Eat, Drink and Be Merry
Here we are on Valentine's day and I was sharing a romantic dinner with my Valentine wondering why I've invested so much in my vision of morality, ethics and honor. I found myself confronting my fundamental belief that we (human and every other being on the planet) are here merely by accident. Though I do believe that there's a freedom in that perception that actually permits (if not demands) a higher standard of morality and behavior than all the "we're here due to design and for a purpose" mindsets -- I also had to question why I even bother.
After all, if humanity is nothing more than a random collision of molecules, why not just "party?" I've never made a secret of the fact that, in general, I find humanity extremely lacking. So why not take a few of the suckers out, live off the "takings" and have a grand old time of it (at least until I'm rounded up or take myself out before such a tragedy could befall.)
As I sit here writing this I have to admit that I really don't know. I'm so rigidly oriented toward my ideology of "do unto others," etc. that at my most sober moments (regardless of how much I've had to drink) I have to wonder -- "what the f* is that all about?" I do believe the world wouldn't suffer if I were to take out some of the people who (IMHO) contribute to the overall angst of the world much more than they do to the "common good" (whatever the hell that means.)
So that was my romantic evening. Telling the love of my life that it might make no less sense if I were to take up arms and wipe some of the "bad guys" off the planet as opposed to sweating the effort of trying to do things "the right way." In doing so, perhaps I could try on their clothes, utilize their money or sleep with their women. Sadly, I have to admit that I've had worse days than those about which I've just speculated.
Not to alarm my lady love, I reassured her that this wasn't imminent or even likely. I guess I was just feeling like a big sucker, if not a stupid one, for adhering so rigidly to an ethos that I can't even chalk up to a higher power. It's a mindset that, if I seriously think about it, I merely "adopted," albeit with fierce committment.
Dinner was good. My lady love looked beautiful and I expect tomorrow will be much like the day before. But if one day you turn on the news and hear about one of those "loonies" who just simply decided to, with nothing more than a shrug, "go for it," perphaps you'll understand that, when it comes to reaping the benefits of this life, we all have different opinions of what those benefits are. And unless there truly is a higher authority to lower our GPA, our ethics (and as history as shown us, even the most devotedly religious can behave horribly) are nothing more than the whimsy of any given day.
That said, "Happy Valentine's Day." I hope most of you enjoy it. As for the rest of you -- the hell with you.
After all, if humanity is nothing more than a random collision of molecules, why not just "party?" I've never made a secret of the fact that, in general, I find humanity extremely lacking. So why not take a few of the suckers out, live off the "takings" and have a grand old time of it (at least until I'm rounded up or take myself out before such a tragedy could befall.)
As I sit here writing this I have to admit that I really don't know. I'm so rigidly oriented toward my ideology of "do unto others," etc. that at my most sober moments (regardless of how much I've had to drink) I have to wonder -- "what the f* is that all about?" I do believe the world wouldn't suffer if I were to take out some of the people who (IMHO) contribute to the overall angst of the world much more than they do to the "common good" (whatever the hell that means.)
So that was my romantic evening. Telling the love of my life that it might make no less sense if I were to take up arms and wipe some of the "bad guys" off the planet as opposed to sweating the effort of trying to do things "the right way." In doing so, perhaps I could try on their clothes, utilize their money or sleep with their women. Sadly, I have to admit that I've had worse days than those about which I've just speculated.
Not to alarm my lady love, I reassured her that this wasn't imminent or even likely. I guess I was just feeling like a big sucker, if not a stupid one, for adhering so rigidly to an ethos that I can't even chalk up to a higher power. It's a mindset that, if I seriously think about it, I merely "adopted," albeit with fierce committment.
Dinner was good. My lady love looked beautiful and I expect tomorrow will be much like the day before. But if one day you turn on the news and hear about one of those "loonies" who just simply decided to, with nothing more than a shrug, "go for it," perphaps you'll understand that, when it comes to reaping the benefits of this life, we all have different opinions of what those benefits are. And unless there truly is a higher authority to lower our GPA, our ethics (and as history as shown us, even the most devotedly religious can behave horribly) are nothing more than the whimsy of any given day.
That said, "Happy Valentine's Day." I hope most of you enjoy it. As for the rest of you -- the hell with you.
posted by Larry Hertzog at 8:20 PM
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