Sunday, June 29, 2008
righto.
back from vietnam and arts camp. was thoroughly shag-ded. arts camp was crazy la, everyday sleep at 3-4 and wake up at 7 kinda thing. haha. but fun nevertheless. saying that, the thing i wanna talk about is the vietnam trip.

i thought i'd be honest here. vietnam trip to me was so-so. i mean, it's interesting to see the difference in culture and progress. sort of a mini eye-opener as to what the rest of the world could look like. but it was nothing spectacular. i know isaac and hweeps had fun at sapah. for me, again, it was still nothing much. it's not the first nor even the second time i've been trekking into this kinda region, and the trek is tame compared to some that i've been through.

then what was memorable ? it was the experience of traveling with friends, i guess. the small jokes here and there. little chats we had. exploring new places together. i guess those were the things that i took back with me. in time to come, i'll pen down my thoughts and maybe share with you guys but for now, it's goodbye.

alson
by ~me~ at 12:17 PM ©

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Monday, June 23, 2008
of late the works of Rousseau have greatly interested me. Below is an interesting excerpt from 'the right of the strongest, The Social Contract and Discourses [1761]'.


the right of the strongest
The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty. Hence the right of the strongest, which, though to all seeming meant ironically, is really laid down as a fundamental principle. But are we never to have an explanation of this phrase? Force is a physical power, and I fail to see what moral effect it can have. To yield to force is an act of necessity, not of will—at the most, an act of prudence. In what sense can it be a duty?

Suppose for a moment that this so-called “right” exists. I maintain that the sole result is a mass of inexplicable nonsense. For, if force creates right, the effect changes with the cause: every force that is greater than the first succeeds to its right. As soon as it is possible to disobey with impunity, disobedience is legitimate; and, the strongest being always in the right, the only thing that matters is to act so as to become the strongest. But what kind of right is that which perishes when force fails? If we must obey perforce, there is no need to obey because we ought; and if we are not forced to obey, we are under no obligation to do so. Clearly, the word “right” adds nothing to force: in this connection, it means absolutely nothing.

Obey the powers that be. If this means yield to force, it is a good precept, but superfluous: I can answer for its never being violated. All power comes from God, I admit; but so does all sickness: does that mean that we are forbidden to call in the doctor? A brigand surprises me at the edge of a wood: must I not merely surrender my purse on compulsion; but, even if I could withhold it, am I in conscience bound to give it up? For certainly the pistol he holds is also a power.

Let us then admit that force does not create right, and that we are obliged to obey only legitimate powers. In that case, my original question recurs.
by ~me~ at 9:24 PM ©

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