Menorgulating; A Kind Of Cogitation...

As last Friday's post may have indicated, I am currently in a slightly weird headspace. I recognise it. This is what tends to happen when there is a significant change working its way into the script. As with any good story, there is no hint of what is coming. I have many lofty, deep, meaningful thoughts and a heap of menorgulations. Definition? "Mind spew." So grab a cuppa and settle in - I'm off on a ramble.

Remember, dear reader, I am a philosopher. That is my essential nature. It means that thinking - the process of it - becomes my tool. It is not something that 'just happens.' It is the philosopher's task to explore and determine (as much as is possible) the meaning of things. All sorts of things. As with 'all sorts of things,' it is also true that various camps are set up where those of similar thinking congregate. Thus you will find several labels under the umbrella title of philosophy. Far from being an esoteric art, philosophy pertains to everyday life. True, it can become an avenue of intellectual gymnastics just as any subject studied at the tertiary level might, but ultimately we are all philosophers, and we all take a seat in one or other of the various camps. A clear, albeit simplistic, example is that of deciding whether one is an Atheist, Agnostic or Theist. Those, of course, pertain to a specific element of philosophy: metaphysical. The major fields of philosophy are epistemology (knowledge and truth), metaphysics (reality and being), logic (argumentation and reason), axiology (aesthetics and ethics), and political philosophy (the state and government). Within those, the branches are multifarious.

As one who naturally leaned into the camps of Realism (Logic) and Pragmatism (Epistemology), various life experiences ensured that I also had to acknowledge Mysticism (Metaphysic) as having validity. Upon being introduced to Advaita Vedanta (the Unified Understanding of All Knowledge), I immediately recognised my 'home camp'! Therein lay a sublime blend of all three named. Axiology occurs almost by default. 

The thing that stands separately, you will note, is that of politics. It is a field that definitely requires and deserves study. It is difficult to see it being of general service without the application of Ethics also... and in case anybody reading here has missed this bit of news, the current UK government (read, Prime Minister) is operating without the presence of an Ethics Advisor due to two resignations during his term in office by men who couldn't handle his approach to governance. There is something to be said, at least, for the fact that the British Gov't seeks to have such a post (though Boorish De Faffle Jinxson seems to be muttering about not bothering to replace the departed one). The following screenshot from an OECD document makes interesting reading - indeed, the whole thing does.

In the foreword of the document (it refers to itself as a book), it is stated;

In April 1998, the OECD Council Meeting at Ministerial level requested that a report be made on the implementation of the 1998 OECD Recommendation on Improving Ethical Conduct in the PublicService. This book is based on the results of the survey that was conducted in the 29 OECD countries.

(The bold and italics are my emphasis.) 

It is bad enough that many countries are falling somewhat short of expectations. Notable, though, is that India and Russia are not a part of this club. What is happening in India is little short of the stuff that was occurring in Germany in the 1930s... and - well - we all know what Russia is getting up to.

Still Raging

Though of late, as I was contemplating, ruminating, and formulating how this post might go, I had noted that all the flashy headlines of the war in the east have become almost a side column in the papers... and, as these things go, no sooner had I had that thought than the news sources themselves started to observe (and, I think, President Zelenskiy) the risk that they would fall into the background in much the same manner as other conflicts that remain in the world. It is not that we shouldn't have a focus on all news relevant to our own countries and societies - but all conflicts deserve to be acknowledged and remembered. Particularly this one in eastern Europe, for, let us be clear - while none of us sitting here reading this are hearing bombs or fighters on alert, have tanks passing our windows or are seeing streets littered with the debris of battle (including bodies), we are all being affected by these events. The inflationary factors on our households are in part due to the rush back from COVID (and don't get me started on that one resurging..), but also significantly due to restrictions and sanctions that have, quite correctly, been placed upon trade with Russia and the collateral damage to supplies from Ukraine.

Much of my menorgulating has been a reflection of such thoughts as these. One has to think these things through to decide how one is going to act on any given day. I know that I am using very much less power - not just because of budget constraints but for environmental awareness and the fact that - for now - I am tied as so many of us are to fossil fuel services for electric and natural gas. In doing my weekly grocery shop, I find what was obtainable at £20 is now up around the £30 mark, so the last two shops have been only essentials so as not to buy into the depressive cycle of 'I can't afford it.' We have become so used to easy access to stuff that we really don't need, albeit pleasant to have, and have fallen into the trap of thinking we are being deprived by not having, say, that name brand of butter over the generic supermarket product.

I have been studying alternative power options. They are not applicable to the Hutch, it being one of a set of six in a single unit, and I don't see my neighbours being up for routing out the convenience of electric and gas supply for a windmill in the back yard and solar on the roof. I know that I will have to make a move in the not-too-distant future if I want to have a lighter foothold on the environment. 

However, I also need that move for the sadhvi in me - the roving philosopher needs to be unbolted from this very static, almost rock-like existence that has befallen her. It is as if I am in a waiting room - a holding pattern before landing. As stated at the start, I know this sensation. It builds within, with all kinds of planning going on in the background and then when the time comes, BOOM! 

Then again, I also despair of the possibility that I may be here this time next year with nothing changed at all. Now that is a depressing thought...