Vanquake

Van quake was another tragedy that people experienced in Turkey. While I was thinking about it, it appeared to men that it is not Van quake but it is one of the many quakes in Turkey. The last two quakes killed thousands of people in Adapazarı, Yalova and İzmit. If we give numbers to these earthquakes Van quake is not "one" quake but it is "one" of the many quakes that have been happening in Turkey since I knew myself. Van is a pun. I wish it could be real that the only one quake in Turkey could be the Van quake. However it is not and it will not be. Immediate responsiblity must be taken by everybody in Turkey. We should be making more exercise with our memories to keep them fresh. Otherwise, as the history has proved, we have the memory of a fish. We forget so easily until we experience the disaster on and on, not one but many, not "Van" but Adapazarı, İstanbul, İzmit, İzmir, Hakkari, Erzincan, Varto, Denizli, Burdur, Sivas and so many. I have tried to find out who could be kept as responsible for those many people who died in earthquakes. The responsiblity is on our memories. If we cannot enlarge the memory capacity, I'm afraid anyone of us can be one of those who died.

Martyr's don't die, the country cannot be divided

Martyrs do not die when they get shot, they "die" when people ignore them. Turkish teenagers, who are at the same age with the martyrs and who party all day and night long in Bodrum, Antalya, İzmir and Çeşme are not interested in what is going on in "their" own country. Their are only concerned with where to enjoy themselves and with whom to date. There is a serious contrast between those who are patriots and who know nothing about sacrifice. Therefore, the Turkish youth is divided into two camps one of which is those who can sacrifice their lives without any hesitation and those who have no notion of such invaluable feelings. Does the first group have any significance while the second group keeps on dancing, enjoying themselves, taking life easy, without getting concerned about anything which binds people together? I have been wondering to which end does sacrifice serve. To protect those who keep on dancing? If it is so, then it is valueless and meaningless. Moreover, those people who sacrifice themselves are observed to fight against guerillas who do not have anything to do but create chaos and destruction. These people can spend all by creating these kinds of concepts. These people live like animals in nature. They get satisfaction from bomb and gun explosions while teenagers who are ignorant, take joy from electonic and pop music explosions, coming from the loud speakers and amplifiers. Both are equally useless, aimless and dangerous. So it is my advice that those who sacrifice themselves better learn to fight against two types of terrorists: one in the south-eastern part of Turkey and other in south-western part of Turkey.

Filtering the internet, or the intellectual mind?

Internet filtering is one of the topics, discussed in Turkey by the public. One of the reason of this discussion is government’s wrong choice in imposing this idea to the public. Most of the people presume that the government’s attitude is right due to the fact that they think such an action can protect people from explicit content. I, however, consider this issue from an opposite view and I believe that instead of filtering the internet, it is more serious, threatening and vital for the intellectual mind. The minds of common people can tolerate this action because these people are hindered to think, and to react. Yet, people who have intellectual minds will question such an attitude. Therefore, from this, I understand that the government’s attitude is only for people, who are not intellectual thinkers. These people are happy about the fact that someone else makes decisions for them. For me, such an attitude like this is humiliating. I should be making my own decisions and evaluate what is wrong or right.

Turkish Nuclear Power Plants and Aid

When we, as "Crazy Turks", heard about the natural disaster that hit Japan, we were very upset. We were upset because they, who had one of the greatest economies on earth, would become poorer than us. When a nation is poorer than us we develop great compassion towards them because their fallen state makes us satisfy our egos. We can help them, send them aid and rescue teams. However, before the disaster seven nations, Japan, being one of them, were crushing capitalists. Now, they are poorer than us and they are not capitalists anymore. Even the Japanese ambassador to Turkey appeared on the TV screen and begged for help, from who? From Turks. We are very happy to help them, because we feel now superior. On the other hand, when the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant exploded, emitting all over the world, no body panicked. Radioactive clouds passes over the U.S.A. There was no response from Americans. The clouds passed over the entire Europe, no French, English, German or any other person from any other European nation said nothing. Now the clouds are coming towards Turkey. For the last two days Turks are over-reacting in panic. It is so because a Turk's life is worth millions' life. This Turkish selfness is something incredible. If Turkey is exposed to radiation, we may not be willing to the Japanese. The Turkish prime minister says that he is going to get five nuclear plants built in Turkey. He says that they are not dangerous. However, he is going to have them built in Turkey for the Turks who are most scared of radioactive explosion. His intention may be to take revenge on the Japanese. Who knows, he may want to prove that we are also wealthy and we have the power to build the most expensive and the most dangerous nuclear power plants in the world. I guess, if a nuclear power plant in Turkey explodes, it will erase all human civilization on earth together with the Japanese and the entire world will see who is the best in termination of human civilization.

Nature of Ego

Conflict #1:
You experienced winter,
while expecting spring.
Conflict #2:
You experienced darkness,
while waiting for light.
Conflict #3:
You experienced the blizzard of ice,
while expecting the flowers to blossom.


Why does nature generate such conflicts?
Possible answers:
To teach us something?
To warn us about something?
To punish us?


NO!


Nature does not care for you!
Should it?
NO!


It minds its own business
Who are you to expect nature to be concerned with you?


You are an egotist.
Nature is not.
You are an outsider,
Nature is not.


Yesterday a Tsunami hit Japan.
Killing how many people, God knows.
Was it the revenge of nature on people?
Did it try to warn people about something?
Did it want to punish people?
No!
It minded its own business, following its own track

So, do not build your house by the sea-side,
By the skirts of a volcano.
On a fault
If you do,
Your ego will regret it.
Yes?

From Harmonics to Harmony

One night, I was thinking of harmonics in guitar, which is the production of sound without allowing the guitar string to vibrate. Using harmonics produces the same note as with playing with frets but in a different expression. This is just like two guitarist playing the same melody, but interpreting it different from each other. I was thinking of this while listening Metallica's "Welcome Home". In the intro of the song, there are harmonic expressions as also in "Nothing Else Matters". This gave me an idea about how people express the same idea in a different expression style. An idea can be articulated through a poem, a novel, drama or a short story. These are all ways in which a single idea is expressed in a variety of ways. For example, in politics, there are political parties. Some of these parties cluster around as sets of left, right or extremist wing ideas. Whatever cluster each party belongs to, it shares a common idea with the sets of other parties in the same cluster. However, their individual expression of the idea differs from the individual expression of ideas of other parties.

To conclude, if using harmonics and some other method of expression at the same time creates a music of harmony which appeals to the ear, in politics the expression of different voices should be accepted as creating a harmony. Here is a question. What is "harmony" in politics???

The answer: Democracy

Why democracy?

Because it is the expression of the same idea in different ways or voices.

Emotion or Reason

Lately, I have read and presented "November by the Sea" by D.H. Lawrence. When one reads the poem, one develops a depressed emotional mood. The poem refers to the end of life by likening it to the end of year (November) and the waves which come to the shore. In such a dark atmosphere, one cannot save one's self from the emotional involvement. At this point, a feeling of despair infiltrates through one's spirit. The spirit, inevitably, is imprissoned by the emotion in despair. What can be done in order to free this spirit?

In order to free and liberate this spirit, one must use one's reason. Reason is the mind which questions what is constructive or destructive for the human spirit to survive or to perish. When mind is opened, one can see a light rather than darkness in the poem. So one can evaluate that November is not the last month of the year, neither is December. It does not mean that December is the "last month" of the year just because it is accepted as the last month of the twelve months. For example, for the Chinese, the beginning and the end of the year is different from ours. When the northern hemisphere experiences winter, the southern hemisphere experiences summer. So, winter and the end are relative. That is why it is wrong to accept this relativity as if it is absolutely true.

If you read the poem with this perspective, November may mean spring to you, the end may suggest a beginning or a rebirth. The "setting sun" may give you the message that it will rise again due to the fact that nothing has an end. The mind teaches people that it is wrong to mourn for death and we should continue to enjoy every moment of life as long as we participate in it. For life, our death is not the beginning, neither is it the end.

The Movement Determines the Tone which Determines the Poem

In our last exam from English, from which I received 60 over 100, I followed the main principles of imagism and modernism in order to prove that such principles "determine the tone, which determines the poem." Since no approach can be considered as distinct from the principles of the movement it belongs, I thought, the tone of the poet is the product of such principles. For example, T.E. Hulme's "The Poet", which was one of the questions in the exam is a perfect example of how the principles of a movement determine the tone of the poet.

The poem depicts a poet leaning over a large smooth table and beginning to dream about an alternative world, where he takes a walk with trees, and talks with them in the woods. Definitely such a poet is nobody but a romantic. His basic excursion to another world of imagination, an alternative world, which seems as if more charming than the actual world. I consider such a poet "an escapist", who cannot grapple with the solid facts of the modern world in which the modern men must live. Such a poet gives nothing but dreams, but a modernist gives to his readers the facts of modern existence. In the poem, the solid facts of the modern existence are as solid as "a large and smooth table." Such a table is not poetic at all, that is for sure, but it cannot be denied. No matter how many "round globes and stone images,/Of gems, colors, hard and definite" he dreams, he has to learn that he has to come back to the world of solid facts. Therefore, the modernist-imagist T.E. Hulme is definitely sarcastic about such an outdated romantic. The poet's tone is ironical, too. Some of his readers may believe that the poet has a happy and joyful mood but, in fact, such a mood belongs to the poet in "The Poet", who is detested by the modernist poet.