Zen Pencils by Gavin Aung Than for March 14, 2016
March 07, 2016
March 21, 2016
Transcript:
LIFE’S PURSUIT A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM ILLUSTRATED BY ZEN PENCILS A characteristic feature of the AUTHORITARIANISM in our society is its insidious ability to addict people… …to the endless pursuit of external rewards, wealth, prestige, position, promotion, approval of one’s lifestyle by others, ceremonial honours, and status symbols of all kinds. To successfully pursue these goals, they have to learn elaborate rules of etiquette and familiarize themselves with customs, traditions, protocols and so on. The youth of today must UNLEARN this self-defeating way of life. The culture of working only for material possessions and rewards must be discarded. $ Are you aware of your inner signals? Do you trust them? Have you taken control over your life into your own hands? Take this from me. The more decisions you can make avoiding external pressures, which will constantly try to manipulate you, the better your life will be, the better your society will become. Life is a difficult game. You can win only by retaining your birthright to be a person. And to retain this right, you will have to be willing to take the social or external risks involved in ignoring pressures to do things the way others say they should be done. - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Hogwash. If materialism is given up, we’d all still be living in caves, scratching lice and trying very hard to survive. APJ forgets that without materialism, we’d be without vaccines, printing, schools, etc. He’d have to get a job stewing yak testicles or something and forego being a poet and a dreamer. Materialism in others ALLOWS him to do what he wants right now. Without the materialistic, he’d be just another poor peasant trying to scratch a meager living out of the world. Hippies and those like them all talk love and peace and such, but without someone to support them, they have to go feral pretty quick and they turn into rapacious capitalists, just like John Lennon.