From: khalid.ali@utoronto.ca
To: John Tennyson Lee Franz <lee@faces.ula.ve>
Subject: Re: How Deep is your Thought?
Dear Franz,
My previous comments which I spent some time writing were lost because of a crash on Cyberspace - just hope it doesn't happen again. Now I proceed. Well, again where do I start. Your last letters were like reading very nice poetry of protest - vivid and true to its roots. Let me relate similar thoughts in my own simple way.
Of course, I agree with your comments, which are revealing and thought
provoking; they were to their very end. At the same time, your thinking
also serves as a "lightning rod" for
anger and aggression, precisely because of my "sin" of consciousness,
which luckily prohibits me from indulging in all the clap trap that the
forlorn capitalist world has provided - in its orgy of deceit, lies, lies
and more lies.
Yet at the same time, I feel a peace at mind, because I know that
tomorrow when I wake up, I still have to face the reality of the
stench that was so carefully created. Ironically, for each day that I survive
here in North America, the feelings of guilt thunder upon me at the speed
of light, that I, too, am part and parcel of this whole conspiracy of deceit
and lies.
What do I do and say? Sit down, and allow these capitalist wretched of the earth to continue to poison my mind and to destroy everything that I stand for?
The answer lies in the future; just wait and see.
Evidently, as you know there is a pervading culture of mind toggling, that is competing for our attention span everyday, that is no different to that of what they accuse the cult leaders of doing; that is, indoctrination.
Their prescription: daily doses of deceit and lies; everyday, of
how
beautiful "things" are, and how well things are functioning.
For the past two years, I have heard countless of predictions of how well
the economy is going to get, that jobs are at the up swing, unemployment
is down and how well people are coping. Added to that, they also poison
and occupy our minds with mindless stories of the rich and famous; while
they continue to portray how good life is, like living on the fast lane;
glamorous and wonderful so much so that you don't want to miss the next
day.
Coupled with all this deceit, they create "the feel good culture"
about yourselves and how important that is what we are doing, as
if anyone really cares. Then, the sump bags lure you with this "feel good
about yourself culture" to load up and empty your pockets; with all the
greatest consumer items, just to get you to spend all you have so that
they can survive the next day to continue to deceive and laugh at all of
us; at our stupidity. They only succeed because we are their accomplices
to trickery and wholesale robbery and deceit. It is us who are guilty of
creating this mountain of deceit, lies and ideology because we are drunk
piss and toe for a daily dose of consumer culture.
They survive and we perish. They sell and we run Ben Johnson- style to the malls and businesses and buy; and buy. They survive; we perish; in anguish and ignorance forever. They poop and we faithfully bend and scoop; we don't mind the stench but as they poop we scoop. And we all bury ourselves "merry and well."
Anyway, my heart is in my hands because I hate to get kicked
off cyberspace again. Goodnight and peaceful dreams. Love and laugh
after all we are all silly to death.
Love
Khalid
From: khalid.ali@utoronto.ca
X-Sender: khalid.ali@log3
To: John Tennyson Lee Franz <lee@faces.ula.ve>
Subject: Cyberman is back.
I am sorry I did not bother to check my mail yesterday because of the problems I had the previous day, however, the good news is all seem to be well again. The terminals are at last working thus the happy smiling faces around here.
Thanks for that extremely beautiful rendition of Ho Chi Minh's
prophetic words. Yes indeed! He is right, they can destroy everything
but they cannot prevent the birth of another spring. They can only damper
one's moral and strength but thanks to its arrival comes new hopes, dreams
and challenges and; the beginning much less the end is yet to come. A Toast
with a good old Polar Beer.
You said that your daughter in New York, Nandi, has not been well. I am surprised. I will certainly call her tomorrow night because it will only cost 15 cents per minute. If I do call her tonight I'll pay about 90 cents per minute. So, I will hold the horses and wait until tomorrow night. Maybe you can give me a hint so I will be able to stage manage the conversation to get the maximum use out of my effort. Previously about two weeks ago, she was severely scolded for not keeping in regular contact with you - for advice and help when needed. However, perhaps I think I made it bad for her when I told her mother, Vijay, that we communicate almost everyday and its up her to do the same, because there are no excuses since you always respond as quickly as possible. Will send her a mail tonight...! Also, I understand the problem for her to get the connection at times because of the "overload" of demands on the system.
The problem of the "problem" is, that the majority of us has more than his or her fair share of it. It is inevitable. But whenever I think of problems I think of you and how you solve them. But not all problems are solvable. Emotional, sentimental or love problems are just merely products of economic, political and social inequities and pressures.
Similarly while problems of (racism, immigration, discrimination, prejudice) have their same origins; they are much more difficult to resolve because it does not merely involve you and an individual but you and society and the system (the mountains). Anyway I just ran a stray, it was not my intention to get into the psychology of PROBLEMS. I do have a lot of problems- sometimes I think they are never ending, but at the same I think I have no problems. That's the dialectics of it; problems but no problems. Hope, I am not "loco de remate", totally crazy, too.
In closing, I know you will be "overloaded" now that classes are
starting again. So take your time, relax and enjoy yourself in peace
and love.
The cyberman is always lurking around.
Love .
Khalid.