#50 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Sunday June 6)
Good morning and Happy Sunday!
Although I don’t like to quote things in full, here is a parable from Tor Kenward that is worth it:
A Russian Jew named Jacob was finally allowed to emigrate to Israel.
At the Moscow airport, a customs inspector found a statue of Lenin in his luggage. "What is this?"
Jacob replied, "Wrong question, comrade. You should have asked 'Who is this?' This is Comrade Lenin.
He laid the foundations of Socialism and created the future prosperity of the Russian people. I am taking
it with me as a memory of our dear hero."
The Russian customs official sent him on his way.
At Tel Aviv airport, the Israeli customs official also asked "What is this?"
"Wrong question, sir. You should be asking 'Who is this?' This, my friend, is Lenin, the bastard who
caused me, a Jew, to leave Russia. I take this statue as a reminder to curse him every day."
The Israeli official sent him on his way.
When he settled in his new home, Jacob placed the statue on a table. The following evening, he invited
friends and relatives to dinner.
Spotting the statue, one of his cousins asked, "Who is this?"
Jacob replied, "Wrong question. You should have asked 'What is this?' This is five kilograms of solid gold
that I managed to bring with me without having to pay any customs duty or tax."
The Moral: "Politics is when you can tell the same crap in different ways to fool different people and come out smelling like a rose."
FIFTY DAYS IN
It’s been a while since a “best of” summary. The last fifty days—the first fifty of “Musings Beyond the Bunker”—have been eventful. There’s been a slow but consistent opening. We feel like we are free again. We are now past 50% initial inoculations. So here are some “bests” from the past 50 days…
BEST QUOTATIONS
Great is the power of steady misrepresentation, but the history of science shows that fortunately this power does not long endure.
--Charles Darwin, The Origin of the Species
In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
BEST POETRY
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true, or beautiful, or good, makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, could be accomplished alone; therefore, we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our own standpoint; therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.
-- Reinhold Niebuhr
GREATEST HOME RUN
Some would say Kirk Gibson’s homer. And that’s a great one. But I love the sheer joy in this:
The home run (accompanied by the slowest trot ever) is a moment of pure joy, even if you’re not a baseball fan: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/5/7/2029366/-Today-Is-the-Fifth-Anniversary-of-the-Greatest-Thing-That-Has-Ever-Happened-Ever Thanks, Mark DiMaria.
WORDS FROM THE FIRST MUSING BEYOND THE BUNKER
What kind of people will we become and what messages will we want to convey to our children and future generations about this strange and challenging time? Pretty soon we will be back to the “good old days,” when deaths from mass shootings will again exceed those from a global pandemic. Now that’s something to think about. Registration of private gun sales and restricting the sale of guns capable of firing rounds in quick succession saves lives. Wearing a mask saves lives. Caring about the environment saves lives. We really are in this together.
WHAT WILL THE FUTURE THINKING OF US?
How hard would it have been to have more aggressively responded to these challenges? How will we feel in a couple of decades? How will history judge us on:
The slow, conflicting, politically dominated response to COVID
The abundance of guns, not only owned, but permitted in public spaces and in private spaces (many states REQUIRE businesses to permit guns in cars in their parking lots…)
The slavish resistance to masks and vaccination and the lack of concern with the public good. Governors, particularly in Republican-governed states, have cowed before the more uninformed and unscientific among us. For shame.
Our failure to definitively act in the face of climate change.
How many lives will be lost to these politically-motivated, senseless, non-communitarian positions solely motivated by personal desires in the present, without regard for the future? Time, sadly, will tell.
GREATEST LIST
Names screamed in movies:
Adrian! (Rocky)
Shane! (Shane)
Stella! (Streetcar Named Desire)
Elaine! (The Graduate)
Khaaaaannn! (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
Maaaa! [Where’s the meat loaf?] (Wedding Crashers)
BIGGEST ISSUES
Locally—Homelessness
Nationally—Truth and critical thinking
Globally—Climate change
Onward as America opens up…
Cheers,
Glenn