In the book "1984", Winston Smith at the end , after undergoing Room 101 and being broken by the system plays chess. Amongst many other things I've got tired of convincing people that the century's defining incident was a self inflicted false flag - but what's the point in arguing....I content myself with the trivia of chess.
With so many problems in the world is chess an unjustifiable escape?
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Ziggy ?...OMG !....where in the he!! have you been luv ?
I watched VICE on HBO the other week and looked at the forcasts for water shortages in the world. 10 years, 2/3rds of the world will be experiencing water stress, some of it severe. In India there are huge polluted rivers, and substantial lack of clean water for drinking or bathing. In some areas, rampant open defacation. No effective sewage. Stench. Millions and millions of babies dying from related disease.. More places will be that way in the not too distant future, and that will likely lead to conflict and world instability due to fighting for desperately needed resources. Seems like someone else's problem but the water shortages, cultivated in some cases, is everyone's problem. Water's being usurped by corporations, banks, and Wall St, as is sovereignity and democracy. I mean there's a lot of stuff that requires or demands our full on dedication and attention. But we're too comfortable and self-interested. I can't get myself to do much but stay put and PTG (play the game) in real life and on the board. Meantime our fate is being sealed. Chess will not feed us, help us prevent tyranny or give us clean water or clean air.
You make some very good points. Once we agree there is something wrong with how the (western) world is governed, we can then decide what is the top priority for "exposing". ALTHOUGH, irrespective of what people in general know there is then the possible requirement to act on it - which isn't easy. I understand that in the USA people who refer to the constitution are being painted as "terrorists" .
@Richie. If with access to the WWW people still don't know in broad terms what happened by now, they never will..
All recreational activities are escapes.
Ziggy_Zugzwang wrote:
You make some very good points. Once we agree there is something wrong with how the (western) world is governed, we can then decide what is the top priority for "exposing". ALTHOUGH, irrespective of what people in general know there is then the possible requirement to act on it - which isn't easy. I understand that in the USA people who refer to the constitution are being painted as "terrorists" .
If you are referring to the gun fetishists the issue is less in them referring to the Constitution and more in how they conduct themselves.
So...is chess a waste of time? Compared to what....watching TV...gambling...watching sport...computer games...cards...winging and complaining...viewing and contributing to this forum?
Just be happy chess is a fun waste of time
The goal of life IS wasting time. If the people creating mayhem and destruction in the world would only play chess instead.
#5...I've been hearing about the world under stress now for decades what with pollution and food shortages and overpopulation.We are still going O.K.The worst crisis in the last 100 years was Soviet Union communism where at least 60 million people were killed,including at least 10 million Ukrainians deliberately starved in 1932/33.
This is what I tell my opponents after I lose.
lebid wrote:
#5...I've been hearing about the world under stress now for decades what with pollution and food shortages and overpopulation.We are still going O.K.The worst crisis in the last 100 years was Soviet Union communism where at least 60 million people were killed,including at least 10 million Ukrainians deliberately starved in 1932/33.
Well you're living in that world now, you just don't realize it yet, but you will sooner than you think; you in particular, because you're asleep and in denial. The devil is in the details you've got no conception of.
there's absolutely nothing you can do about 99.99% of the world's "problems" anyway. They are really "situations" or "circumstances" rather than "problems." It's been a mess since the Garden of Eden and it ain't goin away.
Sometimes I wonder if spending so much time on chess with so much good that needs to be done in the world is a selfish indulgence and escape. Don't get me wrong, I play a lot of blitz. I love it. But every time I think why not get more serious about it I think, but I'm already not doing as much good in the world as I should, this will just sap more of my time.