Enjoying the view from Limbo
The single most universal and inescapable necessity of all human life is death. In principle, though not in subjective experience, it is known from the very beginning of life that this outcome is inevitable. This awareness, to the extent that it is achieved, colors every aspect of life, and increasingly so over the years, until its certain, though temporally unpredictable, arrival. It would...
Joe Biden, in accordance with longstanding despotic tradition, has urged Americans to accept “shared sacrifice” in “the war” against COVID-19. The meaning of “shared sacrifice,” in government-speak: Private citizens will sacrifice more and more of their liberty, and the government will take that liberty. Hence, “sharing.” So far, the United States of America has fought this “war” exactly the way she fought Vietnam:...
Coronavirus “cases” equal positive tests. They do not equal “deaths.” The recent trend in panic-button headlines around the world is increasingly to emphasize case numbers, and particularly numbers of new cases, as though these represent an inherent cataclysm. Fact: If you test far more people, you will likely find far more cases. Another fact: If everyone in the world tested positive for hangnails,...
Today’s winning headline from Business Insider: “New York City’s spring coronavirus outbreak was roughly as deadly as the 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 million people.” The logic of that headline is clearly intended to suggest that the current pandemic is “roughly as deadly” as a pandemic that killed 50 million people, even though it hasn’t actually killed anywhere close to that number...
Roughly 1.35 million human beings lose their lives in car accidents each year, including 38,000 in the U.S. alone. That’s 3,700 automotive deaths worldwide per day. “Well, that’s life,” you say. “They knew the risks.” First of all, no they did not know the risks; for while we all hear the occasional local news story about a fatal accident involving drunken teens on...
by Daren Jonescu · Published February 1, 2019 · Last modified January 25, 2020
(See Part One) If the civilized life is akin to a long walk through nature — and that includes human nature — then its definitive character is not destinations, not “highlights,” but continuity. The key to continuity, in all matters of will, is the avoidance of distractions. Destinations, too, when regarded as definitive, become mere distractions. A destination is not only an end...
Follow: