Unfortunately many do not realize that in their opinions regarding the events surrounding Jared Lee Loughner they are addressing very real 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendment issues. Regardless of the media overload, they also deserve to be looked at as individuals are using this for their own opportunity. Understandably it is a new story, but the media has been rife with misinformation and agendas.
The outpouring of support I have witnessed in these few passing days since the attempt by Jared Lee Laughner has been nothing short of amazing to me. Equally, We the People have been together shocked and horrified into recognizing there exists a very real situation. We scan the media daily moving from bite to byte seeking answers for what we could do to better prevent such future atrocities. Journalists question their sources and report. Through them we find expert commentary from police officers, school administrators, and doctors. We also find personal opinions, though steeped in fact, still opinions penned by politicians and fellow citizens.
Congress on Your Corner
A single action from a single man has caused us to react as anyone responding to their own personal injury would: we seek to take inventory, count our losses and learn from our mistakes, and then we make more mistakes. Many it seems fail to realize that mental illness is a complex label as it is unlikely that any one single factor contributed to these events. More likely it was a culmination of events and conditions that brought the 22 year old Mr. Laughner to snap. Unfortunately the information on Loughner has been limited, leading to wide speculation.
And just as multiple events come together to create one event, we each have run down different roads looking to apply an opinion. Since 1:20 PM (MST) on Saturday, January 8, 2011 we have been told how both political parties are seeking to capitalize on tragedy of another. We find commentary discussing harsh political rhetoric. We follow a trail of bread crumbs leading to the red flags that define the strange behaviors of Jared Lee Laughner. We remember Virginia Tech. We remember Columbine. And we asked ourselves the same question then, “Why?” and in answer a chorus of talking heads respond with words that serve a specific agenda.
The Loughners
Many had their first glimpse at Jared Lee Loughner through his profile on Youtube where aside from the five videos he'd posted, he had also provided a short-list of favored books. Most notable from this list came Mein Kampf, Animal Farm, and The Communist Manifesto, which led many to speculate on Loughner's motivations. Few discussed “Fahrenheit 451.” None discussed “To Kill a Mockingbird,” with its themes of rape and racial inequality. And no one speculated on those written by Aesop, Jonathan Swift, J.M.Barrie, or Lewis Carol. Initial speculation on these sources though led many to believe Loughner the product of the Tea Party movement and anti-imigration groups, and later to identify Loughner as a Neo-Nazi. Message boards of course light up with their own logic suggesting that he should be charged with a hate crime as Giffords is Arizona's first Jewish Congresswoman. Unfortunately it was not mentioned that Loughner's mother was also Jewish and as it follows the maternal line, Jared was also a Jew.
On the day of the shooting, Politico.com reported that Loughner had attempted to enlist in the military and was denied, but due to privacy concerns the specific reason could not be shared. Pima Community College, where Loughner attended school made available a press release on the date of the attack that provided a broad overview of his time at the college and that there were five incidents and a Youtube Video that led to his suspension. Details regarding those incidents was not made available until Wednesday when the Pima College Police Department made available redacted versions of those reports. The college did not release the video until Friday.
In an exclusive interview with Mother Jones published Monday, two days after the shooting, Bryce Tierney, a friend of Loughner that is speculated to be the last person with whom Loughner may have had contact with mentions the message that he received, "Hey man, it's Jared. Me and you had good times. Peace out. Later." Having once been close friends in high school, Tierney had made himself increasingly distant over the passed few years as Loughner's questionable behavior escalated, including an apparent obsession with Rep. Giffords. News of the attack on Giffords hit the media eight hours later.
Another friend, Zane Gutierrez on Tuesday also mentioned Loughner's erratic behavior in a New York Times interview, “He was a nihilist and loves causing chaos, and that is probably why he did the shooting, along with the fact he was sick in the head.” Gutierrez and Loughner had occasion to meet for target practice and commented positively on his marksmanship.
The parents of Jared Lee Loughner released a statement on Tuesday expressing their grief over the actions of their son and their own difficulty in understanding this heinous event. Though some neighbors characterize the Loughner family as reclusive loners, another neighbor, Wayne Smith told Tuscon station KVOA that “They're hurting.” Friends of the Loughner family, Theresa Cobb and Bud Hebert, said of them, "They're great people. They're fun. We have fun with them." The Loughner family has asked for privacy during this time. Loughner's parents did not attend his arraignment.
By Wednesday in another exclusive interview, close friend, Zach Osler appeared on Good Morning America to discuss his relationship with and impressions of Loughner. Like Tierney, Osler himself was becoming increasingly alienated by Loughner's behavior. Osler also made implicit that Loughner, "...did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn’t listen to political radio. He didn’t take sides. He wasn’t on the left. He wasn’t on the right." Both Tierney and Osler mentioned Loughner's growing fascination with marijuana and spice.
Osler also provided ABC News with brief insights into the personal life of of Loughner giving details on his home being, "... kind of shrouded, it's covered up ... like cold, cold dark unpleasant. ... I always felt unwelcome, always, like I shouldn't be there," He also mentioned the breakup with a high school sweetheart, Kelsey Hawkes as being around the beginning of Loughner's peculiar behavior. Hawkes issued this statement, "'I did date Jared Loughner six years ago in high school but he's not the same Jared Loughner that the world now knows as a mass murderer – not the same person at all.'
The Doctors
Between February and September 2010 Jared Lee Loughner had five contacts with the Pima Community College Police Department for various classroom and library disturbances which ended in his voluntary withdrawal from classes on October 4, 2010. Loughner's parents did attend that meeting. Former classmate, Lynda Sorenson had written of Loughner in June, “I’m not certain yet if he was on drugs (as one person surmised) or disturbed. He scares me a bit.” His Mathematics Professor, Ben McGahee also expressed concern after being approached by several student about Loughner's behavior and on finding Jared had written, “Mayhem Fest” on one of his quizzes. What Ben McGahee did not know was that The Mayhem Festival was a Phoenix area event scheduled for July 16.
A letter to the family from Pima Community College dated October 7 indicated that Loughner, “must resolve his Code of Conduct violations and obtain a mental health clearance indicating, in the opinion of a mental health professional, his presence at the College does not present a danger to himself or others.” Whether he obtained that evaluation is currently unknown. Since the attack additional questions and criticisms have surfaced regarding Loughner's competence, unfortunately investigators have yet to present findings from their suspect as he is not cooperating with investigators.
Mark Goulston M.D. laid a basic foundation of mental illness for the public to better understand the potential of the suspects undiagnosed condition. Some have speculated that Loughner may have believed he was dreaming during the attack. Others are convinced his are the actions of a paranoid schizophrenic. What is certain is that informed decisions are what will determine the type of sentence he will receive.
Many though have been asking the question of how this man, through all the red flags, the police, his school, friends, neighbors, or family, did not become a part of the mental health system. According to this Newsweek article, Arizona provides the easiest methods of involuntarily committing an individual. According to Arizona's law, a person has to be a danger to themselves or others, unable to meet one's own physical needs, or persistently or acutely disabled meaning unable to manage one's own care. Ultimately evidence of this can be presented by expert; laypersons such as the police, his school, friends, neighbors, or family; or the subject's own writing such as what he had posted on Youtube. Everyone had observed or had been informed of his behavior, just no one did anything about it.
The Politics
It almost seems that Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik coined the term “vitriol” when he openly criticized politicians and media during a press conference on the day of the shooting. His criticism seemingly touched a nerve as heated arguments have regularly been a staple of United States politics leading up to the polarization of social issues along party lines: Democrat, Republican; good and evil, wrong or right. Almost immediately this gave relation to Sarah Palin's Political Action Committee poster, “Let's take back the 20, together!” showing cross-hairs aligned on Rep. Giffords district.
That evening SarahPAC member, Rebecca Mansour went on the radio show, Tammy Bruce Saturday discussing these cross-hairs as being anything but. Tammy Bruce suggested they could in fact be ”surveyor's symbols.” Rush Limbaugh also found himself the subject of similar scrutiny spending an evening on the radio undermining this perceived threat from the left. Limbaugh furthered his effort by suggesting a connection between Loughner and the Democratic party. Glenn Beck suggests that this may lead to a reenactment of the Fairness Doctrine which would effectively end shows such as his, Limbaugh's, or any other pundit program, potentially even Steven Colbert and John Stewart. The doctrine itself lasted from 1949 until 1987 when it was repealed by the Reagan Administration under the argument that it restricted our First Amendment Rights. The threat of course being that it required the news media to remain honest, equitable, and balanced. Rush Limbaugh has been on the air since August 1, 1988 and was among the first to attack the statements of Sheriff Dupnik. Pundits of all stripes have come forward to dismiss media vitriol as being behind the actions of Loughner.
Sheriff Dupnik as it seems was the first to be sacrificed at the alter he created being. First attacked by politicians for his using the initial news conference to express an opinion, then later by pundits for those same remarks, his passed criticism of Arizona's immigration law, even his affiliation to the Democratic Party implying that such has made him incompetent and that his behavior is along party lines. By Thursday neighboring Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's voice was similar, though the headlines were misleading.
Four days after the attack, on her own Facebook page, Sarah Palin posted her own video in response to the criticism of her own political rhetoric with an aside expressing sadness over the attack. Most notable of her video was the use of the term, “blood libel,” which outlets such as The Los Angeles Times have equated to medieval anti-semitism. The contemporary use of this term suggests a person is being publicly sacrificed at the tragedy of another. So much has it become attention has been devoted to Palin's social media persona that it has become an effort to keep her Facebook clear of messages that reflect negatively upon her or can be further construed as reflecting poorly upon her. As part of this discussion, Palin and even Wikileaks remind us that such heated statements have regularly been a part of contemporary American politics extending back to a time when politicians carried firearms and settled arguments at the barrel of a gun. Certainly then they did use such rhetoric, but at the same time they also used murder, otherwise called “dueling,” as a political tool.
Reactions to violence, and reactions to those reaction only serves to compound these events. In the hours following the attack. Rep. Peter King proposed legislation that would prohibit the carrying of a firearm within 1,000 feet of a member of Congress. House Leaders, Speaker, Rep. John Boehner and Majority Leader, Eric Cantor have both said that they will oppose this legislation, But King has indicated that he will proceed without their support. Legislation has also been introduced to prevent members of the Westboro Baptist Church from protesting as planned at victims funerals including that of 9 year old Christina Green, whom it was mentioned was born on September 11, 2001, the same day as the World Trade Center bombing.
In a seemingly unrelated topic author Karen Armstrong appeared on Radio West with Doug Fabrizio to speak of returning compassion to humanity. Among other things she discussed “the four F's” held by neuro-scientist as being the most basic functions of the primitive brain: fighting, feeding, fleeing, and “reproduction.” She also argues that altruism is a hard wired part of our brains. With that we are able to care for one another and ourselves. According to Armstrong, what separates ours from the primitive is that we have higher faculties that allows us to synthesize information and reason accordingly. Unfortunately the balance between the two brains is not always there just as the balance of altruism and any of the four F's is not always present. The hormones that influence our primitive functions produce an intoxicating effect that creates an addictive behavior. Oxytocin being that high that mother's feel for their newborns is inverse to that high felt on challenging or fearing another.
Many religious, and thus political institutions play on this primitive brain with apocalyptic rhetoric and polarized issues giving their followers a combination high of both challenging and fearing another be it person or institution. These same instincts also lead us to doubt explanations that are not in line with our own system of beliefs. In this conversation, Armstrong suggests that in our responding to fear and aggression, we poison a piece of our humanity.
The Gun
Jared Lee Loughner used a Glock 19 in his attack on Giffords, an updated version of the Glock 17 that achieved notoriety when it was used by Cho Sueng-Hui in his attack on Virginia Tech, and later by George Sodini when he launched an attack on members of a Pittsburgh, PA area health club. The 17 was first developed by Glock for use by the military and law enforcement in 1988. Contrary to the claims of the same weapon being used by many outlets, the Glock 19 had not become available for retail until July 2010. The Glock 17 and the 19 have become favorites of law enforcement and private citizens alike for its lightweight polymer construction, though it is a concern for forensic experts in that Glock uses a polygonal rifling technique that makes it difficult to match the gun with a bullet fired from it.
Loughner legally purchased his Glock 19 for $499 from Sportsman's Warehouse in Tuscon, Arizona. He did successfully pass the mandatory background check for his purchase that concluded that Loughner had not been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; was not a fugitive from justice; was not an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance; had not been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution; was not an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States; had not been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions; was currently a citizen of the United States, and had not renounced U.S. citizenship; was not subject to a court order that restrained him from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner, or; had not been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
Counter to that background check, there were hints of trouble, though his run-ins with the law did not result in an arrest or conviction, concern over his behavior had been acted upon by most everyone that had touched his life including concerns over drug use, stalking behavior, and the idea that he could have been a threat to himself or another individual. Loughner had attempted to buy ammunition at a Wal-Mart store on the morning of the attack, but was turned away due to his behavior. He was able to travel to another Wal-Mart where he was allowed to complete his purchase. It was during this time that Loughner was pulled over by an Arizona Game and Fish Department officer for running a red light.
On The Huffington Post, Peter S. Goodman poignantly mentions that an event of this type has happened before and will happen again unless we do something now to keep guns from the hands of those who may be considered unbalanced. The fact is not that Jared Lee Laughner was able to purchase a firearm, the fact is that regardless of his method, a person so inclined will find a way. Yes, every country has mentally unstable people, conspiracy theorists and kooks. Yes, not every country has the uniquely American easy access to semiautomatic weapons. But counter to his point is that the media in other developed nations does show that when there is a will, there is a way. Institutions, property, and lives will be destroyed if a person is so intent.
Is this American tragedy any more important than the Winnenden school shooting or the Erfurt massacre in Germany. Is this American tragedy any more important than the innumerable dead from a rash of knife attacks in Japan? Is this American tragedy any more important than the incidence of suicide at Foxconn in China? Yes, it is more important!
It's more important because it is here and this is us, and as anyone responding to personal injury we seek to take inventory, count our losses and learn from our mistakes, and then we make more mistakes. Politicians dismiss their vitriolic rhetoric as only being offensive to the ignorant. Citizens pass responsibility to schools and law enforcement. Schools suggest it's not their job to report abnormal behavior and look to citizens to report and law enforcement to respond. Pima Sheriff Clarence Dupnik though returned that as it is everyone's responsibility!
Although this picture is one of a social failure, it is not the job of the schools to moralize our children just as it is not the rule of law to ensure that we are moralized. They are the checks to societies balance. That is their social contract. If you do poorly in school, you will not pass just as if you break the law, there will be consequences to your actions. But, if your neighbor does poorly in school, or your neighbor breaks the law, do you know? Are you concerned for your neighbor for any other reason than your own security? There were red flags seen by everyone, yet the only action was to further isolate the individual.
I find it remarkable that there could be so many people that feel isolated in a country with 311,885,968 residents. I find it remarkable that people are able to feel isolated. How many people do you talk to in a day? How many of them do you make eye contact with when speaking with them? How much of that conversation includes active listening? Do you engage the peculiar and unfamiliar? Or do you save your conversation for those you know, leaving the rest for frozen transactions?
Jared Lee Laughner and those like him; they're not just a problem for someone else, they are a community problem that must be dealt with in a constructive manner or this will happen again. I'm not sorry to announce this, but it will require an effort on your part.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Promise of Capitalism
The following is an edited form of the paper and presentation I delivered at the Weber State University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology Sixth Annual research Conference on April 17, 2009. The pictures are from my presentation slides.
Abstract
The United States of America was founded on concepts revolutionary in their day. But arguments on the inalienable rights of man; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, were not original to the men who ratified this nation. Indeed what had been ratified was a social contract designed by the early social thinkers of the First Industrial Revolution, and that contract was one where the butcher, the brewer, and the baker could live and work together to create a greater society, and thus the invisible hand was born.
What was this social contract, why it still matters, and what it means to the environment is what I plan to discuss.
The Promise of Capitalism
The term social contract is recognition of the means by which a populace surrenders a certain level of autonomy to attain social order. In 17th century England, social theorist Robert Filmer published his arguments to maintain the existing social contract in Patriarchia where he excused the monarchy as being the divine right of kings. Political theorist and social activist, John Locke seized on this when writing The Two treatise of Government and offered criticism to this social contract by exploiting what he perceived as a flawed logic, primary to which, God created man, not kings. Through this he challenged the existing contract by suggesting that man exists in a state of nature where, “"The state of Nature has a law of Nature to govern it….” Based on this law of nature, Locke surmised that all men were created equal and as such it was each man’s responsibility that, “….no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions….” (Locke, II, 6)
With this sense of equality and the recognition of a social contract, Locke went further with suggesting such contracts as revocable in that any civil government depends on the consent of those who are governed, which may be withdrawn. Also from this equality, Locke stated that land only held value after being cultivated by a person and it is that person who should acquire it and its fruits as a result, thus requiring the central function of government to be the protection of private property and one’s own means of production. A caveat to this was that no man should be allowed to acquire beyond his means and that nature should not be exploited in harvesting its resources. (Locke, V, 31)
The document was among the great instigators of organized civil disobedience leading up to The Boston Tea Party for colonial elite and commoner alike. Key in this movement was Thomas Jefferson who on identifying with the meaning of Locke used near direct citation from the second of the two treatise when he wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” As it was already said by Locke that land is an extension of the body, Jefferson equated health and possession with happiness.
The American Dream
Experiencing this transition period firsthand, from colony to developing nation, Benjamin Franklin gave rise the American Dream by coming to Philadelphia penniless to later rise as one of the wealthiest men in America. For that reason he is the only man pictured on US currency who was never a sitting president. Fortune magazine columnist Stanley Bing rates Benjamin Franklin number four on his list of 7 saints he admires most; right under Nicolo Machiavelli. Attila the Hun tops that list, followed by Augustus Caesar. Bing praises Franklin for his ability to remain fluid and redefine himself over the ages and even declares him the contemporary of Bill Gates; starting small, building a monopoly, then becoming a philanthropist.
Franklin’s arrival in Philadelphia was more than one of a penniless traveler, he arrived at the age of 17, a fugitive after fleeing a contract of indentured servitude. With this new freedom he began working when his way through a printing apprenticeship when he found himself in the Machiavellian court of the governing body of the colonies, the General Assembly. Later as he graduated from apprentice to journeyman, Franklin was made clerk of the Assembly where he used his relationships with its members to gain contracts he later came to refer to as “printing money,” which in fact was the printing of currency and most all of the legal documents for the New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania colonies. (Franklin, X, Poor Richard’s Almanac and Other Activities)
Because of this, Benjamin Franklin became a very wealthy man and was able to retire by the age of 42. He died at 84, far exceeding the expected age of his contemporaries. Also it should be noted that practicing business as he did then is now considered illegal and that is where the American Dream went.
The Father of Capitalism
Adam Smith is considered by many the true father of capitalism. Born in 18th century Scotland, Smith is currently the first, and only non-British citizen featured on a British bank note. Around the in the same time as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Smith published An Inquiry Into the Wealth of Nations, a book regarding his observations and assumptions on a free market economy. In the book he uses such symbols as the butcher, the baker, and the brewer to describe how a free market economy would function, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages.” (Smith, Ch. 2)
Smith utilizes these symbols time and again throughout the work to reflect elements of an economy that when working to serve their own self-interest, they unintentionally improve the circumstance for society by circulating monetary gains and creating a better standard of living.
While he did explain this as also being beneficial on a global scale through international trade, he also explained that the same self-interest the capitalist operates would manifest as patriotism, causing him to patronize local, not international markets in times of economic downturn.
These points as Smith described them came to be known as the Laissez-faire economy that for a time was used in France with ill effect. Some still argue that a Laissez-faire system would be beneficial and government intervention retards its self-corrective nature. Others argue that unfettered business destroys resources, exploits the working class, and supports governments having a record of infringing on another’s human rights.
232 Years Later
Where this has brought us now is in many ways far from what was envisioned by these men who shaped early American history, though with characters such as Bernard Madhof it could be assumed that Franklin’s American dream is alive and well. Situations only being realized in contemporary society would be the McDonaldization of businesses and consumers with its accompanying health problems of stress and obesity, whole businesses seeking welfare capitalism as their failure threatens the destruction of the global economy, and retailers capitalizing on third world economies to increase their margins.But those are only the surface issues, what has been left in plain sight as if its mere presence makes it acceptable.
Greater environmental issues exist that are hidden from the casual observer. I recall driving to Yellowstone national park in 1995 when I noticed light showing between the trees as I zipped passed. After stopping the car to investigate and walking some 20 feet into the tree line, I found that whole areas of the forest had been decimated. The accompanying satellite photo shown is of the area immediately west of Yellowstone national park. The patches are roughly two square miles each left over from clear cutting operations nearly fifteen years ago. They recessed these from the road so as not to spoil your scenic drive into the park. It will be another 85 years before those forests recover.
On February 2 the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the Native Ecosystems Council filed suit in US District court to block resumed logging operations in this area. (Associate Press, 2/2/09)
Something that also goes without notice is the North Pacific Gyre whose current state was discovered by Charles Moore in 2007 in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the continental United States. Also called the North Pacific Garbage Patch, this gyre according to a recent Wall Street Journal column, contains a mass of floating plastic whose collective surface area is estimated at its minimum to be twice the size of Texas. (WSJ, 3/25/09) That is the equivalent of small continent floating around in the ocean. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the potential for such an event in 1988. Since Moore’s discovery, the largest response has been from the cruise-line industry in steering ships around the area so as not to disturb guests.
Another issue that goes without much concern was found in 2003 at Hill Air Force Base when a jet fuel storage tank was reported to be leaking carcinogens into the groundwater. This issue first came to their attention in 1977 when a neighboring property owner reported that his secondary water was orange. The slide area affected by this extends through several communities west of the air base extending almost to the Great Salt Lake.
Yet still in 2005 the US Geological Survey reported finding 25 nanograms per liter of methylmercury in the Great Salt Lake. This reading is one of the highest findings in the US. On tracing it to the source they found that it had been leaching into the groundwater table from Kennecott Copper.
Now an official Superfund site, clean-up efforts are underway yet this mercury is dissipated throughout the lake, across migratory bird refuges extending up to northern shores where many businesses extract table salt.
Overall there are some 35 Superfund sites in Utah, mostly in the areas between Provo and Ogden. This is what happens when business is allowed to run enfettered in society, imagine what it would be if they were given absolute autonomy. This is also what happens when government grows beyond control, imagine what it would be if they were allowed to continue with business as usual.
Remember the three symbols presented by Smith; the butcher, the baker, and the brewer? Smith uses them symbolically to illustrate varying roles within the economy. Primarily what they represent is the three driving factors of the economy; the government, the businesses, and the consumer; each working to support and make a better life for themselves and consequently the other. Our social contract is one where the government protects private property and the interests of industry; where industry provides jobs and technological innovation to the consumer; and where the consumer provides continued support on which the government depends to function. But what has happened here is that the consumer has defaulted on their part. Each is also meant to monitor the actions of the other which is how we avoided a Lazzier-faire economy. This system of checks and balances could be best compared to the three branches of the government; none lives in a vacuum; each is answerable to the other.
Global markets could be just as easily blamed on a monolithic government or big business, but in reality the problem is us. The consumer has found themselves in a state of anomie fed on by their over consumption while forgetting that just as every time they vote support a politician in office, they also vote in support big businesses by patronizing their products and stores.
The moral is of course to stop buying so much crap. When you do make a purchase, buy responsibly. Make intelligent decisions on not only how this effects you, but your community. By supporting local businesses during economic downturns you not only enrich the lives of your neighbors, you also enrich yourself by protecting the value of your own property. Also consider that the waste created by consumerism goes somewhere. It goes in our soil, it ends up in our oceans. It destroys ecosystems. The waste we create today becomes the artifacts of tomorrow. Capitalism at its heart is a workable system that is beneficial to all, but you have to play a role and not just consider yourself a product of it. What we’ve been fed was nothing more than a dream, and by becoming overgrown ourselves, we’ve allowed other interests the same. Be a capitalist, not a consumer.
Works Cited
•Associated Press. Environmentalists sue to block logging near Yellowstone National Park. The Missoulian (Feb. 2, 2009)
•Bailik, Carl. How Big Is That Widening Gyre of Floating Plastic? The Wall Street Journal. (March 25, 2009)
•Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. (1922) Holt.
•Locke, John. Two Treatise of Government. (1690)
•Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Wealth of Nations. (1776)
Hot Topics
This post is actually from Sept. 2, 2009, but was posted on a different site that I am in the process of closing down. I reposted it here for my own amusement.
I remember when I was young and idealistic – as opposed to my older idealistic self – and the occasional reminders I’d suffer in regards to my value of self expression. Usually that would come in my seeing the world change for other people. On that end I would watch as older generations bemoaned the loss of familiar comforts like vinyl records, 8-track tapes, and oversized cars. The future was not what they’d expected and they’d failed in seeing that new frontiers were coming to them, not them standing at the precipice. Granted, I never thought myself one to hang onto the past; I remember my grandfather’s cantankerous opposition to change and how I would sometimes stare with slack-jawed awe at the shear level of commentary he would offer. Statements that always began with, “When I was your age,” and end with some commentary on the moral turpitude of contemporary society.
This isn’t a soapbox and it’s not yet my turn to ask where the flying cars are; I just think that commercial is funny in that it’s Avery Brooks asking the question. As far as culture goes though – in a sardonic way – I almost can’t help but wonder what happened. Was I sleeping? I must have been as almost overnight Christian groups are now embracing the once damned Harry Potter as the metaphor of Christ and just as suddenly I see people wantonly emulating that movie’s characters in public. Beit the lanky guy with glasses I saw the other day zipping around the office waving his pencil like a wand and yelling, “Expelliarmus!” or the Hot Topic brand Goths I saw at the Project Pitchfork show the other night. In fact I overheard Severus Snape and Lucious Malfoy lost in conversation about how C.C. DeVille was the Keith Richards of our generation. The situational irony was amazing! There must have been a big sale on those costumes somewhere. Being an individual is great, especially when you look like every other individual.
So what did happen? There was once a time that if you wanted to be punk or industrial you had to actually work at it. It wasn’t a kit you could just buy at Hot Topic-mart. If you wanted a look, you had to work for it; there were military surplus and second hand stores to visit, clothes to be dyed, etc. Of course technology did make the world smaller, but movies and the internet are hardly to blame for the commercialization of a subcultural phenomenon.
Much of what happened has less to do with feelings of disaffection from society and more to do with what people are willing to spend their money on. The world of marketing is acutely aware that any niche can be exploited and familiar holdings can be adapted. Beyond the Harry Potter examples, examine these two recent events which transcend generational boundaries: Disney Studios purchased Marvel comics, and the PBS staple of 26 years, Reading Rainbow ran its last episode on August 28, 2009.
My daughter looked at me like I slapped her in the face when I told her about the passing of Reading Rainbow, and truthfully I’m not sure what to think of the Disney deal. Will Cyclops now tease Wolverine not to throw him in the briar patch? Or for that matter; what about any of the near S&M clad figures whom were once the Marvel staple; will they be made to clean up their act? Guess we’ll have to continue watching the show.
I remember when I was young and idealistic – as opposed to my older idealistic self – and the occasional reminders I’d suffer in regards to my value of self expression. Usually that would come in my seeing the world change for other people. On that end I would watch as older generations bemoaned the loss of familiar comforts like vinyl records, 8-track tapes, and oversized cars. The future was not what they’d expected and they’d failed in seeing that new frontiers were coming to them, not them standing at the precipice. Granted, I never thought myself one to hang onto the past; I remember my grandfather’s cantankerous opposition to change and how I would sometimes stare with slack-jawed awe at the shear level of commentary he would offer. Statements that always began with, “When I was your age,” and end with some commentary on the moral turpitude of contemporary society.
This isn’t a soapbox and it’s not yet my turn to ask where the flying cars are; I just think that commercial is funny in that it’s Avery Brooks asking the question. As far as culture goes though – in a sardonic way – I almost can’t help but wonder what happened. Was I sleeping? I must have been as almost overnight Christian groups are now embracing the once damned Harry Potter as the metaphor of Christ and just as suddenly I see people wantonly emulating that movie’s characters in public. Beit the lanky guy with glasses I saw the other day zipping around the office waving his pencil like a wand and yelling, “Expelliarmus!” or the Hot Topic brand Goths I saw at the Project Pitchfork show the other night. In fact I overheard Severus Snape and Lucious Malfoy lost in conversation about how C.C. DeVille was the Keith Richards of our generation. The situational irony was amazing! There must have been a big sale on those costumes somewhere. Being an individual is great, especially when you look like every other individual.
So what did happen? There was once a time that if you wanted to be punk or industrial you had to actually work at it. It wasn’t a kit you could just buy at Hot Topic-mart. If you wanted a look, you had to work for it; there were military surplus and second hand stores to visit, clothes to be dyed, etc. Of course technology did make the world smaller, but movies and the internet are hardly to blame for the commercialization of a subcultural phenomenon.
Much of what happened has less to do with feelings of disaffection from society and more to do with what people are willing to spend their money on. The world of marketing is acutely aware that any niche can be exploited and familiar holdings can be adapted. Beyond the Harry Potter examples, examine these two recent events which transcend generational boundaries: Disney Studios purchased Marvel comics, and the PBS staple of 26 years, Reading Rainbow ran its last episode on August 28, 2009.
My daughter looked at me like I slapped her in the face when I told her about the passing of Reading Rainbow, and truthfully I’m not sure what to think of the Disney deal. Will Cyclops now tease Wolverine not to throw him in the briar patch? Or for that matter; what about any of the near S&M clad figures whom were once the Marvel staple; will they be made to clean up their act? Guess we’ll have to continue watching the show.
Sophocles, Freud, and everything in between.
This post is actually from Feb. 23, 2009, but was posted on a different site that I am in the process of closing down. I reposted it here for my own amusement.
Yeah we’ve all been played with, or teased online and it’s somehow amusing to me when I see it reflected in another’s profile. Profiles are interesting to me. It’s interesting when I see someone set out a laundry list of what they’ll have and what they won’t. It’s like the fairy tale expectation that someone tall, dark, and handsome is going to kick down their door and whisk them away to some promised land of devotion and carnal pleasures. Thing is that in revealing yourself to so much of what you want, you leave yourself exposed to what you don’t.
Think of it like the epic trilogy of Oedipus the King by Sophocles. The story in itself is very good, though by way of Freud it’s been given a perverse tone not worth exploring. For many reasons I wonder if Freud even ever read the story because a grown man sexing his mother is not what the story was about. What it is about is that in our attempting to avoid fate, we end up neck deep in it. I’ll paraphrase the story so forgive me for what I omit.
Oedipus was born the son of a king who ordered the infant Oedipus be executed after it was prophesized that Oedipus would later kill him and marry the queen. Of course the people given the job fail and passed the task until the infant ended up in the care of a neighboring monarchy who raised Oedipus as their own. As the child grew, young Oedipus came to suspect his being adopted and sought his own prophecy.
As the story goes, the prophet, Tiresias repeats the earlier prophecy, yet makes no mention of his dad’s identity. Oedipus was a bit more about the content of this new information than what he’d been asking to begin with, and in his denial and attempt to distance himself, runs away to a neighboring kingdom whereupon he is nearly run down by a chariot when crossing a road. Words are exchanged and Oedipus beats the driver to death. Later in town he hears word that the king has been murdered and he decides to fess up to his deed. On entering the king’s court though he is quite taken by the queen’s beauty and decides to play it out, and later hooks up with her.
Things are going great for Oedipus: he avoided killing his dad; he got away with murder; he’s got a hot wife; and his own kingdom. Then he starts hearing rumors about this child the king had sent away and is at first concerned that the kid may return to claim his birthright. Long story made short: through a series of revelations, Oedipus finds that he is in fact that child and in his unwillingness to confront issues, he has fulfilled both prophecies. Quite well too, I think he even got a few kids from it. In his literal horror, Oedipus gouges out his own eyes and leaves to wander the land so he may never have to again look upon the results of his deeds.
Now like I said, in your aversion, you may well end up neck deep in what you’re actively seeking to avoid, and with that I offer the following advice: confront your demons. What’s the source of you aversion and does it justify that all X equals Y? Or for that matter that all exes equal XX or XY? I think we’d all do better not to justify the acts of one as being indicative of the whole, and consider that in this world, there are some people who are just that messed up.
Certainly I’ve had a few exes who have made me want to shut the door and label their kind another species, or as pop-psych guru John Gray labeled them, as being from another planet. Really all it has done though, and all it should ever do, is make me examine what it was I was seeking to begin with.
Think of it like the epic trilogy of Oedipus the King by Sophocles. The story in itself is very good, though by way of Freud it’s been given a perverse tone not worth exploring. For many reasons I wonder if Freud even ever read the story because a grown man sexing his mother is not what the story was about. What it is about is that in our attempting to avoid fate, we end up neck deep in it. I’ll paraphrase the story so forgive me for what I omit.
Oedipus was born the son of a king who ordered the infant Oedipus be executed after it was prophesized that Oedipus would later kill him and marry the queen. Of course the people given the job fail and passed the task until the infant ended up in the care of a neighboring monarchy who raised Oedipus as their own. As the child grew, young Oedipus came to suspect his being adopted and sought his own prophecy.
As the story goes, the prophet, Tiresias repeats the earlier prophecy, yet makes no mention of his dad’s identity. Oedipus was a bit more about the content of this new information than what he’d been asking to begin with, and in his denial and attempt to distance himself, runs away to a neighboring kingdom whereupon he is nearly run down by a chariot when crossing a road. Words are exchanged and Oedipus beats the driver to death. Later in town he hears word that the king has been murdered and he decides to fess up to his deed. On entering the king’s court though he is quite taken by the queen’s beauty and decides to play it out, and later hooks up with her.
Things are going great for Oedipus: he avoided killing his dad; he got away with murder; he’s got a hot wife; and his own kingdom. Then he starts hearing rumors about this child the king had sent away and is at first concerned that the kid may return to claim his birthright. Long story made short: through a series of revelations, Oedipus finds that he is in fact that child and in his unwillingness to confront issues, he has fulfilled both prophecies. Quite well too, I think he even got a few kids from it. In his literal horror, Oedipus gouges out his own eyes and leaves to wander the land so he may never have to again look upon the results of his deeds.
Now like I said, in your aversion, you may well end up neck deep in what you’re actively seeking to avoid, and with that I offer the following advice: confront your demons. What’s the source of you aversion and does it justify that all X equals Y? Or for that matter that all exes equal XX or XY? I think we’d all do better not to justify the acts of one as being indicative of the whole, and consider that in this world, there are some people who are just that messed up.
Certainly I’ve had a few exes who have made me want to shut the door and label their kind another species, or as pop-psych guru John Gray labeled them, as being from another planet. Really all it has done though, and all it should ever do, is make me examine what it was I was seeking to begin with.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
I remember now....
This morning I had an early meeting, too early. Afterwards I needed coffee so I decided to take a break and walk to Cup of Joe's. The doors were locked and a nasty notice was on the door from the Constables office. They might be closed for awhile, so I went for option two, I walked to the convenience store there on 4th and 3rd to grab an energy drink and as I walked, my mind wandered.
I recalled years back in the early 90's after moving here from Indiana that Mayor DeeDee decided to start an initiative to purge the Pioneer Park area of undesirables and make it a gateway community. One of her first initiatives beyond increasing law enforcement was rehabilitating properties. Much of the block between 3rd - 4th South and 2nd – 3rd West was leveled and the surrounding properties rehabilitated. A sizable section just south of Rose Park was also razed for new housing. The Gateway Mall was the culmination of that plan.
At the time though, most media attention went to the apartments for low income housing that were to be built on 3rd West between 3rd and 4th South. For many years construction would start only to be stopped again for financial woes. You would think that for being subsidized housing there should have been more urgency on the situation. For me though it came without much notice when they were eventually completed. I recall they were finished just in time for the 2002 Olympics, but really never paid attention to what became of them. On walking past the apartments I finally noticed that it was now a hotel, not apartments as initially planned, a fairly nice hotel too. On getting back to the office I looked it up online and yep, they are pretty much upper end business class. Some have a washer/dryer in the room, kind of like an apartment might.
As I walked past realizing this social failure with near slack jawed awe I noticed the homeless that still occupy the area, standing in the shadow of a broken promise; literally they were hanging out in the morning shade cast by the hotel. I stopped, we talked and I went on my way. Afterall, I was still on the company dime.
It is the lessons such as these for why I am grateful to be a part of this city, this area, this life. There are those moments when I feel my ego pushing its way out, sometimes manifesting in ugly ways: moments when I feel myself the center of the universe. For those that know; yesterday is a good example of that feeling.
Sometimes lessons in humility come hard. I am grateful that this morning's was instead a gentle bite. I am reminded that what I am is insignificant in the grand scheme and though gilded, my path is only a manifested offering. I still exist at the will of the Universe.
I recalled years back in the early 90's after moving here from Indiana that Mayor DeeDee decided to start an initiative to purge the Pioneer Park area of undesirables and make it a gateway community. One of her first initiatives beyond increasing law enforcement was rehabilitating properties. Much of the block between 3rd - 4th South and 2nd – 3rd West was leveled and the surrounding properties rehabilitated. A sizable section just south of Rose Park was also razed for new housing. The Gateway Mall was the culmination of that plan.
At the time though, most media attention went to the apartments for low income housing that were to be built on 3rd West between 3rd and 4th South. For many years construction would start only to be stopped again for financial woes. You would think that for being subsidized housing there should have been more urgency on the situation. For me though it came without much notice when they were eventually completed. I recall they were finished just in time for the 2002 Olympics, but really never paid attention to what became of them. On walking past the apartments I finally noticed that it was now a hotel, not apartments as initially planned, a fairly nice hotel too. On getting back to the office I looked it up online and yep, they are pretty much upper end business class. Some have a washer/dryer in the room, kind of like an apartment might.
As I walked past realizing this social failure with near slack jawed awe I noticed the homeless that still occupy the area, standing in the shadow of a broken promise; literally they were hanging out in the morning shade cast by the hotel. I stopped, we talked and I went on my way. Afterall, I was still on the company dime.
It is the lessons such as these for why I am grateful to be a part of this city, this area, this life. There are those moments when I feel my ego pushing its way out, sometimes manifesting in ugly ways: moments when I feel myself the center of the universe. For those that know; yesterday is a good example of that feeling.
Sometimes lessons in humility come hard. I am grateful that this morning's was instead a gentle bite. I am reminded that what I am is insignificant in the grand scheme and though gilded, my path is only a manifested offering. I still exist at the will of the Universe.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Hemmingway and the IT Guy
This morning I had a minor technical issue at work and had to submit a request to the “I.T. Guy”. If you’ve ever tried getting something from one of these people, you might have an idea what I was looking forward to. Just like the receptionist, you need to build repartee with them as they are people who can get things done for you in the workplace.
This I.T. Guy is new, so I decided to take a creative approach with the following request.
Enjoy:
Once yesterday, then again this morning my laptop has chosen to simply turn off on being disconnected from its external DC power supply without first doing a hibernation or shut-down sequence. For reasons of mobility both in and out of the office, this is not a welcome development.
On it first happening I was suddenly reminded of what the F12 key in MS Word was for, as the sudden data loss turned my normally Pulitzer winning documentation into something far less. Example the recent issue: “It was a dark and stormy night as the Assistant Manager anguished over his not being able to print his Daily Sales by Item and Daily Sales by Department reports. The semi-rhythmic pattern of rain washed across the buildings roof with a sound reminisce of waking to find his father asleep in the living room chair, long after whatever television station he had been watching went off the air. “That was his favorite chair. Wow, I haven’t talked to dad in weeks,” he thought to himself. With blinding fury and crashing thunder a streak of lightening pierced the sky. A light flickered inside, “I wonder if I instead used the TMX_FRANCHISE role?”
Compelling stuff isn’t it? Suddenly though that became, “If the user does not have a TMX_FRANCHISE role, the Daily Sales by Item and Daily Sales by Department reports do not print correctly from franchise remote sites.”
Just figured I’d make my mundane whinings more entertaining for you. The issue can be worked around until a solution is found.
Well it’s all in how you say things and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for one of the new Dell’s.
This I.T. Guy is new, so I decided to take a creative approach with the following request.
Enjoy:
Once yesterday, then again this morning my laptop has chosen to simply turn off on being disconnected from its external DC power supply without first doing a hibernation or shut-down sequence. For reasons of mobility both in and out of the office, this is not a welcome development.
On it first happening I was suddenly reminded of what the F12 key in MS Word was for, as the sudden data loss turned my normally Pulitzer winning documentation into something far less. Example the recent issue: “It was a dark and stormy night as the Assistant Manager anguished over his not being able to print his Daily Sales by Item and Daily Sales by Department reports. The semi-rhythmic pattern of rain washed across the buildings roof with a sound reminisce of waking to find his father asleep in the living room chair, long after whatever television station he had been watching went off the air. “That was his favorite chair. Wow, I haven’t talked to dad in weeks,” he thought to himself. With blinding fury and crashing thunder a streak of lightening pierced the sky. A light flickered inside, “I wonder if I instead used the TMX_FRANCHISE role?”
Compelling stuff isn’t it? Suddenly though that became, “If the user does not have a TMX_FRANCHISE role, the Daily Sales by Item and Daily Sales by Department reports do not print correctly from franchise remote sites.”
Just figured I’d make my mundane whinings more entertaining for you. The issue can be worked around until a solution is found.
Well it’s all in how you say things and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for one of the new Dell’s.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Playing with Persephone
NOTE: I should warn you that this is still an incomplete thought. I just felt like throwing it out here to see how it looks and will most likely get back to it within the next couple days.
...And all his Armour staind ere while so bright.
Forthwith on all sides to his aide was run
By Angels many and strong, who interpos'd
Defence, while others bore him on thir Shields
Back to his Chariot; where it stood retir'd
From off the files of warr; there they him laid
Gnashing for anguish and despite and shame
To find himself not matchless, and his pride
Humbl'd by such rebuke, so farr beneath
His confidence to equal God in power.
John Milton. Paradise Lost. Book VI, lines 333-342
OK children; quiz time. What just happened? Seriously.
Sometimes life occurs with such blinding speed and ferocity I only have time to follow the fight when it’s over. No matter though, I always win. The manner with which a person handles a situation, no matter how deep the cut shows you more about them than any conversation; actions do indeed speak louder than words. Unfortunately we are sometimes made to explain our actions to those who do not understand them.
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
-Carl Jung
By fight I reference the quote from Richard Rose, “All of life is a struggle,” and the first of the Four Noble Truths, “All life is suffering.” Every moment of everyday can be viewed as such, even when you’re having fun. No person, nay… no thinking human can be so micromanaged that they will take from it what you believe. Any cognitive, rational being will digest each experience as their own and come away with their own lesson. Making the lesson from your presence a positive one is the only influence you may ever have, and thus the most meaningful.
The lesson here comes to us not from the Buddha, Christianity or new age philosophy. Our lesson today comes to us primarily from Lao Tzu and the Tao Teh Ching: the Way of the Peaceful Warrior. To paraphrase the concept of Shui, “Life is best lived when viewed as a river and is more easily lived when we don’t struggle against the current,” i.e. go with the flow. Action through inaction and all that, but it’s far from passive. In your being swept towards the horizon you can still move laterally, sometimes the river forks even; just don’t try to return upstream.
Just as in the first passage, when attempting to wrest control of yourself, shit happens. What happened in that passage was Satan made a run for the throne of the Judeo-Christian god. From the battlefield he looked around and saw it as unguarded. On his approach the archangel Michael came from up on his right and laid him open with his sword. It was a baited, ambush. If you don’t know what happened from that there, I suggest you ask one of the friendly strangers who visit your home unannounced. One thing they’ll tell you is that he didn’t give up. Unfortunately it would seem his is a battle based more of reactive deceit than proactive planning.
One cannot become so blinded by the goal that they fail to see the pebbles, boulders, even islands in the stream: those obstacles between here and there: the Liers in Wait. Sometimes they just can’t be avoided though. When armed with the facts and your eyes open you sometimes have to walk right through them on your way to honor each of the Gatekeepers. All the while being mindful of their rules and remembering that rules can be arbitrary as enforcement is always left to the judgment of another. “After she had crouched down and had her clothes removed, they were carried away. Then she (Inanna) made her sister Erec-ki-gala rise from her throne, and instead she sat on her throne. The Anna, the seven judges, rendered their decision against her. They looked at her - it was the look of death. They spoke to her - it was the speech of anger. They shouted at her - it was the shout of heavy guilt. The afflicted woman was turned into a corpse. And the corpse was hung on a hook,” (from The Decent of Inanna).
Unlike the earlier hero (or anti-hero depending on how you take your Jesus) Inanna had foresight. She knew whom she could count on and for what. She knew the gatekeepers would disarm her. She knew her sister would entrap her. She went before her peers and laid herself bare knowing no immediate good would come of it. Inanna planned ahead. Three days later, she was free.
Just as Inanna, Persephone was also able to escape. Persephone though couldn’t stay away and returns time and again; never being able to fully remove herself from that life, as it is the only place she is able to realize her power. In Greek Mythology Persephone’s name was the one that was not spoken. She was the Dread Queen of the Underworld; called by Homer, the “Iron Queen” and though a goddess, she is powerless when away from it. On the Earth she dances with nymphs and plays amongst the flowers; she is a symbol of love and fertility. In the Underworld; yeah… um… not so much. There, she is very much feared.
The power Persephone wields in the Underworld is without mercy; hers is not the attention you seek. When Orpheus traveled to the Underworld to plead for the return of his wife, Eurydice following her death from a snakes bite he made his argument through song using a golden lyre given to him by Apollo. Persephone’s demeanor cracked and she granted a pardon, with the caveat that Eurydice may leave so long as Orpheus does not cast his gaze upon her before they reach the surface. As they neared the entrance, for whatever reason Orpheus turned to look at her. It was too soon. His last vision of his wife was of her fading into oblivion.
That story as it appears in the Georgics by Virgil and similarly in Metamorphosis by Ovid is the only one showing anything resembling compassion from Persephone. In Plato’s Symposium, Phaedrus argues Orpheus failed because his love was not strong enough. On that cue, many have opened up on Orpheus with and understandable measure of Feminist and Jungian Criticism. Both agree his love was only physical and his not being able to wait to look at her is a reference to his objectification of her.
An interesting aside is what became of Orpheus; after losing Eurydice a second time, he foreswore love only to later be torn to pieces by the Maenads in a Bacchic orgy. The pieces were cast to the sea where they later washed ashore at the island of Lesbos and were enshrined by the inhabitants. His wife Eurydice in pre-Homeric Greece was known as Eurudike, meaning, “she whose justice extends widely.” Chances are you pronounced that name correctly.
From Gilgamesh up through the ages to Dante (though later works can be argued) classic literature is replete with prose of persons traveling through the Underworld in an effort to gain wisdom. That path is laid so one might find themselves; after all, a virtue untested is really nothing at all. How that Underworld manifests is different for everyone, but realize it has a purpose and those lessons are better learned when you flow with rather than fight against them.
“A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs - jolted by every pebble in the road.”
-Henry Ward Beecher
...And all his Armour staind ere while so bright.
Forthwith on all sides to his aide was run
By Angels many and strong, who interpos'd
Defence, while others bore him on thir Shields
Back to his Chariot; where it stood retir'd
From off the files of warr; there they him laid
Gnashing for anguish and despite and shame
To find himself not matchless, and his pride
Humbl'd by such rebuke, so farr beneath
His confidence to equal God in power.
John Milton. Paradise Lost. Book VI, lines 333-342
OK children; quiz time. What just happened? Seriously.
Sometimes life occurs with such blinding speed and ferocity I only have time to follow the fight when it’s over. No matter though, I always win. The manner with which a person handles a situation, no matter how deep the cut shows you more about them than any conversation; actions do indeed speak louder than words. Unfortunately we are sometimes made to explain our actions to those who do not understand them.
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
-Carl Jung
By fight I reference the quote from Richard Rose, “All of life is a struggle,” and the first of the Four Noble Truths, “All life is suffering.” Every moment of everyday can be viewed as such, even when you’re having fun. No person, nay… no thinking human can be so micromanaged that they will take from it what you believe. Any cognitive, rational being will digest each experience as their own and come away with their own lesson. Making the lesson from your presence a positive one is the only influence you may ever have, and thus the most meaningful.
The lesson here comes to us not from the Buddha, Christianity or new age philosophy. Our lesson today comes to us primarily from Lao Tzu and the Tao Teh Ching: the Way of the Peaceful Warrior. To paraphrase the concept of Shui, “Life is best lived when viewed as a river and is more easily lived when we don’t struggle against the current,” i.e. go with the flow. Action through inaction and all that, but it’s far from passive. In your being swept towards the horizon you can still move laterally, sometimes the river forks even; just don’t try to return upstream.
Just as in the first passage, when attempting to wrest control of yourself, shit happens. What happened in that passage was Satan made a run for the throne of the Judeo-Christian god. From the battlefield he looked around and saw it as unguarded. On his approach the archangel Michael came from up on his right and laid him open with his sword. It was a baited, ambush. If you don’t know what happened from that there, I suggest you ask one of the friendly strangers who visit your home unannounced. One thing they’ll tell you is that he didn’t give up. Unfortunately it would seem his is a battle based more of reactive deceit than proactive planning.
One cannot become so blinded by the goal that they fail to see the pebbles, boulders, even islands in the stream: those obstacles between here and there: the Liers in Wait. Sometimes they just can’t be avoided though. When armed with the facts and your eyes open you sometimes have to walk right through them on your way to honor each of the Gatekeepers. All the while being mindful of their rules and remembering that rules can be arbitrary as enforcement is always left to the judgment of another. “After she had crouched down and had her clothes removed, they were carried away. Then she (Inanna) made her sister Erec-ki-gala rise from her throne, and instead she sat on her throne. The Anna, the seven judges, rendered their decision against her. They looked at her - it was the look of death. They spoke to her - it was the speech of anger. They shouted at her - it was the shout of heavy guilt. The afflicted woman was turned into a corpse. And the corpse was hung on a hook,” (from The Decent of Inanna).
Unlike the earlier hero (or anti-hero depending on how you take your Jesus) Inanna had foresight. She knew whom she could count on and for what. She knew the gatekeepers would disarm her. She knew her sister would entrap her. She went before her peers and laid herself bare knowing no immediate good would come of it. Inanna planned ahead. Three days later, she was free.
Just as Inanna, Persephone was also able to escape. Persephone though couldn’t stay away and returns time and again; never being able to fully remove herself from that life, as it is the only place she is able to realize her power. In Greek Mythology Persephone’s name was the one that was not spoken. She was the Dread Queen of the Underworld; called by Homer, the “Iron Queen” and though a goddess, she is powerless when away from it. On the Earth she dances with nymphs and plays amongst the flowers; she is a symbol of love and fertility. In the Underworld; yeah… um… not so much. There, she is very much feared.
The power Persephone wields in the Underworld is without mercy; hers is not the attention you seek. When Orpheus traveled to the Underworld to plead for the return of his wife, Eurydice following her death from a snakes bite he made his argument through song using a golden lyre given to him by Apollo. Persephone’s demeanor cracked and she granted a pardon, with the caveat that Eurydice may leave so long as Orpheus does not cast his gaze upon her before they reach the surface. As they neared the entrance, for whatever reason Orpheus turned to look at her. It was too soon. His last vision of his wife was of her fading into oblivion.
That story as it appears in the Georgics by Virgil and similarly in Metamorphosis by Ovid is the only one showing anything resembling compassion from Persephone. In Plato’s Symposium, Phaedrus argues Orpheus failed because his love was not strong enough. On that cue, many have opened up on Orpheus with and understandable measure of Feminist and Jungian Criticism. Both agree his love was only physical and his not being able to wait to look at her is a reference to his objectification of her.
An interesting aside is what became of Orpheus; after losing Eurydice a second time, he foreswore love only to later be torn to pieces by the Maenads in a Bacchic orgy. The pieces were cast to the sea where they later washed ashore at the island of Lesbos and were enshrined by the inhabitants. His wife Eurydice in pre-Homeric Greece was known as Eurudike, meaning, “she whose justice extends widely.” Chances are you pronounced that name correctly.
From Gilgamesh up through the ages to Dante (though later works can be argued) classic literature is replete with prose of persons traveling through the Underworld in an effort to gain wisdom. That path is laid so one might find themselves; after all, a virtue untested is really nothing at all. How that Underworld manifests is different for everyone, but realize it has a purpose and those lessons are better learned when you flow with rather than fight against them.
“A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs - jolted by every pebble in the road.”
-Henry Ward Beecher
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