Gotta Love Thomas Piketty!

Thomas Piketty deserves a gold star - heck, he deserves a handful of gold stars ! He is Professor of Economics at the Paris School of Economics , and author of books on economic development and the distribution of income, wealth and inequality. (His CV here)

From an article by Tyler Durden at at Zero Hedge, including a translation of an interview with Piketty, when his views about the German stance on Greece's debt crisis were made clear:

....And while Piketty's book may have sold out in socialist France, it seems Germany did not leave a pleasant taste in the celebrity economist's mouth, and in an interview with Germany's Zeit magazine, translated into English, the Frenchman just made sure he will never sell another book east of the Rhine. Here is the reason why:

"When I hear the Germans say that they maintain a very moral stance about debt and strongly believe that debts must be repaid, then I think: what a huge joke! Germany is the country that has never repaid its debts. It has no standing to lecture other nations.

... Germany is really the single best example of a country that, throughout its history, has never repaid its external debt. Neither after the First nor the Second World War. However, it has frequently made other nations pay up, such as after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, when it demanded massive reparations from France and indeed received them. The French state suffered for decades under this debt. The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice."

I love that Thomas Piketty has, as we used to say in Yorkshire "told 'em their name for nowt", regarding their stance on the Greek debt crisis issue. While I don't think a new generation of Germans should ever be judged on the horrendous wrong-doings of a previous generation, I do think they should be judged on this particular exhibition of bloody-mindedness, proving that national stereotypes do indeed contain elements of truth.

Thomas Piketty was born on 7 May 1971 at 8:45 AM in Clichy, France. His natal chart is at astro.com here. His Sun and Saturn are in Taurus, Mercury and Venus in Aries, Moon conjunct Uranus in Libra, Mars in Aquarius; Jupiter conjunct Neptune in Sagittarius, and Cancer rising. I like him!

Trying to Understand "Grexit"

The people of Greece will vote tomorrow on whether to accept a bailout deal to assist in paying the country's debts. A "Yes" vote would bring in even more austerity than they've already experienced, and some reform in exchange for funds desperately needed. A "No" vote could leave them even further up a dangerous creek without the proverbial paddle. It seems they'll be damned if they do, damned if they don't. There have, no doubt been faults on both sides: the Greek government and the Troika (or triumverate) of the EU (European Union) ECB (European Central Bank) and IMF (International Monetary Fund) - the the three bodies dealing with bailout loans within the Eurozone.

Until now I hadn't spent much time trying to understand how the situation in Greece had reached such an obviously dire level. I'd tried, but financial matters beyond a certain point go right over my noggin. I tried once again, this time by Google-searching "Greek crisis for dummies", and among responses found this at the Quora website:

How do you explain the Greek crisis to a layman. What is this crisis all about?

It's clever analogy written by one Evan Colvin, who is a student majoring in economics. He personalises Greece in order to tell his story in terms that ordinary people, like me, can relate to and understand. The comments following his piece help to clarify any remaining queries about metaphors and analogies used. If, like me, you're in the dark on this topic I'd highly recommend a look at Evan Colvin's explanation.

It's difficult to see what would be the better outcome from this referendum. I can appreciate a little of both sides' arguments, but my gut feeling would be that a "No" vote could, though bringing a risky and difficult few years, or even decades in its wake, be a way for Greece to adjust its course for the better. The country has a wonderful tourist industry, natural beauty and ancient history in its favour. I understand it has a shipping industry too, and its location in the world, kind of between east and west, has to have some strategic value....but that's heading towards matters I'm not equipped to be writing about!

Following the tradition of reason and empirical inquiry, the West bounds forward to conquer the world; the East, prodded by frightening subconscious forces, likewise darts forward to conquer the world. Greece is placed in the middle; it is the world's geographical and spiritual crossroads.
-- Nikos Kazantzakis, from Report To Greco

WINNING WAYS ~ ("Alice thought the whole thing very absurd" )

A rabbit-hole, of sorts. This one unintentionally stumbled down after reading some posts about a recent debacle among fans of science fiction and the Hugo Awards. It seems that there has been a disruptive faction afoot, criticising nominations and the modern sci-fi genre, mainly because of the allegorical nature (usually leaning leftward politically) of stories and embedded messages, and - rather silly this - book covers which do not truly represent the nature of the novel inside (it was ever thus, wasn't it?) See here, and at the links provided there.

After reading a couple of threads of comment on these matters, I came to the conclusion that it's pretty silly to designate what is good, better, best among any kind of writings, art, music, acting etc. Taste is always subjective. End of story. Or is it?

Competition in itself is a healthy part of human nature - heck, human nature is, I suppose, the product of competition: evolution. Competitive spirit, in different measure, in different spheres of life, lies within us all. Astrologers might put this down to a reflection of planet Mars in our nature. Ancient Greeks valued the competitive spirit, honoured it in their Olympic Games, a tradition to which we still cling. That kind of competition seems to me to be a more reasonable deal - there really are winners there - indisputable winners.

"Sport, a healthy body and the competitive spirit were a large part of Greek education and so it is hardly surprising that organised athletic competitions would at some point be created, as they had been in the earlier Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations." (See HERE)

The Greeks had a word for it (didn't they always?) Thumos.
Wikipedia -

Thumos (also commonly spelled "thymos"; Greek: θύμος) is a Greek word expressing the concept of "spiritedness" (as in "spirited stallion" or "spirited debate"). The word indicates a physical association with breath or blood. The word is also used to express the human desire for recognition.

(There's also a good piece on Thumos at Classical Wisdom )


"The human desire for recognition", is a driving force of the competitive urge. Now...dragging this back into the 20th and 21st centuries, returning to consider all those Awards ceremonies like the Hugo Awards, all literary prizes and awards in the world of the arts in general.

James English's book, The Economy of Prestige relates to this topic, and is described at Amazon:

"This is a book about one of the great untold stories of modern cultural life: the remarkable ascendancy of prizes in literature and the arts. Such prizes and the competitions they crown are almost as old as the arts themselves, but their number and power--and their consequences for society and culture at large--have expanded to an unprecedented degree in our day. In a wide-ranging overview of this phenomenon, James F. English documents the dramatic rise of the awards industry and its complex role within what he describes as an economy of cultural prestige................... In the wild proliferation of prizes, English finds a key to transformations in the cultural field as a whole. And in the specific workings of prizes, their elaborate mechanics of nomination and election, presentation and acceptance, sponsorship, publicity, and scandal, he uncovers evidence of the new arrangements and relationships that have refigured that field. "

One reviewer there observed:

He [James English] reminds us of the Dodo in Alice in Wonderland, who cries, 'Everybody has won, and all must have prizes'...English dissects the dishy politics and tawdry tricks, but the author is after much bigger intellectual game. He wants to understand how the awards-biz carries our cultural currency, creating our shared investments in what is art...The Economy of Prestige is rich fare for anybody who has ever been trapped at an awards banquet. It ought to win a prize. (Karen R. Long Cleveland Plain Dealer 2005-11-13)

For a reminder about Alice and the Dodo.

That brought me nicely back to the rabbit-hole entrance from which I set out, and the thought that often accompanies such investigations: instead of "cherchez la femme", in this case it's "cherchez le dosh!" Follow the money!

Greece, Zorba....etc.

TCM showed Zorba the Greek recently. The movie was an adaptation of a novel written by Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. Amazingly, considering that back in the 1960s the film gathered much acclaim and several awards, neither husband nor I had ever seen it. We watched. Afterwards we both wondered how on earth the movie had managed to gather so much applause. It could have been sub-titled The Anthony Quinn Show - Quinn did, certainly, light up an otherwise rather dark story with his performance as Zorba.

Alan Bates (sorry Sir Alan Bates) as the introverted but kindly Englishman was good too, but cast against type, far as I can gather. Sir Alan had natal Sun, Venus, Saturn in Aquarius, Moon and Uranus in Aries, by the way. From articles in the Daily Mail archives Bates appeared to be, in real life, equally as charismatic and unleashed a guy as was the fictional Zorba!

The two main characters, Zorba and Basil, are complete opposites in nature. The thrust of the movie is that Basil becomes infected with Zorba's enthusiasm, free sprit, and zest for life. Infection didn't travel in the opposite direction though, for Zorba remained as wild and free at the end of the story as he was in the beginning.

The darkness of the Zorba story, for us, stemmed from the scary primitive attitudes of Greek islanders at that time. There was a distinct zombie feel to the scenes where a huge posse of men (the whole male population of the village) pursue, stone and try to murder a widow. Later, a dozen or so women, clad in black from head to foot, ransack the apartment of an elderly French woman who had died just a minute earlier, her body still warm, lying on the bed. It almost made tales of The Wild West seem tame in comparison!

Husband commented: "remind me not to put Greece on our itinerary!"

I wonder how many in Europe and the UK have said the same thing this year for a different reason - Greece's ongoing economic crisis?

Never On a Sunday, a movie from the same era presented a kinder view of Greek culture than Zorba the Greek. Late 20th century and 21st century Greece has been handled with kid gloves in the movies. A lucrative tourist industry had by then emerged. Some films that spring to mind offering a distinct "come-on" to tourists: Shirley Valentine, Mama Mia, My Life in Ruins.

I never visited Greece, wasn't attracted by its particular "vibe" - or at least the vibe tourist advertising attached to the country. I rather regret it now though, and wish the ancient cradle of Western civilization, birthplace of democracy, as safe a passage as possible through current dangerous and stormy waters.

Zorba would have said - did say in the book/film:

When everything goes wrong, what a joy to test your soul and see if it has endurance and courage! An invisible and all-powerful enemy—some call him God, others the Devil, seem to rush upon us to destroy us; but we are not destroyed.

A reminder of the music and dance from Zorba the Greek:

Eleusinian Mysteries ~ What did the '60s have in common with Ancient Greece? & Neptune in Pisces.

The short answer is LSD.

Long ago, humans felt a deep need to celebrate and honor times of sowing, reaping and harvest, keenly aware that, should anything untoward negatively affect nature's cycle, many people - perhaps all - would die in the ensuing famine. For instance, this day, 20 September, in ancient Greece, would have marked the 7th day of the Eleusinian Mysteries: revered initiation ceremonies held every 4 or 5 years (sources vary), lasting 9 days, honoring Demeter the Mother Goddess of agriculture and fertility, and Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.

The Mysteries originated in the city of Eleusis, 15 miles west of Athens, possibly as far back as the early Mycenaean period (c.1600 B.C), and continued for almost two thousand years, in a world both alien yet oddly familiar to us, in the twenty-first century. Theirs was a world permeated with anxiety and dread, perhaps not unlike that of the USA after 9/11, or during the Cold War years.....or right now! Famine was, for them, a persistent threat. A single crop failure could spell the difference between life and death. The risk of war, whether from marauding bands or organized armies, was constant. Death or slavery awaited the losers of a conflict. Family provided the only social safety net for most. People lived constantly on the edge of disaster.

The long drawn-out structured rituals of the Mysteries produced a change of consciousness in the participants bringing about a kind of spiritual birth, intended to reunite the person with the divine spirit of the cosmos. The rites, ceremonies, and beliefs were kept strictly secret. Since The Mysteries involved visions of an afterlife, some scholars believe that the power and longevity of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from psychedelic agents. Here's that link to the 1960s.

Before experiencing the final soul-shattering vision of the Greater Mysteries, initiates drank kykeon, an entheogenic potion made from ergot, from which LSD is derived. The initiates then spent the night in a darkened hall, where they beheld a great vision, which was “new, astonishing, inaccessible to rational cognition.” Most of the initiates were women, but men (including Sophocles, Aristides and Cicero) also took part. Whatever the vision, there is no doubt that the effects were profound. Some hold that a night in the Eleusinian sanctuary may have inspired Plato's “ideas” and world of archetypes. In times much closer to our own, ingesting similar potions inspired the composition of iconic music and song.



I can't help wondering whether, as Neptune, the planet with closest connection to drugs, visions, and mysteries, moves into it's traditional home, Pisces early next year, whether, during its sojourn in that sign, we're going to see a revival or "re-working" of something akin to The Mysteries. During the 1960s, for whole decade Neptune was transiting Scorpio, one of the three Water signs, where it "feels most at home". In Water sign Pisces Neptune will be even more "at home". I'll not be a bit surprised to read of the emergence some new cultish and mysterious goings on, involving an LSD-type substance, in coming years.

Sources ~~

http://www.eleusis.us/eleusis/eleusinian-mysteries.php

http://www.eleusinianmysteries.org/Metanoia.html

http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/eleusis.html