[lbo-talk] Re: lefties, fullfilment

Michael Dawson MDawson at pdx.edu
Wed Jan 19 09:35:20 PST 2005


I'm no Christian, but one could say equally dismissive and partial things about Buddhism, which, despite its talk about transcending the self, could be accused of being premised on selfishness. And while we're at it, in a world where the overclass sets the terms of satisfaction, how the hell can anybody tell how much the masses are "slaves to their desires?" Sloppy talk and dismissals of ordinary people will get us (and you) nowhere.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
> On Behalf Of BklynMagus
> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 9:24 AM
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: [lbo-talk] Re: lefties, fullfilment
>
> Dear List:
>
> Joanna wrote:
>
> > I called the wish for a "cushy" life infantile and suggested
> that maybe Nietzche had a point when he called Xtianity
> a slave religion, well suited to exploited, suffering people
> who did not own themselves, could not formulate personal
> aims, and could see nothing better than "eternal rest."
>
> Joanna is right. To crave a cushy life is merely to give into
> one's desires and be a perpetual infant, only craving to be
> continuously satisfied.
>
> >From this desire arises philosophies such as Chuck0's: no
> work, no moralism, all pleasure. Chuck0's saying that
> he "likes violence and destruction" is a direct consequence
> of the desire for continual satisfaction: as reality continues
> to oppose this desire, ever more desperate attempts are
> made to bring reality to heel. Finally, the rebuffed hedonist
> resorts to violence and destruction to get his way. Of
> course, if others, also pursuing their own paths of continual
> pleasure, use violence against her, she is outraged and
> condemns such barbaric practices.
>
> Modern people are no longer slaves to Christianity, but now
> are slaves to their desires. In either case, they are still
> slaves and not masters of their destinies.
>
> > Modern man under capitalism is not in much better shape.
> Still a slave, still wishing for rest, still unable to conceive how
> meeting life half-way through some sort of actual engagement
> might trump the eternal tit.
>
> But modern people can never escape the tyranny of the tit
> since they celebrate this tyranny as the greatest of freedoms.
>
> Brian Dauth
> Queer Buddhist Resister
>
>
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