All the Hubris we'll ever need

      It is easy to presume that we know what's up. No one wants to be seen as clueless. So we presuppose certain 'facts' about situations we face. St. Augustine talked in great detail about the nature of knowledge. He stated what seems to be obvious by saying,"We must believe something before we can know anything." And so it is.

                                                             
  That takes me back to the summer of 2000. I was working for an ad agency that had the Republican Presidential ticket as a client. George W. Bush, the Republican nominee, seemed like the type of guy who I would want to avoid if he were a schoolmate or a co-worker. I could see him talking me into doing some type of favor for him. In return, I would get to say, 'Thanks"? He didn't seem like he was a reasonable or responsible person.  If he became President , he would definitely need someone to hold his hand. He was scary in a weird kind of "let me drive, I'm not drunk" kind of way. And this is before I knew of his infamous drinking and driving exploits from the past.  I didn't want to give this guy the keys to anyone's car, let alone mine. So I decided to check out his opponent. I looked across the room and saw Al Gore. Hmmm... this is not looking any better to me. I could choose between two seemingly bored rich kids who felt an obligation to be important in some way. So, just like a spoiled rich kid, they both decided to be President. So I looked at 'Georgie' a second time. That is when I saw Dick Cheney. I started to feel better.
Here was an old guy who was a smooth operator. He had been there, and he had done that. He had nothing left to prove to himself or anyone else. He was successful and articulate. And he believed that government was not to be used except for the most simple and straightforward tasks. My nerves were calmed immediately. The old man won't give W. the keys. We are safe. Relax. Vote Republican.

                                                                       
    And then after 9-11, everything changed. It was if the earth's axis now spun with a little wobble in it's motion . Everyone was going to have to adjust. This wasn't simply a suggestion. It was our new reality. But as with anything new or unfamiliar, there were going to be a few people who needed help getting the hang of things. And, maybe not surprisingly, one of those people was my boy, Dick Cheney.
   I knew he's an old guy with a bad ticker who grew up during the cold war and lived through Watergate. This is who he was, and still is. He was a man who never wore the uniform, but who saw himself as a warrior regardless of that notion's absurdity. This was our gatekeeper. This was my man with the ultimate plan.
   I was with Dick, when in 2002 on 'Meet the Press' he talked about fighting in the shadows. That made sense.Our opponent was on the dark side. We would take the fight to him. Yes, I thought. Send the Sicilian mob or even Tony Soprano himself to wack a few bad guys while they ate linguine in their mother's kitchen. That is the way to go.
  But it was not to be.Instead we said 'they hate our freedom' and sent 150,000 troops to Mesopotamia to let them see what real freedom looks like. And from my perspective, freedom looked like giving the keys to the drunk guy if he promises to do as you say. What surprised me the most was that it appeared Dick Cheney was the one guy in the universe who had never heard of the law of unintended consequences. Bite off a little at a time, is what this law states. Or you may end up chewing off your own backside. I thought old guys with bad hearts knew this already. What I didn't know was that old Dick and his gang were going to save me whether I wanted to be saved or not. The Dark Side and Darth Vader himself was now running the show. Lucky us.

 

I'm not Saying,... I'm just Saying

                                         
 Modern life is incredibly fast. The technological underpinnings of today's media market go way beyond anything that could have been envisioned by most ordinary people a few years ago. All the new modes of wireless communication have created a powerful type of  group consciousness that defies easy explanation. These wireless mediums allow us to  exist within ourselves and each other in a way that is both exciting and sobering. As with nearly anything humans devise or employ, there is great hope combined with great fear as to how we will wield our new toy. Our striving forward is what makes this so. We do many things that we can, without ever thinking if we should. The frantic pace of information today doesn't make sober contemplation any more inviting. So the edit mode is now powerless.And how is this good ?

                                                                           

 Tempered and thoughtful dialog is already in short supply these days. Stream of conscious communication may be good for entertaining many social options, but it may not be a positive influence on our ability to make clear and thoughtful decisions. I believe that may simply be a pay grade too high for real time data needing a real time response.
  My brother says that all this stuff is just more noise when he is looking for less noise in his life. Amen? Well the future is right in front of us. Let's get ready. As Bart Scott so eloquently purred, " Can't Wait! "
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7KSkZxt_zo   

But the idea that the news cycle is reality itself is quite scary. Let'see if we are up to the task of making good decisions as if  we were simply getting a cup of  instant coffee at the drive thru window. As someone who loves the written word and most any medium that would support it, I fear that in a world where to think is too big a burden for us, then to struggle with the almighty  pen or the indefatigable word processor will also fall prey to our lack of mental curiosity.  Is it presented to us with a bow on it ? Is it part of the latest news cycle? If not, then why bother with it, right?  It is easier to just have the truth marketed to us by General Electric and The Ford Foundation. And then we will take no time at all to accept it as our own. I'm not saying this will ever be so, I'm just saying that I pray it will never be so.
 

Brothers from Different Mothers

      Abraham Lincoln was, to my thinking, a great writer by any standard. His inspiration for the written and spoken word goes far beyond any of the wildest dreams I ever fancied for my own weary soul. I have thought, felt and done many beautiful things, but never with this man's grace, grit ,eloquence or vision. The better angels of our nature line is a classic, but read the entire quote from his first inaugural address to a deeply divided America."Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
      Shakespeare would applaud. Whenever I write about or think of Lincoln's voice, I feel like the awkward kid at the school dance. It just feels wrong to somehow  think of he and I as sharing the same language or the same heritage as Americans.  The same as I do with Ben Franklin. The "brothers from different mothers" line always get a laugh, but it seems appropriate to make this type of comparison here. How are we like these guys?                                                                  

                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                   
    I can clearly see how we are different.  But I am unable to plum the depths of honor and sacrifice that allowed this fully free individual to sacrifice all he is or hopes to be for an idea. Even if that idea is as beautiful and sacred as the sacrifice itself.  And that is where I am humbled as I am cast in the shadow of this great man. The entire " same, but different' credo that I hold so near and dear falls short in explaining this chasm. Can it be explained as simply the great compared to the mediocre? Or is there more to the story?
    I wrote last week that it isn't healthy for humans to see themselves as consumers or as commodities. That the soul and the marketplace can make for bad business partners. There needs to be a lifeline from this folly of, in my mind, great consequence. And that Benjamin Franklin and his middle class work ethic could be the tonic, or example we could all use when placing ourselves in any marketplace. I still see this as good and true for me and the culture where I live and breathe as an American of whatever consequence.
   But Lincoln, although not as gifted as Franklin in the "Renaissance Man" sense of thinking,  may have even a greater impact on our lives than Franklin ever could if we so chose to feel this truth.
   Lincoln was more of the 'Greek Tragedy' archetype. Our Best Angel rose within reach of Heaven, then cruelly tore asunder by the Hubris and Arrogance of his Fellow Man. This dynamic tears viscerally at our hearts. We know it's truth within others as well as ourselves. Truly,we are no longer in our Father's Garden. The power of humility in whatever dose would be welcome for us all. But the power of  altruism on such a scale is beyond our comfort zone. It is in our face. And that is good.
       Whereas Franklin and his many personas is merely instructive. Lincoln's life was the shadow of the greatest sacrifice ever known. His Christlike shadow looms large among us. As would be the empty chair of our best friend who has departed without saying goodbye.We need both of these examples in this Republic, but without the kinetic energy created within the tragedy of Lincoln's life and death, we may never be able to implement that which Franklin exemplified. God and everyone in the neighborhood knows we are again at each others throats over who is the better American. What a rotten and terrible thing to say about anyone. Talk about hubris and arrogance?  So let's start an new argument.

It's all about 'The Benjamin'

      There's a line from a song by Sean Combs that said,"It's all about the Benjamins."  And P.Diddy knows much of what he speaks. He has lived his life true to this theme. It is all about the cash.
      Look at just about anything in modern life. Whether it is professional sports, politics, business, or much of social networking. Follow the cash and you will find there what most of us call 'success.' We all love a winner, and the money trail sways like a conga line going daily to whatever champion has designated this or that as 'today's pot of gold.' We market what may be, and send our money to what we hope is. Can it be any other way in modern life and 'succeed?' Probably not. But the market is not a god, and shouldn't be deified as such. It's an idea. And it is an idea that morphs like any other idea .It is no constant that allows us to calibrate our path to true north. The market can only bear what there is, not what we hope there is. And that is just the way it is. It is not so much about hope itself. It is more about what we see as being hope-worthy. Our dreams are not to discarded or set under a bushel basket. The children's Sunday school song that shouts joyfully," this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine," is good for our collective souls.
    But many times our dreams don't want the burden of truth. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, " You are entitled to have your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts." But here we are. Up against a mighty wall of denial that we have built ourselves, wondering how we can get around it.
    If our success in life is predicated on our humanity itself as being an efficient marketing device, then I propose that we are in big trouble.The idea of marketing everything, from church attendance rates to the perception of how likely a terrorist attack will occur, to the fear that some Emir in the middle east will have a bad hair is no way to solve our big problems when they arise. They seem to be more about pretending that these issues don't even exist. We now live in very big world . Maybe it will takes more than a Burkeian shift to fundamentally alter our approach to our problem as a people to make a difference.Is there a bomb thrower in the house? Is Oliver Cromwell available to heal our nation as the Tea Party desires? Let's hold that bomb for a moment, please.

   Benjamin Franklin was the probably the  coolest of all the founding fathers. Maybe he and his 'Poor Richard' have something to say about our dilemma.. Franklin was America's original Renaissance Man. He was many things, including an opportunistic marketer when the situation called for it. But he always saw the fullness of his life and that of his peers. I wonder if we are as wise. The idea that he would see himself as chattel to be marketed by himself or others to the exclusion of his humanity would be foreign to Poor Richard or Silence Dogood.  But we seem to happily swim in this concept every day. Maybe to the point where we miss our selves in the process. Our humanity needs to be tied to something much more than a successful marketing campaign. Ben was many thing. But he wasn't a commodity  And he didn't look at other men and women as such. Maybe that is where we should start.
   The market is a great tool. Let's not make that tool a great big hammer. Maybe it is better seen as a mirror. We all know that mirrors can be a pain, especially when looked into first thing in the morning. But look we must. Let's hope that all we see there is more than simply Green.

The Life we have Chosen

Hyman Roth at his Best from Godfather II 

  I'm not saying anything new when I bring up the idea that Mobster movies have become the new Westerns of today. Just as the Westerns of yesterday could be sagas, as in "Lonesome Dove", or quickie thrillers like "The Lone Ranger", mobster shows are a vehicle that will bring an audience to whatever story you may wish to spin. For many reasons these violent personas with their madonna-whore complexes and their false Omerta code of honor have become the car wreck scenes of today that we just can't take our eyes off of. It can be fascinating stuff. We get to live vicariously through these dark angels as they momentarily pass us by.

"I'd give 4 million just to piss without it hurting."

   My old buddy Hyman Roth of the Godfather saga had that great line in Godfather II stating that "this is the business we have chosen" in response to Michael Corleone's inquiry into his attempted assassination. In one sense he was stating the obvious, but in my world, where everything is the same , just different, I see another meaning.
I wanted to grow up to be a left handed starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians. I thought, "How cool would that be? Pitch every fifth day for a lot of cash and get to sit in the dugout the other four days with my buddies, chewing bubble gum or spitting sunflower seeds on the dugout floor. Nobody will make me clean up the mess, and a couple times a year I will set someone's shoes on fire while they are in them, or put Ben-Gay into someone's jock strap. When you are a kid, how could you ever dream up a better life? So I chose to do this. But there was a problem right from the beginning. I am right handed. So that didn't work out too well for me.
   I could continue this self digression, but the point I want to make is this; ' Do we really choose as freely as we assume? I mean, I never imagined I would be where I am right here, right now when I was making plans for my life. I am no end unto myself that is for sure. My guess is that none of us are. Some folks are just better at fooling themselves. Bernie Madoff? Master ? Tiger Woods? The Man? Maybe. But as a jokester who is always looking for an opportunity to lay a zinger on someone, this type of illusory gimmick that humans have nurtured about themselves seems to be the perfect vehicle for pulling the rug out from under someone. So I think that Hyman Roth was  as wrong as he was right. After all , he didn't plan to be assassinated in that Miami airport either. Yes, we make choices. We are constantly choosing between this or that. But it may be better to keep a good slice of Humble Pie near us at all times as we preen over our free will in action. A piece of that pie  surely must taste better that what Bernie Madoff is eating today.

Rene Descartes V. Forrest Gump

   I know that it's a stretch to try to compare the a 16th century French philosopher with a movie character from 1996. But let me try anyhow.
   Descartes rocked the world of his time with a statement that only a Frenchman could pull off and still be taken seriously, " I think, therefore I am." But Forrest Gump reportedly said something quite the same, but completely different. In a scene cut from the theatrical release of his movie, Gump told the Norwegian Nobel Prize committee,"  I am, therefore I must think."

  Now, some would say that Gump's statement is that of an ignoramus.But I say that it is as valid as Descartes' statement. And depending on your ambitions or desire to even think at all, may be of even greater importance to you than Descartes. Yes, Socrates did say that an unexamined life is not worth living, but others may feel that  all this navel-gazing is one step away from full blown narcissism.How can that be good?But remember that Socrates died from hemlock poisoning. Forrest is still alive today and living in Greenbow, Alabama cutting his grass. Who would you rather listen to? If I have heard it said once, I have heard it said a thousand times, ignorance is bliss. You Go Forrest !!!

It's the same, just different

   Sometime I don't feel like a 55 year old man. I love to stand on my toes to see how high I can reach. The same with coasting on my bike without pedaling.  I just want to see how far I can go without stopping. ( Don't even try taking my bike from me !) Or gliding under the water as I swim, holding my breath. I imagine that I belong here. That I can suspend gravity at will .
  But my boyish ways don't translate well to all my life. Thankfully, I am not enthusiastic about setting things on fire just to watch them burn. I am not  interested in chasing ambulances and cop cars, nor do I like watching drunk people light their friends cigarettes. I just can't revel in bearing witness to man's inhumanity to himself. Nor do I enjoy imagining myself as the master of this, or any other universe. It's just not very important to me. So I am not without hope in becoming more of an adult and , ultimately, in being a better human being.

   
    I would rather experience beauty than tragedy. But life is full of surprises. And we don't always choose what channel we get to watch. And God knows that there have been times when I just didn't 'get it.anyhow. As if I were a half-step too slow. But I want to get it. And I hope my curiosity about bicycles and tiptoes translates to things with more purpose and gravity sometime soon. So, in my situation I think it is best to seize the day as I find it, even if it makes no sense to me at the time.
 As my children use to say to me when they were young, "Dad, that is exactly the same as what happened to me, just different."  The same, but different. I think I get it. So from this perspective, I am learning that the difference between Forrest Gump and Rene Descartes may not be as great as what one might assume.