A lot of well-intentioned folks
looking for the problems and trying to do something about them...
Only the trouble
is that it's not so easy to say just what the problems really are, and the
so called good things have a way of becoming evil, just as the so called
evil things can become good. I read the other day where Gov. Mike Huckabee
remarked that he was "surrounded by the devil." At first, he even made sense,
mentioning some basic stuff like high level corruption, poverty, illiteracy,
and even bigotry. But then he slid off into blaming it on "Humanism." In
one sense, I'm encouraged that he is trying to bring some spiritual guidance
to his job, but as his Christian faith dictates, he also brings the dark
side, the evils he is trained to perceive. |
| A minister I know came into my studio the other
day, and saw an old piece of sculpture I had done lying on top of a pile
of stuff. He voiced his first reaction to the piece, "What is that, a bunch
of erect penises?" I was a little taken aback, as neither I nor anyone else
who had ever looked at the piece had seen that. "No," I responded, "It represents
multiple individual perspectives all viewing a certain set of common truths."
Strange, I thought, a man of God taking my attempt to relate a concept about
the connections of the collective consciousness and reducing it to the basest
form he could think of. Maybe he made the assumption that because I am an
artist I am only concerned with decadence and pleasures of the flesh, and
maybe I made the assumption that since he is a man of God that he is concerned
only with the most enlightened and spiritual things. Maybe we should trade
jobs. |
Penises? |
| You have to be careful about the things you look
for, because you might start seeing them in places where they are not. It's
called projection. It's the blurring of the boundaries between what actually
exists and what we create. It's what allows us to demonize the unknown.
It's one of the cosmic riddles relating the observer to the observed, and
it plagues human perception down to the level of quantum physics... Following
the previous day’s headlines that show crime still declining (on a national
average), I saw another headline that contained the government misinformation
paradox: police say drugs culprit for crime. In
some senses, of course, it may be true. I’m sure some violent incidents
have been committed by angry seniors who couldn’t get their Viagra, but
such generalizations are dangerous because within that category, exists
millions of very peaceful, otherwise law-abiding people who imbibe certain
parts of a plant that causes no more violent tendencies than an intense
desire to attack a bag of Doritos. I could say its name, but the climate
is becoming so unfriendly that I’d just as soon leave it be to swell under
the surface, a constant resentment toward the moralistic bastards who think
they can dictate the behavior of a universe they cannot see. If you’re so
stupid as to believe the government propaganda of "Reefer Madness," I’m
even not going try to change your mind, you just go ahead and keep seeing
the devils where you see them, they’re gonna get you one of these days,
hold your eyelids open, and show you the horrors you have created with your
own hateful thoughts... I’m Sorry to get so vitriolic (thanks to camp for
reminding me of this juicy word), but this is just one of the many serious
rifts that rumble at subsonic frequency beneath the surface of this seemingly
peaceful land... I am one who believes that the only solutions are for us
all to learn to accept each other as human beings, regardless of belief
or style, to quit trying to take advantage of each other, and to quit blaming
each other for petty stuff. Love, in other words... It may sound corny,
out of style. It’s an old concept, due for a resurgence... I was just thinking,
A commentator I heard was observing how some of the republicans were moaning
that maybe their lackluster showing in the last elections was due to a miscalculated
presentation style. However they seemed never to address the actual substance
of what they stood for. Well, I think we need a campaign for love, you know,
to give it some sort of an image overhaul. Come on, work with me here, how
about a real snazzy little skater dude actin’ real fly goin’ "Love, it’s
in again!" Oh, or how about a candle light scene with subdued lighting and
a handsomely dressed couple eyeing each other fondly over a table with fine
Italian cuisine and exquisite wine. A voiceover, slow, deep and velvety
smooth says, "Love... Have some tonight..." My mom and I were in a discussion
a while back, and she put forth the statement, "I think the most revolutionary
concept would be for everyone to share everything." Wow, I thought, what
a great thought. It would be wonderful if nobody had to worry about where
their next meal was going to come from, whether they were going to get kicked
out of the place they stay because they can’t pay rent, or whether the hospital
would refuse them treatment if they get hurt. But there’s something that
irks me about sharing with people who don’t appreciate things or who waste
or hog, so I say, "I think the most revolutionary concept would be for everyone
to take one hundred percent responsibility for their own selves, their actions,
their opinions, their quirks." Then maybe the sharing could begin. |