Apolitical Times
I haven't the slightest impulse to get politically active right now. I
used to be up-to-the-minute on the latest Global Justice news via
indymedia.org. I used to design flyers, participate in teach-ins, and
lecture girlfriends. Now I don't do shit. This whole Bill Frist/radical
Republican judges/"nuclear option" scandal? I totally ignored it. Am I
proud? Fuck no.
But I give props to Conner Oberst and Bright Eyes for singing "When the
President Prays to God" on the Tonight Show, even if it might have been
a futile guesture (was it). I sorta resonate with the remaining Jedi at
the end of ROTS, when they go into hiding and vow to make their
reappearance "when the time is right." Perhaps this psycho-Republican
nightmare is just something we need to live through. As Zizek counsels,
a second term of W. is exactly what we need right now, as it will awken
the world to the searing reality of Christian Dominionism and
Idio-Capital the way a stealthy faux-populist Kerry campaign never
would have. Through our (my) apathy, we got the president we deserve,
and it may get worse and worse and worse and worse and worse until we
all do something about it.
Are we looking for a hero? Do we need a savior? Do we need another
demigod descending from the political heavens to pull our collective
arses out of the flames of the Neocon Ascendency? Perhaps. But also
perhaps: we may find this demigod/savior/hero in ourselves, closer to
us than our own skin, deeper and stronger than our own bones, more
honest and brutal than the fact of our own death. The world will
suffer, and we may one day die, true, but the Hero lies inside, ready
to fight/handle/deal with all of this.
How/where do you find this hero? Go for a long walk. Quit doing stuff.
Strip, excise, pare down. Let your laundry go, fuck the mail, fuck your
email, let your room get dirty, smash your tv, forget to call your
friends, throw out your shitty magazines. Just walk. Or just sit on the
porch. Make notes in a legal pad when needed. Take a retreat from the
world in the midst of the world. Remove all barriers between you and
your Self. Maximize the amount of alone time you endure, for a week or
so. Record your dreams, Wander in strange neighborhoods. Put on
different clothes. Get new perspectives on who/what/where you are.
And above all, don't wobble.
posted by Paul S. at
8:16 AM
3 Comments:
Hi Paul,
Speaking of 'praying to God,' I pray that I am wrong... but I have this theory worked out that the Christian Right in American politics--the Evangelicals--have an unconscious and unwitting desire to precipitate the Second Coming of Christ (I actually plan on posting an essay somewhere in the near-future on this topic).
Anywho, the theory goes that the Evangelical dogma is centered on the Return of the Messiah---but before the Messiah comes there needs to be Armageddon... the Apocalypse! So... why not generate circumstances that appear to mimic what one would imagine Armageddon to be. Maybe that will get Christ here a few years sooner than otherwise.
If you are familiar with the 'Left Behind' series of contemporary Christian novels (and their unabashed popularity) then you may get an idea of how many people are literally longing for a 'destrcutive state of affairs' under the held belief that such a state will invoke Christ's return.
This is how dangerous memes can be! My gut tells me that something similar to the above mayin fact be the case: that the Return of Christ is like a fetishized object--and the Evangelicals will do anything in order to try and bring that about---even taking a hand in the destruction of the world.
But... like I said... I pray I am wrong.
Genuinely,
David Jon
what about saving the world via "rock and roll," biotch?!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4599165.stm
Faux-populist is right! As for your current political sloth, it was you who turned me on to Counter Punch, so maybe there's some redemption... ;)
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