DUE BY SUNDAY AT MIDNIGHT
In "Water Mains and Bloodlines" Brechin is drawing on the metahpor of dynasty.
Look at the last paragraph on p. 115-116: "Whatever his means..."
Identify at last three techinques that Brechin uses to build on the metaphor.
(I.e. how does he make his definition of what is related to dynasty convincing, and how does he explain its relevance to us).
Look back at the posts from last week and see if you can expand on a metaphor that has been made (on purpose or accidentally) by yourself or others.
***
EXAMPLE:
Lilja's commentary on Ryan's blog is a good example of identifying an implicit metahpor:
"Lilja said...
Ryan/Cemeteries Underfoot
I was quite surprised by the discoveries that you made in your research. The library built upon the site of a cemetery is a fascinating metaphor for imperialism as well as capitalism because it is a city founded (literally) upon the deaths of thousands of people and at the expense of many lower class citizens (which I can only assume were the people buried in that cemetery). The fact that there is specifically a library on top of the cemetery also brings to my mind an image of words on top of bones, and knowledge on top of death. To the imperialists, knowledge was power...."
The next step: What other facts would the identification of a metahpor like this ask you to look for? Try looking for one fact that seems unrelated (except via metaphor) and tell us the results.
[Note how the metahpor prompts Lilja to look for the fact about who is buried in the cemetary. It might also prompt one to look at the rhetoric used around building the library...as well as around the quite controversial builidng of the new one...]
OR
Look at the metahpor being constructed in Gary Snyder's "Smokey the Bear Sutra" (Snyder 25). Explain one current event using only terms and logics that can be found in the Smokey Bear Sutra.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
24 comments:
The techniques Brechin uses to convince his readers that water lines are tied to dynasties draw on the monopolistic and expansive nature of the areas that control water. He draws parallels between the growth of water with the growth of these families, such as their desire to gather up all resources, sprawl to surrounding areas, and control the population. He draws on something in the world to create a believable metaphor. Brechin’s technique can be reversed; we can use the evolution of a metaphor to comment on that realistic entity it represents.
In his post last week, Daniel identified the Golden Gate Bridge as a metaphor for San Francisco’s growth and imperial power. The bridge is the city’s way of physically reaching out and touching part of its contado, thereby exploiting Marin County’s resources more efficiently. This is certainly true. It is interesting that the Golden Gate Bridge got such symbolic status when other bridges—the Bay Bridge or San Mateo Bridge, for example—accomplish similar feats. The Golden Gate alone represents the imperialistic nature of San Francisco’s growth.
This symbolic nature has many reverberations within the country and its population. It is called the Golden Gate because it is the gateway to the west coast’s most important bay. It is the entrance to California. That imperialism is the symbol associated with the gateway into our community says a great deal about what we, as a society, value: progress at all costs.
Aesthetically, it is beautiful and awe-inspiring—a fitting welcome to visitors. Its beauty masks its ominous symbolism. This metaphor can be extended to the development of all of California. We are seen as the progressive, young, more free-spirited part of the country, built on a fairy tale of gold miners, missions, and settlers. The imperialistic nature of these endeavors is masked by an altered history and beautiful landscape, much as the bridge’s symbolism is masked by its beauty and mysticism.
It is interesting to see how the Golden Gate’s reputation has evolved over the years. According to Ann Garrison’s essay in Reclaiming San Francisco, at least 1,000 people, and likely many more than that, have committed suicide by jumping off the bridge (115). Many anti-suicide activists have called for safety nets or barriers to be added to the bridge to prevent the odd attraction of the bridge for suicidal people, but all proposals have been turned down by those who either feel people are entitled to commit suicide or that safety measures would block the view and make the bridge less beautiful.
It is fascinating that the one bridge that symbolizes American imperialism attracts so much death. The existence of the metaphor suggests that imperialism leads to death. Imperialism literally kills people, but it also strips people of their land, rights, and culture, causing them to feel abandoned and possibly driving them to extreme measures like suicide.
This unique metaphorical evolution also darkly foreshadows the future of our imperialistic culture. Our legacy will not be our grandeur, but the death and destruction that surrounds our mere existence. This has already come to pass in certain ways, one example being that we, as students, study the conspiracy and brutality that allows for our society to exist. We can’t change what has passed, but by refusing to participate in future imperialism and attempting to rectify past wrongs, we can survive as a population and prevent this from being our personal legacy.
In his metaphor of San Francisco, the city as a self-serving imperial dynasty, Gray Brechin utilizes several techniques which speak to his authorial tendencies in the greater text. First things first, Brechin personifies San Francisco, illustrating the city as if it were an autonomous, colonizing amoeba: “Such annexations [of counties] would enable the self-styled Queen City of the Pacific to keep up with the growth of Greater Los Angeles by surrounding and filling San Francisco Bay.” (115) Needless to say, Brechin also chooses to begin constructing the metaphor, as he does with most of the arguments in his text, by generalizing. He breaks down the motivation into simple desires, and attributes them to a person or group as if they were ideas and accomplishments created and enjoyed by the same people. Brechin assumes somewhat of a subterranean know-it-all wisdom.
Along with the metaphoric tools of personification and generalization, Brechin uses an actual metaphor within the greater metaphor of dynastic San Francisco. He states: “The Chief and his associates successfully tapped the public purse in order to tap the Tuolomne, and, to a large extent, their dream came true.” (115) The inner metaphor begs one to consider what the “public purse” is. I assume Brechin refers to taxes, or the funds garnered from taxation. But the purse could also refer to funds embezzled by the government, or state or city or county governmental branches. “The Chief and his associates” could be criminals who pulled off deceptive fund-raising schemes which secure funds for the (legal?) pirating of water. Brechin also weaves in a cliché phrase, one which reminds me of Disney: “their dream came true.” As a critical reader, I have to wonder, in sarcastic rebellion, what “their” dream was. San Francisco does Manifest Destiny? An aquatic monopoly? Fame and fortune? Brechin creates endless possibilities for interpretations within the generalizing and symbolic realm of metaphor, much like a Brautigan in the democratic framework of Ferlinghetti.
In my post on Ferlinghetti, I used a phrase which I believe describes America’s attitude toward homeless people. I got the term from Fran in Soc 1: homeless people as “human garbage.” This phrase suggests that those who are not homeless would prefer to forget the homeless, to throw them away as they would kitchen garbage. I believe it also speaks to the government (and therefore, greater society’s) tendency to abandon others to mental illness. When our veterans return from wars, the media tends to lose their stories within the shuffle of a recovering economy and victory (or defeat) over foreign lands and governments. Society places a lot of value on employment, and it is difficult for individuals with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and related problems to function, let alone work. Especially in regards to wars occurring twenty or more years ago, therapy and counseling weren’t as positively endorsed as they are now, and welfare reforms in the Clinton administration has left many at or below the poverty level. All the deficiencies in public policy leave veterans with few tools or support to help them through the tumultuous task of readjusting to life in America. And yet, we forget their deeds and sacrifices so quickly when “step over them in the street,” as I metaphored in the Ferlinghetti post. But it is not only veterans who are homeless: the other seventy-five percent are rejected by those of us with homes though we are ignorant of their lives and circumstances. That’s the privilege of being the one throwing out the garbage: somebody (the police) usually cleans it up so you don’t have to see it.
High School Musical Shitra:
Humans have neglected their Buddha-nature for a very long time, but none have disregarded their inherent abilities more than those who spend money to see the High School Musical films.
In its first weekend at the box office, it is estimated that it will gross an estimated $40 million easily placing it in the number one category for films.
I have trouble understanding this. Do the people who pay to see this movie understand the idea behind Smokey the Bear's spade? Do they not know that they need to have their roots cut from their lifestyle and replanted in a forest pruned and cleaned of dead and rotting limbs?
All creatures live in the realm of the dharma, yet clearly the road that leads to the High School Musical does not live in the same vein as the dharma. It is pure neglect of the most conscious kind that causes this problem.
Do they wear clothes from Urban Outfitters and American Apparel? Corporations that claim to enhance the world but in truth only terrorize it. Why don't they tread lightly in the blue overalls of Smokey? The true clothes of one in line with Buddha-nature.
Perhaps his broad-brimmed hat isn't necessary for all beings, yet to what degree is nature a part of High School Musical? Does it invoke respect for the beings that brought life to this planet or does it simply bring respect to weird-looking Disney channel stars?
They who lie in the fires of this earth and do not look up at the great, blue sky are those who would choose to support this High School Musical. Those who are skinny and underfed of the earth's great bounty are those who would see this High School Musical.
Yet no matter, in good time, Smokey the Bear will put their fires out. And then they will see what they were always born to see in the realm of the dharma.
Based on Brechin's imagery and comparisons, his metaphor of San Francisco as the imperialistic ruling "Queen City of the Pacific" is developed. In his discussion of the annexation of San Mateo County and other counties, the desire of this imperial city to possess power over more area and people is illustrated. He connects the taxpayer's money to the power to access the water of Yosemite in saying, "The Chief and his associates [leading powers in San Francisco] "successfully tapped the public purse in order to tap the Tuolumne." Also presenting "the Chief" here as a puppet master of the taxpayers by illustrating his control and power over them. Additionally, Brechin develops San Francisco as a greedy, imperialistically driven power in comparing Greater Los Angeles to the possibility of a Greater San Francisco. He does this not only through the explicit statement, but also through further develop in comparison of San Fernando Valley with the "suburban sprawl...[which] coalesced along the route of the [Hetch Hetchy] aqueduct." Now, I am compelled to question is Los Angeles the King City of the Pacific? What is the significance of both these cities stealing from other naturally-endowed lands?
Last week, Nick F developed the image of the Coit Tower through some of it's history and an explanation of what the artwork of this tower have come to "act as" in San Francisco today--being a "reflection of the city's ideology as a whole." Thus comparing Coit Tower and it's murals to San Francisco ideology--which, as we are more and more coming to realize, is a very complex and contradicting ideology. The hopes and dreams of the beats (and later, the hippies and liberal protestors) contrast greatly with the imperial view and the Pyramid of Mining presented through Brechin's social and economic critique.
Considering the Coit mural's as a representation of San Francisco's ideology, I wished to learn more about "Firebelle Lil" Coit and her ideology as being the benefactor of the tower in 1933. I quickly discovered that "Firebelle Lil" had a history as liberal and innovative as the mural's themselves, in that she was an eccentric character who chose to mix and mess with the presented gender roles of her time--not only volunteering as a fireman (most likely because of being saved by a fireman at the age of eight), but also smoking cigars, gambling and wearing pants and man's wigs. "Firebelle Lil" was also strongly associated to not only the more quiet, mostly residential area of Telegraph Hill, but also to the nearby bustling, artistic North Beach. These two locations have become strongly connected to and overlap each other through various representation such as Snyder's prose essay "North Beach," which includes a child-like sing-song poem about "Tellygraft hill." Perhaps this connection is a mere coincidence of geographical proximity, or perhaps it is instead because of the personal ties many San Franciscans such as Lillie Coit had to both infamous locales of this "Queen City of the Pacific."
His tail bent in eternal crescent moon, who has learned how to smile and to do tricks for treats, whose necklace matches the leash binding him to her, and she no better off than he, she in every way the same position. Marriage is simply a long dog walk, either yhe walks her or she walks him or they both walk each other.
(Why cant I go to the bathroom where I want to!)
Rings are miniature handcuffs, one end wraps around the finger and the other is attacked by invisible barbed wire to an invisible noose hung around the neck and there is also an invisible gun held up to your real imagination.
Of course, all this hostility would dissolve away if we remembered that history is fable and desires are not meant to be pent up and mutated into insidious things. Isn't it true that rings and cuffs are both made of metal?
Love and Marriage was a show that expresses my point better than I can. Entering marriage is entering into an institution. Marriage cannot do anything more for love but to suffocate it.
I don't think love is an invisible leash, but I do think that invisible leashes choke love, dirty old dog that it is.
Rotten roots are leashes that extend into the soil and suck all the love out of the earth. Too much iron is just as bad for greedy trees as it is for greedy humans.
Cut the roots and let love return to the soil so that it can nourish all that grows, for love is not afraid to get muddy.
To prefer a twig from a live oak, strung about a piece of moss, to a shackled and enslaved finger. That is love, and opens up a world of lovely possibility.
Better to abolish marriage and the tradition that institutionalized it to begin with, forget the riches.
Current Event: Sarah Palin’s Vice Presidential Nomination
In spite of its own strong intelligent Buddha-nature, the human race has inevitably produced conflict nearly irresolvable by drowning its waters, air and land in fossil fuel poison, then claiming blindness at a time when sight would induce change. “The last two hundred years of scientific and social materialism, with some exceptions, have declared our universe to be without soul and without value except as given value by human activities.” (Brechin, 77) Sarah Palin exemplifies this ideology in every aspect of her daily existence – from her $150,000 wardrobe to her conservative political beliefs. She exacerbates the flame of greed and war proliferating throughout our nation by asserting that humans are not the cause of climate change. In a civilization that bolsters notions of expanded growth rather than harmony with all beings – plants, animals and humans alike – this comes as no surprise.
In opposing abortion (even in cases of rape or incest), Palin furthers the global over-population endemic, dooming creatures that have every right to live to their full capacities to an unsavory, short-lived existence; for it has become abundantly apparent that more humans = more ecological destruction. Furthermore, she has pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won’t be ready for years. Palin also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.
Thus, the formidable, yet endearing Smokey the Bear must stand tall and upright as a signal to all Palins of the world. He will protect those who hate gaseous chemicals and righteous politicians, High School Musical and Hannah Montana television ads, corruption and greed, ignorance, stupidity, and the war on drugs.
And if anyone is threatened by advertising, air pollution, or the police, they should chant Smokey the Bear’s War Spell:
Drown false smut
Crush false smut
Drown false smut
Crush false smut
And Smokey the Bear will surely appear to put the enemy out with his vajra shovel.
Current Event: Media Infiltration in Human Society
The very pulse of America as it exists today walks a knife's edge to remain a cohesive and civilized society. The media acts as a vehicle by which many people obtain views and understandings of justice.
Many people live their lives everyday in an effort to do and be good. Why is it that these individuals are never given any credit for what they do? Clearly the lack of attention given to those who perform good deeds is in no way an incentive to continue these behaviors. Teachers give knowledge to students everyday; a priceless gift, yet rarely receive attention (as reflected in their paychecks). It reminds one of the "oppressed" nature of civilization suggested by Snyder in his world. Of course people act out of kindness, but would it hurt the media to put the spotlight on these good events?
The issue at hand is the negative view point of the media; everything is always worse and life is scary or dangerous through their lenses. One need not to look further than the 10 o'clock news to be frightened by new bacterias infiltrating humanity or an evil killer in the world's midst. Those these are true it is infinitely more important to share our similarities and celebrate our successes. How good does it make individuals feel to realize they are not the only ones committing good deeds. How many commercials come to mind where one good deed acts as a catalyst for another individual sharing the experience and passing on the good feeling given to them?
True unity can only exist through bonds strengthened and created by the good deeds of society. We all are "threatened by advertising and air pollution" (Synder 27) and at the mercy of the omnipotent Smokey the Bear that Snyder so keenly promotes. It is up to him to protect us, and it is up to Western Civilization (as well as all the world) to love and nurture and protect the positive aspects that still exist and will always exist, seen or unseen.
Brechin builds on the metaphor of San Francisco as a dynasty by discussing the major effects expansion, duplication, and progression had on the city.
Brechin describes the extreme influence expansion had on the city. The Gold Rush and the development of railroads caused many people to move West and begin new lives. Because of this, land was bought and the city was able to expand and grow. Brechin writes that people involved with the water lines wanted to create a “‘Greater San Francisco’…that sought to consolidate the Bay Area into a single metropolitan region patterned after New York City’s borough system” (Brechin 100). This describes the necessary expansion needed to create a more prosperous city, but also shows how SF was designing their city based on New York. They also wanted to create a park much like Central Park in order to make the city diverse by attracting “desirable immigrants and investors” (Brechin 81). The city believed property around the park would become expensive and would further benefit the city and make it more wealthy and powerful. A wealthier community would create a wealthier city, showing how much the city had progressed since its poor state during the Gold Rush. A dynasty was created through the expansion and similar design of other progressive cities, which created the need for more and more water. These three things are relevant to the city as they caused it to turn into something that it would not have become unless many people flocked to CA to start new lives and find wealth. People in the city were all about making profit for themselves and the government wanted to make profit that would benefit the city. Hetch Hetchy would allow more people to live in San Francisco, again progressing the city and making it more profitable.
In her post, mmuhamma discusses the Oakland Bay Bridge and how “When you emerge from the tunnel on Yerba Buena Island, you know that you've left one state of mind and entered into another.” This shows the differences in the city and how the environments and surroundings of the two cities are completely different. It is easy for a person to see the amount of wealth SF has produced when passing through this tunnel into Oakland. This metaphor shows how two different cities can be extremely different, even when they are so close together.
Everybody eats. Now most households get the majority of their food from an outside source such as a grocery store, and thus are isolated from the food process and price changes in the industry. Our world is vastly overpopulated with a huge financial gap, meaning that everyday millions of people overeat, and millions of other people are starving.
Recent rising food prices are devastating for people of third world countries and lower class families. As the Ethanol demand increases, animals that feed on corn and corn product prices increase. Energy also hits food distribution prices, making it both harder to create and also harder to distribute. Countries and places that require that their food be brought in are being seriously hit with large prices.
World demand has hurt food prices. With a world population of over 6 billion, we have far overstretched the amount that the Earth can afford to house and feed, meaning that it's not possible for the Earth to feed everyone. As countries like China have a rise in standard of living, their desire for food amounts and quality increase, driving up prices for everyone and hurting lower income families' ability to obtain food.
Food prices are also hurt by the recent standards for food animal conditions. Whereas it is far cheaper and more profitable to keep a chicken in a small cage, overfed and on hormones, new demands and standards call for free range and organic animals. While this better allows animals to "live to their limits" (Snyder 25), it also increases meat prices.
Also, though it is little talked about, starvation is an easy way for governments to control their population. People are less likely to start an uprising when they have no food and are more focused on finding a way to eat then the problems with their government. Control of food sources and distribution also gives the governments more power. People become "oppressed by a civilization that claims to save, but only destroys." (Snyder 26)
The problem is the way modern day people think of their food and their lifestyle standard. If we used more of our land for personal gardening, ate less meat, and bought more local food there would be a decrease in energy spent on food, animal cruelty, and wasting resources that could be spent for more important things. While our world population is still far too high, simply by making a few simple changes we could improve food and standards for everyone.
Current Event: Intolerant attitudes motivated by religion.
Countless numbers of people gather in televised overproduced warehouse masses, assembling to listen passionately and emotionally invested to extravagantly dressed spokespeople for 2000 year old rhetoric and the damnation/salvation of the immortal soul.
Snake oil salesmen devalue the “Blue Sky and Green Earth of One Mind”(Snyder26) for favor of ghosts and superstition. A life to come superimposed on the life that is. Why should a person care about life or nature or the rising smoke and raging fires when the only existence that matters is the eternal endless suffering/joy that is to come? Physical versus Spiritual. Can’t we all just get along?
Teachings of lowliness and humility before the Almighty and the All Powerful Deity contradict the boldness granted by their doctrines. Masters of nature and women. All of them, the animals, the “deer, rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, dandelions, and lizards”(Snyder26) were given them by the Deity to do with as they wish. Venison, boots, and weedkiller. Women, the weaker sex, easily tempted. Keep an eye out. Eternal punishment for a moment of weakness.
Competition increases! Heaven’s waiting list is too crowded. Arguments erupt over who interprets the Deity's diary correctly. Spiritual segregation? Their way is intelligently designed.
Scientists, evolutionists, dancers, dreamers, lovers, fighters, doctors, drinkers, homosexuals, feminists, Santa Claus. The Deity’s blacklist. His followers claim innocence. They do not presume to hate anyone, but the Deity is angry and judgmental. Loyalty dictates His hate is their hate. Dogmatically dog-like. Humble hatred. An avatar of hate and pride is perhaps outdated. A new Deity could be in order.
One with “smokey-colored brown” fur and wearing “blue work overalls”. “Round-bellied” and kindly natured, “aroused and watchful”(Snyder 26) His vajra shovel will sever ancient beliefs rooted in insecurity and ignorance. The Brown Deity will illuminate the followers of the old ways. Their beliefs of the few against the many and the separate sect of the saved will give way to belief in life itself!
All of their judgments, their hatred, their racism, their homophobia, their xenophobia, their rage, their holier-than-thou attitudes;
HE WILL PUT THEM OUT.
The quote introducing the chapter “Water Mains and Blood Lines” states: “Economic growth, of course, depends on population growth. Population growth depends absolutely on guaranteed – and continuing and growing – supplies of good quality drinking water.”(71) Water is the key to production and growth, with it all else follows.
As Brechin describes, the fall of Rome accompanied the destruction of the aqueduct system. Not only a vital necessity, the availability of water offers the potential for technology, development, and civilization. As Brechin describes California’s water companies served as the chief instruments of land speculators. For an elite few, water and its accessibility played a key role in maintaining the growth and image of the San Francisco area. The issues of water became tangle with the second generation of elite; children raised on fortunes procured from mining, felled forests, slaughterhouses, and land frauds. These families unavoidably recognized the potential to exploit the necessity for water well beyond its most basic need. Brechin successfully ties the history of land development and politics to the issues in San Francisco surrounding the necessity for water. He points to the relationship between real estate values and development and accessibility of water. In the areas surrounding Golden Gate Park as well as the elite neighborhoods in Hillsborough water was needed to maintain or increase land value by allowing for lush gardens and vegetation. Additionally, Brechin points out how the politics surrounding the water issues in the city made or broke many political careers. The “dynasties” used the issues to their advantage to propel individuals to both state and national positions of political prominence. Finally, Brechin describes how the picture of a thriving city with a magnitude of water to let it grow was essential to the imagery of San Francisco as the gateway of the west coast. This illusion was necessary for the growth of industries such as weapons manufacturing, owned and managed by the dynasties of San Francisco families. Brechin clearly illustrates the connection between the power, money, and media control of the “families” of San Francisco with the politics of water within and around the city. These groups took full advantage of what the Romans knew as both the necessity and livelihood of the city, water.
Therefore, when we examine a symbol like the Golden Gate Park today we must question how it should be understood. Is it an oasis within the hustle of a busy city? Or more appropriately does it represent the political manipulation of a few elite to raise land values? Can a symbol like Golden Gate Park be appreciated without considering the Hetch Hetchy Valley which was destroyed in a grab for resources tangled with ulterior motives benefitting a few but paid for by an unaware public? Brechin historicizes the issues of San Francisco which is essential to understand our interpretation of the city as is and how it became. The monuments and symbols that are essential to San Francisco can only be appreciated when understood in the context of their true history.
Sundown On Damascus Sutra
With his shovel that digs for the Truth,
With his Mudra of Comradely Display,
With his halo of smoke and flame,
The Great Sun Buddha,
In this corner of the Infinite Void,
Will put the enemy out.
Will put the enemy out.
Will put the enemy out.
We are enemies against ourselves,
we thirst for loveless knowledge,
selfishly seek it with blind hunger and mindless rage, eat food which never fills our stomachs, crave oil from foreign lands to put in our fuel tanks like a smoker craves nicotine in his bloodstream.
Only he can cease this fire of rage and hatred against the brothers and sisters of humankind, the countless people oppressed by a civilization that claims to save but only destroys, the ones who die fighting for their lives.
And only he can fight this raging fury, drown the flames that engulf civilians, become the holy savior and refuge of desert-deathbed-bound children of barren countries that cling hopelessly to the tattered fringes of War.
Thus his great Mantra:
Sukkariyeh abu kamal hwijeh namah damascus
Maharoshana sunni qaim syria chandra hum
And Smokey the Bear will surely appear to put the enemy out with his vajra shovel.
Put the enemy out.
Now those who recite this Sutra
Will save the lives of innocent civilians and children caught in the crossfire of disagreement
Will cure us of our greed and addiction to fuel and that which does not belong to us,
Will end all Wars and replace Hate with Love and Darkness with Light,
Will enter the age of harmony,
Of Humans and Nature,
Of Humans and Humans,
And in the end will achieve
Highest Perfect Enlightenment.
Thus we have heard.
We have grown greedy, complacent; we have lost our humble Buddhist nature.
Countries invade other countries. State governments hand out death and life. Society is obsessed with a belief in its own superiority to anything else.
Society is sure of its right to dominate. We are led by our own naivety to believe that all is well in this consumerist bubble which we have created for ourselves: if we have our i-pods and lap top computers close to hand that is.
However, the problem with this ideology is that all is not well in the world. Even in our own first world, civilized culture, all is not the equilibrium that Smokey the Bear intended for us. The difference between the rich and the poor is massive, and unfortunately, this difference results in the rich getting richer whilst the poor get poorer.
So what is the solution to this vast unfairness? What are we as a society forgetting? We need to reassess the role which we have assigned ourselves and thus to realize that we, like everything else, are just a small part of the realm of Dharma.
We are humble, we are sacred, but we are not as untouchable as we think. We are flawed, we are too stubborn.
Only upon realizing these things can our consciousness be enlightened and the world be changed. The way we are going is not good. I think getting back to our roots is in order.
Current Event: Prop 8
Yes, Let me limit others happiness
Yes, Let me use my pride to restrict others
No, No I couldn’t
No way that I could say “no” to love.
Yes, let me enforce my values on someone else
Let me rain in on their parade
Yes, yes let’s keep everything the same.
No, no those traditions are crazy,
I won’t be bent out of shape and
I won’t make the same mistakes.
Let me belong to you…
Almost.
Not fair, not fair,
Completely incomplete.
So I hear man and a woman can be completely happy,
Or can they?
Can man and man be happy?
Can and woman and a woman be happy?
Let everyone be miserable.
Let them belong.
Let love in.
Don’t put up limitations.
Relax restrictions.
Loosen the reigns on marriage
Let it be.
The shovel that digs to the truth behind appearances; cuts the roots of useless attachments and flings damp sand on the fires of greed and war.
$800 billion on the war since 2001.
That’s $5,000/ second.
4,182 troops lost
Iraqi citizen casualties unknown, but may be 100,000 or more.
Clearly, the war is not working. Think about all the money that could be spent on other things our country needs.
Money lost for schools. Money lost for healthcare, teachers, love, kindness.
Men oppressed by a civilization that claims to save but often destroys. War that claims to capture our captors, save our country. Destroys our country, their people, our people, our freedom.
Constant use of the word “war” when the government fights no one but our own fears, and subsequently perpetuates them. The war on terror, fear, freedom.
The leaders, the bad decisions, the endless endlessness.
HE WILL PUT THEM OUT.
If anyone is threatened by the patriot act, the president, the government, the police, the terrorists, they should chant Smokey the Bear’s war spell:
FIGHT THEIR BUTTS
CRUSH THEIR BUTTS
With peace.
We have to save the planet. We have to stop the war. We have to bring love back.
Fight their butts with peace. Don't put up with it.
Current Event: World Series
Once in the Land Before Time, the Great Shadow Buddha gathered all beings and gave a tremendous Enlightenment concerning the planet Earth.
“In the future, there will be a continent known as America. It will be great, with powerful rivers, massive mountains, and plains that stretch beyond measure. There will also be a great being, known as the human, that will conquer this land. With its superior intellect, it will develop a means of self entertainment, known as America’s Pastime, or baseball. Men will class and do battle and even though they will try their best to make it as fair as possible, there will always be human error. They will make decisions and possibly be wrong, resulting in the loss of their coveted prize, the World Series. So I will assist these beings and shall enter a new form, to culture the world of loveless knowledge that seeks with blind attempts and mindless hunger.”
And he showed himself in his true form of
The baseball insignia known to baseball players as “The Baseball God.”
He is in the form of a man’s shadow, showing impartiality to any choice. He has no side, only the love for baseball.
He stares down the assault of a baseball at his head without fear. Nothing will sway him from his position, he is right and no attack will make him falter.
He is white. Not black. He makes his choices for good, not evil. He will be fair and impartial.
He holds a bat to smite the attackers. Those who question the baseball gods will be met with a swift and harsh punishment.
He will put them out.
The colors around him are red, white and blue. He pays homage and respect for the country that founded the sport he loves.
He is there, on everything that is baseball. He encompasses all. When one needs help to make a decision in baseball, all one must do is ask the baseball gods.
He is there to protect the fairness of the game. The baseball gods are always right. Whenever there is a dispute over a call or a decision, all one has to do is ask the gods to prove who is right. The next action will go in favor of the correct side. This is the ultimate goal of the insignia.
Now those who recite this Sutra and then try to put it in practice will accumulate merit as countless as the sands of Arizona and Nevada, will help save the World Series from serious error, will enter the age of steroid free baseball, and will win it for the home team.
And in the end will win highest perfect enlightenment (the World Series).
Thus we have heard.
“To cure the world of loveless knowledge that seeks with blind hunger: and mindless rage eating food that will not fill it."
Gary Snyder’s poem relates the constructed cartoon character Smoky the Bear to the greed and destruction inherent in the capitalist way of life in America. Rather than warning against typical forest fires, Snyder’s Smoky the Bear chastises Americans and the world at large for their arrogant nature and ignorant ways, as they “seek with blind hunger and mindless rage” a satisfaction which is never reached. Snyder’s choice of mascot for his poem reflects on the environmental threat which now looms over the world, as globalization spreads and our natural environment dwindles. Rather than just relatable to a single current event, this poem comments on the ongoing event of global deterioration as a result of human influence. Smokey can’t prevent the abundance of clear cutting of our world’s natural forests by large corporations, but he can pose as the lovable spokesperson for the prevention of human related forest fires.
Is this the type of “loveless knowledge” which Snyder is describing? Why aren’t there mascots for acts against the environment which occur on large scale levels, and even on a daily basis? Perhaps a chicken mascot against the unbearable living conditions on chicken farms strikes too close to home for many consumers, therefore exposure for this matter is better left unexpressed. The fact that there is a hierarchy of importance for environmental issues reflects on the notion that some people would rather be left in the dark in regards to their impact on the environment, and therefore subscribe to the selective and “loveless knowledge” which Snyder describes.
Brechin forms the structure of his metaphor by anthropomorphizing the city of San Francisco. By calling it the "Queen City," he imbues it with a personality, with gender. In describing the city's actions, Brechin utilizes active words-- "possession" and "coalesced"--as well as giving it the illusion of locomotion when it is "surrounding and filling San Francisco Bay." The city is less stone and mortar as it is saddled with actual character, able to move and expand and drink all on it's own.
In discussing the people involved in the water mains business, Brechin calls O'Shaughnessy the "Chief." The Chief has "associates" that helped him in securing the damming rights, and these descriptions bring to mind organized crime, or a ruling family, some sort of over-arching imperialistic command structure. By giving the city some sort of expressive personality, Brechin allows us to relate to it. We can see the city as something that has a life all its own as opposed to a collection of tall buildings and busy streets. When he calls O'Shaughnessy a Chief, he's singling out not only his role, but the way he uses that role.
In my post last week, I talked about the Mechanics Monument, and, in describing where it was currently located, I wrote: "The sculpture now resides on the corner of Market street, hiding under the shadows of the city’s tallest buildings, surrounded by architectural marvels." The fact that it's a sculpture idolizing hard manual labor and the tenacity and strength of the average working class, and that it's "hiding under the shadows of the city's tallest buildings..." is an interesting metaphor for the economic state of the city and its people. What are those "tallest buildings?" The financial giants, the stock companies, the banks--all places where the wealth discrepancy is at its most obvious, with thousands and thousands of employees making serviceable wages, and the two men with the corner pent-house suites walking away with millions. It's not just a sculpture that's IN the shadows, it's HIDDEN under them. It's forgotten. The working class, perhaps, is forgotten.
In Gary Snyder's "Smokey the Bear Sutra" he writes that in "in some future time, there will be a continent called America. It will have great centers of power called such as Pyramid Lake, Walden Pond, Mt. Rainier, Big Sur, Everglades, and so forth; and powerful nerves and channels such as Columbia River, Mississippi River, and Grand Canyon" and this list of the great centers of power serves to immediately highlight natural centers of power; it is important that none of these places are man-made. Snyder leaves no space between these powerful natural constructions and the intrusion of human beings onto them, as in the next breath he follows this sentence with "the human race in that era will get into troubles all over its head, and practically wreck everything in spite of its own strong intelligent Buddha-nature." He personifies the human races' "head" as this extravagant natural world that is thrown into distress by the human races' lack of interest and thus inability to create positive works; instead, the human race succumbs to laziness and instant-gratification, thus ignoring "its own strong intelligent Buddha-nature."
What awakens life and compassion for Snyder are "the twisting strata of the great mountains and the pulsings of volcanoes." This represents a world that does not function on capitalism and exploitation, a system which functions on "loveless knowledge that seeks with blind hunger:
and mindless rage eating food that will not fill it." Those humans who foolishly compete in such systems are not sustained by anything positive, and are foolishly led to believe that joining in such social constructions will allow them to lead fulfilling lives. Instead, they will always search and strive for some sense of satisfaction-- for meaning and purpose, but their laziness and inability to act and replenish the world will be the death of them and the natural world that encompasses them.
This laziness is something that I feel is the root of humanity's problems today. As of October 25, 2008, seven Puget Sound killer whales have been declared as missing. Humans, even with all of the technology we are intelligent enough to be able to create and use more often than not, to understand how the world functions and how we function within it, are unable to state exactly what is accountable for the disappearance of the whales. Untrue to the nature of these whales, not all that have disappeared are near the end of their lives. In fact, the females that are missing are in their prime and had the possibility of bearing even more calves in the future.
Scientists are unsure of what is causing the most rapid decline of whales yet, though they have several hypothesis-- none of which are positive in any light. One viewpoint is that a major decline in salmon, which the whales exclusively eat, has led the whales to travel further for food than ever before. However, pollution and "stress from whale-watching tour boats and underwater sonar tests by the Navy also have been concerns." I grew very disgusted when reading this after reading the "Smokey the Bear Sutra" because having to travel greater distances for food and pollution seemed so common place to me. This is the laziness of human beings that Snyder highlights so vividly; it is what makes here "pollution and scarcity of food seem like something natural and inevitable. We have been hearing about such problems as pollution and scarcity so long that they have become common place, and we forget that we have a choice in keeping nature beautiful and plentiful. What runs the human race should not be the "wasteful freeways and needless suburbs" but by those who work to keep the world natural and a safe-haven from the inactivity and laziness that so easily feeds "loveless knowledge." The whales are probably deteriorating for all of the reasons listed, if not more that we do not yet perceive or understand. How long will it takes for us to pin-point and solve this mystery, and will it be too late when we do? Science and technology are beneficial in explaining the natural world to us, but if we only accept/ignore the facts and do nothing to reverse such degradation, we are succumbing to laziness and eventually our own demise.
Link to Current Event (See Previous Post): http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/10/25/killer.whales.ap/index.html
The Economic Crisis.
I'm not going to get into specifics because honestly economics aren't my strong point. However, we all know we're facing an economic crisis. People can barely get by and we're in debt over our heads.
"Smokey the Bear Sutra" is great. It got me thinking about original sin. According to original sin, humans pretty much began as evil and sinful one Eve persuaded Adam to pick the apple, thus we're all doomed. However, I think we started out as beautiful, innocent, pure. Think of babies, they may be obnoxious and cry a lot, but they're beautiful. They are not born with prejudice and evil intentions. Our society teaches us to be "sinful," whatever you think that may be. So, "Smokey the Bear Sutra" says "the human race [in some future time, i.e. now] will get into troubles all over its head and practically wreck everything in spite of its own strong intelligent Buddha-nature" (25). Humans have it in us to be in a more pure state, but capitalism sucked all of our "strong intelligent Buddha-nature" out of us (25).
"Wearing the blue work overalls symbolic of slaves" of capitalism . Working for something else, not for yourself. Working to get money to put food on the table, pay rent or mortgage, and barely anything else. We are stuck in a civilization that "claims to save but only destroys" (26).
"Fires caused by the stupidity of those who think things can be gained and lost" (26). The economic crisis is that fire. We need this smokey the bear to save us. Our whole system of possession and ownership destroys us. Capitalism destroys us. In this society, things can be gained or lost with money . If you've got money, you're good to go. For the rest of us, we're screwed.
We need this smokey the bear to "[smash] the worms of capitalism and totalitarianism" (27). Oh, great smokey the bear, save us.
What can we do? According to Smokey, we can "[Become] free of cars, houses, canned food, universities, and shoes, master the Three Mysteries of their own Body, Speech, and Mind" (27). Rid ourselves of possession, resist capitalism. Is this plausible?
I want to reach Enlightenment. I want our economy to become more stable.
Once in Edinburgh in a small cafe, about 13 years ago, a single mother sat sipping her tea: and she picked up her pen and her napkin and she began to write: a Book which would inspire children to imagine and read.
In the past Children used to play outside. They would imagine themselves heroes and villains. The would play hide and seek and house they would read fairy tales such as Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, The Snow Queen, The Little Match Girl and so forth, and powerful books and plays like The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh. The human race in that era continued to develop new and better ways to entertain children and practically wreck everything in spite of their own strong imaginations.
When children would rather watch TV and play video games than play outside or read. A woman shall give me a form to inspire a new generation to read and imagine:
Harry Potter the wizard
A young boy with a lightning shaped scar, glasses framing his eyes that help him to see the truths others deny.
Bearing in his right hand the Wand that will help him defeat those who refuse to let their children believe in the power of imagination, and reading.
In his left hand he carries a smoky owl. Whose wings symbolize the power imagination and reading can have to lift one up and leave the mundane worry behind: he befriends all creatures of imagination: dragons, centaurs, giants, hippogriffs, house elves, and werewolves all dwell in the realm of Hogwarts;
Wearing school robes symbolic of knowledge and growth, the countless children whose imaginations claimed to be stimulated but were only destroyed;
Wearing the split-brimmed wrinkled old hat of the Castle, symbolic of the founders of the Houses, which represented a unity between the four types of students who would walk the halls--all their paths leading to the magic of imagination--
With the mundane of the real world behind, the tragedy of his parents deaths by one who thinks that Power and Hate is everything and Love is nothing;
Round-rimmed glasses to show how he will see the truth and that the
Love and friendship is offered to anyone who is open to it;
Trampling underfoot video games and remote controls, smashing the worms of Sony and Nintendo;
Indicating his Task: his followers becoming free of computers, televisions, game consoles, arcades, and remothes master the Three mysteries of the own Imagination, Creativity, and Playfulness, and fearlessly turn off the rotten machines and unplug the frayed cords of these uninspired children and then take them to the recycling plant.
Mischievious but Good, Brave but Fearful, Harry Potter will inspire those who read about him; but for those who would hinder or slander him,
HE WILL CAST A SPELL ON THEM.
Current Event: Humanities dependance on automobiles.
Long gone are not only the Mustangs which roamed the great plains of North America but also their enlightened feather haired engineers. No more calico or grey speckled mustangs-only yellow, cherry red or jet black. The enlightened riders now dawn dangling cotton dice from their rearview as opposed to feathers in their ear. Three hundred and fifty horsepower as oppossed to one. No more grazing, only gassing. Ford is new word for Lord.
I remember as recent as twenty years ago my little second grade friends had posters of actual living Mustangs. As I grew older the living beings were replaced with mechanical replacements that were deemed superior, prettier colored. No more bare back riding dreams after an episode of Night Rider. I remember the girls, every one of them adoring the horse-the mustang yet when the magical age of sixteen approached their ideal mustang was a convertable and rather than daydreaming of a picnic in a pasture with a horse they were envisioning road trips to the beach-top down, sunglasses, hair flying, bubble gum bubbles and Madonna.
I asked my nephew what he knew about Tahoe. He said he loved it, how pretty it was, how big, and how happy it made his dad. He then said they had it for only three months but couldnt afford the gas. Thats when I knew he meant the Chevy Tahoe.
You see, every year it slips by unnoticed increasingly easier because were all forgetting the past. We're also forgetting that in the future children really are going to have to learn everything from books, commercials,automobile names etc. because there wont be any mustangs, there wont be a tahoe other than the ones we once stuck gas nozzles into. Appreciate everything while you still can. Start by drwning their butts and crushing their butts.
Snyder’s message about embracing the outdoors and nature is still valid today. As people live more and more in speed and excess, we lose touch with our roots. Our food, our jobs, and our leisure time: everything is bigger and faster, and in the past few decades, we have become obsessed with technology’s ability to help us meet these goals.
This summer, a new friend Robert taught me about his belief in the Santo Daime church and how their hallucinogenic tea, Ayahausca, encouraged him to take a vow of silence and listen to the world speak more often. While he still talks, and is happy to have an inspired conversation about religion, philosophy, literature, and nature, he told me how he learned so much about himself, others, and nature just by listening more instead of immediately jumping into a conversation. Robert believed in Snyder’s proposition that we become “free of cars, houses, canned food…and shoes, master the Three Mysteries of their own Body, Speech, and Mind” and live as we did thousands of years ago, in the natural world without pollution or destroying our Mother Earth (Snyder 27).
As this obsession with speed and greed has swept our country, organizations have popped up that promote slower actions, and are aimed at stopping the hurried behaviors we all are guilty of. The Long Now Foundation, based in San Francisco, “hopes to provide counterpoint to today's ‘faster/cheaper’ mind set and promote ‘slower/better’ thinking” (http://www.longnow.org/about/).
The entire slow movement that is gradually transforming mindsets, is teaching people to partake in “random acts of slowness” (http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/06/06/balance.slow.movement/).
Post a Comment