Tonight key elections take place, my Commonwealth of Virginia's gubernatorial race being one of them. What is my wish list? (1) That the doubling rivalry amongst bipartisan politicians might end (Hey, this a private blog. Dream large). I am awaiting a candidate who, when he wins, does not do an end-zone dance, either in policy or in front of the microphones of the MSM; who is sufficiently neurotic not want to be the winner, actually, rather than the recent crop of crotchety, growling Senex types from the right or limp-wrist messiah-wannabees from the left with their accompanying character disorders. (Neither could see they failed or erred if they wanted to.)
(2) That we regain what G. K. Chesterton appealed to as mere ”common sense” and a return to an un-Enlightment appreciation for the joys of Catholic faith and morals gone from the West these many hundreds of years. The Church keeps the flames of this signal fire alight; the world does its level best to put it out and replace it with its sacrificial pyres of unredeemed paganism. Wouldn't Nietzsche be pleased.
(3) That we take a holiday from the cartoonish caricatures of sound byte ideology, theology, and what passes for "news" for a while. Turn off the TV. Pick up a book. Relearn to be an active thinker instead of a passive recipient of nugget information. As Eliot implored,
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
– The Rock (1934)
I'd take a solar flare knocking out the world's power grids for 36-hours - just 36-hours - to show us how well we can all get along without world and national news. Maybe even all those trucks carrying goods to Walmart would halt and give Mom-n-Pop stores a leg up, too.
It is a dream I have.
No comments:
Post a Comment