The Occupation Of Minnesota
think of it
by Charles Bukowski
think of it, there were fellows like
Kierkegaard and Sartre
who found existence
absurd,
who battled against
anxiety and anguish,
nothingness,
nausea,
and death hanging over them
like a
Damocles sword
while there are other men
now
-so empty of concern
that their first thought of the
day is
when are they going to have
lunch?
granted, it could be more
comfortable
to live, say, as a fly, an
ant, a mugwump,
but as a human,
just think,
as a human
to live
thusly,
as millions do
again and again.
of course, hell is other
people,
the waste, the waste,
all flushed away
like
it, like
that.
the garage mechanic
walking toward you
with dead
eyes.
This morning the New York Times reports concerning Minneapolis, Minnesota:
Minneapolis is on a knife’s edge. One week after a federal agent shot and killed Renee Good, aggressive arrests have enraged residents. The Trump administration has redoubled its effort to deport illegal immigrants, sending officers into residential neighborhoods and the parking lots of big-box stores in search of people to grab.
…the government is sending 1,000 more immigration officers to Minnesota on top of the 2,000 already there. The administration also said it would end deportation protections for more than 2,000 migrants from Somalia. The state is home to the largest diaspora of Somalis in the world.
-New York Times by Sam Sifton
Renee Nicole Good was the first casualty of the occupation of Minnesota. It seems more lives involuntarily will be taken/sacrificed, a spasm of raw injustice colliding with the will to preserve the multi-cultural beauty of Minnesota.
Sartre was right. Perhaps in college you read the novel by Jean Paul Sartre, Nausea. Antoine Roquentin, the main character experiences profound alienation and disgust as he confronts the absurd meaninglessness of existence. At first he is paralyzed but then realizes he must create his own meaning through his actions and art.
Yesterday President Trump toured a Ford factory in Detroit. Trump obscenely gestured to respond to a heckler.
2 thoughts on “The Occupation Of Minnesota”
And so Mr. Trump flips off someone who disagrees with him. A “gut” reaction as is everything that emanates from this sorry excuse for a member of our species. Are there actually people who are surprised by this action by someone who has soiled the standard comportment of the presidency like a dirty diaper? This is standard operating procedure from a man who continues to be venerated by tens of millions of people regardless of his behavior. Praised by the ignorant, the power hungry, and the greedy, he has declared that he himself is his only moral compass. And since he is completely devoid of any morality, where does that leave the rest of us? Those of us whose feet are firmly planted in a world where compassion should be supplanting cruelty are all the recipients of his extended middle finger. So my main questions are: How can ANYONE with a rational mind remain silent when coming face to face with this monster? How does ANYONE sit on the sidelines, pull a blanket over their heads, and think this will just go away? This laissez-faire attitude remains a mystery to me.
SILENCE = TACIT AGREEMENT. Come on folks, WAKE UP! There should be 20 responses to Jerry’s blog today. Lift up your voice and be counted!
Tobin your words echo my sense of our situation. Let us each consider what it means, every day, to “rise up”, to say and express our “enough” to what this man represents. I cannot conceive of a future “united” states given the divergent visions of what manner of society is desirable.