There are often moments where I feel disconnected from the world at large, a sort of third party observer to ongoing events and trends.
To some extent I suppose, this derives from the fact that in over 90% of ongoing events, trends, and movements I have no preference or "dog in the fight". The term "yesterday men", coined from somewhere, fits me to (the proverbial) T: my causes are in the past, my future has become limited to a rather frighteningly short scope of time (20 - 40 years max, if genetics are any indication), and even within that future, there is scarcely very much that I aspire to except rather simple objectives and goals, rather than the great movements and grand plans of this time.
It is hard to discuss and maintain a reasonable discussion, as my willingness and patience in discussing things like politics, social movements, etc. has dropped to to zero, as long time readers of this blog have no doubt noted. There is little enough to excite me in what should be my logical political ideology, as the only choices left are either foolishness or a such a weak opposition that seems to spend as much time destroying its own side as fighting back - and the alternative, of course, just considers me inconvenient at best, a sinner at worst, and in all things a mechanism for funding. Almost to my surprise, I have found a home in a thought camp that considers all such things to be both foolishness and the final realization of how desperately men and women desire to have power over their fellows.
As events swirl and cast themselves like waves upon the shore, piling up and then pulling back only to smash more fully again, I continue to find myself almost a cynically bemused observer - like one who watch a sporting event not caring which side wins as one is ambivalent about both teams. I cannot bring myself to care - on a high level - about the ramblings and ravings of which war will come or which economic sector will fall. That bothers me a bit of course, because those events are made up of people, even as I am person. All of the casting and swirling events will impact the lives of people, the guilty and the innocent, the deserving and the undeserving. This, perhaps, is the great challenge to my faith: how do I passionately care about the individual while not caring about the wider situations? I have not bridged this gap effectively.
I would perhaps feel more confident if - on any side - I saw the sort of leadership and vision that at least promised, somewhere out there, that there was a better outcome. I do not. We have reached - in every arena - the apotheosis of modern leadership theory: Mendacity. Appearance is more important than reality, and wishing it to be "so" is more important than what is "so". And to be clear, this applies across every group, across every spectrum. In a quest for purity of idealism, we have effectively surrendered any chance of actual progress.
And, strangely, I have become okay with that.
It is odd, this sudden realization that the course of the world is no longer of concern except in the most basic of circumstances. My circle of concern has narrowed to an extremely limited group of individuals and causes. Show kindness and respect in all measure to as many as you can - that should be and is my standard. But support, endorsement, even involvement - that has fallen to a very small nucleus indeed. As I have written before - and maintain - my connection to the readers and commenters to this blog and the blogs I follow have become far more real to me than any perceived connection I have to a state or a movement.
And so I find myself watching the world with the bemusement of the historian watching what he has known quietly - or not so quietly - as it careens towards a situation where it will find - perhaps to its shock - that the laws of power, and social and economic practices work as they always have.
Gravity, as they say, always wins in the end.
When I was a young teen (early - mid 1970's), our leaders encrourage us to discover and make a world. Now they scold us that we aren't doing enough to improve the environment and reduce our scope of needs.
ReplyDeleteMy children are being told they have to reduce their footprint. As if they are thought to be a burden rather than a resource from the gate.
Anonymous - John Wilder had an interesting article on this concept as well - in his case he compared the SpaceX and NASA and noted how one had a vision for going to space and the other somehow seemed to have lost theirs. We have lost the sense of wonder and excitement and "the world out there". Society now, it seems is too often about wanting less, using less, being less. There is nothing wrong with using less or even wanting less inherently, but the constant sense of guilt that seems to come along with it in these times saps the meaning from either. But the most alarming sense is that we all need to be less.
DeleteI’m sorry, TB. I find your position to be intellectually dishonest. I get it, I used to think that way too. Sit on the sidelines, make rude jokes about the teams out on the field and put on airs of being morally superior to both. But a Yesterday Man would never do that. He cared about the issues, he worried about his future and that of his kids, and cared for his community and country. How he went about that involved politics and that in turn drove the fads and movements and the social tides of his day.
ReplyDeleteThe term “Yesterday Man” was coined by the dissident conservatives. They have a better term that may be a better fit. The “normie” is a fella that has no interest in politics either. He never gives or takes offence, all he cares about is his own little world. He goes to his job everyday, he comes home for supper and turns on the TV and cracks a beer. On weekends all he cares about is sportsball and grilling on the BBQ. (Obviously we’d have to tweak that as necessary: for you, it might be puttering in the garden, reading, cruising the prepper blogs, martial arts, etc). For normie - these things are the limits of his life, and he is determined to be happy within these things and see nothing beyond them. If push comes to shove, normies will go along to get along.
And outside normie’s little world, the nation burns.
We live in a world where the political process has been turned into something filthy and unclean, that no self respecting person can get involved with. There’s merit in that, as you note our leaders are almost all clowns. It’s certainly a problem that’s bigger than bums like us. Nevertheless… this situation has to change, or it won’t be our dogs in the fight… it will be us personally and we will be at a very grave disadvantage. Politics and leadership is darned serious business and our ancestors took such things seriously. If we ever hope to restore the better times, we are going to have to do the same at some point.
Glen - Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I will bow to your definition of Yesterday Man and if that does not fit, then it does not fit.
DeleteWe both agree that the political process has fallen into only what can generously be called "disarray" - in the past week I have lived through the pounding of war drums as I have not heard in twenty years and the reassurance that although my eyes tell me my real income is falling, in point of fact it is not and indeed I should be grateful that inflation is happening. These are not the acts of a sane government.
But honestly, to care at a base level about any of this is to effectively rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, at least where I sit. We live in a very brittle system and the extent to which I, by my actions, support or enforce this brittle system is the level to which I am culpable of helping it to endure. The great change that happened within our lifetimes in the Eastern Bloc was when people simply no longer believed in or supported the system - and the system, which was brittle, simply fell away.
I have been spending my time recently re-reading Sayings of The Desert Fathers, the recorded words of the monks of Egypt and Syria from the mid 3rd Century to the mid 5th Century. I am finding their focus primarily on God and overcoming their own sinfulness helpful in a world which is battering me to care and reinforce mechanisms and systems I no longer believe in.
Well thanks to YOU for taking me seriously TB. I don’t mean to pick holes or be mean with any of this. A lot of people think like you and some of them are smarter than us put together. But…
DeleteIf you are referring to the situation in the Ukraine… I am just as boggled as you seem to be. But politics aside, I believe it underscores my point: somebody should be standing up and asking those clowns “what gives you the right and authority to drag us all into a war like this? What are you expecting to achieve? How do you expect to wage it, and pay for it?” No, our govts aren’t sane - in fact, they grow ever more dangerous and sinister and unhinged every day. By what metric can you justify doing nothing about it?
Point of order: When nations collapse, the bad things in them just don’t “fall away”. Money stops working. Organized crime and corruption goes through the roof as factions move to fill the power vacuum. People get killed, they starve, the medical systems break down, and people turn on each other and fight over basic supplies. Law enforcement disappears.
If you’re reading the same bible I am, it is quite clear about facing evil and specially instructs Christians not to coexist or comply with it. There are lots of good things still left about our countries that our Maker would approve of. I am not advocating rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, I want someone up in the wheel house throwing the engines into reverse and hauling the helm to starboard.
This stuff is important, TB. Would you want to see your kids drafted into a senseless war? Do you want pedophiles teaching your grandchildren the mechanics of anal sex and indoctrinating them with Marxism? Do you want to be charged with hate crimes for reading the wrong books? Or to be canceled for having the wrong opinions? People are facing this stuff right now.
And our response to it should be, “Oh well, sucks to be you… not my problem?”
Or at least, that is the world according to Filthie. Whadda I know?
Have a great Monday over there you guys.
Glen, minds much more wise than you and I have discussed the question of what is the correct relationship between a Christian and their government. One of the most careful biblical scholars I know considered the American Revolution a sin because it was a revolt against the established governing authorities. I do not know that I buy that argument, but he is otherwise quite orthodox and someone I have to pay attention to. What we are clearly left with is pay your taxes, honor the government, do not be a lawbreaker - if there is a sense this is not what the New Testament discusses, take it up with Christ and Paul.
DeleteDoes that mean the Christian is not to have evil in their life or comport with it? Not at all; in fact both Christ and Paul talk about the fact that we are being left in the world, but not to be of the world (not arguing the voting is being "in" the world).
It is important. But - to my original point - everyone that believes that it is important is either too concerned that I do hold the ideological purity to be of import to them without significant mea culpas or view me merely as an enabler to their policies which they will then arrive in power and do precisely nothing to restore actual sanity and sense, either enabling their version of bad policies or even worse engaging in their version of political vendetta which solves nothing. So in some ways it is not I that have walked away from them, it is they that have walked away from me.
Would I love a sane, small government with a sensible economic policy that truly viewed its point as being to enable the citizens to have the most free and best lives possible? Absolutely. When someone or some movement can offer that up in a way that is not belittling or mocking to others, show their math that the economics work, and prove in practice that they can do what they say by demonstrating it in practice in the real world, I am on board. But that is more self restraint, common sense, and the hard, lonely, dirty work of building small and taking the long view of victory than I have seen from almost anyone or any movement in a long time. And sadly, for too many anyone that suggests that as an option is seen as unserious or not committed enough (not saying you do, but others do).
Have a great Monday yourself, and I hope Spring is on its way soon!
It’s important that we be clear. I am not saying you should pick up your rifle, fix bayonets and go over the top with me and General Aesop. And I know that it is popular to bring up historical precedents. Borebatch does a masterful job of comparing and contrasting Ancient Rome with modern day America and most are valid, some more than others. But we are not facing Carthage, the barbarian tribes of Gaul or Egypt. Nor are we facing the King Of England.
DeleteWe are facing (in my opinion) lunatics and clowns. Would your biblical scholar consent to known pedophiles teaching gay sex ed to your child? Would the Romans tolerate black race hustlers? Or military generals that ran around posing as women? Or women in combat and command roles? We are seeing stuff never before seen in history - the vast majority of it being enabled by an artificially inflated (and rapidly collapsing) bubble of prosperity never seen before in the history of man.
The point I am trying to make is not to beat you up for not taking my side in any of this… but not taking your own. I disagree with the fella that said, “You have nothing to say”. I think you very much do, and that voices like yours need to be heard.
Glen - Interestingly, the Roman Empire cared mostly that one was at least (on paper) subservient to Rome and paid taxes. Beyond that, they let the locals largely manage themselves.
DeleteHeh heh. The thought of me fixing bayonets and going over the top are as amusing as they would undoubtedly be comical for those watching from the other side.
You have nothing useful to say
ReplyDeletePirate, I would be the first to agree that among all men, I have little of use to contribute. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteI got wore out with "the most important election in our history!" Only to find the conservative wasn't. Too many times I've heard THE WOLF!
ReplyDeletethere are things that I am passionate about. And I'll vote for those that stand for that. But I'm almost totally convinced that national politics is hopelessly corrupt and needs to be purged completely.
I'm not disconnected, but I'm fast losing my hope that anything but harm will come from representatives.
STxAR - How many times now have we heard in our lifetimes that this was "The Most Important Election Ever", only to find out that it was just as you say: business as usual. For the entire course of the last 9 presidential election cycles I can remember, the gist has been "vote against my opponent".
DeleteWill I vote? Yes. Selectively, as you say, for those that have earned it or for those matters that directly impact my life. But the rest - how can I be interested or connected to something that constantly seems opposed to those things that involves "Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness" to coin a phrase?
Even writing about this leaves me conflicted - I periodically feel driven to do so, yet do not find any resolution in doing so. But perhaps that is simply a remnant of a time when I believed such things could change the world.
This is the most important decision of our lifetime...
ReplyDeleteWalmart or Target
Home Depot or Lowes
Petco or Petsmart
Office Depot or Office Max
Chilis or Applebees
Republican or Democrat
The con has gone on long enough.
The only way forward is pain.
Just So, you decisions are right on target.
DeletePerhaps at some point it does become The Most Important Decision of Our Lifetime. That said, there should be different options offered that the tired and banal options that will be warmed over and offered yet again.
In many aspects, I sympathize with you. It is like watching a train wreck occurring from a long distance. I could see it was going to happen and it is happening with people involved but at this distance, I don't actually see the people and really only feel the after effects when the dust has settled.
ReplyDeleteBut I still force myself to care a bit for my children's sake and someday their children.
Ed - It is a great deal like a long distance, slow motion train wreck that seems eminently preventable yet, based on the way circumstances were laid, was entirely unavoidable.
DeleteDo I care for the sake of my children? I do. But at this point the best, most effective caring I feel like I can do for them is prepare to weather the storm as best we can, which is almost entirely preparing and managing what I can control in my limited sphere of influence.
"Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God, the things that are God’s" is usually interpreted the way you described it: "pay your taxes, honor the government, do not be a lawbreaker." I think Jesus was playing with the guy who asked the question and in his view Caesar and all of us comprise "the things that are God's." I'm no biblical scholar but I wonder what your "the revolution was sin" guy would say about Jesus overturning the moneylender's tables in the temple - they were the established governing authorities, after all.
ReplyDeleteP.S. "honor the government"? You're kidding, right? :)
Warren - The precise phrase used is "Honor the Emperor". In the case of Rome, the Emperor was effectively the government. In that sense, I do not think Paul meant to leave any middle ground - in his time the power of the government over non-citizens was absolute and that over citizens was little less; Tacitus records plenty of examples of citizens being brought up on false charges and executed - or just plain executed.
DeleteKidding aside (and I do appreciate it), I do not have a clear line of sight on how to approach it. Paul again says that we should do right, as the authorities are an enemy to evil doers, not those that do right, and that if Christians should suffer, it should be for their witness as Christians, not as law-breakers or evil doers. Where does this put in a place where I often question the "rightness" of my government and its actions? I am not sure.
Oh my goodness, TB, my head hurts reading this! But in a good way. My frustration today is not exactly as yours, but perhaps related. I have, in fact, narrowed down the issues I care about, just as you have. But there are some matters I have great interest in, and I would very much like to discuss those matters with fellow believers -- both those who agree with me and those who disagree with me. Because, after all, don't we all, at this moment in time, "see through a glass darkly?" But it seems many of my brethren believe all things have been revealed to them and there is no room for debate or discussion such as what you and Glen have engaged in here. I appreciate your providing a forum for civil discussion.
ReplyDeleteBob, no intention to make heads hurt!
ReplyDeleteIt is odd, is it not - we find issues that we would like to discuss, even desire to discuss, with individuals who we believe are in fact (generally) aligned with us. And yet when we scratch down a bit, we find the same thing as you often do - there is no room for debate or discussion.
Glen and I have a long history of "discussing" things, and one that I value. In some ways we see things the same, in other ways we see them different - and I am sure that in other forums we talk differently. But what I wish for - and am maybe accomplishing - is that we find places where we can discuss things without rancor, at least. Again, it is one of my fundamental (and very hard earned, I assure you) bedrocks that more people share more commonalities than they think and that if we could simply try to talk to each other (rather than at each other), much could be accomplished.
But too often, as you say, we meet many who believe that "all has been revealed to them".