THIS SWAN IS GONE
So many lovely, lovely lasses I have known―
And I am speaking only of connaissance.
They grew, aspired, beamèd, lit; they flew, they shone―
And I could only harm them with my presence;
But fortunately, they were wise and bright enough
To race along and leave me there, just panting.
They dashed with life while I was left behind to cough
and sat there silently, or maybe chanting.
I am indeed pathetic; this you know too well.
I, like a fishing net, attempted spreading
Too far, was torn by sharks, died, and sent to Hell.
In fact, I’m not sure whither I was heading.
I am a swan indeed, and wish that I were gone.
My dream insists I live. And you, my dearest,
Should keep our distance safe, and in your life run on:
Some day to you I’ll once again be nearest.
春良?.12.09
Sorry, had to blow some emo-steam.
A while ago I watched some programme on Channel 8 about some isolated tribes in Papua New Guinea, with whom Westerners make contact for the first time in history. The Westerners received a rather warm welcome, and noticed the tribe people were wearing plastic beads, and were more than happy to receive Western clothes from the strange visitors. The narrator, who was also one of the group members, said, ‘Although one can’t help feeling a bit guilty for having robbed them of the innocence of nakedness [because they were walking practically naked there, wearing nothing much more than a koteka], but who are we to deprive them of the novelty of clothes?’ or something of that sort. They spoke a lot on that programme about marring their tribal uniqueness and whatnot.
I was somewhat disgusted by these silly opinions. Contact with these tribes is necessary. We easily-charmed Westerners might think in romantic terms about those supposed ‘Noble Savages’, but the thing is, they need a choice. They could choose to go dress and eat and whatnot like Westerners, or they could choose to stay in the jungle, with their own familiar and beloved customs, but the important thing is that they have a choice. Just like any other person on earth, who should be given the chance to assimilate in any culture he wish.
However, this freedom to choose one’s culture ends when violations of human rights are included. In these tribes’ case, intervention is obligatory, because of the very horrible rites of passage they perform (the anthropologists interviewed mentioned them, but didn’t specify; I can imagine what he meant―terrible wounding, possibly even penile subincision). That is one thing that should never be tolerated anywhere.
Because of this, because of the horrendous anti-gay law proposition in Uganda, and because of that fucking retard Robert Mugabe, I believe that the Mandate system should be reinstated. African countries clearly can’t run themselves yet, and I daresay some Middle Eastern countries can’t either. In fact, I’d be very glad if the Middle East went back under French Mandate (including Israel, which was under a British Mandate). Or at least someone would invest more in computerising and bringing internet to Africa.
Also, I want to say that contrary to common belief, I do not think that the natural state of human beings is fear of what they don’t know; quite the contrary―I believe at least most humans would react with amusement and curiosity. This I learn from the aforementioned tribes in Papua New Guinea, as well as from a conversation I once had with a Chinese man who’s never heard of homosexuality in his life: When I told him I’m bisexual, he was mostly amused by it instead of showing disgust. This reaction is actually more common than one may think when LGBTs get a chance to really talk to homophobes, given the homophobes aren’t exceptionally violent. The only exception might be people in positions of religious power, or old people who have grown weary of the constant change, which is, in my opinion, the natural state of the happy human.
That is, among others, the reason I am still somewhat optimistic.
I recently found a site called QuranicPath.com. The site claims that many conceptions about the Qur'án are wrong, for instance that it should be forced upon people (10:99), that men are allowed to beat their wives, that men are allowed to marry more than one wife, and that circumcision is good (it was said that God made Man in the ‘most perfect of moulds’, and that it is Satan that persuades men to alter it). So, in a sense, true Islám is better than Catholicism.
This is rather strange. Muhammad himself was married to three wives and performed FGM on one of his wives to cure her nymphomania. Does that mean that Muhammad was more of a hypocrite than Ron L. Hubbard, or whatever his name was?
After having watched a documentary about India, and having watched vids about Indian techonology and spreading of culture, and was convinced India is the future. Hence, I am reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth.
Unum Diem...
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