Let's talk about communism v. Communism

Have you ever wondered about communism? I don’t mean the grand and imposing military force standing-off against the Free West. Nor am I referring to the closed and dreadful State with its secret police and Godless institutions. I am speaking of the quite intriguing idea that Men and Women can live together in harmony, sharing all their goods and skills in common for the betterment of all.

Let’s face it, I am far better at speaking than I am at fixing a broken car. In a communal society I might find a very satisfying and useful life in teaching school. If for that work I were given a home, food, clothes, and reasonable access to the storehouse of surplus goods, what more could I (or should I) really ask for? Pure true communism is an idyllic situation where everyone works to bring the most good to the entire group. This is far distant from Communism with the force, fear and death that it ALWAYS carries in its wake.

So why does communism not work? It has been tried. Many many times.

Plato considered it in his epic work The Republic. This paper (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-ethics-politics/) from Stanford University examines many aspects of these themes. In my own humble way, I see his work as a form of Enlightened Despotism en banc. In other words, The group who is most capable of ruling the city in a just manner should be given that absolute power. Unfortunately, I know of very few people who possess the wisdom, love and understanding to take-up that mantle safely. It appears to be the very blueprint used by Marx and Engles in the formation of their Communistic theories.

If the Bible is to be believed, the disciples and their families also practiced a form of communism.

Acts 2:44-5 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

No modern Communists would recognize the manner in which Peter et al lived together. For one thing, theirs was a voluntary system. Witness this story from Act 5:1-10 where Ananias and his wife Saphirra tried to cheat the Lord.

1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, asold a possession,

 2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and agave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

 6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

 7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

 8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

 9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to atempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

 10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

Take notice of verse 4:

Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

The property remained in their own power until such time as they decided to give it to the Disciples. It can be inferred that this involved some form of ceremony and or oath from verse 3 where Ananias “laid it at the apostle’s feet”. The sin came in the lying about the value of the property. This is very akin to the man praying on the street corner in order to gain the praise of the world. Ananias and Saphirra wanted to join in the blessings of this communal order while still maintaining their own wealth.

The moral weakness we see in them is more clearly spelled out by William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony in his work Of Plymouth Plantation. Similar human frailties spelled doom to that experiment as well.

The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato's and other ancients applauded by some of later times; and that the taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For the young men, that were most able and fit for labor and service, did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense. The strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes than he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the other could; this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalized in labors and victuals, clothes etc., with the meaner and younger sort, thought it some indignity and disrespect unto them. And for men's wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing their meat, washing their clothes, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery, neither could many husbands well brook it. Upon the point all being to have alike, and all to do alike, they thought themselves in the like condition, and one as good as another; and so, if it did not cut off those relations that God hath set amongst men, yet it did at least much diminish and take off the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them. And would have been worse if they had been men of another condition. Let none object this is men's corruption, and nothing to the course itself. I answer, seeing all men have this corruption in them, God in His wisdom saw another course fitter for them. –Wm. Bradford,  Of Plymouth Plantation

The Mormons tried to recreate the Biblical experience in the 1830s-1840s and succeeded in doing just that…with the same sad results. Dozens of communities were organized under The United Order and The United Order of Enoch. It utilized a covenant called the Law of Consecration, wherein an individual, after voluntarily entering into the covenant and being judged worthy and capable of living the law, gave all they owned into the hands of the Church. It was then redistributed back according to ones needs. Just as with the Plymouth Settlers and the Disciples before them, certain individuals failed to live up to their promises; engendered ill feelings in others; and tore the entire group apart.

So why is it that all these seemingly good, honest and dedicated people fail to make this thing work? It fails because we are weak humans who lie, cheat, steal, and get jealous of one another.

The sweet, loving thing called communism (small “c”) only works when you have nearly perfect God-centered people voluntarily working together. Communism (capital “C”) which operates on forcing individuals to give up all their freedoms for the good of the few on top, only works when you have enough bullets.

Why I Slept On the Couch Last Night

I had just awakened my wife and she, somewhat quizzically, asked when I left the bed. I told her:

About 30 seconds after I dreamt that I was visiting with the Pollacks (a family from church) and I took Kenneth with me but he wasn't four he was only six months and we went inside and were having a great time and Seth Green (Scott Evil) was there and he was very funny and I was very funny and then Mrs. Pollack said that they were having a family get together and we should come because we were very funny and then I had to go to the bathroom and she drew aside a curtain (because they didn't have a door) and I went inside with Kenneth and sat down on the toilet, even though I didn't have to go poo only pee, and then because I had to go so very bad I wasn't able to keep ahold of Kenneth and he wriggled out of my arms and ran to the door (did I mention that he was only 6 months?) and examined the curtain and then he jerked it open, placed his hands on his hips, drew-up to a "Captain Morgan" pose and yelled, "I AM A GENIUS!" and ran out, laughing maniacally, so now, being alone, I let my bladder evacuate and quickly realized that I had just peed the bed. That's when I went and slept on the couch.

She laughed.

I then said, "I don't like sleeping in a peed bed, but I don't mind if you do."

She laughed harder. Lucky for me.

The Terrible Questions...pt 1 Is There a God?

Today we will examine the most dangerous question ever asked, "Is there a God?" Except perhaps "Does this make me look fat?" But that is another discussion.

For just a moment, ignore the eons of tradition in every culture ever found on this planet and just simply ask yourself if a Supreme Creator exists. Your answer is very likely based upon a vague jumble of adherence to scientific theories; family traditions; personal hopes; and willingness to change your habits.

Science tells us something completely different than what YOU probably think I am about to say. Because most of the world's scientists today appear to be Atheistic it becomes rather easy to assume that science as a whole disbelieves in God. This however is untrue and lazy thinking.

Aside from the fact that without a full survey I cannot declare anything about the religious views of any group, the questions about God held by the learned are not so simple as yes or no. The confusion is part and parcel of their way of thinking.

Science is based upon a method that says (more or less) "I propose a theory. I test a theory. I adjust my views based upon the results of those tests. I test again and again until my theory is either so perfect that it never disagrees with the results or is wrong every single time and just cannot be true. I once proved that baby kittens do not take kindly to Black Flag ant spray. Five of them died and the last grew-up to be called Weirdo and ate cockroaches for fun...but I digress.

To a fully involved scientist, only very few things are really "proven true". These are the various LAWS such as gravity and the inverse relationship between the mass of the chocolate and my degree of self-control. Everything else is merely a probability. They are perfectly happy living day-to-day under this uncertainty and only occasionally does it harm them.

But you cannot test God in a lab. So when a scientist is asked if they "believe in God", often they must disassociate from their professional thought process and move into a more emotional, metaphysical sphere which is the absolute opposite of how they have trained themselves to view the universe. Many of our intrepid empiricists will simply throw their hands in the air and say, "I don't know".

On the other hand, family tradition is little better at giving us insight into the existance of God than an old game of "telephone". Some of you might not be familiar with this rainy-day past time so I will explain: Gather a chain of people, at least 5-6 but the more the better. Whisper something into Susan's ear (stop thinking like that you naughty naughty boy). Have Susan tell Jim who tells Bobby etc etc etc. Finally the last in the chain announces what he was told. Then number 5,4, 3, 2, 1. The longer the chain the less like the original message will the final one will be.

Although people honestly WANT to tell the truth, we make mistakes. This is why hearsay is inadmissable to courts of law. We need direct testimony and evidence. So what my G-G-G-G-G-Grandfather had to say about God may be interesting but it is NOT proof.

If we look to the Ancients for guidance we see the same question bedeviling them. The philosophers were continually either trying to prove or disprove the existance of the Gods. Their elaborate logical puzzles always began from one position and ran around for a few thousand pages before coming to the same conclusion: I believe THIS, although I cannot prove it beyond anyone else's ability to wonder.

Some people simply hope that there is a God. I am somewhat in this catagory. If one really thinks about it, what is left to us in this life if there is no God?

Absolute relativism (the belief that there is no right or wrong other than what Man decides) is a hopelessly unworkable system. If every person is a law unto themselves then there is effectively no law. Who would have the right to say that their view was any more "right" than anyone else's? The largest group? That leads to mob rule. Just ask Louie the XIV and his wife Toni. America, indeed most of Western Civilization, is dealing with this very proposition right now. We have cast off God for humanism and found that morality went with Him.

If we exist here by chance and live by our own will then die to enter a void of non-being then why try to do anything other than "eat, drink and be merry"? Why give a damn about the enviroment so long as I can have my pimped-out SUV and 20 pound of gold bling? Yo homeboy yo!

Without a God in which to place trust then there is simply no answer for the "why" questions that inevitably arise (and we shall discuss in later posts) such as "Why is there evil in the world" and "Why do the good suffer when the wicked seem to prosper?"

The Greeks were famous for their tragedies because they were caught-up in that nihilistic life-style that come from rejecting the idea of a loving God who wants good for His creations. One can hardly miss the similarities between many ancient civilizations and our own. Especially how they declined after turning away from Deity. When we lose hope in the future then we sink into depression, idleness and despair. Everything collapses and another, more vibrant society takes over. I for one would have welcomed Rome's new Vandal overlords.

But what about this "personal change" thing I mentioned? Many people do not want to believe because they don't want to change how they live their lives. If one accepts a moral code then it follows that they would live by it. Many religions have a good long list of don'ts. Mostly composed of the funnest things we can do in this life...wink wink. We'll talk about that later as well.

If I refuse to believe in God than I can watch football on Sunday holding my 40oz beer; sucking on a 6 inch blunt and warming-up the $20 hooker without the slightest hint of remorse or shame.

If God exists though, then all that fun is out. And I just lit that doobie too...

So the final answer to the first and biggest of the terrible questions is..."Brian believes that God is there, mostly from personal experience with the unseen world but also from a healthy fear of live without Him. But you answer all depends on what you want out of your life."

Next we will talk about which God is out there.

The Economics of Sex

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New Toy

Heather allowed me to go buy some toys on Black Friday. In particular was a pair of Pandigital Novel eReaders. They are nice little machines with color touchscreens and can play music.

What I did not know was that they are moderately functional tablet computers! I can go online wifi, surf, email, etc and it seems I can also download Android apps.

Do I really want to bring Angry Birds into my life?

I spend my lunchtime trying to find what apps work with this machine because...of course...MY machine is not the most robust out there. There is a large Internet community for the earlier versions of this tablet but not so much for the latest.

Anyone know about the Black PanDigital Novel eReader or BPDN as it is called?

New Post Label...Kvetching

In my admittedly limited experience with languages beyond English, I find that few people have as robust a manner of speech as the Jews. Yiddish in particular is blessed with hundreds of profoundly meaningful words that are at once descriptive and fun to say.

Today's word is Kvetch and it's active form, Kvetching.

As I understand the term, to kvetch is more than just complaining, although that is the simplest translation. There is also a deeper tone of soul-wrenching frustration coupled to a sense of the idiocy of others.

For example, not one half hour ago I was moving some product on my forklift. My boss brought it to me and I was approaching the stacked pallets. Suddenly another forktruck zooms between me and the drums, bringing some packaging supplies back to the warehouse. After I shoved my heart back into my chest I took-up the pallets and turned to bring them into that self-same warehouse. Lo and behold, there sat the interloper, parked infront of the very row in which I had been placing my loads. Five minutes he sat there, examining some paperwork. Finally my patience broke and I dropped my stuff next to the intended, alloted space and gently asked him to move his posterior out of the way.

For his complete lack of awareness of the world around him, I offer my co-worker a sincere and heart-felt KVETCH.

The Horror of Growing Old

I realized something rather profound this morning. There is a reason why women hate aging so much; why men like younger women; and at who's doorstep the fault lies.

By nature (whether you ascribe that to evolution or God) women mature both physically and mentally faster than men. This is an undisputed fact. As such we find in the early teens that 12-14 year old girls are very interested in the 14-18 year old boys. They desire the more developed bodies and greater mental range.

Very few of us are able to compete with the taller, stronger guys. As a result, the peer boys are left "out in the cold" in regards to social combat. And despite what women the world over may think, guys do learn. As the awkward teen years give way to young manhood we are still several years behind our female counterparts. Their needs are different from ours. Thus we will long for the older or peer female as physically more attractive but gravitate to the younger girls who are available and craving our attention. This situation has existed forever and probably will continue to do so.

But here's the rub: During those 3-4 years of angst-ridden, hormone-flooded loneliness, the boy has modified his expectations. Older and peer women have rebuffed us, sometimes cruelly, for our immaturity. We begin to think of younger as more beautiful and valuable out of a sense of self-preservation. This lesson stays with us our entire lives.

Fast-forward to the prime mating years and you will continue to see younger women with older men. This is unnecessary since (for the most part) guys reach parity of maturity with women in their early to mid-twenties. To see a 24 year old woman dating a 30 year old guy is merely an artifact of the disparity seen in the adolescent years.

But what about the girls during that time? The same mechanism leads the female to develop father fixations. If they have had a good dad then he becomes the archetype of what a man should be. If he is bad then the girl will often chase that same type of fool in a desperate attempt to win his love; proving her worth and thus "save" her father. The psychological implications are complex. In the end though, it results also in the older man / younger woman scenario.

Now back to the twenties. If either party in a relationship has not grown past their initial assumptions regarding an appropriate mate, even worse if neither have, then the age difference can increase to the absurd.

Add another 15 years and trouble ensues. 40-something men begin to see receding hair, achy joints, a spare tire and they start looking Mortality in the face. A thin veneer of experience has helped them enjoy a deep love for their 35 year old wife, but lurking ever just under the surface is that early life lesson that "younger is beautiful, more exciting and safer". Too many men suddenly give up all to try and recapture their youth with a fast car and new girlfriend, often half his age.

And what of that older wife? She has finally reached the age where she feels comfortable in her skin. Her body has now reached the full potential of womanhood. Her husband is just now beginning to resemble that half-imagined greatness of her father. At this very moment is when everything falls apart. His betrayals (great or small) undermine the new-found confidence. She sees younger women (and is bombarded by pop culture) to recognize that she is no longer the ideal figure of femininity. Self-doubt grows. Within a few short years the natural effects of aging set-in. Yet her desire is still to her husband who grows ever more debonair and distinguished. She on the other hand is wrinkled, puffy, sagging and ever more bitter.

So who's fault is this? Mother Nature? God? No! It is the fault of every young girl who dismisses a classmate's invitation to a movie with a contemptuous laugh. It is the fault of every parent who didn't teach their daughter kindness and understanding. Blame attaches itself to the boy who, in the face of sarcasm, does not lift his head up and remember that he is a good and valuable person. His parents share the burden for not helping him to understand why these things are happening.

In the end, it is all of our faults, for not having enough love, careing, understanding, patience and kindness to those we know. And especially to those we don't.

Please, if I am unkind to anyone who reads this, help me to remember that harm I may cause and avoid it. I want to be good to others.