Plague Journal, Nothing To Kill or Die For…
I have mixed thoughts about Christmas. Given that the story of Christmas happens to be about a working class couple, without adequate shelter, with responsibility to care for a new born child, — as long as my home is a “Christian” country that girdles the world with military bases, and has a military budget that dwarfs the entire annual expenditures of many nations, I feel disquiet about Christmas. I concede that “human nature” is a traffic between good and evil, and that purity, ideals exists only in our minds. That said, naked, unvarnished injustice will always cause me to cringe. The “Yo Mama” condescending, insulting brand of discourse and behavior makes my blood run cold. Can anything enduring be built on emotional, verbal, institutional violence?
These photos were captured over the past 48 hours. The idea of Christmas is practiced by sharing of beauty, of meaning, and especially of food and drink around a table. Human beings thrive in a context of generosity, mutuality, when everyone around the table has a voice. Children especially, the youngest among us deserve a voice. After all, are they not in our care?
The tune selection for today is Imagine, lyrics by John Lennon, performed by Pentatonix.
4 thoughts on “Plague Journal, Nothing To Kill or Die For…”
Among your mixed thoughts, don’t forget to include that per the traditional story, the baby’s mother was impregnated unexpectedly without her consent. Why does no one ever point this out?
“Imagine” is a fine selection for a holiday that is supposed to promote peace and goodwill. Indeed, what in our world ever has changed — for good or ill — without someone first having imagined the change? To my thinking, idealism is all that makes philosophy worthwhile, because rather than merely accepting the world as it is, it asks “What better world can we create?”
I avoid mention of the “virgin birth” or Mary’s impregnation without her consent because such things are incredible. The story stands well enough without the addition of unwarranted miracle as far as I am concerned. No singing angels, shepherds hustling away to Bethlehem, etc.
The core teaching of Jesus as embodied by the early Christian communities was revolutionary, an imagined society of egalitarian practice, men and women with equal status, and the economics of class criticized. Jesus believed a better world was possible. Some continue to believe a better world is worth realizing.
My reply here is not meant as a retort to Nancy, for she has mentioned the word, “Idealism” whereas I would like to add a thought about “Idealists”. I agree that idealism sets a goal, something to aspire towards and indeed embraces a desire to make the world a better place. In some ways an idealistic, utopian, and/or perfectionistic society embodies similar, but not exact, connotations.
An idealist on the other hand is someone who I find more annoying that anything else. The idealists I have run into, for the most part, are myopic, egocentric, and intractable. They seem to want a perfect society now and are not willing to compromise or to work with others to achieve even a modicum of their overall goals. It’s all or nothing. In this regard I look at many of the Bernie supporters who were willing to forego voting at all because neither Clinton nor Biden fit the “ideal” profile of their choice for a leader. To them, Trump and Biden were interchangeable. As those who are not mired in the blindness that afflicts idealists knows perfectly well, there is a very large difference.
So even though I may embrace aspects of idealism, I find most idealists boring, destructive, and extremely short-sighted.
Once when I was much younger, I was a mad idealist. I wish that I could take back some things said that I inflicted upon others, who deserved better from me. As you indicate, there is often self-righteousness mixed up with fervently held ideals. The worst kind of idealism is one mixed with religious certainty, — too often becoming all or nothing propositions.
I am no longer young. I think presently my condition is just mad.