It’s Not About You - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/opinion/31brooks.html
Is it graduation time again? Already? Where does the tme go, eh? Anyway, an interesting article here which laments the advice given to college graduates - the idea tht they should follow their own paths, live their own dreams... just at a time when previous generations (and in all probability, they themselves) are in the process of tying themselves to a spouse, to a career, etc.

"Most people don’t form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling."

I don't really think we should abandon our dreams and subsume ourselves in othre people's misery as a way of validating our lives, but it does have a grain of truth in it - not sure I could tell you, even now, whether my life is going in the direction it should. Assuming such a 'correct' path could ever exist.

Rant: My internationality (we're back to Islam again, sorry)

Let me start by stating that I am very, very English. I drink tea. When I'm not drinking tea, I drink gin and tonic. I am strongly in favour of free trade. I believe that laws are there for the benefit of all and should be respected (except silly ones involving foxes). I think professionalism has ruined sport. In the face of angry confrontation, I may raise an eyebrow (just the one, mind). My response to a crisis is to put the kettle on. I have been known to fix my car using my shoelace.

But one thing I am not is patriotic. In fact, I would say I was a better European than I am a Britisher. The problems of my generation - global warming, the hole in the ozone layer, and now terrorism - are global problems, and it seems to me that nations and their interests get in the way as often as they help and protect (did I mention I'm strongly in favour of free trade?). So I find myself sympathizing with international bodies far more than with my own government.

So how can I be surprised by the attraction of the idea of international brotherhood, which Islam has so successfully promoted? Why should I be surprised if it is more attractive than the uncertain benefits of patriotism towards a poky little nation which even its most eloquent natives have difficulty in describing?

I also think there is something deeply English about living with uncertainty. We are, after all, one of the most agnostic nations in the world (not necessarily secular; just agnostic). We have a long history of scientific and technological advancement, and what is more fundamental to science than uncertainty? Even our parliamentary system enshrines enormous powers to a government which may have only won by the tiniest of margins (in other words, we may not trust them but we'll let them get on with it). And let's not get on to talking about the weather.

So how can I be surprised when young Muslims, seeking to make sense of their lives - seeking to create their own narratives, in the style of the narratives that they know, which are from Hollywood and Bollywood and are simple and black-and-white, turn away from being English?

And finally, if we're talking about narratives - who'd want to pin their colours to the mast of a country which seems to export villainy, in all its forms - movie baddies, imperialist history, or military equipment?

Happiness is people; pleasure is things

This stems from a radio programme I listened to in the car last Monday, called Beyond Belief. (you'll have to use the scroll bar at the bottom to find the programme for 21st August). Surprisingly, it's about religion rather than crazy inventions, and this particular episode was concerned with the pursuit of happiness. I was particularly impressed with some of the views put forward, and it helped me to crystallize something I've long thought. Bear with me: I know all you religious types will want to jam God in there somewhere, but this is my basic happy-old-shit-humanist theory:

Material things can bring you pleasure: Only other people can give you happiness.

Now I guess I have to define how I'm using 'pleasure' and 'happiness', which is probably where I'm going to struggle.I know what I mean, though, so here goes: pleasure, I think, is a momentary state, a brief point where the cares of the world are forgotten. Happiness is where the cares of the world can be remembered and dealt with without bringing you down.

Oh. Gosh. Um. I guess that sums it up, really. I thought that was going to take a couple of paragraphs, at least. Right. Well. Um. In the absence of any more wisdom from me, here's a picture of a kitten:

 

So: things=pleasure; people=happiness. Once you've got that in your head, what else is there?