TJ & Rebellion
In
a letter to James Madision Thomas Jefferson reflected a bit on
Shays rebellion and the role of rebellion in a democracy. In particular he said:
A consciousness of those in power that their administration of the public affairs has been honest, may perhaps produce too great a degree of indignation: and those characters wherein fear predominates over hope may apprehend too much from these instances of irregularity. They may conclude too hastily that nature has formed man insusceptible of any other government but that of force, a conclusion not founded in truth, nor experience.
Now I am not sure I am ready to grant the benefit of the doubt that TJ displays, but the fear bit seems right on the money in our current state of affairs. A certain 5th grader that I know quite astutely notes that Bush looks more like a coward than like someone with great confidence.
TJ goes on to condem a government by wolves over sheep and while he clearly favors a small government over a large one he also argues strongly for tolerance and freedom for all.
It is in this letter that he makes his famous statement:
I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, & as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.
I for one am going to spend some time with the early writings...
Mental Illness in America
I have lived with mental illness. It was not my own, but it was debilitating just the same. The scariest thing about living with someone who is mentally ill is that you start to wonder who is crazy. This is especially true if the illness in progressive, as was the case with my ex-wife.
You really start to doubt your own reasoning. You wonder whether in fact the fucked up explanations that your partner presents might in fact be the case; being engaged and commtteed to "working on it" only makes matters worse. Unless treatment enters the picture, eventually you reach a point where you either get out or you succumb. I was lucky with respect to my marriage in that I managed to get both my daughter and myself out.
So where do I stand with respect to my country? Am I crazy or are they? I think we that we should pay attention to what others think, that we should reflect, recognize mistakes, change our minds. I am scared of fundamentalism whether it is in my family, my community of my government.
I wrote in one of my
ESM posts, that I hated Greek tragedy in high school, but I did learn that hubris always comes back as the downfall of the protagonist. Despite Jon Stewart's best efforts, I fear we are in a tragedy rather than a comedy (he was trying hard to be funny last night, but clearly not seeing any humor in the state of affairs - what will he say tonight?), but I don't think the hubris all belongs to W...
I am wondering today whether I should start taking the Celexa again...
Hunter S. Thompson is prescient
Part of my bathroom reading these days is
Hey Rube by Hunter S. Thompson. It is a collection of
his ESPN
Page 2 essays and tells the history of the post-Sept 11 history through the eyes of a sports gambler (as only HST could do).
I call your attention in particular to
an entry he wrote a mere 5 months after the fateful day. Say what you will about the Good Doctor - you must pay attention to his political analysis. (See also
Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail)
Dear Dad;
Dear Dad,
why did you have to go and die? it has been 15 years now and I would really like to tell you what is up. I am now one of those middle aged new york guys in torn jeans, a leather jacket and (oberlin) baseball cap. I take Zora to the bus in the morning and pick her up in the afternoon. In between I try to be brilliant with respect to the future of academia and get the laundry done.
It is a pretty good life, except for my ongoing anxiety over my financial future, or lack there of (for which I hold you partially responsible, especially the dieing part).
Jane sent me your list of questions and they are over my desk - still working on that set. But I have gotten pretty far along with the "live the question" point and I rarely apologize for the food (you probably don't even remember that one).
So Lester Young is on the cd player (so much music I would love to play for you), I need another cup of coffee, and if I don't move fast, someone will get the washers ahead of me,
love you and miss you,
lewis
Opening Comments
As some of you may know, my other blogs are themed:
Earth Systems Management discusses the role of humans and human decision making on the functioning of our planet;
The Art of Feeding Yourself is series that discusses cooking and its role in my life and perhaps yours.
This one is the catch all - everything else ends up here.
