Kurt Vonnegut Jr. died the other day. Much has been written about him since, by people far more familiar with his works than I, so I will not bore you with my ignorant musings about him. But I will commend to you his essay entitled “Cold Turkey”, written in 2004. A few excerpts:
Many years ago, I was so innocent I still considered it possible that we could become the humane and reasonable America so many members of my generation used to dream of. We dreamed of such an America during the Great Depression, when there were no jobs. And then we fought and often died for that dream during the Second World War, when there was no peace.
But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America’s becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.
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How about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. …
And so on.
Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.
For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.
“Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break!
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There is a tragic flaw in our precious Constitution, and I don’t know what can be done to fix it. This is it: Only nut cases want to be president.
But, when you stop to think about it, only a nut case would want to be a human being, if he or she had a choice. Such treacherous, untrustworthy, lying and greedy animals we are!
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April 13th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Mike DeFreitas
Thanks for this post. Of all of the tribute blogs, this one touched me the most since it hit on one of the things I loved most about the man. The loss of Kurt Vonnegut isn’t so much the loss of a great writer, but the loss of a man with a love and understanding for the human race that most of us will never achieve. I know that I myself am still trying and have a long way to go.
It’s funny – most will say that it’s hard to feel sad about 84 well-lived years. It’s a struggle for me to adopt that viewpoint though when it seems that he had enough to teach the rest of us to keep him busy for a very long time.
April 15th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Wild Bill
To bad Kurt’s mama didn’t make a choice before he was born.
April 15th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
meatbrain
“Wild Bill” is pissed because I pointed out what a moron his buddy Justin Higgins is. There is a great likelihood that “Wild Bill” has never read any of Vonnegut’s books, and is therefore speaking from pure ignorance.
While most people understand ignorance to be a disadvantage, for “Wild Bill” and his ilk it’s actually a badge of honor. “Pathetic” doesn’t even begin to describe the “Wild Bill” way of life.
May 4th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Wild Bill
blah blah blah, my IQ is higher than yours eatbrain, I scored higher on the SAT and ACT then you did. You are right I have not read any of Vonnegut’s books nor would I.
“Pathetic”, that is hilarious from a guy that has a blog about things that piss him off about conservative bloggers. Dickbrain sack up move out of your parent’s basement.
May 4th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
meatbrain
Ah… fact-free claims and an admission of abject ignorance: exactly what one would expect from a wingnut of “Wild Bill’s” stripe.