Week 20

Trilemma

From Dani Rodrik's article

Deep down, the crisis is yet another manifestation of what I call “the political trilemma of the world economy”: economic globalization, political democracy, and the nation-state are mutually irreconcilable. We can have at most two at one time. Democracy is compatible with national sovereignty only if we restrict globalization. If we push for globalization while retaining the nation-state, we must jettison democracy. And if we want democracy along with globalization, we must shove the nation-state aside and strive for greater international governance.

Lost: The End

The end of the 6-year long saga.. was conclusive and almost satisfying.

It was a bit too Christian, we saw a man named "Christian Sheppard" leading the cast into their "next plane of existence".. but overall, it was ok. C. Sheppard name is great; since all prophets that were sent to Earth (if you believe this stuff) at some point in their lives always took up the job of being a sheppard at least once (what does that say about human species I wonder?). In any case, we were not told the island was some kind of dream construct, not told it was some kind of Matrix like simulation. The island was real, and more than that, a place of redemption.

Let's continue with the symbolism:

The island is also United States of America.

Right? It is an island after all, reachable only through by air or by sea, its location keeps shifting (a nod to Americans' atitude to keep reinventing themselves, always being in a state of flux). It can be in different time periods (typical US, just visit an Amish community and you will see). The End also made the point that this wild place was somewhere that all familiar characters had their best time in their lives. Jack wanted to come back to it after they left the for the first time. In a way, the last episode gave us a "feel good" moment that "it was good to be in America". No matter how unruly, maddening it could be, IT IS GOOD TO BE HERE. Just roll with the punches. Connect and be marry. Fall in love.. or something.

Lost was also an antidode to the postmodern world we are currently living in. The show gave a message (knowingly or not) to the generation represented by the cast in the show. Shit is f..ed up, and if you are wondering if you are doing everything wrong, no worries.. The "candidates" were chosen from among the people who were "broken" we were told, these broken people represent everyone, but somehow, they managed to keep going on "protect the island -i.e. America-). Why protect the island? The answer to that question .. is a bit fuzzy, but since the island represent America, you have to protect it. That's a given right? Sort of.

Taken as a show which emphasized the "us against them" cammaraderie (also, so America, and The Others were so Indians-), adventure, friendship, leadership, belief, lack thereof... we could say it was a great ride. The End emphasized those interactions, friendships that all 6 seasons worked so hard establish. Just like The Matrix made us think, even for a second, "what if this is not real, just like in the movie?", Lost also gives you wonder if the interactions you are making in your life are durable and transportable to some other next life, as in the show, and you will meet all people who are important to you one last time, before you go.

I liked the "parallel reality" concept - a world where all the cast was dead; they died in different tines in "reality - Hurly for example - probably lived for a very long time protecting the island, with his "number 2" - Jack died at the very end of the show.. and they all ended up in the same place.

Some commenters talk about Jack being a man of science and ending up a man of belief. This is not the point of the show. The island was US, and they all ended up loving the place, wanting to protect it in some way or another.. if not the island, eachother, because the island, with all its wilderness, enemies, etc. gave you such a sense of brotherhood, sisterhood, that you wanted to protect the person next to you, no matter what.. Because of the island.

THE END

Exercising

There is a lot of good in Arthur De Vany's method... In addition to useful, general comments such that "the human heart having to be irregular, chaotic rhytm", his dieting and exercising regimen contains lots of other useful tips. For example jogging is verboten. Jogging is rythmic, only exercises twitcher muscles, not the big muscles - so after hours of exercise you end up with some sweat, but healthwise, whole lot 'o nothing. The fact that American streets are littered with people following this flawed exercise says nothing about its correctness.

Yet our TV screens are covered with commercials that try to sell us odd looking machinery that force us to do robotic movements, in order to "exercise". When I see such machinery, I can see another effect of industrial age; a time when for work, people went to factories and performed rhytmic moves that all looked the same, day in and day out. The logic follows, when the time came to "exercise", it would be natural to give these people another set of "machinery" into which they would be "plugged in". They would then perform the functions that machinery would "want". Just look at informercials demonstrating one of these comical beasts (my favorite is the one that makes you walk on air), you can see thie "processing" mentality very clearly.

Our bodies still have not evolved to suit into this "modern" age filth.

And they probably never will.

300+ years in human evolution is a drop in bucket. Our genes are still suited for hunting and gathering, not for modern life. A hunter's movements differed wildly, from stillness, to immense effort, and sometime walking. A hunter could go on for days without food, sometimes he bled and lost blood. De Vany's and other "caveman diet" approaches to living all try to replicate this "unindustrial" way of life. People following these methods lift free weights, with irregular, nonmechanic moves, they climb, sometimes they fast for a day, randomly; and some days they feast. They donate blood to replicate blood loss. They try to be outside when it is sunny.