That is what people in Tehran have been whispering about—one year and two seconds as the exact interval separating the tsunami calamity from the Bam disaster. Is this to be our fate year after year? Are people simply to vanish much like the autumn leaves and perpetually to suffer so wretchedly?
By now, I guess, we all know where to send our individual contributions. What I like to see is maximum pressure brought to bear -- from whatever corner willing-- on the Iranian Regime in order to get a hefty percentage of the oil revenue surplus (around 8 billion) reallocated to help the victims of this disaster.
The promised $700,000 is truly shameful.
And so I start this New Year much like I ended the last one...with wishes for 12 months simply less soaked through with blood and tears. And of course, with immortal words from Homer’s Iliad:
« Ils demeurent la, tout aussi immobiles, avec le char splendide, la tête collée au sol. Des larmes brûlantes coulent de leurs yeux a terre,…. Est-ce donc pur que vous ayez votre part des douleurs avec les malheureux humains ? Rien n’est plu misérable que l’homme, entre tous les êtres qui respirent ce qui marchent sur la terre. »
For what it’s worth : Happy New Year.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
And it pours
Things have been a tad out of control for a while even by our Iranian standards. Death, illness and general angst galore in the family in addition to the annoying hacker activities wreaking virtual havoc and causing paranoia.
Lost are a year’s worth of archives I haven’t been able to retrieve, although, I reconstructed the links quickly. I’ll give the blog a new facelift once I am comfortable with the security arrangements that could ensure full control over my computer. And apologies also for the emails gone unanswered or missed.
Merry Christmas and safe, happy holidays!
Lost are a year’s worth of archives I haven’t been able to retrieve, although, I reconstructed the links quickly. I’ll give the blog a new facelift once I am comfortable with the security arrangements that could ensure full control over my computer. And apologies also for the emails gone unanswered or missed.
Merry Christmas and safe, happy holidays!
Monday, December 13, 2004
Publicity and Caricatures
Every now and then I venture about the blogosphere trying to figure what keeps the trend setter pundits preoccupied. And while I can certainly appreciate differing opinions about various matters, some of their conventionalism always gets on my nerves.
Believe me; you have no idea how one yearns for a multiplicity of views when the spectrum of political persuasions in one’s society is not as diverse as you’d wish for. But there is a limit to my patience.
I am a firm believer in transparency, mind you, in the sense that all of us must do what we can to lift the veils of secrecy which mask social ills and various other foibles of culture. So, any sort of coverage I welcome as an opportunity to grabble with serious problems, learn and to evaluate potential solutions.
But what can we make of the sort of publicity that is generated not so much to help with the problems as to make a case for grander ideologically driven agendas which in point of fact end up presenting a caricature of both the problems and the society which must ultimately resolve them?
Take Andrew Sullivan for starters. Sullivan is doing what needs to be done by magnifying the work of Judith Klinghofer who continues to draw attention to the plight of women in Islamic societies. He then reproduces a translation of hers of some writing describing an Iranian’s heart wrenching suffering:
Her tearless cries would pain anyone. With sweat on her face she says: "My husband is a simple worker. We have seven children. He is an angry and heartless man. We have been married for ten years and he has been beating me all along. But this last time it was pretty severe. He left me with broken ribs and bruised legs." When she lifts up her dress a big fresh scar appears with blood all around it. This is not another boring topic. This is a problem that has rooted in our families and society. This is a painful reality!! Women are the silent victims of physical abuse which is being forced on them by the society, family and even themselves... This abusive behavior also destroys the victims’ soul. Unfortunately, because of our society and culture these women keep silent and the problem does not leave their surrounding walls. At the end it either kills their spirit or it becomes a flame that suck the victim in with all her physical and emotional pain.
And Mr. Sullivan ends with a note of his own:
The battle against Islamism is not simply for our own protection. More broadly, it is an attempt to liberate souls now bludgeoned into a form of spiritual death.
There is no questioning the abusive nature of the society we live in today. No one reasonable will ever dispute the existence of her numerous problems which must be resolved in order to build a saner society. But it is worth asking: does he seriously believe his own silliness when put in the context of the text he has reproduced?
Yes, obviously if we weaken the influence of the more misogynist strands of Islamism within our society, women will reap the rewards in some ways. But the issue he is dealing with here has to do with physical abuse and abusive behavior of men against women.
Does he really believe that in the morrow of any “liberation,” even if we assume away the birth pangs of a new order, i.e., all the lootings, bombed cities, civilized torture, probable civil war, shortage of fuel and other basic stables, unemployment, insecurity and pain, most Iranian men will suddenly wake up and decide to act differently.
Let’s ask a more pointed question here. How has the society which proposes to do the liberating done in dealing with domestic abuse?
The statistics on domestic abuse in the longest stable democracy on the planet aren’t terribly reassuring. Mr. Sullivan must surely be familiar with simple facts, don’t you think?
As one who so tirelessly champions the civil rights for the gay and lesbian community, Mr. Sullivan must at least be familiar with the scope of the existing abuse in same sex relationships in the “freest” country on the planet.
Some problems must not be trivialized or caricatured if they are ever to be tackled effectively.
Like all cultures, ours has its problems and we are trying our best to deal with them. It is always possible to be more efficacious. We can always use ideas, modes of cooperation, novel principles of organization, and more effective methods and approaches.
But to pretend that we are simply deaf and mute and in need of “liberating” intervention by the likes of Sullivan who tends to speak at as opposed to with us is plain old presumptuous and absurd.
At all levels, people are discussing and trying to deal. It is about strategy. Yes, long term objectives might definitely include a change of “fundamentals” as soon as possible as well as general weakening of radical Islamism within our society. Long term objective in tandem with some sustained work and mid and short term goals. And here is where problems get even trickier.
One picture is worth a thousand words. Drug addiction is one of the main contributing factors to the abuse women and children suffer in Iran today. This Iranian blogger I normally read reports on a meeting recently to deal with the problem of drug abuse among women and the subsequent social and domestic violations they suffer. The statistics she quotes are sobering.
Where do most of the drugs come from? The burgeoning opium trade in Afghanistan, of course. And who controls Afghanistan today?
If now we were to highlight the failures of the US and European intervention in curbing this scourge, the same Jeff Jarvis who normally does marvels (via Nadezhda) drawing attention to the plight of Iranian bloggers will surely have some tantrum accusing us of not focusing on the good work that is being done.
In short, there is a ridiculous strategy at work here to either magnify problems when it suits one’s own party line or to dismiss discussions of existing problems as mere “visceral anti-Americanism” in action. Silent victims are what they really care to have. Blank pieces of paper to be written on and discarded soon afterwards.
Just like our dear leaders, our most outspoken “allies” and “saviors” appear simply intent on feeding off our misery for as long as it suits their purposes only to move on shortly afterwards after tagging our (still) unresolved problems as mere details--just another success story the media loves to ignore.
I am not buying it for one minute. Off with the leaches I say.
Believe me; you have no idea how one yearns for a multiplicity of views when the spectrum of political persuasions in one’s society is not as diverse as you’d wish for. But there is a limit to my patience.
I am a firm believer in transparency, mind you, in the sense that all of us must do what we can to lift the veils of secrecy which mask social ills and various other foibles of culture. So, any sort of coverage I welcome as an opportunity to grabble with serious problems, learn and to evaluate potential solutions.
But what can we make of the sort of publicity that is generated not so much to help with the problems as to make a case for grander ideologically driven agendas which in point of fact end up presenting a caricature of both the problems and the society which must ultimately resolve them?
Take Andrew Sullivan for starters. Sullivan is doing what needs to be done by magnifying the work of Judith Klinghofer who continues to draw attention to the plight of women in Islamic societies. He then reproduces a translation of hers of some writing describing an Iranian’s heart wrenching suffering:
Her tearless cries would pain anyone. With sweat on her face she says: "My husband is a simple worker. We have seven children. He is an angry and heartless man. We have been married for ten years and he has been beating me all along. But this last time it was pretty severe. He left me with broken ribs and bruised legs." When she lifts up her dress a big fresh scar appears with blood all around it. This is not another boring topic. This is a problem that has rooted in our families and society. This is a painful reality!! Women are the silent victims of physical abuse which is being forced on them by the society, family and even themselves... This abusive behavior also destroys the victims’ soul. Unfortunately, because of our society and culture these women keep silent and the problem does not leave their surrounding walls. At the end it either kills their spirit or it becomes a flame that suck the victim in with all her physical and emotional pain.
And Mr. Sullivan ends with a note of his own:
The battle against Islamism is not simply for our own protection. More broadly, it is an attempt to liberate souls now bludgeoned into a form of spiritual death.
There is no questioning the abusive nature of the society we live in today. No one reasonable will ever dispute the existence of her numerous problems which must be resolved in order to build a saner society. But it is worth asking: does he seriously believe his own silliness when put in the context of the text he has reproduced?
Yes, obviously if we weaken the influence of the more misogynist strands of Islamism within our society, women will reap the rewards in some ways. But the issue he is dealing with here has to do with physical abuse and abusive behavior of men against women.
Does he really believe that in the morrow of any “liberation,” even if we assume away the birth pangs of a new order, i.e., all the lootings, bombed cities, civilized torture, probable civil war, shortage of fuel and other basic stables, unemployment, insecurity and pain, most Iranian men will suddenly wake up and decide to act differently.
Let’s ask a more pointed question here. How has the society which proposes to do the liberating done in dealing with domestic abuse?
The statistics on domestic abuse in the longest stable democracy on the planet aren’t terribly reassuring. Mr. Sullivan must surely be familiar with simple facts, don’t you think?
As one who so tirelessly champions the civil rights for the gay and lesbian community, Mr. Sullivan must at least be familiar with the scope of the existing abuse in same sex relationships in the “freest” country on the planet.
Some problems must not be trivialized or caricatured if they are ever to be tackled effectively.
Like all cultures, ours has its problems and we are trying our best to deal with them. It is always possible to be more efficacious. We can always use ideas, modes of cooperation, novel principles of organization, and more effective methods and approaches.
But to pretend that we are simply deaf and mute and in need of “liberating” intervention by the likes of Sullivan who tends to speak at as opposed to with us is plain old presumptuous and absurd.
At all levels, people are discussing and trying to deal. It is about strategy. Yes, long term objectives might definitely include a change of “fundamentals” as soon as possible as well as general weakening of radical Islamism within our society. Long term objective in tandem with some sustained work and mid and short term goals. And here is where problems get even trickier.
One picture is worth a thousand words. Drug addiction is one of the main contributing factors to the abuse women and children suffer in Iran today. This Iranian blogger I normally read reports on a meeting recently to deal with the problem of drug abuse among women and the subsequent social and domestic violations they suffer. The statistics she quotes are sobering.
Where do most of the drugs come from? The burgeoning opium trade in Afghanistan, of course. And who controls Afghanistan today?
If now we were to highlight the failures of the US and European intervention in curbing this scourge, the same Jeff Jarvis who normally does marvels (via Nadezhda) drawing attention to the plight of Iranian bloggers will surely have some tantrum accusing us of not focusing on the good work that is being done.
In short, there is a ridiculous strategy at work here to either magnify problems when it suits one’s own party line or to dismiss discussions of existing problems as mere “visceral anti-Americanism” in action. Silent victims are what they really care to have. Blank pieces of paper to be written on and discarded soon afterwards.
Just like our dear leaders, our most outspoken “allies” and “saviors” appear simply intent on feeding off our misery for as long as it suits their purposes only to move on shortly afterwards after tagging our (still) unresolved problems as mere details--just another success story the media loves to ignore.
I am not buying it for one minute. Off with the leaches I say.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Tyrants and the (ancient) Chinese Way!
Chuang Tzu’s universe (pdf) is inscrutable, and mercilessly obtuse. You would (rightly) get the impression that the spirit of an alien universe is being expressed in an alien language and the only suitable reactions are astonishment, and silence.
You just have to persist though and not relinquish the initial exploratory excursions. Is it not Proust who reminds us that all fine books have to be written in a foreign language?
The section which I am excerpting in full, to me, is as delicious as Xenophon’s Hiero, and perhaps even more compelling on account of its brevity. I especially find it relevant to our all-too-familiar contemporary context.
There is simplicity in Chuang Tzu and an appealing sanity to his universe. Note that the Taoist’s heaven exhibits no interest in the conduct of the people. Consequently, people spent less time second guessing the intentions of their heaven; this attitude culminates in liberating moments of lucidity.
The absence of any ontological hierarchy also results in a curiously charming transparency of being, thus depriving us of the metaphysical basis that often serves to justify our flirtations with butchers of different hues and colors, as well as our prevarication and deceit.
More importantly, he forces a reevaluation of some of our fundamental assumptions; especially apropos today when even a Fukuyama, for instance, grounds much of his approach (via Kojeve) on Hegel’s master-slave dialectic and the striving for recognition.
Chuang Tzu, I think, offers a fascinating solution. Judge for yourselves if Hegel’s claim about having encountered in China the “dull-half conscious brooding of Spirit,” stands the test of time!
Last, but not least, much of our approach today assumes a clear cut distinction between civil and political society with quite an unsettling outcome.
Once an obsession with the potential subsumption of the civil to the political society comes to form our main pre-occupation, we either emphasis the question of the best regime reductively with the political, as a consequent, having become identified in too narrow a sense with the activities of various murderous military machines which are driven by the vision of the sort of creatures whose odium imbrues less of a stink only in so far as it might be more distant.
Or we manage to reduce our selves, in our obsession with various questions of “identity” to a sum total of the accident of our physical constitution in a particular locality plus all the real or perceive wounds and bruises. An irresolvable clash of the self absorbed victims follows.
Fundamentally, however, we are still at the mercy of various noxious political regimes and habituated into flirting with tyrants and butchers or other unpalatable characters out of concern for achieving the best possible condition for the civil society, and also still fundamentally blind to the pain of others.
Perhaps it is best to search for some possibility of having a notion of the Political that accentuates moments of reflective doubt, momentary hesitations, and mutual transformations based on a horizon of possibilities as opposed to a static understanding of limitations based on a notion of primeval and unchanging human nature.
Perhaps there is still room for mutual healing.
To me, such possibilities are fecund in Chuang Tzu. But don’t just take my word for it. Give the following a read carefully, and may be even find some other translations and compare.
This Human World
Yen Huei went to take leave of Confucius. "Whither are you bound?" asked the Master.
"I am going to the State of Wei," was the reply.
"And what do you propose to do there?" continued Confucius.
"I hear," answered Yen Huei, "that the Prince of Wei is of mature age but of an unmanageable disposition. He behaves as if the people were of no account and will not see his own faults. He disregards human lives and the people perish; and their corpses lie about like so much undergrowth in a marsh. The people do not know where to turn for help, and I have heard you say that if a state be well governed, it may be passed over; but that if it be badly governed, then we should visit it. At the door of physicians there are many sick people. I would test my knowledge in this sense, that perchance I may do some good at that state."
"Alas!" cried Confucius, "you will be only going to your doom. For Tao must not bustle about. If it does it will have divergent aims. From divergent aims come restlessness; from restlessness comes worry, and from worry one reaches the stage of being beyond hope. The Sages of old first strengthened their own character before they tried to strengthen that of others. Before you have strengthened your own character, what leisure have you to attend to the doings of wicked men?
Besides, do you know into what virtue evaporates by motion and where knowledge ends? Virtue evaporates by motion into desire for fame and knowledge ends in contentions. In the struggle for fame men crush each other, while their wisdom but provokes rivalry. Both are instruments of evil, and are not proper principles of living.
"Besides, if before one's own solid character and integrity become an influence among men and before one's own disregard for fame reaches the hearts of men, one should go and force the preaching of charity and duty and the rules of conduct on wicked men, he would only make these men hate him for his very goodness. Such a person may be called a messenger of evil. A messenger of evil will be the victim of evil from others. That, alas! will be your end.
"On the other hand, if the Prince loves the good and hates evil, what object will you have in inviting him to change his ways? Before you have opened your mouth, the Prince himself will have seized the opportunity to wrest the victory from you. Your eyes will be dazzled, your expression fade, your words will hedge about, your face will show confusion, and your
heart will yield within you. It will be as though you took fire to quell fire, water to quell water, which is known as aggravation.
And if you begin with concessions, there will be no end to them. If you neglect this sound advice and talk too much, you will die at the hands of that violent man . . . .
"Have you not heard that even Sages cannot overcome this love of fame and this desire for material objects (in rulers)? Are you then likely to succeed? But of course you have a plan. Tell it to me."
"Gravity of demeanor and humility; persistence and singleness of purpose — will this do?" replied Yen Huei. "Alas, no," said Confucius, "how can it? The Prince is a haughty person, filled with pride, and his moods are fickle. No one opposes him, and so he has come to take actual pleasure in trampling upon the feelings of others. And if he has thus failed in the
practice of routine virtues, do you expect that he will take readily to higher ones? He will persist in his ways, and though outwardly he may agree with you, inwardly he will not repent. How then will you make him mend his ways?"
"Why, then," (replied Yen Huei) "I can be inwardly straight, and outwardly yielding, and I shall substantiate what I say by appeals to antiquity. He who is inwardly straight is a servant of God. And he who is a servant of God knows that the Son of Heaven and himself are equally the children of God. Shall then such a one trouble whether his words are approved or
disapproved by man? Such a person is commonly regarded as an (innocent) child. This is to be a servant of God. He who is outwardly yielding is a servant of man. He bows, he kneels, he folds his hands — such is the ceremonial of a minister. What all men do, shall I not do also? What all men do, none will blame me for doing. This is to be a servant of man. He who substantiates his words by appeals to antiquity is a servant of the Sages of old. Although I utter the words of warning and take him to task, it is the Sages of old who speak, and not I. Thus I shall not receive the blame for my uprightness. This is to be the servant of the Sages of old. Will this do?"
"No! How can it?" replied Confucius. "Your plans are too many. You are firm, but lacking in prudence. However . . . , you will not get into trouble; but that is all. You will still be far from influencing him because your own opinions are still too rigid."
"Then," said Yen Huei, "I can go no further. I venture to ask for a method."
Confucius said . . . , "Concentrate your will. Hear not with your ears, but with your mind; not with your mind, but with your spirit. Let your hearing stop with the ears, and let your mind stop with its images. Let your spirit, however, be like a blank, passively responsive to externals. In such open receptivity only can Tao abide. And that open receptivity is the fasting of the heart."
"Then," said Yen Huei, "the reason I could not use this method was because of consciousness of a self. If I could apply this method, the assumption of a self would have gone. Is this what you mean by the receptive state?"
"Exactly so," replied the Master. "Let me tell you. Enter this man's service, but without idea of working for fame. Talk when he is in a mood to listen, and stop when he is not. Do without any sort of labels or self-advertisements. Keep to the One and let things take their natural course. Then you may have some chance of success. It is easy to stop walking: the trouble is to walk without touching the ground . . . . You have heard of winged creatures flying. You have never heard of flying without wings. You have heard of men being wise with knowledge. You have never heard of men wise without knowledge. Look at that emptiness. There is brightness in an empty room. Good luck dwells in repose. If there is not (inner) repose, your mind will be galloping about though you are sitting still. Let your ears and eyes communicate within but shut out all knowledge from the mind. Then the spirits will come to dwell therein . . . . This is the method for the transformation . . . of all Creation . . .
You just have to persist though and not relinquish the initial exploratory excursions. Is it not Proust who reminds us that all fine books have to be written in a foreign language?
The section which I am excerpting in full, to me, is as delicious as Xenophon’s Hiero, and perhaps even more compelling on account of its brevity. I especially find it relevant to our all-too-familiar contemporary context.
There is simplicity in Chuang Tzu and an appealing sanity to his universe. Note that the Taoist’s heaven exhibits no interest in the conduct of the people. Consequently, people spent less time second guessing the intentions of their heaven; this attitude culminates in liberating moments of lucidity.
The absence of any ontological hierarchy also results in a curiously charming transparency of being, thus depriving us of the metaphysical basis that often serves to justify our flirtations with butchers of different hues and colors, as well as our prevarication and deceit.
More importantly, he forces a reevaluation of some of our fundamental assumptions; especially apropos today when even a Fukuyama, for instance, grounds much of his approach (via Kojeve) on Hegel’s master-slave dialectic and the striving for recognition.
Chuang Tzu, I think, offers a fascinating solution. Judge for yourselves if Hegel’s claim about having encountered in China the “dull-half conscious brooding of Spirit,” stands the test of time!
Last, but not least, much of our approach today assumes a clear cut distinction between civil and political society with quite an unsettling outcome.
Once an obsession with the potential subsumption of the civil to the political society comes to form our main pre-occupation, we either emphasis the question of the best regime reductively with the political, as a consequent, having become identified in too narrow a sense with the activities of various murderous military machines which are driven by the vision of the sort of creatures whose odium imbrues less of a stink only in so far as it might be more distant.
Or we manage to reduce our selves, in our obsession with various questions of “identity” to a sum total of the accident of our physical constitution in a particular locality plus all the real or perceive wounds and bruises. An irresolvable clash of the self absorbed victims follows.
Fundamentally, however, we are still at the mercy of various noxious political regimes and habituated into flirting with tyrants and butchers or other unpalatable characters out of concern for achieving the best possible condition for the civil society, and also still fundamentally blind to the pain of others.
Perhaps it is best to search for some possibility of having a notion of the Political that accentuates moments of reflective doubt, momentary hesitations, and mutual transformations based on a horizon of possibilities as opposed to a static understanding of limitations based on a notion of primeval and unchanging human nature.
Perhaps there is still room for mutual healing.
To me, such possibilities are fecund in Chuang Tzu. But don’t just take my word for it. Give the following a read carefully, and may be even find some other translations and compare.
This Human World
Yen Huei went to take leave of Confucius. "Whither are you bound?" asked the Master.
"I am going to the State of Wei," was the reply.
"And what do you propose to do there?" continued Confucius.
"I hear," answered Yen Huei, "that the Prince of Wei is of mature age but of an unmanageable disposition. He behaves as if the people were of no account and will not see his own faults. He disregards human lives and the people perish; and their corpses lie about like so much undergrowth in a marsh. The people do not know where to turn for help, and I have heard you say that if a state be well governed, it may be passed over; but that if it be badly governed, then we should visit it. At the door of physicians there are many sick people. I would test my knowledge in this sense, that perchance I may do some good at that state."
"Alas!" cried Confucius, "you will be only going to your doom. For Tao must not bustle about. If it does it will have divergent aims. From divergent aims come restlessness; from restlessness comes worry, and from worry one reaches the stage of being beyond hope. The Sages of old first strengthened their own character before they tried to strengthen that of others. Before you have strengthened your own character, what leisure have you to attend to the doings of wicked men?
Besides, do you know into what virtue evaporates by motion and where knowledge ends? Virtue evaporates by motion into desire for fame and knowledge ends in contentions. In the struggle for fame men crush each other, while their wisdom but provokes rivalry. Both are instruments of evil, and are not proper principles of living.
"Besides, if before one's own solid character and integrity become an influence among men and before one's own disregard for fame reaches the hearts of men, one should go and force the preaching of charity and duty and the rules of conduct on wicked men, he would only make these men hate him for his very goodness. Such a person may be called a messenger of evil. A messenger of evil will be the victim of evil from others. That, alas! will be your end.
"On the other hand, if the Prince loves the good and hates evil, what object will you have in inviting him to change his ways? Before you have opened your mouth, the Prince himself will have seized the opportunity to wrest the victory from you. Your eyes will be dazzled, your expression fade, your words will hedge about, your face will show confusion, and your
heart will yield within you. It will be as though you took fire to quell fire, water to quell water, which is known as aggravation.
And if you begin with concessions, there will be no end to them. If you neglect this sound advice and talk too much, you will die at the hands of that violent man . . . .
"Have you not heard that even Sages cannot overcome this love of fame and this desire for material objects (in rulers)? Are you then likely to succeed? But of course you have a plan. Tell it to me."
"Gravity of demeanor and humility; persistence and singleness of purpose — will this do?" replied Yen Huei. "Alas, no," said Confucius, "how can it? The Prince is a haughty person, filled with pride, and his moods are fickle. No one opposes him, and so he has come to take actual pleasure in trampling upon the feelings of others. And if he has thus failed in the
practice of routine virtues, do you expect that he will take readily to higher ones? He will persist in his ways, and though outwardly he may agree with you, inwardly he will not repent. How then will you make him mend his ways?"
"Why, then," (replied Yen Huei) "I can be inwardly straight, and outwardly yielding, and I shall substantiate what I say by appeals to antiquity. He who is inwardly straight is a servant of God. And he who is a servant of God knows that the Son of Heaven and himself are equally the children of God. Shall then such a one trouble whether his words are approved or
disapproved by man? Such a person is commonly regarded as an (innocent) child. This is to be a servant of God. He who is outwardly yielding is a servant of man. He bows, he kneels, he folds his hands — such is the ceremonial of a minister. What all men do, shall I not do also? What all men do, none will blame me for doing. This is to be a servant of man. He who substantiates his words by appeals to antiquity is a servant of the Sages of old. Although I utter the words of warning and take him to task, it is the Sages of old who speak, and not I. Thus I shall not receive the blame for my uprightness. This is to be the servant of the Sages of old. Will this do?"
"No! How can it?" replied Confucius. "Your plans are too many. You are firm, but lacking in prudence. However . . . , you will not get into trouble; but that is all. You will still be far from influencing him because your own opinions are still too rigid."
"Then," said Yen Huei, "I can go no further. I venture to ask for a method."
Confucius said . . . , "Concentrate your will. Hear not with your ears, but with your mind; not with your mind, but with your spirit. Let your hearing stop with the ears, and let your mind stop with its images. Let your spirit, however, be like a blank, passively responsive to externals. In such open receptivity only can Tao abide. And that open receptivity is the fasting of the heart."
"Then," said Yen Huei, "the reason I could not use this method was because of consciousness of a self. If I could apply this method, the assumption of a self would have gone. Is this what you mean by the receptive state?"
"Exactly so," replied the Master. "Let me tell you. Enter this man's service, but without idea of working for fame. Talk when he is in a mood to listen, and stop when he is not. Do without any sort of labels or self-advertisements. Keep to the One and let things take their natural course. Then you may have some chance of success. It is easy to stop walking: the trouble is to walk without touching the ground . . . . You have heard of winged creatures flying. You have never heard of flying without wings. You have heard of men being wise with knowledge. You have never heard of men wise without knowledge. Look at that emptiness. There is brightness in an empty room. Good luck dwells in repose. If there is not (inner) repose, your mind will be galloping about though you are sitting still. Let your ears and eyes communicate within but shut out all knowledge from the mind. Then the spirits will come to dwell therein . . . . This is the method for the transformation . . . of all Creation . . .
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
A tale of three young scholars!
There is an old journalist I have lunch with every month. His health has been deteriorating and his movement progressively more impaired.
A while back as I watched his face grimace with pain and unable to find the book he was looking for, I offered to reorganize his library and to sort of “computerize” it so he would know exactly where everyone of his gems might be located at. He was delighted and so I started.
His collection is indeed a treasure house with thousands of volumes. Some very old hard to find manuscripts, as well as numerous collection of journals long since passed out of sight. And, of course, those smells—the old book smells some of you probably know all too well. Absolutely enchanting!
I was working fast to finish with just enough time to make notes of the titles and occasionally also to sift through some of the more curious finds. In retrospect, three items have had been preoccupied for a while.
There was a reasonably well written (at a glance) old book on Amir Kabir, an important figure during times of exceptional weakness. Mirza Taqi Khan is most famous for his contribution to reforming the state, strengthening it and modernizing the country from above.
Amir Kabir also contributed to developing a foreign policy that attempted to safeguard Iran’s independence relying on equilibrium between great powers. The author of the book in question? A younger Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani. Isn’t it an oddity? Yes, Mr. Moneybag himself probably interested in another term also as the president in order to fiddle with (“salvage”) his “legacy.”
Then there were some of Amir Taheri’s old writings. Taheri, you will recall, was an executive editor in chief of an influential daily Kayhan. Mr. Taheri’s Farsi prose is magnificent, I think. His nickname (then) most evoked had been the “Emissary of the Apparatus,” (Namayande-ye Dastgah) How to put it diplomatically? Well, think of him as the brainy chief stooge.
He was one of the favorites of the prime minister, Mr. Hoveyda, (note Bill’s review of Milani) and thus quite a fearsome little chelovak as far as the other journalists were concerned. I am talking here about the sort of journalists who were not quite as inclined to collaborate with the security organ that kept them on a tight leash, and obviously also abused, tortured and terrorized dissenters.
And you want to hear the ironic part about all this?
Another branch of the same apparatus he worked for had him under surveillance suspicious of his much too cozy dealings with the operatives of some of the Shah’s closest foreign allies! Such is life under an authoritarian regime, you see.
And then there was one of the first volumes of the journal, Sokhan. This particular issue from some 60 years ago was practically a who’s who of Iranian literary giants. Some most famous names really with long intimidating titles in tow.
There was a non-descript short piece by a man with no title at all that caught my attention, though. A very young EhsanYarshater writing about the Russian fabulist Krylov, I think.
Each young scholar appears to have made a choice early in life and subsequently has persistently followed a set trajectory throughout his career. Power and intrigue appear more of an animating force in the lives of Rafsanjani and Taheri , whereas a profound sense of intellectual curiosity remains the abiding impulse inYarshater’s.
Which one of these men, do you think, will be remembered the longest?
For the record, my money is on the third fellow. The name Yarshater will be etched in the collective memory for generations to come because of his contributions—both in terms of his initial conception as early as 1972 and his tireless efforts in compiling and producing the Encyclopedia Iranica.
Something well worth ruminating especially for all the young, talented men and women who thirst for quick fame, fortune and money; nonetheless, a bit too hasty in disguising petty ambitions and loathsome choices in life through grandiose sloganeering about god, duty and country.
A while back as I watched his face grimace with pain and unable to find the book he was looking for, I offered to reorganize his library and to sort of “computerize” it so he would know exactly where everyone of his gems might be located at. He was delighted and so I started.
His collection is indeed a treasure house with thousands of volumes. Some very old hard to find manuscripts, as well as numerous collection of journals long since passed out of sight. And, of course, those smells—the old book smells some of you probably know all too well. Absolutely enchanting!
I was working fast to finish with just enough time to make notes of the titles and occasionally also to sift through some of the more curious finds. In retrospect, three items have had been preoccupied for a while.
There was a reasonably well written (at a glance) old book on Amir Kabir, an important figure during times of exceptional weakness. Mirza Taqi Khan is most famous for his contribution to reforming the state, strengthening it and modernizing the country from above.
Amir Kabir also contributed to developing a foreign policy that attempted to safeguard Iran’s independence relying on equilibrium between great powers. The author of the book in question? A younger Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani. Isn’t it an oddity? Yes, Mr. Moneybag himself probably interested in another term also as the president in order to fiddle with (“salvage”) his “legacy.”
Then there were some of Amir Taheri’s old writings. Taheri, you will recall, was an executive editor in chief of an influential daily Kayhan. Mr. Taheri’s Farsi prose is magnificent, I think. His nickname (then) most evoked had been the “Emissary of the Apparatus,” (Namayande-ye Dastgah) How to put it diplomatically? Well, think of him as the brainy chief stooge.
He was one of the favorites of the prime minister, Mr. Hoveyda, (note Bill’s review of Milani) and thus quite a fearsome little chelovak as far as the other journalists were concerned. I am talking here about the sort of journalists who were not quite as inclined to collaborate with the security organ that kept them on a tight leash, and obviously also abused, tortured and terrorized dissenters.
And you want to hear the ironic part about all this?
Another branch of the same apparatus he worked for had him under surveillance suspicious of his much too cozy dealings with the operatives of some of the Shah’s closest foreign allies! Such is life under an authoritarian regime, you see.
And then there was one of the first volumes of the journal, Sokhan. This particular issue from some 60 years ago was practically a who’s who of Iranian literary giants. Some most famous names really with long intimidating titles in tow.
There was a non-descript short piece by a man with no title at all that caught my attention, though. A very young EhsanYarshater writing about the Russian fabulist Krylov, I think.
Each young scholar appears to have made a choice early in life and subsequently has persistently followed a set trajectory throughout his career. Power and intrigue appear more of an animating force in the lives of Rafsanjani and Taheri , whereas a profound sense of intellectual curiosity remains the abiding impulse inYarshater’s.
Which one of these men, do you think, will be remembered the longest?
For the record, my money is on the third fellow. The name Yarshater will be etched in the collective memory for generations to come because of his contributions—both in terms of his initial conception as early as 1972 and his tireless efforts in compiling and producing the Encyclopedia Iranica.
Something well worth ruminating especially for all the young, talented men and women who thirst for quick fame, fortune and money; nonetheless, a bit too hasty in disguising petty ambitions and loathsome choices in life through grandiose sloganeering about god, duty and country.
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Warrior Woman
Aren’t we quite the feverish bunch? If only I could have collected some pittance every time we’ve become frenzied over some inanity or other.
So here we have two manifestations of public passions at work again: all the brouhaha over a proposed referendum to amend the constitution and of course the fulminations (yet again) about the actual name of that Gulf bordering the Straight of Hormuz!
Now really! Do we need any more excuses to utter the vilest sorts of xenophobic, bigoted anti-Arab balderdash?
Truth to tell, I have had a gentleman’s agreement with my Arab friends and acquaintances which has worked quite well over the years. In order to avoid all the shallow nationalist blabber, I just call it the Gulf when the subject comes up and my friends reciprocate. Horror of horrors!
I know it is not for everyone; nor a universally applicable prescription. Yet my bubble has been a great deal more civil consequently and that’s all that counts. I think I’ll have to stick with what works.
In the meanwhile, the referendum stuff I will also have to ignore until either the fever subsides or vanishes entirely—and vanish it will along with the rest of the contemptible creatures ruling us poorly; the ones who inevitably end up bolstered each and every time on account of false hopes. Oddly, even Mr. Blair appears poised to get in on the action this time around!
One thing, though, that I simply can’t ignore is the news of the DNA tests confirming the 2,000-year-old bones of a sword-wielding Iranian warrior buried in a tomb along with 108 others indeed as that of a woman. This is the second indisputable proof , in a short span of time, of the existence of such woman in ancient Persia.
Women’s lives in ancient times can be a fascinating subject. Recent scholarship-- in particular this work by Maria Brosius-- has done much to deepen our understanding of some of the features. And the past generally helps put present in perspective. I mean, who can really be surprised by the existence of warrior women knowing what woman in Iran have done and continue to do every day. It must be in the genes!
As I have said before, this present experience of imbecility notwithstanding, Iranian women are poised to take the helm of this nation in a dazzling sort of way. They are the one consistently belligerent group incessantly challenging boundaries and refusing to be cowered.
Even when it appears as if they have retreated, the battle continues in more subtle forms. Only if you could see my Mom and Sister in action!
Naturally, a reevaluation of the past has become an ongoing project reflecting the state of the existing movements. I can’t wait, for instance, to get my hands on this book of Afsaneh Najmabadi, a meticulous scholar, even though certain political implications of her paradigmatic approach I find suffocating.
Some other interesting readings for your gratification: Homa Hoodfar’s nuanced treatment of women’s movement in Iran; Parvin Ghorayshi’s fascinating discussion of the transforming/transformational experience of some rural woman. (in French. It takes me for ever but I try); and a UN Research Institute project, Parvin Paidar’s Gender of Democracy. (all pdf)
And one last short piece--quite poignant I think—of the “mundane”. A personal narrative of the harrowing experience of one of the many silly cultural obsessions wreaking havoc on life and only skin deep: Farideh Dayanim Goldin’s Feathers and Hair.
So here we have two manifestations of public passions at work again: all the brouhaha over a proposed referendum to amend the constitution and of course the fulminations (yet again) about the actual name of that Gulf bordering the Straight of Hormuz!
Now really! Do we need any more excuses to utter the vilest sorts of xenophobic, bigoted anti-Arab balderdash?
Truth to tell, I have had a gentleman’s agreement with my Arab friends and acquaintances which has worked quite well over the years. In order to avoid all the shallow nationalist blabber, I just call it the Gulf when the subject comes up and my friends reciprocate. Horror of horrors!
I know it is not for everyone; nor a universally applicable prescription. Yet my bubble has been a great deal more civil consequently and that’s all that counts. I think I’ll have to stick with what works.
In the meanwhile, the referendum stuff I will also have to ignore until either the fever subsides or vanishes entirely—and vanish it will along with the rest of the contemptible creatures ruling us poorly; the ones who inevitably end up bolstered each and every time on account of false hopes. Oddly, even Mr. Blair appears poised to get in on the action this time around!
One thing, though, that I simply can’t ignore is the news of the DNA tests confirming the 2,000-year-old bones of a sword-wielding Iranian warrior buried in a tomb along with 108 others indeed as that of a woman. This is the second indisputable proof , in a short span of time, of the existence of such woman in ancient Persia.
Women’s lives in ancient times can be a fascinating subject. Recent scholarship-- in particular this work by Maria Brosius-- has done much to deepen our understanding of some of the features. And the past generally helps put present in perspective. I mean, who can really be surprised by the existence of warrior women knowing what woman in Iran have done and continue to do every day. It must be in the genes!
As I have said before, this present experience of imbecility notwithstanding, Iranian women are poised to take the helm of this nation in a dazzling sort of way. They are the one consistently belligerent group incessantly challenging boundaries and refusing to be cowered.
Even when it appears as if they have retreated, the battle continues in more subtle forms. Only if you could see my Mom and Sister in action!
Naturally, a reevaluation of the past has become an ongoing project reflecting the state of the existing movements. I can’t wait, for instance, to get my hands on this book of Afsaneh Najmabadi, a meticulous scholar, even though certain political implications of her paradigmatic approach I find suffocating.
Some other interesting readings for your gratification: Homa Hoodfar’s nuanced treatment of women’s movement in Iran; Parvin Ghorayshi’s fascinating discussion of the transforming/transformational experience of some rural woman. (in French. It takes me for ever but I try); and a UN Research Institute project, Parvin Paidar’s Gender of Democracy. (all pdf)
And one last short piece--quite poignant I think—of the “mundane”. A personal narrative of the harrowing experience of one of the many silly cultural obsessions wreaking havoc on life and only skin deep: Farideh Dayanim Goldin’s Feathers and Hair.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
(Most) everyone’s favorite foe
Another Francophile!
The authorities have been at it again. Arresting more bloggers and fiddling with ways of cutting communication at the arteries. Some IS providers have now begun filtering Netstat. Go figure. Is Blogspot next?
Can’t help but to anxiously anticipate the prospect of being enveloped by that darkness looming in the horizon. Such is life I suppose. Just have to hurry up and write whatever I have been meaning to write as quickly as possible before the curtains fall.
This present equilibrium of power can’t last much longer, I am thinking. There is a growing realization that the uncertainty about the future direction of our society is wreaking much needless havoc on our lives and must be settled one way or another soon. No escaping the conclusion.
Look, there is no reliable polling here. But even assuming 70% opposition to the noxious ones, for a country of 70 million, we are still left with roughly 21 million in the other camp. With money, connection and guns, and frankly the sort of people with far more to lose immediately than what the rest of us can gain as a result of any change.
And even those folk aren’t all that happy with how things stand. I was chatting with a retired Revolutionary Guard commander recently and as far as he was concerned, the Almighty has withdrawn His blessings (barakat) from this country. A sentiment increasingly expressed point blank by the more pious supporters of this regime.
Something has got to give. But what? And in which direction will it all go?
But hey, at least Marjane Satrapi is being productive in France. An interesting older interview here. You can listen to a BBC woman’s hour discussion here (last year). Much as I loath sycophants, I would transform into an unabashed one much quicker than you would bat an eye if she were to be our Queen. Sadly, I’ll have to settle for being a groupie from afar. You’ve got to love the country that has offered this audacious soul a nurturing milieu.
Which gets me thinking: why is everyone bludgeoning the French? For a while, even certain circles in Iran were at it about the decision to ban hejab in the French schools. Naturally, of course, there is all that French bashing as well originating from Mount Olympus.
From where I am sitting, it can all get sort of discombobulating. The French, after all, can be very interesting in all sorts of different ways, I think. Compare for instance, the flimsy bilge one of the best and the brightest American conservatives has to offer with anything even a petulant De Benoist has to say.
I have been thinking about the French a lot lately. I have been brooding, as you might have noticed, a great deal over the alarm bells-- purportedly the harbingers of the culture wars and the invisible enemy within due to the presence of Arabs; not to mention, of course, all the accusations of financial improprieties and the corrupt profiteering, and the insidious insider deals and all.
So I have tired to remember why it all sounds so familiar.
Then I remembered a rant I had once encountered quoted in the work of the “orgasm guru,” Wilhelm Reich's the Mass Psychology of Fascism eons ago. I tried digging for it, but couldn’t find the book and so I asked my friend Mr. Limitedinc to help locate it.
Luckily he obliged with chapter and verse. I am leaving the original German untouched for those who can read the language. Tweak with it slightly as you read to get a slightly more contemporary feel!
Reich quotes from a passage, I suppose in Mein Kampf, about the Rhineland, Die Massenpsychologie des Faschismus, Frankfurt 1974, S. 102-107
Das ist das Hakenkreuz erst sehr spät geworden. Und im ührigen besteht die Frage nach dem irrationalen Gehalt des Antisemitismus. Der irrationale Gehalt der Rassetheorie erklärt sich aus der Mißdeutung der natürlichen Sexualität, des 'Schmutzig- Sexuell-Sinnlichen'. Hier stehen der Jude und der Neger auf einer Stufe in der Vorstellung des Faschisten, des deutschen ebenso wie des amerikanischen. Der Rassekampf in Amerika gegen den Neger spielt sich überwiegend auf dem Boden der sexuellen Abwehr ab: Der Neger ist als das sinnliche Schwein aufgefaßt, das weiße Frauen vergewaltigt. Hitler schrieb über die farbige Besatzung des Rheinlandes:
"Nur in Frankreich besteht heute mehr denn je eine innige Übereinstimmung zwischen den Absichten der Börse, den sie tragenden Juden und den Wünschen einer chauvinistisch eingestellten nationalen Staatskunst. Allein gerade in dieser Tatsache liegt eine immense Gefahr für Deutschland. Gerade aus diesem Grunde ist und bleibt Frankreich der weitaus furchtbarste Feind. Dieses an sich immer mehr der Vernegerung anheimfallende Volk bedeutet in seiner Bindung an die Ziele der jüdischen Weltbeherrschung eine lauernde Gefahr für den Bestand der weißen Rasse Europa. Denn die Ver- [S. 105]pestung durch Negerblut am Rhein im Herzen Europas entspricht ebenso sehr der sadistisch-perversen Rachsucht dieses chauvinistischen Erbfeindes unseres Volkes, wie der eisigkalten Überlegung des Juden, auf diesem Wege die Bastardierung des europäischen Kontinents im Mittelpunkt zu beginnen und der weißen Rasse durch Identifizierung mit niederem Menschentum die Grundlagen zu einer selbstherrlichen Existenz zu entziehen." (l. c. S. 704-705).
The relevant part is, I guess: There exists in France alone, today, the inner correspondence between the intentions of the stock market, the Jews that own it and the wishes of a chauvinistically arranged art of the state. …Just for this reason, France is and remains the most fearful of our foes. This people, who are prey to an always increasing level of negrification (Vernegerung) signify, in their adherence to the goal of Jewish world domination a lurking danger for the status of the white race in Europe…”
From Mein Kampf:
And even France must be counted among these states. Not only that she complements her army to an ever-increasing degree from her enormous empire's reservoir of colored humanity, but racially as well, she is making such great progress in negrification that we can actually speak of an African state arising on European soil.
Ein Beispiel rassischen Niedergangs ist für Hitler das ihm auch sonst unsympathische Frankreich. Dieses macht nach Hitler "in seiner Vernegerung so rapide Fortschritte, daß man tatsächlich von einer Entstehung eines afrikanischen Staates auf europäischem Boden reden kann" (S. 730).
Which leaves these bright charmers in an odd sort of ( de-facto) alliance , don’t you think?
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