#Extremes

[philosophybits]

Join the extremes and you will find the true middle.

Friedrich Schlegel, Ideas

[murakamijeva-muza]

i overthink.

i overlove.

i over feel.

i am the sea

or i am nothing.

Juansen Dizon, I Am The Architect of My Own Destruction

[vroomvroomwee]

The way Good Omens shows us how unhealthy and detrimental going to the extreme can be. Because look at it.

It's full with contrast. Angel demon. Witchfinder witch. Children against the literal manifestation of death and destruction. Heaven Hell. Etc. Even Crowley and Aziraphale's, as well as Nina and Maghie's, personalities differ from each other.

And especially if you look at Crowley and Aziraphale.

Crowley recognises the system is corrupt and wants to leave it that way, to abandon it. And in some sense he's right. It can't be saved. But that's not a reason to always look the other way and run. Aziraphale meanwhile consistently denies it until he can't anymore. Time and time again he puts his faith in the system which could be the end of him. He's courageous and hopeful that he can save Heaven and fix the system even though the mission is in vain. Neither of them are in the right. One wants to fix the unfixable, the other wants to abandon the inevitable.

One has lost all his faith in the system, while the other refuses to let go of it. Aziraphale, determined to save Heaven, to save the Earth, to save Gabriel, to save Job's children nearly kills himself and hurts Crowley along the way. And Crowley, in his eagerness to escape and find happiness independently from the Earth, pushes Aziraphale away and nearly leaves the world to be destroyed. One goes too fast, and speed runs through life, while the other clings to memories and the past. Neither of them being in the present. Neither of them meeting in the middle.

Which is precisely why Armaggedon was stopped, not by the Good side, or the Bad side, but by a human. A human not exposed to this polarity, but who's seen both Good and Bad and is himself a mixture of both. Adam represents humanity in all its flaws and virtues and saves it in the end. While Heaven and Hell, so convinced in their own purpose and goal, so convinced in their own purity/wickedness lead to the destruction of the Earth.

Paralleling Aziraphales and Crowleys argument, both of them going to the extreme, and ending up breaking their relationship.

The entire point of having a demon that isn't even remotely evil, and having an angel that isn't completely without sin, is to show that going to the extreme is nigh impossible. No one can truly be good and no one can truly be evil. "When Heaven ends life on Earth, it'll be just as dead as if Hell ended it." Both Heaven and Hell so determined to win and defeating the other side, to prove their own righteousness or wickedness, because they believe Heaven and Hell can't coexist, only one must emerge as the victor, so determined that they end up destroying the entire world, meanwhile being no more virtuous or corrupt than the other side.

And on the same note, Heaven and Hell can't exist without the other. "You can't be truly good unless you have the opportunity to be truly wicked." Without Hell, Heaven loses its meaning, and vice versa. They need the existence of the other, which proves that going to the extreme is impossible and would only result in pain and suffering. They need each other to balance each other out, they need the middle ground, the gray area. Whether it be shades of light grey or dark grey.

Now connect that to Aziraphale and Crowley. It's no coincidence that they managed to stop the Apocalypse TOGETHER, both of them on each of Adam's shoulders, converging both good and bad, which they both hold in various shades, together. And only together could they hope to stop the Second Coming.

They "need each other." Aziraphale needs Crowley just as Crowley needs Aziraphale. "Cancel each other out." No... BALANCE each other out. It's no wonder Warlock grew up into a demon child who nearly killed everyone at his birthday party (the book) and trashed the entire place. Because Aziraphale and Crowley were going AGAINST each other, and it was driving Warlock wild. The boy couldn't possibly be truly virtuous or truly evil, so he ends up a mess. Aziraphale and Crowley were going to the extreme and created something that wrecks and destroys.

They need to work together. And my guess is that saving the world in season 3 entails them to bring Heaven and Hell together. To find the middle ground. "Heaven and Hell against humanity." Because if Heaven and Hell continue on like this, there would never be peace on Earth. Just as Crowley and Aziraphale have to come together to fix their relationship.

[conservallama]

These bastards just won't die.

___ Follow for more memes from the GLAM world 🖼📙🗄🏛

GLAM - 🖼Galleries📙Libraries🗄Archives🏛Museums . . .

[puffy-fox]

We cleared EX1 :D

[whats-in-a-sentence]

If by some means you know the state of the universe right now – if you know where every particle is and how fast and in what direction each is moving – then, Newton and Einstein agree, you can, in principle, use the laws of physics to predict everything about the universe arbitrarily far into the future or to figure out what it was like arbitrarily far into the past.²

2. As we will discuss later in the book, there are realms (such as the big bang and black holes) that still present many mysteries, at least in part owing to extremes of small size and huge densities that cause even Einstein's more refined theory to break down. So, the statement here applies to all but the extreme contexts in which the known laws themselves become suspect.

"The Fabric of the Cosmos" - Brian Greene

[random-xpressions]

I know with all certainty that a man's salvation is in moderation and yet that moderation is nowhere in my blood. I've only known & experienced the extreme ends of any given matter...

Random Xpressions

[the-ephemeral-ethereal]

Our natures are so suited to a middle course in all things that we cannot exceed in any way with complete safety. We cannot bear to be always busy in the affairs of the world, or always shut away from them; always company and always solitude are both dangerous; and so are any other extremes.

from Discourse Concering the Love of God by Damaris Masham (1696)

[aurianneor]

2024 UK general election: choosing the Right or the Left.

The Left and the Right are two ideologies that recognise the importance of having elites. For the Right, some people are considered to have fewer rights than others: women, black people, workers, etc. The elite is composed of Oxbridge. The people have to sacrifice on their housing, health and education to give to the elites. The Right take advice from the richest. For the Left, elites are appreciated but the people are not asked to sacrifice for the elites. The elites are there to inform the people and help them to do better.

For the Right, everyone has to support their leader and repeat their ideas. That’s Rishi Sunak’s or Nigel Farage’s programme. For the Left, a plurality of opinions and strong debate are expressed.

Poverty in the UK has escalated since 2011 to reach 19% of the population. The cost of leaving has increased exponentially up to 12% per year. Energy has increased by 19% since 2022, rent 69% and food 40%.

Cost of living statistics UK: 2024 – Finder: https://www.finder.com/uk/banking/cost-of-living-statistics

Meanwhile, since 2017, tax havens have increased (to avoid paying tax). The UK rich people are getting richer. The top 10 billionaires in the UK are three times richer than 15 years ago. With the Tories in power during Brexit, work standards have been lowered (security, social and environmental measures) to the profit of the owners who became even richer. The Tories signed free trade agreements with developing countries with low security social an environmental standards creating an unfair competition with the UK workers. The British producers can hardly sell in those countries. Those free trades only benefit the owners of the factory there.

The UK’S Rich Are Getting Richer – Statista: https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/27505/uks-richest-are-getting-richer/

Deregulation and standards after Brexit – what Naomi Klein’s ‘disaster capitalism’ can tell us – City University of London: https://www.city.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2019/10/deregulation-and-standards-after-brexit-what-naomi-kleins-disaster-capitalism-can-tell-us

Trade deals: What has the UK done since Brexit? – BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47213842

In the past, when the left has rallied, it has benefited the country: the population has increased its standard of living without sacrificing public spending or the performance of its economy. Let’s remember the spirit of 1945 and the New Labour in 1997. In 1945 was created public service of steal, health (NHS), rail and energy. In 1997 the left multiplied by four the budget for public health, reduced youth unemployment by 75%, they doubled the budget of public education, they introduced the minimum wage, 2 million people have been helped out of poverty. From 1997 to 2007, there were ten years of consecutive growth. The Labour of 2024 has the same ambition as the one in 1945 when they want to restore public services of energy and rail.

The Spirit of ’45 – Ken Loach – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_%2745

Labour governments’ achievements – Shrewsbury Labour Party: https://www.shrewsburylabour.org.uk/labours-top-50-achievements/

What’s more, the stock market did better when the Left was in power. The ones who suffered were the ultra-rich who had ill-gotten gains (tax breaks, tax reductions, etc). The ultra-rich don’t need the poor to struggle to benefit from their wealth. The Left isn’t milking them for all they’re worth, it’s just asking them to contribute their fair share. The economic crises have occurred when the Right was in charge : 1982 (Margaret Thatcher), 2019 (Boris Johnson). The Right didn’t deal with Covid very well: they didn’t stop economy soon enough and had many death. They gave the money borrowed to support the economy to the ultra-rich.

Early 1980s recession – Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_1980s_recession

UK swiftly exits its third recession in 16 years – Resolution Foundation: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/press-releases/uk-swiftly-exits-its-third-recession-in-16-years/

Labour is right: billions were lost to Covid fraud, and the public deserve a reckoning – The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/11/labour-billions-covid-fraud-pandemic

COVID, CONTRACTS, AND CONFLICT: THE YEAR CORRUPTION TOOK CENTRE STAGE – Transparency International UK: https://transparency.org.uk/COVID-contracts-conflict-2020-2021-year-corruption-took-centre-stage

The neo-liberals and the identitarians point to the bad guys; they target the foreigners, the “lazy” or the misfits. They give priority to the ultra-rich, who have more rights than others.

A very strong and very democratic state is needed to protect the workers against unfair competition from badly-treated foreigners and against the social and environmental dumping of foreign products. The people need to be richer so that they can buy quality goods and have quality public services (health, pensions, education, etc.). This wealth has been captured by the ultra-rich, not by immigrants or ‘idlers’. Britain is rich but inequalities are high.

Believing that the solution to the problem is to attack the poor, the disabled, the people of colour, etc. by treating them badly (inadequate pay, fewer rights) hurts the whole system: old diseases like cholera re-emerge, poorer working conditions are accepted, and so on.

Many people are angry and worried about their livelihoods, their health, their children’s education and so on. Providing public services for everyone everywhere will be very expensive. Neoliberals are asking the poor to have less (by cutting pensions and public services) because they think they don’t deserve enough. The identitarian right-wing is calling for the poor to be made to pay. The right is diverting people’s anger away from the bourgeoisie. The Left is calling for the ultra-rich to pay the price of these reforms, but they will still be very rich. To restore prosperity to the people, taxing capital and controlling prices is the way to go.

Even then, the laws passed by the House of Commons must not be blocked by the House of Lords, which is not elected by the people and is not a power check serving the people.

It’s a shame that the Brits don’t have the right to a referendum on popular initiative and that the only way to express themselves is by electing representatives!

10 Labour policies to change Britain Under the Tories, the NHS waiting list has tripled, and drastic action needs to be taken to get patients seen and receiving the care they need. 10 Labour policies to change Britain: https://labour.org.uk/updates/stories/10-labour-policies-to-change-britain/

WATCH LIVE: Keir Starmer launches Labour’s manifesto. – Labour Party: https://youtu.be/gyna0dYUUSI?t=2061

Labour’s fiscal plan – Labour Party: https://labour.org.uk/change/labours-fiscal-plan/

Kickstart economic growth – Labour Party: https://labour.org.uk/change/kickstart-economic-growth/

Expert economists back Labour’s plan to end economic stagnation in UK – The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/19/labour-plan-end-economic-stagnation-uk-economists

Woman who pulled out 12 teeth with pliers says government failing on NHS dentistry – ITV News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdWonwyrNiY

Genesis – Selling England By The Pound (Full Album Remastered) With Lyrics: https://youtu.be/GEE3T35C7Y8?si=fCicsBgsqtLVm850

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Législatives 2024: choisir la gauche ou la droite.: https://www.aurianneor.org/legislatives-2024-choisir-la-gauche-ou-la-droite/

Restricting personal wealth: https://www.aurianneor.org/restricting-personal-wealth/

A slice of the cake: https://www.aurianneor.org/a-slice-of-the-cake/

Oui au Référendum d’initiative populaire: https://www.aurianneor.org/oui-au-referendum-dinitiative-populaire-petition/

Immigration: https://www.aurianneor.org/immigration-2/

Living with dignity: https://www.aurianneor.org/living-with-dignity/

Rob the poor to feed the rich: https://www.aurianneor.org/rob-the-poor-to-feed-the-rich/

Le RIC – Référendum d’initiative citoyenne: https://www.aurianneor.org/via-httpswwwyoutubecomwatchv-e2lnzwuy4ks/

Price ceilings and price floors: https://www.aurianneor.org/price-ceilings-and-price-floors/

The Senate, the power to piss people off: https://www.aurianneor.org/the-senate-the-power-to-piss-people-off/

Humiliated by the Republic: https://www.aurianneor.org/humiliated-by-the-republic/

Nos ancêtres les marrons: https://www.aurianneor.org/nos-ancetres-les-marrons-il-nexiste-quune-seule/

[howifeltabouthim]

I wanted to break everything in the room, but instead I did nothing at all.

Catherine Lacey, from Biography of X

[silentscroll]

In a world of extremes, I find myself

Swinging between joy and sorrow, like a pendulum

No middle ground, just peaks and valleys

From furious storms to calm, serene alleys

Words flow freely or remain locked inside

Feast or famine, no in-between to abide

A smile that shines or a mask to hide

Surrounded by crowds or seeking solace wide

Temperature extremes, cold or heat

Feelings amplified or a heart in defeat

A puzzle of contrasts, a duality complete

Struggling to find balance, a challenging feat

But in this dichotomy, a reflection I see

A mirror of contrasts, a complex identity

Emotions doubled or feeling like a vacant lot

It's like a light switch, on or off

No in-between, it's tough to scoff

People say balance is the key to life

But I never quite learned how to thrive

All I see in me is this dual face

No wonder I struggle with my own grace

These extremes make me question too

Who am I in this chaotic view?

[fieriframes]

[Nothing to extremes, everything in moderation.]

[supremeleaderofthelaziness]

Soooo...a case of extreme has come once again.

After more than a year of not even turning on my switch, I am now on my 3rd 10h/day assassin's creed II mania!

🎮⚔️😆

My eyes hurt so much 😵

[zaccahrycrookes]

29 years

I’ve learnt over my life, of 29 years, that the people I follow are people of extremes.

People that are always pushing the limit in all that they do. Wether this be art, adventure, drug taking and drinking. 

Being a climber is allot like drug addiction, always testing the limits, always seeing just how far you can safely push before life is in danger.

Having experienced both sides of this I can see the parallels, the common demeanour. Artists pump out as mush work as they can, addicts pump out the most drugs and alcohol that they can.

And, well, us climbers we pump out as many routes as we can. Always pushing that limit. Always weighing up the risk versus reward.

For 29 years I’ve been a person of extremes. 

Extreme chemical intake, extreme adventure and sports, extreme obsession over creating writing and painting. Always pushing, always plunging forwards to the unknown. Finding the harshest conditions, most sketchy long routes, most sketchy runs. No way of backing down once begun. 

[poetfromthevoid]