The Curse of The Star-Crossed: Time For A Revelation

Some would argue the circles of metal in their palms run this world. And in their hearts as cold as that metal, they're right. As much as we romantics would love to slap them in the face with what we hope to be the truth, we can't change how it all works, no matter how cruel and harsh we find the reality. I've been in the shoes of "the chaser" and "the reacher" my whole life, never given the opportunity to be the one in charge, the one that decides when to break hearts and when to heal them. Perhaps that's a little harsh to those that wake up one morning with all the power resting in their hands. Maybe some don't want it, maybe some don't wish to be the heart breaker. Possibly, the damnation lies in our human condition, the desire to pursue love until it's an attainable commodity that gives our lives "meaning". We are so horrified by our inherent loneliness we snatch up the nearest person, deluded by a non-existent spark, all as an elaborate protest towards our own genetic curse. I'm sure many of you are shaking your heads because you and your other half have been married for this many years or you and your partner occupied the same living space for such and such a time or the most pitiful argument yet: we had children together.

I struggle to grasp the meaning behind these empty occurrences, none of them aspiring to confirm "love". These achievements are not a certificate for you to wave around, proof of your attainment of love with another being. Even worse, there are many of us damned to maintain our own personal Hell by hovering aimlessly in the desolate state of running after a train that holds that one person we never quite get over. It's a combination of our own doing and theirs, the heart breaker. Having never gained power over another in a relationship, I cannot describe the ins and outs of such a position and I'm sure somewhere, there is a blogger blowing up their blog with rantings of the sorrowful decision of smashing another's heart. Excuse my cynicism.

Allow me to demonstrate. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I was distraught to realise Daisy Buchanan's disgusting irresponsible lack of compassion for a man that acted only ever on her behalf. His only request; she returned his love. Her husband Tom was that revolting type that show their scruffy faces and stubborn stupidity ever once in a while. While he was choking on expensive cigars and donning pastel sweaters, he was running his nasty fingers all over every pretty woman in sight. Daisy enjoyed feigning upset, allowing Gatsby to cradle her and promise he'd fix it all for her. She frolicked at his parties with the best of them (sarcasm) and mirrored feelings to disguise the icy rot that had feasted on her heart and soul at birth. With many chances to redeem herself, including Jay's funeral, she recklessly fled with abusive hubby in tow, off to frolic into some more billionaire parties and crush some dreams with her pinkie finger. Jay Gatsby, misconstrued as a foolhardy liar, flirt and criminal with vanity as glossy as the front covers of Vogue, was really just mislead into a harsh world, hoping one day his lover would confess her feelings and grow old with him. Perhaps his redemption for being so gullible was his selfless love for Daisy, an individual so unlovable by the rest of the human population.

"I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

I have been severely unfortunate in life to have kissed the lips of such people that toy with beating hearts and hopeful dreams, that dig their claws into one's skin so deep they become another limb, another part of you. They are careless types and should we romantics waste time attempting to cure the immutable of their sins? Perhaps we are better off running as fast as that speeding train, passing it by as our one unattainable lover looks on aghast and envious of our freedom to live without the chains of discontent reining us in.

Through my distraught emotional moments after stumbling into the disheartening plot and character of Daisy Buchanan, I searched for meaning and discovered it in a wonderful article speaking for the Star-Crossed chasers of true love by Clarisse Thorn.

At its worst, here are the tactics: You end up measuring every last signal of affection, to make sure it’s not an overreach or a demand. You end up asking questions to gauge his state of mind, and clenching your fists under the table until your nails cut into your palms so that you have the self-control to smile when he gives you answers you don’t want to hear. He might even notice how much pain you’re in, but you know you can’t confirm his suspicions, for fear that he’ll get stressed out and leave. So if he asks what’s wrong, then you turn away or laugh and change the subject and don’t say: What’s wrong is that I just decided this has to end, because it’s the fifth time you decided that tonight, and you know you won’t stick to it. And then you go home and use every last ounce of willpower not to call him, and hope against hope that he won’t call you, because you know you’ll pick up the phone way too fast, and be pathetically eager to do whatever he wants.

I never found the words yesterday to explain the nature of my wish to burst into tears filled with empty promises as I made a very big mistake. Even though I put every part of my heart, soul and being into it, things just didn't work out the way I'd hoped. I kissed coldly and returned home empty-handed to a barren room filled with mocking memories: reminders that I was not and could not be loved again by this boy, in any universe or circumstance. As heartbreaking as it feels, like a rocky earthquake of the cardiac muscle, I have passed by the train without bothering to wave to him.

In the words of Fitzgerald, "There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired", and I am most assuredly the permanent pursuing and the tired.


(http://www.rolereboot.org/sex-and-relationships/details/2012-07-loving-someone-who-doesnt-love-you-back)

Morality In The Modern World: Mactoism

Deciding on your own moral "code" to live by can be a difficult task. It helps to read the philosophies of those before us, however I believe it more desirable to form ethics of our own making in order to facilitate challenges of the modern world. I must not take credit for the influences of Existentialism and Stoicism.

I believe there are principles in which we must abide by to live a "good" life. The word "Macto" in Latin means to fight, to magnify, glorify, honour, slay. As tradition goes, most factions of ethics have a particular name. I have decided Mactoism fits the bill for my particular beliefs.

Equality
The most important human "law" must be fairness for all. To treat others as you would have them treat you. In order to maintain dignity and live a "good" life we must ensure all others have as many opportunities as ourselves. This effectively sets "the class system" as void. The challenge is to set others as your priority, above yourself and your own needs, even your very life must be put to the side if the situation calls for it. Each individual's life is worth as much as the next, despite wealth, quality of life, disability, group associated with or family status. No one is better than another. In the end we are all just piles of bones in the ground and we should take it upon ourselves to rise above petty childishness that causes terrible evil to be committed. To lead a "good" life, in situations that require us to save other people, we are obligated to put them first even if we should lose our lives in the process. Equality also includes other species and the environment that deserve respect. No one gets left behind.

Bravery
By following the human "laws", we must first be concrete in our beliefs and stay true to them unless we are called to a greater need that trumps our laws. If so, it is our responsibility to change our views accordingly after thinking deeply about what the changes require us to do. Despite all adversity, we must maintain our "self" by in-keeping with what we believe to be "good" and "righteous" and avoiding what we deem to be "evil", "unproductive" and "unnecessarily harsh". In order to completely carry out true equality, we require extreme courage to put other people selflessly before ourselves, especially if the process endangers our very lives. However, this remains a choice and if not chosen freely by the individual, the act becomes void and the "good" done is rendered nonexistent. This is also the case should the individual seek reward, profit or glory for their "good" act. The latter would be a worse damage on society and would bring great shame upon the individual that desired the idolisation. Living with courage and bravery and conviction leads to selfless love of others and that itself is "good".

Individual Development
As an intellectual species, we must maintain a certain "standard" of thought. We must aspire to gain further knowledge, deep wisdom and curiosity for the world around us to develop as "good" well-balanced persons. Possessing an impartial, unbiased mind throughout our lifetime enables us to fully induce equality and make quick yet right decisions. As humans, we are given a special ability to think, question and investigate with our powerful brains and to disregard this duty to ourselves and society would be deemed "unproductive". We are effectively protectors of our own progress and it is important to nourish our skills. We should strive to change the world around us for the better.

Endurance
With life comes both pain and joy. It is extremely important to accept the inevitability of one's death and to conquer the fear of such an end when it is impossible to stop. One should not be frightened by the prospect and in fact welcome it at the time it happens as the mind and essence is at peace. However, we must not squander our talents by indulging in excessive means such as food, drugs, alcohol and one must not become "reckless" or "foolish". These are deemed shameful and should be avoided at all times. Bravery must be contained in an appropriate fashion to ensure we follow the right path for the circumstances. Pain should not be feared but embraced as a typical symptom of life or payment for the ability to be alive. Pain and fulfilment are illusions of life: one does not exist without the other and death is our rest from fighting and enduring. However, one should not seek out pain deliberately to spite ourselves or others as this is unhealthy and damaging to our very unique essence. All those that do so should be treated sensitively but should not be shamed. To love our enemies, those that oppose us and those we do not know is the endurance of pain and difficulties of life and is perhaps the most admirable strength within an individual.

Honesty and Authenticity
To live as a "good and righteous" individual, we must be true to our inner essence. This echoes the principle of bravery in stablising one's beliefs and sticking to them unless a higher law demands evaluation of them. Living an authentic life, we must not relabel valuable things such as love, sex, family, friendship and having children as merely trivial. To stay honest to oneself and the rest of society, we must strive to reach our full potential and be our "full selves" or our true essence. Honesty in all acts must remain a priority and lies should be avoided if possible. This maintains us as "good" well-balanced people that will benefit society and the world by working hard to the best of our abilities.

The Post-Love War: Is it all you need?

I can't say I'm terribly more qualified than the average reader in this domain. Maybe you didn't notice but seventeen years of school ties around one's neck isn't much different to a stripy noose. Even so, I can speak from personal experience but don't expect it to be decorated with billion dollar castles and dashing princes on white horses leaping out of fairy tales.

There are abundant slick little phrases that describe love, billions of books so eloquent, from Romeo and Juliet to Jane Eyre. As the tales commonly begin, I wasn't interrogating every testosterone-ridden teenage male in a five mile radius for my other half. To be honest, I can't imagine many people that would carry out such an effort. As the story usually starts, we were friends first of all. I could go as far as to argue that there were sparks immediately, perhaps in a way I had yet to fully comprehend. I need not to wander into the depths of detail and I can inform you that things soured too quickly for anyone to notice it was out of date.

Two years have shed and life is a very shaken-but-not-stirred kind of paradise. So what is this bizarre thing we dedicate so much of our limited and precious time to? Religious leaders have sworn it is the mark of Gods, mothers said it was in their smiles when they first held their babies in their arms. For decades, the great philosophers have bickered that it could be all just an illusion of the complex mind. Nowadays, animal rights activists will protest that other species are born with it too. Scientists spew out five thousand word dissertations on chemicals in the human brain in their sleep and psychologists will each individually define nature over nurture and past experiences as "the key". How can we possibly answer this question?

A different viewpoint is needed. Average out human life events. Birth, early years, school, next stage in school, university/college, work, marriage, children, more work, retirement, hobbies, grandchildren, illness and finally death. A grim description of a very normal eighty or so years. However, let's cut out the generic gooey "fall-in-love" stage.
After some careful thought, I believe our desire to love and be loved by others is our intrinsic horror of our own individuality among a pack of over seven billion, the harsh realisation of our contained impact on the globe that dies with us upon becoming an octogenarian and a defense barrier to protect us from the poisonous negativity and bitter hate that thrives within a corruptible doubtful species such as our own. And to the scientists, I must tell you that I don't quite have the same emotions munching on a chocolate bar as kissing my beloved goodbye. Chemistry isn't everything, is it, Mister Potter?

The consequences of rejecting the joy-inducing Beatles song seem rather severe. However, I think we can use our logic to say shelter and food would remain our main sustenance - unless you are a vicious love-gobbling monster going under the alias of Ian Duncan Smith. Why do we need it? Is it essential? Well yes and no. To some degree, love is a necessary ingredient for the cake of a human life to rise to proper maturity and sophistication. There are thousands of studies that state in order for your little mini-you to become the doctor/lawyer/engineer/dancer that you so hope them to be, you must love your child and show this affection on a daily basis - sounds tedious. Scum that neglect their offspring can inspire terrible events in which can land that particular kid in care, living with other family members, being bullied, assaulted, turning violent, aggressive, in trouble with the police, lonely, with mental health problems, a drug dependency or onto the streets to live or make their wage out of desperation. The list composes itself. And so, since it is essential to enable babies, infants and children to form bonds with family and others, is love so important after these developmental stages? Does it still shape us as a person during adulthood?

Again, the answer is interchangeable. We have grown up with a good childhood, minimal issues, healthy relationships with family and friends. Now what do we do? Do we still need the elixir of love? I would argue, yes. This is because in order to maintain that healthy mind and personality we require a dose every so often. And the tearful reality is that many do not reach the developmental stages with full love and support. Plenty of adults will speak of neglect and abuse present in their younger years. But now more questions have been raised than answered; What happens when we reject offerings of love?

I name this my "Post-Love" era. To the ear it sings a depressing tune but I personally find peace. Perhaps humanity has become severely dependent upon receiving lashings of love and we have detached from the selfless endurance that is caring for one without expecting a form of "payment". Suffering through rejection with an open heart is the most eye-opening glimpse of reality one could ever dream of. You might be curiously confused yet I have discovered the experience somewhat liberating. This enables you to empathise in the shoes of another, to logically piece together their situation and to apply compassion as a strong shield of armour around them. Without pain we are not "human". As an artist, I can appreciate the quaint beauty that twists through everything.
Although, I have been informed by several friends that denying love and affection is self-neglect of the mind, soul and heart and I am merely cutting off a metaphorical poisoned limb to ease the burning loneliness if I convince myself I am a better person without it. Understanding their opinion is different from accepting it. They make a fair point - to deny others is to deny our own essence and being. But I am not doing this out of spite. I think it more of a respite from constant chasing of whimsical things that are unlikely to exist and by that I mean the pursuit of one's true love. It would be very difficult as a human to not desire to believe in such a fantasy but it is in no way logical. Love exists but no two people are perfect for each other.

My motivation? Constant rejection. Loneliness. Watching marriages crumble, divorce papers flying in with the wind, rebuffed children, families separated by continents, murder, abuse of babies and infants, kids dumped in care. Surely we need to address other people's happiness instead of diving into the pool without thought to grab ours first. It's not a path I wish to jog down because it is a wasteful hateful way that will lead straight to unfulfilled dreams gathering dust on a wonky shelf. We forget we have the ability to love without being tied into a give-and-take contract.

Rejecting the common love-and-be-loved ideal does not mean you can't hum along to that catchy Beatles tune. When it's over, you should visualise all the billions of minds inspired by those words, empty hearts that found kindness in those notes, pain healed by the dedication rather than the band watching the clock spin while playing tonsil-tennis with their beloveds. Because that would be all we needed.

The Old Lie - Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

The truth has a way of leaching out from under the cold steel boot of oppressors. Modern-day Britain is an inherent disgrace to all freedom fighters of the French and Russian revolutions and those shining leaders of equality such as Malala Yousafzai. We must be rendered repulsive to the eyes of others and hopefully, to our own. I stumbled, very gladly, upon a wondrously truthful article written on an idealistic British revolution of which I am a big dreamer. Kevin McKenna, I salute you Sir!

Some of us are asking the same questions of ourselves in 2013: why, in the face of so much inequality, corporate dishonesty, police brutality and political corruption, do we simply grumble and stage good-natured and orderly marches, with multigrain sandwiches and infants in prams? Why do we continue to be bought off with endless royal jubilees, worthless Olympiads and the creeping militarisation of a country whose soldiers are treated like heroes for fighting wars against developing world nations?

This is a very important revelation. Why have we not rid ourselves of oppression and corrupt governments? We, the people, are the cogs of our country, it is our pockets that should dictate the economy that we found ruined by green-finger bankers and scheming politicians. I share with Mr McKenna the disdain for purposeless Royal occasions that glamourise the wealth of a sole ruling family, an extremely outdated idealism that the British people should view as totally superfluous. How is it that deep-pocketed Cameron, in his whimsical delusions, believes sporting events with the world's athletes bring England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales together? Meanwhile, this Tory git will have us brainwashed into leaving the EU?! Wake up people! To have a proper Union means equality, not a dictatorship by English government draining all resources from it's neighbours and belittling it's own citizens! We pat our children shoulders when they are off to war yet we do not stop to think they are murdering innocent human beings in another country or even still, fighting groups such as the Taliban, but it is not our war to fight. Yes, we MUST help those people. Yes, we cannot sit still twiddling our thumbs. However, we are an intelligent people lucky enough to have the resources so readily available in the West. We have the ability to treat the wounded, send aid and money, find compromises, form treaties. We abuse our power like America and allow them to lead us to slaughter like the pied piper removing the vulnerable children from their hometown. Who says that other countries cannot have weapons? If we have them, which we should not, why should they not be allowed the "protection" we deem necessary for ourselves? The hypocrisy is rife!

And again, Cameron would wish us to isolate ourselves from the EU, to abandon our allies. This is a petty move of an inexperienced leader.

While Vodafone, Google, Rangers FC and hundreds of other major companies have been allowed to deprive the exchequer of billions in tax revenues, the Westminster government remains focused on doing what the Conservatives have been doing for hundreds of years: penalising the poor.

The Conservatives are only interested in the coins in their hands and the notes in their obese wallets. Find a redeeming quality of this outdated party and I will diligently eat Bart Simpson's shorts! The problem in Britain today is the lack of parties for the people, by the people. Labour have withered away with Ed Milliband's incoherent speeches anesthetizing the electorate and the influx of posh Eaton schoolboys humming and hawing and copying the Conservatives. Meanwhile the Libdems scored several damning own-goals almost, it seems, deliberately under Whats-His-Face's order. Ah yes, Nick Clegg. I'd forgotten his name for a while... It's a pity because I had decent respect for Libdem policies until they got into bed with Cameron avec cronies and came up with fleas (or Gonorrhea). As a sufferer of depression, when asked my mood on a scale of one to ten, I feel pictures pre- and post-election of Mr Clegg's face sum it up nicely. Need I even bother mentioning the scum of BNP/UKIP a.k.a borderline-Nazi racists? I am not a supporter of Scottish Independence personally, however I can see the glittering nation in the horizon as easily as the next Nationalist and it sure beats the pathetic spineless crowd of tight-upper lipped buffoons squabbling over who has more money, that are running the UK at the moment. My only hope seems the Green Party and even their efforts are, at best, weak and ignored easily. Perhaps some young revolutionists would like to step up and campaign? They have my vote already.

Many of those who are seeking their battered tins of spaghetti hoops or bashed packets of pasta are not the feckless drug- and alcohol-addicted workshy of popular rightwing myth. According to one charity organiser in Glasgow's East End I talked to last week, these are people who often have to accept scandalously low-paid work simply because they don't want to take benefits. In the winter, they will be penalised again when the cartelism of the energy companies kicks in and they can only afford to heat one room in their home.

I think some of you may have forgotten the times before pensions and decent human rights. The government believed the poor were poor because they were lazy. This is the exact level of mind control the Tories are polluting us with today! Benefits are not for the lazy - they are for the poor, the sick, the single parents, those who are desperate for a job to feed their family. We work just as hard as the billionaires, perhaps even more! Those who strike are not time-wasters, they are utilising a right that more of us should exercise. You'll sit there and compliment the cinematography of Les Mis yet you are blind to the message; you feel sorry for the characters in the movie? Then plug in your brain, see what is happening on your own turf.

Not long ago, these people would have been able to turn to the Labour party and the trade unions to fight their corner, but those days are long gone. These days, strike action is confined to boutique one-day stoppages. If people begin to make rude messages with their fingers or snarl at the police who will outnumber them two to one, then they will be kettled and jostled by our state-licensed knuckle-draggers.

The Labour party, meanwhile, has been kidnapped by a shower of unprincipled Oxbridge careerists and their utterly useless Scottish concubines.

The real wonder of the 2011 riots in England and Wales isn't that they happened at all but that there weren't more of them, that they didn't last longer and that there was so little violence. A British revolution is long, long overdue … but perhaps we simply don't deserve one.

We must fight for our own rights because these snobs we name politicians will only fight for their own. I was baffled by the opinions of ignorant twats that claimed the riots were "evil". Yes, I understand that complaint from a parent that lost their son or daughter in the violence but not ordinary citizens. Am I missing something? Has everyone gone mad? The old lie -  Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - what is the point when you fight for a country that does not fight for you?

[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/16/britain-needs-a-revolution]