Early Retirement for Injured Federal Employees
There is much discussion about the nature of truth and falsity in our world — if, indeed, shouting and counter-shouting constitutes discourse rising to the level of a “discussion”. Whether there is Truth with a capital “T”; or are there various versions of multiple “truths”, where my truth is just as valid as your truth, and falsity as merely the negation of yours at the sacrificial behest of mine? […]
What constitutes a worthwhile goal? Is it determined by the outcome – i.e., a retrospective, outcome-based proposal, as opposed to the gambling one where one must enter into the dangerous waters not knowing what the future provides? Are we so safely ensconced in life’s predictability such that we will not longer accept as a goal that which cannot be ascertained unless and until there is some guarantee? […]
Every now and again, someone will make that inane statement that seems to fly by in a discourse of overwhelming linguistic overcrowding of so many such pearls of wisdom: “Oh, we’re all just human.” Is it a logical tautology in a strict sense? The “we” referred to is obviously a subject which includes individual human beings; the “human” described and identified, is the same as the “we” previously posited. So, it is the same as saying: “Oh, humans are all just human.” If that were said, instead, would we not turn with a puzzled look of suspicion, as if the statement made was uttered in such a nonsensical term that the meeting of eyes would, […]
It is all well and good to write the narrative of one’s life, and to live it in accordance with the prose and poetry (or lack thereof) which we embrace; but to write another’s life — it makes one pause, hesitate and move with trepidation. For, we ask ourselves: Of what right do we have? Is that best for the other person? We make such a mess of our own lives; what burden of responsibility must we undertake in order to shoulder the writing of another’s life? But that is precisely what we do when we have children, isn’t it? […]
Seeking out the pathways of precognition by consulting with the ancient oracles, was merely that same attempt. Prediction and foreknowledge were the precursors of script writing; as the former failed to provide an advantageous statistical weighting, so the shift to a more pragmatic approach reflects the recognition that the gods provided no greater insight than mere chance, and so we’d better get on with life and attempt to control fate, destiny and the travesties of life’s lottery by writing the narrative ourselves. Thus do economic systems of varying control mechanisms arise, […]
Even of the most craven of personhood, as they walk the disquieted corridors to the gallows of their fate, one continues to believe that redemption is possible; that there is some segment of the soul which allows for the relative unimportance of value, worth, forgiveness and continuing relevance in an otherwise impervious universe. Most lives are lived without a grand master plan. But that we could all devise and lay out the architect’s blueprint of proportioned drawings and apply it to one’s future, the very act of unrolling the scrolls of time would be accomplished with childlike anticipation for the sweetness of that which is hidden in the wrappers of one’s future. […]