Hitler, The Role Model?

"History is written by the winners" ~ Winston Churchill

Varying degrees of  ethics, morality and beliefs are traits we’re all born with, but eventually develop throughout our lives. Right vs. Wrong, Good vs. Bad. From biblical parables to Brothers Grimm fairy tales, we’re seeded with the concepts of westernised virtuousness before we learn to spell virtuosity.

These principles are agreed upon by society, however, dictated by what I call Gatekeepers. Elitist decision-makers who consciously decide how we should behave as a society. I’ll admit that we have certain base characteristics that defy choice, like taking the life of a toddler for example. Those virtues are native to our more mammalian selves i.e. protecting our young for the continuity of our species.

With this in mind, I question MY values. Is what I believe to be right, right? I won’t grab an apple at a fruit vendor because I’ve been taught that it is wrong to take something without the permission of the owner – but that’s because I have the means and provisions to question my actions. In contrast, someone who has not eaten a meal in 7 days will object to this similar discern, and have his actions justified as IM-probable cause. The point I make, is that before you judge my following opinion, make reference to the fact that your moral standards interlink with my above opinions and that of ‘ol Winston.

Should Adolf Hitler be completely condemned?

Firstly, I am ambivalent toward how I feel about Hitler in the same way I feel about G.W Bush. A stark comparison, but once again judgement is based on western principles. Many people label the one foe and the other friend purely because of information shared that has not been studied to form a scholarly opinion. Remember, both of these men regarded their deeds as good when invading another country, their audience indoctrinated into believing that their deeds were just and honourable. The malevolence of Hitler was taught to us by the same folk who fed us the ‘justifiable’ intentions of Bush 1 & Bush 2. The military on both sides of the ocean decades apart, both acted upon the justification of their actions being morally correct. I like to think that if we lived in New Germania today, Hitler would have been considered a hero by us and the Allied Forces as the malignant enemy of pure evil. Societal opinion would have been completely different, albeit drilled into us militantly.

The second part of my opinion is that of leadership. I believe that an average leader focuses on results – that’s corporate leadership. A good leader focuses on behaviours that will get results. Whereas a great leader will focus on the emotions that drive behaviours! When a single man with a skewed vision steps up and shares that vision, strong enough in his conviction to have millions act upon his ideology - that’s great leadership. I find it difficult to convince another man to pick up his weapon and take the life of another. Despite it being an act of respect or fear. Despite it altering your values. Despite it recreating principles which you may or may not have been taught. It is for this reason that I respect (not admire) Adolf Hitler.

My final outlook is that of man. I like to think that it’s in our nature to brand. Think football and you think David Beckham. Think apartheid freedom fighter and you think of Nelson Mandela. Think holocaust and you think of Adolf Hitler. Unfortunately, with our tendency to classify and brand is the equal barbaric animal in all of us. We’ve always been at the precipice of evil. Every single one of us is capable of killing another. We only need the means to justify the cause and Bob’s your uncle. Well, dead uncle if he deserved to die. Classist tensions between ‘German’s and everyone else’ may have predated the cause for 6 million Jews exterminated. All the ‘superior’ Germans needed were motive. Motive which came in the form of an inspiring leader who justified the culling of an inferior race. It’s like giving your kid that extra nudge needed to step outside of its comfort zone and express what they’re harbouring inside. From that perspective, we should condemn the bigotry of man and not that of A MAN.

 I’ve justified my opinion and hope that it’s not misconstrued as support for the needless deaths of 11 million people. I do not believe that any murderous cause is justifiable. As reputable as Adolf was, he was not admirable. That is the differentiation we should make when considering the feats of his vision; technology, scientific advancement, infrastructural improvements and most importantly understanding ourselves. There will always be wars. In fact there have been 148 wars since WW II. It’s in our nature to fight, destroy, plunder and kill. It’s what makes us human. The question is what will it take to make us humane?

Earth: The Largest Game Park in The Universe

*information in development

Creationist, Or Evolution? Time to choose a side

*information in development

Genetically Altered Human

You're going to have to choose a side if you haven't already. Either you're on the side who believe we were created by God or products of evolutionary processes. There's some who sit in the middle and play for both teams.

*information in development

Meet Mankind, The Virus

Tap into your grade 9 biology self and remember how the witty round-lensed teacher conducted the lesson on bacteria and viruses. They're all around us, they're everywhere, waiting for an opportunity and the perfect conditions to breed.

Once bred, viruses use every available resource in its environment in order to reproduce. Once the virus has used all resources, especially due to its massive numbers versus minimal resources, the surviving strains move on to the next available area in order to repeat the cycle.

Sound familiar?

Mankind have been around for approximately 200,000 years. It took us 199,850 years to hit our straps, where we've experienced a blinding boom in our technological growth. Foremost of which is our medical technology, which has found solutions to prolong our lives significantly. We advance our cities to fester and grow as suburbs erupt like cancer cells, blighting pristine landscapes. We poison Earth's perfect fields with tar and blanket the once clear skies with carbon emissions and monoxide.

These remarkable technological achievements have been made, but only in the context of human gratitude. Our numbers are increasing due to this prolongation of life. They're increasing faster than available resources can accommodate. We have in effect defied nature and it's order making one wonder if in so doing, we should expect her to retaliate?

There was a time when the aforementioned virus, the flu for example, used US as a resource, culling our numbers in the process. An unfortunate process for man, but one of balance called 'Homeostasis'. A process whereby nature ensures that there's enough in the food basket to go around.

Mankind will reach the next level of his advancement when his energy to put back into the universe is greater than his energy to take out. We are incredibly destructive creatures who need to stop feeling we're the top of the food chain and start realizing we are in actual fact a very, very small part of a massive age old system. A system in which we have not found our correct place yet. A system which we need to accept that we cannot control, but instead should control us.

What you think, is God

I spent some time thinking. Thinking about our collective human consciousness and thought. What makes us 'us'. We know WHAT happens in our brain, but science is yet to uncover HOW it works. Your dreams, thoughts, ideas and imagination are yet to be debunked and will remain a mystery left to hypothesis until a smart man in a lab coat fixated by the human coconut will crack the mystery...until then, this is my hypothesis.

Reality is merely our collective agreement on understanding the understandable. Let's look at a pink shoe. Our minds perceive an oddly shaped object, yet quite distinct in its form. It also notices that this object is unlike any other object in its environment, in that its color is different. We therefore need to classify the shape and hue in order for us to relate the object to something acceptable. Therefore this object will be called shoe, and anything shaped like it will be titled the same. Of the many shoes this particular type of shoe, due to its visual difference, will be sub-classified as a pink shoe.

Effectively, what I am saying is that mankind needs to classify and categorize everything it knows. This is in order for its mind to comprehend what it interacts with. The moment something is incomprehensible, insanity usually kicks in.

Now, I consider the one thing which we are aware of but cannot see, touch, taste or smell. The one thing we believe exists, but cannot bring to an inter-actable reality. God.

3 letters used to spell a word. A word which produces a meaning so powerful, that writing it without the respect of a capital letter admonishes punishment. Literary punishment only, mind you. We have never seen Him, yet we know that He's there. He's never physically spoken to us, yet we believe that he listens when WE speak. So we accept and believe that he exists, because our our minds believe that he does. This is not a modern era thing. Throughout the history of man, every social group created some or other form of deity(ies) Modern man have given Him a new title. My opinion, is that through collective belief something comes into being and therefore 'is', making it real because we choose to believe that it is...even though our senses disagree thereto. Take a rainbow as an example. It does not exist to a dog who cannot see colour. It only exists to man. The dog's reality does not include a rainbow - no such thing therefore exists according to it. Were a dog to be logically explained to that a rainbow does indeed exist, it will choose to believe in its existence or not.

A vexing analogy, but one that illustrates the difference between reality and fabricated reality. Fabricated reality is a term I use to explain my stance on this matter. We may not ever see God, hear Him speak to us or smell the flowers on His long white golden-laced drapes. Yet He does exist, because we believe that he does in order to appease the human consciousness and our debates about 'the end'.

We're approaching a stage in our existence where information is freely available, as a result people's beliefs and opinions are shifting toward individual beliefs. We will always believe in God. Where it will deviate from tradition, is the path we choose toward him. That's right, him.

Eurotrash 2012-Day 1 Getting lost in Brussels

Instead of using a costly taxi, i coerced Candice into trusting my 'global positioning awareness'. I convinced her into my confidence that 'how difficult can it really be'. At the risk of not looking like one of those tourists you always see back home pointing at 'stuff', their agonizing expressions a clear give-away of them trying to figure things out. I ended up, arm in air, finger pointing at every cryptic dutch clue i could find to save face.

With heavy luggage in tow, we managed to make it to the 'Metro'. Thanks to the remarkable similarity between Dutch and Afrikaans (you always knew it, but never saw it in action). Coincidently, it was also thanks to encouragement by Candice to get me to put my pride aside and ask directions. I was aided by an old fellow who thought i was Indian. Namaste to him too. We ended up walking against the flow of Friday afternoon rush hour crowds, ducking into swaying arms, 15kg bags in tow, acting on pure instinct and residual airplane food energy. Which is not much, seeing as it tasted like facecloth.

We used the Belgian underground like seasoned pros. Nevermind the quizzical glares by commuters, we felt we fitted right in. We were riding the shit outta that damn E3579 two-carriage train to our stop...a mere 2 stations away. That's right, so much drama and our destination was a mere 14kms away from the airport!

All good and well. It's those very awkward experiences, bewilderment, uncertainty and daze in a completely foreign land that makes the experience so unique. A uniqueness i was craving to experience yet again after settling in at our hotel room We've just taken a walk down the road from our hotel and out of sheer curiosity (and against Candice's protests), i dragged her into a private 'invitation only' artist showroom purely because I saw wine being handed out by the glasS. I forgOt. The poi.nt i was trying to mak.

Vrot Cross Buns

Let's be honest. The supposed hot cross bun issue is just a means of airing deepset differences. Today it's about religion, tomorrow it'll be about race. Do we not live in a non-segregated society, where freedom of association and expression makes it one of the most sought after societies world-wide? Is it not in this very society where a toasty hot cross bun with a thinly sliced gouda can be enjoyed without prejudice? Yes the same society, where mince samoosas; dim-sum; breyani; koeksisters and even 'half moon' shaped Croissants can be eaten by any who please…cross or star of David on it or not?

The recent debacle over the 'Halaal Hot Cross Bun' saga is a clear illustration that societal segmentation still lies dormant, preying on moments of cinnamon-bun-like madness to lash out at each other from the relative safety of mobile phone twitter status updates. It however is as much a sign that a change in mindset is clearly needed; that idiocy still exists but cannot be seen by the idiots, and that hot-cross buns are going to be eaten with a fair degree of guilt by many Christians this coming easter. Mind you, with the star-and-moon sign on the pack, I'm sure it'll taste exactly the way it did since you bore teeth at the age of 2.

What many fanatacists fail to realise, is that many of the adopted celebratory customs in the Christian faith, are not inherently 'Christian'. Please point out the verse and chapter where Moses struggled to find the perfect bauble to go under his conifer Christmas tree. Or perhaps the Parable about the Easter Egg hunt by the disciples?

An interesting fact I've found with incredulous research, is that the hot cross bun itself in a slightly altered format was eaten by 'pre-Christian' Saxons in celebration of their pagan God Eostere (kinda rhymes with Easter, doesn't it?). The 'cross' represented the four quarters of the moon. Added thereto, and with contemptuous cynicism, the affiliation of 'eggs' to a religion was celebrated FIRST in ancient Iran by followers of a prophet Zoroaster! Like the cinnamon bun, the chocolate coated Easter egg is not yours, Christians.




With the clear distinction between religion and state, South Africa grants you the freedom to pray to whom you want to pray, eat where and whatever you want to eat, wear suits and ties to your tabernacle or fez's and fedoras…as long as you do so in a respectable fashion. However, you lose both respect and respectability by snarling at the practices of another religion 'on yours' when you feel it's insulting your customs…especially when you weren't smart enough to firstly establish whether it is truly your religion's custom!

I insinuate only because I propose that the 'blinded-by-faith' fanatics take this to heart before commenting. Hot cross buns are not a religious object. Pickled hake is a secular add-on to a 'religious' custom. Christmas trees with shiny glittery decorations in no way has religious significance. There is no Santa Claus, they lied to you. Think carefully about how you defend a custom as your own, when its actual significance is not so much yours to claim.

So, I don't propose this write up to induce a sudden societal 180, but perhaps think of this when the good Reverend delivers his word about this contentious topic on Sunday (the chances are quite high). Next week is the start of Good Friday. Do the supposed Christian thing, and welcome all and every other person into the celebrations of your religion, let them see that your practice is about love for humanity, sharing and kindness toward one another.

Isn't that what religion ultimately is about?

The Journey Begins

Blogging.

Verb for blog, as in "to blog, or not to blog...". A portmanteau for web log...as in weB LOG.

The only way to share your personal journal for the masses to see, follow, share and discuss opinons, beliefs, viewpoints and use words like 'as in' alot (refer to paragraph 1).Blogging in South Africa is an untapped resource of huge potential. With the current social media frenzy both worldwide and in SA, from Facebook updates to Twitter statusses, blogging allows an excellent platform with which to invite social media users to share not only what they're having for breakfast, but also religious views, political opinions and how they feel about 'stuff'.

It's safe to assume that we generally are pessimistic about media. Constantly being fed information based on the opinions and viewpoints of 'those in control' of the media itself. By following blogs, we allow ourselves to step back and share our own opinions for once!

And so, my journey begins to allow you the platform to follow my debatable viewpoints on...stuff...then debate or disagree my viewpoints.

If you would like to discuss a particular topic or subject, drop me a line on theartfulblogging@gmail.com.

The Blogger