DoY 112

Who is us?

Just a reminder, Pogo famously said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

So how is us the enemy?

Us are complacent.  Whatever politicians do to or for us, we grumble and keep going.  Us don't ever throw the bums out.  Sometimes us shows a bum or two out, but us replaces him or them with another bum with a prettier smile or a more chic hairstyle.  Us are not very thoughtful about politicians or what they do.

Obviously that's not entirely true.  Some of us get worked up enough to offer to be the prettier smile or the more chic hairdo.  Thank goodness for those of us, right?

But the rest of us grumble.  Like about police misconduct.  Even if a police officer is arrested (highly unlikely) and brought to trial (unlikelier), us on the jury give him a walk.  "Oh, he meant well.  He was excited.  He has a tough job."

Viva us!

 DoY 105

Who is us?

Some of us are U.S. citizens, but all of us are citizens of the Earth, the third planet from the Sun.  Isn't that a wee bit odd?  That we have names for many of the smaller stars in the heavens, but the biggest by far, the nearest, the one we depend on, we simply call The Sun.  Other cultures have named that star also, usually while imagining it a mostly benevolent god.  "Mostly benevolent" is about as good as a god gets.  After all, any god we can take seriously also has to be whimsical, vengeful, jealous, petty, amusing, and tormenting.  That's how we see the world.  It takes a lot of seremity to see the world as different.  An indifferent god would be pointless.  But all of that only addresses "Who s us?" from the side or at a slant.  Us apparently needs gods.  Us has created them for as long as us've left records of ourselves.  Well, that may be an exaggeration.  But for at least as long as we've left written records of ourselves, us have had gods.  If nothing else, the gods of commerce and of thievery.

 for DoY 098

Who is us?

Us is ignorant and proud of it, defiant about it.  Oh, I didn't mean illiterate.  Us can read, but us don't.  Us scorn folks who use words of more than two syllables.  Who know what arugula is.  Who wear masks to prevent or at least slow the spread of an airborne pandemic.  Who like or even appreciate literature.  Us toss out technical terms when us speak, but us change the subject when someone asks us what those terms mean when us use them.  Us make fun of folks who do know and can speak with authority.  Don't misunderstand:  us sometimes show compassion, hospitality, and generosity, even if us don't admit to knowing those words, but us get nasty about folks who show expertise.  Us don't like getting called on our ignorance, but us cling passionately to it.

 DoY 091

Who is us?

Oh!  Oh!  Oh!  Woe is us!  No!  That's inaccurate.  Glee is us!  Glee and zest.  Look at the Serbs in Croatia.  The Serbs are us.  Look at the Israelis in Palestine.  The Israelis are us.  Look at the Taliban in Afghanistan.  The Taliban are us.  Look at white folks in the South.   Now look at white folks in the United States.  See the no difference?   White folks are us.

No!  Someone else might plead.  See the Red Cross?  The Red Cross are us.  See FEMA back before George Bush II?  That FEMA are us.  See Doctors Without Borders?  Doctors Without Borders are us.

Yes, I admit, that's true.  But when we tell ourselves about us, we pretend us are Doctors Without Borders, us are FEMA before George Bush II, us are the Red Cross, and we pretend us are not the Serbs, the Israelis, the Taliban,  But us are, and us forget it to our peril.  A thin tissue holds us back on the kind, generous, humane side of behavior.  If us drop our guard a minute, us unleash the torturers, the slavers, the tormenters us are too.

 DoY 084

Who is us?

Us is 328 million UnitedStatesians, or 7.9 billion humans on the earth.  Wow!  Either way, that's a lot of people!  Either way that's a helluva lot of people!  And us are not very well informed.  And us are not trained to do critical thinking.  Most of what us call thinking is emotional or sentimental reaction to the few facts us know, and all too often to pseudo-facts us are fed.  Our masters have no reason to tell us what's so.  They have plenty of reason to tell us platitudes and outright lies.  Heck, if us knew about our masters and how they manipulate us, us might revolt!  Revolutions are so untidy!  And unpredictable.  Compare the Glorious Revolution in England to the French Revolution.  Yes, left to our own devices, us are probably better off being led by our likes and dislikes than trying to make important decisions on our own.

Funny then that I'm an ardent supporter of republics.  "Democracy" is just a lie.  It requires slavery, and it fully occupies all citizens voting about trash collection and clean water and armies and wars and all that.  No, better to let a few politicians amuse themselves with all that so the rest of us can go about the daily business of house cleaning and making a living and having a good time.  Or a bad time if that's your preference.

For DoY 077

Who is us?

Us is a clique of mean and petty-minded girls who drive a classmate to suicide.  Us is a bunch of boys who torment a classmate into suicide.  Us is a bunch of boys at a party who get a girl drunk, serially rape her, and post pictures of the event on social media.  Us is a collection of fathers in a neighborhood who gather to burn and scare a new family out of the neighborhood.  Us is a mob who gather in a church for the preacher's blessing before us go out and wreak havoc.  Us is a white cop captain condoning a white killer's bad day.  Us is people who invent a god who gives us a list of commandments on how to behave, then commands us to break them.  Us is 7 billion people working to make our planet unlivable.

 Blog entry DoY 070

Who is us?

Y'know?  Us includes the staff here at Atria Senior Living, and they're damned considerate, caring, welcoming, hospitable.  Are they gonna convert a curmudgeon into a benevolent, approving observer of us?  Prob'ly not.  But it's nice, it's nice!