Rendering Unto Caesar: Vectors of Corruption

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

During a discussion of US intervention in Southeast Asia, one of our students made the observation that where the US military goes, corruption follows. Another student raised the objection that corruption existed in Vietnam before American involvement. The French were a vector of corruption and before them Mandarins were a corrupting influence. The other student commented that she did not deny the previous corruption, but that the US involvement did nothing to correct the situation. In some regards, it made things worse.

A third student commented that the French and Americans shared the common fate of being below the material Creator of the flat and immobile Earth. People with a corrupt consciousness cannot easily transcend corruption. They are indoctrinated into its dehumanizing precepts from an early age. A fourth student confirmed this observation with a comment from Tacitus that described the Brits as being enslaved by luxury. The description of American activity in Southeast Asia during the '50s reflects an imprisonment into a luxurious lifestyle of cocktail parties and low cost domestic servants. Academics from East Lansing Michigan lived much higher on the hog in Vietnam than they could back home.

The material Creator itself was crafted by the most corrupt clerics of the early Church. They were bishops from affluent families who led lives of luxury far removed from the hardships of life experienced by the hoi polloi. Many of them were promoted to their positions without working their way up the ladder of clerical promotion. Their family connections and material assets made them prime candidates for Church leadership. Rich kids with no share in primogeniture inheritance often dropped out of school to join the Church. It was less intellectually demanding than pursuing philosophy. The bishops of the fourth century were the Bill Gateses of their times.

A fifth student mentioned the corruption of Buddhism in Vietnam. Cleric Thich Tri Quang was seduced by the idea of waging war in order to achieve peace. The student pointed to an ossification in the Buddhist intellectual discipline that stifled scientific inquiry. Buddhist training continues to depend on a classical paradigm of physics that has long since been transcended by the West. Even Roman academics have come to embrace modern physics.

Finally, yet another student chimed in with a description of intellectual corruption in the ranks of the Maoists. She pointed out that they used dialectical materialism as a dogmatic religion. This type of thing can also be seen in Marxists in the US. She made a reference to my own encounter with a Marxist who accused me of blasphemy when I referred to Marx as "Uncle Karl."

What role does corruption play in US policy decisions today? How long do you expect it will take for Americans to transcend the material Creator?

Links: Tacitus on the Roman province of Britain. Lederer and Burdick on the American lifestyle in Southeast Asia. Ramparts article on American academics in Vietnam. Eusebius on Church history. James McAllister on Thich Tri Quang.

Comments

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

I like waffles. Who likes waffles?

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

A third student commented that the French and Americans shared the common fate of being below the material Creator of the flat and immobile Earth

I doubt those were the student's words. I think those words were yours.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

I cannot quote people exactly, so I back-fill with my own vocabulary.

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Some things never go out of style.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

El Dorado!

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Today is unmistakably Tuesday. I don't even have to look at a calendar.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

I came close to deferring the post until tomorrow, as I was out of town for the holiday yesterday.

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Better yet: Friday.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Or as I call it,

Day.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing. You are too generous.

[papasha-mueller.livejournal.com]

"yet another student chimed in with a description of intellectual corruption in the ranks of the Maoists"

Intellectual corruption sounds good.
I actually like it, more than transcendental pregnancy.
Hold on, intellectual, you say?
In US policy decisions??

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Transcendental pregnancy has the advantage of throwing the "barn agin'" crowd into a hissy fit.

Maoists have very little say in US policy.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

I like waffles

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

With or without maple syrup, blueberries, and whipped butter?

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

The United States has traditionally been far less corrupt than most countries. The expansion of government powers and its increasing intrusion into people's private lives will probably increase corruption at all levels.
As for transcending the material creator, it's hard to say. New manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing will allow people greater and greater capabilities for creating things with material. And if enough states follow the lead of Colorado and Washington and legalize pot, there might be an increase in transcending as well.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

"The United States has traditionally been far less corrupt than most countries."

[kylinrouge.livejournal.com]

"As for transcending the material creator, it's hard to say. New manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing will allow people greater and greater capabilities for creating things with material. And if enough states follow the lead of Colorado and Washington and legalize pot, there might be an increase in transcending as well. "

DQ

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

The United States has traditionally been far less corrupt than most countries

If by "most" you mean 87% of the countries - of course. The US ranks 24th (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index#Rankings), and slowly deteriorating over the years.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Americans tend to behave differently overseas than they do at home. The stories of CIA officers dropping into Afghanistan to buy military forces shows how corrupt and corrupting Americans can be when off the reservation.

One of the reasons for the criminality of cannabis is that, when legal, it detracts from the profits of the pharmaceutical industry. Keeping it illegal also helps fund criminal elements in poor neighborhoods, which contributes to social inequity.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

How long do you expect it will take for Americans to transcend the material Creator?

Dare I even ask?

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Some say that to do so (i.e., transcend the material Creator) would risk losing the title of "American." That is, after transcendence, an individual's patriotism and citizenship is questioned. That would not be the case in a mass exodus.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

For the record I refer to Karl Marx as Uncy Karl (and Jebus as Unky JC); they're not my ideological parents, but they give some good advice some times (but don't leave them alone with your kids).

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Which reminds me of a chemistry trick that we did as kids that made clear liquid turn red. I had no idea that it had any biblical implications until I heard the soundtrack to Jesus Christ, Superstar.