Scroll of Jawns / Ep. 9
Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?
- Kurt Vonnegut
jawn one.
There are so many types of people in the world that lately I get to feeling that none of us has any idea what it’s actually like to be anyone we aren’t. Which, when you think about it, means that me and you will never ever be able to truly feel for one another from the inside out. And that’s probably why art remains the last bastion of humanistic togetherness or whatever you want to call it. Empathy is nice. Hell it may even be necessary if you hope to touch any kind of true decency. But it only goes so far. After all, the divides between us- organic or constructed- likely outnumber the things that unite us… oh, I don’t know… 10 to 1? 100 to 1? A billion to 1? Now look, I know this may seem like a negative or pessimistic viewpoint for a writer who writes about life and love to maintain, but what can I do? This isn’t really up to me to decide. Or you either. Frankly, human beings have never been all that overtly happy with each other. Right? Ask yourself that question… have they? And maybe that’s part of the problem here lately. It almost seems like way too many people (myself included) keep thinking that our political opposites are fueled by some sort of rough and rowdy disregard for thinking of others. While we chirp away over in the musty corners blowing our gaskets and pointing fingers in dramatic alarm, the world is just kind of being the world, isn’t it? I hate to say that, but it’s hard to argue. People are not inherently kind or caring. Most people on Earth are driven to survive, make good with commerce, score food, get fucked, drink water, and that’s about it. No one, one might argue, is ever biologically sparked to give a shit about their fellow man with the exception of their mates, their offspring and maybe their other family members. After that, this supposed concern for making the world a beautiful, peaceful place for everyone/ it falls away/ probably way more than any of us would ever be comfortable admitting. Hell, I hate just writing that, but I’m also looking for answers. Why do I feel lost now? Why do I feel stupid for ever thinking that steering the ship back towards justice and consideration for my fellow human was not only possible, but also the right thing to do? When has that kind of thinking ever been the way of this world for long? War, despair, grief and suffering: they are as old as the hills and they often come at the hands of our fellow man. So… yeah.
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