.

And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again? Archilochus

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

There is no Wisdom Unsustained by Power

Socrates declares the just city complete. Since this city has been created to be the best city possible, we can be sure that it has all the virtues. In order to define these virtues, all we need to do is look into our city and identify them. So we will now look for each of the four virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.

We find wisdom first. Wisdom lies with the guardians because of their knowledge of how the city should be run. If the guardians were not ruling, if it were a democracy, say, their virtue would not translate into the virtue of the city. But since they are in charge, their wisdom becomes the city’s virtue. Courage lies with the auxiliaries. It is only their courage that counts as a virtue of the city because they are the ones who must fight for the city. A courageous farmer, or even ruler, would do the city no good. Moderation and justice, in contrast to wisdom and courage, are spread out over the whole city. Moderation is identified with the agreement over who should rule the city, and justice, finally, is its complement—the principle of specialization, the law that all do the job to which they are best suited.

So now we have reached one of our two aims, at least partially. We have identified justice on a city-wide level. Our next task is to see if there is an analogous virtue in the case of the individual.
- Ch IV Summary, Plato's "Republic"

Monday, April 24, 2017

Employ the Perps!

Beyond the darken shadows
Of a cold abandon alley
Lurks the masterpieces kept in time
The city's homemade gallery.

The city art of the common man
His words and thoughts in design
Expressions shared with quick swipes
Of every curve and line.

Graffiti art so rare and intimate
Unaware of what is shown
Telling the messages of a man's true life
Drawn proudly on concrete stone.

At glance the drawings on the walls
Seem vulgar, low and unclean
The simple words of the unknown man
The man not heard or seen.

Yet there in his graffiti art he shines
Along with city fellow souls
And their true words and expressed art
Are their dreams, their lives and goals.

So when you pass a covered wall
Filled up with graffiti art
Remember that those are more than filthy wastes
They are the stories from the city's true heart.
Genevieve Pilat, "Graffiti"

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Redemption

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies. (from "Loving Your Enemies")”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Sufrimos

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
― Kahlil Gibran
“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment

Monday, April 10, 2017

Sunday, April 2, 2017

How the Left Views the Trumpists...

On the Left's Inability to Understand a Form of Capitalism Which Respects National Borders... and so they Confuse the Economic and Social Spheres... as this had Once been a Problem in the Twentieth Century in Another Nation State