I was just reminded that people have two reactions when they are corrected on a matter of fact; being happy to learn or taking it as a personal attack. I’m in the first group but have to keep in mind that others are in the second. I find it difficult to keep quiet in a public forum as I don’t want others to be misinformed. On the other hand correcting grammar is just annoying. I’ll sometimes correct spelling by using the word myself and spelling it correctly. I still get annoyed every time I think of the woman that asked people to proofread something she was preparing then got upset with me when I pointed out that she said “interview” where she meant “survey.” She said she wanted her “interview” to be perfect, but just wanted praise.
I finally wasn’t awakened by coughing or pain in my palate. Last night I was awakened for my first digestive issues in a month. I can’t win. I still have the cough and canker but meds keep them under control. Oragel is weird, it’s peppermint flavored like toothpaste. It makes your mouth cold while numbing it. There are no instructions on how to apply it. I just put it on my fingertip. I have a helluva gag reflex. This is appropriate, after writing about not sleeping, I feel asleep. I woke up and found Word in a Review mode that I had no idea how to get out of. I had somehow inserted comments too. My fingers were resting on the keyboard while I slept.
I’m not going to write what I planned, an explanation of social democracy, which is very much not socialism. I’m afraid of falling into Dunning-Krueger territory. I know more about it than most people, but not nearly enough to trust myself to discuss it. I know. I’ll just write my analogy.
When most people say they don’t like capitalism, what they mean is that they don’t like the extreme orthodoxy of the right. All the European countries that people think we should emulate, even the Nordic ones are capitalist; they are for the most part market economies; corporate giant Ikea is based in Sweden. Saying that you are against capitalism, because you don’t like unregulated business and want a safety net is like saying you don’t like Judaism because you don’t approve of the sexist, severely prescribed beliefs of the Haredim. You can still be Jewish while following the Conservative, Reform, or Reconstructionist movements. You can still be a capitalist and not think that markets are perfect and sometimes need government intervention. This has long been misunderstood by the right which denies the possibility of market failures, and their calling anything else “socialism” has led people into thinking they are socialists. It’s like the Orthodox in Israel having a monopoly on questions of Judaism. You can be flexible and not be forced into widely separated boxes.
I try to write the things I think about when I’m by myself. That’s one of the things that often come to mind. Religion enters my thoughts. Here’s something I don’t even need to spend much time on as I am more interested in you thinking about it than telling you what I think. If you believe in God or gods how would the world differ if there were no deity or deities? If you don’t believe, how would the world differ if there were one or more deities? The idea is to move your beliefs beyond words into observables. If there is no difference then your beliefs have no consequences.
Being up all night from the pain in my mouth and my cough led to thoughts in strange directions, even from my perspective. I spent one entire night thinking about the Green Lantern. I’m not sure if I’ve read any Green Lantern Comics though I’ve come across him in crossovers. I’m not a big comic book reader. Yet one night something led to me reading the Green Lantern article in Wikipedia and it kept invading my thoughts.
Last night I spent a lot of time thinking of something that makes more sense for me, The works of J.R.R Tolkien. I’ve read LOTR and the Hobbit over 50 times so I have a lot of thoughts. One line of thought says a lot about my mind set. There are many classic stories of revenge. It comes up all the time in Expanse, what I’m binging on now. I love perhaps the archetype revenge tale, The Count of Monte Cristo. But the Hobbit and LOTR are the very opposite, they are founded in mercy and pity. The only reason the quest to destroy the ring succeeded was because, Bilbo, the Wood Elves, Frodo, and finally Sam, had pity on Gollum and didn’t kill him or even treat him harshly. The key event that led to all others is that even with his life at stake, Bilbo would not kill Gollum when escaping from the goblin cave.
Bilbo almost stopped breathing, and went stiff himself. He was desperate. He must get away, out of this horrible darkness, while he had any strength left. He must fight. He must stab the foul thing, put its eyes out, kill it. It meant to kill him. No, not a fair fight. He was invisible now. Gollum had no sword. Gollum had not actually threatened to kill him, or tried to yet. And he was miserable, alone, lost. A sudden understanding, a pity mixed with horror, welled up in Bilbo’s heart: a glimpse of endless unmarked days without light or hope of betterment, hard stone, cold fish, sneaking and whispering. All these thoughts passed in a flash of a second. He trembled. And then quite suddenly in another flash, as if lifted by a new strength and resolve, he leaped.
Gandalf explained its importance.
“Frodo: ‘It’s a pity Bilbo didn’t kill Gollum when he had the chance.’
Gandalf: ‘Pity? It’s a pity that stayed Bilbo’s hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play in it, for good or evil, before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many.’“But this is terrible!” cried Frodo. “Far worse than the worst that I imagined from your hints and warnings. O Gandalf, best of friends, what am I to do? For now I am really afraid. What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!”
“Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.”
This has always resonated with me. I think of it every time I read or watch a story, sometimes a true one, where someone kills for revenge. I think about it when I consider the death penalty. I don’t believe in magic or fate or karma. I don’t think pity and mercy is naturally rewarded. I do think it’s good for the world and good for the person who feels the need for revenge. Another English writer put it very well.
Wise Madness 