David Watts
It’s moving very quickly over the rocks and down to the bank. Fast and yet serene like a job made to look easier by the gift of experience. Cutting down the soil making a sloppy mess in a spot, then wrapping round a rock or two becoming clear again as if by magic. As it widens it becomes slower, shallow than falling. It catches itself at the bottom and continues on, possibly forever.<br /> <br /> It’s amazing how even here there are those living in a cage. Walking around within a box defined by others and a prison within, there can be sorrow wherever there are people. The problem with sentient beings is we loose our surroundings to the battle of the mind. Nature tries to remind us of other things by giving us a slippery stone from time to time to help us forget about everything else for a moment.<br /> <br /> We do forget. Than we remember. It starts all over again. The troubles and trials come back like a flood but for one fleeting moment it was gone. Ironically we end up cursing the rock for the favor and it’s troubles. <br /> <br /> People in general have a wide array of dreams and fears that manifest themselves in many ways. Vocalization of facts and opinions is a common outlet for these kinds of thoughts. Communication encourages feedback and discussion generally validates topics for the vocalizer, as they fine tune their thoughts as conversations progress. The more a viewpoint is vocalized the more stubbornly it is followed and thusly is far less likely that new information is allowed to enter this vacuum of opinion.<br /> <br /> It is assumed, and even taken for granted that all people should have a voice. Most people on the street you will come across will accept that readily. What people do not seem to accept is what they perceive to be outside their box of “normality.” Most people call this a comfort zone. Although in it’s more primal forms these “comfort zones” are not comforting at all, they however do seem to instill a sense of normality.<br /> <br /> People tend to hate those who they perceive make their community (neighborhood) look bad. Why do abused women stay with their man? Why do drunks keep drinking? I believe, quite simply, they know what to expect. In their minds their “ducks” are in a row and there is no problem. They may even detest the world they live in but it’s all they know. It’s all they understand.<br /> <br /> Humans in general have a good guy vs. the bad guy mentality. We need an antagonist. We need to fight for a cause and be victorious! All of us do it albeit some are more adamant than others. Is there a universally acceptable group we are allowed to hate? Actually, there are several. I’ll list a few for you now for example <br /> <br /> Drug Dealers: There’s a big one. They have the highest re-offense rate of any criminal. Many say because it’s impossible for them to find a job with a drug felony. There’s really no way back into society after that one. Many good Christian folk say that they should be tarred and feathered. Well, they should be punished but at the same time finding roads to sincere reconciliation makes for a very loyal citizenry. But no, we the people choose to hate them with a clear conscious. Why? Because drug dealers are a perceived threat to their comfort zones.<br /> <br /> Sex Offenders & Predators: (eek) According to the US Department of Justice have a combined re-offense rate of just 3% but their re-arrest rate is staggering due to paperwork violations like registering properly. Keeping criminals as desperate as possible ensures they’ll be in the system again. They even came up with a new word called re-divism which means re-arrest not re-offense as is largely misrepresented by the press. We hate them because the press tells us to. It really has nothing to do with hard data which incidentally is easy to find. <br /> <br /> Muslim Extremists: We proudly don ourselves with bumper stickers and tee shirts promoting this hatred. (I don’t) We are encouraged to mock them and even a racial slur or two is acceptable in most circles of late. Our streets are filled with overused bad jokes about camels and wearing towels. It’s in our nature to take war personally but at the same time we ought to keep in mind we will never defeat an enemy we don’t understand. <br /> <br /> We tend to convince ourselves that we are right. Maybe we are in many ways. Who are we, anyway? We are communities made up of people that form opinions and beliefs via real world experiences and a flood of information constantly coming at us. No matter how free we appear to be, there will always be opinions that the world considers to be more valid than our own. There will always be voices that shout louder and antagonists to despise.<br /> <br /> Hate is an emotional reaction to a lack of factual information. The old saying that knowledge is power is true on much deeper levels than words on a page can convey. It is mainly derived from the fear of the unknown and an unwillingness to admit that fear. Love, on the other hand is a lie without a pure form of mutual respect. The saying “Love at first sight,” for example, has nothing to do with love at all. It has more to do with a shallow form of greed than anything else. That is the sort of “elephant in the closet” that everyone knows but most people will deny.<br /> <br /> Are unlovable antagonists allowed to have dreams and fears? Does is matter if those for whom we are allowed to hate (fear) just want to live in peace? Is it not perfectly acceptable that they suffer hardship after hardship until their pitiful existence has finally ended? There is no precedence to argue the point but facing facts here yes, it is acceptable. Lets encourage the hardships of others as long as it doesn’t affect our own “comfort zones.”<br /> <br /> There is really nothing more damaging than a persons comfort zone. This is the place where it is most likely that counterproductive world views are validated. Being so desperately in need of an antagonist we look to the guy down the street for our vice of hatred instead of looking within ourselves for peace. <br /> <br /> A long time ago in a less complicated place far away there was a hyper little boy who enjoyed climbing trees and tearing up gravel on his dirt bike. Constantly furious with activity, he loved having “adventures” in the woods, playing with friends and exploring his environment. This is where he learned that you should check the apple for holes or you will find half a worm.<br /> <br /> Is it possible that a kid like that, and far too many others are considered to be less than human “pariahs” deserving nothing more than a life without a chance? Of course it is! Antagonists are an extremely important dynamic in the human condition. We all need a bad guy to fight. It’s in our nature. At least the poor slob has solace in knowing that an important function of society is being served by his exile. There is a lot of hurt that associates itself with this sort of life. A life of moot dreams. All there is and will ever be is basic survival.<br /> <br /> When all someone has is that thought to rely on for their feelings of self worth it has a way of toying with a persons brain. A working brain, with dreams and fears coupled with unattainable aspirations and thoughts. No one wants to know what a this or that thinks about this or that. It’s all about what was not what will be. Survival in a perpetual motion towards nowhere.<br /> <br /> Usually it’s the devoutly religious that ironically are the first to cast aside a person like this. Being religious really has nothing to do with following Jesus. There are a few diamonds in the rough, with the discernment to see farther than the eyes and understand more than the words. There are a few that have helped. They try to fill vast chasms of hurt and regret with goodness and distraction. <br /> <br /> The antagonist has learned to hate himself through carefully orchestrated failures and dashed attempts at normality. It is after all, both socially acceptable and encouraged. Accepting that there is no hope is like realizing you’re a walking moot point. It’s a rather stark realization at first but again there is solace in the realization that being an antagonist of society means an important role of the human condition is being fulfilled. There may be no hope but at least there’s a purpose. <br /> <br /> There’s a purpose for the cage and for the box that people stuff themselves and others into. We are creatures of definitions that need to know that this equals that and so on. We have been entrusted as caretakers of an open and free world and we confine ourselves in the wilderness of our minds. Our worst antagonist is ourselves. <br /> <br /> But not forever, just for a time. It meets a friend around a bend in a low spot and together they splash about with rocks for a time before moving on. This is a wide place but it’s path seems to get narrow further along. It has a little spot in the world to make a mark.<br /> <br /> David Watts<br /> 1/09<br />
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