by Zé Barbosa, on July 12th, 2011 We’re garbage! Whether we already knew it or not, whether we wanted to know it or not, it won’t help much to shed tears on spilled blood.
I cannot imagine the economical power in force, headquartered in New York, USA, taking time and money to attack such a tiny and insignificant country like us, Portugal. But it is already very feasible to believe that there is a war between the American economical and financial machine (USA) and the European one (EU). It is something like telling us “there is no space in this world for two monsters of world economy, one of them has to disappear”.
There are too big forces around us, the consumers. We are paying the price of a luxurious and ostensible life during the last couple of decades. We do not know what to do, we depend once again on others, we are lost in the middle of a huge capitalist tornado we have not generated but under what we may possible get perished. We, people, are controlled by markets, those unpersonalized imperialist machines from what Fitch Ratings, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, are only the tip of the iceberg.
In English
—
If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the color of the evening sun
Tomorrow’s rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay
Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime’s argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are
On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
How fragile we are how fragile we are
Em Português
—
Se o sangue escorrer quando carne e aço são um só
Secando na cor do sol do entardecer
A chuva de amanhã lavará as manchas
Mas algo em nossos pensamentos perdurará
Talvez este último acto tenha sido pensado
Para reforçar o argumento de uma vida
De que nada vem da violência e jamais poderia
Para todos aqueles nascidos sob a estrela da raiva
Com o receio que esqueçamos como somos frágeis
A chuva não parará de cair
Como uma estrela a chorar, como uma estrela a chorar
A chuva não parará de cair
Como nós somos frágeis, como nós somos frágeis
A chuva não parará de cair
Como uma estrela a chorar, como uma estrela a chorar
A chuva não parará de cair
Como nós somos frágeis, como nós somos frágeis
Como nós somos frágeis, como nós somos frágeis
Jesse Cook is a guitar player. He is performing in this video a song from Sting (musician) who has made also a version in Spanish. All of a sudden, I am going through a new phase in my life where new musical flavors have conquered their space. This time, the Spanish flamenco is occupying my brain and Jesse Cook has composed very powerful themes. Well, maybe I am turning to be a more fragile person and because of that I am more tolerant to these signs of a gypsy culture I never liked much… at all!
May the gods be with who needs them…
by Zé Barbosa, on July 5th, 2011 No Comments!
In English
—
I’ll remember it
And Dublin in a rainstorm
And sitting in the long grass in summer
Keeping warm
I’ll remember it
Every restless night
We were so young then
We thought that everything
We could possibly do were the right
Then we moved
Stolen from our very eyes
And I wondered where you went to
Tell me when did the light die
You will rise
You’ll return
The phoenix from the flame
You will learn
You will rise
You’ll return
Being what you are
There is no other Troy
For you to burn
And I never meant to hurt you
I swear I didn’t mean
Those things I said
I never meant to do that to you
Next time I’ll keep my hands to myself instead
Oh, does she love you
What do you want to do?
Does she need you like I do?
Do you love her?
Is she good for you?
Does she hold you like I do?
Do you want me?
Should I leave?
I know you’re always telling me
That you love me
Just sometimes I wonder
If I should believe
Oh, I love you
God, I love you
I’d kill a dragon for you
I’ll die
But I will rise
And I will return
The phoenix from the flame
I have learned
I will rise
And you’ll see me return
Being what I am
There is no other Troy
For me to burn
And you should’ve left the light on
You should’ve left the light on
Then I wouldn’t have tried
And you’d never have known
And I wouldn’t have pulled you tighter
No I wouldn’t have pulled you close
I wouldn’t have screamed
No I can’t let you go
And the door wasn’t closed
No I wouldn’t have pulled you to me
No I wouldn’t have kissed your face
You wouldn’t have begged me to hold you
If we hadn’t been there in the first place
Ah but I know you wanted me to be there oh oh
Every look that you threw told me so
But you should’ve left the light on
You should’ve left the light on
And the flames burned away
But you’re still spitting fire
Make no difference what you say
You’re still a liar
You’re still a liar
You’re still a lawyer
Em Português
—
Vou recordá-lo
E a Dublin em plena tempestade
E o sentar na relva crescida do verão
Mantendo-se quente
Vou recordá-lo
Em cada noite sem dormir
Nós eramos ainda tão jovens
Nós pensavamos que tudo
O que poderíamos fazer era o correcto
Depois mudámo-nos
Roubados dos nossos próprios olhos
E eu me perguntei-me para onde terias ido
Diz-me quando é que a luz se apagou
Tu te levantarás
Tu voltarás
Qual fénix saindo das chamas
Tu aprenderás
Tu te levantarás
Tu voltarás
Sendo ainda o que tu és
Não há outra Tróia
Para tu queimares
E nunca foi minha intenção magoar-te
Juro que não
E todas as coisas que eu disse
Nunca o quis fazer-to
Da próxima vez vou guardar para mim os meus pensamentos
Oh, será que ela te ama
O que queres fazer?
Ela precisa tanto de ti como eu preciso?
Tu ama-la?
É ela boa para ti?
Será que ela te abraça como eu o faço?
Tu desejas-me?
Devo partir?
Sei que estás sempre a dizer-me
Que me amas
Mas às vezes pergunto-me
Se devo acreditar
Oh, eu amo-te
Deus, como eu te amo
Eu enfrentaria um dragão por ti
Eu vou morrer
Mas eu me levantarei
Eu voltarei
Qual fénix saindo das chamas
Eu aprendi
Eu me levantarei
E vais ver-me a voltar
Sendo o que sou
Não há outra Tróia
Para eu queimar
E devias ter deixado a luz acesa
Tu devias ter deixado a luz acesa
Porque assim eu não teria tentado
E tu nunca terias sabido
E eu não te teria puxado com força
Não, eu não te teria puxado para mim
Eu não teria gritado
Não, eu não posso deixar-te partir
E a porta não estava fechada
Não, eu não te teria puxado para mim
Não, eu não te teria beijado o rosto
Não me terias suplicado para te abraçar
Se não tivessemos estado lá em primeiro lugar
Ah, mas eu sei que querias que eu fosse lá oh oh
Em cada olhar teu me fizeste entender isso
Mas devias ter deixado a luz acesa
Tu devias ter deixado a luz acesa
E as chamas se extinguiram
Mas tu ainda estás cuspindo fogo
Não faz nenhuma diferença o que dizes
Ainda és um mentiroso
Ainda és um mentiroso
Ainda és um advogado
May the gods be with us…
by Zé Barbosa, on June 10th, 2011 Times are getting hard. Hard times drive us sometimes to feel a tremendous wish for… uprising! In this Portugal Day, of Luís de Camões and of the Portuguese Communities I dedicate this text to this tiny, not economically, politically and socially tidy country which is stuck between Spain and the Atlantic since 1143.
In Portuguese there is a difference between rebellion (rebelião) and revolution (revolução). The first is connoted to a derogatory act from a person or a group of people, the latter not. It was not easy for me to translate this song from Matt Bellamy, the leader of Muse (band). Through this song’s lyrics, I guess he is appealing to something close to a new world order or, else, he is just “angry with the world” for some personal reason or, last but not least, he’s very much fed up with the government and the monarchic puppets of United Kingdom. I am still attracted to Muse and I don’t get tired of listening to it. However, this is not their best song, either we talk about the lyrics or the music itself. There is however a truth in it. It might not be the mighty truth, the whole truth or the only truth. There is not only one truth in the world, yet there are a lot of people assuming as whole truth the fact of they are holding what they believe to be the only truth.
In English
—
Paranoia is in bloom,
The PR transmissions will resume
They’ll try to, push drugs that keep us all dumbed down
And hope that, we will never see the truth around
(so come on)
Another promise, another seed
Another, packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed
And all the, Green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless, red tape to keep the truth confined
(so come on)
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
so come on
Interchanging mind control
Come let the, revolution takes its toll
If you could, flick the switch and open your third eye
You’d see that
We should never be afraid to die
(so come on)
Rise up and take the power back
It’s time the fat cats had a heart attack
They know that their time’s coming to an end
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not enslave us
We will be victorious
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They can not control us
We will be victorious
Em Português
—
A paranóia está aumentando,
As transmissões PR vão continuar
Eles vão tentar usar drogas para nos manterem estúpidos
E esperar que nunca vejamos a verdade à nossa volta
Vem daí…
Outra promessa, outra semente
Outra mentira empacotada para nos agarrarem à ganância
Com todos os Cintos Verdes a cercar as nossas mentes
E intermináveis Fitas Vermelhas a confinarem a verdade
Vem daí…
Eles não irão forçar-nos.
Eles vão parar de nos humilhar.
Eles não irão controlar-nos.
Nós sairemos vitoriosos.
Vem daí…
Com as mentes em sintonia,
Deixa a revolução pagar o seu tributo,
Se pudesses ligar um interruptor e abrir um terceiro olho,
Verias que
Nós nunca deveríamos ter medo de morrer
Vem daí…
Ergue-te e recupera o poder,
Está na hora de os poderosos terem um enfarte,
Eles sabem que o tempo deles está a chegar ao fim,
Nós temos que nos unir e içar a nossa bandeira
Eles não irão forçar-nos.
Eles vão parar de nos humilhar.
Eles não irão controlar-nos.
Nós sairemos vitoriosos.
Eles não irão forçar-nos.
Eles vão parar de nos humilhar.
Eles não irão controlar-nos.
Nós sairemos vitoriosos.
Capitalism sucks! We are nowadays going through a big mess, world wide, just because the capitalist model was built by men over such foundations that even men are no longer able to control it. USA sucks! I would not imagine myself thinking it some years ago, much less writing it, such an Uncle Sam fan I was. But what can a simple man like me say about the object of his admiration, when he sees that the shit created by that object is no longer controlled by its creator? USA is in the middle of a self-destruction process and is dragging Europe together. European Union sucks! Where is the union? Where is that self-proclaimed economical structure, steel and concrete based, created with the goal of protecting its members? Greece is dying. Ireland is deeply sick. Portugal has just been infected. Contamination is traveling to Spain. What will be the next?
The capitalist model is now being controlled by a couple of world finances rating agencies, the fat cats, with head-quarters in New York. The markets are now controlling people. United Kingdom smiles while thinks “I told you jerks, Euro is a mistake!”. Finland took a long time to approve economical help to Portugal. Ms Angela Merkel, the iron lady, usually states in her speeches that is time for cutting the rope linking the peripherial countries to the core ones, the fat cats.
Is it time for uprising? May the gods know it and be with the uprisers…
by Zé Barbosa, on June 8th, 2011 I’m sure there are many Portuguese over here who will not appreciate this text of mine but I really need to expel this pagan feeling of mine about Portuguese people: these elections have confirmed that we really are some nerds and that for some reason, evidently scientific, the gods are not with us!
Let us go through my conclusions over these legislative elections:
- our country is really old because almost 100% of our population is over 18: we are approximately 10 million, there are 9 million something voters!!!!!! If the famous “Magalhães” has been distributed to people some decades ago instead of a couple of years only, probably we would be able to have nowadays our electoral lists updated.
- Nevertheless, this country is not for old people because these ones are dying and putrefying all over, the generation in troubles is throwing their seniors to households without the basic living conditions, after what they just forget them there. Old people have no money to buy medication, much less to buy shining and snow white dentures.
- The generation in troubles has gone out to streets to celebrate the victory of PSD as we were all living in the Alice’s land! To the attention of the actual generation, which I rather call scrap generation: the political program of next government was already written buy the troika, Troika (triumvirate), and, on the other hand, it sounds as a bad taste celebrating the fall of Sócrates when what it happens to be very close is the fall of all of us.
- Surprisingly, there still is some remains of JSD, the political organization I had declared before as extinguished! I believe that kids have dug out the orange group’s flags, very much Mocidade Portuguesa style, which have been lead by Pedro Passos Coelho a couple of years ago, just to shine the shoes of the new elected prime-minister of this country plenty of sun and sardines. This is because the generation in troubles, which I rather call scrap generation, has long ago demobilized relating to political, social and religious issues of this country, preferring instead to stay at their parent’s home until they are 40 or even older and blaming everything and everyone (but themselves) for the fact of being a generation in troubles…
- Portuguese are a people very self-confident, aren’t they? They all believe that they will be out of this mess very soon and easy. The evidence for the confidence on themselves resides on the fact that we all prefer to buy foreign products (prior to the national ones) and on the fact that Portuguese start emigrating right when things over here are not going well.
As a matter of fact, 40 to 50% abstention is really Portuguese fashion. Even more interesting is the someone’s comment saying: “Where is the problem? In rich countries like France or Germany, abstention happens to be high as well.” What is the problem??? Helloooooo… Those countries are rich, we not! Duuuhhh…
Anyhow, a lot of Portuguese do believe that king D. Sebastião, Sebastian of Portugal, is back on these last elections, embodied in Pedro Passos Coelho. I don’t…
May the god be with us…
by Zé Barbosa, on April 21st, 2011 What is this boy doing? Is he competing with Queen Elisabeth in the contest for the better decoration jar in Politics of a nation? Or is he really believing that silence is the best weapon against the hysterical chicken talk of our actual politicians in the middle of the deepest crisis since the Carnation Revolution?
I have nothing against the social networks. Au contraire… I do like stuff like Facebook but I start getting worried when our president prefers to send messages through a social network instead of talking face to face with his people or, even more important, with the party leaders of this country who know no longer where the north is! Impressive how everybody is so lost before the eminence of a nation bankruptcy. Shouldn’t this happen in the opposite way? Shouldn’t leaders stand strong, solid, stable, tough, determined, set and assertive? I guess they should but they cannot. The boys of Lisbon only shine when things are going well. When everything runs fine, then they are the best. Otherwise, that is the time when we can see the matter they are made of.
When the government fails, when the political parties are still playing games of superb nonsense and futility and when people still believe they have nothing to do for their country, then the next step should be the president of the Republic standing up and put some order in this big mess. But noooo… The law and order in Portugal is now called IMF, European Central Bank (ECB) or European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).
No, not looking down on the problem! Just having deep thoughts about it…
Historically, Portuguese people react to crisis by emigrating. We are not very much keen on staying in our own country and trying to solve our own problems. It’s why I guess that in the next couple of months or years we will see a long exodus of the Portuguese nation lovers escaping from difficult times. The good reason to be like we are, I mean, a people which was able to be under dependency of Spain for sixty years (1580-1640), under total control of a single man (António Salazar) for forty years (1933-1974) and living under the European funds for twenty five years (1986-2011), is our constant attitude of delegating on others the resolution of our problems. You see? We behave precisely the opposite way of the brave Japanese still doing their best in their country to fight against the recent nuclear threaten and to rebuild the destructed areas after the earthquake and tsunami.
Our boy President is really giving the world the right image of what we are: we run away from troubles, even the ones created by ourselves. He was very unhappy and little clever when he suggested to European Commission to be imaginative when treating our bankruptcy. Imagination!! Can you believe it? We can’t ask others to be imaginative to solve our problems. The only thing reasonable to do is to be (ourselves) imaginative. Just like British do: they sell the royal family by running huge marketing operations around it and like so collecting a lot of pounds. They did it with the Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, they’re doing it with the Wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton. They’re clever aren’t they? Also because with this tricky hits they distract people from the real problems of Great Britain including its external debt, which is one of the biggest in the world, and its involvement in foreign wars.
I agree, we will survive as a nation. We always do. Even if we need to redefine «nation»! May the gods be with us, case they are not suffering of diarrhea due to all those Easter almonds and chocolates being sold all over…
by Zé Barbosa, on April 16th, 2011 Initially I did not want to give much relevance to Mr. Fernando Nobre here, but the guy is such an asshole that I cannot resist to talk about him again. The guy is an independent candidate to elections as a member of a political party, the social-democratic one. This Nobre is so noble that he comments the huge violent reaction from his followers this way:
- He knows nothing about the political program and issues of the party he is a candidate of but that is not relevant for him because he just considers it is enough to trust the party’s president. How purist politician he is!
- He will resign from his official connection to the above mentioned party if the party, after next elections, will not succeed to make him elected as President of the Portuguese Parliament. How humble he is!
- He does not give a damn for his supporters, the very same ones who gave him votes (14%) for the election to President of the Portuguese Republic, last February 19th. How grateful he is!
- He states that one’s changing mind or changing the fundamental nature of one’s beliefs is not a perfidy to one’s followers but is instead a sign of great intelligence. How philosophical he is!
- He informed that he got invitations from other parties, from left to right, and all of those invitations are still up because it is better to keep several open doors, bringing him, like that, to better serve his people. How multifaceted he is!
This is the visible side of a broken country. Everybody shouting, everybody striving for taking advantage of the situation, everybody taking so lightly the fact of having here those nice guys from IMF that the population is already packing to leave on Easter vacations. How good we are delegating the resolution of our misery to others, aren’t we?. I guess that the majority of our population believes IMF is here to solve our huge problems by giving us millions of euros… for free!
What is doing the Catholic Church right now? I believe we would be much better economically and socially in our country if we were not a Catholic nation therefore I love to ask these questions: where is the Catholic Church when people has no money to eat, oldies have no money to buy medicines, families are returning their houses to banks due to missing payments, mid-class couples have no money to buy milk to their children, assholes like Mr Fernando Nobre give the world shows of disturbing parochialism,… Should Church get involved in politics? Usually, answer to this question fluctuates between the several interests of bishops and cardinals. Usually, Catholics only recall God when they are in troubles. Are we in troubles or not? If we are, the it is time to call the super-god, God.
May the gods be with us. We really need them…
by Zé Barbosa, on April 11th, 2011
I’ll be damned but I must confess I cannot stand very well the craziness running on here after we have declared ourselves an universal failure. Portugal, is nowadays, after Greece and Ireland, a begging nation counting on the mercy of our dear, dearest, partners from European Union. Consequently. we all are now, more than ever, very much busy blaming everybody else for our disgrace. Everybody, but ourselves! Aren’t we great?
There is good and bad politicians. Likewise, there is good and bad people. I would dare to say that a bad person can make a bad politician and a good person can make a good politician. I would if I were nuts. And I am not, yet. Nevertheless, Politics should be reserved to politicians as much as Engineering should be reserved to engineers. This is the natural order, this is how we have organized our societies long since and what it sounds fine for me.
What it sounds really noisy to my ears up to a outrageous hurting level, is news telling me that Mr. Fernando Nobre, a self-proclaimed irreversible and irreducible independent citizen, a citizenship-oriented candidate to last Presidential elections in Portugal, is now a PSD militant and will be the “boss” in the Portuguese Parliament if that party wins the elections next October 5th. Mr. Fernando Nobre might have done great things as founder and practitioner of the social-solidarity organization given by the name of AMI but that does not make of him a politician or even an unquestionable good person. As a matter of fact, the good result he got in last Presidential elections should be understood more as the uprising of Portuguese people or, no more no less, than just a cathartic gesture of this discouraged people sunk in debts, doubts and dramas. The good result he got in last Presidential elections should be understood as a nostalgic gesture of a layer of Portuguese society still missing the times of the “proudly alone” directive. Yes, Mr. Pedro Passos Coelho it’s a jerk because Mr. Fernando Nobre is not a man of the current flowing times. Definitely not. Mr. Fernando Nobre is a common narcissistic man of the people who is not properly handling a momentary fever of grandiosity. And we all know what this fever usually generates…
Enough is enough! The politicians we now have might not be that good but they are what we have. They are what our moms and pops have been able to rise and raise, what our schools have been able to educate and what we have been able to elect. So, what now? Are we so pissed off with ourselves that now we make a politician of anyone who has got some success doing some other stuff than Politics? Is that what we want? Well, in that case maybe Tony Carreira might become a good Prime-Minister, or Cristiano Ronaldo might turn to be a good Minister of Economy, or Mariza could be a good Minister Of Foreign Affairs, or…
May the gods be with us and with the experts of IFM who are already traveling here…
by Zé Barbosa, on April 7th, 2011 There they are, the savors of third-world contries: IMF, International Monetary Fund. Before I start my thesis about who real fears the monster, I should say that it is not the first time Portugal is in troubles and it is not the first time the IMF comes here to save us… from ourselves. As a matter of fact we are the biggest danger for ourselves, we, ourselves, are the biggest problem we are living with since centuries. From their side, the IMF, they’re now happy because they were expecting for years to come here for enjoying our fried sardines, our cold Super Bock, our “all manners” codfish, our chilled Vinho Verde and many other delicious things we love very much, are in fact good stuff but we are not able to export.
I must confess I am getting really sick of listening everyday, every hour, every minute, Portuguese idiots turned to politics analysts criticizing, on an very much offensive manner, our politicians. Damn it! This is exactly like soccer: we always think the coach is retarded and we would do much better than him! Come on, idiots, Portugal is a democracy where ANYONE can be candidate to be president, prime-minister or parliamentarian. Come on, idiots, Portugal is a democracy where you can be member of any political party you like and like so let your voice be heard. But no, people don’t want that. That is too much work and work kills, isn’t it? It is much better, much more comfortable, much funnier to stay seated on our fluffy couch, drinking our cold Super Bock, eating our “tremoços” and doing nothing else than vociferating insults against to those that, at least, are trying to do something.
Who is afraid of the IMF? More than 80% of our population. Why? Because we are a country which never was capable of finding its own vocation in this world. Because we have destroyed our agriculture in the name of an industry we are not able to sustain. Because we have a territory of which two quarters of its total perimeter touches the Atlantic ocean, yet our fishing industry is a ruin. Because we have discovered more than half of the whole World but we are not taking any advantage of that by, for instance, creating privileged commercial relationships with the countries which were our colonies in the past. Because we are going through one of our deepest crisis in the last centuries, yet the hotels are already sold out for the Easter vacations. Because we rather live in the mid of caos and anarchy as that is the best environment to get more profits on behalf of… ourselves.
We really suck, don’t we? Why should the gods want to be with us? Nevertheless, may the gods be with us…
by Zé Barbosa, on April 5th, 2011 Aren’t they cute? We owe them this ultimate state of evolution when a man has got no longer space or time to define his feelings for living in a broken country. Yep, when a man has even not got the single desire of talking about this amazing experience of living in a broken country. Here, “broken” means bankrupted, financially ruined, insolvent, impoverished, economically collapsed, cracked. Lost!
When you need around thirty five thousand million euros to survive and you do not own them, then you gotta realize that something is wrong, right? It would be very much recommendable as well to stop kidding or playing Politics like a kid and think a little bit further than what you have done in the last three hundred centuries. It would, but it won’t. This is because the boys of Lisbon, wearing their “on fashion” suits, light colored and large headed ties, imported shoes and golden watches, are still playing the game “your fault, not mine”. Yet, this game it is not their privilege. This is a cultural thing, an old one. In Portugal, we are living since centuries for blaming somebody else, never ourselves. In Portugal, we are living for finding limitations on the neighbor, never on ourselves. In Portugal, we are living for detecting, counting and revealing other’s failures, never ours. In Portugal, we are living on other’s actions, never ours. It is why when there is something not going well, we blame the rain, or the snow, or the government, or the President, or the public institutions, or the public servants, or the IT system, or Mr. Bill Gates, or Ms. Angela Merkel, or Mr. Obama, or Mr. Osama bin Laden, or the tsunami in Japan, or Mr. António Oliveira Salazar, or the king D. Sebastião…
What’s going on with this country? Nothing really surprising. What would be the future of a country where
- people think that productivity and production are synonyms
- people think we’re more productive if we work longer time per day
- people think we are a little country because we own only a 92,389 km2 territory
- people think we cannot produce richness because we’re only a ten million population country
- people think we still have credits for having discovered half a World some centuries ago
- people think we’re rich because we have quite a lot sunny days per year
- people believe “better poor but happy than rich but unhappy”
- people oscillate too easily between the “beast” and the “best”
- people require to have bunches of soap operas in every TV channel, at every hour, every day
- teachers do not want to be evaluated
- intellectuals and teachers are happy with actual state of Education and Culture because we have got an orthographic agreement
- there is no investments in sport education for our kids, yet we want our football national team to be always European or World champion
- Justice is always on vacations
- a ten million population supports a Parliament composed by 230 deputies
- sales of luxury cars have increased over 50% in 2010
- is cheaper to buy a house than renting it, yet mortgage loans attribution have been a total jungle in the last decades
This is what we are. We are what the boys of Lisbon want us to be. The boys of Lisbon are what we all want them to be. Is this ok? Of course not. So, guys, let’s stop waiting for D. Sebastião, will we?
May the gods be with us, which I believe they won’t…
by Zé Barbosa, on February 11th, 2011 If one day you wake up in the morning and, for some reason, you start asking yourself questions like “What is the meaning of life?”, “What’s it all about?”, “Who are we?”, “Why are we here?”, “What are we here for?”, “What is the origin of life?”, “What is the nature of life?”, “What is the nature of reality?”, “What is the purpose of life?”, “What is the purpose of one’s life?”, “What is the significance of life?”, “What is meaningful and valuable in life?”, “What is the value of life?”, “What is the reason to live?”, “What are we living for?” or whatever, you better quit. Please, take my advice seriously or soon you will be very close to commit suicide or be locked in some cold and humid room in some mental health hospital.
Normal people live their life without wasting any time asking, much less answering, questions like the ones posted in my previous paragraph. And they do right. They do right because life, as we know it, is a nonsense. I know how much some people, the believers, would like to meet me to have a chance to save my soul as those, the ones submitted to faith by faith, do believe that there is a life after this life. Nonsense! There is death after life and, at that point, we make no difference at all when compared to any other biological form of life. Therefore, life is meaningless.
Life after life is an absolute mathematical nonsense but might be an absolute philosophical (theological even) sense. The religious side of finding a meaning for our life is the one I care nothing about as it represents the paleolithic side of humankind’s brain evolution. Religion always shrinks or void one’s freedom of thinking, no matter what religion we are talking about. This capacity of religions shrinking the thinking of their followers results in a simple thing called “Faith”. How can a brain submitted to years of shrinkage be clear and sharp enough to get into such a complex conclusion about the meaning of life? It simply cannot. Therefore, life is meaningless.
Getting up after waking up while thinking we are going to die one day it is a reason good enough to make you stay… laid on your bed. Death hurts. Why should we then spend our short life time thinking about a single (small fraction of a second probably) moment marking the transition from “being” to “not being”? We should not! What we do is to load ourselves full of psychological analgesics like religion, God or gods conceptions, idolatry (or idiolatry in some cases), fundamentalisms or other isms, football or soccer, alcohol or drugs, etc, etc, etc, etc. How can a brain submitted to years of analgesics be clear and sharp enough to get into such a complex conclusion about the meaning of life? It simply cannot. Therefore, life is meaningless.
The running times are paradoxical. Are they? It is very much comfortable to deliver ourselves to Faith. We just resolve our fears by labeling ourselves as Catholic, Protestant, Islamic, Buddhist or whatever. When we are already members, meaning when we already have signed in using the credit card or free of fees, we see ourselves safe from major catastrophes. Then, we may just be anything we want even if, in principle, we are not allowed to be it by the religion we are attached to. But even if we break a religious or a moral law, we always have the Confession or any holy water cleaning us up of any possible sin. We, human kind, are so cute… In fact we are a kind of “come and go” creature, above all working hard to clear up our sins because we cannot live without sinning. Can we conclude that we live to feel the pleasure given by successive acts of sinning inserted by equally successive acts of sin washing? If that is not the meaning of life then life is meaningless.
Should one commit suicide after realizing that life is meaningless? That is not the purpose of this post. Maybe one day there will be a “Life is meaningless -part2″. Who knows?
Till then, may the gods give some meaning to your life… If you really want your life to have a meaning!
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