A Revolutionary Act

It was George Orwell who said it: "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."

There can be no doubt that we are living during a time of universal deceit. America, among others, is soaking in it. The Trumpite claim that Biden stole the 2020 election is an obvious example of this; his demagoguery is classically Orwellian. The phony proxy war against Russia via the Ukraine, the "reportage" of the NYT and others that is little more than propaganda--another Orwellian pile of crap. The fomenting of war for "democracy": you have to be brain damaged to believe such nonsense.

What can one blog do? We aren't on the radar screen of intellectual debate, and never will be. Even leading critics of America, of both its domestic and foreign policy, are ignored by the MSM and shunted off to YouTube, at best. But it is still worthwhile, for those few of us who see that the emperor has no clothes, to point it out. This is the hard rock at the bottom of all the bullshit, all the gaslighting.

Truth, like virtue, is its own reward.

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The Deepest Truth

For many years now, I have been fascinated by the life and work of Remedios Varo (1908-63), a Spanish Surrealist artist who died in Mexico City at the age of 54, after having lived there for 22 years. I just read, for the third time, the superb biography of her by Janet Kaplan, which reproduces a good many of her canvases:

Remedios Varo: Unexpected Journeys: Kaplan, Janet A.: 9780789206275: Amazon.com: Books

I have in mind paintings such as (in English translation) Toward the Tower, The Escape, Rupture, and To Be Reborn, but my all-time favorite is Breaking the Vicious Circle:

Museum Art Reproductions | Breaking the vicious circle by Remedios Varo (1865-1911, Spain) | WahooArt.com

The vicious circle is the script or narrative that consciously or (mostly) unconsciously governs our lives, as I described it in my book Healing:

Healing: The Defining Root of Our Existence: Berman, Morris: 9798393548681: Amazon.com: Books

I could have easily used this painting for the front cover. For me, Varo exemplifies a life of authenticity, and a rejection of a life of conformity. This theme occurs in many of her paintings, but is most dramatically presented in Breaking the Vicious Circle. Varo was searching for the deepest truth, in her own life and in life in general. She calls to mind a quote from Virginia Nicholson’s book, Among the Bohemians, which I cite in Healing (she was a niece of Virginia Woolf):

Among the Bohemians: Experiments in Living 1900-1939: Nicholson, Virginia: 9780060548469: Amazon.com: Books

"There are people in the world who will not make compromises with life. Their faces are turned like sunflowers towards the source of light, and even when battered and broken they refuse to give in to old age, sorrow, loss, defeat."

I believe the deepest truth is what I have called the Healing Vector, the force within us that is pushing toward the light. It is the motive force of life, sometimes referred to as “entelechy.” The deepest truth is to live in Reality. I’ve struggled to make this my path, as best as I have been able; it is a lonely road, since most people—certainly, most Americans—are not interested in it. America is living in illusion, which is why it is dying. And most Americans are living in illusion, which is why so many of them are angry and depressed. My guess is that it won’t end well for them, and it certainly won’t end well for the US. (Just look around.)

Let me conclude by alerting you all to the current exhibition of Varo’s work going on at the Art Institute of Chicago:

Remedios Varo: Science Fictions | The Art Institute of Chicago (artic.edu)

Really wish I could go. Those of you Wafers who do go, please report back, let us have your reactions.

Arriba!

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Our Common Humanity

The following text is from a Canaanite (Ugaritic) tablet, early third millennium B.C. It was from the Canaanite people that the Jewish people eventually emerged. The Canaanites were polytheistic; the Israelites, centuries later, were monotheistic (worshipping Yahweh). The speaker here is Baal, the Canaanite god of fertility, and storms. He is addressing another deity.

"I have a word to tell you, a message to recount to you: the word of the tree and the whisper of the stone, the murmur of the heavens to the earth, of the seas to the stars. I understand the lightning that the heavens do not know, the word that people do not know, and earth's masses cannot understand. Come, and I will reveal it."

Ugaritic is very close to Hebrew. Many of the Psalms are direct translations of Ugaritic poetry into the Hebrew language.

The Soul of Russia

Wafers-

My book on Russia, hardcopy edition, just got listed on Amazon, and should be available for sale sometime within the next two weeks. The (cheaper) paperback edition will be listed soon after that, or so they tell me.

https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Russia-Morris-Berman/dp/1648373623/

Enjoy, my friends. This book took a while, but was a true labor of love.

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Schmegegge

Wafers-

Truth be told, I'm running out of things to say. How many events, facts, and bits of evidence of our degradation/disintegration/debasement/collapse can we point to, on a daily basis? The sheer self-destruction of the country is right there, before our very eyes; every day, we sink deeper and deeper into it. Everything we do, every action, is an abysmal error. Years ago, I predicted 2030 as the endpoint of the nation, but I'm wondering if I should move the date up. Our slogan, "Onward and Downward," may have to be revised: "Onward and Rapidly Downward." The whole country amounts to nothing more than baloney. The government is baloney; the MSM is baloney; and the American public is baloney. The Yiddish word for this is schmegegge. Look it up on Google (it's sort of like putz squared). America is a schmegegge, a hopeless, pathetic collection of hot air.

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Healing

So it's finally here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47YQXYQ/ref=sr_1_29?crid=27WJHQ5GXMZZP&keywords=morris+berman&qid=1683257351&s=books&sprefix=morris+berman+%2Cstripbooks%2C263&sr=1-29
Also available in Kindle for $2 less, I guess. Hope you all will enjoy it.
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