2004-01-11

Howard Zinn and the world's cruelty

Alright, when people have children, why can't they take care of them without having to give someone else the responsibility? We have so much to do today (I have so much to do today, which involves peace and quiet) and my mother's friend is dumping off that devil daughter of hers here. Yes dearest, I know that you are cleaning your godfucking house, but plenty of people clean their houses AND take care of their brats at the same time. How about this, perhaps if you would divorce your backward chauvenist pig of a husband, you would get somewhere. It just makes me so angry! And my mother, benevolent as always, will agree to take care of someone else's brat, despite the fact that she is already tired. I do believe in helping others, but this is the third fucking weekend in a row, and my house is not the fucking community daycare.

Well, I really needed to get that out of my system.

Yesterday's contemplation: It is true that the world is cruel. However, we must realize right away that the world is cruel because there are people in it, and the different personalities and backgrounds will clash. We speak of the world's cruelty and violence as if it were the doings of some sort of all-powerful rule, a rule that cannot be mended or broken. We think of life's circumstances as part of some evil and omnipresent essence that is far beyond our reach. I beg to differ....

No matter how vile, profane, or malevolent a person is, they are still human. Thus, they have no greater advantage over us. They will bleed and die as we do, and once we get past the idea of treating politicians and dictators as entities, general equality will be inevitable. Therefore, yes, the world is indeed evil, but we needn't be afraid, because that evil aspect is to be blamed on other humans. Those humans have no advantage over us because we are all the same. We perpetuate our fears, and those fears will manifest.

Last night I was reading Howard Zinn's "A People's History...", and I must say that I have never before read such an author. His sharp style reminds me of how Voltaire wrote Candide, sans the humor. The beauty of Howard Zinn is that he does not write history from the point of view of the heroes (in our case it would be Washington, Jackson, etc. etc.), but rather, he writes history from the point of view of the oppressed: the slaves, the Indians, etc. etc. This is exactly what we need--someone to tell us that catastrophies are not necessary for progression. When you say that massacres and all other sorts of atrocities are necessary for the inevitable progression of the human race (or part of the human race, because remember, civilization is a reward kept only for a selected few ::rolls eyes::) then you have become one of those murderers who will adamantly try to justify their wrongdoings.

aeka at 11:10 a.m.