Gotta love the climate of our Land of Enchantment. With recent temperatures down to 13 degrees at night and welcome snow (moisture much needed in our arid high desert mountains) above 8,000 feet, my door and window have been wide open all day, while we still have had no need to turn on the heat. I was getting too hot just now, sitting in my sweater outside in the sun sipping my coffee and consoling myself with an Eclaire, just about the cheapest ($1.50) treat available at Whole Foods.
After an exchange with a woman about my age, at the park, while walking my dogs, I ended up walking away from her, heading as fast as possible toward Whole Foods, yes, for consolation. The woman, dressed in drab, olive green, I assume Navy Surplus army fatigues with a matching Fidel Castro type cap was nice enough to offer my pups the last bit of her tuna tortilla. We got to talking about the election results and the woman once again, we had met and talked a few times before, started to espouse her radical ideas she must have formed due to having grown up in the deep south and then having gotten radicalized in the sixties. While I suppose that she is right in that the patriarchy is at it's most dangerous, like an abusive husband, at the very time that they realize their loss of power and dominion over another - violence can never ever be the answer! Like a Jungian animus dominated, crazed woman she spouted slogans and labels in the service of advocating a violent rebellion. This woman was though not crazy, spoke coherently with eyes bright and shiny and plenty of passion. I will never stand for violence. I told her so and walked away as I wished her well.
It bothers me this talk of violence, this acceptance by some, too many, especially Christians approving of warfare (government sanctioned violence) or from within the Occupy movement where supposedly extreme measures were warranted by extreme situations. After Gandhi liberated India through non-violent means, after a mature Nelson Mandela brought about a mainly peaceful transfer of power in South Africa, we have no right to fall back on archaic (and asinine as Vietnam Vet Ray Masterson would call it) means of resolving serious differences. The white male patriarchy will die out, they are already being replaced by a younger, more tolerant, more educated population, this is what our last election showed us clearly. Impatience for a new world, a more tolerant, a more for people - less for profit oriented world will yield nothing. Impatience has never been a sign of virtue. We have to chose the moral high ground, we have to do what is right and what is kind and keep our long term goals in sight; a better world, more just for all!
After an exchange with a woman about my age, at the park, while walking my dogs, I ended up walking away from her, heading as fast as possible toward Whole Foods, yes, for consolation. The woman, dressed in drab, olive green, I assume Navy Surplus army fatigues with a matching Fidel Castro type cap was nice enough to offer my pups the last bit of her tuna tortilla. We got to talking about the election results and the woman once again, we had met and talked a few times before, started to espouse her radical ideas she must have formed due to having grown up in the deep south and then having gotten radicalized in the sixties. While I suppose that she is right in that the patriarchy is at it's most dangerous, like an abusive husband, at the very time that they realize their loss of power and dominion over another - violence can never ever be the answer! Like a Jungian animus dominated, crazed woman she spouted slogans and labels in the service of advocating a violent rebellion. This woman was though not crazy, spoke coherently with eyes bright and shiny and plenty of passion. I will never stand for violence. I told her so and walked away as I wished her well.
It bothers me this talk of violence, this acceptance by some, too many, especially Christians approving of warfare (government sanctioned violence) or from within the Occupy movement where supposedly extreme measures were warranted by extreme situations. After Gandhi liberated India through non-violent means, after a mature Nelson Mandela brought about a mainly peaceful transfer of power in South Africa, we have no right to fall back on archaic (and asinine as Vietnam Vet Ray Masterson would call it) means of resolving serious differences. The white male patriarchy will die out, they are already being replaced by a younger, more tolerant, more educated population, this is what our last election showed us clearly. Impatience for a new world, a more tolerant, a more for people - less for profit oriented world will yield nothing. Impatience has never been a sign of virtue. We have to chose the moral high ground, we have to do what is right and what is kind and keep our long term goals in sight; a better world, more just for all!
