by Dexter MacBride, JD
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“Man is the only creature endowed with the power of laughter. Is he not also the only one that deserves to be laughed at?” ...Lord Greville. Let’s start with Humor. I herewith introduce you to my friends: Archy, Mehitabel and Warty Bliggins..three characters created by columnist Don Marquis (in 1916) for the New York Sun in “The Sun Dial.” Fascinated readers followed the adventures of Archy and Mehitabel avidly; it was a smash “must read” series. Meet Archy (a cockroach) who had been a free verse Bard in a former life; Mehitabel (a cat) whose former life experience, she claimed, had been that of Cleopatra; Warty Bliggins (a Toad) was a Philosopher in a former life. How did Archy, cockroach and former poet, produce his stories? By climbing at night on a newspaper reporter’s typewriter, jumping head down on key after key. It was slow, but he was obdurate and hard-headed. There could be no capital letters; his readers understood. Early on, he typed out this explanation: expression is the need of my soul i was once a vers libre bard but i died and my soul went into the body of a cockroach it has given me a new outlook on life. Mehitabel, the cat and former Cleopatra, was always running off with a Tom and having kittens; she often sang these lines, according to Archy: there’s a dance in the old dame yet toujours gai archy toujours gai Warty Bliggins, philosophic toad, insisted: do not tell me said warty bliggins that there is not a purpose in the universe the thought is blasphemy ********** Now for “Good News” and “Bad News”: front page headlines cry “U.S. Economic Growth Surges In 1st Quarter”(LA Times 4-29-06) “The 4.8% rate is the best since 2003; Gold soars to a 28-year high.” Time for Mehitabel to sing toujours gai- toujours gai? Perhaps not. Consider: our U.S. dollar, sliding the past month, hit “an all time low” against the Euro; a 3 month low against the Yen; a 28 year low against Canada’s Dollar. The slide is expected to continue for many months. NOTE: “the U.S. Current Account Deficit, the broadest Measure of Trade with the rest of the world, hit a record of $805 Billion last year.” Our trade deficit with China is about $15 Billion per month; our Iraq War requires some $6 Billion per month. Fact: in 2005, Americans’ rate of savings was the lowest in 73 years; credit card indebtedness is currently at an all time high: $9,312 per household. ************ Let’s try a different major concern area: Human Rights/International Conventions Against Torture. Front page journalism (LA Times; 4-25-06): “U.S. To Free 141 Terror Suspects” followed by the explanation “The Guantanamo prison detainees pose no threat, an official says. Most of those still in custody have no charges pending against them.” Good News? Rejoice? Toujours gai? The LA Times offered a different perspective in a same-day editorial: “The Gitmo disgrace”, emphasizing the prisoners...some 500...”should be tried in court or released.” Most have been held, without charge or a day in Court, for some: four years. Do lines in Mehitabel’s song apply? my youth i shall never forget but there’s nothing i really regret wot the hell, wot the hell there’s a dance in the old dame yet |
U.S. Government “Bad News” includes brief reports of our death toll in Iraq. In April ’06, “at least 69 of US Troops have died”..an increase from March (31 killed), February (56), January (63). But there is another Fact—almost unbelievable—involving returning US injured troops. The Governmental Accountability Office informed the Associated Press which released the following: “After suffering paralysis, brain damage, lost limbs, and other wounds in war, nearly 400 soldiers have been saddled with $1.2 million in government debt” (to pay for equipment left on the field, and related army goods). One soldier (who lost a leg to a roadside bomb) was faced with a service debt of $2231.00....he said “It hits you in the gut.It’s like ‘Thanks for your service, and now you owe us.’” About perspective: two recent letters printed in the LA Times Editorial Page are brilliantly illustrative of the folk apothegm: “There are two sides to every question.” The letters address the death of renowned Economist John Kenneth Galbraith (distinguished author, e.g., “The Affluent Society”). Letter No. 1: Bruce Mitchell of Oxnard descries and strongly approves Galbraith’s concepts (change Public values system; acquire better housing for the poor; meeting Social Needs; protecting the Environment; promoting high grade education opportunities for children, etc.), Mitchell’s concluding state-meat: “Christianity is a wonderful concept. Too bad Nobody has ever tried it.” Letter No. 2: Gary Mosley, of Hayward, does not approve of Galbraith’s concepts e.g., advocacy of policy leading Western Governments into debt; welfare programs; causing economic turmoil. Mosley’s last sentence: Galbraith “is the next best thing, so far as collectivists go, to Karl Marx or Vladimir Lenin. Two disparate perspectives. One embraces what might be considerated, culturally, the Golden Rule of Faith. The other seems to accept the British philosopher Herbert Spencer’s summary declaration “The duty of the economically strong is to drive the economically weak into extinction.” Economist Galbraith urged that Wealth be used to recognize and meet Social Needs, thereby addressing the responsibility of the world’s most wealthy, most powerful, nation in the world. As expressed by British Philosopher/Historian Karen Armstrong (Senior Member, United Nations’ Alliance of Civilizations) “...the only way is to learn to think that other nations are as important as ourselves, and to practice the Golden Rule....first proposed by Confucius about 500 years before Christ. It is the only safe way.” |