This Too Shall Pass
The heat is upon us, bearing down on all life. The sparrows, chipmunks and squirrels rarely leave their dens, only in the mornings and evenings, when the blazing sun shrinks downward, behind the trees.
It’s 101º in the Delta today, and it could 106º on Monday.
Even the famously hot habanero bows to the prodigious heat.
Anyone that has read my meager scribblings for long knows that I have a childlike fascination with simple things, particularly spiders. This afternoon, as I sat beside a lavender plant, I carefully watched a small arachnid busy itself with the construction of a home. The construction is an architectural wonder, smartly placed in just the right spot, so that is concealed and protected from the elements and also in an opening that will attract its dinner.
The flying buttresses of silk extend upward and outward, securely attached to the stalks of the flowering herb. It’s builder hangs motionless, waiting.
A Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) lives in the basil and is one of my favorite species. These are a well known spider of the American garden. Ferocious looking but a definite garden friend, the females can grow to 3 inches in diameter. They’re orb weavers that utilize a unique feature called a stabilimentum in the center of their web.
At 3:00 PM, they are the only active signs of life in the garden.
Roughly 1000 miles away, another life form, an unintelligent life form, is busy making its plans. Heat nor rationality are deterrents. There are markets to open. Villages to raid and bomb into rubble. Propaganda to propagate in preparation for the next mission. Wars and rumors of wars.
Anyone that dares question the reigning despot is marginalized. Labeled unpatriotic. Insane. Unstable. Dangerous! Disloyal.
Meine Ehre heißt Treue
In this frenzied period of nationalism, witness the assault on human rights, the creation of enemies and the use of fear as a propaganda tool. The propagandizing of the citizenry by the media and control of the media by the ruling junta. An obsession with militarism.
A rise of corporatism and religious fanaticism to the point where they are indistinguishable from government. Corruption. Hatred of intellectuals.
Sound familiar?
I have no idea what can be done. It seems the thing will simply have to burn itself out. You and I can hasten the process by refusing to participate and by speaking out. And while a massive sway in public opinion helped end Vietnam, my instinct tells me there’s something different about this bunch. There’s something much more sinister than just a bunch of white guys in suits carrying out the mantra of growth and support for the military industrial complex. Yep, this bunch smells different, and I fear they will not willingly relinquish control of power.
There’s too much fanaticism. Religious overtones and that weird belief that some god is calling them to do these things. That there’s some higher purpose here, some bizarre, manifest destiny
Well, back to the garden for me.
Stay vigilant friends. Be mindful of history and question everything. Like the chipmunks and sparrows, we may need to retreat to our dens until the heat passes. Throughout history, artists, intellectuals, writers, philosophers, dissidents and patriots have had to go underground during dark periods, only to reemerge when the danger passes. I’m not saying to lie down and to not resist. But we must be careful how we resist. We cannot meet force with force. I believe a more plausible strategy is to allow this regime collapse under the weight of its own immoral behavior and bad karma. It will happen, and we may get some help from Peak Oil, shrinking aquifers and collapsing financial markets. Hard to create and run all those machines and armies without oil, water and money. Hate and greed won’t fuel the machine.
But be wary. As these things unfold, those in power will attempt to strengthen their grip and crush anyone that dares question their god given right of rule. Our society could devolve into Abbey’s brutal vision described in Good News, a brave new world so nightmarish and dark, the horrors are unimaginable.
Sort of like what the Iraqis are experiencing right now, as U.S. soldiers not only kill so-called enemy combatants, they rape, torture and murder young children.
Hell is on earth and the dark future is now.