Friday, May 20, 2011

False Slack and the Tyranny of Relativism

Don't ask me. I don't know what the deal is. I suppose I'll continue geistposting so long as Bob goes through whatever little phase he's going through. Probably just one of those periodic dry spells when he threatens to quit blogging and then everybody -- yeah, all three of you -- begs him not to and he feels oh so special.

About Bob's reverence for slack, the question often comes up: why would he playgiarize with a concept from a so-called "pretend religion" and expect anyone to take him seriously as an original cosmedian? He's not stupid. Can't he just invent his own crap, like L. Ron Hubbard or Reverend Wright?

Plus, there is already a real Bob. Isn't it a little misleading -- or confusing at best -- for a man calling himself "Bob" to be preaching the gospel of slack? Why hasn't he been sued?

Is there a better word for slack than slack? I don't know, let's consult the thesaurus. Various related words are: rest, repose, take it easy, lighten one's load, recline, slow down, knock off, take time out, suspend operations, take a leave of absence, take off one's shoes, unbuckle one's belt, relax, call it a day; also, most significantly, sabbatical, weekend, Sunday, Christmas.

So is there a laughtier concept that encapsulates these disparate terms? The SlackMeister has not found one.

I suppose one could say "heaven" or "paradise," but these have certain connotations that do not quite capture and convey our meaning; they are either too full or too empty of specific content. One might say there is not sufficient slack in those terms. We need a little more elasticity, a smidgen more growing room.

A reader once accused or flattered Bob by calling him a "Christian SubGenius." Is there any truth to this? And if so, does this represent some heretical new development, or is it just the same old orthoparadox with a space age twist?

Well, why don't we consult the Pope? He ought to be able to adjudicate this matter. If slack is intrinsic to Christianity, he'll surely tell us.

Let's start with his first principle: that "at the origin of all reality is loving intelligence." I ask you: what could be more slackful than loving intelligence? Certainly not hateful stupidity, or entering paradise would be as easy as attending a Democratic convention.

The alternative view is that the world is woven of chance and necessity. If this is the case, then there is -- and can be -- no slack. For what is necessity but the complete absence of slack? A machine has no slack, no freedom, no will.

But it is not just materialism that would deny our slack, for so too do most other religions. If the Absolute is completely transcendent, this means that it does not interact with man.

We begin with the idea that slack is real, and that it is man's birthright. The converse position is that slack is an unreal illusion. We might think we have it, but that's just a tenured monkey babbling on about his stupid relatives. Even I can do that.

As the Pope affirms, anyone who embraces Marxism in any form -- and contemporary "progressivism" is one of them -- "not only accepts a philosophy, a vision of the origin and meaning of existence, but also and especially adopts a practical program."

This much is obvious. But on an even more deeply superficial level -- one might call it "anti-principial" -- this "philosophy" is not rooted in the Word (i.e., Reason, or that Loving Intelligence just mentioned), but the deed: it "does not presuppose a 'truth' but rather creates one." "Truth" becomes merely a fig leaf over that Nietzschean willy thing, which, excised from Truth, reduces to power. Thus,

"The redemption of mankind, to this way of thinking, occurs through politics and economics, in which the form of the future is determined." The middling relativities of the left never stop preaching slack, even while holding a philosophy (either explicit or implicit, it doesn't matter) that renders it null and void.

Man is of course a political being -- not to mention economic, biological, and social -- but he cannot be reduced to any or all of these categories. If so reduced, he becomes a mere object, so there is no longer a foundation for his dignity, morality, or epistemological strivings.

This miserable philosophy prides itself in "demystifiying" the world, but it is really a remystification, for it can provide no rational explanation of our humanness.

Rather, after so much random shuffling, man just "happened." This is what they call an "explanation." But to reduce man to material and efficient causes is to preclude understanding, since it excludes the very domain in need of explanation, i.e., the Explainer. One might say that materialism is the embalming fluid of the left.

Another first principle of Christianity is that the Absolute is person. Being that we are in its image, our own personhood is rooted in this principle.

Thus, "Where there is no uniqueness of persons, the inviolable dignity of each individual person has no foundation, either." "[H]owever one may try to spin or turn it," this "ultimately deprives moral values of their grounding." Therefore, "all that is left is traffic rules for human behavior, which can be discarded or maintained according to their usefulness."

The tyranny of relativism has been sold to the masses by dressing it up as freedom. Once purchased, the citizen finds out too late that he has mortgaged his soul to a system that cannot create slack, but only parasitize existing slack.

For leftism has not created a single thing in this world. Getting something done requires lots of cash, technical inventions, and power. With the all-powerful state, these dangerous mediocrities can get their barbarous hands on all three.

Meanwhile, in the real world of vertical flow, give us this day our daily slack:

(photo courtesy mizz e)

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Leftist" scientists have never created anything in the world. Everything has been accomplished through righty praying.

Anonymous said...

That's not just sarcasm, that's nuance, baby.

mushroom said...

...yeah, all three of you ...

You have single trolls with more MP's than that.

The SlackMeister said...

Yes, an inverted Trinity, you might say...

Anonymous said...

What were those awful "leftists" thinking when they gave women the right to vote? Bob's still upset about that one.

Anonymous said...

That's called satire, baby. What I really mean is that Bob hates women. Just ask his wife!

Anonymous said...

You're right. It's certainly unlike Bob to feel superior to anyone else.

Anonymous said...

Awww, my favorite cartoonist has lost his slack. What kind of economic system denies its blessings to the angry and talentless?

Anonymous said...

I mean, it's just plain sad when an idiot outlives his usefulness. You so-called Christians have no compassion.

dloye said...

Hmmm... I was intrigued by B'ob's continuing riff on slack, and got waylaid by some fungus umongus upsetting my counter. "...yeah, all three of you..." Was a comment deleted? are my comments upside down? Does it matter? Why am I dithering in my slack over what appears to be an troll with a multiple personality?

Ok, back to slack. The larger of the grandboys will be out and done with the school year any moment now, and my slack will change forms for sure.

Slack seems to be sort of a personal colonizing of the sabbath concept, the marking of freedom in a world that allowed much less slack. Small wonder B'ob or his fingers are dancing back to slack as to a theme in a composition.

Hate being the thick headed dunderdolt that can't figger what's up with annonytrols.

Cottle Fish said...

When Van arrives he'll deal with the scrappy Anonymous.

The two are made for each other.

I like the term "Loving Intelligence." It defines portions of God and gives a warm feeling as well. Superb.

I'm a Democrat, think Obama's OK, think climate change might be a problem, but yet, still love God.

Might be hard for me to fit in here, yet I just keep on coming.

I do think the Blog author is a "Christian Subgenius" and as for slack, we all know what that's for.

Get a towel.

Cousin Dupree said...

You mean a trowel. To pick up after you.

Van Harvey said...

"Let's start with his first principle: that "at the origin of all reality is loving intelligence." I ask you: what could be more slackful than loving intelligence? Certainly not hateful stupidity, or entering paradise would be as easy as attending a Democratic convention."

(shudder) 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter there...'

"The alternative view is that the world is woven of chance and necessity. If this is the case, then there is -- and can be -- no slack. For what is necessity but the complete absence of slack? A machine has no slack, no freedom, no will. "

... no truth, no life, no no and most certainly no know.

Rick said...

"yeah, all three of you -- begs him not to and he feels oh so special"

Hope I'm not one of the three. That sounds like a club. You know how I feel about memberships.

As to the begging, or as our Dear Leader commands, the Raccoon does not beg. He offers.
to beg.

Brazentide said...

"Is there a better word for slack than slack?"

Elevity?

But I'm cool with slack.

Van Harvey said...

"One might say that materialism is the embalming fluid of the left."

O, too true.

"The tyranny of relativism has been sold to the masses by dressing it up as freedom. Once purchased, the citizen finds out too late that he has mortgaged his soul to a system that cannot create slack, but only parasitize existing slack."

Yep. And with each purchase, they are flattened just a little bit more, each additional thrill becomes just a little more boring, and the race to the flatest flat is on, 32 ft per second per second is just too slow to fall. It seems so odd that so few ever notice that each new 'freedom' leaves you just a little more bored with life than the last... while with True freedom, each step brings you into ever more - slack.

From the tail end of a post I put up today about the choices before us, here in the home of slack,

"...Conversely, to be anti-American requires nothing more than that you oppose those same ideals which makes one an American, and if you are a supporter of socialism or communism... while you may very well be a swell person (and I include several of my friends and relatives in this, who are no less friends and relatives because of it), you are holding ideas that are fundamentally anti-American.

Are you really ok with that?

Karl Marx: "In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property. "

John Adams:,"The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence."

You decide. "


Free Will.

It ain't free, and all purchases come with compounded interest - credit or debt.

The SlackMeister said...

Bob has in the past offered the word levitas, in contrast to gravitas.... The Pope refers to "sober inebriation," a fine orthoparadox worthy of Eckhart.

mushroom said...

Your count is fine, dloye. I wrote in a moment of prophetic anticipation. And what is prophecy but an advance on slack.

flunky said...

For any individual, the most efficient way to create wealth is to enslave others and have them create the wealth for you. But outright enslavement was eliminated. By rational selfishness or moral altruism, who’s to say?

Then came the idea of forcing the paying of everybody predetermined amounts. But those economies stalled, and became corrupt. Perhaps at some level everybody “not inside” figured out they weren’t much better than slaves to the others.

But as always, the Wealth Creators, not caring how their wealth is created (being hardwired for control and efficiency), discovered that selling indentured servitude as freedom (or eventually leading to freedom, materially or spiritually), worked well enough. And using robot slaves too, but I digress...

The question is not: What level of slavery are the Wealth Creators willing to impose? Obviously, because they’ll impose any level which suits their profit-risk analysis.

The question is: What level of slavery, or indentured servitude, are the masses willing to accept? Their hopes of a better tomorrow must be maintained. But their fears cannot become such that they revolt and make a mess of efficient wealth creation. And some level of compensation is obviously required to grow economies.

There is an equation somewhere. I really think we should discover this before the machines take over.

flunky said...

For leftism has not created a single thing in this world.

I’m missing something here. The Great Pyramid and Great Wall were private ventures? Maybe Werner von Braun could have grown a humble rocket club into Saturn V’s, but I’m not sure how. It seems to me that “innovation” happens at all levels. Though the statist level is obviously the least individual friendly. At least common individual.

Not to say I don’t admire St. Peter’s. And how about that Christ the Savior Cathedral? Gotta love it when a free-willed communal effort rebuilds what a single communist individual takes down.

Van Harvey said...

daflunk said "For any individual, the most efficient way to create wealth is to enslave others and have them create the wealth for you. "

Given that a lot of thought, have you? Directly from that champion of 'the little guy' Marx, or just through 3rd or 4th gen textbooks?

So the most efficient way to create wealth... is to enslave others... I see. Well, leaving aside the mechanical aids which only appeared when compensation and the possiblility of profit appeared, keeping to just manual finger picking production, there are records of the expected production of slaves in the south, ever bothered comparing them to the production of migrant farm workers working for cash? Do the words 'no comparison' have meaning for you?

Why do you suppose it was that, for thousands of years mechanical development never took place? It wasn't because of a lack of technical ability, google up the Antikythera mechanism for instance. There were early steam engines invented and run as amusements in ancient Greece and Rome... pumping dancing water spouts. Why were they never put to use? More of that efficient thinking, I suppose?

Or did you mean maybe, the easiest thing to do was to enslave others? Go back to those plantation records, check into the 'management headache' of providing for the slaves, of dealing with overseers, keeping them from being too lax or too overzealous, guarding against the slaves loafing or bolting or revolting. Or the corrupting affects upon the slave owner which many of our founders noted, the temptation to absolute power and forced pleasures tempting the master and his children... or turning a blind eye to it by the wife & daughters... ease, efficiency... funny how the alure of tyranny can seem enticing to the fool who admires it.

Ever heard of the Sword of Damocles? Might be worth reviewing as well. Enslaving others to do your work is neither efficient nor easy, merely ignorant, brutal, and in the face of serious thought, stupid.

And before you make the jump that only industrial technology made slavery a poor bargain, have a look back at the origins of Athenian Democracy, back to the times before Solon, look at the explosion of wealth and learning that followed from doing away with the debt enslaved farmers and letting them work their own lands for profit. Sadly they didn't do away from slavery completely, but where they did, prosperity - derived from a more efficient method of creating wealth - followed.

The rest of the comment is no better.

ge said...

Is not Slack the exquisite requisite for effortless concentration?

Van Harvey said...

daflunk said "I’m missing something here."

Duh.

"The Great Pyramid..."

Massive self agrandizing tombs... that's a significant and appropriate symbol for leftism.

"...and Great Wall were private ventures?"

A wall is something you look to as a significant sign of productive achievement?

Even so, ever looked into the history of China? Their periods of growth occured through periods of prosperous production and trade, which, even with the warring kindoms (some awesome tales come out of those, btw, many put the wiles of Odyeseus to shame), and most of the wall was built during those times, because, in comparison to the hordes they were defending against, they were the locations of relative freedom in the area. China actually came up with 'capitalist' systems a couple times in their history... they just never came up with the necessary idea of the individual having value, which held them back. Btw, their periods of 'total statist power', were their periods of depletion and decline, not growth and prosperity.

"Maybe Werner von Braun could have grown a humble rocket club into Saturn V’s, but I’m not sure how."

Ever looked into where von Braun said he got many of his ideas on rocketry? From a humble American enthusiast puttering around in the fields, Robert Goddard.

"It seems to me that “innovation” happens at all levels."

It's easy to see what you want to see when you don't bother looking beyond what you want to see.

The Lioness Paces her Cage said...

Let's turn our attention to the caste system of India.

Their economy revolves around people having certain qualities, or "gunas."

They saw four types:

Laborers, both unskilled and craftsmen, including temple girls and wives.

Merchants and other organized businessmen, including high-level courtesans.

Soldiers and statesmen, wielders of power.

Brahmins,learned men of wisdom and virtue.

You figure out where your aptitude is and you go into your slot. The thought of being enslaved or of amassing wealth doesn't enter the equation except incidentally.

Drawback: people got stuck in slots where they didn't fit in.

HOWEVER, with the caveat that today we can move between categories at will, it is a good mind set to have.

If you happen to like being a short-order cook or a housewife, fine. You are in harmony with the whole. You have found your station and may rest content. If you insist on being a CIA operative, cool.

If you want to be a major Slacker, then you are a Brahmin, an unacknowledged legislator of the world.

Choose, and then settle in. Let the material goods that accrue to you be what they may. As long as you live safely and eat, you're good to go. It has its allure.

Anonymous said...

Wanderfull, wonderful, wonderfill!

Verdiales

flunky said...

Another boatload of text from Vandicap which misses wildly. Again, more slowly this time:

For any individual, the most efficient way to create wealth is to enslave others and have them create the wealth for you.

I’ll pit my slaves against your robots any day. I will create less wealth for society overall, but I will make more profit than you.

Capiche?

flunky said...

You mean Robert Goddard would have gotten to the moon first?

Innovation happens at all levels.

Disprove it. And without the self-important gibberish this time.

The SlackMeister said...

This Flunky person's idiotic understanding of slavery is indeed cosmic heresy, not just morally but economically. One might say that he reflects the default belief of the economically untutored man, destitute of a scrap of insight into human nature. Not for nothing was slavery completely unproblematic for mankind for so many centuries. It makes sense to morons and knaves.

One of your three greatest presidents, Lincoln, knew that the genius of free labor was that it created incentives for efficiency, productivity, industry, and creativity. It puts into place a system through which the pursuit of self-interest confers benefit to each and all.

No one labors spontaneously unless it is to better his condition. Thus, the most efficient way to motivate laborers is not to drive them through slavery but induce them through their natural desire to acquire wealth and improve their lot. Free labor is always more efficient and productive than slavery, which is a very costly form of overhead. Very few American slaveholders were truly wealthy except in terms of land and slaves. The system produced little economic growth, which mainly comes about through innovation.

I will pit my free employes against Flunky's socialist slaves any day, and will create far more wealth.

More generally, it is always an error to embrace tyranny over slack in any form whatsoever.

Rick said...

You said it.

Saw a pretty good movie last night. Was recommended on Ace. The Lost City. Andy Garcia made it and is in it. 2004 i think. Also a strange part played by Bill Murray. Strange even for him I think.
It's no wonder the movie didn't do so well. It's well made and beautifully filmed. But it is interesting to watch how a country was changed so easily in an hour and a half.

Van Harvey said...

duhflunk said “I’ll pit my slaves against your robots any day.”

Archer Daniels Midland and Monsanto tremble at the thought of your slaving self entering the market.

While I appreciate your confession that the soul of the leftist ever yearns to enslave their fellow man, your willful stupidity is asspounding, even giving you a 99 Vandicap, you still can’t compete (leftist+slaver=Duh).

“I will create less wealth for society overall, but I will make more profit than you. “

It’d be amusing to see what you thought profit was. Pointless, but amusing.

Van Harvey said...

dohflunk said "Innovation happens at all levels.

Disprove it. And without the self-important gibberish this time"

USSR. Cuba. East Germany. North Korea.

You keep the gibberish, I'll keep the importance.

The SlackMeister said...

The cosmic law which the leftist is congenitally incapable of comprehending: slack is not increased by diminishing it.

Rick said...

Slackmeister,
Yesterday on my after-lunch walk I made the most wonderful discovery. It is possible to fill ones slack with someone else's. I do this for about 20 minutes every work day about lunchtime EST. Then I finish with a piece of fruit.

That's my way of saying thanks today.

flunky said...

I will pit my free employes against Flunky's socialist slaves any day, and will create far more wealth.

Prove it. Regarding labor, there are two motivations, not one. You say hope, I say fear, also. My slaves work hard out of the fear of losing the food, room, and board I provide. Your free and unionized employees virtually own all of your profits. I am driving you out of business. Or into owning slaves, your choice.

flunky said...

USSR – was so weak and ineffectual they were the prime motivation for all American military advances from 1945-1990, which were entirely created by private citizens tinkering in their garages.
?

As for the puny countries:

Cuba – beat America at its own national sport every Olympics.

East Germany – matched American medal totals in many Olympics.

North Korea – will likely force an American statist response costing billions of dollars.

The SlackMeister said...

Interesting that the economically uneducable are so often morally uneducable, and vice versa. Oh well. Way it is.

Van Harvey said...

Wouldn't be so bad if they didn't stink so to high heaven.

Oh well.

Gagdad Bob said...

Oh well. At least Cuban baseball players generated great wealth. Assuming they could also swim.

flunky said...

My friend is in the residential/commercial landscape build business. He has a masters in landscape architecture, extensive knowledge of civil engineering, and has studied in places like Britain and Japan.

Yet he’s barely scraping by.

He blames fly by night companies that use illegal labor.

I tell him that using all American English speakers for one’s help screams “High Prices” to the customer. I say “Say, why not use Chinese labor, aren’t they cheaper?”

He reminds me that all of his customers are in America. So I say, “Say, why not open up a division in China? That’s where all the action is!” He gives me the crazy look. “Okay, okay... Why not use Chinese made robots? Remember, we cannot ever count on government to help us, because it is leftist and evil. Plus we’re helping others to help themselves.”

You know how you can tell if, after you’ve been punched in the head and you wake up, if the puncher was conservative or a full blown libertarian? If a conservative, your mouth is dripping blood. If a libertarian, your pants are unbuttoned.

Cousin Dupree said...

Too much information.

Rick said...

Favorite comment of the day seem someplace else:

"Maybe Pres. Obama can take us back to the 1967 gas prices"

flunky said...

Maybe Cuban ballplayers are playing for pride, family and godless country? Or maybe they’re like the Roman gladiators of old – playing out of fear. The answer may enrich us all.

Van Harvey said...

derflunk said "...He has a masters in landscape architecture, extensive knowledge of civil engineering, and has studied in places like Britain and Japan...."

Lol. Gee... hard to imagine how he's become priced out of the market, eh?

"He blames fly by night companies that use illegal labor."

Lol. I've got at least one relative flying by night and shooting your buddy (or others like him) down on a regular basis.

Two BIL's, one, although he doesn't technically have his degree's or certification or etc, he does the architectural designs, as well as a lot of the architectural landscaping, and runs a local architectural office in Vegas, the offices, there and in San Diego, run under the owner's name & degree. It's all on the up and up to the letter of the law, he just realized the pointlessness of getting a degree from professors who by that time, almost certainly knew less than he did. The only thing that gals him, being a leftie, is that I heartily approve.

The other BIL got fed up with a local loafing landscaping co (read 'lawnmowing, etc"), retired from UPS, bought some quality used eqpt and took all the business from the loafers co. He's been flying by night for about seven years now, does residential and business accounts and is working hard (when he wants), raking in the dough and generally loving life.

“Say, why not use Chinese labor, aren’t they cheaper?”

Checked a calendar lately? Pay attention to those first two digits, that'll let you know what century you're in.

The ex-UPS'r has employed a few gringo's, but mostly Mexicans, legal or not, who want to work hard, and earn a good paycheck. In turn he pays them well over market, buys lunch daily & lets them use the eqpt for whatever side jobs they can pick up - not out of any sense of do-gooderie or other obligation, but because he enjoys being able to do it, and enjoys their loyalty - unheard of in the area.

Aside from the illegals situation, which I'm not too comfortable with (I was a mostly open borders guy, prior to 9/11), everything's peachy, and I hope he and other's like him, hurt the self important loafers wherever they may be. Sorry, but I've little sympathy for anyone who believes they deserve any paygrade because of anything other than what they can productively bring to the table, and especially those who buy into getting 'college degrees' for technical and practical know-how that can only properly be learned through on the job experience. The tens of thousands of dollars of real wealth pissed away on such stupidity, is infuriating. F'ing morons. Not to mention that they are the ones who've usually have been involved in lobbying govt flunkies to pass regulations requiring this degree or that certification or another, in order to keep other competition from being able to open a business.

Love to see them hurting in a down economy.

Love it.

flunky said...

Vandicapp said: he pays them well over market, buys lunch daily & lets them use the eqpt for whatever side jobs they can pick up

What does he pay them?

Not to mention that they are the ones who've usually have been involved in lobbying govt flunkies to pass regulations requiring this degree or that certification or another, in order to keep other competition from being able to open a business.

You listening Bob? Bet I can cure em faster than you. And for less than $150/hr.

flunky said...

Anyhoo... Vandicapp still cannot disprove that:

"For any individual, the most efficient way to create wealth is to enslave others and have them create the wealth for you."

and

"Innovation happens at all levels."

without resorting to misdirection.

Van Harvey said...

You’ve already disqualified yourself from adult conversation, as with anything having to do with the arbitrary, there’s no point in discussing reality with someone who doesn’t believe in it.

You’re a pretty much here as a nerf ball to be booted about when bored.

I look forward to your next amusing use arrangement of words which you are incapable of understanding.

P.S. You can find all you'd ever manage to think of, if you could think, in past comments here and in posts on my site. Feel free to look. But again, you don't even rise to the level of being wrong.

Van Harvey said...

For those indulging in Beer o'clock for the delayed rapture festivities today, might I suggest Sam Adams 'East-West Kolsch'.

flunky said...

there’s no point in discussing reality with someone who doesn’t believe in it

Says the child who believes Goddard would have reached the moon before NASA.

Only here on this blog will it be said repeatedly that people sin, people do evil... yet all the bad people will also magically conform to civilized behavior when the correct ideology is in place, by namecalling fools.

Van Harvey said...

(Lol, I knew it'd be good)

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