I'll start with an anonymously published poem that I found. Do you think anything published publicly by anonymous authors ever made a difference? It's debatable.
The Drug War
A nation's greatness can crumble
If a single soldier fails to fulfill his duty.
A man does not live for himself alone,
But for all of humanity.
My politics are simple:
How you spend your money,
What you see with your eyes,
What you hear with your ears,
What you do with your hands,
And where you go with your feet.
I believe that commerce unites us all,
And that wealth is malignant if it is not used for the common good.
I believe that personal property is a natural right,
And that liberty is best practiced with dignity and respect.
No man should transgress against another,
For this is the Non-Aggression Principle.
My politics are that all men are created equal,
And that we are all brothers under the stars.
This is not a pretty picture,
But there is hope for us all.
We must work together to create a better world,
For we are all connected.
Illuminated
What is the point of life? I have land, sons, and a loving wife. Upkeep more than anything else requires the labors of man, yet even with the understanding that wine and labor fulfill the sum of the human task, I cannot escape the feeling of being a foreigner in a foreign land. My sons are disobedient. My wife is delicate and selfish. Nature is forever trying to eliminate my labors. I mold things of clay and the rain takes them away. I wipe the dust from my feet but my feet are dirtied on my first step outside. The sun beats down and harries my sleep. There is no rest.
There is no one to consult; no one to ask for salvation. Solomon is dead. Gotama is dead. Patanjali is dead. Bruno is dead. Abelard is dead. Bruno is dead. Christ remains mute in the ossified words of the Gospel.
Is this as good as it gets?
The good is infinite.
The red and golden dragon dances,
Spinning the spiral firefly lanterns,
Through spring, summer, autumn, winter then
a drum that beats in silent scream.
Prayers pollute the muted air,
Frankincense pollutes the stars,
The stars like pins pollute the sky,
And sky pollutes the endless night,
That rings the silver bells of time.
If to love you more would be a crime,
I'd be spurned and spilled a thousand times.
Cicadas and the whippoorwill
Scream in the dog-bite coward's ear,
The ugly fool who spurned the angel,
Robards, singing ribbon crimson threads,
The fabric of a well-loved life
lies tear stained, tattered, rended there.
A silence of a single glance
Falls like an angel snowflake feather,
Love's embrace rejected, awe,
Forgive-me-naughts;
Black roses chilly weather brought.
RIP slow talkin' jones, you will be loved twice as much as you are missed.
She said she loved me
Or that was I?
She was very drunk
No, that was I
I just noticed that "A Lodging of Wayfaring Men" was published anonymously.
I wonder what the "BRAIN FLUSH" wonder drug that was so central to this story actually was in real life? Was it MDMA? Is that the idea? I'll never understand.
From "A Lodging of Wayfaring Men"
• Your life is far too important not to be lived. Accept no substitutes, and
be leery of delays.
• Keep thinking, keep improving, keep creating. Remember that once
386
people leave their pursuit of the high and great, they are left to define
their happiness by comparison with their neighbors. That gets ugly in a
hurry.
• Stay with your principles. Once you deviate from them, you give the law
of unintended consequences room to operate.
• Choose to experience your own life unrestrainedly; to vigorously use all
of your talents, abilities, passions, and strengths; to move forward
without guilt or shame; to revel in what you do and can do; to do it
forcefully: To be, without apology.
• Learn to think about primary factors, and avoid categorization. For
example, don’t just apply the words ‘good’ or ‘bad’ to something; go
deeper, and consider the benefits and harms caused by the thing in
question. Know things for what they truly are, not as objects that fit in
certain categories.
• There is no purpose of life, as most people seek. The only meaning to
your life is what you give it. That scares many people, but it also means
that you get full credit for every good thing you do.
• Be valiant for the truth.
• Remember that we have all been negatively affected by life on Earth.
We have all been damaged to one extent or another. Remember also
that some of this was purely chance. Most of us in the FDE have been
less damaged than average. People born into worse situations (to
illiterate families, to violent families, to drug-addicted families, and so
on) may not escape their damage as quickly as we have. Don’t demean
them.
• Remember that the dominant culture of the 20th century featured a
continual effort to locate, glorify and manipulate the basest aspects of
human nature. Good was frequently dismissed simply because it was
good. It will take time for people to get over this.
• You have many powerful enemies.
• The freer you get, the more clearly you will see and understand life.
And, seeing more clearly means that you will perceive not only
387
wonderful new things you can do. You will also recognize, for the first
time, some very unpleasant things that are difficult to bear.
• Remember that the errors of logic and psychology you rightly oppose
are necessary for some people. They are the only cloak they have to
protect themselves from things too painful to face. Do not simply take
away their cloak. If you cannot replace the cloak with something better,
leave them alone until you can. Do not break the damaged person, heal
them.
• When we become truly healthy, there will be no need for
embarrassment, no need for shame. We will be happy about ourselves
and what we do. This will occur incrementally, as we re-value and
improve ourselves, and as we eliminate mystical and false standards of
morality. This will not happen instantly or without some pain. Like the
bound feet of ancient Chinese women, our souls have been bound by a
backwards morality. Do not think that simply removing the bindings will
be enough; there will be significant adjustment involved. But a warping
of the soul is not as permanent as the warping of bones. We may
always remake ourselves, though the process may require significant
effort.
• If you have been deeply damaged, and fear that you will never be able
to reach greatness, know that you may always do things that make
greatness possible for others. And know that this too is a form of
greatness, and not a minor one.• Your life is far too important not to be lived. Accept no substitutes, and
be leery of delays.
• Keep thinking, keep improving, keep creating. Remember that once
386
people leave their pursuit of the high and great, they are left to define
their happiness by comparison with their neighbors. That gets ugly in a
hurry.
• Stay with your principles. Once you deviate from them, you give the law
of unintended consequences room to operate.
• Choose to experience your own life unrestrainedly; to vigorously use all
of your talents, abilities, passions, and strengths; to move forward
without guilt or shame; to revel in what you do and can do; to do it
forcefully: To be, without apology.
• Learn to think about primary factors, and avoid categorization. For
example, don’t just apply the words ‘good’ or ‘bad’ to something; go
deeper, and consider the benefits and harms caused by the thing in
question. Know things for what they truly are, not as objects that fit in
certain categories.
• There is no purpose of life, as most people seek. The only meaning to
your life is what you give it. That scares many people, but it also means
that you get full credit for every good thing you do.
• Be valiant for the truth.
• Remember that we have all been negatively affected by life on Earth.
We have all been damaged to one extent or another. Remember also
that some of this was purely chance. Most of us in the FDE have been
less damaged than average. People born into worse situations (to
illiterate families, to violent families, to drug-addicted families, and so
on) may not escape their damage as quickly as we have. Don’t demean
them.
• Remember that the dominant culture of the 20th century featured a
continual effort to locate, glorify and manipulate the basest aspects of
human nature. Good was frequently dismissed simply because it was
good. It will take time for people to get over this.
• You have many powerful enemies.
• The freer you get, the more clearly you will see and understand life.
And, seeing more clearly means that you will perceive not only
387
wonderful new things you can do. You will also recognize, for the first
time, some very unpleasant things that are difficult to bear.
• Remember that the errors of logic and psychology you rightly oppose
are necessary for some people. They are the only cloak they have to
protect themselves from things too painful to face. Do not simply take
away their cloak. If you cannot replace the cloak with something better,
leave them alone until you can. Do not break the damaged person, heal
them.
• When we become truly healthy, there will be no need for
embarrassment, no need for shame. We will be happy about ourselves
and what we do. This will occur incrementally, as we re-value and
improve ourselves, and as we eliminate mystical and false standards of
morality. This will not happen instantly or without some pain. Like the
bound feet of ancient Chinese women, our souls have been bound by a
backwards morality. Do not think that simply removing the bindings will
be enough; there will be significant adjustment involved. But a warping
of the soul is not as permanent as the warping of bones. We may
always remake ourselves, though the process may require significant
effort.
• If you have been deeply damaged, and fear that you will never be able
to reach greatness, know that you may always do things that make
greatness possible for others. And know that this too is a form of
greatness, and not a minor one.• Your life is far too important not to be lived. Accept no substitutes, and
be leery of delays.
• Keep thinking, keep improving, keep creating. Remember that once
386
people leave their pursuit of the high and great, they are left to define
their happiness by comparison with their neighbors. That gets ugly in a
hurry.
• Stay with your principles. Once you deviate from them, you give the law
of unintended consequences room to operate.
• Choose to experience your own life unrestrainedly; to vigorously use all
of your talents, abilities, passions, and strengths; to move forward
without guilt or shame; to revel in what you do and can do; to do it
forcefully: To be, without apology.
• Learn to think about primary factors, and avoid categorization. For
example, don’t just apply the words ‘good’ or ‘bad’ to something; go
deeper, and consider the benefits and harms caused by the thing in
question. Know things for what they truly are, not as objects that fit in
certain categories.
• There is no purpose of life, as most people seek. The only meaning to
your life is what you give it. That scares many people, but it also means
that you get full credit for every good thing you do.
• Be valiant for the truth.
• Remember that we have all been negatively affected by life on Earth.
We have all been damaged to one extent or another. Remember also
that some of this was purely chance. Most of us in the FDE have been
less damaged than average. People born into worse situations (to
illiterate families, to violent families, to drug-addicted families, and so
on) may not escape their damage as quickly as we have. Don’t demean
them.
• Remember that the dominant culture of the 20th century featured a
continual effort to locate, glorify and manipulate the basest aspects of
human nature. Good was frequently dismissed simply because it was
good. It will take time for people to get over this.
• You have many powerful enemies.
• The freer you get, the more clearly you will see and understand life.
And, seeing more clearly means that you will perceive not only
387
wonderful new things you can do. You will also recognize, for the first
time, some very unpleasant things that are difficult to bear.
• Remember that the errors of logic and psychology you rightly oppose
are necessary for some people. They are the only cloak they have to
protect themselves from things too painful to face. Do not simply take
away their cloak. If you cannot replace the cloak with something better,
leave them alone until you can. Do not break the damaged person, heal
them.
• When we become truly healthy, there will be no need for
embarrassment, no need for shame. We will be happy about ourselves
and what we do. This will occur incrementally, as we re-value and
improve ourselves, and as we eliminate mystical and false standards of
morality. This will not happen instantly or without some pain. Like the
bound feet of ancient Chinese women, our souls have been bound by a
backwards morality. Do not think that simply removing the bindings will
be enough; there will be significant adjustment involved. But a warping
of the soul is not as permanent as the warping of bones. We may
always remake ourselves, though the process may require significant
effort.
• If you have been deeply damaged, and fear that you will never be able
to reach greatness, know that you may always do things that make
greatness possible for others. And know that this too is a form of
greatness, and not a minor one.