***update at bottom***
The people of every nation are being deluded by there rulers, who say to
them, "You, who are governed by us, are all in danger of being conquered
by other nations; we are watching over your welfare and safety, and
consequently we demand of you annually some millions of rubles-the fruit
of your labor-to be used by us in the acquisition of arms, cannon,
powder, and ships for your defence; we also demand that you yourselves
shall enter institutions, organized by us, where you will become
senseless particles of a huge machine-the army-which will be under our
absolute control. On entering this army you will cease to be men with
wills of your own; you wil simply do what we require of you. But what we
wish, above all else,is to excersise dominion; the means by which we
dominate is killing, therefore we will instruct you to kill.
Notwithstanding the obvious absurdity of the assertion that people are
in danger of being attacted by the governments of other states, who, in
there turn, affirm that they- in spite of all their desire for peace-
find themselves in precicely the same danger; notwithstanding the
humiliation of that slavery to which men subject themselves by entering
the army; notwithstanding the cruelty of the work to which they are
summoned-men nevertheless submit to this fraud, give their money to be
used for their own subjugation, and themselves help to enslave others.
But now there come people who say:"What you tell us about the danger
threatening us, and about you anxiety to guard us against it, is a
fraud. All the states are assuring us that they desire peace, and yet at
the same time all are arming themselves against the others. Moreover,
according to the law, which you yourselves recognize, all men are
brothers, and it make no difference whether one belongs to this state
or that; therefore the idea of our being attacted by other nations, with
which you try to frighten us; we regard it as a matter of no importance.
The esential thing, however, is that the law given to us by God and
recognized even by you who are requiring us to participate in killing,
distinctly forbids, not killing only, but also ever kind of violence.
Therefore we can not, and will not,take part in your preparations for
murder, we will give no money for the purpose, and we will not attend
the meetings arranged by you with the object of perverting mens minds
and consciences, and transforming them into instruments of violence,
obedient to any bad man who may choose to make use of them.
Leo Tolstoy 1828-1910
Read it through a few times...you'll get it eventually.
I look at the people around me, and I envy them there simple pleasures, their ignorance. I try to talk to them about the things that are on my mind, the breakdown of the social contract between government and citizens, the ever expanding divide between workers and owners, the destruction of our ecosystem for profit, the increasing prevalence of HIV in our prisons practically guarateeing that a short prison stay results in what is essentialy a death sentence, ect., and they just look at me as though I am insane.
Sometimes I just wish I could shut my brain down, put all my problems in the hands of my imaginary friend, and trust that he would make it all right. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have been born with the religion gene. No one in my family has it. It must be nice...
**********feb 9th
I had sushi for the first time last night, it was a lot of fun. I've never had raw fish before, and it was surprisingly not nauseous(I didn't take the $5 bet to eat the octopus, though I wish now that I had), and I had a carefree, casual time sucsessfully avoiding talking about anything important. I almost didn't go, but I wanted to say goodbye to a cool guy, I almost left a few times because I hate feeling like an outsider, but I'm glad I stayed because I was able to to make a sad girl smile, and she is one of those people who should smile more often; she is just a really good person and shouldn't be so sad.
Got home in time to catch a little grammy action. Song of the year: I never heard of it before, in fact, I never heard any of the nominated songs before. Album of the year: I was only familiar, vaguely, with one of them. Man, I am so out of touch with the rest of the world. Whatever. Have a nice day.
The people of every nation are being deluded by there rulers, who say to
them, "You, who are governed by us, are all in danger of being conquered
by other nations; we are watching over your welfare and safety, and
consequently we demand of you annually some millions of rubles-the fruit
of your labor-to be used by us in the acquisition of arms, cannon,
powder, and ships for your defence; we also demand that you yourselves
shall enter institutions, organized by us, where you will become
senseless particles of a huge machine-the army-which will be under our
absolute control. On entering this army you will cease to be men with
wills of your own; you wil simply do what we require of you. But what we
wish, above all else,is to excersise dominion; the means by which we
dominate is killing, therefore we will instruct you to kill.
Notwithstanding the obvious absurdity of the assertion that people are
in danger of being attacted by the governments of other states, who, in
there turn, affirm that they- in spite of all their desire for peace-
find themselves in precicely the same danger; notwithstanding the
humiliation of that slavery to which men subject themselves by entering
the army; notwithstanding the cruelty of the work to which they are
summoned-men nevertheless submit to this fraud, give their money to be
used for their own subjugation, and themselves help to enslave others.
But now there come people who say:"What you tell us about the danger
threatening us, and about you anxiety to guard us against it, is a
fraud. All the states are assuring us that they desire peace, and yet at
the same time all are arming themselves against the others. Moreover,
according to the law, which you yourselves recognize, all men are
brothers, and it make no difference whether one belongs to this state
or that; therefore the idea of our being attacted by other nations, with
which you try to frighten us; we regard it as a matter of no importance.
The esential thing, however, is that the law given to us by God and
recognized even by you who are requiring us to participate in killing,
distinctly forbids, not killing only, but also ever kind of violence.
Therefore we can not, and will not,take part in your preparations for
murder, we will give no money for the purpose, and we will not attend
the meetings arranged by you with the object of perverting mens minds
and consciences, and transforming them into instruments of violence,
obedient to any bad man who may choose to make use of them.
Leo Tolstoy 1828-1910
Read it through a few times...you'll get it eventually.
I look at the people around me, and I envy them there simple pleasures, their ignorance. I try to talk to them about the things that are on my mind, the breakdown of the social contract between government and citizens, the ever expanding divide between workers and owners, the destruction of our ecosystem for profit, the increasing prevalence of HIV in our prisons practically guarateeing that a short prison stay results in what is essentialy a death sentence, ect., and they just look at me as though I am insane.
Sometimes I just wish I could shut my brain down, put all my problems in the hands of my imaginary friend, and trust that he would make it all right. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have been born with the religion gene. No one in my family has it. It must be nice...
**********feb 9th
I had sushi for the first time last night, it was a lot of fun. I've never had raw fish before, and it was surprisingly not nauseous(I didn't take the $5 bet to eat the octopus, though I wish now that I had), and I had a carefree, casual time sucsessfully avoiding talking about anything important. I almost didn't go, but I wanted to say goodbye to a cool guy, I almost left a few times because I hate feeling like an outsider, but I'm glad I stayed because I was able to to make a sad girl smile, and she is one of those people who should smile more often; she is just a really good person and shouldn't be so sad.
Got home in time to catch a little grammy action. Song of the year: I never heard of it before, in fact, I never heard any of the nominated songs before. Album of the year: I was only familiar, vaguely, with one of them. Man, I am so out of touch with the rest of the world. Whatever. Have a nice day.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
jmand2:
Love that passage.
hippomonki:
