Fight for Peace!

There is an insane culture of Double-speak in this country.  Following is by no means a complete list:

We must . . .

• tolerate others’ intolerance.
• protect our freedom by curtailing others’ freedoms.
• protect our right to impede others’ rights.
• execute criminals to prevent murder.
• make guns plentiful to prevent mass shootings.
• fight for peace.
• use whatever means necessary to enforce justice.
• speak out against speaking out.
• protect marriage by making it illegal for gays.
• stop racism by rolling back Civil rights.
• protect voters rights by making it more difficult to vote.
• protect American jobs by punishing immigrants who want to do the work Americans don’t want.
• subsidize corporate greed to create opportunities for the poor and middle class.
• cut education spending and unemployment benefits to create jobs.
• do away with unions to protect our right to work.

Feel free to add to the list, because it is endless.  That’s why they all them oxyMorons.  And yet, I am really not comfortable insulting the people who buy into double-speak, as tempting as that may be. Double speak is insidious and pervasive. Orwell knew this well. The only remedy is to speak honestly and thoughtfully from our heart, whenever and wherever we can. No one has a monopoly on truth, except God. Facts are constantly manipulated and distorted to support any number of crazy agendas. But no one can take our ability to feel and process our innate awareness of inextricable good, in the form of fairness, consideration, empathy and compassion.

I happened to see this interview with Bachmann yesterday live on CNN and was absolutely awed by the interviewer’s inability to counter her double-speak. Really, what can you say when someone says that Red is really Green? As an artist, as a sensitive being, I know the opposite is present in every “truth” we hold so dear.  As a painter, a careful observer of nature, I can assure you there really is Green in Red.  Can you see it in this painting?  Did you know black is white?

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Pythagoras

Political trends swing like a pendulum. But societal development and human evolution move ever forward, slowly, inevitably over time.  Blacks shall overcome. Gays will eventually marry. Pot will be legal. Women will have equality. Religions will coexist in peace. Immigrants will become citizens. The working class will prevail over the entitled few. People will accept one another’s rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, all in time; progress is inevitable.

Speaking of permanence and certainty, they say the only thing that is certain is change. Memories, optimistic projections, beliefs, are all fleeting and uncertain. Will things get better or worse in the future?  Were they better in the old days?  The real question should be what is “better?”  And once you’ve answered that, then accept they will not be better or worse.  They will only be different.  Things will just change, inexorably.

Can we influence the change we want to see? Only by being that change, today, in the present moment, which is the only thing over which we truly have any control. The past and present are only an illusion.