violence hurts.
Spending time somewhere kind of makes it a part of oneself. The box on the left with the XP tag hasn't had Windows in it since a few days after coming in through the door. Today it has Suse 10.1 and 10.0 and I think a 9.3 too but this last has not been used for a while. It is mounted from time to time to do backups. There are a couple of hundred G's of disk space with 1.5 G's of memory with a too small CPU but I hardly use any real energy hogs. I just play with large files every now and then.
As for this place being part of me, it has my mark but it is inside of the machine where I can be found most clearly. Everything there is for my work or my life. Life has one file in home and sundry backup life files. Work has every other file on the machine the operating system hasn't claimed. So what is the point?
My work is an examination of violence. Real violence, not the comic nonsense so many are involved in today. The Iraqis are getting close to the kind of thing I study and research but they are still a long way from the real thing even if the suffering of the victims is the same, one way or the other, amateur or professional.
You are what you do. Even better, you are who you make believe you are. Violence takes a toll but it is what I do. Even this Blog is part of what I do. This is a warm up for what is intended as the real show on another site. The idea is to publish a little and see how it flies.
That's the idea anyway.
posted by Jack at 00:24
7 Comments:
"You are who you make believe you are." How I wish that could be true -- for I could make believe, and some of my wildest dreams could come to be.
"You are what you do"..."Violence takes a toll but it is what I do." It would be interesting to learn more about your work. You don't appear violent in any way, Jack, just the opposite. So (once again) I'm not quite understanding what you mean. I can be thick at times. It's not you, it's me.
Jack, this is exciting. And Elsie, I (like you) do not understand, but accept as a poetry that moves in subtle ways. And this announcement of coming things is very hopeful.
Put another way Elsie it goes: "Be very careful who you make believe you are because that is who you are." but this is a misquote. The Internet tells me the following is closer to the original: "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut.
Vonnegut's thought is cautionary. It is after the fact. Mine is too in a way. But the same thought can be seen as a recommendation and not a reproach. Go ahead and dream. Make believe, as you put it.
Now to we are what we do. Look about you. Our work shapes us physically, socially, mentally and psychologically. We become what we do. Take a look at a stone mason or a monk, a TV personality or a spook. Hawthorne's The Great Stone Face comes to mind. It just takes time.
As for understanding anything, give it time.
Pete, what is there to understand? I know my English is bad, but hey.
OK, one more time by the numbers.
War is not true violence. War is policy. Governments and institutions and other collectives make war to accomplish something. This something may have nothing to do with the war. Often the objective has nothing to do with the war. (Most of the time actually.)
Wars are violent but war is always controlled violence. When the objective is achieved the war and the violence can end.
What I call true violence is that which acts within individuals. It comes from the inside and is often expressed as the opposite of violence, but the two are the same. Consider The Devil and the Good Lord by Sartre. The 30 Years War is a good illustration of the point needing making. True violence is a collective celebration of mayhem so profound it is transformed into something sacred.
Swimming in these waters for years has taken a toll. It may be the same with playing a guitar. Do so for a while and you may develop a callus.
Ohh boy Jack! Too bad there aren't any rotten ergot social moments, acid in the water supply, huh? War may not be violent to the political makers in an overt way, but maybe rather then for economical or geopolitical strategy, they DO happen because the blood loves a little mayhem, no matter how we try and repress it. That is why the populace support them, lets a wilding go!
But that is why I am a pacifist, I have seen the truth of the violence within me and I know that I have to practice my contrary action muscles.
Jack, I'm still so confused. I've been thinking about this for the past day, but I'm still unable to wrap my brain around your idea, "it comes from the inside and is often expressed as the opposite of violence"... Surely you are not implying that all who appear non-violent are, in fact, violent on the inside. I believe it may be true for some, but not for most. Back to my pie-in-the-sky thinking, I believe that most people are "good." I think that violence begins when people's basic needs (including the need to be loved) are not met. Then there is nothing for them to lose and possibly much to gain through violence.
I'm a simple girl, Jack, with a simple life. Your ideas, frankly, are a little scary. It will be interesting to read, and perhaps understand, more. I will give it time.
OK, Elsie but I need (want) to work on the computer this afternoon so this must be quick.
First, look at the result. Intentions do not count. A second thing might be to try not to descend into the personal. People are often what they appear to be. Leave them be themselves. If you have any doubts run like hell. Lastly, always watch your handbag.
No I am not implying all who appear non-violent are, in fact, violent. I am saying all of us have this violence within us. At least when things play out this is what it looks like.
Try to picture an extreme example. How about the Witch Trials. Anywhere, France or your neighborhood, it does not matter. At base the intention was good. Stop evil, end violence, expel the enemy, protect our innocents. Things get rolling and toothless old women get cooked. These are frequently garnished with a few sweet young things.
Where did this evil come from?
Now from the other side. The enemy has you trapped. There is no escape. His intentions are clear. You will be forced to blaspheme your God, renounce your heresy, submit to slavery, watch your children brutalized and your family shamed then face a slow death yourself, if you are lucky. What do you do? You opt for collective suicide. Nearly every culture I have ever read of hails this as courageous. It is not my answer but I am not in that situation so I do not know, do I?
What about pacifism in this last case Pete? Isn't pacifism surrogate violence? You did get it right, I think, by admitting it is in our blood. How does one go about changing their blood?
Elsie, the "What is wrong with..." was a red herring. I just wanted to point out the very different representations of what passes for the same thing. Pere Noel and Santa Claus. One is more chic.
Oh, Elsie, I do not think we are pots to be filled, basic needs notwithstanding. I suspect the idea is to distribute what is in our pot to others. But I might be wrong.
Post a Comment
<< Home