Tuesday January 11th, 2005 : The Dragon's Dilemma
Sooner or later I will achieve some success. Which really worries that Dragon. You see, what might come as a big surprise to so many is no surprise at all to that Dragon, because that Dragon has been there, done that, and consequently that Dragon knows what comes next.
And a worried Dragon is a busy Dragon, and soon enough a failing Dragon becomes an enraged Dragon. For it is a general principle, that even a stubbornly defiant creature like that Dragon has come to understand, which states that it is always better for a Dragon to do nothing at all than for a Dragon to be seen doing something evil which would then undermine that Dragon, proving at the end of it all to have been the undoing of that Dragon as well as the dissolution of that Dragon's power. At the same time that Dragon cannot do something good and achieve the evil results that Dragon desires, which means that a Dragon must do evil if evil is to be the result, which is a bad idea since even Dragons do not want to be seen doing evil, and thus it would be better for that Dragon to do nothing at all, since Dragons do not do good, but that would be impossible for reasons that are obvious to a Dragon.
Even though that Dragon, after all these years, now understands that principle, and therefore knows enough to remain hidden while doing evil secretly, at the same time it is quite clear to a Dragon that doing nothing to rescue and reinforce evil will result in a terrible loss of evil in the world, which will take place while a helpless Dragon does nothing for fear of making things worse than they already are for Dragons by making it clear that Dragons desire something as perverse as pure evil.
Dragon's do not want to lose evil, but at the same time a Dragon cannot tolerate good, and a Dragon certainly won't be doing anything good. However things being what they are a Dragon wants to claim to be doing good while actually doing evil, while at the same time not actually doing good, thus ensuring that evil prospers.
Such are the difficulties faced by that Dragon, and the reason for this is quite simple. You see, this is God's universe, and for that reason you cannot do evil here, for that would be disgraceful. And Dragon's are proud, arrogant creatures with a strong dislike for being considered as an absolute disgrace. Even so they also like evil a lot, and they do evil all the time, liking evil as much as they do, and to escape disgrace they either pretend to be good or they do evil secretly.
When good appears a Dragon can either do nothing and be destroyed by good or do evil by destroying good and thus be exposed as evil and become widely regarded as a disgrace, as well as destroying some evil plot by exposing it to public condemnation..
When faced with a lose-lose situation like that, with no possibility of making a really good decision, that Dragon will attempt to transform a bad idea into a winner, which I would suppose makes perfect sense from a Dragon's point of view since to do nothing is to lose in any case, and since hope springs eternal for a Dragon (or so it would seem) it therefore it makes sense for a Dragon to no longer remain hidden and just go for broke and gamble it all on one throw of the dice, in the hopes of somehow getting lucky by finally discovering a means of transforming a sow's ear into a silk purse.
The problem confronting that Dragon is pretty obvious, for what we have here is a sow's ear. It is not silk. When made into a purse it remains a sow's ear purse, and only a liar would then be foolish enough to make the claim that it was a silk purse, and only someone who was willing to go along with being deceived would ever be willing to accept that the purse was a silk purse, when it is pretty obvious that is just a sow's ear purse.
. That Dragon, being a stubborn thing, will never get out of the business of manufacturing purses made out of the ears of sows, but given that this is God's universe and given the nature of the market place, it always proves to be the case that even though that Dragon hates silk and would not manufacture a silk purse, preferring sow's ears instead, nevertheless that Dragon will always be found perpetrating a fraud by making the claim to be peddling ‘silk purses' since although a Dragon like's a sow's ear better, those things just don't sell as well as the more popular silk purses.
And there, in a nutshell, is the Dragon's Dilemma What is a poor Dragon to do? In the mind of a Dragon the answer has always been to engage in false advertising. Rather than retooling the plant and moving into silk production, that Dragon will continue to manufacture using the ear of a sow, and then pull stunts such as producing wrong labels, in the hopes that in just this way the market for sow's ear will not collapse due to lack of demand.
This strategy is what keeps a Dragon on a Dragon's toes, and always gives a Dragon a lot to worry about, thus keeping a Dragon really busy, with all manner of sneaking and trickery and conniving, for, you see, that is a sow's ear, and really people just don't want a sow's ear. There is no market for that product, but that Dragon can still make a sale provided that through all sorts of false advertising and trickery that Dragon can trick someone into buying ‘a silk purse', and this being the Dragon, that would mean actually selling them one of those sow's ears, since Dragon's never ever work in silk, they don't like silk, and they don't care if their customers area demanding silk, and insist on selling a sow's ear instead, no matter how people might feel about that, and that is just a fact of life with Dragons.
It is for this reason that a Dragon always tries to corner the market and establish a total monopoly, for fear that if any silk should show up in some other shop, next thing you know that Dragon would be run out of business, in this way knocking the bottom right out of the market for sow's ears, which never were very popular, and which people only purchased because at the time, owing to that Dragon monopoly, only sow's ears were available.
Tuesday January 11th, 2005 : Caesar Napoleon Augustus
The best way for a Dragon to keep up those sales of sow ears is to set up a marketing system wherein even the most careful shopper will only be able to select among products made from a sow's ear. To maintain such a system requires that the Dragon only hire a salesman who is willing to use every tactic and every strategy in the sales game to convince customers to purchase more sows ears, while at the same time some hack propagandists extol sow's ears and make a big deal about the high sales of such ears, even though that doesn't mean much, since only sow ear is on the market, thus resulting in those sales.
Just one shop selling silk would be enough to ruin that Dragon's entire distribution and marketing system, and so naturally a Dragon will have to hire some thugs and racketeers who can then be counted upon to go about kicking down doors and tossing matches onto puddles of gasoline, while leaning on any recalcitrant merchant who might want to stock a little silk on the shelves, and who would stock silk, if it were not for the fact that the Dragon would respond by sending over the mobsters.
Now when we consider all this, we can see quite clearly that what must happen sooner or later is that the Dragon must do away with the veil, since there is no good way to violently oppress since that is by definition an evil thing to do, thus requiring that Dragon to do evil by lashing out with violence at those silk traders. You see, there just isn't a nice way to do something like that, nor is there any way to do something like that in secret, and so it will just have to be done the evil way. The only alternative is for the Dragon to do nothing and thus lose the entire marketplace as those sow's ears are left gathering dust in that Dragon's warehouse system. Since the problem is global and since the Dragon must not allow any silk production anywhere on the planet, since just one silk shop is enough to undermine that Dragon's advertising for that sow's ear, the solution must also be global, wherein comes Caesar Napoleon Augustus.
Yes, some lucky person is gong to be the first really powerful weirdo to achieve the great dream come true of all such powerful weirdos throughout history by practicing ruthless domination over the whole entire planet, thus finally at long last becoming a great world historical figure by ruling the world. Right now, as we speak, there are lots of little Caesars dominating small plots of dirt and providing the mob protection for that Dragon's sows ear racket over the North, South, East and West sides of town, and I am sure that among that mob of racketeers there must be at least one super weirdo who harbors that great dream of all of history's most notorious sociopaths, that dream of world domination.
Perhaps its you (yes, YOU). Well just think about it. That Dragon is very powerful and given how militarists such as yourself just love destructive technology, spending trillions more on such destructive technology than you do on such good things as world hunger, with this in mind and considering the fact that the Dragon is highly destructive, you can just imagine the kind of highly destructive technology that Dragon will be prepared to share with some lucky winner who will then become Caesar Napoleon Augustus and fulfill that great dream of all the dominating sadists of human history..
Yes, the jackpot still remains unclaimed, and while tickets have been purchased, so far no one has won the draw by having their ticket pulled out of some bucket by that Dragon. But given the fact that the silk trade is being organized and given how people are becoming more and more interested in silk, it seems that it will soon enough be time for that Dragon to hold another lotto draw and some lucky ticket holder will be selected to the very first one to win the jackpot, thus going down in history forever and ever with the greatest fame of all time, while statues of that Caesar Napoleon Augustus are erected in parks and on street corners all over the world, and posters of that glorious Caesar Napoleon Augustus paper walls and billboards all over the planet. It will be glorious.
So the question then becomes will you be dominated and ruled over, or will you dominate and rule. Better to the top predator than just a small shark forced to share the pond with a great big shark. Once someone is selected by that Dragon, well there goes your big opportunity, and a world historical moment like this only comes by once and then when its gone its gone for good. You just do not want to miss your chance and thus get passed up by that Dragon, because think about it - you will just be cursing yourself later, grinding your teeth and just burning with envy as you watch Caesar Napoleon Augustus rise to glory, and here that could have been you, but you missed your chance. You just weren't ruthless enough to elbow your way to the front of the line and someone else got their first, and to the victor goes the spoils and all the glory that goes along with it.
And with that Dragon's technology it will be glorious. It won't be like that pathetic attempt by the American ruling class to practice global world wide domination. Well that is just laughable. If they can just get through dominating Iraq, then perhaps they can bite off another small piece and spend even more years trying to chew that piece of the planet, and then, if they are really persistent, perhaps they might rule and dominate the world by the year 2400, provided that some other super power does not rise up to ruin everything for them before then.
Yes, the planet has not really seen a super power up to this time, but that can change in one big hurry, and will it not be glorious. That Caesar Napoleon Augustus will sweep across the planet like a giant tidal wave, crushing all opposition, as one domino hits another until in a stunning display of unstoppable power the entire planet is brought under crushing, ruthless domination, and all in record breaking time. All over the world people will watch with awe and wonder as, armed with that Dragon's technology, Caesar Napoleon Augustus makes a glorious appearance and conquers the world at break neck speed. In awe and wonder will they not fear Caesar Napoleon Augustus and will they not stand in awe of that Dragon. Will they not say, "Who is like Caesar Napoleon Augustus? Who can fight against him?"
Well it would just be glorious. Think of the glories and the laurels bestowed upon Caesar Napoleon Augustus, the first world dominating tyrant, swollen with pride and basking in the glory. And it could be you (that's right, YOU). Yes it could be you and it could be your nation, that rules the world, but you will have to act fast, because if that other ruling class of that other nation cuts a deal with that Dragon first, then you will just be screwed over and miss your chance.
Tuesday January 11th, 2005 : Occam's Razor
Now given how the ruling class of some nation or some alliance of nations is about to rise to utter domination, becoming the ruling class of all the other ruling classes of the world, I thought it might be good to introduce just one note of caution before the free for all begins, and the contestants begin to line up like beauty queens doing their talent bit in the Dragon's Miss Earth Contest, in the hopes of being selected as the most beautiful, and thus receiving the crown from that Dragon at the end of that pageant.
It just logically follows that if a planet had some problems, or something was wrong with a planet, naturally it is only logical that one should discuss the matter with those responsible, and fortunately it is a simple matter on this planet to narrow down the search for those responsible, since you see this planet has something called ‘a ruling class' and so therefore you don't have to look far to find the responsible parties, since it is in the nature of ‘the ruling class' to rule and to dominate, and to not be shy about it, since that wouldn't work, since there is no way to be a dominant ruling class without being a dominant ruling class. That would be impossible.
Now above we see a picture of the oppressed and the hungry and the starving, who are always with us, because, as is well known, the ruling class prefers to spend incredible amounts of money on really bad technology, while spending next to nothing on starved babies. That is just the way of the world, and this has to be the way of the world, because if silk production ever began on this planet, that would be the end of the market for the ear of a sow. Therefore a monopoly is established in the trade and only sow's ears are stocked on the shelves, just to make sure that the market for sow's ears remains secure for yet another day, week, month, year, or epoch.
Now I know what you must be thinking. "Praise be. Because of my great ruthlessness and my reliance on the power of predation, I have become the top predator of the planet. Praise be! I have become rich." That just proves how powerful evil really is, does it not, after all, look how far ruthless evil has taken you. You are the ruling class of the planet.
Of course there was one thing that you forgot. You just did not think it over long enough. You see, given that your deeds are evil, it is a simple matter to point out that in countries all over the world you own three quarters of the land and almost all the money and wealth in the nation, while you are surrounded by intense suffering, poverty, and endless cycles of starvation. And you are the ruling class, so when someone notices how much money you spend on evil technology, and how you cut the good budgets while giving yourself tax breaks and other such benefits you can get, being the rulers after all, well you can see just how easy it is to disgrace and shame the ruling class of this planet, because your deeds are so atrociously evil, and being the ruling class, you are also the responsible class. Therefore with you lies not just the privileges and perks, but also the responsibility for every abomination on the face of the earth. To deal with this you enforce the monopoly in the trade in favor of the ear of a sow, while ruthlessly getting rid of every last trace of silk, in the hope that through constant training and the miracle of advertising, people will just become accustomed to a sow's ear and as for silk, well no one will seriously consider silk, given how popular and what a big seller that sow's ear has become, and how humanity has such a long history of trading in the ears of sows, thus proving that the human race prefers the ears of a sow, and demoralizing anyone who might dream of silk, while never seeing any silk, thus proving how hopeless it would be to even think of going into the production of silk.
The point to be made here is as follows. You may be ‘the ruling class' but it is not true that you are powerful. Actually because your deeds are so evil you are weak and quite helpless. Well I alone, just by myself, could thoroughly disgrace you and cover you with shame and contempt before breakfast, thus getting that over with early in the morning, and leaving me with the rest of the day free to do whatever else I had to do that day. Its to easy. You are evil and your deeds are evil.
And so you are in a bad spot. And there is a reason for that. To explain something like that what you would need to do is to go get Occam's razor, and after you have shaved off everything that isn't really required to explain a phenomenon you finally arrive at the simplest explanation, which still explains that phenomenon. You see, it turns out to be the case that this is God's universe, and for that reason, you cannot do evil here, for that would be just disgraceful. It is for this reason that a sow's ear must be marketed using false advertising and then put onto the shelf with a label which reads ‘made from the purest silk.'
Tuesday January 11th, 2005 : NASA goes to Mars
You might recall the story about the unusual luminous space craft filmed by NASA using the cameras on the Space Shuttle. That video tape, important as it was, would have embarrassed George Bush some more, right after George Bush got embarrassed at the Summit of the Americas, and so NASA has co-operated in hiding the video tape from the public.
And I am sure that NASA will continue to co-operate with that bad scheme, hiding that most important and historic piece of video tape from the public, because, you see, NASA is going to Mars.
Yes NASA is going to Mars, and so NASA will have to be good from now and behave because going to Mars will cost at least a trillion dollars, and in these days of record budget busting deficits and budget slashing and welfare gutting and food stamp cutting, well a trillion dollars is not easy to come by, and no one is going to give a trillion dollars to a bad space agency that is disobedient and thus angers those holding the purse strings.
If NASA is a good little space agency, then, so the story goes, from somewhere there will found a trillion dollars to give to NASA, a promise that I am sure will be kept, no matter how bad the budget problems of the country become. Yes, NASA is going to Mars, or so they say, but I have my doubts. But then I would suppose that it would be better to have NASA kept busy planing to go to Mars than to have NASA going to the press, and who knows, if NASA threatens to go to the press with that video tape, well maybe they might actually be able to use blackmail to wring a trillion or two out of the budget and actually wind up on Mars at the end of it all.
In the meantime the scientists and philosophers of the world will be left to their devices, and continue to make themselves look foolish by using Occam's razor the wrong way. Yes, those unenlightened scientists and those ignorant philosophers remind me of a clumsy barber who cuts that big artery on the throat while trying to shave the victim, having used that Occam's razor the wrong way, and thus trimmed off a little more than they should have.