I have not written directly about the President elected some months ago.  Others have written often, at length.  I did not see the benefit of more ink spent upon that topic.  Now I’ll hazard to put my thoughts into words.

Perhaps we have a President that we deserve, an person who is an example of the early 21st century way-of-life idolized by many .   This has nothing to do with what you or I may “deserve” as individuals.  Collectively what is our direction as a society?   My better judgment tells me candidates for office are deserved, —shaped by the matrix of our common life together.

How could we have elected this despotic minded, emotionally needy, deal-maker as the father-of-our- country?  Indeed the President is a father figure, a quasi religious icon, a screen upon which we project our infantile hopes for salvation.  Which is why a black man in the White House was unsatisfactory to many.  Enough of us were willing to overlook the current occupants compulsive lying.  He was elected because he promised to eradicate the legacy of a black president who served for two terms.  A black man as the father of our country?  You didn’t think the Civil War was really over did you?

There is trouble in paradise.

I read that climate change, the warming of the atmosphere and the oceans is the payment of an overdue debt that has been accruing since the beginning of the industrial age.  It is argued over and over in our age of cybernetics, that the miniaturization of electronics resulting in globalized communications and logistics is a win-win for everyone.  Seems to me this is a gloss upon social reality.  It’s also a toute force denial of the impact of accelerating development upon Nature.  It is not unusual to meet a Phd driving a cab, or an individual with a master’s degree settling for a job at Starbucks.  And there are the massive wildfires in our west and in Europe due to hotter seasons and less rainfall.  From my angle of view in the current scheme of things there are few winners, and a multitude of losers .

Paradise.  Oh, I keep forgetting.  We do not live in paradise.  We live East of Eden, bereft of innocence.    Is not my insistence, indeed my expectation that “I” deserve paradise, –the tap root of our problem?

So we elect this imperious man who promises to “make America great again.”

Enough.

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The ancient Athenians treated the challenges of their democracy by means of theater.  At a annual festival of Dionysus three tragedies would  be presented in a day.   A satyr play would be performed at the end of the day to relieve the depression engendered by experience of the preceding tragedies.

In the same spirit I offer this tune by the Bodean’s.  It is a love song.  What else could it be?

I’m In Trouble Again

Well, I never was good at being good
I was never very kind
And if I said you’re the only one
Well, baby, I was lying
And I never did take to holding you
The way a man should
‘Cause ever since you left me, babe
Well, I ain’t been very good

I’m in trouble again
I’m in trouble again
‘Cause ever since you left me, baby
You should see the shape I’m in

Well, I think about the times you held me up
And kept me on my feet
I haven’t really sunk this low
And I don’t give a damn about me
And it’s hard to love a losing man
Much harder than you think
You’ll have to tear yourself away
Before you both start to stink

I’m in trouble again
I’m in trouble again
‘Cause ever since you left me, baby
You should see the shape I’m in