The Fates

This has always fascinated me – the seeming “randomness” of our life span. Some people live to a ripe old age, while others barely survive birth and some don’t even get that far, much to the grief of the expectant mother. 

 

What started it all? Every effect has a cause. But what? And why? That we can never know – which is why I’m attracted to the Ancient Greek idea of the Fates. Those mysterious "forces" which the Greeks portrayed as three women. Each of the three Fates had a different task, revealed by her name: Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured its allotted length, and Atropos cut the thread with her shears. 

 

But what determines our “allotted length” of life? I suspect that Hubris and Nemesis play a part but then, maybe so does the Eastern idea of Karma. Karma – the concept that we carry forward our deeds, good or bad, into our next manifestation of life. 

 

To me that is only fair.  We reap what we sow. 

 

Two “quatrains” from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam emphasise our impotence:-

 

49

‘Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days

Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:

Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays,

And one by one back in the Closet lays.

 

50

The Ball no Question makes of Ayes and Noes,

But Right or Left, as strikes the Player goes;

And He that toss’d Thee down into the Field,

He knows about it all – He knows – HE knows!

 

 

As a reminder – Hubris, to the ancient Greeks, is when a human, with over weening arrogance and pride, tries to alter the course of events and by so doing encroaches on the realm of the Gods. Something not  to be recommended!

 

Hubris always invited the arrival of Nemesis – the female Goddess of retribution – implacable in her task of tracking every wrong back to its doer and dispensing justice commensurate with the wrong committed. Nemesis was generally portrayed holding the Scales of Justice on one hand and a sword or dagger in the other.  

 

But all this brings me back to where I started, that, to me, fascinating and totally unknowable concept of Life (with a capital L) and what determines its span or length of time? 

 

And I have absolutely no idea! 

Hubris

In this day and age, when pride and excess seem to be common themes, and when extraordinary claims are made by individuals about their abilities and mental prowess, particularly by leaders – both public and business – it is well worth recalling that the ancient Greeks had a name for this – “Hubris” (defined as placing oneself on the same level as gods). And this hubris will be called to account. It always is.

Never forget that the “law” of cause and effect will always apply. Humans reap what they sow. It has always been thus. This “law” is unwritten and not codified but applies in every situation – it cannot be avoided and is forgotten or ignored only at great personal cost. This law incorporates the profoundly realistic doctrines of “Hubris” and “Nemesis”. Whenever there is any kind of over-weening and excess; whenever people or societies go too far either in dominating others or exploiting them, or exploiting nature, for their own advantage this unseemly exhibition of pride, this hubris, has to be paid for. 

Hubris seems to invite Nemesis and the “Goddess” Nemesis is implacable in the pursuit of her cause – justice; to track every wrong back to its doer. To the ancient Greeks Nemesis was conceived as shaping the demeanour of mankind; of keeping society in equipoise. She was often portrayed holding scales, a sword and a scourge. Nemesis deals retribution in due proportion to what is deserved – in a just balance.

Where governments, and the laws they promulgate are not founded on the ultimate reality behind all phenomena, described in that fascinating compilation of ancient wisdom “Tao Te Ching”, as the Tao (Dao) - the Way (the Flow of the Universe) – society will falter. 

For clearer understanding of this statement it may help to recall what Confucius had to say about justice and laws some twenty-five centuries ago: 

 “If you govern the people by laws, and keep them in order by penalties, they will avoid the penalties, yet lose their sense of shame. But if you govern them by your moral excellence, and keep them in order by your dutiful conduct, they will retain their sense of shame, and also live up to this standard.” 

In light of the astounding lack of moral leadership (and the subsequent loss of trust) shown by many of today’s leaders (both government and business) which reflects back on society and world events, I truly believe that it is time for everyone to stop, even take a step back and look, I mean really examine, their actions and see whether they make any sense.

The old saying applies to all – “pride comes before a fall” and no one can foretell what the effects of this “fall” will be or when it will take place.

Nemesis in her deliberations misses not one of all. 

Another way of putting this is in the old saying, “the mills of God grind slow but exceeding fine”.

Gyges

Somehow I keep returning to a topic that has interested me for many years. That of the “link” between cause and effect; or, you reap what you sow; or, more colloquially, what goes around comes around.

This is more accurately stated in what is, I believe, a Spanish proverb, “Take what you want from life,” says God. “Take it, and pay.”

It is a common human failing for people, particularly those in high office, to assume that they can control events. But then we all like to imagine that we can, and have, control over our lives. This hubris is always, always, fraught and always, always, results in unforeseen consequences, good, bad or indifferent.

Because the “effects” are not always immediately apparent, this is something we tend to ignore, forget or consider of little importance.

What follows is an old tale, from ancient Greece, that is I think as relevant today as it ever was. 

In ancient Lydia (now part of Western Turkey facing the Aegean Sea across from Greece) about 3 000 years ago there was a king called Candaules. This king was greatly in love with his wife. In fact obsessively so – he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. 

Now Candaules had had a favourite bodyguard called Gyges with whom Candaules was in the habit of sharing is inner-most thoughts. Candaules suspected that Gyges, while having to agree with him, didn’t really believe what he said about his wife. So he proposed that Gyges hide himself in their bedroom so that he could see her naked and thereby affirm that the queen was, indeed, the most beautiful woman in the world. There would be moments when Gyges could slip away undetected.

Gyges was horrified at this proposal and feared for the consequences if the queen saw him. Candaules persisted with his plan and so it eventuated. The queen, however, did see Gyges as he slipped away but made no comment. She knew, immediately, that this was the work of her husband and determined to make him pay for the outrage and her humiliation of being seen naked by another man. 

The next day she called the unsuspecting Gyges and told him what she suspected and that someone had to pay for what he did. Her proposal was that either he, Gyges, would be killed there and then, or he was to kill Candaules, marry her, and so become king himself.

Dumbfounded by being found out and by the queen’s proposal Gyges decided to live and with the queen’s connivance, killed Candaules and so became king of Lydia.

The populace was stunned and outraged at such a violent change in leadership. They agreed, however to consult the Oracle of Delphi. If she agreed then Gyges would be king.

And so it was, with the warning prediction that retribution would be visited upon the fifth generation of Gyges’ descendants. Over the years this was forgotten. The prediction was however fulfilled when the fourth descendant was killed and the Lydians defeated, when they were attacked by the Persians under Cyrus the Great.

Hubris seems always to invite Nemesis, the Goddess of retribution and undeserved good fortune and who is implacable in her pursuit of tracking every wrong back to its doer. 

Whatever course of action is started must be completed, no matter how long it takes. 

“Take what you want from Life,” says God. “Take it, and pay”. 

Indeed!

Tyrants beware!

History is never kind to those who abuse their fellow men. History is never kind to those who attempt to immortalize their achievements. History is never kind to those who blow their own trumpets.

And Nature has a way of taking over and restoring order, Her order.

I offer my one loyal reader this poem (by Shelley) that tells the story, far better than any words I could ever write, of how Hubris and Pride will always lose to Nature and be brought down:

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,

  Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown

And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

  Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.

And on the pedestal these words appear:

  ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’

  Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

  The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

                                    

Polarities and a gotcha moment!

Polarities – diametric opposites are part of our life, indeed part of our individuality. We need the knowledge and understanding that they give us – awake and asleep; light and dark; short and tall; left and right, up and down; love and hate; remembering and forgetting; then a big one – male and female; but the biggest of all polarities is life and death.

These polarities shape us because we cannot know the one without at least some knowledge of the other.

Because we (at least I don’t) know what life actually is – is it just the reaction of chemicals, or is it something that only quantum physics will reveal? – we need to be careful about how we treat or react to events in life.

We are unable to reach a position so removed from daily events to witness the interplay of the various threads (the warp and woof) that link all humans and in fact all life in one vast and unimaginably complex pattern. If we pull or cut one “thread” what effect will this have on our life, on the future or on the life of others? We can never know – all we can ever know is that there will most definitely be an effect. We don’t know what it is but it will certainly affect us in ways we cannot foresee. And we might not like the consequences!

The ancients called this Fate. Many legends warn us not to “play” with Fate. Playing with Fate was/is a human vanity and begets Hubris (the ancient Greeks used this term to describe a person’s attempt to equate themselves with the “Gods” who control events – not a good idea!). Now Hubris, as I have commented on before, seems to invite Nemesis (another ancient Greek term and name of the “Goddess” who is implacable in the pursuit of her cause, to track the effects of every action back to its doer). 

I came across a simple little (if bitter sweet) tale of the complexities of Life and our narrow minded, sometimes selfish, views on what we want and our imagined “control” of Fate and the events that influence our lives.

The tale goes something like this:

A young man is smitten with love for a girl. But it is an unrequited love – she does not reciprocate. However he cannot get her out of his mind.

Someone tells him that there is a “forgetting tree” – go to sleep in its shade and you will forget. The boy somehow finds this tree and goes to sleep in its shade. But when he wakes up he still remembers all about this girl.

He had forgotten how to forget!

Gotcha!!

Don’t try and outsmart Fate – or Life.

Would you buy a used car from your banker?

My one loyal reader will be aware of my deep antipathy towards banks and big banks in particular. I am appalled by their lack of integrity; appalled by their total ignorance of the concept of “service” to the customer as a priority (and NOT shareholders as a first priority); appalled by the uncontrolled (and apparently uncontrollable) greed shown to be prevalent in all levels of management in all banks.

That the banking chickens have now come home to roost, as it were, in Britain, Europe and America, is a measure of the breathtaking hubris, the corruption, the dishonesty, the lack of moral compass, the disinclination to accept responsibility, a cynical interpretation of ‘trust’, the injustice and (apparent) total ignorance of the need for ethical conduct – at Board and senior management levels of all banks everywhere (including Australia). What is playing out in the financial market is indeed an astonishing example of a corrosive and toxic culture that permeates from the top down. With staff at lower levels it is a case of “follow my leader”. The end result of this has been a belief in the mantra of profits and growth at any cost; a mantra extolling the virtues of maximising bonuses and maximising returns to shareholders without any apparent thought for the consequences that would, inevitably, flow from this self-serving attitude.

That was the cause. Now for the effect. Now is the time to pay – and make no mistake there will be a massive payout; a massive cost. Not just in money (banks can always make more!) but in the damage to the brand of “Bank”.  The public have lost trust in the integrity and purpose of banks. In this context read Barclays, HSBC, CitiBank and many, many, others.

In the Australian context, and as a case in point, there is a media release by Steven Munchinberg, the former CEO of the Australian Bankers Association (not sure of the date but it is fairly recent) entitled “Think twice before bashing the banks”. Now in this article the word “profit” is mentioned many times. Share holders equity get a mention but the word “service” is mentioned only once in the second last line in the context of  “ good value services” (whatever that means). No mention of service to the customer (depositor); no mention of banks doing their very best for the customer (depositor) – providing a good “service” to the customer (depositor). Money and profits have nothing to do with service. And “service” does not just mean a bloke with a top hat and tails greeting customers at the door!!

In banking circles there appears to be no belief in, or even an understanding of the concept of ethics – that you need to treat others the way you would like to be treated. In banking circles there appears to be no understanding of the importance of trust – that sanguine belief that customers hold to, the hope that a bank (any bank) will do its very best for me (the customer). Some hope!!

Banks have forgotten that money will follow and flow from good service. Good service will NEVER flow from money!!

Without complete trust there can be no hope of any successful business outcome. So, in the words of the title of this post, “would you buy a used car from your banker”?

Think VERY carefully before you answer.

Israels Moral Army

There was a report the other day about why the Israelis rejected the UN report into their ‘invasion’ of Gaza last year. They are alleged to have said that because Israel has the most ‘moral’ army in the world, what others stated were ‘war crimes’ committed by the Israeli Army could not and would not have happened. They have also stated before that they have the most ‘ethical’ army in the world.

Now one thing I have learned in life is that as soon as anyone starts making presumptuous or sanctimonious statements indicating a belief that they are ‘better’ or as in this case (presumably more) ‘moral’ that anyone else they are inviting Nemeses to cut them back down to size. There is one thing that Nemeses dislikes more than anything else and that is ‘hubris’. I have written about this before and risking accusations of repetition I restate the following:-

“So whole-hearted is the faith in technological idols that it is very hard to discover, in the popular thoughts of our time, any trace of the ancient and profoundly realistic doctrine of Hubris and Nemesis. To the (Ancient) Greeks, Hubris meant any kind of over-weening and excess. When men or societies went too far, either in dominating other men and societies, or in exploiting the resources of nature to their own advantage, this over-weening exhibition of pride had to be paid for. In a word, Hubris invited Nemesis.” (Aldous Huxley - Essay on ‘New Forms of Idolatry’ 1945).

This still rings true today, from its ancient classical, origins. [‘hubris’ … Presumption; insolence (originally towards the Gods); pride; excessive self confidence. ‘Nemesis’ …The Goddess of retribution and vengeance]. Nemesis was perceived to be the personification of the retribution which appears to overtake every wrong. She was conceived as a mysterious power, watching over the propriety of life, shaping the demeanour of men in times of prosperity, punishing crime, taking luck away from the unworthy, tracking every wrong to its doer, and keeping society in equipoise. Nemesis was/is said to be implacable in the pursuit of her cause.

If the Israelis (or the Americans or anyone else for that matter) think for a moment that force of arms on its own solves problems they are sadly mistaken. It never has and it never will. Any force has to be accompanied by magnanimity to the ‘defeated’. I am not sure that the Israelis understand the meaning of the word ‘magnanimity’. They have done nothing to help the unfortunate inhabitants of Gaza – in fact they are just keeping up the unequal pressure.

It has to be remembered that only a person can be moral or ethical. Morals and ethics have to do with the interrelationships between human beings. An army, on the other hand, cannot be moral or ethical. An army being an organisation of people who are trained to kill, does not have a life of its own. Ethical conduct can only take place between humans and other sentient beings. The Israeli army may have a code of ethics and instruct its soldiers about moral conduct but under the pressure of war, when it is a case of kill or be killed, anything can and does happen. In any case I am not sure that anyone can be killed in a morally ‘correct’ manner or killed ‘ethically.’

Nothing the Israeli’s have done addresses the original cause of the ‘Palestinian problem’ – injustice; the injustice of having their hereditary land expropriated (without consultation or compensation) to create the State of Israel in 1946. Building a wall dividing Palestine from Israel; having state of the art weaponry does nothing if the original injustice and the sense of injustice is not addressed in a meaningful manner – not just talking about talking. The Israelis will never feel secure while the Palestinians feel deprived, humiliated and treated as second class citizens.

The Israelis (and the Palestinians) must learn, or remember, that violence is the last resort of the morally bankrupt. So where does that place the Israeli army or Hamas?

Think about it.

Tall Poppy Syndrome

We never seem to learn do we – "we" as in the human race I mean. Something like 2500 years ago Herodotus, the Greek historian (born c 484 BC and who died sometime between 421 and 415 BC) stated in his famous “The Histories” that:

“It is always great buildings and the tall trees which are struck by lightning. It is God’s way to bring the lofty low.... For God tolerates pride in none but Himself.”

He was referring to humans and how we try to gain some, often unfair, advantage over our fellow being. This is of course usually in the context of money (what’s new?). Herodotus also recorded that the Greeks had astutely observed the fact that:

“Human prosperity never abides long in the same place.”

To my way of thinking all human life has one purpose and one only – the well being of humanity. And I wonder whether all the technological advances we have made, and continue to make, on an exponential growth pattern, actually do HELP humanity. Money is very useful in this regard if used to assist those in need – to purchase their requirements. But do we need huge arsenals of weapons; do we need to spend countless billions on developing new or more ‘refined’ ways of killing each other? Wouldn’t it be much better to spend this money trying to right some of the wrongs and injustices of the past, to the extent that those who may have felt they had been treated unjustly or in some other way wronged, feel compensated and have no need to take further action?

The three basic requirements of humanity seem to be slipping further out of the reach of many – adequate food, adequate shelter and personal security. These still seem to elude the one billion people (according to the World Health Organization) currently at the point of starvation, who often live in the most hazardous regions – particularly South America, Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia. So what are the wealthy doing about it?

As I said before the purpose of human life is to help humanity. Why aren’t we doing it? There is enough food thrown away in the developed countries to feed all those in need. Are we those “great buildings and the tall trees” to be laid low by God because He “tolerates pride in none but Himself?” To consider oneself ‘above’ or ‘better’ than others, who are starving with lack of shelter and without any personal security, is surely ‘pride’; is surely ‘hubris’.

This, surely, is pride asking for a fall?

Also consider the observation that “Human prosperity never abides long in the same place.” It would seem that not many in Wall Street read Herodotus or if they did they didn’t think it would apply to them – they cared for no one but themselves and the money they were ‘making’ through their obscene commissions (vide the 2008 Global Financial Crisis). Certainly, I would guess, the Australian banks and insurance companies thought they were above all this ‘nonsense’ – how wrong they were (they also obviously never read Herodotus).

If you follow my thinking that as humans our main purpose in life is to help our fellow beings you will understand my continual reference to the "Law" of Cause and Effect (or if you prefer, You Reap What you Sow), and to the importance of ethics in our relationships. It is needful to be always fair, honest, kind, compassionate, empathetic, moderate and just in all our dealing. To be anything else is to invite the Gods to cut you down to size and to ‘bring the lofty low’.

In colloquial English - call this the ‘tall poppy’ syndrome – and in Australia at least we seem to take a perverse pleasure in seeing the ‘self promoted mighty’ laid low and cut down to the size of normal human beings.

Moral high ground

The moral high ground is when you think you are better than anyone else, or from a national point of view, believing that your country is guided by something higher than mere people and that all others are lesser beings because of this.

Problems are inevitable when this thinking prevails. This is pride, this is hubris to a high degree, and a fall is inevitable – such a high ‘standard’ can never be sustained. We have seen quite a lot of this recently.

There have been the Rugby League shenanigans – excessive alcohol consumption and sexual misconduct; British politicians rorting their allowances; former US President George Bush and his very ill advised invasion of Iraq; US policy of ‘rendition’; prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison; the on-going saga of incarcerating prisoners at Guantanamo Bay (‘Gitmo’); the Israeli treatment of the inhabitants of Gaza (attacks and sixty years of blockades); the shocking treatment of the harmless minority ‘Falang Gong’ by the Chinese Government, and of course their treatment of Tibetans; and then of there have the various reports in Australia and elsewhere on paedophilia, sadistic physical, sexual, emotional abuse, neglect and brutalisation of children, perpetrated by priests and nuns from various Catholic Church orders and organizations culmination in the recent Irish, Ryan Report about similar abuse in Ireland’s industrial school system (run mainly by the Catholic Church, particularly the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy).

It is a massive report – five volumes with a total of about 5 000 pages. I have not read the entire report, and I do not suppose I ever will because it is very distressing (it is available, in full, on the internet). Apart from the incalculable physical and mental harm to the children all the reported abuse diminishes the perpetrators and reduces them from being the upholders of a noble Christian ideal – care for and provide succour to the distressed, the lonely and those in need - to being criminals who used and abused those most vulnerable in our society, our children and who need to be brought to justice. These people and the institutions they represent have lost all moral authority to tell anyone, anywhere, what to do and how to behave. For them it is obviously a case of ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ This is hypocrisy on a grand scale.

I think President Obama has got the message and is doing his best to restore some semblance of moral authority to the US Government’s activities.

I am not sure the Israeli’s have learned anything and still follow their rather primitive Old Testament dictum of an ‘eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

Rugby League and British politicians are cleaning up their acts purely and simply because it hurts their wallets, not because they actually believe they have behaved in an antisocial or unethical manner. Their standard response is ‘but I have done nothing wrong’ or ‘but she asked me up to her room.’

The Ryan Report highlights the truly astonishing level of abuse that some 800 priests and nuns are accused of perpetrating over a period of about 70 years in Ireland, UK, Australia, Canada, Gibraltar, India and the United States to many thousands of unfortunate children, now men and women. I am not at all sure that the Catholic Church has the inclination to really change.

You can lose a reputation in a second – and it will take a very long time indeed to restore.

“Indeed the Idols I have loved so long
Have done my Credit in Men’s Eye much wrong:
Have drown’d my Honour in a shallow Cup,
And sold my Reputation for a song.”

(Quatrain 69, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward FitzGerald translation)

Israel's staggering presumption

So now Israel has agreed to a cease fire, of sorts and we are told that it has ‘exceeded its objectives’ in Gaza. Big deal. Over 1200 dead and many thousands injured. What for? If the Israelis think that bombs, rockets and assassinations will destroy a dream, will destroy the emotional fervour of the Palestinians (however disunited their various factions are) then they have learned nothing from their own history. Have the many and various anti-Jewish activities that have happened over the centuries ever sapped the Jewish dreams; ever broken their morale? Of course not! So what makes them think that doing what they have done, during the last 22 days of their offensive will bring ‘peace’ any closer.

The Israeli have destroyed the infrastructure of Gaza (for sure they will not pay for the repairs!); they killed, injured and maimed thousands of people after 22 days of brutal activity to arrive back at the point they started from! As I say what was all the death and destruction for?

They may kill thousands and destroy houses and buildings but they will never kill the Human Spirit. They should know that. So what makes them think that they are so special that what never had any affect on them will affect Palestinians any differently? We are all human beings on this world together. For whatever reason we are all here, now, with our differences in skin colour, beliefs and creeds, daily practises of living, our loves, our dreams, our hopes and aspirations – we are all in this together. So for one group of people (the Israelis) to try to subjugate another group (the Palestinians); to attempt to control how they should think and act towards the first (dominant? group) shows breathtaking arrogance, unbelievable hubris and staggering presumption.

The presumption is that Israel knows best. Do they? Have they addressed the root of the problem – a landless, disenfranchised population? That they are an occupying nation that was ‘given’ Palestine in 1946 because the world wanted to give the traumatised survivors of the Nazi death camps some place for them to recover and call home? What about the Palestinians? Without so much as a by your leave they were made landless and moved.

As the English poet and sermonist John Dunne wrote in the 1600s, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

The Israelis have been diminished by their actions – therefore they have lost. They may have ‘exceeded their objectives’ in Gaza but as I said, in the long run they have lost.

This is a defining moment in Israel’s short history. As a people the Jews in Israel are morally bankrupt. Their only recourse is to arms, to fight. That is not the way civilised people act. Whatever the shortcomings of Hamas and other hard line Palestinians, and there are many, by lowering themselves to ‘Hamas levels’ of activity the Israeli have diminished themselves – and they know it.

Why can’t the Israelis show moral leadership and lift the whole region to a new level of consciousness? Isn’t this what Jewishness; the Kabbalah and their spiritual practices are supposed to bring about? They should not just talk about it. They should walk the walk, not just talk the talk!!