Translation: শুধু তোমারই জন্যে সুর

Legendary song by Salil Chowdhury: https://youtu.be/BSrEjJCpZOQ

শুধু তোমারই জন্যে সুর, তাল আর গান বেঁধেছি
Tune, rhythm and song, I have composed only for you

এর আর কোনো নেই প্রয়োজন
They have no other use

তুমি হাসবে, ভালোবাসবে
You will laugh, you will love

তাই আমার এ ভুবনে রঙের-রসের এত আয়োজন
That’s why in my world, I prepare so many colors and tastes

ছোট কথা, ছোট ছোট সুখে-দুঃখে মোরা খুশি
Small talk, little joys and sorrows make us glad

জানা কথা মুখে বলি না তাই ভালোবাসি
We don’t say what we know, so we love

যে যা মনে করে জনম জনম ধরে
No matter what they say, birth after birth,

তোমার আমার এই নিয়োজন
You and I are together.

ভুলে গেছি, ভুলে গেছি কী পেলাম, কী না পেলাম
I have forgotten, forgotten what I got, what I didn’t get

জীবনমালা হাসি-কাঁদন দিয়ে গেঁথে গেলাম
I flowered the garland of life with smiles and tears

মালা ঝরে হবে স্মৃতির ধ্বনি যবে
The petals will fall, the memory will resonate

তোমার আমার হবে বিয়োজন
You and I will separate.

Translation: আজ সৃষ্টি সুখের উল্লাসে

The revolutionary poet Nazrul was in prison for sedition from the British Empire when he wrote this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5ecGak_Y9I Not long after, he really did go mad.

আজ সৃষ্টি সুখের উল্লাসে–
Today, in the joy of creation

মোর মুখ হাসে মোর চোখ হাসে মোর টগবগিয়ে খুন হাসে
My face laughs, my eye laughs, my boiling blood laughs

আজ সৃষ্টি-সুখের উল্লাসে।
Today, in the joy of creation!

আজকে আমার রুদ্ধ প্রাণের পল্বলে –
Today, in my blocked life’s floodwaters,

বান ডেকে ঐ জাগল জোয়ার দুয়ার–ভাঙা কল্লোলে।
the rain awakened a rising tide of door-shattering laughter.

আসল হাসি, আসল কাঁদন
Laughter came, crying came

মুক্তি এলো, আসল বাঁধন,
freedom came, prison came,

মুখ ফুটে আজ বুক ফাটে মোর তিক্ত দুখের সুখ আসে।
mouth-piercing, heartbreaking, my bitter sorrow’s joy comes.

ঐ রিক্ত বুকের দুখ আসে –
That empty heart’s sorrow comes-

আজ সৃষ্টি-সুখের উল্লাসে!
Today, in the joy of creation!

আসল উদাস, শ্বসল হুতাশ
Melancholy came, hope breathed,

সৃষ্টি-ছাড়া বুক-ফাটা শ্বাস,
uncreating, heartbreaking breath,

ফুললো সাগর দুললো আকাশ ছুটলো বাতাস,
sea swelled, sky swung, wind blew,

গগন ফেটে চক্র ছোটে, পিণাক-পাণির শূল আসে!
horizon-shattering wheel runs, Shiva’s trident comes!

ঐ ধূমকেতু আর উল্কাতে
That comet and meteorite

চায় সৃষ্টিটাকে উল্টাতে,
want to overturn creation,

আজ তাই দেখি আর বক্ষে আমার লক্ষ বাগের ফুল হাসে
Today, seeing that, in my breast, one lakh garden’s flowers laugh

আজ সৃষ্টি-সুখের উল্লাসে!
Today, in the joy of creation!

আজ হাসল আগুন, শ্বসল ফাগুন,
Today, fire laughed, spring breathed,

মদন মারে খুন-মাখা তূণ
Cupid shoots from a blood-drenched quiver

পলাশ অশোক শিমুল ঘায়েল
Polash, Ashok, Shimul defeating

ফাগ লাগে ঐ দিক-বাসে
spring touches village homes

গো দিগ বালিকার পীতবাসে;
oh, the village girl’s saffron dress.

আজ রঙ্গন এলো রক্তপ্রাণের অঙ্গনে মোর চারপাশে
Today, the geranium came into my bloodied life’s courtyard on four sides

আজ সৃষ্টি সুখের উল্লাসে!
Today, in the joy of creation!

আজ কপট কোপের তূণ ধরি,
Today, carrying quivers of hidden anger

ঐ আসল যত সুন্দরী,
there came so many beauties (feminine)

কারুর পায়ে বুক ডলা খুন, কেউ বা আগুন,
some with blood-soaked feet, some were fire,

কেউ মানিনী চোখের জলে বুক ভাসে!
I listened to none, heart drenched in tears!

তাদের প্রাণের ‘বুক-ফাটে-তাও-মুখ-ফোটে-না’ বাণীর বীণা মোর পাশে
Their hearts break but say nothing without telling me

ঐ তাদের কথা শোনাই তাদের
Telling you about them

আমার চোখে জল আসে
brings tears to my eyes

আজ সৃষ্টি সুখের উল্লাসে!
Today, in the joy of creation!

আজ আসল ঊষা, সন্ধ্যা, দুপুর,
Today, dawn came, evening, noon,

আসল নিকট, আসল সুদূর
closeness came, distance came,

আসল বাধা-বন্ধ-হারা ছন্দ-মাতন
wild rhyme came without blockage or closure

পাগলা-গাজন-উচ্ছ্বাসে!
in a mad feast’s pleasure!

ঐ আসল আশিন শিউলি শিথিল
There came tired autumn’s Shiuli,

হাসল শিশির দুবঘাসে
the dewy grass laughed,

আজ সৃষ্টি-সুখের উল্লাসে!
Today, in the joy of creation!

আজ জাগল সাগর, হাসল মরু
Today, ocean woke, desert laughed,

কাঁপল ভূধর, কানন তরু
earth quaked, the garden tree,

বিশ্ব-ডুবান আসল তুফান, উছলে উজান
world-drowning typhoon came, in an overflowing counterstream,

ভৈরবীদের গান ভাসে,
the witches sing,

মোর ডাইনে শিশু সদ্যোজাত জরায়-মরা বামপাশে।
my newborn witch child stillborn to the left.

মন ছুটছে গো আজ বল্গাহারা অশ্ব যেন পাগলা সে।
The mind runs today without reins like a horse gone mad.

আজ সৃষ্টি-সুখের উল্লাসে!
Today, in the joy of creation!

আজ সৃষ্টি-সুখের উল্লাসে!!
Today, in the joy of creation!!

Free Rider Problem vs. the goal of socialism

Leftists shouldn’t try to ban competition altogether. The problem with capitalism is that the profit motive leads to dynamics like the business cycles:

  1. Businesses are profitable when they succeed in lowering how much employees are paid. If companies succeed in systematically lowering pay, they will have difficulty selling their products back to the general population. To be profitable, production must skew its appeal to the wealthy rather than the people doing the actual work.
  2. Most people need goods to be cheap to go about their lives, but cheap goods cause the market to enter a deflationary spiral. When prices are down, businesses can’t make a profit by producing goods because they can’t charge customers higher amounts. Investors hold onto their money instead of investing in production. The lack of production leads to scarcity.
  3. Most small businesses fail. The pressure of trying to survive in a Capitalist market causes most small business owners to fall victim to the effects of Terror Management Theory. Businesses only start doing well overall when liquidity rises. hen the money supply increases, businesses are able to gather more of it. This makes them look profitable, but they are less pressured to perform socially beneficial work. Inequality also rises. This inflation required to keep capitalist markets in business lowers the buying power of most voters, empowering fascist talking points for them too.

As a result, when a capitalist economy doesn’t grow, it keeps shrinking. No stable state is possible. So far, capitalist growth has been fueled by incorporating new markets like new technology and populations who are willing to work more cheaply. This approach runs into natural limits.

There are many motives people have apart from the profit motive:

  1. People do things because it will bring them respect. People are willing to kill themselves to be noticed.
  2. A majority of workers are willing to see their work as romantic if they are given decent working conditions. Marx says people find meaning in life through their work.
  3. People who are suffering from lack are willing to work to support themselves. If no one works in a given industry, no one will have the goods produced by that industry. Then the people inconvenienced by this will be willing to work to produce those goods. People whose essential needs are met are often willing to do this for free, even when the work is hard and underappreciated like shoveling snow.

Parts of point 3 is what economists say. The problem is that the capitalist market doesn’t line up with the reasoning economists use to talk about it, such as the skew towards appealing to the wealthy: What counts as demand in the market is not demand expressed by human beings but rather demand expressed by big spenders. A spender is big when the market thinks they will be able to amass large amounts of capital for whatever reason, and this is unrelated to social benefit.

Subsidizing businesses by vote subverts these problems entirely. The government should produce the goods because the people want them. Capitalists say they don’t want government intervention because they think it takes away the freedom of individuals. This “down side” only affects rich people.

Translation: অলির কথা শুনে

A song by legendary artist Gauriprasanna Mazumder: https://youtu.be/spG7GVC37vU

অলির কথা শুনে বকুল হাসে
The medlar laughs hearing the bee

কই তাহার মতো
Why, like them,

তুমি আমার কথা শুনে হাসনাতো
don’t you laugh listening to me?

ধরার ধূলিতে যে ফাগুন আসে
Winter comes to the world’s dust

কই তাহার মতো
Why, like them,

তুমি আমার কাছে কভু আসনাতো।।
don’t you ever come close to me?

আকাশ পারে ওই অনেক দুরে
Across the skies, there, far away,

যেমন করে মেঘ যায় গো উড়ে।
look how the clouds fly by.

যেমন করে সে হাওয়ায় ভাসে
They way they float in the air

কই তাহার মতো
why, like them,

তুমি আমার স্বপ্নে কভু ভাসনাতো।।
don’t you ever float in my dreams?

চাঁদের আলোয় রাত যায় যে ভরে
Moonbeams fill the night

তাহার মতো তুমি করোনা কেন
Why, like them, don’t you

ওগো ধন্য মোরে।
glorify me?

যেমন করে নীড়-এ একটি পাখি
Like how, one bird, to its nest

সাথীরে কাছে তার নেয় গো ডাকি।
calls its companion

যেমন করে সে ভালবাসে
The way they love

কই তাহার মতো
Why, like them,

তুমি আমায় কভু ভালবাসনাতো।।
don’t you love me?

Translation: আমার এই পথ-চাওয়াতেই আনন্দ

A song from the Gitanjali: https://youtu.be/_wpZPz8pycI

আমার এই পথ-চাওয়াতেই আনন্দ।
Just watching the road makes me happy.

খেলে যায় রৌদ্র ছায়া, বর্ষা আসে বসন্ত ॥
Sunlight and shadow play along, monsoon comes, spring.

কারা এই সমুখ দিয়ে আসে যায় খবর নিয়ে,
People in front of me come and go carrying news.

খুশি রই আপন মনে– বাতাস বহে সুমন্দ ॥
I stay happy alone, the breeze blows good and bad.

সারাদিন আঁখি মেলে দুয়ারে রব একা,
All day I will stay by the door, eyes open.

শুভখন হঠাৎ এলে তখনি পাব দেখা।
If good times suddenly come, I will see it.

ততখন ক্ষণে ক্ষণে হাসি গাই আপন-মনে,
Until then, at times, I laugh and sing by myself.

ততখন রহি রহি ভেসে আসে সুগন্ধ ॥
Until then, thick plumes of perfume float in.

Disagreement with ideas that pass for common sense, Part 1

Re: https://youtu.be/HmCvw-TJyb0

  1. The religious right is stronger than ever.
  2. It is false that the absence of religious belief lets us do whatever we want. On the contrary, it is fanatical faith that justifies any atrocity in promoting that faith.
  3. It is false that religion inculcates respect for human beings. Before the development of humanism, religion explicitly subordinated human interests to divine interests.
  4. The absence of meaning is not produced by irreligion. It is produced by a society that doesn’t care about individuals. The solution is not unjust, traditional lies. If you read history, you will find out how unhappy people were living under those conditions. The solution is socialism.

By opposing socialism, religion prevents the creation of a society that feels meaningful.

What is to be done?

Update: An incomplete elaboration of this system: https://snapshotsofthelabyrinth.photo.blog/2026/03/21/materialist-economics-part-3-accountable-planning/ https://snapshotsofthelabyrinth.photo.blog/2026/03/21/materialist-economics-part-4-objections-and-responses/ The removal mechanics are misleading as written.

First America backs the Islamists. When the Islamists come to power, America says they’re violating human rights. Then America use that as a justification to buy weapons. This is how they create jobs. Why can’t we create jobs by vote?

  1. Enshrine human rights in the constitution. Uphold the rule of law. Without human rights, I don’t think it’s possible to know the will of the people. Those in power would silence any opposition.
  2. Create jobs by popular vote. Expropriate means of production if the people vote for enough essential goods to be produced through the government that the government doesn’t have the resources to do it otherwise. Do not expropriate means of production unless necessary. Do not expropriate means of production to let the government produce non-essential goods. The government can produce non-essential goods. It cannot expropriate means of production to do so.

The purpose of this proposal is to free the poor from dependence on the capitalists in various ways: capitalists can’t stop creating jobs because line not go up, capitalists can’t stop selling essential goods because line not go up, capitalists can’t move capital abroad because line not go up, etc.

What it doesn’t do is ban buying and selling.

  1. Use labor vouchers to decide the proportion in which to pay government workers.

The issue is that the actual buying power of any currency depends on the amount of goods available for sale on the market, not the denomination of notes being used to pay workers. I am not decreeing either salaries or prices. I am decreeing increased production and sales of goods that the voters say they want more of. If a greater supply is available, the price will naturally fall. This is different from the normal practice under capitalism, which is to stop producing and, depending on whether the capitalist needs to liquidate assets quickly, stop selling goods when the prices fall too far. This possibility is barred under my proposal. No matter how far prices fall, the economy is going to keep producing more until the price of money rockets sky high. When the price of money is high, and the government hands it out by decree, salaries are high. Goods are cheap regardless of the actual denomination of notes being handed out.

  1. Develop mechanisms by which multiple projects coordinate the production of intermediate products. For example, all the construction projects that require steel bars could pool resources to support a project that only produces high quality steel bars and delivers them to its supporters. This would make all their work easier.
  2. As an example of point 2, applicants who want farming jobs would be assigned land by the government. Then their work would be subsidized by the government as long as the people vote for it. If they mismanage the property, it will be taken away and assigned to other applicants.

There should be general legal guidelines about what counts as “mismanagement”. Such accusations will be resolved through legal challenges. Reasonable evidential standards must be met before applicants can be convicted of wrongdoing.

A Critique of Pure Subjectivity

There is a fundamental reason I don’t like vilifying the objectification of people. In order to understand the world in terms of abstract systems, we can’t do without a minimal gesture of objectification. For example, if poor people are not objects, then it trivially follows that either they have freely chosen to starve or evil lizard people are freely choosing to oppress them. Why not? People are subjects, not objects. What is happening to them without external interference are their own free choices. If, despite the absence of interference, starvation is occurring without anyone desiring such an outcome, then surely we must be objects interacting in the world.

This outlook leads to a Tragedy of the Commons.

The other danger here an uncritical objectification of people. If people are simply objects to be manipulated, then what is wrong with a totalitarian dystopia? The whole thing is just an object that is incapable of being imbued with subjective meaning.

This outlook leads to tragedies like Stalinism.

My proposed solution is that systems thinking is only possible on a foundation of abstract iconicity. Instead of subjectifying or objectifying people, we must imagine the world in the form of a mathematical grid like in a video game. People are neither subjects nor material objects but icons occupying positions in the grid. How the grid evolves over time is dictated by laws of the material system it models. The middle region where the abstract model magically “represents” material reality corresponds to a territory of true ambiguity that is best explored using the tool of literature.

This approach underlies any attempt to identify the abstract relations delineating social systems.

In practice, if we are told to think of people as pure subjects, many of us will accuse you of trying to involuntarily induct us into a monastic order. On the other hand, if you say that people should be free to choose their own icons on the world grid, that is just neighborly regard, not asceticism. The shape of their icon has nothing to do with the factual truths that the model entails.

In contrast, the “common sense” solution is to systematically think things without saying them. I feel that is dishonest. How can you trust me when I’m routinely thinking things about you but not saying them just because I think they will offend you? Under those conditions, who knows if I’m the person you think I am? That move is okay within reason, but if it’s being proposed as a basis for social interaction, then we should at least be on the lookout for better alternatives.

Direct Evaluation of Implications in Boolean Algebra [PDF]

“Is there a regular pattern governing the simplification of nested implications in Boolean Algebra?” That’s a train of thought I typed up as a LaTeX paper back in August:

Direct Evaluation of Implications in Boolean AlgebraDownload

I’d be very interested to know where to find published results like these, especially if they cover the special cases I omitted.

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