My friend is easily triggered these days. He’s wound tight. He goes off at the mere mention of a certain name.
I’m worried too, I tell him. But I was a philosophy major, so I look at this situation philosophically.
Situation? Is that what you call the apocalypse?! A SITUATION?! The world is ending right in front of our eyes, brother. Democracy is dying and you call it a “situation”?
Sorry. That does seem trite. I should have called it a “Hegelian moment.”
HUH? That sounds even dumber.
Bear with me.
The German philosopher Georg Hegel was born in 1770. He studied the course of human history and noticed a rhythm. Repeatedly, over thousands of years, one idea, or world, would clash with another idea, or world, and out of the collision a completely different idea, or world, would emerge.
Two worlds battling.
Thesis. Antithesis. Synthesis.
From an old world a better world emerges. Not painlessly. It’s like birth.
I get it. What we white educated people have enjoyed since World War II is the thesis. A certain world order. NATO. United Nations. World Court. World Bank. IMF. G-7. Nuclear treaties. USAID. Those sorts of things.
Right.
And the current rise of authoritarian populism all around the world is the antithesis. Right?
Yes.
And eventually a synthesis will emerge.
You got it. That’s how it works.
So if the president represents the antithesis, is that like being “the Antichrist”?
Well, I don’t think of it that way.
I do. And I hope nothing good comes from his hands. No peace treaties, no stability, no prosperity. Only misery and turmoil.
You can’t mean that.
I do.
But why?
Because I’m a patriot. I love my country and hate this president with every bone in my body. I hope he blunders his way to the gates of Hell.
You would destroy our country to save it?
Yes. Exactly. It must get very, very dark in this country because that’s the only way all those willfully ignorant people will see the light and turn from idolatry.
On second thought, maybe “Hegelian moment” isn’t the right concept. I’m now thinking this is a “Jesus moment.”
And what does THAT mean?
Love. Peace. Understanding.
Sorry. That’s not for me. Not now. I like your Hegelian battle metaphor better. You sing “Kumbaya.” I’ll sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
We need truth now, not pabulum.
* * *
This subject is fraught with emotion regardless of “what side” one takes or what kind of outlook, whether it is philosophical, theological or otherwise. Recently a certain president declared himself to be “King.” However, another “King”—Elvis Presley—spoke these prophetic words: “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a while, but it ain’t going away.” Suffice it to say, truth and justice must prevail if we are to survive and thrive as a country. But it won’t happen just by mere chance, only by organized effort on the part of individuals and groups. It won’t be easy. But we have the assurance that truth “ain’t going away.” Let us pursue it!
Yes; very well thought and written! Thank you!
Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis. I appreciate this explanation of cycles. Nature moves in cycles, & we are part of nature. Matter cannot be created or destroyed… energy IS us, IN us, all around & thru us. Every action has an equal & opposite reaction.
I feel energy – positive & negative energy – flowing in & thru & all around us & our current cycle of events. Like the waves of the ocean – ebbing & flowing… larger than me, affecting me… full of life & mystery.
“Something’s happening here; what it is ain’t exactly clear… it’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s goin’ down…”🎶
Accept/Courage/Wisdom… like a waltz of life; over & over…a spiral dance of life; inching forward; creating…together, we can…lite in dark places…love & fear…choose love, choose gratitude over fear & scarcity… like a mantra…synthesis – being born, over & over & over again. Birth into a larger, brighter world – from the dark, comforting & familiar one in which we grew & grew until there was no more room to grow! Fear? Yes! Love? Yes! Thank you for dancing with me!
Beautiful. Thank you!
I understand your friend. I, too, swing between the Hegelian and Jesus moments. I could wish however that “he who must not be named” would embrace the Jesus moment a bit more. Mass firings, Nazi salutes and brandished chainsaws are intentional and distract from some of the other actions being taken by the new regime. And some of those are truly evil.
Yes–no escaping these facts. Wishing, hoping, and naievete will not get us to where we’d like to be. Thank you!
Your friend is being manipulated by Lips, the master puppeteer. Remind him of this fact and see what effect this might create. Hopefully a positive one. I have a mute button and also the option of just plain leaving the room when “Buster Rinkum” comes on with his WWF-tone bather or MuskGland does a dance routine with a chainsaw at the Regressive Convention better known as C-PAC. (They need to change the name to R-PAC. They certainly aren’t conserving anything.) Once again, theatrics and no substance. The rubber has hit the highway. We’ll see if progressives have any fight left. As The Grateful Dead sang in “Terrapin Station,” “The train has its brakes on and the whistle is screaming.”
Completely appreciate that uplifting blend of humor and wit!! Thank you.
It’s all too much without humor. While continuing this horror show, the announcement that Rump has chosen Dan Bongino as second in command at the FBI made me laugh out loud first thing this morning, a great way to start a day. Yet another Fox talk show host placed in a position of power. We can see how shallow Lips really is. This is truly the White House version of The Apprentice. Some say it’s not funny. But when we lose the ability to laugh, they win. Absurdities unbounded.
In complete agreement! Well said. (Even the name “Bongino” elicits a dark grin from me!)
I have a friend who spends most of his time in front of what I call the idiot box and then he bitches and moans about what the present “administration” is doing. I asked him if his remote has a button that says OFF. That shut him up!
Good advice. I hope your friend takes it. Mostly, for his own sake, but also for yours.
I’ll see your Hegel, and raise you an Aristotle, Jesus, Kant, Emerson, and Parker. The latter being Theodore Parker of moral arc fame. He was the OG that MLK riffed on.
But it should be clear that Parker, the celebrated abolitionist and man of God, in his time, as so many of his ilk then and now, abide by the notion that slavery was morally too far, but they embrace a hierarchy of racial supremacy. Parker’s scale put blacks at the bottom, Indians next, and don’t get him started on Mexicans. He termed them a “wretched people.”
A friend of mine recently said he and the wife moved out of Atlanta to get away from all the DEIs. A quaint work around for the “N” word in these times. A racist tattoo on their hearts and soul, recognized by others of their ilk.
Congratulations to those who claim they do not maintain a hierarchy of racial supremacy, but evidently there are more than a few hoping to bend the arc of the universe to the benefit of white folks and friends of white folks.
No need to hand wring how we got here. We have been here all along.
Stark truths. I must believe that by being our authentic selves on the planet, we at least help prevent the racial/ethnic hierARCy from manifesting as these myopic Knobs would like to see. Thank you!
Along eith that new synthesis, we need a compelling leader to convince the people that the new direction is the one that is needed to rise from the ashes. A Martin Luther King, a Nelson Mandela, a Barack Obama (alluring with more bite), AOC. Someone, to gather all the loose strings of health care, women’s rights, civil rights, income equality, being a good neighbor, joining the world community, education, climate change, and everything I neglected to mention. Looking at things historically, like Hegel, a strong leader (not a lying, poisonous, hateful, bigoted, grifter) is always the one that brings about significant change. I am sure there is a Bishop Tutu, Dali Lama, Thich Nhat Hahn out there somewhere.
Now that IS “hope” I don’t mind keeping! Yes! Thank you!
Reverend William Barber has been sounding the drum for years… I hear the beat. I agree, leaders; a leader to bring it/us all together! Thank you Michael & all🙏🏼
Interesting worldview and comments. Please note that every name mentioned belongs to those who identify as male. Maybe it’s time for someone who is not of that gender to rise from the old order and lead us to the new.
Amen, sister.
Yes, “Amen, Sister.” Historically, women are birth-givers and life-preservers. War, suffering, and diminishment are not the typical tools in their toolbox. More needs to be said about this, and women leaders identified who can “bring it home.” If the U.S. is ready (like we are!). Thank you!
Kamala came so close in such a short time…no mandate given to this administration… a near miss.
What we need now is authentic from the ground grassroots resistance in all it’s forms from routine conversations to writing to physically joining with others to show a movement is growing. We need our humanity sprinkled with divinity to bring us to actively reject the hate and evil and cruelty being done in our name by our nation. To trump and his terrorists, humans are merely producers of their wealth or inconveniences to get rid of like the indigenous Arabs of Palestine and Inuit of Greenland. There is something primal or divine that screams in the face of tyranny and cruelty. And that is Jesus in the temple!! And Isaiah and Jeremiah, Frederick Douglass, John Brown, Mother Jones, John L. Lewis, Dr. King. For our own sakes, for all that we love, for the sake of the ancestors and for the children for our own peace, for the possibility of joy; we must push against the regime and begin a rising of love and justice. But it is not just a political effort, it is all consuming. It is cultural and religious, community and individual. It is life struggling for survival.
Struggling for survival as sentient Beings, human and otherwise. Thank you, Stewart!
AMEN! AWOMYN!! Music to my ears & soul… I resonate with this Stewart… thank you!
Would like to add a footnote: I just read an interesting review in the Washington Post of “There’s No Turning Back” by Alba de Cespedes, first published in Italy in 1938 and subsequently banned by the fascist government because it featured women who did not confine themselves to the fascist ideal of wife and mother.
Awesome! Many thanks; I will read it!
Ask your friend watch John Lewis documentary on PBS…John Lewis preaches No bitterness, don’t take it personally. Non violence. What you say is so true Randy, but you, can understand, your friend, it is how we feel, yet, someone like John Lewis, and people like him, Jesus and Buddha, and you and me, and us. Truth is right thing to do, loving kindness is right. Also, we want it now. Voting is still here, it is what we have, What does your friend (and that friend could be many of us) want to do about it?
Yes; Randy, what does your friend want to do about it? Any choice is likely to fail if hatred remains his motivation.
Thank you, Randy. You have received some fantastic comments today! I hope your friend has a chance to read them–with the kindness with which they are offered. I bet most of us can relate to his feelings of outrage and despair. We know that such feelings cannot — alone — be our driver. They might light a fire, but a realistic vision of who we are now, at our highest, will sustain our actions for change. We must remember to actively maintain connection, community, communication, and care for all for whom we step forward. Loving-kindness is strength, not weakness. Consciousness, equanimity, and love will keep our torches of Democracy (imperfect as it is, as we are), Justice, and Equality alight. And, not to throw too much shade, I thought it was perceptive of one journalist to declare that maybe, just maybe, the elder of our two president’s (& maybe both) may just “self-canabalize.” That, too, may happen. When “grasp exceeds reach,” maybe that’s what Hell is for.
ah, nice to read Randy’s Devil’s Gift, and responders. Susan, thank you for you response too. We are not alone. As Robert Reich said on his Coffee Klach with Heather Lofthouse, “We are the majority.”
I like Kant, especially his thoughts on world peace. But I majored in literature (mostly poetry) and minored in ROTC. The latter was required. When I returned from “over there” I had seen what politicians can do when they push their children into the quicksand of war.
So, to the issue at hand. Re him, we lost. And we have four years to watch him rape, pillage and burn our nation as we know it. Hopefully if he does this, the carnage will be limited to our shores. My fear is that he will push our children into a global war as his predecessors did with South Vietnam. I am also an environmentalist and one of those credited with raising the call to the threat of climate change. (see my book, VOYAGE OF A CONSERVATIONIST A MEMOIR if you want to read more). Gore and Gates and others are now keeping climate change on the front page of the news. The bad news is that they and we are ignoring the immediate and existential threat to humanity, global war.
So trying to keep this short, my greatest fear is that trump and his oligarchs will get us into war. And this next one will be the last one. I’m sure Kant would agree.
I share the seriousness of all the comments so far. I really do. Let’s hope for a new world with love and compassion playing the major roles.
But there’s always room for levity. From Larry Neumark 10 years ago … “What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy?” “I don’t know and i don’t care.”
Hold onto hope, with less ignorance and apathy.
Wow, what a memory! Thanks, John!