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A beautiful reminder of the relativity of it all. Paul's closing remarks remind me of a bit that the late Bill Hicks used to sign off with: “The world is like
by mparr4 11y ago
A beautiful reminder of the relativity of it all.
Paul's closing remarks remind me of a bit that the late Bill Hicks used to sign off with:
“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”
- ignoramous 11y agoA slightly related Bill Watterson comic-- http://zenpencils.com/comic/128-bill-watterson-a-cartoonists-advice/ http://zenpencils.com/comic/128-bill-watterson-a-cartoonists...
- tomr_stargazer 11y agoThe comic is actually drawn by the artist of zenpencils, Gavin Aung Than (in a clever imitation of Bill's style, and with Bill's words, so it's an easy mix-up!)
- joshschreuder 11y agoThe last panel is also quite similar to the last panel of the last C&H strip as well: https://i.imgur.com/Xdoqd.png https://i.imgur.com/Xdoqd.png
- xacaxulu 11y agoI don't think a cartoon has challenged my thinking this much since an old Calvin and Hobbes snippet from my childhood. Damn, I might need to check out of the game for a while! Good link~
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- bluejellybean 11y agoHere's the video of bill hicks doing this bit[1] [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njjgiVKd-X4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njjgiVKd-X4
- happyscrappy 11y ago>Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world The reality for now is someone has to protect the pacifists. It is hard to believe that ISIS exists in the modern world. They are so depraved that they make the Nazis look like good guys.
- theseatoms 11y agoYes, but we equally have to ensure that we do not needlessly incite more people to join/create similar organizations through our foreign policy.
- happyscrappy 11y agoI agree but the depth of depravity exhibited by ISIS is too deep to be created by foreign policy alone, however convenient that idea may be.
- reagency 11y agoHave you met Henry Kissinger? Adolf Hitler? Josef Stalin?
- tomjen3 11y agoHumans do two things unnaturally well: make communities and separate into tribes. ISIS hasn't done much the Japanese haven't done to China, the Hutsis haven't done to the Tutsis (or was it the other way around). ISIS is evil, but they are not unhuman.
- emil0r 11y agoI really wonder how this got to be the explanation behind IS and similar groups. They always reference the Qu'ran, the hadiths and the sunnah in everything they do. The US foreign policy was used as a convenient excuse and certainly wasn't helping at times, but the drive does not come from how they've been treated. The drive comes directly from the religious commands found in the Qu'ran, the hadiths and the sunnah. It's the teachings combined with the knowledge of them combined with a desire to follow them that is creating the current situation with IS and other groups.
- drzaiusapelord 11y agoI always considered this a fairly cheap sentiment. Sorry, even if the 'ride' is an illusion I still need to clothe, feed, protect, etc myself. At the end of the day everyone does and there are limited resources in the world - thus competition. We tried communism, and it led to even more massive inequality than capitalism but also somehow put millions into deathcamps and gulags. >Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world Drop your military spending and Putin will take more of your lands. Or North Korea will finally invade as they keep promising. Or ISIS will march in and smash up your museums and rape your women. Its childish to dismiss game theory when it comes to the taking of land. >and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. Space is like rapture for geeks. What space exactly? Terraform a planet? Good, now you have the exact same problems you have here except less natural resources, so expect even more competition for scarce resources. You won't escape your problems, you'll just make them worse. The first space colony won't be utopia, it'll be a wild-west nightmare of lawlessness and conflict.