So for some stupid reason I decided to go back to University for a Masters degree. Damn I'm stupid, why would I do something like that? I'm already not looking forward to going back to class. Well I enjoyed university, I just need to ignite the fire. Get myself going for competition.
When I sleep, I'm getting weird, obscure dreams. Like something bad is about to happen. Why is there seafood in my shoes? How random and disturbing!
Speaking of universities, the major one in this town recently got into a bit of hot water over investments. So this university holds a $1 billion share portfolio, and noting that one of the companies it holds shares in - Santos (an energy and resources company), has been responsible for some major environmental problems, they decided to divest themselves of that investment, among others who are also lacking in corporate morals. Since we all know Government is in the pocket of these sorts of major companies, they have come out and said they will seek justification from the university, and if they don't like it, they will look into pulling funding from the University! What the hell?! What is this? We all live in a fascist nation! We all know conservative governments support big business, even against the interests of the environment, or against the rights of workers, but this is going way too far. Governments should not be able to question why an institution has chosen to divest. It's not their right, and they should not be able to punish universities if they don't like the reasoning.
The nature of print journalism is sadly lacking. You get sites like news.com.au, then smh.com.au, which just review social media for the latest trends and buzz and report on that, without reviewing facts or conducting independent research, and what we're left with is sensationalist journalism. Don't let me get started on the daily mail and the australian, which are all just gutter journalism. They say grossly outrageous and disgusting things, and try to whip up fear to generate headlines and sales. It's truly disgusting.
The only real site I read in detail these days is The Guardian. While I know there's a left wing bias within that paper, it is generally much more well-researched and presented (and proof-read and edited) than every other news site on the planet. I miss Mr Greenwald on there, because The Intercept is a horribly set out website, and makes navigation difficult. Maybe one day I'll work up the courage to tackle it and hopefully learn something new. But I've been interested in Russell Brand's writings on the guardian. Despite his reputation as a vagabond lothario, he is at heart, a fat, sensitive and intelligent individual. He is making excellent statements regarding inequality and the need to start a revolution. But look to revolutions of the past, they were born out of incredibly difficult situations, where many people were dying, and there was a general consensus that tyranny was the problem. But the game has changed since the days of American Independence or the French Revolution, now a lot more people have money. Yes, they don't have that much compared to the truly rich, but they have a lot more than they used to.
These days, so long as people consider themselves safe, the opportunity cost of fear, and general failure will prevent them from taking out major action. Those occupy protests? They were mostly homeless people and hippies and the unemployed - hardly the majority needed to actually instigate a revolution. The fact is simple - we are unlikely to ever see a major revolution in Western ideology. The spin doctors have done an amazing job at blaming other people, fellow countrymen, or the economy, and immigrants or refugees for your social problems. So as long as people have a bit of money, and think they are relatively safe, they will not revolt. This is how people can turn into slaves without fighting for their freedom. They want to live, regardless of the cost to liberty. The term live free or die has no bearing in reality. Capitalism is the panacea to a revolution. They can't make things easier for themselves, because they will keep chasing the things which are not important. Can true happiness be achieved in a capitalist epistemology? Perhaps. But you need to reject all criticism and materialism. People want a revolution for the wrong reasons - they want more money, they want bigger houses, they want more time off work. This is why I think nothing will ever transpire, and it makes me sad. Let's talk about a hypothetical situation. A is worth 1 billion dollars is a tyrant ruler of the nation Traskistan. One day, the people revolt, and a poverty-stricken nation of 50 million decide to revolt. What happens next? A can just get the State (or himself) to pay a small force of 10 million (of those same people) to arm them and get them to subdue the other 40 million, or take their lives in the process. Then he already has the added bonus of the military, who are obliged by oath to serve the Crown. So no additional payment is needed. They will sell out and betray their own people for money, even if the overall result is worse off for everyone in Traskistan, except A.
I've got a fair bit of work to do today, so I better get on to that! I've done stuff this morning, but there's still plenty more for this afternoon. These early parts of the week are good for getting things done.
Things just change all the time! I need to think a bit more about what I'm doing. I'm still over here trying to figure it out.
But I'll get on to it. You see! This is what happens, I don't blog for a while, then I come back with some great stuff! Another great effort, if I do say so myself. Perhaps I should focus on not blogging every weekday, and instead blog from time to time. That would be much easier to manage. And the quality of posts would also improve. Hmm, something to think about after the 10 year blog review? We'll see.
Oh gosh! It's only Tuesday?! So much more to go! And on top of that, there's still 3 hours left of this day?! Yikes! What the hell was I going to say? I don't even remember anymore. But at least it's just 90 minutes until I'm done! Can't wait. Ahh where does the time go when you're procrastinating?
I'm done for now.
Joaquin out.
