“Butt bandit” gets 13 months
for leaving greasy naked
butt prints on store windows
Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich has apparently taken political corruption to a new low (or high?). As four of the past seven Illinois governors have ended up in big trouble for corruption, this must have taken some doing. It appears that Obama had the good sense to keep a great distance between himself and this latest Chicago crook masquerading as a politician. As we will no doubt hear about nothing else for days I am not going to comment at this time.
I am more interested at the moment in considering the powerful, magical “if.” If is a word that carries a tremendous burden in peoples’ lives. Among other things, it allows us to believe in magic even when magic fails. When a magical act fails we say, well, if I had used a better doll and/or more pins, it would have worked. Or, if only I had used a more powerful witch doctor it would have worked. Or, if my ingredients had not accidentally got wet, it would have worked perfectly. Or, if I had obeyed the taboo on sex before casting the spell, it would have worked. But you get the point, the “if” allows one to continue to believe even in the face of failure. It allows magic to continue to flourish no matter what.
Interestingly, the “if” word also allows criminals to continue to believe in crime. If only that off-duty police officer hadn’t stumbled by at the wrong moment, or, if only the getaway car had started, or if I had wiped off my fingerprints, or if Jimbo hadn’t squealed on me, or if the alarm hadn’t gone off prematurely, or if…It’s magical, the “if” word. It allows one to rationalize failure time after time, and thus allows one to continue a life of crime no matter how many failures one may have.
We all use the “if” word all the time. Usually this occurs in relatively unimportant situations that require no particular emotion or significance. If we hadn’t taken the wrong turn we’d have been here sooner. Of, if we had some ham, we could have some ham and eggs, if we had any eggs. Or if I had dressed more appropriately I would not have been so cold. Or, if I hadn’t stopped to buy the beer I could have seen the sunset. And so on.
But the use of the “if” word, or especially its overuse, can have much more sinister implications. It can, I believe, in some individuals, lead to a full blown mental illness (although you won’t find any “if psychosis” listed in the Diagnostic Manual of the Psychiatric Association). It is when one starts to dwell on the “ifs” of one’s life that it can turn pathological. If my parents had been wealthy instead of poor, and if I had been born in a different time, and if I could have had a better education, and if we had known more influential people, and if I had had a better start in life, and if I hadn’t had to get married when I did, and if my wife was more understanding, I might have been able to get a better job and not be stuck here on the garbage truck. When one regards oneself as a relative failure, and begins to dwell obsessively on the “ifs,” it can become a genuine problem. Granted these are extreme cases but I know of a couple people pretty much like this.
Then there are all the political “ifs.” Think how different things would be if Al Gore had been elected President. Think what it would be like if Sarah Palin should ever be elected President. Think what might have been if the Democrats had impeached George the Dull, or Dick the Slimy. Think how better things would be if we had universal health care. Better yet, think how things could be if we had a Congress that had any interest in looking out for the public interest. Think of how little evil there would be in the world if there were no human beings. Think if there is any symbolic significance in the fact that live spelled backwards is evil. But if you think too much or too deeply on the human condition you may go mad. Yes, it’s getting that bad.
Desolation,
is the path of the Victors,
but also their shame
Morialekafa
TILT:
It is still Google 100%, Morialekafa 0. Alpowa is a word that does not appear in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but it does appear on Google. I’m trying.
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But if you think too much or too deeply on the human condition you may go mad. Yes, it’s getting that bad.
I guess it's kind of like staring up at the night sky filled with stars and galaxies and trying to comprehend, if only for a moment, the vastness of our universe and our place in it. It is a hopelessly impossible task on such a large scale, and it seems comparable to trying to understand the human condition.
The way I approach such large problems is to solve problems on a small scale that are very local to me. The number one technique I use is to adopt and follow standards. If anyone likes what they see, they can follow along or copy me. If they don't like what they see, they can move along and leave me in peace. This strikes me as the essence of what freedom is all about.
Problems arise when someone else comes along and does not like my standards and tries to force their standards on me. This appears to be the source of most conflict and trouble in our world. There are two principle manifestations of such conflict when viewed at a high-level, societal view: minority oppression and minority tyranny. First, when the collective standards of a group of individuals interact to create a society, those minority of individuals who differ from the prevailing standards may face minority oppression. This is because functioning systems resist changes in course due to inertia and momentum. Second, when a minority of individuals in a society differ from the prevailing standards, and they agitate to force that society to conform to their minority view, the majority will face the tyranny of a minority. Their will be conflict and turmoil until either side prevails. (Of course, when one side prevails, the losers will face minority oppression: there is no escape!)
So, what is the solution? If you have a minority view, you have the following options:
1. Keep quiet. An example of this would be Christians and Jews in Iraq. They are more or less tolerated as long as they keep quiet;
2. Act brashly, inflame, and insult the majority, thereby bringing the wrath of the majority down onto the heads of the minority. This is not always the best idea. There are certain types of people who thrive under such minority abuse, but they usually profit at the expense of their followers, while their followers wonder why they face such abuse. This is not always an effective method to convert the masses to a minority viewpoint; or
3. Associate with a group of competent people who hold your minority view. Association with a group may help to protect you from minority oppression if the majority feels that your group is strong enough to resist forced compliance with prevailing standards or feels that you are not a threat to their standards. Set standards and meticulously follow them. If this minority group sets a good example, other people may naturally follow them, thereby slowly converting the minority view into a majority view over time. If the minority view is valid, it will hopefully establish itself over time. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.
Of course, there are no guarantees either way. I guess it all depends on "if" the stars happen to align just so.
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