"I write to find out what I think." Joan Didion. "Qu'est ce que je sais"-What do you know? "a fox knows many things, but a hedgehog know one big thing" Archilochus I studied most of my life for credentials, now I study as a Polymath. This blog is my personal ruminations. I invite you along to explore many things. I won't promise that it will all be interesting, but I promise that the thoughts are honest. I realized, relatively late, that life is for the living. So, it was time to live.
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Book Review-How to Live or A Life of Montaigne (In One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer) by Sarah Bakewell
Monday, May 31, 2021
Observations-Memorial Day 2021
As is the habit on Memorial Days, people are expressing their gratitude for those who have sacrificed their lives in defense of this nation. The tributes range from simple statements of thanks to elaborate postings on social media and displays of thanks in their front yards in the form of flags and other tributes.
What has always nagged at me has been the question: is this it?
Is this all that we can do? Or is this all that we are willing to sacrifice in
recognition of those who have given their lives, the ultimate sacrifice?
It seems incongruent to me that in view of the gravity of
the sacrifices that we are commemorating, all we do in response is to have
sales on merchandise that none of us truly need, have barbecues, and consume
massive quantities of alcohol. It is also the marking of the beginning of
Summer, which is also seemingly incongruent.
It is beyond ironic that we commemorate the past deeds of
heroism by celebrating so frivolously. Yet, that is in keeping with the nature
of our habits as a nation. We invoke the past to inspire and to lecture those
who are still living on the importance of duty, on the meaning of living in a
democracy, and on the demands of being a citizen; yet when it comes to living
those lessons, on demonstrating that we have, indeed, internalized those
lessons, we abdicate our responsibilities to the democracy. Instead, we behave more
in keeping with celebrating the beginning the Summer than with commemorating
the sacrifices that brought us our prosperity.
In this Summer of 2021, after having gone through the year
2020 and having suffered through a pandemic and inept handling of that pandemic,
one would think that giving thanks and remembering those who had sacrificed
their lives in service to us would be foremost on our minds. Yet all I see is
wanton disregard for the gravitas of the occasion, selfish indulgence of our
perceived privileges that was a gift from those who we should be memorializing,
and selective amnesia of our past in deference to the worship of a mythological
glory that never was.
I know this next thought might be unpopular, but I think it
is worthy of proposing. It is estimated, as of April 2021, that 3,500
healthcare workers in the US have perished from COVID-19 in leading the fight against
the virus. The WHO estimates that 115,000 healthcare workers worldwide have perished in the battle to keep
people alive. In examining their motivation as they gave up their lives for the
masses, I see similarities between those who died in battle in defense of our
freedom and those who died in defense of our health. There was great
uncertainty in knowing who their enemies are for both groups. Both groups stepped
into the void fully understanding the probability of their demise was great,
yet both groups stepped up and were willing to be counted as those who have put
their lives on the line. One could not ask for more from those we seek to commemorate.
I see no conflict in adding those lost healthcare professionals to the rolls of
lost in battle.
On another note. Viktor Frankl, in his defining book Man’s
Search for Meaning.
President Obama had called for every MLK Jr Day observance be
a national day of public service. While that action has been minimized by the
previous administration, we should be mindful of the thought and spirit of that
idea and propagate that idea through the rest of history. Why not have opportunities
for service be available for all who wish to take part? Indeed, why not make
all the officially recognized national holidays be opportunities for public
service? It gives us meaning, as Frankl proposed; it removes the sense of
hypocrisy that comes with celebrating the real sacrifices those who gave their
lives for our society with grilling meats and consuming copious amounts of
alcohol; and it benefits our society.
Alas, I am an optimist with both feet planted on the ground.
I don’t foresee this idea coming to fruition because of the polarization of our
society along too many divisive fault lines. What I can do is to put my skin in
the game, I will try to do a little bit each holiday, partly to assuage my own
guilt and mostly because I see this as doing the right thing. I hope to be
doing this without fanfare and self-indulgence because sacrifices are more
meaningful with it is not recognized. Every little bit contributes to the
greater good, as I search for meaning in my life.
Works Cited
Frankl, Viktor. Man's Search for Meaning.
Beacon Press, 2006.