If only we could always say our truths–if we could name the things that haunt us–maybe they could float up from us like the kind of helium that the birds would sip in the treetops. Then they would make us laugh and laugh. — Rita Zoey Chin
In the mid-1800s, John Godfrey Saxe wrote a poem entitled, “The Blind Men and the Elephant.”
About six blind men who attempted to understand what an elephant was like, and so approached one to better grasp the concept.
The first smacked up against the elephant’s solid side, describing it as being like a wall.
The second discovered a tusk, and its sharp point, determined it was like a spear.
The third handled the trunk, and observed this squirming elephant was similar to a snake.
A tree was how the fourth man described the elephant after confronting its leg.
Upon encountering an ear, the fifth man noted that an elephant was comparable to a fan.
Finally, the tail reminded the sixth man of a rope.
The last verse of the poem summed up their experiences in this way:
“And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!”
Something I wonder about.
An admired athlete eats a tainted burrito, let’s say, and she is disappeared and suddenly dead to almost all.
Yet those same fans will cast their ballot A THIRD TIME for the next leader of the free world on behalf of a serial-groping, serial-grifting, tax- & draft-dodging proto-fascist liar who wants to sleep with his own daughter.
If we are going to live our politics the same way we live our sports, I’d like to see more consistency, please.
Alberto is credibly accused by one woman, they take his name off the building. He never coaches again.
Orange Jesus is credibly accused by A COUPLE OF DOZEN women and the other team calls this guy a savior.
I am confused.
Think a lot about perspective. How would you feel in their shoes?
The fans, I mean.
When someone refers to the situational perspective, he believes a strong adherence to principles and rules is problematic without looking at the context of a situation.
By focusing on a situational perspective, you evaluate and make judgments based on each, distinct, situation instead of using rigid rules to guide every situation one comes upon.
According to David L. Martinson, the situation one is in has a large impact on how to make a moral judgment. Practically every situation is different from any other situation based on setting, the communicators, or the message being conveyed which is what the situational perspective is based on. Based on whom one is talking to determines the ethics one would use in that situation.
If one were to talk with a school principal they would act and talk differently because they know there are specific guidelines expected in that environment. When one talks to a school principal it is expected for said person to show them respect by saying “yes, sir” and “no, sir.” One would not apply this principle when hanging out with friends.
Bartleby.com
This is especially important for deprogramming cult members. School children, too.
And suppose the school principal is a raging asshole?
What then?
“Yes, asshole, sir” and “No, asshole, sir.”
Just depends on the situation, I guess.
Can you believe these are my customers?,” Donald Trump once asked while surveying the crowd in the Taj Mahal casino’s poker room.
“Look at those losers,” he said to his consultant Tom O’Neil, of people spending money on the floor of the Trump Plaza casino.
Visiting the Iowa State Fair as a presidential candidate in 2015, he was astounded that locals fell in line to support him because of a few free rides in his branded helicopter.
In the White House, he was sometimes stunned at his own backers’ fervor, telling aides, “They’re fucking crazy.”
Yet they loved him and wanted to own a piece of him, and that was what mattered most.
From Maggie Haberman’s “Three Conversations With Donald Trump”
‘Yet they loved him…”
They just wanted a piece.
And love is blind.
Situational ethics still seems a tad oxymoronic for me.
Situational perspective – it all depends on how you look at it and from where – appears more defensible.
More forgiving.
And if you really, really love somebody, forgiveness comes more easily.
One of the most important things is to recognize that we do have this mounting violence in us, and then to find the reasons — and then once you find that, it’s like curing a boil… The same venom that the [Hell’s] Angels are spitting out in public, a lot of people are just keeping bottled up in private.
I think this technological science of obsolescence — the fact that people are becoming obsolete — the people who are most affected by this technological obsolescence are the ones least capable of understanding the reasons for it. So the venom builds up much quicker — it feeds on their ignorance.
Until you recognize what’s happening, what makes you do these wild things … it’s like an albatross around your neck.
Hunter S. Thompson
Fear is an albatross.
Greed, too.
Weakness creates its own perspective.
Too slow to beat the Africans – cheat.
Too old to beat the calendar – cheat.
Too creepy to win the popular vote – cheat.
Meanwhile, who is to say what’s too slow, you’re too old, he’s too creepy?
You are.
Only you.
What you feel, right where you stand.
Be brave.
It’s easier than you think.
Brave.
