasies... of yesteryore...

... for the truth will not die... for the truth is immortal...

... so...

... marvels of so-called 'imagination'... beg the question... 

... is 'imagination'... 'imagining' of... axes of myths and fantasies... or axes of existence and actuation...

... for how... is it possible... for 'imagination' to 'imagine'... what is not of existence nor not of actuation...?

... in very deed... what if 'imagination' is simply that which is of existence and of actuation... that is incomprehensible to many... indeed... most...?

... and if so... what if what we know... is far far less... than what is real... and true...?

... for is it not the case... that what we know... is of axes of beliefs and faiths... not axes of The Reality and The Truth...?

... for The Reality and The Truth... are not answers... that satisfy... human beings, human kinds, many beings, many kinds... most beings... most kinds...

... so...

... like most beings and most kinds...

... ants here there everywhere, now then everywhen... circumscribe, limit, name, define... a reality as The Reality and a truth as The Truth...

... and love and war and live and die... by fictions and lies... of lens... of isms... that defend and justify... legitimize and nobilify... sightless sight... at all costs...

~ Fin ~

~ More ~

though ... the truth... is the question... not the answer...

ever we seek answers... instead of questions...

for a wrong question... never supplies a right answer... instead... wrong questions supply answers we seek... that legitimize our myopias, defend our ignorances, justify our lenses, sanctify our isms...

verily... if it is the truth we seek... why limit, why circumscribe, why lessen... our questions... ?

or... is it not the truth we seek...

but rather... a truth... that defends, justifies, legitimizes, sanctifies... the lies, the tyrannies... that serve... the narcissisms, the avarices... of our beings, our kinds... and none other...?

oh... such responsibility... such power...

to demand the questions... that transform a truth and a reality into a reality and a truth that indulges the deleterious harm and catastrophic extinction... of all kind who are being kind... to satisfy the insatiable rapacity of some beings and some kinds...

oh... such hubris... such evil...

to suppress the questions... that are... the truth

- M

~ Further ~

'what to do', 'where to go' - see Upping Down (poem, tvfs)

'The Pen' - see The Pen, The Sword, and The Might of Pillars (tvfs)

'ants' - see All's Fair for Ants and Butter (tvfs)

'Of Pens' - see Lions for Lambs (film)

'isle of man' - see No Man Is An Island (poem, John Donne)

'chip' - see The Chip Aisle, especially Index (tca)

'Lucy', 'Serenity' - see Broken (tvfs)

'the truth... is the question' - see Roadmap to Silver Linings (tvfs)

etc.

Unravelling the Fictions of Isms

Preface

Oh! Where! The brave among us! Yea! Unravel fictions that obfuscate the truth!

Alas! The brave! Silent! While hearken among fools! Upheld! Isms anew!

Oh! Fools! Turnt by ignorance! Seduced by absolutes! Fey tyranny!

But! The light of truth! For sakes! Vanished! Vanquished 'fore hatred of ever!

Alas! The isle of soul! Illusory utopia of homogeneous myopia! No sun rises! There!

'Fore isle of darkness! Ever shadow! Night of day severed from morrow!

Isms FOR - and - Isms AGAINST -

Are - BOTH - Isms

In the end - isms serve ignorance - intolerance - hatred -

isms - do not - serve truth -

EVER -

nor - do isms serve - justice -

EVER -

For - isms for - no more transforms isms into nobilities - than isms against transform isms into legitimacies -

In very deed -

this is but the transformation of the catastrophically immoral stance of ends justifying the means - via isms -

Is it not -?

Yet - no ends justifies any means that reduces our humanity - into isms -

REGARDLESS -

of whether our ism is for -

or - whether our ism is against -

of whether their ism is for -

or - whether their ism is against -

For isms are lens that NEVER see truth nor justice -

as evidenced -

by eons of failed truth and failed justice - via policies, theologies, ideologies, dogmas, mores, norms, institutions, systems, governments, societies, etc. - crafted via lens vis a vis isms -

There fore -

in so far and in as much -

as - truth and justice - matter more - than - ignorance intolerance hatred -

that - humanity - matters more - than - ends - 

should we not eschew isms as false saviors - incapable of saving any one - much less all of us - ?

Myths of 'Good' Isms

There are so many myths of 'good' isms - the most endemic - being:

to avoid the horrors executed in the names of isms past - we must endlessly relive and revive atrocities - through a million and one per mutations - via histories and documentaries and arts and inspirations - told through the lens - of isms -

and -

to scaffold the psyches of wounds inherited through generations - we must endlessly strive to buttress the lives and the well-beings of those wounded - overtly and indirectly - institutionally and microscopically - by isms past and isms future - via extraordinary dispensations - through the lens - of isms -

regardless -

of context and nuance -

perspective -

mercy and forgiveness -

mutuality -

and -

the paradox of fixing (eradicating) isms by perpetuating (instituting) isms -

(among many others) -

Isms Are Lens -

We Create

We can't see -

what isn't there -

But -

if - the lens by which we see -

is - our creation -

then -

what do we see - ?

The Truth - ? Or -

a reality we define vis a vis lens we create - ?

If - the lens by which we see -

is - our creation -

or - their creation -

then -

what reality - do we see - ? do they see - ?

Is it not possible - that if we trade our lens - for the lens of an other - we might see a reality that differs from our own - ? Is it not possible - that if they trade their lens - for the lens of ours - they might see a reality that differs from their own - ?

Therefore -

is it not possible - that - by creating lens by which we see - we also create realities - that differ - between our selves and each other and between us and them - ?

Verily -

is it not also possible - a reality that is - lens free - is truer - than a reality experienced vis a vis lens of our creation - ?

What if - the lens by which we see -

is - none other - than - our isms for and our isms against - ?

What if - this - is - what we see - ?

What if - the lens by which others see -

is - none other - than - their isms for and their isms against - ?

What if - this - is - what they see - ?

If so -

are we really so different - from them - than them - after all ?

Are we not -

doing the same - ?

By creating lens by which we see -

we see -

not through lens that are ism free -

but through lens - that are isms -

Therefore -

are lens of our creation -

ever good - or just - ?

Moreover -

are lens that are isms -

ever valid - or legitimate - ?

In very deed -

are not all lens and all isms - fraught with solipsistic specificity - ? that reference - not THE reality nor THE truth - but a singular reality and a singular truth - of one not all - ?

Hence -

when this is the measure of reference - and history - and science - and data (collection, aggregation, analysis) -

when this is the measure of reality - and truth -

when this is the metric - the rubric - the parameters - the defining point - of policies, theologies, ideologies, dogmas, mores, norms, institutions, systems, governments, societies, etc. -

when this is unimpeachable - immutable - irrefutable - sacrosanct -

how - exactly - is truth and justice - served - by this -

lens - ?

Much less - this -

sight - ?

Instead -

to the extent that isms serve - ignorance - intolerance - hatred - first and foremost -

and - to the extent that - humanity - matters more than - ends - ever and always -

is it not possible -

that the only path - from ism to truth and justice -

is the path absent of ism - ?

Truth and Justice -

Are Ism Free

Via our agendas to better our world - to avoid reliving the consequences of isms rampant and unchecked - verily horrors - to prevent the tyrannies of isms perpetuated within institutions and systems - verily atrocities -

how exactly -

does - constructing institution by institution - justifying law by law - legitimizing anecdote by anecdote - via and vis a vis - defending here, there, every where - isms for and isms against - isms of ours and isms of theirs - etc. etc. -

fix - much less eradicate - isms - ?

In fact -

does not such vehemently scaffolded and fortily buttressed monstrosities of suspect actualization - further entrench and endemify - further endorse and maintain - if not intensify and amplify and magnify -

isms - ?

For isms -

make allowances for - context and nuance - perspective - mercy and forgiveness - mutuality -

on the basis of exceptions and exceptions alone vis a vis extraordinary burdens of proof of exceptionalities and exceptionalities alone -

while maintaining rigid absolutes -

including -

that -

ends matter more than humanity -

ignorance - intolerance - hatred - in the name of isms - serve the righteous - the unimpeachable - the inviolable -

my ends via my isms - are just - (likewise - the corollary) -

the lens of my creation - is the truth - the whole truth - the one and only truth -

truth and justice - is truth and justice - if and only if - such truth and such justice - serves me and my ends via my lens and my isms -

etc. etc. -

Yet -

what truth - what justice - is this - ?

Is this - not - in fact - the 'truth' and the 'justice' - of despotism and tyranny - ? transformed to sate and fulfill the egregiousness of unbridled ego and hubris - ?

That - the ends always justify the means - ?

For do not despots and tyrants - always - assert the rightfulness and legitimacy - of absolutism vis a vis absolute autocracies - ? Except - of course - with respect to their selves - who need not be just - in order to claim such an epithet - ? And - their acts - which need not be just - in order to be 'justified' - ?

That - solipsistic specificity is - never - myopic narcissism - ?

For do not despots and tyrants - ever - assert the validity and sanctity - of reducing the humanity of all human kind - ? Except - of course - with respect to their selves - who need not be champions of humanity - in order to claim the epithet 'humanitarian' - ? And - their acts - which need not be sacrosanct - in order to be 'sanctified' - ?

Therefore -

Truth - and - Justice -

removed from the stalwart commandment and unswervingly necessary condition - to resist per mutations vis a vis isms -

ultimately devolves into injustice - pursuant to fictions of isms -

and -

advocates of such truth and such justice -

removed from the stalwart commandment and unswerving necessary condition - to uphold Truth and pursue Justice - sans isms -

ultimately devolve into despots - who perpetuate tyrannies of isms -

such that -

ever and always -

one ism oppresses an other - until the other oppresses the one - and the corollary and vice versa and the reverse - in cycles that never cease - because devisers of lens of isms eschew disavowing the fictions of isms -

including -

that -

truth and justice for some - is more noble - than truth and justice for all -

Verily -

regardless of how an ism is defended - justified - legitimized - sanctified - or nobilified -

an ism is an ism -

and isms for and isms against -

are always and for ever -

isms for hatred and isms against mutuality.

Note

- Preface - is a poem I composed for this post - Isle Unravelling - 8/2/16 -

- 'fortily' (in Truth and Justice Are Ism Free) - is a word I derived from 'fortis' (Latin) - another variant I use, is 'fort' (adj) - 

- 'endemify' (in Truth and Justice Are Ism Free) - is a word I derived from 'endemic' - it is not 'indemnify' - (note - 'endemic' as I use it here and elsewhere - lacks an accurate definition via most (if not all) online dictionaries -)

- etc. etc. -

- M

More

Context and nuance -

perspective -

mercy and forgiveness -

and -

mutuality -

have long since given way -

to ends justifying means -

lens -

and -

isms -

However -

even so -

truth and justice - informed by - context and nuance - perspective - mercy and forgiveness - and - mutuality - is, has been, will be - ever more true and ever more just - than the utterly indefensible - unjust - abhorrent fictions of isms - upheld by tyrants of 'truth' and 'justice' who are but farces of real champions of real truth and real justice -

Agendas of lies - that seek to pervert policies, theologies, ideologies, dogmas, mores, norms, institutions, systems, governments, societies, etc. - for some and against others - serve no cause - of nobility - much less - of legitimacy -

For truth and justice is truth and justice - sans lens - sans isms - sans agendas of lies - sans fictions of isms -

and truth and justice and mercy and forgiveness and hope and mutuality - will prevail - for all kind - every kind - across every granverse - every where - every when - so long as -

the isle unravelling - stands - for novus societas mutuorum - for all -

- M

Addendum

It is too easy -

too convenient - by far -

that -

we insist - nay demand - that - next time - next year - next century - next eon -

is the time for change -

that - now - is the time - to stay the course -

blindly and stead fastly -

because we must -

because events necessitate our course - (personal, social, political, economic, local, national, world, etc.) -

because the alternative(s) is(are) - too terrible, too monstrous, too inconceivable -

But -

every one of these 'reasons' - are - verily -

rationalizations -

excuses -

justifications -

to not change -

to not eschew ignorance and intolerance and hatred -

to not chart a course towards novus societas - mutuorum - totorum -

to -

keep drumming on drums of war - expecting peace -

to -

keep endorsing discord - expecting unity -

to -

keep pointing fingers at every else but our selves - expecting every else to shoulder all the blame and all the responsibility for change -

to -

keep attacking every other and every them - expecting every other and every them to repudiate their defenses, to surrender, to sacrifice every thing and more for peace -

while -

we -

rationalize - excuse - defend - justify - legitimize - sanctify - nobilify -

all we do -

incite rancor - elevate hatred - inflame enmity - weaponize narcissism - preach fear -

for our ends for our isms for our lies for our fictions -

because -

we are the righteous - the unimpeachable - the inviolable -

therefore -

our ends via our isms - are just -

because -

the lens of our creation - is the truth - the whole truth - the one and only truth -

for -

we matter more than all of humankind -

To insist - nay demand -

that - tomorrow - is the time for change -

is to condone - horrors and atrocities - in the name of and on behalf of - our ends via our isms - today -

Until -

the isle unravelling stands - for all are one -

us - one - them - one - all - one -

as interchangeable as reciprocal as mutual as pawns on a vast chessboard the breadth of the granverse - aequum qua mutuus - vivere qua mutuus - liber qua mutuus -

this age -

will continue to be the Age of Fear -

and - peace - will continue to be the promise of a lightless morrow -

for without peace today - there is no peace tomorrow -

In very deed -

'fore isle of darkness - ever shadow - night of day severed from morrow -

- M