Monthly Archives: February 2022

Liberty and Justice for All

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After reading a definitive, in-depth account of the conflicting narratives between the various parties involved in the American Revolution it occurs to me how amazing it is that any sort of resolution was ever reached, deeply flawed as it was.

Liberty and justice for all was far from the truth of what occurred during and after the war. Moneyed interests controlled the economy to the detriment of the small landowners, Native American populations were pressured off tribal lands, Black Americans were returned to forced servitude. Widespread unrest prompted the founding fathers to push for a restrictive democracy, granting increasing power to the federal government. Congressional checks and balances negated sought after control by special interest groups.

200 years later I guess a certain equity has obtained. Many, assured as they are of equal treatment under the law have freedom to speak their views and can realize a reasonably stable existence even though ‘liberty and justice for all’ is far from a reality.

Climate Change Anxiety

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I’ve been reading about a newly recognized mental illness people are suffering caused by extreme anxieties regarding climate change. The disease has spawned a new science, ecopsychology, that’s aimed at helping sufferers deal with the angst brought about by the knowledge of an increasingly imperiled environment.

The ecopsychologists certainly have their hands full given that their patients’ concerns are very real, smothering the Earth, as we are, with copious amounts of carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gas emissions that inhibit the dispersion of the Earth’s surface heat is resulting in the melting of the polar ice caps, the raising of sea levels and extreme weather events; the fear of ecological disaster is a pretty reasonable psychosis to suffer.

Lest I find myself in a similar psychotic state, I’ll try to temper my carbon footprint, reduce my fossil fuel use, find alternatives to my carbon-centric lifestyle, buy locally, walk or bike instead of drive; things not so easily done in a northern winter especially now as I dream of escape to warmer climes requiring significant road miles or, even worse, flight time. Still, my awareness of the problem and a few meager efforts will hopefully sustain my sanity, keep me from requiring clinical assistance.

A Meaningful Existence

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It occurs to me that although a majority of people look forward to being relieved of the responsibilities (and tedium) working for a living entails, that, after a while, maybe a few months or a couple of years an existential void may very well appear in the retired person’s psyche. A certain guilt that one is no longer a contributor may have the thoughtful retiree wondering about what constitutes a meaningful existence.

Most, I suppose, find things to do: necessary activities of social support, volunteering where needed. And most everyone of sound mind will be cognizant of one’s impending mortality as physical health inevitably declines, knowing every moment must be embraced, valued. Eat well, exercise, stay healthy, experience life to its fullest.

So, along with the afternoon dances at the VFW, the early bird specials and retirement community life in the southern climes, life proves to be good.

Evil as Natural Inclination

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I’ve been reading, lately, a treatise by the 18th Century philosopher Immanuel Kant in which he determines through his meticulous thought processes that man is evil by nature. He reasons that, while man is aware of moral laws, that there are morally acceptable behaviors toward others one knows should be followed, there is at the same time a natural inclination to favor personal interests above moral concerns for others that may, when push comes to shove, result in evil behaviors.

So, I guess everyone is naturally inclined to be evil, although I suppose one could quantify degrees of evilness: whether one’s self-interest completely undermines rules of morality resulting in despicable behaviors, as opposed to those of us who occasionally find ourselves exaggerating reality for personal gain if we think we can get away with it. The latter doesn’t seem to me to be evil, exactly, but probably merits a certain sense of shame, at least a guilty conscience.

I wonder if Kant thought himself to be evil in any sense. I understand he was pretty reclusive, hardly left his home but for a daily walk around the neighborhood. He probably didn’t have the opportunity to be too evil.