Tannishblog

My friend, Badtux, the Flightless Bird, is seeing monkeys everywhere he goes. The monkeys he sees wear clothes, drive cars, and listen to right-wing radio. I’m reminded of a snatch of lyric from Alice Cooper: “ …there wasn’t a way/ down on Earth here to cool ‘em/ ‘cause they look just like humans/ at Kresge’s and Woolworth…”

The penguin also takes offence at my quoting Buddha, but I don’t mind. He’s right, Buddha was an optimist; and I’m an optimist, too. Too often I am disappointed at the monkeys for their behavior, just like Badtux. But I still have faith in humanity, for all the feces flinging. Don’t think me naïve because I quote an optimist. I, too, have spent many years disparaging the human condition – it’s awful. For many years my mind gleefully zoomed in on the stupidity, the vanity, the falsity of many of humanity’s follies. As a result I was miserable.

A little anger is healthy, but too much can cloud the mind; this fact I learned first-hand. What changed for me were Buddha’s teachings, but for everyone else the catalyst will be unique to their nature. I quote Buddha for several reasons: As the Dharma helps me, so the sharing of it may help another; a blog devoted to my twisted mind cannot be complete without mention of the Dharma; to express the foundation of my personal philosophy, and why I remain so damned liberal despite is unpopularity.

My friend, I worry that your fine, feathered head is too full of right-wing radio. Perhaps you should widen you sampling of humanity, your data sets are too limited to produce good results. What passes for intellect on talk radio is indeed tragic; there is much more for you to experience of the human condition than that. I see it, and many others do, too.

Amidst the boisterous warmongering and patriotic posturing endemic to conservative radio is fear. The monkeys screech and threaten because they’re afraid. What the right-wing is selling the public is fear, and by doing so they can control the fearful. All their baboon behavior is aimed at this goal. But while they shout and stamp, a quiet revolution is taking place; one based on higher human attainment. Logic reason will prevail because that is the destiny of humans; that is what raises the species above their jungle brethren. Compassion will win out because all the uncompassionate will destroy themselves; it’s happening already, isn’t it?

Take heart, friend penguin. Somewhere in the seething dark mass of humanity fighting itself, a few lights are being switched on as individuals begin making changes that matter. If you look you can see them, too When all the feces-flingers destroy themselves, the wise few who stayed out of the way will emerge to regain humanity from the monkeys.

To quote Gandalf: “And that is an encouraging thought.”