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Where art thou, Hopkin Green Frog?
Several people were complaining that they were unable to add comments due to my anti-blogspam software. I have reset it — hope you all have better luck now.
Update:
Precisely 4 minutes later, I received my first piece of blog spam
Back in the early days of cable ( dating myself here ) the then-fledgling MTV networks did not have the means to produce its own content (20 years later, it produces too much crappy content).
As part of the MTV Umbrella, Nickelodeon (now “Nick”) imported a great amout of content from our friend across the pond, the BBC and Thames productions. They also imported many Canadian shows.
Aside: T’was on Nickelodeon’s Today’s Special that I first saw the mysterious word “Ontario.” Today’s Special, You Can’t Do That on Television, and Pinwheel are all pivotal childhood media milestones and worthy of their own post elsewhere
Now even at this young age my latent love of Secret Knowledge was seeking to express itself. In later years this would manifest in conspiracy theory interests, Hermetic schools, etc. When I read about these things now, as a 27 year old guy, it occasionally scares the bejesus out of me — and I have social filters to help me deal with such a bejesus-scaring.
Back in 1984 though, I had no such weaponry to help me out. The show that gave me a glimpse of the X-Files fandom that was to be my fate was a series called: “Chocky”.
Here’s the thing I remember:
Chocky was a green swirling vortex Chocky had a really creepy computer-ish female voice Chocky wasn’t all that concerned about human beings’ feelings Chocky could teach you cool shit (swimming, art, counting like a computer)
Now, as a 7 year old I could appreciate the Faustian bargain afoot. Chocky would give you knowledge, but you might torment yourself more for having gotten it.
This seemed important - and kinda scary.
Actually it is both important and scary.
So I sat there watching this young British kid go through hallucinations, abductions, paranoia, psychological meltdown all because this creepy green vortex that could distort the screen all fish-eye like had chosen him to visit.
I was never scared like - “Mom I can’t sleep I saw a show about a green alien that teaches you math” but i was definitely weirded out.
“Chocky” came back to me today so I checked out some internet resources on it and found this compendium: [ LINK ].
My question is if the GOP message of “empowerment” isn’t really a message of “selfishness”. I, at one time, read the Wealth of Nations and that Ayn Rand nonsense and was quite sold on the idea that people acting in their own best interest was the best thing for society. As I read it, this is the model of Republican values. But this doesn’t get us the highest form of society, get gets us a nation of free-agents united by tribal bands (perhaps this explains some of the regionalism you cite in you just-posted mail? Texans are yokels, Bostonians I know, we are good, i would help a bostonian).
The greeks had a concept called a kosmos a unified system arranged by order. The heavens were a kosmos and a polity that was a kosmos was to be pursued. While the achievement of eudamonia (i.e. the final cause of the person) in the individual was important, that individual had a sense of obligation to the polity as well. It seems to me that part of what makes the R. agenda attractive is the appeal of short-term “I gotz mine” with little drive to set the parts of the body politic in a direction to better them. Aristotle held that all organisms (and i extrapolate to all endeavour) needed to grow to survive, it seems that the R agenda promotes a shrinking into independent cells of getting mine, with only tribal associations binding them.
This isn’t empowerment, this is rotting the center out of the kosmos for the sake of selfish benefit. You may say I’m a dreamer here, but it doesn’t strike me that this is the right course of action.
The Democrats say …. * Education costs went up in the last term — but i gotz mine (and I, steven harms do) * health care costs went up — but i gotz mine (and I, steven harms do) * We should fund benefits for the public good — a car, i gotz mine! (and I, steven harms do) * Retirement — I gotz a phat 401K (and I, steven harms do) * etc.
It seems that, much like an ideal business, individuals should flourish, but in doing so something should be made for the greater good. I don’t see how you get from individual “empowerment” (in the best case, selfishness at the middle, outright misanthropy the worst) to a kosmos based society in this ethos.
Michael suggested in a comment to yesterday’s post that my pleas had fallen on a God whose ears, like Odysseyus’ oarsmens’, was stuffed with wax.
Well, like Bono’s God - who doesn’t need Jimmy Swaggart to get money for Him - my God really doesn’t give a flying flip at a celestial donut about politics. I suffer no ire at the Almighty on this one.
So here we are, facing the reality of a second Bush term in office, what am I to think, to do?
Well every president walks into a world full of contingencies and issues that were not directly of his making. To that individual I extend a certain amount a leeway, a trust, a benefit of the doubt.
While I think the decisions about Iraq were the wrong choices at the wrong time, as this “new” president takes the helm, it is, as I said in the previous paragraph, but one of the contengencies and issues afoot in the world.
To someone with the charge of keeping the people safe in this swirl of uncertainty, I extend the best wishes and hope that previous experience will sharpen the acumen with which decisions are made.
To this individual, thus, I extend the best wishes and hope that they make great decisions to promote the growth and safety of the country.
But what does this mean for me? Where is Steven G. Harms, leftist-ish liberal, now?
And what of the Left as a whole? Are we to take this election result as ushering it some sort of new phase in American political life?
Furthermore, 11 states banned gay marriage outright, clearly asserting an identification with the moral scheme underlying Bush Republicanism.
So, what gives? Am I, and apparently most of the members of my states’ views now become some sort of unfashionable relic, white shoes after the GOP Labor Day?
I wish I had all the answers, but I see this election as the one where a fundamental fork in the road was reached.
The United States has (note not have!) decided to become an Empire, not a Republic. We should now concern ourselves with charting ourselves directly against Rome or the British Imperium and learning from their mistakes.
Imperium de novo
I’m trying to stay positive in light of the fact that we shall see challenge to Rowe v. Wade and several lasting far-right appointments to the Federal Judiciary. There are opportunities for growth - perhaps the Democrats can reforge their core values and ask: What do we stand for?
{ I still despise Perle and Wolfowitz though }
I am trying, desperately, to not start looking at the exit polls.
If i start, how can I pull myself away?
I remember that when I was taking my SATs my grandmother said that she was praying for my success. My dad also heard from her that she was praying for my success after I had turned in the exam. To dad, and me, this felt like divine cheating. Divine cheating is not OK. We should hope for His helpful hand gently guiding me and relaxing me during the test, but His Hand erasing my D and making it an A seemed a bit foul.
But in my grandmother’s world praying is always OK.
In a similar vein, the vote has been cast. I hope that the logic and wisdom was bestowed last night. I hope the chads do not dimple or dangle or fangle. I hope each citizen’s choice is made and everyone who is entitled to vote does.
But then again, I am my grandma’s grandson. Please God, let Kerry win.
Recently my co-worker was married in the Kashmir region of India.
Regrettably, one group of people who believe in a mysterious force that has political bidding but that no one can see and another group of people who believe in a mysterious force that has political bidding but that no one can see are currently launching mortars and bullets at each other for control of this region.
Kashmir is hotly contested between Pakistan and India. Thus my surprise when my co-worker told me she was going there to be married (you hear about weddings getting blown up in Afghanistan - I was anxious for her safety) could not be contained.
The photos are amazing. It looks like northern California, but rockier and with steppes. The arid air has produced tall thin trees growing green and thick on canyon walls. It looks simply breathtaking.
More beauty was at work there as well. My co-worker had beautiful henna work done on her hands:
and brought me back a very nice wall hanging:
This religion business has a real habit of messing up our ability to be decent to one another….and I’m pretty sure that’s the commandment that they left off the tablet.