There is a conversation going on here and here, perhaps everywhere, about goodness. I’m aware that the discourse in the US is frequently about good and evil. Bush refers to evil terrorists not just as individuals but as an Axis of Evil. Meanwhile, America is considered evil, as Irish humorist Dylan Moran puts it, by “the world, mainly”. Old-fashioned preachers base their philosophy on a clear distinction between the righteous and the non-righteous, derived from the Old Testament, which was itself derived from the Israelites who made a clear distinction as to who was for them and who was against them. Wherein lies the clue.
While America discusses good and evil, Israel and its antagonists each see themselves defending their women and children, their goats, camels and land, without arguing moral justification.
I find it understandable that people
- approach truth with baggage: beliefs and habits which sustain them and define reality
- seek mutual support or guidance within their community or congregation
I’ve tried to dump the baggage, I no longer seek guidance from others. I don’t claim to know better than anyone else. I don’t bow to prophets, saviours or Buddhas.
These days, my meditation is a solitary walk among trees, butterflies, nettles and the brambles; or the back streets of this town, where everyone wants to survive and flourish.
My wise men are the mechanics with oily hands in the workshops. They minister to the desperates who bring their broken-down cars and disappointed hopes. Fakery cannot fix engines. I bow to engineers for they wrestle with reality, acknowledge failure as much as success. What else is wisdom?
Our landlord (aged 19) has gone to Pakistan for 2 months to meet and marry his arranged bride‡. This morning our Nigerian neighbour downstairs offered to help get my car started. Someone in a car hire company down the road lent us some without asking who we were. Cultures seem to have different rules. Some bind themselves to honour the agreement expressed when eyes meet. But when you tie them down legally, they do their best to wriggle free, their conscience undisturbed.
We also live among Jamaicans (Karleen is one), St Vincentians, various Africans especially from Zimbabwe, Poles, Irish, Indians (Hindu & Sikh). Like congregates with like. We note differences, the prejudice is tolerant and humorous. How is it here for the aboriginal English, whose ancestors’ bones remain in this valley? Do they feel invaded?
I call myself British, not yet English. I can’t even call myself an immigrant, having been brought here unwillingly from Australia, way back in 1946; an exiled wayfarer ever since.
Three years ago, when the US-UK invasion of Iraq was imminent, I saw a poster in a shop window not far from here, urging loyal Muslims (almost certainly young Pakistanis born here) to go there and fight back. Technically I suppose this was treason, but I never heard of any fuss. It reminded me of young Englishmen in the Thirties who joined the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War in Spain, including George Orwell and Laurie Lee. Pound and Waugh fought on the other side. Neither side was evil. They were all idealists. History has a lot to tell us.
a wayfarer’s notes 
Where we are born is an accident of life. It determines to great extent the values we cherish. But the circumstance in a place is never a coincidence – most of them were in some way and to some extent pre-arranged. It is part of a structure and mechanism that was implemented in this world thousands of centuries ago. The aim of it is clear to some, beyond imagination for others. Reading the vivid description of the neighborhood you live in shows that people are only manipulable to certain extent. Of course this is a thorn in the eye of those who are onvolved in shaping conditions in this world that are necessary to achieve their aim. I wonder if ever the essence of the human spirit will be entirely disrupted, dehumanized by the machines and settings of the conditioning structures. As long as there are some capable of viewing the existence in their surroundings from a perspective as the one that is reflected in this blog, there is hope that the conditioners will not vanquish man's ability to be compassionate.
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Rage, I am glad that you have understood so well what I was trying to say. There is more to say on this subject of being a good neighbour. As you say, there are forces involved which work against this simple principle. You and I and everyone who cares need only be truthful to our essence, courageously telling what we know.
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Today I said goodbye to four youngsters from Lithuania who visited us for the second consecutive year. It is good to speak to them; they have a depth of perception that is rare among youth their age who live in western society. Each day for them is survival back home – the police is brutal, administrations are inadequate, corrupt and ruthless, there is a lack of food and an abundance of all kinds of things alien to the affluent parts of the world. Still, they continue to think and do whatever is necessary to give meaning to their lives. They are in a punk band that creates and preforms songs with lyrics that are related to the left side of the political spectrum, to mankind's ability to be compassionate and show solidarity. Their concerts are often visited by nazis who basically drop by to beat up the band and their fans. But that does not stop them from taking the stage and plaing their songs. When asking them why they take such risks they simply answer because they feel they have to and don't have a choice. There is much more behind these words than we or they are capable of expressing. Perhaps it is the innate goodness in man that is immortal. I am always full of hope for the future after seeing them. Even in times when there seems to be little reason to be optimistic.
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You have hit some very important things, here, Rage. First of all, “they continue to think and do whatever is necessary to give meaning to their lives”. I approve very much: this is more authentic & direct than “trying to do good”. Also when they “feel they have to and don't have a choice”.
Oh, let's foster that innate goodness! Coincidentally, I just heard on the news that a policeman in Norfolk has learned to speak Lithuanian, entirely on his own initiative, because there are many Lithuanian immigrants in his district, and he wants to foster good community relations.
And then I also heard on the news that Hizbollah is “winning the hearts and minds” of Lebanese affected by Israeli bombing by providing them with on-the-spot emergency aid – water, shelter etc. If it wanted, Israel could have won hearts and minds by doing the same thing! Why does this not occur to them?
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To say anything related to events related to international politics, is like dancing in a minefield in a pitchdark night. Zbigniew Bzrezinski, National Security Advisor to Jimmy Carter wrote a book called “The Grand Chessboard” in which he reveals US global aspirations. These persons attempt to manage the world like they do their companies; their plans and figures matter to them, not the people who are involved in them. Hezbollah has quite a different background, which probably accounts for their distinguished conduct. Differences continue to exist upto the concealed level where currency flows come into the picture. This is why it is so important for the managed (manipulated) people and those receiving aid from the elite manager's oppositions to become aware of what is going on behind the scenes, what causes determine strategies and what aims are influencing their lives. It might enable some to survive the passage through the minefields. This is somewhat similar to what the young Lithuanians attempt to do.
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I quite agree with you and do not mean to praise Hizbollah. They remind me of the One Order Gang, who in Spanish Town, Jamaica, extort payment from shopkeepers but give to the poor and provide free education for schoolchildren. However they are in deadly rivalry with another gang and like nothing better than to shoot up the place. As for the police they dare not enter as they are everybody's target.
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