tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post420833841475246703..comments2024-02-23T11:23:45.971-05:00Comments on Lost Motorcyclist: Quem Deus Vult Perdere, Dementat PriusLost Motorcyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08873504561959138792noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-45125843557127741582010-02-05T14:17:04.039-05:002010-02-05T14:17:04.039-05:00I looked up the definition of hubris, which was a ...I looked up the definition of hubris, which was a punishable offence in ancient Greece, with examples.<br /><br />I think these are two examples of Hubris today that should be punishable.<br />- AIG CEOs collecting millions of dollars of bonuses after leaving the US economy in ruins.<br />- Pat Robertson saying Haiti's earthquake was a result of a pact with the Devil.Lost Motorcyclisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08873504561959138792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2156536327610779049.post-68314135020050481652010-02-05T13:15:11.870-05:002010-02-05T13:15:11.870-05:00Euripides actually wrote, 'μετὰ σοφίας γὰρ ὑπό...Euripides actually wrote, '<b>μετὰ σοφίας γὰρ ὑπό τινος ἀοίδιμον καὶ κλεινὸν ἔπος πέφανται, τὸ ὅταν δ' ὁ δαίμων ἀνδρὶ πορσύνῃ κακὰ τὸν νοῦν ἔβλαψε πρῶτον ᾧ βουλεύεται</b> ... 'When a god plans harm against a man, he first damages the mind of the man he is plotting against.'<br /><br />The modern version, 'Whom the Gods would destroy they first make mad,' appears in Longfellow's <a href="http://www.hwlongfellow.org/poems_poem.php?pid=2088" rel="nofollow"><i>The Masque of Pandora</i></a>.<br /><br />One major theme that reoccurs, not only in Greek tragedy, but throughout literature of all cultures, is that of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubris" rel="nofollow"><i>hubris</i></a>: overweening pride or arrogance, overreaching of one's proper position.<br /><br /><i>Hubris</i>, of course, invites <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_%28mythology%29" rel="nofollow"><i>nemesis</i></a> ... retribution.<br /><br />There are any number of people who consider the current economic mess retribution for the arrogance of the financial 'services' industry and its regulators.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the <i>plutocrats</i> have managed to protect themselves so well from the effects of that retribution that many of them are better off now than they were before the bubble burst.<br /><br />And, of course, the method through which they achieve this is one of the subjects of your blog: <b>propaganda</b>. Propaganda with the objective of fostering <i>groupthink</i> ... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_either_with_us,_or_against_us" rel="nofollow">'<i>You're either with us, or against us</i></a>.<br /><br />Kevin O'Leary is typical: <i>If <b>you</b> don't believe that greed is good, <b>you</b> must be nuts.</i><br /><br />You write, '<i>When an entire country goes mad, there are usually a lot of people left scratching their heads, wondering why people around them are going nuts, but unable to do anything about it.</i> <br /><br />That sums up <b>exactly</b> how I feel.Madeyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593933575568389288noreply@blogger.com