At least, in theory, that was Rosa Luxemburg's belief as she and Karl Liebknecht led their Spartacist League comrades into the streets of Berlin as World War I was ending, both for Kaiser Wilhelm and Imperial Germany. Despite their sincerity and well-meaning, they lost a lot more than just the discussion to the overwhelming logic, eloquence and (most especially) arms of the Freikorps, as Germany began a descent into madness that drove all of Europe and nearly all of the world into a darkness that lasted until May of 1945.
Being a nice person who means well, goes only so far. I visit an endocrinologist who is probably a very nice man with many, if not all, of his other patients. Being the persnickety and prickly person that I am (a/k/a 'a pain in the' well-known body part), I can't really afford the luxury of having a pal as my physician.
I actually need someone who scares me into doing the right thing to avoid punishment/conflict, because while the reward for doing the right thing should be, indeed, the knowledge that you have done the right thing, that idea doesn't seem to ring the bell for me.
Not sure why and suspect my doctor doesn't know why either.
Neither of us actually care-we're not going shoe-shopping or picking out drapes for the waiting room (though, sitting out there yesterday, I couldn't help but feel some new ones might be in order; but I digress).
Life is choices and maybe one of the bigger ones is:
do you surround yourself with people who mean well, but don't necessarily do well? (I call them stumblebunnies. I used to have another name for them, but my wife made me stop using it in front of the kids)
Or do you embrace those who can get done that which you, and they, feel needs to be done?
The right thing isn't always the popular thing. Last week's crowd at the parade in your honor are now an angry mob howling for your head. Feel free to review the New Testament for an illustration of that concept. What can you do except be true to the vision you have of what "right" is.
As Rosa less famously, but more presciently, noted, "Freedom is always, and exclusively, for the one who thinks differently."
Be an exclamation, not an explanation.
-bill kenny
1 comment:
quite interesting article. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did you learn that some chinese hacker had hacked twitter yesterday again.
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