Two years of change and upheaval, and where are we now?
At this time in 2020, I was planning to write a post expressing my views on the state of the modern world in general and of American society in particular. But I procrastinated - and then Covid struck and turned the world upside down; next it was the George Floyd riots and the backlash; then the conventions, the campaigns, and the election with its long-drawn-out conclusion; and then the horrific failed coup on January 6th last year; then what seemed a new dawn of hope with the Biden inauguration, but which now seems merely a candle in a hurricane; and so on, and so forth. Meanwhile, the frothing fanatics at both ends of the political spectrum are busily rewriting or erasing history, and scrambling to herd the future into a predetermined course that brooks no dissent whatsoever: quite a melancholy prospect, any way you look at it.
Well, I still think and stew about setting down my thoughts, which have been sharpened by the events of the last two years - but for some reason I just can't bring myself to do so. I will tell you that the theme, in a broad way, of my contemplated essay was the ancient one of man's inhumanity to man, which in most cases results from the folly, pride, and cruelty that lurk in the animal depths of our human nature and often threaten to extinguish the spark of divinity that raises us from the mire of unreason.
It was so when Pharaoh enslaved the sons and daughters of Jacob; it was so when the liberated Hebrew children made the honeyed valleys of the Promised Land run red with blood; for it is but one small step from being oppressed to being an oppressor, and this ghastly paradox is one of the enduring threads woven into all human history. I could give many more examples, from all times and climes, but verbum sat sapienti.
I will tell you that the conclusion of my essay, having presented examples from my own experience, was that neither liberals nor conservatives have a monopoly on truth or wisdom or even human kindness: at various times and in various places, I have been very roughly handled and badly mistreated by hateful people from both sides, for no good reason. And so I was going to end by saying, "a plague on both your houses."
I thought it, but did not write it. Yet lo and behold, a plague did descend on both houses - but alas! instead of quenching the flames of conflict, it only fanned them higher. Well, we must make do with the world as it is, and if we cannot change the flow of the turbulent tide, we may at least able to ride it out by prudence and prayer. The modern world is not at all to my liking in many ways; but nobody wants to hear my criticisms, which cut across all the ideological divisions that torment the nation today. And I'm not sure that our vaunted freedom of speech is free of risk in these contentious times. As the Preacher wisely sayeth:
Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself ?
Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?
As I have said before on this blog, I represent a party of one, whose platform may be neatly summed up by the Golden Rule, the Golden Mean, and the Oxford comma; but nevertheless, to get needed change, or protect the status quo, it is necessary to align one's self with the powers that are in being, imperfect though they be.
Some of you may find it mildly amusing, as I did this morning, to take this little "political typology" quiz (thought-provoking, though not strictly scientific) from the Pew Research Center, to find out where you really fit in today's political spectrum. It takes less than five minutes; my own results are below the jump. I wonder if the results will surprise you.
Click here: Political Typology Quiz
________________________________________
According to Pew, I am a Democratic Mainstay (why can't they just say say "Mainstream Democrat"?), though I should admit that some of my answers were widely different from those of my fellow DM's.
7 comments:
Well, thanks, Russ. I just spent a good hour on that 5 minute quiz. No big surprises. I'm a Democratic Mainstay as well. But I imagine I'm slightly to your left.
P.S. as for a dissertation on the socio-sexual-political-economic state of the nation and the world: I've pretty much given up on that. I try to live by the wisdom of Sisyphus, Sheldon Kopp, and my paternal grandmother.
And although it makes no contextual sense at all, my soundtrack would be 70s and 80s Disco and sensual Brazilian Samba. For entertainment I would throw in "Tales of the City" "Jeffrey" and "Queer as Folk" (US version).
If only there was some way to ease the pain (physical and mental).
An hour for the quiz? That's odd - it took only a few minutes for both M.P. and me. Does your ISP work via smoke signals or something? Grin.
The survey doesn't map any results out of the two-dimensional left-right spectrum. There is no party that completely reflects all my views and opinions - the Democrats are the closest of them all. I might be a little rightward of you on some points - but I feel sure we would agree on all the essentials of liberty, justice, and democracy.
My soundtrack would be Mantovani and 90s country; and for entertainment, um, well, Frank Capra and Julia Child. Unmappable, that's me. Wink.
Ambivalent Right, here - that came as a surprise. Always thought I was dead center...
Good to be among friends of either persuasion and grateful as always for the thoughts you bring in the truck.
Huh, I'm a little surprised too - but that's quite all right. You hit upon the operative word here - friends - in my conception of America, that's what our democracy is all about, or should be. Friends can disagree, or even agree to disagree, and still be friends as long as we don't drink the crazy juice.
As someone has said: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity - that last is what is sorely missing in our nation and the world today.
Glad to have you riding along with me in the BT.
Mister 10% - ‘Outsider Left’ Funny, I thought I was related to Attila the Hun. Still, if you go far enough around, you get to the other side. Viz, Hitler and Stalin. BTW, not the only thing I’m 10% off! Lol
LOL. I had wondered how you would score if you took the test - I suppose the measures of right and left are a bit different on the other side of pond, but what do I know. And yes, at the extremes left and right merge together, as in going around a circle - the sane middle is what I like best.
Post a Comment