Pablo:
There is probably no stereotypical cynic, no single story to cynicism.
When I shake my head episodically, it is to shake the marbles in my brain into a new acceptable configuration after what I have just read or heard, after a temporary discombobulation, ready for positive action - or yet another discombobulation.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
On Wed, May 7, 2014 at 1:20 PM, Pablo <pidahosa@yorku.ca> wrote:
--
Bolaji,
Even if a cynic is sometimes someone who is a scoundrel "who might whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be (The Devil's Dictionary)", nonetheless "cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth (The Little Foxes-- both quotes are from the Oxford Book of Modern Quotations))." Neither necessarily disables one from action and doing something about the ills that one sees. All Idealists (including Marxists) can be cynics, but the best of them want to change the world for the better, not just interpret it. A disposition of bitterness can come from the abuses that cut to the core of a deep and persistent existential unjustness that, of the moment, might appear resigned, but it need not be disabling. I also think that those of us privilege, which you and I indubitably are, can shake our heads from time-to-time, but we do not live with the frustrations of many who are less privileged. Initial anger is a righteous attitude so long as it does not turn inward on itself and is not destructive of those in whose name it seeks, or claims, to speak.
Pablo
On 2014-05-07 11:40 AM, Mobolaji Aluko wrote:--Rolling Yeye:I will regale you with quotations, then let you go on your merry cynical ways:1. "...God created the world in six days. On the seventh day, he rested. On the eighth day, he started getting complaints. And it hasn't stopped since."― James Scott Bell, Sins of the Fathers2. "A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing."― Oscar Wilde3. "Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying "yes" begins things. Saying "yes" is how things grow. Saying "yes" leads to knowledge. "Yes" is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say "yes'."
― Stephen Colbert4. "To be cynical is to be distant. While offering a false intimacy of being "in the know," cynicism actually destroys intimacy. It leads to a creeping bitterness that can deaden and even destroy the spirit...
A praying life is just the opposite. It engaged evil. It doesn't take no for an answer. The psalmist was in God's face, hoping, dreaming, asking. Prayer is feisty. Cynicism, on the other hand, merely critiques. It is passive, cocooning itself from the passions of the great cosmic battle we are engaged in. It is without hope."
― Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World5. "…a cynic (someone) who was still saddened whenever his jaundiced view of mankind was confirmed..."
― Sharon Kay Penman, When Christ and His Saints Slept6. "Cynicism places the cynic at the center seat of judgement with the self appointed authority to criticize and condemn. "― Jayce O'Neal7. "Cynicism creates a numbness toward life. Cynicism begins with a wry assurance that everyone has an angle. Behind every silver lining is a cloud. The cynic is always observing, critiquing, but never engaging, loving, and hoping......Without the Good Shepherd, we are alone in a meaningless story. Weariness and fear leave us feeling overwhelmed, unable to move. Cynicism leaves us doubting, unable to dream. The combination shuts down our hearts, and we just show up for life, going through the motions."
― Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World9. "Cynicism makes you feel smart, I know it, even when you aren't smart."
― Richard Ford, The Sportswriter10. "Scratch the surface of any cynic, and you will find a wounded idealist underneath. Because of previous pain or disappointment, cynics make their conclusions about life before the questions have even been asked. This means that beyond just seeing what is wrong with the world, cynics lack the courage to do something about it. The dynamic beneath cynicism is a fear of accepting responsibility."
― John Ortberg, Faith and Doubt11. "Cynicism is when a small mind and a hurt heart rejects the hope, love, and truth of a big and caring God."
― Jayce O'NealAnd I love this last one:12. "A thousand years from now nobody is going to know that you or I ever lived. The cynic is right, but lazy. He says 'You live, you die and nothing you do will ever make a difference.' But as long as I live, I'm going to be like Beethoven and shake my fist at fate and try to do something for those who live here now and who knows how far into the future that will go. If I accomplish nothing more than making my arm sore, at least I will be satisfied that I have lived."
― Jackson Burnett, The Past Never Ends
If those quotations don't cure you of your cynicism, nothing will....and that is coming from an optimist.And there you have it.Bolaji AlukoShaking his headOn Wed, May 7, 2014 at 10:58 AM, Yeye Rolling <yeyerolling@yahoo.com> wrote:We are beginning to pay a national price for corruption.. A collective pain of looted resource. Identities of the missing girls are in dispute became National ID scheme was looted... Police and Military are ineffective because of thieving. The President's response has been ineffective because of a political system that vests incompetence. To forgo cynicism in this atmosphere amounts to denial.....
From: Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com>
To: USAAfrica Dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Cc: NaijaPolitics e-Group <NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; "nigerianid@yahoogroups.com" <nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>; OmoOdua <OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com>; Yan Arewa <YanArewa@yahoogroups.com>; Ra'ayi <Raayiriga@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 7, 2014 8:04 AM
Subject: NigerianID | Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - MIDWEEK ESSAY: Bring Back our Girls - and Boys (?) - and the Consequence of Impunity (by Bolaji Aluko)My dear IBK:I read you loud and clear...being a Nigerian often makes one want to holler....Yes, there is much scope for angst against officialdom in our country, which will not go away by demoting all Nigerian professors, withdrawing GEJ's doctorate, sending Madame back to school, or re-rebasing our GDP. I do not know what that tipping point will be, but a united rally - I do not mean mere placard-carrying by all well-meaning Nigerians NOT gaining from the present chaos will do wonders, methinks.Cynicism is a hopeless option.And there you have it.Bolaji AlukoOn Wed, May 7, 2014 at 8:10 AM, Ibukunolu A Babajide <ibk2005@gmail.com> wrote:My dear Prof.,A country that cannot since 1940 conduct a credible census despite attempts in 1951, 1958, 1963, 1973 and I wonder how many more with wasted huge sums, how do you expect that country to get the number of abducted girls and boys?You and the many professors in Nigeria and beyond live a lie! A President that does not have a doctorate degree (from his body language and diction and delivery) that man can not pass a vival. His wife who is a stark illiterarte but you all bow to and worship, and other lies about an expanded economy by Okonjo-Iweala when all people do is steal oil money and pocket it with impunity without any accountability.Executive steals, Legislature joins in the stealing and the Judiciary is not left out. This Boko Haram has exposed the lie of statehood. Nigeria is a few individuals who are stealing the resources of so many and are pretending that they are governing.I am beginning to agree with Karl Meier that This House Has Fallen.Cheers.On 7 May 2014 13:13, Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:--___________________________________________________________________MIDWEEK ESSAY: Bring Back our Girls - and Boys (?) - and the Consequence of Impunityby Bolaji AlukoMay 7, 2014__________________________________________________________________Some returning Cibok girls?_________________________________________________________________________________________________________My People:As the father of three daughters, two of who were in school together in one secondary school for a number of years, the vision of 200-plus school girls being carted away by wicked kidnappers - girls with hygienic, dietary, sanitary and other needs, and traumatized by the prospects of all kinds of evil designs - is quite haunting. This event should represent a tipping point for all people of conscience. The political, revolutionary or religious credentials or antecedents of the Boko Haram are now irrelevant: this is a criminal enterprise without reprieve, as the most vulnerable in any society - women and children - have now been combined together in one fell massive swoop.Unfortunately, echoing (and taking some poetic licence on) activist Shehu Sani on his Facebook;Nigerians want Federal Security Chief President Jonathan to rescue the Chibok girls,Jonathan (G and P ) want State Security Chief Borno Governor Shettima to find the Chibok girls,Shettima wants Security Rank-and-File to get back the Chibok girls,Security wants frightened and hapless Nigerians to 'help in finding the Chibok girls'Lord have mercy, this is quite messy. Nigerians and the world just want our girls back....don't care how or by who...But for goodness sake, how many are they - 0, 80, 180, 200, 230 or 276? How can it be that after 20 days, we are still at a total loss about this exact number? Are we even sure that there are no boys among the abductees, because we now understand that the "Girls School" had become mixed for some time now, but just - inscrutably - never changed its name to reflect that coed-dedness?To get at this number, let us, like First Mother Dame Jonathan opined, start again with the parents: do they know where their children are who went to Chibok to sit for exams? Whether they do or they don't, they should please come forward and tell...otherwise, are we looking for ghost girls or what? Let us call this number A+ and A- of parents who step forward one way or the other.Let us move on to WAEC (eg national official Charles Eguridu): what are the names of the students who registered to do exams at Chibok? Let us call this number B; it appears to be 530. All of them students should be invited to Abuja to do their aborted exams - with assurance of safe passage, transportation and lodging - and count those who show up: let us call this number C. Those who do not show up (D = B- B) might be reasonably assumed to be either ghost exam takers, or abductees.Next we move to the Principal of the Chibok school (i.e. Mrs. Asabe Kwabura): how many the heck were the students who reported to your schools to take the exams - let us call this number E - and how many of those who reported have been accounted for since the abduction - let us call this number F?Somewhere between the arithmetic of the numbers A through F is the "passing grade" that shows the actual number of abducted students, so that we can actual begin to know the real immensity of our search mission - if we are not to leave any girl behind. It matters not whether they are all Christian or all Muslim, all Northerners or Southerners...or even whether they are all Nigerians or of mixed parentage or religion.Final points: the major cause of escalation of the criminal corruption, bombings and kidnappings etc. in our country is impunity, wherein the first actors are allowed to get away completely, or if punished at all, get away with light sentences due to outright bribery or some ethnic, religious, political or other elite considerations. On quite a number of occasions, alleged infractors are eliminated extra-judicially without society being assuredly comforted about due process - this happens most often with armed robbery. All of this is coupled with inadequate security intelligence, personnel, equipment and speedy dispatch to prevent crime before it occurs; or to stem it and collect credible court-tendersble data while it is occurring/just occurred; or successfully prosecute and punish the crime after it occurs.Consequently, we must work hard and pile pressure on officialdom to eliminate impunity in our society, which a relentless press and dedicated civil society are paramount for. We must punish criminals swiftly and publicly, with terms commensurate with the crime. We must also improve our security and judicial value chain - starting with community and state policing as a sine qua non.Meanwhile, we must continue to watch, work and pray to #BringOurGirlsandBoys?Back....and remember to build secure fences and provide security personnel around educational institutions and public places, and have an accurate record always of the students within.And there you have it.Bolaji Aluko________________________________________________________________
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