Times are contentious in the USA. Sure, it's been building, but anger, frustration, and dissatisfaction have added a barb to how many see the looming presidential election: In the two-hundred fortieth year of this democratic republic, we can do no better than this?
![[camus]](camus.gif)
It was with, perhaps, some hope for solace I again picked up Albert Camus's Notebooks 1938-1942 and saw how he, too, had lived through strife, including war, and still forged a sane perspective on the human condition.
Much of Notebooks are everyday observations, notes for literary works [including The Stranger], memorable quotes from others; but also, sprinkled throughout, timeless aphorisms.
Do we need know more about political demagogery than: “The need to be right--the sure sign of a vulgar mind."? Twelve words to encapsulate refusal of respectful, constructive dialogue. Earlier, I reviewed The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt's study of this issue that explains the “human nature” behind Camus's pithy, despairing insight.
The antidote to the self-righteousness of demonizing an opponent is not hard, but often hard to take. Camus instructs: "Rule: Start by looking for what is valid in every man." This can happen. Think of the alliance of Jesse Helms and Bono several years ago, lobbying for funds to stop the spread of AIDS in beleaguered African countries. A noble cause not taken up to “play politics,” as Bono put it.
Camus's life experience in Algiers during his writing of the Notebooks pressed upon him that escape was no choice ["The dilettante's dream of being free to hover above his time is the most ridiculous form of liberty. This is why I must serve."]. Camus refers to military service, but, alas, he was rejected for health reasons [tuberculosis being one].
And while we might view the upcoming election as not offering the right proxies for our engagement with the world, that doesn't mean our priorities need be forgotten in the hubbub.
While the large world stage seems to an uncontrolled play of the baser elements of human nature [think of Mideast violence, environmental profligacy and waste, and greed-driven financial catastrophe], Camus would say, of course, it makes no sense. "The misery and greatness of the world: It offers no truths, but only objects to love. Absurdity is king, but love saves us from it." As much as politicians would want us to believe they have an answer, the truth is they don't. Still, even the late Jesse Helms became Bono's fanboy, not out of truth, but from a greater love.
Image credit: nobelprize.org
Read Charlie Dickinson's
story collection [and feel free to share with a friend] The Cat
at Light's End, as an ebook in these downloadable
formats:
.mobi
(Kindle)
.epub (most other readers)
.pdf (for PCs)
Also, a flash fiction, "Ylena Thinks Nyet," is at Cigale Literary Magazine.
more posts
9:24:16 A 35-Year-Old Calculator
8:27:16 My Sanctuary
7:27:16 And the Weak Suffer What They Must?, a book review
7:7:16 Yogurt
6:12:16 The Squinty Prius
5:26:16 The Disconnect of Vote-by-Mail
5:17:16 The Still Pond
5:12:16 Marina and Lee, a book review
4:28:16 A Little Catechism Goes a Long Way
4:15:16 Au Revoir, Cloudburst Recycling
3:11:16 Screen Magnetism
2:4:16 We've Got Algorithms
1:18:16 Forgiving Portland's City Bus Line
12:28:15 The Gluten Lie, a book review
12:12:15 Ten Things I Buy at Dollar Tree
12:11:15 Bio-slime
12:3:15 My Logging Habit
11:11:15 The Internet Is Not the Answer, a book review
10:21:15 How I Write When I Write
10:8:15 Dentists
9:17:15 The Other Portland
8:20:15 Gods Without Men, a book review
8:19:15 Oregon's Most Obscure Traffic Law
7:31:15 A Small Death
7:23:15 China Shakes the World, a book review
7:16:15 Out Damn Spot!
5:31:15 My New Library Card
5:21:15 Let Me Be Frank With You, a book review
5:08:15 Portland's Rabbit Hutches
4:21:15 The Sea Lions at Astoria
3:26:15 Sacrificing for a Lower Water Bill
3:10:15 The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, a Book Review
2:5:15 Pinhead Books aka e-books
1:15:15 Good Riddance to Old-School Shaving!
12:20:14 Three Whys I Quit Reading a Book
12.12.14 the life-changing magic of tidying up, a book review
11.12.14 Oil Changes
10.29:14 Grapefruit
10.17:14 Doomsday Preppers, a TV series review
9.30:14 The Trigger, a book review
9:10:14 Clipboard People
8:23:14 Ukraine Diaries, a book review
8:21:14 My Home Darkroom on a Shoestring
7:29:14 Right Speech
6:28:14 Pacific Power's Wily Ways
6:20:14 My New Clarks Sandals
5:31:14 Portland's Water Woes, Again
5:10:14 Faster Dial-Up
4:11:14 Update on Stockpiling Light Bulbs
4:10:14 The Next 100 Years, a book review
3:15:14 A Cruel and Shocking Act, a book review
3:8:14 Ukraine: Another Revolution Gone Awry
2:9:14 The Flight (and Fight) of the Hummingbird
1:25:14 My Frugal Byways
1:20:14 Walden on Wheels, a book review
1:2:14 Growing Up Amish: A Memoir, a book review
12:27:13 Micro-Apartments
11:28:13 The Moneyless Man, a book review
11:23:13 The Lost Art of Walking, a book review
11:10:13 The Cultural Revolution Cookbook, a book review
10:23:13 The Biker Angel
10:11:13 No Self-Serve Gas in Oregon
9:28:13 A Street Cat Named Bob, a book review
9:23:13 The Life & Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin, a book review
9:18:13 Autumn Leaves
8:19:13 The Worst Car Driver & Why
8:12:13 The Gardener from Ochakov, a book review
7:25:13 Le Havre by Kaurismaki
7:20:13 This Ain't California
6:27:13 The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking, a book review
5:29:13 My Linux (Mis)Adventures
5:25:13 Southern Cross the Dog, a book review
5:5:13 Russian Tumbleweed
4:16:13 "The Machine Stops" by E. M.
Forster
3:26:13 Camera-rama
3:25:13 Moore's Law
3:13:13 Grocery Shopping
2:28:13 Razor Blade in Moonlight
1:27:13 Made in Russia: Unsung
Icons of Soviet Design, a book review
1:6:13 Alleys
12:9:12 White Bread, a book
review
12:4:12 Update on Old-School Shaving
11:12:12 Ten Great Buys at Dollar Tree
11:6:12 My New Russian Camera
10:29:12 Leaf Day
10:2:12 The Russian Navy in New York?
9:21:12 The Righteous Mind, a
book review
9:14:12 Revolution, 1989, a book review
8:23:12 Train Whistles in the Night
8:2:12 Why I've Stockpiled Light Bulbs
7:22:12 Old-School Shaving
7:16:12 Злектроника МК-52, computer de minimus
7:4:12 Ivan's Childhood by Tarkovsky
6:21:12 The Unabomber, a modern Thoreau?
6:12:12 Do the gods exist?
6:7:12 My "Retail Therapy"
5:28:12 On Taxes, We Should Go Green
5:17:12 Portland's Trash
5:6:12 The Toaster Project, a
book review
4:24:12 No Seconds
4:12:12 Portland's Runaway Utility Bill
4:8:12 The Repossession, a book review
3:30:12 How I Got Published in Mississippi Review
3:18:12 Rothko
3:9:12 The End of Money, a
book review
3:1:12 gutenberg.org
2:18:12 Beauty Plus Pity, a
book review
2:5:12 Kirk's Castile Soap
1:29:12 Confessions of a Fallen
Standard-Bearer, a book review
1:22:12 Thirst, a book review
1:17:12 My IBM ThinkPad 1999-2012
1:11:12 String Beans
12:22:11 Spiritual TMJ
12:16:11 1Q84, a book review
12:11:11 How Portland Became Portlandia
12:1:11 The Fixie
11:20:11 Camus' Insight
11:13:11 Old & Worthy
11:7:11 Life Is Tragic
10:31:11 A Matter of Death and Life,
a book review
10:25:11 Dead Letter, Email Fatigue
10:18:11 Reinventing Collapse,
a book review
10:11:11 Rereading Pirsig
10:1:11 The Sisters Brothers, a book review
9:26:11 The Great Stagnation, a book review
9:16:11 Coffee, The Affordable Luxury
9:12:11 The Genius of Value
9:5:11 Death
and the Penguin, a book review