Questions
When do they become illegal?
I have been thinking a lot about what I would have done had I lived in Germany when Hitler rose to power. Two plays I recently saw specifically asked me to think about it: Cabaret has a song “What would you do” and Mrs. Loman (a new sequel to Death of a Salesman; I saw it on Valentine’s Day) incorporates a pointed monologue wherein a character tells the audience they might think they would stand up to the Nazis and protect the vulnerable, but most people didn’t. The vast majority of people ignored all the politics and went on with their lives.
I have been thinking a lot about what it means to go on with your life while other people suffer.
I had occasion, for example, to have lunch with my new accountant, who is a super-nice guy who didn’t vote Republican in the last election, but did watch the inauguration end-to-end, and found it hilarious.
When I mentioned that one of the upcoming stated intentions of this presidency was to abolish the income tax, his face fell.
“But he can’t do that,” he said, “Where would the government get their income?”
“Dunno,” I replied. “Military sales? He didn’t say. Just announced his intention to abolish income tax.”
He looked at me as though it was my fault that this announcement had been made. “But he can’t do that; that’s illegal.”
I am ashamed to admit that I scoffed. “And that’s different, how? He is pushing the boundaries of law every day.”
“But my whole livelihood depends on taxes,” my CPA said.
I felt sad for him. But also? I feel sad for every single human who was rendered unemployed with no notice by all of these sudden sweeping changes, not to mention the recipients of meager aid (because face it, if anyone was really making money off public assistance we would be suffused in even more billionaires than we already have) or the ones whose medications are now ridiculously expensive (my own prescription went from $15 copay to $219 over a weekend).
Whatever you think of politics, you can’t love that ten thousand ordinary people have been fired. You can’t buy eggs (expensive or otherwise) without a job. AND before anyone says “you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs” - it is only the most wealthy people who dine at omelet stations. Most people throw an egg in our leftover fried rice for a little extra protein, or fry one as fast as possible to throw onto a roll and run out the door so we’re not late but still get something to eat.
There is no kindness in the way that humans are being treated right now.
Writing News:
I’ve got nothing new. I sent out a lot of poems and poetry but I haven’t heard back from anywhere. I’m off to see Urinetown this afternoon, and probably a friend’s poetry reading tonight though I was invited to play games online to keep a friend company on a hard day and I’m having a tough call between the poetry and the quiet solidarity.
For inspiration this week, I saw, as I said on Facebook, Mrs. Loman. I also saw the exhibit Luna Luna. It was not a show (I was disappointed; the marketing suggested it was an interactive, immersive experience/show) - but instead it was a pale indoor recreation of a wild outdoor event with a lot of historical artifacts explaining the exhibit. The space soared and the installation was beautiful - truly - photos don’t do it justice…but photos are the only interaction that is allowed. There are actors hired to be “artists” and these walk through the crowds ala Burning Man, but either these artists hired to be “artists” are not engaging enough or the audience was simply non-participatory. I don’t mean they aren’t encouraged to be - they just did not DO anything but stand around waiting for things to happen. The audience were documentarians, Watchers, non-participants, lurkers. It is as if we as a species have forgotten how to have fun and instead we just watch fun. I was annoyed by how many people took photos rather than immersing themselves in an experience. I also overheard at least ten random people say that the exhibit would be more fun if they were high. Which makes me again question whether we have forgotten how to have fun - or are we just self-censoring so that we are not accidentally caught having fun, unless we are under the influence of alcohol, caffeine, sugar, or drugs - then it is allowed.
“Well, I was hyped up on coffee so I…..”
Have we entirely lost our agency?
But then I was equally annoyed that almost all of the carnival (which was clearly intended to be participatory) was instead protected from interaction for the sanctity of the art.
Later in the week, I watched three of the Oscar nominees for Best Short Animated film:
Beautiful Men | Belgium/France/Netherlands | 18 minutes
Wander to Wonder | Netherlands/Belgium/France/UK | 13 minutes
Yuck! | France | 13 minutes
Honestly, these three animated films were more work and more fun and more important than anything else I’ve come across in the past week. See them if you can - especially Wander to Wonder, which is just an absolute masterpiece of mindbending madness wherein the actors of a preschool children’s show have to escape the confining strictures of their existence — and how they do this is so imaginative…. oh just see it. These shorts just got released into the wild. www.shorts.tv/theoscarshorts.
I did of course host the Pen Parentis literary salon this week (with co-host Christina Chiu). It was a deep dive conversation! Check it out. I had intended to write this week about this event because the topic was “The Existential Crisis” - which led to a lot of intricate thoughts about who we are, what it means to be alive, what a sense of purpose can and can’t do to motivate a writer… but as per usual, current events got noisy and drowned out the moment of meditative thought—I hope you can have a listen to the show through that link, and that it leads you to some realizations about your own existence here on this lovely blue planet.
Random Final Thought:
Speaking of moments of expository philosophy:
I’m not sure there is any better way to learn how a person deals with conflict than to construct or deconstruct a huge Ikea piece of furniture in a small room with them.
Happy Lithuanian Independence Day to all who celebrate!
Happy V- 16! I think too many growingbup in Front of the TV has produced the problem you have noticed about participation.