Sunday, December 4, 2011

Atoms and Ethics


Laughter Of Demokritos
© Hermead of Surazeus
2011 11 03

Excerpt from an epyllion about Demokritos,
from my epic Hermead about scientists.
Demokritos gives a speech about atoms and ethics.

Demokritos teaches basics of ethics
on foundation of concept that our Kosmos
swirls in vortex of atoms to form life.
"Everything is structure of shooting atoms
that swirl in tight vortex of energy
forming texture of all things that exist.
Construction is to build structure in shapes.
Destruction is to break structure in parts.
Whether any action is good or bad
depends on value in process result
of construction and destruction of things.
When humans intervene in natural process
we choose by free will to participate
supporting life against chaos of death
and work to create order by our actions
producing material assets of wealth
by growing and creating things from Earth.
We assess aspects of each situation,
analyzing character for true value
to understand well cause and consequence
if actions set in motion sequence flow
of events that produce desired result,
fostering growth to nourish bodies and souls.
Actions that destroy we want to avoid.
Actions that create we want to pursue.
Sometimes actions that destroy we call good
and actions that create may warrant bad.
Some situations are stacked with deep levels
of consequence, so destroying one thing
may preserve good life of another thing.
We consider it bad to kill a man,
yet if that man is oppressing good men
or abusing women for his own gain,
striking to kill that man will be called good,
for destroying him preserves common health.
We fight brutal struggle for life in storm
of hunger, rage, chaos, darkness, and fear,
so actions of our hands, fueled by vision
of our minds constructed from information
gathered by our senses, we gear toward progress
of common good for survival and growth
of our whole group, thus decisions we make
are based on health of everyone involved.
Our whole universe is composed of atoms,
that form our bodies in random production,
so good and bad results from social actions
are analyzed on worth of chosen values
to create or destroy structures of things.
To understand how actions we select
cause construction or destruction of things
or people, wanting to preserve our souls
in health and happiness to thrive in joy,
we study how our Kosmos is designed
by random swirl of atoms to congeal
in structure of flesh that supports our soul,
and thus we may act right for common good
on base of ethic values we create.
Our universe is constructed of atoms,
and we participate in process of life,
performing through our actions good and bad,
born to struggle for small moments of peace
and pleasure when we share succulent love,
then we die and disappear without trace,
for our consciousness glows, a fragile flame,
one short flash in dream of infinite nothing.
We are born, laugh, love, sing, then sleep forever."

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Give A Man A Bank

Give A Man A Bank
© Surazeus
2011 12 01

I want to buy a home for my wife and kids
so I go to a big bank built from glass
where the man in a suit gives me a loan
larger than I need at high interest rates.
Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank.
Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

I put my faith in the man at the bank
who gives me a mortgage with hidden fees
then bundles it in a credit default swap
and rakes in piles of bucks when I default.
Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank.
Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

When large insurance companies and banks
collapsed in ruin from financial fraud
our government bailed them out with tax funds
giving them billions while I still pay loans.
Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank.
Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

If I want to build my own shelter home
I should fashion metal into an axe,
chop down strong trees, and build a house from wood
around a hearth I stack from rolling stones.
Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank.
Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

I buy insurance for financial support,
to pay high bills when emergency strikes,
but they deny every claim I submit,
citing fine print tangled false with loopholes.
Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank.
Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

I want to start a family company
so I write up a simple business plan,
obtaining finance in high interest loans,
but market crashes and I fall bankrupt.
Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank.
Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

If I rob a bank they lock me in prison
where I would linger bored for forty years,
but if I rob billions through banking schemes
I get bailouts and sip wine on my yacht.
Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank.
Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.

Who occupies the lobby of glass banks
demanding thieves in suits must go to prison
and pay for ripping off billions of bucks,
for my police will mace you in your face.
Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank.
Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.