Greed, Corruption and Hedonism are the root evils of our day. The power they hold on the individual and, consequently, over our society is the most vivid example of contemporary self-sustainability that we can witness.
Jointly, the 3 evils are responsible for myriad negative repercussions including environmental and social decay. Famine, disease, poverty and the systematic destruction of family values and moral values that were once at the heart of society's anchorage on happiness and contentment are but a few reflections of this seemingly indestructible vicious cycle where the powerful strengthen their hold over a weakened individual through the promotion of ephemeral and amoral self-satisfaction as the maxim for contentment.
Meanwhile, we who cherish personal Virtue and Honour under a meritocratic system as the only means of achieving a sustainable society feel powerless before the daily assault that the media brings into our homes and that politicians bring into our lives. Only through Hope and Faith can we believe that one day Virtue can prevail over Greed.
Monday, 19 December 2011
Friday, 2 December 2011
On Tough Times and Desperate Measures
About tough times and desperate measures: People often forget that when they bear themselves poorly in a time of crisis, they are remembered for it when things are good again.
The business environment the world over has gone into "ethical flexibility" mode and the full array of dirty tricks is out there. 10 out of 10 corporations are trying to manufacture "just in time" in a ludicrous attempt to cut stocking costs. 10 out of 10 of them have cut jobs and replaced experienced personnel with cheap newbies and generated great internal insecurity and numerous operational errors. 10 out of 10 corporate customers create lame excuses to delay payments sometimes as long as 90 or 120 days. 10 out of 10 large corporations are crying "wolf" and pressuring their suppliers for price-cuts and short delivery lead-times.
It seems that short sightedness still prevails in a world that strives to deal with the repercussions of short-term profits and other unsustainable devices to create "easy money". When will business managers understand that there is no magic wand in business? There's no Harry Potter in the supply chain that will shorten a lead-time of 8 weeks into one of 5 days. If you can't plan ahead, close shop. Industry is not for you.
A deal is only good insofar people get paid a just ammount for what they do and what they offer. Business is only sustainable when there is some level of order and trust. Without honour and a good dose of common sense, everything collapses.
The business environment the world over has gone into "ethical flexibility" mode and the full array of dirty tricks is out there. 10 out of 10 corporations are trying to manufacture "just in time" in a ludicrous attempt to cut stocking costs. 10 out of 10 of them have cut jobs and replaced experienced personnel with cheap newbies and generated great internal insecurity and numerous operational errors. 10 out of 10 corporate customers create lame excuses to delay payments sometimes as long as 90 or 120 days. 10 out of 10 large corporations are crying "wolf" and pressuring their suppliers for price-cuts and short delivery lead-times.
It seems that short sightedness still prevails in a world that strives to deal with the repercussions of short-term profits and other unsustainable devices to create "easy money". When will business managers understand that there is no magic wand in business? There's no Harry Potter in the supply chain that will shorten a lead-time of 8 weeks into one of 5 days. If you can't plan ahead, close shop. Industry is not for you.
A deal is only good insofar people get paid a just ammount for what they do and what they offer. Business is only sustainable when there is some level of order and trust. Without honour and a good dose of common sense, everything collapses.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
On the Role of Parents
Children need time to play and excercise creativity. They need support from their parents in this process of self discovery and awareness of the world. They don't need mobile phones, designer clothes, trips and fancy toys to reassure them of parental love.
Likewise, a youth needs to discover that privilege and rights come with responsibilities.They need support to understand that study encompasses prospects. They need to understand causality and consequence. They don't need self-discovery trips, fancy cars and new gadgets.
What parents must realise is that their role in an insane world is one of austerity and example, sanity and common sense. Alas, this same sense of responsibility falls prey to the "pressures of modern life". The decision to give your child what he/she needs comes with the inescapable criticism of those who choose career and convenience over responsibility, as does the decision to build your life around virtue and conscience as opposed to possession and vanity.
Good parents must show conviction simply by keeping true to their choice to become parents.
Likewise, a youth needs to discover that privilege and rights come with responsibilities.They need support to understand that study encompasses prospects. They need to understand causality and consequence. They don't need self-discovery trips, fancy cars and new gadgets.
What parents must realise is that their role in an insane world is one of austerity and example, sanity and common sense. Alas, this same sense of responsibility falls prey to the "pressures of modern life". The decision to give your child what he/she needs comes with the inescapable criticism of those who choose career and convenience over responsibility, as does the decision to build your life around virtue and conscience as opposed to possession and vanity.
Good parents must show conviction simply by keeping true to their choice to become parents.
Friday, 4 November 2011
Monday, 24 October 2011
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Don't Be Ashamed to Serve
Don't ever be ashamed to serve. Contrary to popular belief, service onto others is what dignifies a man. It is easy to serve yourself. It is easy to provide service in exchange for profit. Yet it is in selfless service that we can transcend our petty instincts and our greed. It is through the help we lend others that we prove ourselves more than mere animals.
Monday, 26 September 2011
Will Simpler Days Return?
I remember a time when Society rewarded virtue and hard work.
It was a simpler time. We wouldn’t worry about the truth of things. The world economy was less fraudulent. Governments were less corrupt and less open about their corruption. The suffering of other people was not made into a manipulative novella for the news broadcasts. I didn’t have to worry about the content of TV shows. I knew my neighbor by name and children could play on the streets. We were who we were, and buying a new car or a new trip to Timbuktu didn’t make us better people in the eyes of those who knew us.
Evil lurked in the dark. It didn’t show itself in the bright light of day like it does nowadays.
It was a simpler time. We wouldn’t worry about the truth of things. The world economy was less fraudulent. Governments were less corrupt and less open about their corruption. The suffering of other people was not made into a manipulative novella for the news broadcasts. I didn’t have to worry about the content of TV shows. I knew my neighbor by name and children could play on the streets. We were who we were, and buying a new car or a new trip to Timbuktu didn’t make us better people in the eyes of those who knew us.
Evil lurked in the dark. It didn’t show itself in the bright light of day like it does nowadays.
Friday, 15 July 2011
On Divorce, Gay Marriage, Cohabitation etc.
My thoughts about the flexibilisation of marriage bonds and the true meaning of marriage:
If something is wrong, even if everybody else is doing it, it's still wrong; and, if something is right, even if nobody else is doing it anymore, it's still right. Like St. Thomas More, it is better to follow a conscience properly formed by God's revelation and the teaching of his Church, even if it is unpopular, even if it is politically incorrect and even if clashes with the King's demands to re-define marriage.
It is better to be hated for your honest views than to corrupt the truth.
If something is wrong, even if everybody else is doing it, it's still wrong; and, if something is right, even if nobody else is doing it anymore, it's still right. Like St. Thomas More, it is better to follow a conscience properly formed by God's revelation and the teaching of his Church, even if it is unpopular, even if it is politically incorrect and even if clashes with the King's demands to re-define marriage.
It is better to be hated for your honest views than to corrupt the truth.
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Absolute Pragmatism = Complete Cruelty
It is insufficient in the human mind to accept any code of ethics without a greater value to support it.
We are intelligent enough to interpret and decide what is and what isn't convenient for us, and we are egotistical enough to bend the rules to our advantage whenever it suits us. This often results in our stepping over the rights of other people (and of other beings) in order to achieve our goals.
Therein lays the danger of our time: Absolute pragmatism and fanatical secularism lead to that exact outcome of wanton cruelty, irresponsibility and heartlessness.
That is why religion/spirituality is of utmost importance to any society.
We are intelligent enough to interpret and decide what is and what isn't convenient for us, and we are egotistical enough to bend the rules to our advantage whenever it suits us. This often results in our stepping over the rights of other people (and of other beings) in order to achieve our goals.
Therein lays the danger of our time: Absolute pragmatism and fanatical secularism lead to that exact outcome of wanton cruelty, irresponsibility and heartlessness.
That is why religion/spirituality is of utmost importance to any society.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Do You Love Your Car?
Do you love your car? Do you love it more than life itself? I ask because it may well come to that.
Private automobiles are responsible for the gratest portion of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. In other words, cars make up for the greatest portion of pollution entering your lungs and contributing to climate-change in the global environment.
Why do we keep to cars then? Is it because they are so indispensable? No. We love them because we were taught that they provide us with social status, with convenince and principally because we take pleasure in owning them. Other than that, the automobiles are a readily replaceable solution for private/public transportation; though our societies have come to depend much on them.
For instance, the obsolescence of the private automotive transportation model for great urban centres is obvious to anyone who gets stuck in traffic on a daily basis. What's missing both in governments and in the general gender is the courage to change.
Private automobiles are responsible for the gratest portion of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. In other words, cars make up for the greatest portion of pollution entering your lungs and contributing to climate-change in the global environment.
Why do we keep to cars then? Is it because they are so indispensable? No. We love them because we were taught that they provide us with social status, with convenince and principally because we take pleasure in owning them. Other than that, the automobiles are a readily replaceable solution for private/public transportation; though our societies have come to depend much on them.
For instance, the obsolescence of the private automotive transportation model for great urban centres is obvious to anyone who gets stuck in traffic on a daily basis. What's missing both in governments and in the general gender is the courage to change.
Friday, 13 May 2011
Balance
Good begets good. Despair brings hopelessness. Violence responds to violence. Evil begets evil. Such is the balance that the cosmos uses in order to drive away chaos.
This may be an indirect cosmic relation to our individual actions, but it makes us personally responsible for the reality that will greet our children when they arrive.
Our deeds are the wind that blows into the sails of our Society and selfless service onto others is what makes a man noble beyond his animal nature.
This may be an indirect cosmic relation to our individual actions, but it makes us personally responsible for the reality that will greet our children when they arrive.
Our deeds are the wind that blows into the sails of our Society and selfless service onto others is what makes a man noble beyond his animal nature.
True Democracy
Language is the only true expression of Democracy.
You can be a scholar and write grammar books, you can teach syntax and pronunciation, you can be a erudite linguist and a literate, but in the end, whatever people want to say goes.
If most people say something, even if completely new or grammatically incorrect, it goes into a dictionary and becomes the rule.
Here's Mankind's greatest democratic achievement.
You can be a scholar and write grammar books, you can teach syntax and pronunciation, you can be a erudite linguist and a literate, but in the end, whatever people want to say goes.
If most people say something, even if completely new or grammatically incorrect, it goes into a dictionary and becomes the rule.
Here's Mankind's greatest democratic achievement.
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Cosmic Balance
Good begets good. Despair brings hopelessness. Violence responds to violence. Evil begets evil. Such is the balance that the cosmos uses in order to drive away chaos.
This may be an indirect cosmic relation to our individual actions, but it is an existent one nonetheless. It makes us personally responsible for the environment we jointly generate. It makes us privy to the winds that blow at the sails of our Society, and it makes us responsible for the reality that will greet our children when they come.
Selfless service onto others is what makes a man noble beyond his animal nature.
This may be an indirect cosmic relation to our individual actions, but it is an existent one nonetheless. It makes us personally responsible for the environment we jointly generate. It makes us privy to the winds that blow at the sails of our Society, and it makes us responsible for the reality that will greet our children when they come.
Selfless service onto others is what makes a man noble beyond his animal nature.
Monday, 11 April 2011
The criminal thrives in Society's leniency and the greedy thrive in Society's intemperance.
In a world where success is judged only by the accumulation of material wealth, anything goes as far as you have the chinks to show everyone you can. Questionable characters become heroes, entertainers become symbols and football players become millionaires in order that tycoons may be powerful.
Meanwhile, our forests become deserts, our seas become goo and the future of our offspring become darker and darker.
In a world where success is judged only by the accumulation of material wealth, anything goes as far as you have the chinks to show everyone you can. Questionable characters become heroes, entertainers become symbols and football players become millionaires in order that tycoons may be powerful.
Meanwhile, our forests become deserts, our seas become goo and the future of our offspring become darker and darker.
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Never Lose Hope
In a world of "instant information", it is easy for us to dispair amid news of pain and suffering. The world is a vast place after all, and in it there are myriad problems, persecutions, greedynesses, wars and sufferings. The news media thrives in doomsday announcements and they would have us sunk into despair and hoplessness.
It is indeed sad that there is so much injustice, yet every period of human history has had overcome grave problems. Though we must address them, we must also never lose hope.
We must also be reminded that where there is injustice, there are also those who fight it and promote justice. Where there is suffering, there is also joy. Where there is evil, there is where good will overcome it. Every environmental problem is an opportunity for us to prove ourselves worthy of this goodly gift, the Earth.
The chief characteristic of every Christian is to respond to the challenges of the world with hopeful hearts and true faith. Act where you can, and trust in God to bestow you, and others like you, with the strength to do it.
It is indeed sad that there is so much injustice, yet every period of human history has had overcome grave problems. Though we must address them, we must also never lose hope.
We must also be reminded that where there is injustice, there are also those who fight it and promote justice. Where there is suffering, there is also joy. Where there is evil, there is where good will overcome it. Every environmental problem is an opportunity for us to prove ourselves worthy of this goodly gift, the Earth.
The chief characteristic of every Christian is to respond to the challenges of the world with hopeful hearts and true faith. Act where you can, and trust in God to bestow you, and others like you, with the strength to do it.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Persistence
The body is broken, the mind is tired, but the spirit will endure and pull me through. Faced with obstacles, one does beyond his best. One must do what is necessary to the welfare of those he loves.
We do our part and trust in God to see us through.
We do our part and trust in God to see us through.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Law and Conscience
Society and governments should construe according to the law, but the individual must construe according to his own conscience; for he is answerable before God not to Society or governments, but according to the virtue of being consistent with his conscience.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Ignorance is Bliss
It has been said: "Ignorance is bliss." Sometimes I do feel that learning about all the bad and evil in the world through the news media simply makes you feel powerless and does no good either to you or to those who suffer.
Life is indeed much, much more than floods, droughts, war and misery seen through the screen of a TV set. It has flavour and it has joy if you allow yourself to experience it.
Want to do something about the suffering of others? Good! Join the local peace corps or the Red Cross or be a volunteer in your local parish to help the homeless and the needy.
Be that as it may, never forget you have people who love you. Devote yourself to them every chance you get and allow life to fill your heart with joy.
Life is indeed much, much more than floods, droughts, war and misery seen through the screen of a TV set. It has flavour and it has joy if you allow yourself to experience it.
Want to do something about the suffering of others? Good! Join the local peace corps or the Red Cross or be a volunteer in your local parish to help the homeless and the needy.
Be that as it may, never forget you have people who love you. Devote yourself to them every chance you get and allow life to fill your heart with joy.
Monday, 24 January 2011
What Have We Gained?
The XXI century sucks! I would trade all the technological wonders that we have achieved as a species for half the humanity we have sacrificed to do it.
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