The attention Merchants - Tim WU

" The only communications truly without influence are those that one learns to ignore or never hears at all; this is why Jacqes Ellul argued that it is only the disconnected - rural dwellers or the urban poor - who are truly immune to propaganda, while intellectuals, who read everything, insist on having opinions, and think themselves immune to propaganda are, in fact, easy to manipulate" P48

الضربات القاتلة

 

خدعوك فقالوا أن الضربات التي لا تقتلك تجعلك أقوى ، دعوني أحدثكم عن الناجين من الضربات القاتلة :

الناجون من الضربات القاتلة يمكنهم أن يحدثوكم عن هذا الخوف الذي يلازمهم بقية حياتهم ، الخوف من اﻷيام ، الخوف من ضربة جديدة ، يمكنهم أن يحدثوكم عن كيف فقدوا الشعور باﻷمان والثقة في اﻵخرين ، وربما الثقة في أنفسهم ، الناجون من الضربات القاتلة يصابون بنوع من تبلد المشاعر ، يصبحون لا مبالين ، لا شيء يحزنهم ، لا شيء يسعدهم ، أصبحوا يعرفون جيدا حقيقة أن لا شيء يدوم ،

الناجون من الضربات القاتلة يعيشون وحيدين ، مهما كان الزحام حولهم هم يعلمون جيداً أن الجميع سيهرب من حولهم حال تلقيهم ضربة جديدة ، الضربات القاتلة يا صديقي تعلم اﻷنانية والقسوة ، الضربات القاتلة تجعلك قوياً ، لا يعرف أحد شيئا عن اﻷنقاض التي يحملها بداخله ..

- أحمد خالد توفيق

Donald Neff - Warrioirs at Suez

 كتاب "محاربون السويس" الذي يشرح التفاصيل السياسية من المنظور الاممي و الامريكي لأحداث حرب عام 1956. الكتاب يشرح بتفصيل مسهب دهاليز القرار السياسي الامريكي من دراسة ارشيف رئاسة ايزنهور

و نجد بهض معطيات من الكتاب يمكن تعميمها:

عقدة شمشون، او متلازمة الهولوكوست لا تزال حاضرة في الفكر الصهيوني. و هناك نوع من الهستيريا تنتشر في الدولة و الاعلام و الشعب حول اي تقدم في دولة مجاورة - يمكن اعتباره تهديدا للدولة العبرية. كان هذا في مصر عبد الناصر في الخمسينات و الستينات. و في الثمانينات و التسعينات كان العراق. و الان نحن مع ايران

من المدهش كم كان واضحا ان دولة اسرائيل، ضمن حدود 1947 لا يمكنها الاستمرار، الا كدولة ضعيفة. و هذا ما تم حله من خلال سلسلة من التوسعات حتى نهاية 1967. و عندها بدأ التراجع، اولا عبر سيناء, وثانيا عبر جنوب لبنان. و الان حول غزة

من الصعب ايجاد تمييز بين المعتدلين و المتشددين في المعسكر الصهيوني. فالقوة هي المسطرة التي يستخدموها. و هناك اصرار على اليد العليا. و لكن لو كانت لهم اليد العليا فمن الصعب عليهم كبح جماح النفس التوسعي. دائرة مغلقة

هناك بصيص امل في الرأي العالمي الغربي تجاه الموضوع. ربما بفعل شبكات التواصل و الهجرات العربية لأمريكا و أوربا

The theory of the leisure class - Thorestein Veblen

 Freedom from scruple, from sympathy, honesty and regard for life, may, within fairly wide limits, be said to further the success of the individual in the pecuniary culture. P137

The mechanically effective details of production and of industrial organization are delegated to subordinates of a less "practical" turn of mind, - men who are possessed of a gift for workmanship rather than administrative ability. So far as regards their tendency in shaping human nature by education and selection, the common turn of non-economic employment are to be classed with the pecuniary employments. Such are politics and ecclesiastical and military employment. P 142

The pecuniary employments have also the sanction of reputability in a much higher degree than the industrial employments. In this way the leisure-class standards of good repute come in to sustain the prestige of those aptitudes that serve the invidious purpose; and the leisure-class scheme of decorous living, therefore, also furthers the survival and culture of the predatory traits. P142 

The most immediate and unequivocal expression of that archaic human nature which characterizes man in the predatory stage is the fighting propensity proper. In cases where the predatory activity is a collective one, this propensity is frequently called the martial spirit, or , latterly, patriotism. P 151 

All this seems to argue, on one hand, that the same temperament inclines people to sports as inclines them to the anthropomorphic cults, and on the other hand that the habituation to sports, perhaps especially to athletic sports, acts to develop the propensities which find satisfaction in devout observances. Conversely; it also appears that habituation to these observances favours the growth of a proclivity for athletic sports and for all games that give play to the habit of invidious comparison and the appeal to luck.  P183  

It has already been pointed out that these latter classes, which live by, rather than in, the industrial process, are roughly comprised under two categories: (1) the leisure class proper, which is shielded from the stress of the economic situation; and (2) the indigent classes, including the lower-class delinquents, which are unduly exposed to the stress. In the case of the former class an archaic habit of mind persists because no effectual economic pressure constrains this class to an adaptation of its habits of thought to the changing situation; while in the latter the reason for the failure to adjust their habits of thought to the altered requirements of industrial efficiency is innutrition, absence of such surplus of energy as is needed in order to make the adjustment with facility, together with a lack of opportunity to acquire and become habitual to the modern point of view. The trend of the selective process runs in much the same direction in both cases. P 194

After making the allowance for exceptions and sporadic departures from the normal, the situation here at the present time may be summarised quite briefly. As a general rule the classes that are low in economic efficiency, or in intelligence, or both, are peculiarly devout, - as, for instance, the negro population of the South, much of the lower-class foreign population, much of the rural population, especially in those sections which are backward in education, in the stage of development of their industry, or in respect of their industrial contact with the rest of the community. P196

The case of the lower or doubtful leisure class in America - the middle class commonly so called - is somewhat peculiar. It differs in the respect of its devotional life from its European counterpart, but it differs in degree and method rather than in substance. The churches still have the pecuniary support of this class; although the creeds to which the class adheres with the greatest facility are relatively poor in anthropomorphic content. P196

This peculiar sexual differentiation, which tends to delegate devout observances to the women and their children, is due, at least in part, to the fact that the middle-class women are in great measure a (vicarious) leisure class. The same is true in a less degree of the women of the lower, artisan classes. They live under a regime of status handed down form an earlier stage of industrial development, and thereby they preserve a frame of mind and habits of thought which incline them to an archaic view of things generally. At the same time they stand in no such direct organic relation to the industrial process at large as would tend strongly to break down those habits of thought which, for the modern industrial purpose, are obsolete. P197

 

But the reputable nonindustrial outlets of the human propensity to action presently fail, through the advanced economic development, the disappearance of large game, the decline of war, the obsolescence of proprietary government, and the decay of priestly office. When this happens, the situation begins to change, Human life must seek expression in one direction if it may not in another; and if predatory outlets fails, relief is sought elsewhere. P206

 

 It has been well and repeatedly said by popular writers and speakers who reflect the common sense of intelligent people on questions of social structure and function that the position of woman in any community is the most striking index of the level of culture attained by the community, and it might be added, by any given class in the community. P215

 New views, new departures in scientific theory, especially new departures which touch the theory of human relations at any point, have found a place in the scheme of the university tardily and by a reluctant tolerance, rather than by a cordial welcome; and the men who have occupied themselves with such efforts to widen the scope of human knowledge have not commonly been well received by their learned contemporaries. P233

The chances of occurrence of a strong congenital or acquired bent towards the exercise of the cognitive aptitudes are apparently best in those members of the leisure class who are of lower-class or middle-class antecedents, - that is to say, those who have inherited the complement of aptitudes proper to the industrious classes, and who owe their place in the leisure class to the possession of qualities which count for more to-day than they did in the times when the leisure-class scheme of life took shape. P236 

Indeed, there can be little doubt that it is their utility as evidence of wasted time and effort, and hence of the pecuniary strength necessary in order to afford this waste, that has secured to the classics their position of prerogative in the scheme of the higher learning, and has led to their being esteemed the most honorific of all learning. P242    

  

The 25th hour, by Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu

"The nature, not merely of human affairs but of all things, is in part intermediate, and consequently a wise man, an informed man, will never absolutely commit himself. One loses face when one has committed oneself to a specific, definite future course of events.... A person in the Orient who puts himself in such a position is covered with shame, because he has disregarded what the East teaches man to believe is one of the most elementary facts about human experience and of the nature of things generally: namely, their indefiniteness and their contingency.

This belief also makes the traditional Orient suspicious of moral codes that lay down determinate, specific lines of conduct which must hold valid under all circumstances. Determinate things in the world are transitory. Hence, any rules based upon them can never be expected to hold good in all circumstances; and consequently the dying of man or sacrifice of human beings for determinate, concrete, moral precepts shows a lack of religious as well as of philosophical and scientific wisdom"

P:10 Quoting from F.S.C. Northrop

"A society which contains millions of millions of mechanical slaves and a mere two thousand million humans - even if it happens to be the humans who govern it - will reveal the characteristics of its proletarian majority. In the Roman Empire the slaves spoke, worshiped, and loved according to the customs they had brought with them from Greece, Thrace, or other occupied countries. "The mechanical slaves of our own civilization retain their characteristics and live according to the laws governing their nature... in order to make use of their mechanical slaves men are obliged to get to know them and to imitate their habits and laws. Every employer has to learn something of the language and habits of his employers to be able to give orders.... we are dehuminzing ourselves by adopting the way of life of our [mechanical] slaves... the first symptom of this dehumanization is contempt for the human being. Modern man assesses by technical standards his own value and that of his fellow men; they are replaceable component parts. Contemporary society, which number one man to every two or three dozen mechanical slaves, must be organized in such a way as to function according to technological laws. Society is now created for technological, rather than for human requirements. And that's where the tragedy begins."

"Men are suddenly being forced to live and behave according to technological laws that are foreign to them. Those who do not respect the laws of the machine - now promoted to social laws - are punished. Man, living in a minority gradually develops into a proletarian minority. He is excluded for the society to which he belongs but in which he can no longer be integrated. As a result, he grows an inferiority complex, a desire to imitate the machine and to rid himself of those specifically human characters which hold him at a distance from the center of social activity."

P:44-45

That evening the peasants gathered together in the priest's yard. They had come to ask for his advice. The Russians were already in the neighboring town. The townspeople were fleeing into the villages. Rumors of appalling atrocities were circulating: of women raped and hanged, of men shot dead in the streets.

Father Koruga came out on the veranda. The peasants all seemed troubled and uneasy.

"Strangers have become rulers of the land," he began. "They are even worse than their predecessors, because they are foreigners. But true Christians know that all dominions on this earth are hard to bear. The only real kingdom is the kingdom in heaven."

"Should we take to the forests and continue the struggle against the invader?" asked a young peasant. "What do you advise us to do?"

"The Church can never exhort men to fight for the conquest of worldly power."

"Does the Church, then, advise us to stretch out our hands in readiness for our chains?" demanded the peasant. "Does the Church expect us just to fold our arms, and stand and watch while our women are being raped and our homes burned down? Surely the Church cannot ask that of us? And if it does, then we are no longer with the Church."

The young peasants agree with him. The priest remained calm.

"Jesus Christ taught that men should submit to temporal authority. You will answer that the new rules of Romania are cruel and foreign. I know that. But the strangers who governed the land where the Son of God was born were cruel pagans, too. Remember the thousands of children slaughtered in Judea on King Herod's command after the birth of Jesus Christ. That dominion was indeed cruel, no less, perhaps, than the Communist regime. But Jesus did not rebel against it, nor did he incite others to rebellion. He said: 'Render unto Caeser the things that are Caeser's and strive to attain the kingdom of God.'"

"And you, Father, will you say prayers in church for Stalin?" asked the young peasant. "If you do, it means that you are praying for Antichrist. And we will never set foot inside your church again."

"If the rulers of the country commanded me to pray for Stalin, as I have been doing for the King, I will comply. Stalin is an atheist, I know. But atheists are human beings, for all that. Their souls are heavy with sin because they have strayed from the paths of the Christ. It is the duty of a priest to pray for the salvation of men's souls and above all for the souls of great sinners."

"You can pray for Stalin if you like, but you'll never see us in church again," said the peasant, whose name was Vasile Apostol. He went on in a hostile tone: "And if we go into the forests to fight for freedom and humanity, against the Bolsheviks, will we, too be prayed for on Sunday?"

"The priest shall pray for those who fight in the forests and in the mountains, not only on Sundays, but morning and evening, every day of the week, because the lives of those who fight are always in danger and therefore they stand in need of the prayers of the priest and of the mercy of the Holy Mother of God." A hush fell on the crowd.

"If you ever pray for us in church, you will be shot," said Vasile Apostol.

"That is not a reason why I should stop praying for you. Christians have no fear of death."

"We are going into the forests, " said Vasile. "Before we leave we should like you to bless us and celebrate Holy Communion for us. We don't know whether we'll ever come back. WE are going to fight for Christ and the Church."

"If you fight for Christ and the Church with the sword you will be committing a great sin," said the priest. "You would do better to stay at home. The Christian Church and faith are not upheld by the might of war."

"We are going to fight for Romania, which is a Christian country, " said Vasile. He began to divide the peasants into groups. Most of them, the best men in the village, had decided to take to the forest. There were also some women and boys among them. They knelt down on the grass in Father Koruga's yard. He read out a prayer from the veranda and then came down and blessed them one by one.

"Please give me your blessing, too," said George Damian, kneeling before the priest. "I am going with them to fight for humanity and freedom."

"The Church bestows its blessing upon all who ask for it," said the priest. "So long as your deeds spring from true love, you need have no fear of sin. You are on the right road."

George Damian kissed Father Koruga's hand, as the peasants had done, and then joined the groups which were heading for the forest.

In side the house the priest's wife was weeping. P208

Capitalism in the twenty first century - Piketty

"Marx took the Ricardian model of the price of capital and the principle of scarcity as the basis for more thorough analysis of the dynamics of capitalism in a world where capital was primarily industrial rather than landed property, so that in principle there was no limit to the amount of capital that could be accumulated"  P9

قصيدة: مَسِيرِي إلى لَيلِ الشّبابِ ضَلالُ الشاعر: الشريف الرضي

مَسِيرِي إلى لَيلِ الشّبابِ ضَلالُ وَشَيْبي ضِيَاءٌ في الوَرَى وَجَمَالُ

سَوَادٌ، وَلَكِنّ البَياضَ سِيَادَة ً وليل ولكن النهار جلال

وَمَا المَرْءُ قَبلَ الشّيبِ إلاّ مُهَنّدٌ صَدِيُّ، وَشَيبُ العارِضَينِ صِقَالُ

وَلَيسَ خِضَابُ المَرْءِ إلاّ تَعِلّة ً لمَنْ شَابَ مِنْهُ عَارِضٌ وَقَذالُ

وَللنّفسِ في عَجزِ الفَتى وَزِمَاعِهِ زِمَامٌ إلى مَا يَشتَهي وَعِقَالُ

بَلَوْتُ وَجَرّبْتُ الأخِلاّءَ مُدّة ً فأكثر شيءٍ في الصديق ملال

وما راقني ممن أود تملق وَلا غَرّني مِمّنْ أحِبّ وِصَالُ

وما صحبك الأدنون إلا أباعد إذا قل مال أو نبت بك حال

وَمَنْ لي بخلٍّ أرْتَضِيهِ، وَلَيْتَ لي يميناً يعاطيها الوفاءَ شمال

تَمِيلُ بيَ الدّنْيَا إلى كُلّ شَهْوَة ٍ وَأينَ مِنَ النّجْمِ البَعِيدِ مَنَالُ

وتسلبني أيدي النوائب ثروتي وَلي مِنْ عَفَافي وَالتّقَنّعِ مَالُ

إذا عزني ماء وفي القلب غلة رجعت وصبري للغليل بلال

أرَى كُلّ زَادٍ مَا خَلا سَدَّ جَوْعَة ٍ تراباً وكل الماء عندي آل

ومثلي لا يأسى على ما يقوته إذا كان عقبى ما ينال زوال

كأَنا خلقنا عرضة لمنية فنحن إلى داع المنون عجال

نَخِفُّ عَلى ظَهرِ الثَرّى ، وَبُطونُهُ عَلَينا، إذا حَلّ المَمَاتُ، ثِقَالُ

وَمَا نُوَبُ الأيّامِ إلاّ أسِنّة ٌ وَمَا ضَرّني أنّي أتَيتُ وَزَالُوا

وأنعم منا في الحيوة بهائم وَأثْبَتُ مِنّا في التّرَابِ جِبَالُ

أنا المرءُ لا عرضي قريب من العدى وَلا فيّ للبَاغي عَليّ مَقَالُ

وما العرض الأخير عضومن الفتى يُصَابُ، وَأقْوَالُ العُداة ِ نِبَالُ

وَقورٌ، فإنْ لمْ يَرْعَ حَقّيَ جَاهِلٌ سأَلت عن العوراء كيف تقال

إلى كَمْ أمشّي العِيسَ غَرْثَى كَليلَة ً وأودع منها ربرب ورئال

أرُوغُ كَأنّي في الصّبَاحِ طَرِيدَة ٌ وَأسْرِي كَأنّي في الظّلامِ خَيَالُ

تمطى بنا أذوادنال مهمة خَفَائِفَ تُخفِيهَا رُبًى وَرِمَالُ

لطمنا بأيديها الفيافي إليكم وَقَدْ دامَ إغذاذٌ، وَطَالَ كَلالُ

يَدَ الفَجْرِ في سَيفٍ جَلاهُ صِقَالُ

تُقَوِّمُ أعْنَاقَ المَطيّ نُجُومُهُ فليس لسارٍ فوقهن ضلال

وهوجاء قدام الركاب مغذة لهَا مِنْ جُلُودِ الرّازِحَاتِ نِعَالُ

رَحَلْنا بِها كَالبَدْرِ حُسْناً وَشَارَة ً وَمِلْنَا إلى البَيْداءِ، وَهيَ هِلالُ

إلَيكَ، أمِينَ اللَّهِ، وَسّمْتُ أرْضَهَا بأخفاقها يدنو بهن نقال

أيَادِي أمِيرِ المُؤمِنِينَ كَثِيرَة ٌ ومال أمام المؤمنين مذال

وأوقاته اللاتي تسوء قصيرة وَأيّامُهُ اللاّتي تَسُرّ طِوَالُ

مِنَ الضّارِبينَ الهَامَ وَالخَيلُ تَدّعي وَإنّ غَابَ أنصَارٌ وَقَلّ رِجَالُ

هُمُ القَوْمُ إنْ وَلّى المَعارِيكُ أقبَلوا وأن سئلوا بذل النوال أنالوا

وأن طرق القوم العبوس تهللوا وَإنْ مَالَتِ السُّمرُ الذّوَابِلُ مَالُوا

أُجيلُ لحاظي لا أرَى غَيرَ نَاقِصٍ كَأنّ الوَرَى نَقْصٌ وَأنْتَ كمَالُ

وَفَائِدَة ٌ لا تَنقَضِي وَنَوَالُ

وَأنْتَ الذي بَلّغْتَنَا كُلّ غَايَة ٍ لهَا فَوْقَ أعنَاقِ النّجُومِ مَجَالُ

فَمَا طَرَدَ النَّعمَاءَ وَعدُكَ سَاعَة ً ولا غض من جدوى يديك مطال

إذا قُلتَ كانَ الفِعلُ ثانيَ نُطقِهِ وخير مقال ما تلاه فعال

أزِلْ طَمَعَ الأعداءِ عَنّي بفَتْكَة ٍ فلا سلم إلا أن يطول قتال

فإن نفوس الناكثين مباحة وأن دماءَ الغادرين حلال

وَشَمّرْ، فَمَا للسّيفِ غَيرُكَ نَاصِرٌ ولا للعوالي أن قعدت مصال

وَمَنْ لي بيَوْمٍ شَاحِبٍ في عَجاجِهِ أنا بأطراف القنا وأنال

لها من غيابات الغبار جلال

أردني مراداً يقعد الناس دونه وَيَغبِطُني عَمٌّ عَلَيْهِ وَخَالُ

ولا تسمعن من حاسد ما يقوله فأكثر أقوال العدة محال

هَنَاءٌ لكَ الصّوْمُ الجَديدُ، وَلا تَزَلْ عَلَيكَ مِنَ العَيشِ الرّقيقِ ظِلالُ

وَجادَكَ مُنهَلُّ الغَمَامِ، وَصَافحتْ حِمَاكَ جَنُوبٌ غَضّة ٌ وَشَمَالُ

ولا زال من آمالنا ورجائنا عَلَيكَ، وَإنْ سَاءَ العَدُوَّ، عِيَالُ

وفي كل يوم عندنا منك عارض وعند الأعادي فيلق ونزال

أنَا القائِلُ المَحسودُ قَوْلي من الوَرَى عَلَوْتُ، وَمَا يَعلُو عَليّ مَقَالُ

ولا فرق بيني في الكلام وبينهم بشيءٍ سوى أني أقول وقالوا

فَلا زَالَ شِعرِي فيكَ وَحدَكَ كُلُّهُ ولا اضطرني إلا إليك سؤال