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Recovering backpacker, Cornwallite at heart, political enthusiast, catalyst, writer, husband, father, community volunteer, unabashedly proud Canadian. Every hyperlink connects to something related directly or thematically to that which is highlighted.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Politics: The Snake Eating Its Tail (UPDATED)



One of my favourite visual metaphors is the Ouroboros, the snake eating its tail

It's such a perfect image, reflecting the cyclical nature of, well everything (economics - boom and bust; political parties -  boom and bust; the building and decaying of the middle class, of the ideological spectrum, of openness and xenophobia, they all go in circles).  We think in spectrums, but our society functions more like a wheel, or perhaps a gear.

The Ouroboros also demonstrates how new things don't replace old ones, but rather emerge from them.  It's social evolution, creative destruction, whatever you want to call it - the old begets the new which cannibalizes the old and the cycle repeats.

You can see why I love the picture above, probably snapped by someone's iPhone from the gallery.

And the cycle continues...


I note the "and the left" part.  For those looking for ground to stand on, I wouldn't recommend careening too far after that pendulum, 'cause it's just going to swing right back.  The best place to be, as always, is smack in the centre.





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