groundviews » Old Truths and Old Men

Old Truths and Old Men

May 11, 2008 at 5:06 pm · Categories: Colombo, English, Uncategorized | by Lalith Gunaratne

Stupid Old Men

I don’t want to end up being a stupid old man
Just look at what they have done to our world in vain
What’s the big deal in going to the moon
As he yet settles score by inflicting pain
War on terror, crusade or witch hunts
Stupid old men run scared to ruin
Peace on earth has little chance to shine

I wonder whether it’s the testosterone drain
that give men the jitters when age is on the gain
I need to wise up and control this mind game
Or else I will end up a stupid old man

Dig not my heals in the old men’s club
When science of Descartes takes the quantum leap
Calling it mumbo jumbo quackery they oppress
The new magic of now you see and now you don’t
Prophesies are fulfilled with the power of belief
Believe love and happiness, we get well
Believe hate and sadness, we get sick

The new science says we are all joined at the hip
The birds, trees, stones and oceans of hope
Effects have a cause so it is all linked up
So I better be mindful of what I say and do
Compassion and love for everything too
Or I will also end up a stupid old man - hell no !!

In our desperate search for truth, we cling on to explanations supposedly scientifically proven and then anchor our beliefs on them. Once we decide on such a truth, it becomes gospel and we defend it at all cost. When we are certain, we invest in this truth, build infrastructure and create empires. When we invest our time and wealth, we are entrenched and then defend this truth at all cost.

Such is this truth that matter and mind are separate. We have had 500 years of this truth and shed much blood to defend it. Now we see our folly, yet reluctantly, as we have invested too much in it. We are still shedding blood for it, like we see in the middle-east and other wars that are going around in the world.

The mind - matter separation undeniably destroys our environment and society, as we are not looking at our universe as a part of one system. As long as we live on the truth that the human is supreme, we will continue this destruction.

Yet, we have now a new generation of humans who have a more balanced view. The old truths are being questioned, especially in the industrialized world, who will be most impacted by any change for the larger good. Call them ‘cultural creatives’ or ‘tempered radicals’, they will no doubt have to and many are willing to give up a certain lifestyle they have been used to through this change.

Yet, the wealth and power lies in the hands of the ‘old men’ who cling to the old truth. The arms, oil industry and the medical establishment are their pillars.

Say to them, oil destroys the environment and they fight back. Say to them ayurveda and homeopathy is more holistic, they condemn it.

By the time we change all this it may be too late for us. The establishment maybe old but they have a lot of life in them yet.

So how do we get these old men to question these old truths?

How do we nudge them to think about this world as a part of one system ?

How do we help them to get out of their Cartesian slumber ?

Ideas are welcome !!

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CHINTHANA MAHINDA said,

May 12, 2008 @ 12:12 pm

With apologies to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

First they banned the sale of meat,
and I didn’t speak up, because I was a vegetarian.
Then they banned the sale of alcohol,
and I didn’t speak up, because I was a teetotaler.
When they shut down movie theatres,
I didn’t speak up, because I had a DVD at home.
When they censored television,
I didn’t speak up, because I didn’t watch T.V.
When they imprisoned Tamils on suspicion of being terrorists,
I didn’t speak up, because I was a Burgher.
When they shooed away the beggers and bashed up the gays,
I didn’t speak up, because I was neither gay nor a begger.
When they put away the prostitutes,
I didn’t speak up, because I was a married men who stayed cloistered at home.
I didn’t raise my voice, I didn’t make a fuss.
It’s funny there was no one left to notice, when they came for me!

For his opposition to the Nazi’s state control of the churches, Niemöller was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1937 to 1945. He narrowly escaped execution and survived imprisonment.After his imprisonment, he expressed his deep regret about not having done enough to help the victims of the Nazis.

This is the original poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Ekcol said,

May 12, 2008 @ 10:33 pm

Lalith,
Yes, JR was an old man and was stupid. But he was stupid when he was young anyway. Guess what the average age of those who implemented his policies and their average age. They were Young. Guess who campaigned to elect the Old Men. Ellalan was old, but not stupid by any yardstick. Guess who the young Turk who killed the old man. Killing an old man may get a testosterone high in the short run, but see what it led to in the long run.

There are old men who are vile and there are young men who are vile. What people do to each other is ingrained in their mind and the society in which they are brought up. The question is how do we create a system of education that would evolve a humane society? Ideals are a Rupee a dozen, but ideas are hard to come by whether it is from the Stupid Young Persons or the “Stupid Old Persons..”

Your complain of the Old Men, brings to memory what my grandmother told my brother when he teased her about her age and called her a stupid old woman. She smiled and said in Tamil,”Kavolai Vila Kurththolai Sirutchchuutham.” That is, when the Dried Palm Leaves Fall, the Shoots Laughed.

Your commentary on Truth assumes as if it is absolute. Scientific methods never permits anything to be absolute. In fact the word Truth does not exist in science. Every scientific fact have conditions under which it may be true. A fact is an event of high probability. Not a truth engraved in stone by philosophers or prophets. So don’t blame science. Blame those who misinterpret and/or misuse science. Go bark up the young trees, the old ones will be falling down soon anyway.