Un-Feathered Bipeds
Feb. 16th, 2024 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
corvid_conquestWhen canines roamed the ancient street,
They lived refused and shut in jars,
No trinkets chained their legs — so sweet
Was life, and not constrained by bars.
Though struggle was their lot content,
They would deface the currencies
Of lesser worth, and not relent
In doggèd chase of liberties.
Yet now they're gone, their flame was snuffed
Amid neurotic social norms;
And this prophetic sage rebuffed
Will die in charitied reforms.
The normal person always lies
Unto themselves until it dies.
Honest Cynicism contra Misanthropy
There was a time — two full decades back — when I hated humanity. Humanity seemed so insufferably populated by wretched and vile persons, that I denied that I was human. My outrage formulated a quasi-Therian identity in me. (I add the prefix, quasi-, because I am still unsure how genuine it was.) This too, attracted even more derision from my peers as I moved into middle school. When I moved to a different city, and to protect myself, I shed this identity. But, still some unattended emotions lingered. Humanity is, after all, capable of more incredible evil than that 10-year old me could have imagined. Why would an omni-benevolant God permit the continued existence of humanity? This was a recurring question for me. To not extinguish humans seemed like folly.
Recently, not even a week ago, the question resurfaced. I cannot entirely understand it, but if a human can refrain from carrying out the evil they are so easily capable — and thus does refrain — I wonder what potential for good they hold. The simple act of restraint is already an immense good, considering this; however, they can be good. Sometimes they are, in fact, good.
Consider what makes someone bad. What causes this? I have heard numerous answers. They say power corrupts. However, I disagree. Power itself does not corrupt, but corrupt people naturally seek out power. Does money change people? Well, money is a form of power. Power does not necessarily corrupt. Again, the corrupt typically are the most ardent at seeking out money. Well, that leads me to notice something. The corrupt hold money and power out of a corrupt desire. Are people bad because they desire the wrong things? I think that, perhaps, this is an adequate answer.
The ancient Cynics were successors to Socrates. They interpreted Socrates by stating, with their very lifestyle, that virtue was the supreme good. They went so far as to shun material wealth and power however they could, all so they could more easily live according to their nature. Although they looked down on the vanities of the people around them, especially the elites, they were not total misanthropes. They were arguing through their actions that humans should instead become who they actually are, because that is the best desire.
Now, I am also a Christian. The initial question must be settled. Humanity bears the Image of God, but has forgotten that they do. The lesser idols of greed currently hold their sway. The privilege of stewardship has been abused. But there are still those pure of heart seeing the hidden God, and He has become self-evident to them. And He has compelled them to become who they truly are, with the guide from the model of Christ.
The plume in black is rising ever higher
Upon the wind pulsating with desire.
~ Michel-Vincent Corbeaux
They lived refused and shut in jars,
No trinkets chained their legs — so sweet
Was life, and not constrained by bars.
Though struggle was their lot content,
They would deface the currencies
Of lesser worth, and not relent
In doggèd chase of liberties.
Yet now they're gone, their flame was snuffed
Amid neurotic social norms;
And this prophetic sage rebuffed
Will die in charitied reforms.
The normal person always lies
Unto themselves until it dies.
Honest Cynicism contra Misanthropy
There was a time — two full decades back — when I hated humanity. Humanity seemed so insufferably populated by wretched and vile persons, that I denied that I was human. My outrage formulated a quasi-Therian identity in me. (I add the prefix, quasi-, because I am still unsure how genuine it was.) This too, attracted even more derision from my peers as I moved into middle school. When I moved to a different city, and to protect myself, I shed this identity. But, still some unattended emotions lingered. Humanity is, after all, capable of more incredible evil than that 10-year old me could have imagined. Why would an omni-benevolant God permit the continued existence of humanity? This was a recurring question for me. To not extinguish humans seemed like folly.
Recently, not even a week ago, the question resurfaced. I cannot entirely understand it, but if a human can refrain from carrying out the evil they are so easily capable — and thus does refrain — I wonder what potential for good they hold. The simple act of restraint is already an immense good, considering this; however, they can be good. Sometimes they are, in fact, good.
Consider what makes someone bad. What causes this? I have heard numerous answers. They say power corrupts. However, I disagree. Power itself does not corrupt, but corrupt people naturally seek out power. Does money change people? Well, money is a form of power. Power does not necessarily corrupt. Again, the corrupt typically are the most ardent at seeking out money. Well, that leads me to notice something. The corrupt hold money and power out of a corrupt desire. Are people bad because they desire the wrong things? I think that, perhaps, this is an adequate answer.
The ancient Cynics were successors to Socrates. They interpreted Socrates by stating, with their very lifestyle, that virtue was the supreme good. They went so far as to shun material wealth and power however they could, all so they could more easily live according to their nature. Although they looked down on the vanities of the people around them, especially the elites, they were not total misanthropes. They were arguing through their actions that humans should instead become who they actually are, because that is the best desire.
Now, I am also a Christian. The initial question must be settled. Humanity bears the Image of God, but has forgotten that they do. The lesser idols of greed currently hold their sway. The privilege of stewardship has been abused. But there are still those pure of heart seeing the hidden God, and He has become self-evident to them. And He has compelled them to become who they truly are, with the guide from the model of Christ.
The plume in black is rising ever higher
Upon the wind pulsating with desire.
~ Michel-Vincent Corbeaux
