where things are not what they seem
September 21, 2010 (Tuesday)
I think I must have fallen through a rabbit hole. I get a strange feeling I’m in Wonderland, a very strange place indeed where the Texans are 2-0 and the Cowboys are 0-2. As Alice would say, “Curiouser and curiouser!”
Philosopher Alice would repeat the same remarks if she were asked about American politics today. Perhaps she might refer us to her adventures and her conversation with the Cat:
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
I wonder if she would have yelled back at the T.V. during the evening news yesterday when it was reported that the Recession, worst since the Great Depression, ended in June, 2009. Perhaps she would repeat, “I don’t believe there’s an atom of meaning in it.” Economists define recovery one way, the workers another and businesses still another. For me personally, the recession will be “over” when people go back to work and businesses make a good profit.
In Wonderland, hardly anything made sense. Our country is getting more like that as time goes by. We’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years that have resulted in a divided nation that seeks answers to its problems by continuing to make the same mistakes. One of our gravest mistakes has been the jetisoning of personal faith by individual Americans, and blind acceptance of value systems based on theories that will ultimately fail the test of time.
“I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!” (straight from Alice to us).