Sunday, October 27, 2024

CIRCUSES, MONKEYS, AND JOBS

First, let me apologize for forgetting to note that I would not be posting for three days due to a holiday. My bad. My apologies. However, as of today, I should be able to resume daily postings.

Yesterday I came across an essay written by a well-known writer with a title including this phrase: "Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys". Basically, it presented the argument that we must all learn how to step back and away in certain situations, for it is not within our power to remedy the situation. Certainly not our circus and certainly the participants not our monkeys. 

While attached here to addiction and the efforts made by families and friends to help the addict, to 'cure' the addiction, it is a philosophy which must be examined very carefully. It can lead, it has led, to negative outcomes. Additionally, it also demands a strong determined effort to follow this path, counter to every instinct within one's mind, body and soul, screaming within, "Yes, it is my circus, and it is our monkey.". 

While I actually agree with that theory as it is applied to addicts and the breaking of an addiction, it is a philosophy which can extend its arms and influence into many other areas. Therein is the area of concern. Transferred into the political arena, it can lead to protectionism, nationalism, an isolation grossly harmful to society at large, a denial of the reality and presence of a deeply complex web of interconnectivity weaving together all of the world's populations. It is our circus, our monkeys. We are in fact, part, of those very same monkeys.

Denial of that understanding, shunning the implied responsibilities, leads directly and/or indirectly to a frightening consequence which encompasses all- global war. The combined winds generated by the flapping of the wings of millions of butterflies does indeed have an impact. That impact. can be good, bad or indifferent even as at times it is very difficult to be able to separate causalities, incitements, and the resultant realities. It certainly behooves us all to understand the fragile web of interconnectivity and the constant peril to its necessary balance. 

However, to maintain that balance requires very delicate footwork. It demands a cast of monkeys who both follow orders and correct orders. These monkeys must have strong moral codes and know when something is indeed their job, and not to say, “This is not my job”. These monkeys in fact, are an integral part of the maintenance of the health and relevance of the circus and the integrity of its shared sheltering tent. These monkeys are us. That Circus is ours. Our home, shared by all.

When we turn a blind eye to the truth, when we abdicate our responsibilities, when we pull the blanket over our head or bury that same head in the sand, we reap what we sow. That crop will most likely be diseased and insufficient. The time to resow and re-reap is definitely limited. Too often in a frenzy of fear, we turn to a flawed past, and repeat its errors, engendering a recurrence of the terrors of those times.

At present, this is the state of our circus today. While there were those who are able to pick and choose, to sift within those errors in history and find some positive points, it is all outweighed by the negativity contained within. In fact, the situation is even worse as the very advances that mankind has made actually increases the existential peril we now face. Yet we claim we don't see it. Or worse, a demagogue proclaims that he has the answers, all of them. All we need do is cede all power to him, give him our loyalty - only to him - and the world will be perfect.

Today we are echoing history, a faulty, massively flawed history. Eerily mirroring the horrendous rally of Madison Square Garden pre-WWII, wherein American supporters of Hitler and Nazism   spewed forth toxic phrases of hate, there's to be another rally. In Madison Square Garden. For yet another fascist demagogue. Another plan to use democracy to destroy that same democracy. 

Sadly, terribly, American voters now hold the fate of humanity, of this entire planet, in their hands. It is a choice between two possibilities, neither of which are perfect. HOWEVER - there is a stark difference. One may have policies with which we do not fully agree with. That is a standard of all elections. What is not standard is that one will maintain democracy and encourage vibrant debate. The other has been declared by psychologists as demented, dangerous, with malignant narcissism. He himself has spewed forth antagonistic provocative language. Threats of imprisonment. The cynical use of democracy to bring about its demise. A different America and a vastly different world. 

So - here we are. A circus in danger of being forced to close. A circus crippled by a crew of monkeys. Malfunctioning. Apparently not up to the task. We must remedy that and remedy it properly. Not by weakening democracy, but by strengthening it. By weeding out those who would destroy it from all sides. Left and right. We need to return to a true valuing of morals and responsibility. We need to return to our understanding that we are all humans rolling through space on a tiny little orb we disrespect and mistreat.  

Time to wake up, folks. Time to smell that coffee.

 There is no time like the present. 

The future is at stake.

Do not bet on the wrong horse.

If we do, we might never, ever, have the choice of betting again.    

Let us all do our jobs.

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