IF NO MAN IS AN ISLAND, 
          THEN NO ISLAND IS A NATION.
                 __________________
 
 
 

Every country is controlled by a verbose chauvinist;
one with a skewed loyalty, 
and a master of misdirection.

Comedian: “What a great day to be here  in L.A. –
is this west coast weather happenin’, or what?!” -- 
and the audience hoots its approval.

Preacher: “It’s so great to be a child of God –
let’s give the Lord a hand.” –
and the crowd applauds its approval.

Politician: “And in conclusion just let me say:
”Long may Moritovia reign!” -- 
and the populace roars its approval.

Three chauvinists in the finest tradition,
leading their listeners to believe they are giving their
approval to: climatic conditions, a deity, and a nation,
when in matter-of-what-actually-occurs -- 
                    --  it falls on the speaker.

It seems a harmless enough sport,
and even if it was noted to an audience member that when the performer on stage asks: 
“Was anyone here ever in the Navy?” 
and people applaud, and shout out positively, 
they are in essence, 
giving their approval to the performer -- 
not to a branch of the armed services,
the attendee would probably dismiss the observation as irrelevant to their enjoyment of the affair
since their mere physical presence there
evidences in advance their affection for the performer.

And yet --  take a deeper look at what is going on:
all religions preach humility, so their spokesmen cannot overtly court personal adoration from their audiences as can secular performers; 
thus it is that they lead their listeners in
physical displays of shouts and applause 
as a demonstration of their love for a 
non-physical entity, (God), 
but him not being visibly present, 
his representative reaps, and bathes in the approval.

Exact replicas of this scene are played out relentlessly in various venues throughout the physical world;
men speaking on behalf of this-or-that activity
are the unidentified recipients of the good will the listeners express at the mention of the activity's name.
It is full blown chauvinism at its best;
blind, slavish devotion; 
Pavlov behind the curtain 
first posing as a patriot, then a monk, then a Mets fan Oz.
The never-conscious axiom being:
”It’s best to get the crowd’s approval indirectly;
make ‘em think that they’re cheering for something outside of you that you point to,
but then when it happens --  it all comes to you.”

Every country is controlled by a chauvinist,
and every man is a country,
and each man’s personal chauvinist performs exactly as those above described in external terms.
Your internal chauvinist keeps up an endless line of mostly meaningless stage-chatter, 
continually asking your internal audience if they are from New York; are Catholic, Italian, Republican, punk-rocker, 
the motor mouthed chauvinist asks 
never ending questions in subtle search for approval -- 
not for the "thing" that he mentions  --  no, no, no! 
But approval for HIMSELF!         And he always gets it!
And you know why?
Because all of the things for which he solicits your approval are things that he entirely made-up!
So when he says: “Don't we all loveeee Doebeekechia?"
 and every voice of your inner audience roars back 
the predictable: “YESSSSS!!”
the source of the solicitation alone receives the approval since you know that there is no such thing, 
or person as, Doebeekechia --
--  it is just something the chauvinist made up.

Such unrealized activities keep man’s everyday 
external world rolling;
they also fuel his inner, mental one.
You will never see what is going on as long as you blithely accept the chauvinist in your head continually pointing in this-or-that direction, and saying that he is talking about this-or-that matter when in fact 
if the matter is not clearly a physical one,
he is pointing-to & talking-about himself.
He is not patriotic, religious, or dedicated a whit to any organization, or activity he may name --
since any he can name can only be ones that he,
or one of  his counterparts in the other 6 billion countries made up for such purposes:
to get you to give your approval to him --  WHILST
           believing you are offering it elsewhere.
 
 

Hey, a chauvinist has to look out for himself --
after all: he is alone in this universe,
and with responsibilities unknown to any but him.
 

    Give him the respect and approval he deserves --
         --  but no more  --
               --  and you’ll be enlightened.
 

               J