The evil that is in the world always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding. On the whole men are more good than bad; that, however, isn't the real point. But they are more or less ignorant, and it is this that we call vice or virtue; the most incorrigible vice being that of an ignorance which fancies it knows everything and therefore claims for itself the right to kill. The soul of the murderer is blind; and there can be no true goodness, nor true love, without the utmost clear-sightedness.
--Albert Camus The Plague
The murder of Sanesha Stewart is more than an individual atrocity and personal desecration, it is a crime of collective malice and cowardice. Her homicide and subsequent debasement by the The Daily News indicate the abhorrent ignorance embraced by many of the general public, and the joy with which it is cherished.
Casting aside even nominal standards of decency and empathy, the killer becomes kindred in the eyes of onlookers; a pitiable victim ensnared by the web of fraud, overcome by a revulsion to act in an understandable fashion. Mindless fear and a craven aversion to those beyond their feeble ken lead the mob to gawk and snicker while mumbling incoherently about "retribution"; righteous outrage is reserved only for "real" people.
In asserting the right to kill, Sanesha's slayer lays claim to the most incorrigible vice; an ignorance that supposes it knows everything. The hubris in proclaiming to know the "true" identity of another, and thus invoking the right to exact the ultimate penalty from anyone transgressing such an immutable state bespeaks a blindness fetid with profanity.
Yet, such excremental views are spread across the tabloid press, and consumed with relish by those spineless individuals who cower at the thought of personal realization. Embracing such filth, besmeared by the putrefaction of moral responsibility, they seek to stifle the stench by burying the desecrated beneath mounds of derision and defamation; as if belittling the corpse would render the crime less heinous.
The exultations of the great unwashed may today drown out cries for justice; it will not always be so. Blindness, even one so cherished, leads into a ditch; leaving the road available for clear sighted to travel with goodness and love.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
soddenly, last summer
The sum of his artistry centered around his talent to draw a bottle empty. A common skill, and one not particularly beneficial, but practice did enhance his abilities, and he did embrace the task with ardor.
It provided a limited sense of accomplishment; accompanied by an increasing lack of inhibition, and/or coordination. One of the fortunate byproducts centered around his diminished capability to perceive his lack of perception. Painting a portrait in venom, he etched the flesh canvas with brush strokes of dissipation; determined in the delusion that this endeavor would stand the test of time.
Succumbing to the corrosive nature of his chosen media, the artist never fully completed his masterpiece, despite the endless hours of arduous labors within the brass-railed studio. Under the blaze of the intemperate elements, his flame was extinguished; leaving only the stone hewed review of some quarried critic --
Work in Progress
R.I.P.
It provided a limited sense of accomplishment; accompanied by an increasing lack of inhibition, and/or coordination. One of the fortunate byproducts centered around his diminished capability to perceive his lack of perception. Painting a portrait in venom, he etched the flesh canvas with brush strokes of dissipation; determined in the delusion that this endeavor would stand the test of time.
Succumbing to the corrosive nature of his chosen media, the artist never fully completed his masterpiece, despite the endless hours of arduous labors within the brass-railed studio. Under the blaze of the intemperate elements, his flame was extinguished; leaving only the stone hewed review of some quarried critic --
Work in Progress
R.I.P.
externalized self loathing
One of the major problems I see in many religious systems is the propensity for self esteem abasement. Hating the perceived imperfections present in the human condition becomes a precondition for entrance into the religious order, and the subsequent destruction of confidence produces a need to alleviate chronic anxiety.
Unscrupulous manipulators realize that dominating people becomes much easier where self loathing resides, but the side effects of a self-destructive mindset pose a significant problem. Thus, internalized individual abhorrence is directed outwards towards an endless parade of enemies, diverting the attention from the real problem; a lack of self acceptance and love.
Sometimes, the reluctance to face our own despised characteristics spawns the most virulent animosity toward others who display them. The reflection of our own imperfections arouse a violent revulsion; as if smashing the mirror can cure us of the traits we find repulsive.
I believe that many in the gender divergent community have struggled to obtain a realistic and compassionate understanding of themselves, and therefore have much to offer the misguided in respect to the importance of acceptance and empathy.
A house divided against itself can not stand, no matter how many props of hatred try and support it; perhaps only a foundation of loving embracement can build the people that our fractured and fracas-loving society requires.
Unscrupulous manipulators realize that dominating people becomes much easier where self loathing resides, but the side effects of a self-destructive mindset pose a significant problem. Thus, internalized individual abhorrence is directed outwards towards an endless parade of enemies, diverting the attention from the real problem; a lack of self acceptance and love.
Sometimes, the reluctance to face our own despised characteristics spawns the most virulent animosity toward others who display them. The reflection of our own imperfections arouse a violent revulsion; as if smashing the mirror can cure us of the traits we find repulsive.
I believe that many in the gender divergent community have struggled to obtain a realistic and compassionate understanding of themselves, and therefore have much to offer the misguided in respect to the importance of acceptance and empathy.
A house divided against itself can not stand, no matter how many props of hatred try and support it; perhaps only a foundation of loving embracement can build the people that our fractured and fracas-loving society requires.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
insignificant others
In much the same fashion with which the society at large diminishes, demonizes and dismisses the gender variant community, the predominant elements of the genderqueer populace deride those outside the boundaries of comfortable delineation.
Transpeople and those with whom they bond fracture the framework of gay and straight; and the splintering leaves slivers of animosity lodged underneath the skin of those framing the rigid castes of gender.
For those whose lives are invested in the proposition that gender is an immutable manifestation of self, the concept of fluidity may seem threatening; an undermining of the foundations of identity. While biological differences are indisputable, the relationship of physiological distinctions to social asymmetry is neither clear cut, nor without mitigating factors.
Society has fashioned roles based upon the supposed flesh dichotomy; and many have mistaken those constructions for elemental forms of the human condition. True, there is comfort in the belief that gender is preordained, and thus beyond our ability to effectively alter; but our lives demonstrate changing roles- from infant, to child, to adult- and these shifting behavior patterns are accepted as normal. Why then should the adoption of another form of conduct be judged impossible and offensive?
To diminish the validity of another's identity to shore up one's own smacks of definition by negation; it demonstrates a lack of self- understanding, and an empathetic ignorance of others. To link individuals or groups to undesirable attributes, and by disassociation from them claim personal virtue-this is neither logical nor prudent; it merely exhibits a lack of clear values by hoping to pander to common fear and revulsion. Morality comes not from a lack of vice, or a deficit of malignancy; it is derived from acts of charity and compassion, behaviors that demand personal risk and loss in pursuit of uncertain and nebulous gain. One can not build an ethical identity upon the razed ruins of another's respect, there must be a delineation of personal principles and a list resources allocated to raise such a foundation.
The unwillingness to sacrifice others to found ones' self, especially in a culture fond of cannibalizing what it considers outsiders, remains one of the greatest challenges for the gender variant to master. Hopes for a constructive, inclusive society however, depend on mastering such skills, and extending a gracious benevolence towards those fixated upon destroying people who fall beyond the pale of fearful cowardice they have erected within their own minds.
Without an appreciation of the mental and moral shackles that bind the craven to their destructive bigotry, and a willingness to perceive and acknowledge those failings within our own lives, we insure the creation of insignificant others, especially ourselves.
Transpeople and those with whom they bond fracture the framework of gay and straight; and the splintering leaves slivers of animosity lodged underneath the skin of those framing the rigid castes of gender.
For those whose lives are invested in the proposition that gender is an immutable manifestation of self, the concept of fluidity may seem threatening; an undermining of the foundations of identity. While biological differences are indisputable, the relationship of physiological distinctions to social asymmetry is neither clear cut, nor without mitigating factors.
Society has fashioned roles based upon the supposed flesh dichotomy; and many have mistaken those constructions for elemental forms of the human condition. True, there is comfort in the belief that gender is preordained, and thus beyond our ability to effectively alter; but our lives demonstrate changing roles- from infant, to child, to adult- and these shifting behavior patterns are accepted as normal. Why then should the adoption of another form of conduct be judged impossible and offensive?
To diminish the validity of another's identity to shore up one's own smacks of definition by negation; it demonstrates a lack of self- understanding, and an empathetic ignorance of others. To link individuals or groups to undesirable attributes, and by disassociation from them claim personal virtue-this is neither logical nor prudent; it merely exhibits a lack of clear values by hoping to pander to common fear and revulsion. Morality comes not from a lack of vice, or a deficit of malignancy; it is derived from acts of charity and compassion, behaviors that demand personal risk and loss in pursuit of uncertain and nebulous gain. One can not build an ethical identity upon the razed ruins of another's respect, there must be a delineation of personal principles and a list resources allocated to raise such a foundation.
The unwillingness to sacrifice others to found ones' self, especially in a culture fond of cannibalizing what it considers outsiders, remains one of the greatest challenges for the gender variant to master. Hopes for a constructive, inclusive society however, depend on mastering such skills, and extending a gracious benevolence towards those fixated upon destroying people who fall beyond the pale of fearful cowardice they have erected within their own minds.
Without an appreciation of the mental and moral shackles that bind the craven to their destructive bigotry, and a willingness to perceive and acknowledge those failings within our own lives, we insure the creation of insignificant others, especially ourselves.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Addled essence
Contorting the transition from child to adult, intoxicants prevent humans from becoming their essential selves, leaving instead a muddled shell of exploitable potential. Whenever heartfelt passions are deemed inappropriate, and their expression results in abuse and censure, the inclination towards suppression leaves one especially vulnerable to the emotional distance afforded by inebriation.
Outward displays of affection and empathy violate one of the supposed virtues of adulthood; the impartial, detached appraisal of interpersonal relations deemed vital to the rites and rituals of acquisition. Worse still, if one exhibits emotional attributes regarded as incongruent with an assigned role; the rendered judgment often implies not mere immaturity, but a deviant depravity.
The castigation that accompanies these perceived infractions of social convention may be exceptionally damaging when applied to adolescents; in striving to refashion their identity, the tenuous foundation of self worth leaves an acute vulnerability to criticism. Overwhelmed by the cascade of new responsibilities and obligations, besieged by alterations of form and physiology, battling internal and external conflicts; the need for an expeditious resolution to such troubles bears down with excruciation force. Thus, the temptation of chemical desensitization coupled with the economic incentive inherent in suppling such emotional obscuration lead many to the realm of synthetic negation.
Here, obliviating pain and contention denotes maturity; transitory annihilation of unique attributes and viewpoints serves the public welfare. The bogus comradery assumed by a shared burden of intoxication, coupled with the repression of genuine sentiment, lead to spurious conformity; baseless and debasing. Fleeting moments of fellowship couple with unremitting self reproach; feigned kinship dissolves into isolated contempt, furthering the schism between public and private self.
The void created by a desecrated spirit tears into the fabric of being, demanding ever larger amounts of dissolution to cloak the cavernous interior. When the hole has become more than the sum of its parts, the person implodes; suicide- intentional or by default. Standing at the edge of the chasm, spectators and specters mumble about incomprehensibilities behind their veils of imperceptibility.
Another muddled soul; the mystery invokes the customary denouncements that blinker the public from self reflection and culpability.
Another muddled soul, the prey of poison on an addled essence.
Outward displays of affection and empathy violate one of the supposed virtues of adulthood; the impartial, detached appraisal of interpersonal relations deemed vital to the rites and rituals of acquisition. Worse still, if one exhibits emotional attributes regarded as incongruent with an assigned role; the rendered judgment often implies not mere immaturity, but a deviant depravity.
The castigation that accompanies these perceived infractions of social convention may be exceptionally damaging when applied to adolescents; in striving to refashion their identity, the tenuous foundation of self worth leaves an acute vulnerability to criticism. Overwhelmed by the cascade of new responsibilities and obligations, besieged by alterations of form and physiology, battling internal and external conflicts; the need for an expeditious resolution to such troubles bears down with excruciation force. Thus, the temptation of chemical desensitization coupled with the economic incentive inherent in suppling such emotional obscuration lead many to the realm of synthetic negation.
Here, obliviating pain and contention denotes maturity; transitory annihilation of unique attributes and viewpoints serves the public welfare. The bogus comradery assumed by a shared burden of intoxication, coupled with the repression of genuine sentiment, lead to spurious conformity; baseless and debasing. Fleeting moments of fellowship couple with unremitting self reproach; feigned kinship dissolves into isolated contempt, furthering the schism between public and private self.
The void created by a desecrated spirit tears into the fabric of being, demanding ever larger amounts of dissolution to cloak the cavernous interior. When the hole has become more than the sum of its parts, the person implodes; suicide- intentional or by default. Standing at the edge of the chasm, spectators and specters mumble about incomprehensibilities behind their veils of imperceptibility.
Another muddled soul; the mystery invokes the customary denouncements that blinker the public from self reflection and culpability.
Another muddled soul, the prey of poison on an addled essence.
Pallid drone
Draining the individual life force from humans remain a primary concern of all gainful employment. By reducing a thinking, feeling, caring person into a drone who merely reacts to the given stimulus, a creature is created which has great value for the means of production.
The difficulty lies in the degree of dehumanization which will prove most beneficial to the demands of enterprise, and means by which it is to be achieved.
Certainly, the simple reduction of self worth remains one of the most useful tools for any situation. Destabilization of personal affirmation allows the creation of a gaping void, one that demands to be filled by outside forces. Thus, the individual finds itself beholden to outside powers for validation, and therefore unable to resist the guiding hands of manipulation.
Materialistic society at large furnishes much of this insecurity by way of consumption driven culture; an adroit profiteering of such insecurity entails linking self esteem to income production, especially at the individual's expense. The more efficiently the employee engages in their own exploitation, the "better" they are proclaimed to be. The epitome of this relationship occurs when the worker literally deconstructs themselves in a futile attempt to gain validation. Their families, spirituality, and outside interests all are to be discarded in the pursuit of affirmation; leaving them ever more unstable, and dependent on the approval of their economic masters.
Thus, the striving forwards leaves them backward, and their backwardness leaves them no way forward. Drained of life by work, and of work by life, they are running back to an emptiness in either direction.
The difficulty lies in the degree of dehumanization which will prove most beneficial to the demands of enterprise, and means by which it is to be achieved.
Certainly, the simple reduction of self worth remains one of the most useful tools for any situation. Destabilization of personal affirmation allows the creation of a gaping void, one that demands to be filled by outside forces. Thus, the individual finds itself beholden to outside powers for validation, and therefore unable to resist the guiding hands of manipulation.
Materialistic society at large furnishes much of this insecurity by way of consumption driven culture; an adroit profiteering of such insecurity entails linking self esteem to income production, especially at the individual's expense. The more efficiently the employee engages in their own exploitation, the "better" they are proclaimed to be. The epitome of this relationship occurs when the worker literally deconstructs themselves in a futile attempt to gain validation. Their families, spirituality, and outside interests all are to be discarded in the pursuit of affirmation; leaving them ever more unstable, and dependent on the approval of their economic masters.
Thus, the striving forwards leaves them backward, and their backwardness leaves them no way forward. Drained of life by work, and of work by life, they are running back to an emptiness in either direction.
Selective inattention
Growing up in a society burdened with incessant hawking makes protective ignorance an invaluable skill. The constant drone of the advertiser's demands wears thin the coat of kind attention, and demands instead a thicker cloak to shield the mind from scrabbling greed.
Ignorance thus becomes a cherished friend, a protective patron to dim the clamoring hordes demanding attendance on their petitions for time and money. One learns to circumvent the ever more insistent cries with an polished indifference that shines; battle hardened and nearly impenetrable to the daily onslaught.
Such armor comes at a price, however. The insulative properties isolate not only the malevolent but the deserving as well. One equates empathy with vulnerability, and vulnerability with weakness; thus measuring strength as the impregnability to the emotions and concerns of others. Eyes watch, ears hear, but neither perceives the import of the input, thus reducing sensory perception to unimportant static, irrelevant data that may be summarily discarded.
The same indifferent ignorance soon overwhelms one's own self; disregarding the soul's entreaties for human sustenance by squandering attention on trivial diversions. Growing the void with meticulous apathy, a headful of hollow becomes the goal rather than the byproduct one's life; leading the intentionally unwary beyond the pale of morality and humanity.
Ignorance thus becomes a cherished friend, a protective patron to dim the clamoring hordes demanding attendance on their petitions for time and money. One learns to circumvent the ever more insistent cries with an polished indifference that shines; battle hardened and nearly impenetrable to the daily onslaught.
Such armor comes at a price, however. The insulative properties isolate not only the malevolent but the deserving as well. One equates empathy with vulnerability, and vulnerability with weakness; thus measuring strength as the impregnability to the emotions and concerns of others. Eyes watch, ears hear, but neither perceives the import of the input, thus reducing sensory perception to unimportant static, irrelevant data that may be summarily discarded.
The same indifferent ignorance soon overwhelms one's own self; disregarding the soul's entreaties for human sustenance by squandering attention on trivial diversions. Growing the void with meticulous apathy, a headful of hollow becomes the goal rather than the byproduct one's life; leading the intentionally unwary beyond the pale of morality and humanity.
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