one problem with doing too much philosophy is you can fall thru the cracks into doing finer points, without proper emphasis on the basics that really matter: like dithering on about exceptions to being against war, when i should for the public good be loudly emphasizing the basics: i am anti-war, anti-violence, & even was a vegan for 10 years, until i was given some unrelated health troubles.

so – i’ve been thinking about getting back to basics, emphasizing the main ideas we need to live by, rather than the finer points, leaving the main idea unnurtured.

People are my 1st choice for a fundamental value. valuing People over Things for example – over Money (re Mammon), valuing a person as a whole, not their use for you; being human-centric, like in Philosophy, putting away “Cosmology”/Nature/Science/Things for Ethics, Life Philosophy, the human experience.

Love would be my 2nd choice, which used to be the first but – another finer point – i’d rather have People than Love, since Love is ‘just’ a thing… but, Love is no ordinary thing.

Love is The Greatest Thing, i can assuringly say, & we are most wise to live in Love: to do with Love: think with Love, speak/express with Love, & act with Love. i can assure you, it is like instant wisdom to learn to value Love properly, which is almost infinite. (i’ll pass on making any finer points here =))

lastly, what helped me rewrite this post even, when it got deleted: Positivity. if Love is the best moral guideline, then i would say Positivity is the best ethical guideline, which stands for persevering, being resilient, finding opportunity, finding happiness, & nurturing others. ”’Positivity is the language humans speak.”’ i would say – i would say the same about the other two as well — you will be listened to, received, & affect better, if you are supremely Positive.

that wraps this up. just felt i was getting a little too much into finer points, been wanting to hammer the basics for a few weeks now.

Thanks For Listening!
Joe

i just wanted to clear up something that it would be easy to misread from me.

i am not convinced we SHOULD negotiate with terrorists kidnappers, when they say & have used large past ransoms for killing more lives than are taken hostage – that is, in their case, more lives will be saved if we don’t send them 60 million dollars to fund their rocket launchers, guns, bombs, & their terrorist operations as a whole.

my understanding of hostage policy, which i used metaphorically, was something like you give them what they want, but then as soon as you get the hostages back you f– i mean, you capture them, etc. bring them to justice. that may not always be feasible, come to think of it now, tho. that may be a little more movie hostage policy than real life. i would entrust those in charge to determine the optimal general strategy & case-by-case solution — it seems right to me to not fund 300 deaths for to save 1 life, etc.

that is all =)

take care, & my apologies as well as congratulations to the Foleys — my apologies for their loss, but my congratulations on having a great & brave son who risked & ultimately gave his life to better civilization. kudos.

Joe

there is a lot going on, in a way, but i have heard some undertones of income inequality going to more of a 2nd fiddle role. other than climate change, income inequality is not a 2nd fiddle problem & we should not let those against solving that problem dissuade us from pursuing a solution, or solutions.

in the same breath, i’d like to say climate change seems like the most important political problem, to me, at the present time.

those will be our most fruitful & important focuses at home, i wonder.

Thank You.

– Joe

Recently, there has been a lot going on, both Israel & Gaza are in need of Peace & Security, the friends & family members of Micheal Brown need Justice, an amount of excessive force was [edit: apparently] used in a community who claims they are the victims of racial hatred — so the people of Ferguson need Social/Economic Justice, too.

Please help these people secure what they need. Anything helps, from a tweet on up – your imagination is the limit. whatever help you can summon for any person in need makes a real difference; & we thank you.

That is all.

~ Joe

you know, i don’t know your situation, but i am not sure choosing war over one attack IS wise — what kind of precedent does it set? escalations could spiral out of control. let’s choose peace every chance we get — but again, you have a terrorist group bent on killing you — i understand simply choosing peace may have unacceptable ramifications, if they are just planning to invade & attack you & your children anyway. if a man is ‘going to get his gun’, choosing peace isn’t enough.

i think you should choose to litigously make your case to the international community & develop international solidarity, where possible, & otherwise choose peace where possible & inform of us why you think it is not possible, if you do not.

i think a war over a single rocket may be justified, but may not be wise. good luck.