the pelican

once more with feeling

not ranting, no

been sort of suffering from blog build-up. excessive rants stewing and brewing and even spewed a couple down in text. but haven't posted ‘em, no sir. just furiously writing these desperate fierce manifesto rants about freedom of speech and using faith as a weapon of mass destruction and the disgust with those doing the lowdown dirty ad hominem bit.

and all around it’s beginning to look a lot like an election year. but this time, it’s politics more than usual. it is all significantly amplified.

these are the times when we say things we wish we hadn’t.

the surge. the tension. and it's spilling everywhere. feel in it the neighborhood, in the place where i work out, at my job. growing doubt and dissent and a very very deep loud polarization going down. never seen it so utterly divided.

there are those who know for certain that they are right and they have the complete and utter righteousness thang going. then, there are those who are questioning, who need more information, who aren’t so sure they understand all that is going on. and they are the targets of the ones who know for certain. the ones who will quite happily tell you precisely what you ought to be doing, rather than encouraging you bother to think it out for yourself. you know the type.

and if you put me in a chocolate or vanilla situation, i am mostly likely to pick rainbow sherbet. but hey that’s just me. just how i am. and if you force me into a wit’ us or agin’ us situation, even though the choice is so obviously both and neither, if push comes to shove, it’s going to be agin you because there’s something about this sense that there are always other options and if you’re going to make me, well, i am just not convinced that some one else knows best what’s right for me. got to have the illusion at least, that the option, the freedom, to at least think for myself is still there. maybe it’s just ego, call it what you will, but it’s a big part of who we are as americans, this ideal of autonomy and independence and individuality and maximum personal choice and freedom.

in other words, we all get to speak, write, practice and vote for what we believe in. period.

so, been writing big long stacks of high hoo-hah about freedom of speech, the state of things, etc. and then deleted it in a fit of exasperation and didn't post it. just didn't do it because it seemed so . . well . . over the top.

have to admit, there is a fear that all this stuff is getting to me a bit. letting too much of the grief and the panic of all the politics in at me. and we all know my screen door is a bit ragged, lets too much in. needs some patching and a finer mesh, maybe.

and of course some people play that self-deluding game of oh they don’t "do" politics. right. uh huh. that in itself, is a very political statement, like it or not, realize it or not. have heard it said that if you don’t do politics, politics will do you. well whatever. the point is, it’s about what we choose to hold to be true and important in our relationship with others and the world. and we hold that stuff quite close to our hearts. politics and religion -- them's fightin' words.

and if you think maybe i believe i'm above it all, let's get it straight. you know my politics. i like to work for good trial attorneys. plaintiffs. that means humans, people. you and me. the side of the common citizen, in civil law. which, incidentally, is also the side of the environment, a necessary condition in which we humans must live.

for me, it's a no-brainer. always end up choosing the human beings over the money, the insurance companies, the drug companies, the oil companies, the big business machines. got to. have to. want to. must. yes those things are all important and necessary and they provide so much for all of us, but they ultimately mean nothing if they aren’t by and for the actual human beings, after all.

in the end, it's about love, people.

love.

it's about caring for each other. it’s about brother what aileth thee and it’s about what can i do to help and it’s about how we’re all in this together and it’s about firemen who rush into burning buildings to save people and it’s about teachers who give and give of their patience and time to help other people understand and learn and it’s about the joy of doing good deeds and the basic feelings that result from this behavior.

yeah yeah bleeding heart and all that and you can say what you will about how there’s always going to be somebody who abuses the charity, someone who doesn’t do his fair share, someone who lives off the system. but you know, there’s so much more to it than that. of course there’s always a darker side of human nature. so? you don’t have to hate all of humanity and hoard your little pennies to yourself and take all you can and get that better thee than me thing going and justify it all on your own isolated pain and suffering. nope. you don’t have to.

you don’t have to because there’s so much more to being human. there is good in the world and it’s worth saving and working for. there’s this wonderful and most glorious side of human nature that comes just as naturally. there is generosity and kindness, service and aide, healing and feeding and caring and compassion and well being. and there will always be people who are even willing to put themselves in danger, lay their own lives on the line, running to collapsing buildings or diving into roaring rivers under fire or stopping by the side of the road to help others.

but hey, that’s my choice. what’s yours? you get to pick for yourself. you get to present an entirely different perspective and i get to take it or leave it. and see that’s the beauty of it all.

still and yet, if you read the papers, listen to the radio, turn on that horrid box, well, things are starting to get ugly. the first blood has been let in the personal attack vituperative business. and you have to look at what is being criticized, because a personal attack tells you so much more about the person who is attacking, than the actual focus of the attack.

know what i mean? it’s just vicious gossip. someone who is always criticizing and looking down their nose, saying nasty little character assassination snips about others, you know they actually show you their own little mirror of how they’re feeling about themselves. listen to what they’re ripping someone else apart about. when it’s really personal, you’ll hear what they hate about themselves, what threatens them, what triggers their fear and insecurity.

that’s probably why attack ads turn so many people off. make people not even bother to vote. they just get too disgusted with the pettiness of it.

and so well this year the politics are so intense it’s about all a nutcase like me can do to keep from going completely off her rocker.

i mean we’ve got your basic dread and a fear and sense of danger. there is the fear of terrorism. there is the fear of war. there is the fear of violence and rising violence with no way out and no plan to get out and no way to stop the machine that’s already cranking and groaning under its own weight and the fear of poverty and the fear of death and the fear of powerlessness and the fear of little hitlers and the fear of instabilities and the fear of using faith as a weapon of mass destruction and the fear of rising hate and the fear of losing the right to dissent and the fear of meaninglessness and the fear of inaction and indifference to humanitarian crises and and and.

some say that the rest of the world, particularly the europeans, hate the americans right now. moreso than usual. but oh if only they understood how gollum it is to be an american right now. how violently torn in half. how democrat or republican. how utterly split. how strong the surges, the ebbs and flows, the reds and the blues. how driven the sides are and how few people are actually unaffected by the war within and without, whether they are conscious of it or not.

kicking and yelling and screaming and pontificating isn't going to do it though, is it? we're supposed to be the change we want to see in the world, right? and a person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still? coercion doesn't really take unless there is some sort of pain or suffering or death threat attached, right? like imminent terrorism? or hey maybe a good fear of hell would do the trick? oh wait, somebody's already using that technique. has the copyright on that one. smart cookies that bunch was. now they really know how to market. how to peddle their wares.

and so.

what’s a girl to do? what to do oh what to do.

well vote, for one thing. that is a given, no question. definitely going to vote.

and beyond that, try not to sink into the violence of politics. try to see things for what they are. try to observe. try to help when appropriate and effective.

try to detach. try to stay in the center.

try to reach across the abyss that divides us in this great struggle and understand the other points of view. at least try to understand how they’ve come to believe what they do. what sort of fear and insecurity, what kind of pain they are reacting to. recognize fear and anger and violence and ignorance for what it is and above all above all above all as above so below have patience and compassion for those who are stuck in the throes of their own suffering and delusion unawares.

and wish them well.

and don’t take anything too personally. don’t let ego get all bent out of shape. rise above it. rise above it. rise up. rise up.

and so . . .

oh let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

peace.

within and without.

peace.

posted by: limine at 12:54 | link | comments (6) |

Comments:

#1  26 August 2004 - 10:14

 

I hate to say "well and beautifully said" again, because it seems like that's what I always say in your comments box, but it's always how I feel about your posts, too.

It's so hard to know when to stop looking at the storm through your screen door, and when to just slam and lock the big oak one until it passes.

Anonymous

#2  26 August 2004 - 16:51

 

great post!! :)

ugapeach04

#3  26 August 2004 - 18:00

 

Has anyone ever told you, you are a phenominal writer. I love the message and the flow of the post. You should send this in to someone who can help you. I am implying you should be a writer.

Tinaliac2001

#4  27 August 2004 - 06:33

 

I just want you to know -- in addition to seconding and thirding and fourthing all of the other comments about how beautiful this is -- that I plan on rereading this often next week when the conventioneers come to town, and the atmosphere will either be not as tense as everyone fears, or much more tense than anyone had imagined. This will be very good aid and succor for the week ahead.

Anonymous

#5  27 August 2004 - 19:34

 

There is no freedom with out truth...

thanks for the comment.

Anonymous

#6  10 September 2004 - 00:16

 

As always, I am impressed with your thoughts, my friend. It is nice to "read" you again. *hugs*

alohalani

Comments: