Well, despite the fact that we cannot see any Lolas here, Mephistopheles is definitely having a high old-time dancing with glee. Every morning and every night he takes account of his dealings, his wins and losses columns. Lo and behold - his assets are well into the black. And he dances. And he laughs. A nasty laugh. One that represents his wins over those annoying, pesky, conceited humans who think they know it all. Oh, yes, but they are now paying their dues for the centuries of their greed and hubris!
Okay. We can argue all day and well into the night for countless days, whether such a creature exists. What we cannot deny is the fact there is a palpable Evil that does exist, and mankind has definitely wallowed in that murky ocean of evil. Over the millennia we have outdone ourselves. Worse, so much of it has been done in the name of 'good', even as we pursued Evil.
When a religious leader agrees to support wickedness, there is Evil. When members of a religion agree, and participate, well, that is called an Inquisition. Call it by any name you wish. When evil is done in the name of G-d and religion, or the manner of belief and worship, well, there we go again. Worst of all, it never seems to have an end.
Evil reminds us that religion is not the only culprit in the game. Secular leaders are equally as guilty for they are the ones using religion callously, coldly, and add to it the power and might of their armies and weapons. The old confer, demand the status quo remain in place, for it favors their well being and prosperity. To do that, the young are sent into battle, men and women. Nor does it stop there, for when desperation reigns, all are sacrificed in that maw of greed and cold calculation as to how to maintain this oh so beneficial world of theirs. Then they simply add in the 'scorched earth' policy, destroying all in front and behind, material and people, old and young, mostly in the deepest manifestation and practice of Evil - demoralizing, as inhumane and shocking as possible.
Listen carefully, siphon out the strange sound beneath it all, and there you have it. The evil giggles and victory stomps of Mephistopheles. By any name - Satan, Devil, Horned One, Beelzebub, Ashmedai - it does not matter. Why? Because that Evil lives within ourselves. WE welcomed it, made a home for it, all in the name of more. More possessions More land. More power. And more. The reasons, the excuse, the accusations never run out.
Some of those excuses are ridiculous and so sad, but relevant. Greene says it was "only a riot" and besides, it only happened "one time" so enough. Well, there ya' go again. Excuse the rampant evil present on Jan. 6 as mobs rampaged through the halls of our government, had legislators huddling in hiding places, afraid for their lives, all the while the conspirators among them had their moments of glee, even revealing themselves that day and afterwards in their mistaken thinking, that Evil won. No, it did not, for we have finally woken up. No, not 'woke', but woken. Up from our snooze where went unheard the sounds of hearts breaking, of children's stomachs growling in hunger, the sobs of parents as they could not provide for their families, hopes gurgling down the drain as positive movement forward of the next generation grew dim behind them.
All the while the wealth accumulated, massed in the hands of the few. All over the world. The yachts, the mammoth and multiple houses, the conspicuous consumption even as others were denied even the minimum, and more. Evil loved it. People have grown restless and resentful. They are then called Nazis, as the creeps and servants of Evil conflate things which should never be conflated. All the better to fool the masses and keep the game going in their favor. The demented, well, they are having a blast as their dementia is cheered on by the deluded, though in a moment of hope, we see the crowds diminishing. However, the new slate of hopeful candidates is not any better, perhaps even worse in their zeal and adoption of venomous bigotry, hatred and most egregious, outrageous lies.
Take a 'walk' around the globe. The Sudan disaster. Ethiopia and Eritrea forever at it. The fear of the innocent farmers and their families. The desperation of the mothers as their children shrink to nothing and die. Children soldiers. Girls and women as sex slaves, considered fair booty. The 'advanced' warfare in Ukraine. The callousness of Putin as he callously throws conscripts into the place of death, purges his opponents, institutes a return of the fear of yesteryear's dictators. The war crimes of brutal soldiers, now including mercenaries and a general known for brutalizing treatment of civilians.
The overwhelming numbers of refugees fleeing violence and hopelessness within their homeland. The refusal of the leaders of the world to come up with a fair plan to assimilate those refugees, to grow the richer for their contributions, as refugees have done over the centuries. But no! Instead, we push hatred of them, insisting they are doing something that never happened before, even as we ignore the fact that as we research our ancestors - Whoa! They, too, were refugees. And here we are.
I claim no magical, mystical power of solutions to seemingly impossible problems. What I do claim is the ability to see and acknowledge the wrong, the simply wrong, that exists in our world. I, you, all of us, are not pure in this battle of good vs. evil. We have all slipped at least a time or two, come down on the wrong side of the fight. However, it is different when that conduct becomes habitual, the milieu in which we live and accept. That acceptance leads to callousness and the Evil that besets us.
It is upon us to vote in the right people. Not those who vow vengeance. Not those who claim wins when they lost. We lost too in their attempts to shatter the best system of government yet invented and practiced. We need to make the message clear to all who presume to lead. You asked for it, we need to tell them and now you have it. So do the hard work and no, you will not be loved nor appreciated for it, not now. However, 100 years from now, when there remains a viable, thriving life here, as the environment was positively tackled, as hard decisions were made and enforced, as the society rebounded in fresh new ways, thoughts and inventions, as wealth was more fairly adjusted, as people were taken care of, as hope flourished - well, then you will be recognized as heroes of the day.
Fail us in that, and you fail an entire civilization. Fail in your duties in the knowledge that you, as a true leader, are not there to be beloved, but to save this world from ourselves. We cannot continue to be the land, the world, which eats its own inhabitants. We simply cannot persist in the ways of the past, for to do so is to deny the future. War, hatred, greed, they all must go. How? Way, way, above my pay grade. But not yours.
Let us all do our best to vanquish that image and reality of the victorious dance of Mephistopheles. We must. Otherwise, he wins. We lose.
Simple as that.
No comments:
Post a Comment