Political Language and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists ­ is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind.

­ George Orwell

When we got into office, the thing that surprised me the most was that things were as bad as we'd been saying they were.

­John F. Kennedy









Fragments from the site entitled:
Under Construction / Deconstruction










Images are not arguments, rarely even lead to proof, but the mind craves them, and, of late more than ever, the keenest experimenters find twenty images better than one, especially if contradictory; since the human mind has already learned to deal in contradictions.

-Henry Brooks Adams [1907]




Money doesn't exist . . . Really. It's an implied contract, enforced by shared practice.

It works because we believe it works. We all believe so deeply that money exists because it works. It is a focus of desire. It rewards so. It must be real.

But . . . if someone came up to you with a thick accent and a royally theatrical demeanor said, "I give you 20,000 Czoteks for that mere Diet Coke which you so soon to be drinking."

"Here be the Czoteks" He hands you a thick wad of bills with pictures of royalty you don't know and buildings you don't recognize.

Now he's insistently demanding, "Zeees eees 20,000 Czoteks. Here take for mere Diet Coke. Give to me."

So, what are 20,000 Czoteks worth? A Diet Coke? Your car?

You have no faith in the money.

It doesn't work.

You don't know it has value, or what that value is.

It's just like faith in God, money is.

You believe, it works. You don't, it don't.

God and money are both implied contracts.

They are the object of desire.
They reward so.
They must be real.

People consider them when making decisions:
"Which would make more money?"
"What would Jesus do?"

In the end, they both account for things which can't be explained. They form a basis for transacting trust between individuals and groups. They are the mortar of civilization and the inspiration for joy and murder.

They are both real . . . as real as things get when people share a belief.





[Bracket Bracket] is Paul Smedberg's idea of a good time. We wonder about Paul sometimes, especially when we know he wrote this text. As my grandfather used to say, "It's alright to talk to yourself, as long as you don't answer."

Yeah, right!

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Copyright 1998 by Paul Smedberg