Count your privileges

Down on the Bowery - Damian Lewis
World Outside - The Devlins
Sinnerman - Nina Simone
Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance

If we start counting our privileges, where do we start ? 

The above question in part arose when I came upon "Pedagogy of the Oppressed". One thing led to another and I happened to read this. While I don't really follow politics, I gravitate more towards the philosophical foundations upon which the modern world lies on. The author mentions about "Ideological dualities" and I sort of understand and now see it almost everywhere. Including me! I constantly flip the metaphorical switch to keep things on an even keel. Its a powerful feeling to know and feel the conflicting ideas residing in our mind, constantly battling and waging internal wars. It also reminds me of Mark Fisher's "Capitalist Realism" which I also now see everywhere. I'm intentionally leaving out the specifics of what "everywhere" means, just so I can circle back at some point and see how it forces me to (re)evaluate what it signifies.

"I file against myself, I represent myself, I convict myself, hereby expanding the full scope of the legal desert, because the judgment's built in. The only thing left is forgiveness and I grant that to myself." - Roman J Israel

Inventing on Principle

Song for Zula - Phosphorescent
Broken Horses - Brandi Carlile
Disintegration - The Cure
Good Luck - Broken Bells
The Veil - Peter Gabriel

A dear brother said along these lines - "If the collective conscience of all humanity were to be squeezed and bottled, do you think you have something to add to it ?"

I didn't have a proper answer then, but just to temper the conversation I said - "Maybe. Maybe not. But since I'm an optimist, I feel there is something brewing inside me and I can feel it coming."

Its been a few months since that came up on a hot summer afternoon. I didn't let the question recede into the background noise of every day busyness. I gave it a life to see how it grows over time. But since growth can be a slow process, I gave it wings with an aerodynamic edge. It rammed into a wall of impatience.

Is the mere act of existence not adding anything ?
Are modern societal arrangements conducive to the acts of search, creation and discovery ?
Are we distracted always and not paying attention to the decaying rhythm of life ?

More thoughts will follow soon.

Inventing on Principle