The Great Capitalism vs Communism Debate (revisited)

It appears that the Umno home ministry has come up with a new political strategy. It wants to associate the Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP) with the creeping return of communism.

Indeed, this vile strategy is laced with the usual Umno brand of racist arsenic. It seeks to create - or, rather, resurrect - the illusion that all Chinese are actual or potential communists. Which is patently an infantile, stupid and shallow notion easily rebutted.

Russia and Cuba are known to be communist nations - yet there aren't too many Chinese to be found in either country. Of course, this has never occurred to the rabidly racist editors of Utusan Malaysia, Umno's propaganda rag.

Communism as a political ideology transcends race - just like its Siamese twin, capitalism.

Being infantile, stupid and shallow is par for the course when it comes to Umno politics. To anyone outside Umno it must be clear as crystal that Umno isn't really interested in anything apart from ferociously clinging onto the political dominance the party has enjoyed - or, rather, abused - since 1957. Nothing else matters to Umno: certainly not issues of justice, human rights, fair play, accountable government, and democratic space (without which no healthy mental, moral or social development can occur).

The most intelligent contribution to the capitalism versus communism debate I ever came across was from a most unlikely source: I read it in a 1976 book by Osho (then known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) titled I Am The Gate.

I can't find the book in my library. Someone must have pinched it "by accident," as often happens with so-called friends who solemnly swear they will return my books and then disappear from my event horizon for years, until I've forgotten those books once existed within easy reach. So I shall have to paraphrase instead of quote Osho verbatim. What he said on the subject immediately struck a chord and has remained permanently embedded in my memory.

Communism and capitalism are actually two ends of the same stick, Osho said.

They are two extremes of a pendulum's swing, the apparent beginning and end of what is essentially a connected circle, the in- and out-breath of the respiration cycle. How so?

Let's say that capitalism involves the accumulation of energy, experience and expertise. We shall call it the inhalation phase.

It must be followed by an exhalation phase wherein the accumulated capital (in this case the intake of air) is redistributed to all parts of the body via the lungs, while carbon dioxide is released as exhaust, so that the plant kingdom can breathe. Isn't it extraordinary that the plants then exhale oxygen which animals (including humans) vitally need?

Well, says Osho, breathing out - redistributing and sharing - may be regarded as the communist phase of the breathing cycle. It usually follows a capitalist phase, simply because we must have some something before we can attempt share anything with anyone.


What happens when you attempt to hold your breath indefinitely without exhaling? You die. Same effect applies if you breathe out and don't bother breathing in again. In effect, there really is no conflict or contradiction between these ideologies.

Capitalism recognizes that genius - the curiosity to explore and the capacity to innovate - resides in individuals, never the collective. Therefore, the unquantifiable value of the human individual must always be honored - because each of us has the unlimited potential to creatively contribute to the whole. Classic examples of capitalists would be Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Jack Ma and Elon Musk.

Communism recognizes that experience, expertise, knowledge and wisdom - which constitute our real capital - have to be shared as widely as possible. Otherwise the accumulated capital will turn toxic and kill the hoarder. Anything of genuine value - say a loaf of bread - has to be shared and consumed before it becomes moldy and therefore potentially hazardous to health.

Same goes for fuel, whether you're talking about huge tanks of petrol or a massive woodpile. Those who hoard fuel are only endangering themselves. Would you be able to sleep peacefully knowing there's a stack of 50-gallon tanks of flammable substance right under your bed? And if you accumulate a 10-year supply of firewood and keep it carefully hidden from your neighbors shivering in the cold, what happens a few years down the line is you'll discover termites have eaten their way through most of your fuel stockpile and have now digested your roofbeams. Don't be too surprised if the entire roof crashes down on your head while you're fast asleep.

How about those who hoard cash? Well, if you stash a few billion US dollars under your floorboards, chances are you'll find the currency notes are worth less than 10% of their original value after an unforeseen depreciation triggered by a financial meltdown like the one that happened less than a year ago.

The moment you understand the simple truth of what Osho stated, you'll realize that capitalism and communism are natural expressions of dynamic cyclical processes - like wet and dry seasons, hot and cold spells, day and night, inhalation and exhalation, expansion and contraction.

In other words, we are all at different times capitalists as well as communists.

So what's the problem? The confusion often arises when capitalism is equated with democracy, and communism with totalitarianism.

I can't imagine what would make a sane and rational human being opt for tyranny over freedom - but the amazing fact is, some do. I hear people opine that they prefer a strong leader who will govern with an iron hand. Leaders who tend towards egalitarianism and democratic ideals are regarded as weak and wishy-washy.

Perhaps those who choose despotic and authoritarian over democratic and accountable government are the ones who feel lost without a parental figure to guide them. Often, their loyalty to even the cruelest, harshest leader makes them identify the state as a father figure. The fear of losing their patriarchal deity turns them aggressive. Like a bird in captivity that has gotten accustomed to its confinement, they might even peck your eyes out if you attempt to open their cage door so they can experience freedom.

So what do we do? Well, we can either leave them to die in their (mental) cages... or wear protective glasses when undoing the latch on the cage door & 4 July 2017... just in case the bird panics and turns vicious... or starts calling you silly names like Sylvester.

[First posted 7 June 2009, reposted 5 February 2014 & 4 July 2017]

FARTS ~ by Sophie Paterson (a classic essay)

Hi, today I am going to talk to you about farts.

Some people think farts are rude, and some people think farts are funny, like me.

I think farts are hilarious.

Farting is a fact of life.

The Queen farts, superstars fart, and I fart. We will fart until the day we die.

And apparently a person can still fart after death!

Do you know why we fart?

Flatulence, wind or farts, whatever you like to call them, is the production of the mixture of gases in the digestive tract, that are by-products of the digestive process.

The average person farts about 14 times a day, which produces about half a liter of fart gas. (Personally, I think I fart more than 14 times a day.)

Farts are made up of the following:

Nitrogen, the main ingredient, making up 59%; next behind is hydrogen at 21%; 9% carbon dioxide; 7% methane; 3% oxygen and 1% other stuff.

But listen to this – hydrogen sulphide is the compound that makes them stink!

Here are the top 10 farters:

1st - Termites
2nd - Camels
3rd - Zebras and my pony Free
4th - Sheep
5th - Cows
6th - Elephants
7th - Labradors and retrievers
8th - Humans (vegetarians)
9th - Humans (non-vegetarians)
10th - Gerbils (also known as the desert rat)

If you are going to fart, do not sit by flames, because farts are very flammable.

Also, they can come motoring out of your bottom at 10kmh.

No wonder some of you have holes in your undies!

Please do not panic if you find yourself trapped in a small space like a closet, as it is impossible to suffocate in your own farts.

Unless Ben (my little brother) happens to be in there with you

Anyway next time you fart, don’t think it’s rude. Just know that everybottie, oops, I mean everybody farts.

Thank you for listening to my fartastic speech.

Here’s a little poem that I’d like to share with you:

"A fart can be useful,
It gives the body ease.
It warms the bed in winter
And suffocates the fleas.”



[From Napier Mail, 5 Oct 2011]

Sophie Paterson won first prize at the Central Hawke’s Bay Primary Schools Rotary Competition in September 2011. She was in year 6 at Flemington Primary.

[First posted 18 July 2013, reposted 2 July 2017]

Time magazine ranked Paul Ponnudorai among the world's best guitarists... (reprise)

Paul Ponnudorai died the morning of July 7th, 2012, at age 51. I'll bet there's a huge bunch of ace musicians on the other side waiting to jam with him. Paul was undoubtedly an absolute phenomenon - a musician's musician, with an innate musicianship he honed to virtuoso heights. And yet he was always approachable, friendly and generous with his time. 

We never really know how precious some lives and their unique gifts are - until they're gone.

Love you, bro.

[First posted 7 July 2012]

PLAYING THE FOOL (reprise)

Antares as the Fool @ 1982 (photo montage by Hari Ho)

In 1982 my friend Maureen Ten (who has since relocated to Sydney) decided she wanted to stage a freewheeling version of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. She insisted that I take on the role of Feste, Olivia’s Fool, and I immediately agreed, since I have always had a soft spot for Maureen.

Rehearsals dragged on for months and more than a few began to regret committing themselves to this project – but finally the play opened and ran for less than a week at the British Council Hall. It was a resounding success!

People loved it, some returning for a second or even third performance. I suppose it was the unexpected blend of styles that made the whole thing flow better than it felt to the cast, while rehearsing it in fragments. Maureen kept pretty much true to the spirit of Shakespeare but playfully allowed individual performers’ quirks free rein. Needless to say, the utterly muhibbah and motley cast managed to insert a great deal of local flavor and humor into the production.

As Feste, I had to come up with tunes for three songs. I was still in my Bob Dylan phase, down to my frizzy hairdo, so I played the songs on my guitar with a bit of harmonica – accompanied by a bit of flute played by an expat named John Moore on two of the songs.

Recently, I felt prompted to resurrect my songs from Twelfth Night and, thanks to Google, easily found the words online. While re-learning to sing them, I was struck by the apparent simplicity, yet nonchalant profundity, of Feste’s first song:

What is love? ‘Tis not hereafter;

Present mirth hath present laughter;

What’s to come is still unsure:

In delay there lies not plenty;

Then come kiss me sweet and twenty,

Youth’s a stuff will not endure.

O mistress mine, where are you roaming?

O stay and hear; your true love’s coming,

That can sing both high and low:

Trip no further, pretty sweeting;

Journeys end in lovers meeting,

Every wise man’s son doth know.

Feste poses the age-old question, “What is love?” – and then proceeds at once to answer: Love’s reality dwells in the moment, in the now, not in some imaginary future. Just as one laughs at a joke immediately - not minutes or hours or days later – the moment is all we truly know, the future is unknowable and predictions are unreliable. To hesitate and postpone brings no reward – be spontaneous, obey your impulse, do it now, while you still can, before the years weigh down on you.

Feste then addresses his Muse directly: whatever your heart desires is right before you, not some other place – and true love encompasses the entire spectrum, from the sublime to the ridiculous. All yearning, all desire ultimately leads to union (sacred and/or profane) and meaning and purpose converge when One finds the Other. This arcane knowledge has survived countless generations: it's always NOW and it's only about LOVE!

That’s powerful wisdom compressed into what could easily pass for just a frivolous ditty sung by a Fool. No wonder the Bard of Avon still speaks to the human spirit after so many centuries. In that one simple song is all the sage advice one need ever heed. Eckhart Tolle says more or less the same thing in his ground-breaking book, The Power of Now, but not quite as elegantly or concisely.

[First posted 4 February 2012, reposted 5 July 2018]

A neuron-mutating classic performance! Michael Brecker Band ~ Hamburg 1987

The legendary Brecker brothers, Randy & Michael, first came to my attention when both joined Frank Zappa's recording & touring outfit in the late 1970s. This classic recording was from the Hamburg Jazz Festival 1987 when both brothers were featured with their own bands. This is from the Wikipedia entry on the Brecker Brothers:

The Brecker Brothers was the musical duo of Michael (saxophone, flute, and EWI) and Randy Brecker (trumpet, flugelhorn), who recorded commercially successful jazz fusion albums together in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. They had a notable hit single with "East River" in 1979. It reached #34 in the UK Singles Chart.

Older brother Randy first became famous as an original member of the group Blood, Sweat & Tears. He appeared on their debut album Child Is Father to the Man in 1968. In addition to recording their own compositions, the brothers frequently played together as session musicians on albums by many other artists.

They were heard on Todd Rundgren's hit "Hello It's Me" which reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972. Other notable appearances include Parliament's Mothership Connection and the debut album of the Japanese fusion group Casiopea.

The brothers were touring as members of Frank Zappa's band in the late 1970s and appeared on the 1977 album Zappa in New York. Both brothers also had prolific recording careers as leaders of their own ensembles.

Their collaborations came to an end in 2007, when Michael Brecker died from leukemia.

[First posted 1 October 2013, reposted 2 July 2018]

Uniting the Male & Female Within (Part Two)

DAVID ICKE (pronounced 'Ike') is someone who seems to have successfully united the male and the female within. As a teenager he was a rising soccer star. Then he had a painful knee injury and spent many years going from doctor to doctor, finally seeking the advice of spiritual healers. Meanwhile he became a well-known TV personality as a BBC sports reporter. Soon he got involved with the Green Party and was appointed its national spokesman, giving talks around Britain on environmental issues.

Somewhere along the way David Icke had an awakening. He became aware of his mission on this planet and began speaking about it openly. The media reaction was loud and hostile. Icke was forced to retire for a while from public view, amidst vitriolic ridicule and a great deal of negative press. He decided to apply himself to writing instead, and has since emerged as a best-selling author of numerous books on spiritual awakening and growth. When he writes from his masculine aspect, David Icke comes across as an intellectual warrior, a clear-minded, strong-voiced critic of society:

"The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the 18th century with the invention of the steam engine, and within a hundred years this revolution would fill the skies with black smoke and pollution, rape the planet for fuels, and turn millions, eventually billions, into robots; mere extensions of a factory machine." (The Robots' Rebellion, Gateway Books, 1994)

Another voice, distinctly feminine, comes through when Icke quotes Attarro, Avatar of the Alchemians, in his 1993 book, The Truth Vibrations:

"Mother Earth is choking, and as she coughs and wheezes, the earth will open up through land shifts. As she cries, so the land will be flooded. Volcanoes will erupt, all to cleanse our Mother. Many new scars have appeared on our earth. Energy lines are being broken through new roads which interfere with sacred ground, which was dwelt upon by our animals who love, nurture, and trust nature, and who live totally within their natural cycle and habitat, able to understand nature's simple messages."

Not at all what you might expect to hear from a former jock, a regular beer-swilling soccer fiend. But David Icke perfectly embodies our rapid evolution towards a unified and balanced male-female polarity which all life will eventually embrace. Otherwise, as a species, we may face extinction as the Earth's magnetic field recalibrates itself to resonate with a much vaster, galactic field of consciousness. This is what entering fully into the Aquarian Age involves. And the Big Shift is not scheduled to happen hundreds or thousands of years from now… it will activate on 21 December 2012 (according to modern interpretations of cosmic calendar systems like the Mayan Tzolk'in).

By the first two decades of the 21st century, I hope, civilization will have dramatically transformed itself, so that the emphasis will be on beauty and bounty on the physical plane – with far greater attention focused on the quality of life, rather than quantity.

This means that aesthetic and artistic pursuits - in other words, more right-brained, feminine-intuitive activities - will become paramount. The masculine attributes of business, politics and warfaring will necessarily be reduced to a supportive role.

The "marketplace" will be restored to human scale, with people bartering products and services for mutual sustenance and pleasure. No one will be obsessed with the movement of substances in and out of humanity's alimentary canal. Our best brains will no longer will kept busy monitoring the price of potatoes.

With the threat of armed aggression reduced to practically nil, the only justification for armies would be as temporary groupings of young people teaming together to learn skills like bridge building, road-upgrading, and rescue operations. They will serve as a human resource pool for projects requiring muscle power and large numbers of volunteers. Cleaning up the garbage on this planet, for instance, is one such task. Rebuilding homes for the homeless would be another. Turning former deserts into gardens of plenty would be yet another project worthy of world-around support.

When the Fathers are no longer competitive and warlike, neither will the Sons be prone to pillage, plunder and rape.


Antares © 1998 [First posted 9 September 2008, reposted 30 June 2017, 19 April 2020 & 3 December 2021]

Unity is Plural (Part One)

Unity Is Plural (Part One)

THERE IS A MALE ASPECT in each of us programmed to compete, to strive, to win and survive. But there is also a female aspect which aspires towards "a caring and sharing community" – which intrinsically knows the value of cooperating, helping, nurturing, and reconciling divergent demands.

The masculine mind says: "Let's apply our knowledge to building a great machine that will take us to the stars."

The feminine mind responds: "Let's pool our resources so that we can feed our children well and raise them in a beautiful and safe environment."

"Vive la difference!" you cry. But "la difference" is best appreciated when one recognizes the essential unity of male and female, day and night, yang and yin, cube and sphere, science and spirituality, intellect and intuition.

The Father Principle (in its negative aspect) despises those that are 'oversensitive' and vulnerable, dismissing them as weaklings unfit to survive. Homophobia expresses its patriarchal machismo with words like "sissy" (and sodomy is viewed as "an offence against nature" punishable with a 20-year sentence in some spiritually retarded countries).

The Mother Principle (at least in its positive aspect) perceives "weakness" not as something to be condemned, but as a quality evoking sympathy and compassion.

A defenceless chick is not "contemptible" – it is cuddly and cute. Just as any mother would try to heal her sick child with extra doses of love and tenderness, a society with a healthy balance of paternal and maternal values will be extremely patient with the disabled and the disadvantaged. The "pay-off" comes in terms of our spiritual maturity, the integrity of our inner and outer beings. Being free to "walk your talk" and being worthy of the name “humankind” is ample reward for the wise.

Of course, there's a positive aspect to the Father Principle, which manifests as profound pride and joy in planting seeds and watching life grow and flourish.

It's called the Creative Urge. And there is a negative manifestation of the Mother Principle as the bloodthirsty and vengeful goddess Kali, or as a scorpion that kills her own progeny when enraged. This destructive female force often takes the form of natural disasters like flashfloods, earthquakes, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, and severe drought.

THE MALE ASPECT thrives on challenges: whether it's climbing the highest mountain or erecting the tallest building or constructing the most dangerous dam or becoming the most prosperous nation. It operates in a rigid, hierarchical mindset, wherein the Boss or Chief or Lord or Father is revered as a sacred emblem of Divine Authority. The Armed Forces is a prime example of a complex organisation where the masculine spirit rules in all its glory and folly.

When the masculine mind turns religious, it does so through a Book of Laws. Its perception of God often takes the form of a stern, unsmiling Judge. Obedience and discipline are regarded as the highest virtues. "Righteous" behavior is rewarded with exalted status and special privilege. "Wrong" actions are forcefully punished. The stubbornly "wicked" are condemned and consigned to Eternal Damnation.

THE FEMININE MIND finds it easier to speak of spirituality in terms of a reverence for all living things, a profound appreciation of beauty, and an abiding sense of justice and equitability. The female approach to God/dess is often through the quality of mercy. Forgiveness and compassion are regarded as the essential attributes of divinity.

Socially useful behavior is inspired by love for others, not merely by fear of punishment. Rules are written in books as a guide to harmonious behavior – but the highest virtue lies in listening to the wisdom of one's heart.

How do we reconcile and unify the male and female polarities within ourselves?

First, we need to acknowledge that there has been far too much predominance of male attitudes in the structure of our laws and customs. No wonder true and lasting peace and harmony have been so elusive, despite tremendous breakthroughs in scientific knowhow that could so easily banish poverty, lack and ignorance to the Dark Ages of humanity's infancy.

Indeed, these problems are in danger of being maintained even as we enter a new millennium. They are artificially perpetuated by an economic and political system designed to favor the upper levels of society whilst keeping the lower in their place.

We also need to acknowledge that purely female approaches cannot be used to resolve the problems generated by male predominance. Otherwise there would arise a long-term tendency towards overcaution and conservatism, eventually resulting in cultural stagnation. The optimal balance has to be sought within each of us. No doubt the precise proportion of male to female will vary from person to person. But as a whole, the ideal balance will be found in a ratio akin to the Golden Mean, wherein there is always a slight bias in favor of the female. This is to ensure that love and compassion ultimately become the supreme qualities governing all social units, from the nuclear to the planetary family - and perhaps beyond.

Harry & Sheila Amoeba grooving on their gender differences

[Text & Cartoon by Antares © 1998. First posted 9 September 2008, reposted 29 July 2014, 30 June 2017, 19 April 2020 & 3 December 2021]

Uniting the Male & Female Within (Part Two)