I have struggled with this post.
A commitment I made years ago to the blog (and thus indirectly to you, my readers), is that I would be as honest as I could be. In some ways, of course, that seems highly improbable - given, for example, the fact that I write under a nom de plume, which by default leads to certain things not being "honest". On the other hand, that very anonymity, thinly veiled as it may be, gives me the ability to be honest in ways I likely am not in real life: in a sense, this is as likely the "real me" as my actual existence, just in a different way. Two sides of the same coin, as it were.
With that said, I am deeply troubled.
I almost never write on current events. Part of that is due to the fact that current events make for miserable applicability in the future and at best are a personal view of the world at large which can often age badly over time. The second is that over time, I believe myself to have built a community which are likely on "both sides" of the fence as it were.
But this week has shaken me badly.
I find myself in a position which I can only compare to 49 B.C., knowing that Caesar has crossed the Rubicon and that the SPQR (Senatus Popolusque Romanus, the Senate and the People of Rome) prepares for war. I am likely a quiet partisan at best for one side or the other (which side, you will have to guess as neither Gnaeus Pompeius or Gaius Julius ever truly appealed to me as historical models) who really only wants peace and the ability to study and be in a garden with bees and rabbits and wuail and ducks and cats and dogs.
Perhaps this makes me Cicero, the strong supporter of one side (The Republic and Pompey) who dithered as much as did any good, was forgiven by the victor, and then killed after his death (although I suppose history remember him far more fondly than the one associated with his killing, Marcus Antonius).
We are, I fear, on the cusp of something as gut wrenching as 9/11, which also fell this week and changed the world after it.
What does that change look like? I have no idea. If you had asked me 24 years ago what I thought the future would have looked like, it was certainly not this.
Has it changed me? It has. Can I speak meaningful about it? Not now, not yet. It is still to raw and the enormity of what we have become as a civilization is terrifying to me.
It really feels like Rome circa 49 B.C. The question - at least the most relevant question to me - is if the Cicero's of the world have a place in the coming age, whatever it turns out to be.
As we were reminded this week, it is those that seek to write and talk and speak of ideas that are some of the most likely casualties.
Post Script: If the event you feel the need to comment on the actual events themselves or express political opinions or even urge violence, do not bother: these are my own thoughts and not meant to open this forum to the free-for-all of the Interweb. There are other places that such things can be vented and argued over, and they are easy enough to find. I can and will delete such comments.
I am increasingly of the opinion that social media has in many respects been a disaster. A couple of centuries ago, the spread of newspapers gave the wider population their first tastes and knowledge of life beyond their communities, and fostered the development of journalism and reportage, discussion and analysis.
ReplyDeleteWith social media, though, we have lost so much of the depth and breadth of classic journalism. The word count constraints and anonymity have conspired to destroy reasoned exchange and discussion.
In this respect I do not consider blogs as part of social media, I view them as more akin to the classic diarists of old, like Samuel Peypes.
Will - At this point I do not think I can meaningfully disagree with you. And it is not just the depth and analysis we have lost, it is both journalism as an act of neutral reporting (instead of opinionated takes) and as a non-sensationalistic medium instead of escalating items that are designed to be responded to. I have joined any of the "new" social media apps and my current ones (InstaPic and The Book of Face) are limited to animal pictures, Japanese swordsmanship, and some excellent inspirational art that people do (in fairness, I have essentially given up posting anything at all.
DeleteI would agree that blogs can fall more into the idea of classic diarists - although after a high school experience with a portion of Mr. Pepys works, I am not sure how exciting that makes my writing...
Going to agree with Will's comments, social media promotes fast, shallow, thoughtless comments....."be the first" mentality. Discourse? Hah! Acceptance of others without demonizing them? Hah! A disturbing rush TB.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, I have seen - even in this most recent event - people selecting particular quotes without providing the context of the quote, or suddenly backing away from things they supported only the day before.
DeleteAlmost all societies prior to our current one believed that words had power. It seems only we in the modern era have come to believe they have none, based on the idea that somehow we can "undo" them simply by saying we did not mean it.
I'm more of the historian thinking of the little people, like myself.
ReplyDeleteNot a Cisero, just a tradesman at best trying to navigate the chaos for the safety of my family.
For every Nathan Hale there was thousands of farmers, leatherworkers and such just trying to figure out how to keep the family safe in chaos.
Michael, I struggle sometimes whether I am Cicero or Seneca (the actual one, not my own). If it is inconstancy of character I am like both. If it is in distracted character, like Cicero; if in saying one thing and doing another, like Seneca. I suspect I am more of Seneca than Cicero as he was a grand thinker and speaker.
DeleteThe reality is that yes, behind every modern Nathan Hale there are now millions that are just trying to do the best they can in a world that has increasingly becoming chaotic.
Well, I guess I'm gladdened to learn that I'm not the only one. I have three or four posts in draft that I haven't published nor likely to do so at this point. I'm in agreement with Will that I think this social media experience has been a disaster when it comes to politics.
ReplyDeleteMy wish is that before anyone leaves a political comment on a social media platform, that they reflect on how they would feel if a comment of similar vein were made about their "side". If it would cause them to raise their hackles, I would suggest that perhaps their comment be left unsaid. By going ahead and saying it, they are adding to the problem we find ourselves in currently.
Ed, I am just as glad as you are. I probably went through half a dozen drafts before I arrived at this one, and even then I wonder if I worded it too strongly.
DeleteI have just about given up on checking in on anyone's "clips" on The Book of Face or Instapic as they are almost, always political commentary anymore.
Your metric is a good one - if I would be offended by someone saying this against a position I held, it is probably better not to say it. Again, I have almost posted half a dozen things on those platforms that would only have served to create issues, not solve them.
Not Rome, TB. Far different people, far different times, and entirely different people with far different motivations.
ReplyDeleteTry Weimar Germany. It’s not a great comparison either… but a lot of the players are the same.
Glen, it is so good to hear from you!
DeleteYou may very well be right. I am a classicist, and so view the world through the lens I best understand. And perhaps outside of the calamitous Third Century A.D., there is not a similar period in Roman or Greek history.
I think I understand the saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword" a bit better after this week. Knee-jerk writers inflaming, thoughtful writers inspiring.... It is an interesting time, no doubt. Romans 1:28-32
ReplyDeleteNot a happy time... but a time to continue the Way, to be salt and light.
STxAR - I found a quote from George R.R. Martin that he put into the mouth of one of his characters: “When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.”
DeleteYour comment about being a time to continue the Way is very apropos, as it was a question I journaled on this morning: Given where we are, what is the best way to continue to be salt and light and push back the darkness?
Social media mostly about the money. The idol that is most of the worlds ills currently. This event has affected me differently, still not sure how. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteBCCL - It is about money - and about attention. I am not sure I copyrighted the idea of The Attention Culture, but I am sure using it - because it is true. And a constant need for attention is arguably a sign of narcissism, which seems to be a hallmark of our age.
DeleteIt has affected me differently as well, in ways I do not fully apprehend at the moment. But I very much feel like a Rubicon was crossed last week and we cannot retrace those steps.
I don't have adequate words for the event of which you don't call out by name, TB. The sadness is deep - not only for the loss of life, but the realization that we may be on the cusp of something more dreadful than I ever imagined. I have more thoughts; I've deleted more than I'm leaving. Glad for your post.
ReplyDeleteBecki, I think it is perfectly correct to not have the words. We should not have to have words to describe such things.
DeleteI have deleted - in my mind or in a reply - far more posts than I have typed out since last Wednesday.