Why I probably can´t become a Buddhist. Not even a Pure Land Buddhist.
Friday, May 22, 2026
Another kind of resignation
Everyone (sometimes secretely) hopes that everything will simply go back to Normality when the Republicans are defeated in the upcoming US midterm elections. Or at the very latest when Gavin Newsom becomes POTUS in 2028.
Maybe. But what if *nothing changes*? What if Trump´s "isolationist" or "multi-polar" orientation isn´t a temporary aberration, but an objective necessity? He is pursuing that course very erratically, to be sure, but what if the course itself is baked into the cake at this point?
After all, Biden´s administration had all kinds of conflicts even with America´s allies, including the UK and France. And when Russia attacked Ukraine, Biden urged caution. Or compare Biden´s debacle in Afghanistan (c/o Trump) with Trump´s debacle in the Persian Gulf. The Biden admin was confrontational with China, as had Trump Mark 1. They even promoted the Wuhan lab leak theory!
In the background, we have the national debt crisis in the United States. Or the BRICS anti-dollarization moves. And what if oil and gas prices won´t go back to normal?
What if the United States will prove incapable of shouldering the fiscal and military burdens of defending Europe against Russia or its East Asian allies against China? What if Democrats or Neo-Cons simply can´t restore the status quo before, say, 2016? Even if Russia is weakened by some kind of decisive setback in Ukraine, it´s still not obvious that this will strengthen the "rules-based liberal world order". Maybe it will simply strengthen China. I can see them (pro)claiming a Co-Prosperity Sphere in Siberia and the Russian Far East!
Add to this the enormous problems in building new nuclear power plants or sustaining the AI-related data centers. I would glady trade the latter for the former, but what if even that won´t work? And then there´s the creeping demographic crisis, problems surrounding migration, new pandemics, and so on.
Maybe the world around 2040 will look pretty much the same no matter which political factions takes over post-Trump: a Potemkin America, a Russian Time of Troubles, a French-dominated Euro-Canadian alliance, and a very shaky Beijing-centric "new world order". And underneath this, large masses of African migrants and refugees...and perhaps some crazy rich White men trying to "geo-engineer" the atmosphere.
In case you wonder why I´m not *that* optimistic about the next 15 years. But sure, I could be wrong. I mean, Paul Ehrlich couldn´t predict the cost of tungsten, right?
Devi Suktam
1. I TRAVEL with the Rudras and the Vasus, with the Adityas and All-Gods I wander. I hold aloft both Varuna and Mitra, Indra and Agni, and the Pair of Asvins.
2. I cherish and sustain high-swelling Soma, and Tvastar I support, Pusan, and Bhaga. I load with wealth the zealous sacrificer who pours the juice and offers his oblation.
3. I am the Queen, the gatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful, first of those who merit worship. Thus Gods have stablished me in many places with many homes to enter and abide in.
4. Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them,-each man who sees, breathes, hears the word outspoken. They know it not, but yet they dwell beside me. Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it.
5. I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that Gods and men alike shall welcome. I make the man I love exceeding mighty, make him a sage, a Risi, and a Brahman.
6. I bend the bow for Rudra that his arrow may strike and slay the hater of devotion. I rouse and order battle for the people, and I have penetrated Earth and Heaven.
7. On the world's summit I bring forth the Father: my home is in the waters, in the ocean. Thence I extend o'er all existing creatures, and touch even yonder heaven with my forehead.
8. I breathe a strong breath like the wind and tempest, the while I hold together all existence. Beyond this wide earth and beyond the heavens I have become so mighty in my grandeur.
Resignation
Gabbard resigns. For personal reasons. Maybe. Or maybe she has seen the writing on the wall...
Valkompass
Tycker av olika skäl inte att Aftonbladets valkompass var särskilt bra, så ovanstående resultat ska nog tas med en viss nypa salt. Jag menar, vad fan gör KD ens på listan? Hade fler frågor handlat om ekonomin, hade jag nog hamnat närmare vänsterpartierna. Varför handlade inga frågor om NATO, Israel eller EU? Och så vidare.
GAL-TAN-diagrammet är mer rättvisande, kanske för att det handlar om allmänna tendenser? Jag är alltså "mer vänster" men samtidigt "mer konservativ". Givetvis enligt det nuvarande "vänsterliberala" paradigmets definitioner. Varför är det "progressivt" att *inte* straffa brottslingar hårt och resolut?
På en punkt torde valkompassen däremot vara helt riktigt: det är nog (den nuvarande) Centern jag står mest främmande inför. Ett stenhårt nyliberalt parti som låtsas stödja sossarna och antagligen vill ha fritt kitt till kaffet, tjeeena.
Så vem kommer jag att rösta på? Ha ha, sug på den ni!
Trump will save us from Ebola!
Just unleash the power of poly-crisis late capitalism and give us another RNA vaccine, Don! I´m sure your supporters (and RFK Jr) won´t mind at all, LOL.
International Day for Biological Diversity
Also known as World Biodiversity Day. Is today, apparently. Here is a quote from something I posted in 2023: "The production ends with the usual moral preaching about taking care of Nature, blah blah, as if Nature couldn´t take care of itself just fine. We´re the real endangered species here. I´m pretty sure the carrion beetles will still be around in 1,000 years..."
How about that?
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| Credit: BerndH |
From a blog post dated 2023.
>>>Some religious traditions consider Love to be the highest form of bliss.
>>>What if I don´t want to "love" the divine, perhaps because love is alien to me, or not spiritual enough?
>>>Maybe I want to abide in an eternity of silence or darkness, disappear into the cosmic ocean of pure consciousness, or become a fairy in a primordial forest under a blood moon. Or even stay in the world as a reincarnating ego...
>>>How about that?
Reshuffle
From 2023. But surely it´s the other way around? At least after Trump captured the GOP. Now, the Republicans root for the maggots, indeed *are* the maggots, while the Democrats root for the corpse!
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