On seeing his son the first time, a man’s life has cast upon it all at once the most enduring complexity and serene simplicity imaginable. For the tide of his triumph I live, by the tide of his triumph I fall.
Formidable machines indeed…
The glances of women are like certain apparently peaceful, but really formidable, machines. You pass them every day quietly, with impunity, and without suspicion of danger. There comes a moment when you forget even that they are there. You come and go, you muse and talk and laugh. Suddenly you feel that you are seized; it is done. The wheels have caught you, the glance has captured you. It has taken you, no matter how or where, by any portion whatever of your thought which was trailing. Through any absence of mind, you are lost. You will be drawn in entirely. A chain of mysterious forces has gained possession of you. You struggle in vain; no human succor is possible. You will be drawn down, from wheel to wheel, from anguish to anguish, from torture to torture. You, your mind, your fortune, your future, your soul; and, you will not escape from the terrible machine until, according as you are in the power of a malevolent nature, or a noble heart, you will be disfigured by shame, or transfigured by love.
Les Misérables - Volume III: Book Sixth, Chapter VI (Wilbour Translation)
I’m on a brief hiatus from writing due to time and energy constraints. Instead of longer posts, I’ve been posting links on Facebook and jotting notes on topics that come to mind for future posts.
My second son Ben was born on October 23rd and, quite honestly, we’ve had our hands full! The mental/physical transition from one child to two is quite different from the transition to your first child - in some aspects easier, in others however, almost inconceivably more difficult.
The experience from our first instilled a sense of confidence that made the delivery, first days, and transition home much less stressful. We knew there would be limited sleep, lots of newborn diapers, and the overwhelming joy of new life. We knew how to hold the baby to support his neck, but also that he wasn’t made of fragile glass. We knew we didn’t have to check his breathing every 4 minutes around the clock - short of an abnormal occurrence, he’d be ok.
The biggest adjustment for me has been the mental realignment required to re-prioritize one’s time, dedication and energy to what feels like two priorities which both seem to warrant being first. I’ve become completely dedicated to an intense relationship with my son, now I have to chop up my thoughts and energy to be divided amongst another human whose development and friendship is also a tremendous value. We’ve struggled with the realization that our time will now be allocated towards the development of two humans, which means A) our oldest son cannot continue to receive the dedication he’s enjoyed until now, and B) our new son cannot receive the same level that our first did. Seems like a loss for all parties until you realize the long-term benefits to all. Teaching a child to think is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things I’ve ever done, but it takes lots of time and patience to be done correctly. The biggest tradeoff with multiple children is the cost that each one will get less parental energy, with the reward being the companionship of a sibling.
I suspect we’ll see some almost synergistic learning between the two when they get older, and that potential offset is comforting. Most importantly, our boys will be separated by only two years so they’ll very likely be close friends - this is the ultimate reward for the current parent sharing reality.
Becoming a parent brought focus to many new perspectives of my view of man, life, love and human joy. So many common misconceptions about the human mind, learning, knowledge and human nature are revealed as wholly fallacious when you witness first-first hand a child’s transition from the clean-slate of infancy to an individual driven by an insatiable quest to understand and master the world around him.
The expression which I find most endearing, and symbolic of man’s purpose, is that of my son grasping knowledge. The passage below eloquently identifies that expression as well as its significance in a much wider context.
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal : Ch. 24 - Requiem For Man
I will ask you to project the look on a child’s face when he grasps the answer to some problem he has been striving to understand. It is a radiant look of joy, of liberation, almost of triumph, which is unself-conscious, yet self-assertive, and its radiance seems to spread in two directions: outward, as an illumination of the world—inward, as the first spark of what is to become the fire of an earned pride. If you have seen this look, or experienced it, you know that if there is such a concept as “sacred” - meaning: the best, the highest possible to man - this look is the sacred, the not-to-be-betrayed, the not-to-be-sacrificed for anything or anyone.
This look is not confined to children. Comic-strip artists are in the habit of representing it by means of a light-bulb flashing on, above the head of a character who has suddenly grasped an idea. In simple, primitive terms, this is an appropriate symbol: an idea is a light turned on in a man’s soul.
It is the steady, confident reflection of that light that you look for in the faces of adults - particularly of those to whom you entrust your most precious values. You look for it in the eyes of a surgeon performing an operation on the body of a loved one; you look for it in the face of a pilot at the controls of the plane in which you are flying; and, if you are consistent, you look for it in the person of the man or woman you marry.
That light-bulb look is the flash of a human intelligence in action; it is the outward manifestation of man’s rational faculty; it is the signal and symbol of man’s mind. And, to the extent of your humanity, it is involved in everything you seek, enjoy, value, or love. [emphasis mine]
It is precisely that spark of light that is misunderstood, neglected, and under assault from every cultural front today. That spark is what life is all about. That spark keeps a man alive. Man can benefit tremendously from human relationships, but his core existence is driven from and towards that spark. Meaningful relationships, i.e., ones based on explicitly identified common values, are only possible as derivative manifestations of that spark.
Not only have those who evade, ignore or are oblivious to “the look” missed what I consider the most valuable thread of life, they’re also the ones leading the assault, either directly or by ignorant default, against man, against man’s mind, against joy, against life.
It’s those who, never knowing the spark or all that it leads to, resort to force when dealing with others - uncivilized misfits stuck in a civilized society.
When men hold differing opinions, effective communication of rational ideas is a civilized form of persuasion, whereas an anonymous late-night call threatening my 8-month pregnant wife that her husband should “watch what he writes on the internet” is not.
History illustrates it is precisely those individuals who resort to the latter that have always endeavored to destroy those embodied by the former - and despite centuries of human progress, it’s obvious there are still those who’ve failed to rise above a barbarians view of existence.
For me to abandon usage of the only proper tool of persuasion available to a civilized man - rational communication - would constitute a betrayal of my principles, a surrender my values, and a failure to protect myself and my loved ones from cultural (and inevitably physical) assault.
Given our present course, there will likely be a time where brute force will suppress opposing ideals; and when that time comes, if keeping my views to myself might enable our escape then I’ll do so - but as long as there’s still a chance to escape that desperate reality; I’ll continue to foster the spark in man, I’ll continue to speak, I’ll continue to clown ignorance and those who enable it, I’ll stand by every word, and I’ll defend myself and my family by any means necessary.
Work:
I’ve stayed pretty much heads-down in programming over the past few weeks… hopefully things will slow down towards the end of this week. I ended up developing a full Java-based SQL parser that generates ad-hoc model objects for complex queries. The persistence framework now supports standard one-to-one entity/table OR’ish generation and the “sql2java” utility will handle any cross-sectional data that transcend table boundaries, but don’t align wholly with full relational objects, i.e., “Select two columns from every table”. The generation tool just takes the tedium out of setting up such data views. I’ve also templatized support for most of the prevalent MVC-type api’s. Essentially, you point the tool at a schema, generate the entities, generate any cross-sectional models, specify which front-end, and push the go-button. The result is end-to-end CRUD and precise finders for all entities and read-only views of the sectional models. Technically, ~75% of a java based web application will be up and running - depending on how fancy the front-end is.
Music
It’s Galax week. I’ll be heading up for an afternoon or two. Five years ago, I’d be burning a week of vacation to go Monday-Sunday and play music 10-12 hours a day until my fingers literally cramped to a halt - this year I’ll be totally content with a few hours total. Life changes.
Culture
Lots of stuff going on with health care “reform” and economy… none of it good. ;] The only positive I can cite is that it *seems* that more people are waking up to the deadly threat facing us with socialized medicine. Of course the growing objection is only on practical grounds, but this starting point creates a chance talk about the more important moral case for objection. That conversation gets a lot more interesting.
Home
Sam has changed. The first signs of a new sense of independence and freewill caught me a bit off guard. The ubiquitous terrible-twos are here I’m afraid. After seeing him transition into this phase, I’m convinced that all kids reach a point where their expressive cognition exceeds their language and reasoning. How long they stay in this phase and to what extent they actually escape it is largely due to how we as parents navigate the storm.
We’ve established very structured and consistent boundaries with Sam from the beginning and that work is already paying off. He has melt-downs, but in just about every case he can be reasoned out of the mindset. He does very well with either-or negotiations - binary reasoning. An example from a recent melt over leaving our shoes (flip-flops) on at the pool.
Mom/Dad: Either we take our shoes off, or we leave the swimming pool - your choice… but those are the only two options.Sam: Shoes off….
The options have to be reasonable, and more importantly, they have to be absolute. To abandon the established options, e.g., allowing shoes in the pool, is a recipe for terror.
I find his ability to manage and accept this type of communication very promising.
This July 4th brings unprecedented significance. It’s not that I’ve taken the American essence for granted, but that only in recent years have I formed a sense for how far we’ve strayed from our roots – and how few realize it. The fourth is the holiday for those who love life and freedom and I’ve never granted it proper acknowledgment, appropriate consideration or adequate participation.
All cliché’s aside, today’s America is a fading remnant of its splendorous infancy. We’re marching full-throttle into the stagnant misery associated with every collectivist nation throughout history, and we mostly just bicker about the trivial details along the way.
No longer does America stand for the individual – but the collective. No longer does an individual have the right to contract as he sees fit, to deal and trade with others as voluntary entities to mutual benefit – but must ask the state’s permission and guidelines for virtually every step of daily barter. No longer do individuals enjoy the security of property rights – but must fear that at any moment the statist grip might reign down and seize at will. No longer do we value objectivity in our courts – but champion diversity and compassion. No longer do bad decisions affect only the responsible parties – but the results are forced on all. No longer do we accept the notion that freedom enables individuals the potential to offend – but we strive to legally gag and bound any thought, word or action that might be offensive. No longer does the rule of law stand to protect individual rights – but embodies the primary culprit trampling them.
Let’s be clear – this is certainly not a partisan rant. Yes, the current central-planning administration is forcing horribly destructive policies on this country, but theirs is merely the foremost layer of putrid icing on a cake baking in the statist oven for the past 100 years. At best, the alternate candidate (current and previous administrations) might have possibly been marginally better in a few areas, but unlikely to offer any essential difference. Each would be equally prone to enact the same destructive policies, differing only in minor details. Those who contend that their party is not responsible should check their premises and consult history.
For us to return to the society achieved by our founders, America must resort to her roots. We must resurrect that spark of individual motivation, intuition and responsibility that underlined a nation of laws not men. We must discard the notion that mans purpose is to live for the sake of others. We must abandon the premise that the individual is subordinate to the state. We must reestablish the right and honor of parents to education their children. We must reject the premise that one man is entitled to any portion of the life of another, for any reason. We must get the state out of our schools, hospitals, businesses, cars, homes, minds, and bedrooms. We must realize that theft is morally wrong, whether committed by one man against another or by congressional committee according to consensus. We must return to the era of individual rights.
There are tremendously harmful movements currently in place; the final step in socialized medicine (we’re pretty much there already), gigantic steps to impose environmental regulations on individuals and businesses (potent enough to destroy a healthy economy and deadly to a crippled one), and the continued crusade to disarm American citizens; all pose very serious threats to the existence of this country as we know it – all are diametrically opposed to the founding principles of this nation.
Now is most certainly not the time to be passive, polite or complacent. Now is not the time to ‘turn the other cheek’. The contrasting ideals facing this country are not merely differences of opinion; they are life changing, way-of-life changing, nation-crumbling historical missteps. We are at a crossroad and currently pointing to a very dark place that will leave us yearning for the past.
The individuals who thought, fought and died for this country are responsible for the most glorious achievement in the history of man - glorious precisely because America is the only country founded on the moral basis of individual rights. Individual rights are the only possible basis and the logical underpinning for any system considered under the context of freedom. Our founders had the wisdom and forethought to devise a social structure based on these rights and the sense to realize that such a nation was worth fighting for. To these men, not only was it worth abandonment from their family, everyday routine, and livelihood, it was worth the price of their life – and not as a selfless sacrifice, but as a refusal to live under an inferior system.
The system they envisioned was and still is the only one suitable for proper human existence – where man has the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness, and with Government’s only proper role as the protector of those rights.
From now on I’ll meet the 4th with the earnest reverence it demands. And now more than ever, we must diligently consider our country’s path and the issues that face us through the lens of our founding ideals and in the context of individual rights. I urge any of you who value life, freedom and joy to do the same. We simply cannot continue our current route – reality cannot be evaded.
Very seldom do I encounter excellence in-person. It’s rare to meet that individual that leaves you in solemn acknowledgment that some people do strive to summon the best within them; the type that gets so intimately lost in their work that it actually becomes an extension of their existence, under full introspective control.
On Wednesday, I met such an individual. Erin Sage, an obviously prodigenic enthusiast of photography, lent her undivided attention towards the effort of enabling two entranced parents an opportunity to etch their unparalleled era of happiness into memory. She carries an instantly conspicuous manner of warmth and familiarity that becomes insolent once you realize that you’ve just met her.
Her ability to wrangle and seize the essence of the moment demands attention. In a manner that seemed to defy all existential boundaries, she’s bent on finding the right angle, distance and mood to grab a split-second drop of life. Granted, the subject of this engagement offers little in the way of aesthetic obstacles, Erin managed to capture a perception of joy and beauty that must typically evade sensation.
This quote from The Fountainhead comes to mind:
“He had always wanted to write music, and he could give no other identity to the thing he sought.If you want to know what it is, he told himself, listen to the first phrases of Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto–or to the last movement of Rachmaninoff’s Second. Men have not found the words for it nor the deed nor the thought, but they have found the music. Let me see that in one single act of man on earth. Let me see it made real. Let me see the answer to the promise of that music. Not servants nor those served; not altars and immolations; but the final, the fulfilled, innocent of pain.
Don’t help me or serve me, but let me see it once, because I need it. Don’t work for my happiness, my brothers–show me yours–show me that it is possible–show me your achievement–and the knowledge will give me courage for mine.”
I will indefinitely hold her work not only as a persisted tribute to the love and value that Sam adds to my life, but as a vivid reminder of what talented, driven and passionate individuals are able to achieve.
Tom Sowell’s random thoughts are always worth reading.
I am so old that I can remember when music was musical.
Now that the federal government says that it will stand behind the warranties on General Motors’ automobiles, does that make you more likely or less likely to buy a car from GM? If you were a rising young executive with a promising future, would you be more likely or less likely to go to work for a company where politicians can fire you?
We have become such suckers for words that politicians can spend our tax money like a drunken sailor, provided they call it “investment.” At least the drunken sailor is spending his own money but people look down on him because he doesn’t call it “investment.”
Barack Obama seems determined to repeat every disastrous mistake of the 1930s, at home and abroad. He has already repeated Herbert Hoover’s policy of raising taxes on high income earners, FDR’s policy of trying to micro-manage the economy and Neville Chamberlain’s policy of seeking dialogues with hostile nations while downplaying the dangers they represent.
We seem to be moving steadily in the direction of a society where no one is responsible for what he himself did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did, either in the present or in the past.
You should read the whole thing.
I urge everyone to abstain from showing support, or even projecting an indifferent consideration, of the anti-life, anti-man, anti-capitalist “Earth Hour” movement.
As rational alternatives, I suggest these counter-movements that celebrate life, man, reason, capitalism, prosperity and joy.
I finally gave in to the most recent reindeer game on Facebook. This turned out to be an enjoyable effort.
