We're in a time of trouble indeed. We've elected a president who is unfit for office, and, if left unchecked, will most likely cause a lot of damage both here and abroad. As I made clear in previous essays available on my blog, Trump is a pathological narcissist; he is, yes, mentally ill. This is not a partisan position; nobody wants, or should want, an incompetent, impulsive, troubled, egomaniacal bully in the White House.
I'm pleased, however, that resistance to his racist, misogynist, anti-Muslim positions is on the rise. I'm writing this at a time of mass protests regarding his recent bizarre, anti-American executive directive that no one from seven Muslim-majority countries be allowed entry into the United States for the next 90 days. (Why is it bizarre? I'll give one reason: citizens of Saudia Arabia are responsible for more terrorist actions against the United States than the population of all the seven proscribed countries combined.) He must be stopped by non-violent means.
While reflecting on the state of the world today, some of my neurons sent messages to other neurons in their Google-like search for recondite memories that apply. My mind, on separate occasions, received, as if out of nowhere, four quotes while watching the news--news which elicited from my astonished mouth exclamations such as "OMG!" or "WTF??!!" each time. They are perhaps nothing more than one mind's responses to mindlessness from the White House; they also might cause your neurons to send messages to the muscles in your neck, so that you, dear reader, nod your head in agreement. If the quotes increase your understanding of the present situation even slightly, and, better yet: if they increase your resolve to resist, the purpose of this essay will have been met.
First Quote : Was Hände bauen, können Hände stürzen, What hands build, hands can tear down
This line comes from Act l, Scene 3 in Friedrich Schiller's famous play, Wilhelm Tell. I had read the play earlier, but this quote stayed in my mind only after I heard an actor speak it on stage. (I don't remember much else; I must have seen the play in Germany at some time between 1965 and 1966). It deeply impressed me, since the quote is still fresh in mind, although I have never read the play again, or seen it performed since.
In the play, Hapsburg bullies are attempting to annex the Swiss cantons. Gessler, the tyrant governor, has constructed an enormous dungeon, striking terror in the minds of the people. What follows is my translation of the moment when the quote which we are discussing occurs:
Master Steinmetz
O Sir, if you could only see the dungeon
among the rubble. Yes, whoever is imprisoned there
will never hear the cock crow ever again.
Stauffacher
Oh, God!
Master Steinmetz
Observe the sidewalls and the buttresses;
they stand as if built for eternity!
Tell
What hands build, hands can tear down.
(pointing to the mountains)
God has established the house of freedom.
Schiller was an idealist and firmly believed in the power of individuals to transform society for the better. Written over one hundred years before Word War l's bloody introduction to the horrors of the past century, the play evinces Schiller's belief that
progress is inevitable. There can be no turning back.
Kant defined the Enlightenment as "the withdrawal of human beings from their self-caused immaturity." Once the light of reason dawns upon the world, gradually dispelling the darkness of ignorance, societal improvement cannot be halted. There will be no tyrants left at high noon, and the day of justice and freedom, one supposes, will last forever.
We can no longer share that degree of idealism. Yet, we have reason to be optimistic; faith in life and in ourselves is part of human nature. The difference between Schiller's time and ours is the conviction of the former that very good times will come in the near future. Yes, our epoch asserts, we might come to the top of the mountain, but it's Everest, Schiller, it sure ain't a hill. We moderns know only too well that the ignorant armies of greed against greed, power against power, and prejudice against prejudice will clash by night and fight us all the way.
We might not be able to swallow it whole, but I think a dose of Schillerian optimism is much needed in these difficult times and will do us much good.
As you might have guessed, the quote came to mind as our misguided president proceeds with the building of an inhumane and unnecessary wall between Mexico and the United States.
When I first heard this quote, so long ago, I shrugged it off as another example of Schillerian naivete. How can the two hands of David tear down the walls built by Goliaths? How can two hands tear down the brutal edifice of fascism? But what if we join hands and prevent those edifices from being constructed? If we don't do it sooner, we just might live to regret the later for the rest of our lives.
Interpret the quote figuratively. Replace "hands" with "resistance," "wall" with "threats to democracy and justice". Thus, the quote can be applied to our current sad state of affairs as follows: Trump is constructing dangerous and irresponsible walls; we can tear them down.
Better yet: let's act like grownups and do the right thing now.
Part ll will follow soon.
I'm pleased, however, that resistance to his racist, misogynist, anti-Muslim positions is on the rise. I'm writing this at a time of mass protests regarding his recent bizarre, anti-American executive directive that no one from seven Muslim-majority countries be allowed entry into the United States for the next 90 days. (Why is it bizarre? I'll give one reason: citizens of Saudia Arabia are responsible for more terrorist actions against the United States than the population of all the seven proscribed countries combined.) He must be stopped by non-violent means.
While reflecting on the state of the world today, some of my neurons sent messages to other neurons in their Google-like search for recondite memories that apply. My mind, on separate occasions, received, as if out of nowhere, four quotes while watching the news--news which elicited from my astonished mouth exclamations such as "OMG!" or "WTF??!!" each time. They are perhaps nothing more than one mind's responses to mindlessness from the White House; they also might cause your neurons to send messages to the muscles in your neck, so that you, dear reader, nod your head in agreement. If the quotes increase your understanding of the present situation even slightly, and, better yet: if they increase your resolve to resist, the purpose of this essay will have been met.
First Quote : Was Hände bauen, können Hände stürzen, What hands build, hands can tear down
This line comes from Act l, Scene 3 in Friedrich Schiller's famous play, Wilhelm Tell. I had read the play earlier, but this quote stayed in my mind only after I heard an actor speak it on stage. (I don't remember much else; I must have seen the play in Germany at some time between 1965 and 1966). It deeply impressed me, since the quote is still fresh in mind, although I have never read the play again, or seen it performed since.
In the play, Hapsburg bullies are attempting to annex the Swiss cantons. Gessler, the tyrant governor, has constructed an enormous dungeon, striking terror in the minds of the people. What follows is my translation of the moment when the quote which we are discussing occurs:
Master Steinmetz
O Sir, if you could only see the dungeon
among the rubble. Yes, whoever is imprisoned there
will never hear the cock crow ever again.
Stauffacher
Oh, God!
Master Steinmetz
Observe the sidewalls and the buttresses;
they stand as if built for eternity!
Tell
What hands build, hands can tear down.
(pointing to the mountains)
God has established the house of freedom.
Schiller was an idealist and firmly believed in the power of individuals to transform society for the better. Written over one hundred years before Word War l's bloody introduction to the horrors of the past century, the play evinces Schiller's belief that
progress is inevitable. There can be no turning back.
Kant defined the Enlightenment as "the withdrawal of human beings from their self-caused immaturity." Once the light of reason dawns upon the world, gradually dispelling the darkness of ignorance, societal improvement cannot be halted. There will be no tyrants left at high noon, and the day of justice and freedom, one supposes, will last forever.
We can no longer share that degree of idealism. Yet, we have reason to be optimistic; faith in life and in ourselves is part of human nature. The difference between Schiller's time and ours is the conviction of the former that very good times will come in the near future. Yes, our epoch asserts, we might come to the top of the mountain, but it's Everest, Schiller, it sure ain't a hill. We moderns know only too well that the ignorant armies of greed against greed, power against power, and prejudice against prejudice will clash by night and fight us all the way.
We might not be able to swallow it whole, but I think a dose of Schillerian optimism is much needed in these difficult times and will do us much good.
As you might have guessed, the quote came to mind as our misguided president proceeds with the building of an inhumane and unnecessary wall between Mexico and the United States.
When I first heard this quote, so long ago, I shrugged it off as another example of Schillerian naivete. How can the two hands of David tear down the walls built by Goliaths? How can two hands tear down the brutal edifice of fascism? But what if we join hands and prevent those edifices from being constructed? If we don't do it sooner, we just might live to regret the later for the rest of our lives.
Interpret the quote figuratively. Replace "hands" with "resistance," "wall" with "threats to democracy and justice". Thus, the quote can be applied to our current sad state of affairs as follows: Trump is constructing dangerous and irresponsible walls; we can tear them down.
Better yet: let's act like grownups and do the right thing now.
Part ll will follow soon.
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