Optimism

There are only two kinds of songs; there’s the blues, and there’s zip-a-dee-doo-dah.

Townes van Zandt

Thursday evening in Framingham Massachusetts. I stopped at the hotel bar to have dinner and read the paper. I started with the Guardian and never really got past the front page headlines. Too damn depressing.

I decided to conduct an experiment and see what life looks like as an optimist. So here are the headlines of a number of stories taken off the front page and my optimist viewpoint.

It seems almost certain that Elon Musk take this largess, which sits atop his already around $150B fortune, and donate it all to early youth education, ASPCA, and pre-natal care for impoverished expectant mothers. GOD BLESS ELON MUSK!

Clarence Thomas took that RV and all those free trips so he could travel around and gather input from ordinary Americans to provide context and inform him in better decision making on landmark cases around important social issues potentially impact those most vulnerable in our society. GOD BLESS HIS BIG HEART!

Deep down, we all know this poor woman really needed an intervention. Now she has 30 years in a federal penitentiary to dig deep into that troubled soul and find Jesus and her true self. And when she gets out, she’ll only be 73! God bless that sweet woman.

Well police business is hard business, that’s what I say. And those civilians, are they really so innocent? I mean, police are trained to know these things. Go blue!

Well if those people just pray a little bit harder, the good lord will surely reward them with a little bundle of joy straight from heaven the good ole-fashioned way without all those messy test tubes and beakers and doctors with rubber gloves. 

Those Israeli tanks might just be delivering food aid to those poor Palestinians. Did you ever think about that. Prove me wrong!

God bless that poor persecuted Donald Trump. Thank god his colleagues are gathering around and supporting him in his time of need. Bless his heart!

Thank god those landlord are willing to rent to those poor queers when no one else will! Bless their hearts!

Well Zelensky’s about to grab Putin by the balls and put an end to that little disagreement and then climate change is solved! Thank God!

I’m just happy the government is out of that school’s business — now they can get back to re-enacting racist events in the name of education.

Well good that those lifelong diplomats finally get to set aside all those years of tenure to pursue something more meaningful like joining the army where they can practice a different kind of democracy!

I’m pretty sure that antelope probably bad a pre-existing condition. Anyway, survival of the fittest right!

At least our latte’s are going to get cheaper now that Starbucks doesn’t have to pay those baristas so damn much money! They can just work a few extra hours if they want to eat.

Well there are still a few other states where women can go for abortions so it all balances out in the end.

Let’s be honest, those little kids were probably already destined to a life of drugs anyway. 

Selling guns is an American tradition! Just a good ole-fashioned American entrepreneur in action right there!

Well that’s exhausting but I do feel so much better.  What a silly, crazy ole world we live in.

My mother is an optimist. Eternally so. She simply changes the subject when difficult conversations arise about intractable situations that result in pain or suffering for others. 

I consider myself a realist — in the sense that I don’t project an optimism or pessimism about future events. I simply try to understand the facts and determine if there are forces at play that would suggest future circumstances may evolve from past experience. 

In this blog, when I am constantly ruminating on those aspects of society that are unjust or create risk or drama for others, I am trying to be completely truthful about our trajectory on these issues. 

My writing sometimes may seem a bit Kafkaesque, that does not reflect how I personally feel about my own life. I find my life blessed in almost every way. The pain I feel is for others who are struggling and have few options or hope for the future. A sort of life guilt I guess about my circumstances being so good when it is so bad for so many others.

There is currently a trend in the world of far right extremism gaining traction in legitimate political structures. This is unfortunate for the obvious reasons that their dystopian/harsh/distorted/constrained view of the world causes a great deal of pain for others. Again, I refer back to ‘Caste‘ and Isabel Wilkerson, who did a brilliant job of dissecting and characterizing how these regimes perpetuate a caste-like system for categorizing people and systematically oppressing those they find different than them. 

But the other reason I hate to see these lunatics getting legitimacy and political power is because it pulls us further from the center. We expend energy and resources to stop these lunatics which distracts us from the real and significant problems facing the world. I think we need bold and immediate change in everything from our democratic structures to energy policy to wealth distribution to immigration policy to education to food supply and welfare of animals (wild and domestic). And I am not talking about just the US. We need to seriously alter our approach on all these aspects of our existence across the entire planet. 

If not now, when? If not us, who?

‘It sometimes falls on a nation to be great. We can be that great generation’

Mandela

Alas, we are too busy fighting these dumb right-wing buffoons.

Tonight, now I see old friends
Caught in a game they’ve got no chance to win
Gettin’ beat and then playin’ again
Til their strength gives out or their heart gives in

Now who’s the man who thinks he can decide
Whose dreams will live and who’s shall be pushed aside
Has he ever walked down these streets at night and looked into the eyes of

None but the brave
No one baby but the brave
Those strong enough to save
Something from the love they gave

Bruce Springsteen

Humbly Submitted
Fuckin’ Myres, Inside Center, Portneuf Valley Rugby Football Club (ret.)