A Fragment of a Thought

 Democracy is beautiful. Certainly, it is messy and deeply flawed, just as we are. But it is beautiful. Just as we are.

A Quote For The Times

 "The simple act of an ordinary brave man is not to participate in lies, not to support false actions! His rule: Let that come into the world, let it even reign supreme-- only not through me."

Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Lecture

A Couple of Quotes

The following quotes are both from James Baldwin. Read his work. Read it.

 "The bottom line is this: you write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. In some way, your aspirations and concern for a single man in fact do begin to change the world. The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way a person looks or people look at reality, then you can change it." 

New York Times interview, 1979

"Write. Find a way to keep alive and write. There is nothing else to say. If you are going to be a writer there is nothing I can say to stop you; if you are not going to be a writer nothing I can say will help you. What you really need at the beginning is somebody to let you know that the effort is real."

Paris Review interview, 1984

These quotes came from an essay in Literary Hub by Emily Temple

 

Finality

 For Faith

 

All but Death, can be Adjusted --

Dynasties repaired --

Systems -- settled in their Sockets --

Citadels -- dissolved --

Wastes of Lives -- resown with Colors

By Succeeding Springs--

Death -- unto itself -- Exception --

Is exempt from Change --

 

Emily Dickinson, poem 749

The Rats Are Sticking Around

 Well, it seems the coprophagous GOP is backing Trump's election fraud scam. The usual suspects have, apparently, decided that it pays to stick to the ass their heads are already shoved into, and hope for the best. And fuck the United States of America.

Quote of the Post

 "The ends justify the means. A nice homily, he thought, which allowed him to do almost anything. It brought to mind the rationale of Ivan Karamazov: without God, everything is permissible."

Robert Silverberg Master of Life and Death novel, 1957

It's Okay to Breathe, Now

 Earlier today, Joe Biden won the election. Trump may still kill us all, but if we make it to January twentieth, we have a chance. Yay us.

My Next Political Sign

 "Trump's Tweets Are Offal"

We Live in Interesting Times

 As I write this, near midnight on the fifth, the presidential election has not yet been called, though Biden has the edge.

 I admit to near inconsolable sadness late Tuesday and into Wednesday. I never expected a blowout, but the incredible closeness of the race fills me with despair for our nation and world. That so many have witnessed so much corruption, hate and near psychopathy from Trump, and still cast their ballots for him leads me to wonder if the name we've given our species could, possibly, be ironic. I see little evidence of sapience in us, tonight.

And, yes, the title of this post refers to the ancient Chinese curse. I think I finally understand it.

A Note, And Apology

 I intend to publish a series of essays in the coming days that, added together will be a manifesto of sorts. That justifies the note. The apology comes from the fact that circumstances may not give me the luxury of deeply editing drafts of these essays. They may be a bit choppy and even abrupt.

The Climacteric

  I think the title of this little essay is accurate. In two days the United States of America, and the world, must win the presidential election by destroying Donald Fucking Trump. We have been obsessed with the Trump crime family's occupation of the White House, and the aid from traitors in the GOP and right- wing media since the beginning. The future of this country as a functioning democracy is literally at stake. The title of this little essay is also a moving target. We face our gravest threat due to the climate crisis-- an existential threat to civilization and, in all probability, the continued existence of our species. 

  But still.

  If we are unable to clean our house of the treasonous and crime-ridden Trump administration, we will never even begin to attack climate change. It is also true that the resurgence of totalitarianism world-wide throws up a brick wall to the cooperation mankind requires to effectively make the tough decisions to clean up the planet. Humanity's long experience with tyrants proves that they are utterly incapable of the vision, imagination, flexibility, and, most importantly, the will we need to overcome complete disaster. As the environment deteriorates; as populations shift; as resources become scarce and uncertain-- only democratic nations working in tandem can give us the slimmest of chances to change our economies, industries, and our cultures, and to avoid the nuclear wars that will end our existence. 

 So. The climacteric.   

  

  

 

Quote of the Post

 "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Second Inaugural

It Was Always Obvious. Always (A Quote)

"Doctors confronting a new epidemic caused by a highly fatal infectious agent are much like firefighters confronting a fire. Early, aggressive action pays off, whereas slow, passive action leads to massive destruction."

Dr. Donald P. Francis Journal of Public Health Policy 2012
Francis was a CDC Epidemiologist during the AIDS crisis.

Quote of the Post

"He carried so much suffering that it radiated out in waves. Sorrow is like that; whenever a person runs, it comes after him; it leaves an endless trail of pain."

Alice Hoffman, The River King, novel

Quote of the Post

"Every talent is unearned, however, and with it comes a solemn obligation to use it as fully and as wisely as possible."

Dean Koontz, Odd Apocalypse, novel