Word Prisms

  I had a conversation with a friend about jobs and meaning and, without one, you can’t have the other. And so, I wondered, is this true? And, of course, I generalized that even further to wonder if, without purpose, can life have meaning? I posed a version of this question to my wife and she replied, I’m not talking about it.    But my friend was so passionate, it was difficult to ignore. He’s in the oil industry and he’s seen many of his friends lose their jobs. My daughter was in the oil industry. She made a lot of money for a young woman her age, less that her male counterparts, but still a lot.    My friend has three houses, each worth more than one of mine, so I figured, unless the friends he was talking about were young like my daughter, they would have accumulated a considerable sum of money and capital. Certainly, more than I, as a teacher, had done.   He and I are the same age. I’m retired. I haven’t lost my meaning. Does he fear doing the same sh...

  In the beginning, there was man and man could think and he had an opposable thumb so that he could plan how to kill using a club or spear he could hold. And then, there was fire and he could cook his food and his tummy wouldn’t hurt after eating. And there were chiefs who the rest could obey . . . or not because who was the chief anyway? You had your freedom but most of you didn’t live past the age of 25.   And then there was agriculture and kings and writing to keep track of what was the king’s. And writing was also used to create stories and the men who told these stories were called priests and monks And only they could communicate with God and so, when they told the people that God had chosen their king, they believed them and the people would fight to the death anyone who would attempt to injure or kill their king or take away what was his which was originally theirs. And you didn’t have a lot of freedom what with tending animals and growing shit and giving everything t...

My wife is a twitterer  As on social media  And she came across a tweet about a guy by the name of Aleksandr Dugin  Who has a great influence on Vladimir Putin And the term she said related to this Dugin guy is  Immanentized Eschaton  And I said, that sounds like a religious term And, after a bit of googling, my wife announces,  It is.  She continues reading,  Immanentized the eschaton is to bring about the eschaton which is supposedly the final heaven-like stage in history.  Like the rapture? I say.  I don’t think so.  Too interesting, I thought.  So, I downloaded a sample of the book with that title and that author in the title.  “’The American Empire Should be Destroyed’: Aleksandr Dugin and the Perils of Immanentized Eschatology.”  And then, I downloaded the book.  And it didn’t disappoint As a young man, Aleksandr was feeling empty and looking for meaning  And he stumbled across traditionalism That’s th...