“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell
I am of two minds when it comes to this story and I am not talking about being a Gemini either. My first thought is I am an expert in absolutely nothing and what I have to say has no significance whatsoever. Then, I think to myself, I have as much right as anyone else to my opinions. I guess the bottom line is it has nothing to do with whether you believe me or not.
While we’re on the subject of sincerity and credibility, I am not a naive virgin when it comes to human behavior. I have been around the block often enough to even make myself dizzy. I am a member in good standing of what we call the tribe of being a human being. I have said and done some incredibly stupid things throughout my life and experience has to count for something.
Sadly, I think the whole concept of progress is a ruse, a placebo created by humans to make us feel we are better than we are. Trust me, I definitely didn’t always think this way. There have always been internal pockets of punditry and there still are. This has nothing to do with the politics of left or right either.
I have no idea how long ago the idea of our intellectual capabilities became the calling card for our species. As a youngster, you start believing in a positive trajectory for our species. Our imperfections, if you could call them that, are temporary aberrations, speed bumps on our way to greatness.
All religions hold out the lump of sugar perfection. The concept of heaven is attainable for all those who adhere to their disciplines. Personally, I kind of like the Zen idea of enlightenment, but it does not mean that all of a sudden, everything is wonderful. I don’t think awareness is positive or negative. It is about seeing things as they truly are and finding a place of equanimity in the midst of all the tumult. It is not about changing the world, it is about your relationship to it.
I know I have brought up Darwin a bunch of times before. He was all about physical evolution and increasingly complicated life forms. How we have gotten to be where we are has nothing to do with who we are. Unlike the song, we are not the world, only players in a pageant far beyond our capabilities. We look to change the world without being able to change ourselves.
These are pretty dark times. You know, it is one thing for a guy to be deranged, spouting some of the most idiotic things imaginable. I think what is worse are the legions of supporters and they are not all idiots, not even close. Right now, I am listening to Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd. I just don’t understand how so much of what is going on can be OK, but it is.
Well, I guess you can say I’ve had a revelation. There has always been this idea of our inherent goodness, that we can be better than we are. I think it is a misplaced optimism. We now have masked gunmen going wherever they want and arresting innocent people. Actually, they are kidnapping these people and sending them into a cruel kind of oblivion.
Millions of children are going to die from malnutrition, because we have eliminated US AID. Everyday, Palestinian children are dying from a lack of water, let alone any kind of food. Anti-semitism is a crime and killing children is not. Global warming is now a hoax and who cares about species being eliminated? Man, the list is endless. Knowledge has become the enemy. Derogatory comments about people are now part of our ordinary dialogue. Hate is devouring love at every turn.
I know I am not doing a very good job of saying what I want, because it feels soul shattering and hopeless. I also am going to do something that writers never do. I am not all that happy with how this story is going and a real writer would just delete it and start over again. For me and how I do what I do, it would be dishonest.
I am having trouble trying to make my point, primarily because it is pretty much out there. What I really want to say is there is no reason to be at all optimistic about our future. Frankly, I don’t believe we are inherently good, an elusive, but attainable state of being in the minds of many. I am not saying this, because I happen to have awakened on the wrong side of the bed. Our legacy is our history.
The trigger for all this goes by the name of Trump. Reading history books doesn’t come close to living it. Our past behavior has gotten us to exactly where we are, not some cosmic aberration. Human history is all about conquests, one culture over another. The natural world, is not a bottomless piggy bank, here to serve our every whim, regardless of consequence. She is scarred and angry and broken and she is now taking her revenge.
We have always dealt with the consequences of our actions, absent any hint of restraint. We are good at adaptation. There is not a doubt in my mind that the climate crisis is slowly beginning to envelope this planet and every living thing that inhabits it. Do you think for one minute we are going to stop drilling for oil? The glaciers are going to continue to melt and seas are rising. Weather is already becoming increasingly lethal because of it. Let’s eliminate NOAA.
Right now, there are children starving to death in Gaza and it doesn’t seem to matter. People are dying every day, every hour, everywhere, seeking to get away from the hell they are living in. All over the world, women are fighting for equal rights. I am going to stop here, because it is just too easy to write about all that is going astray and that is not my point.
I suspect this story will get no emoji’s or comments, because nobody is talking like this. The future is going to be one of adaptation by all living creatures, because we are not going to change a damn thing and we never have. The forever pendulum will keep swinging, like it always has, but its arc never goes back to the way things were, a wonderful myth.
I confess to not really wanting to write all this stuff, because it is pretty goddamn depressing, plus nobody is really going to want to read it. We have not evolved spiritually since our Neanderthal days. Our history is littered with examples of our mistreatment of each other and our environment.
What I have found most upsetting is how all this could be going on and no one seems to think it’s fucken crazy. Trump is a symptom and not the cause. Sadly, I don’t think it is a matter of how far we have fallen, fallen from where? Fallen from an invisible, heavenly pedestal?
You and I, we have to find ways to live up to the best in us. In spite of how all this sounds, I am a bona fide optimist. The sunrise makes me cry. My grandson makes me believe in possibility. I have never been more in love than I am right now. I can’t believe what a wonderful life I have had these past 80 years.
The idea of changing the world is a slow motion, sleight of hand and you can see the cards. All you got to do is look. For you and I, let’s try and do no harm. With every interaction, leave people ever so slightly happier than before your paths crossed. If you want to look for heaven, look within. It ain’t out there, never was.
LISTEN TO IT HERE:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1292459/episodes/17560090-do-the-right-thing