2011_2_24 Cairo moves to Madison.
Dear Stan,
First of all, I can’t tell you how sickened I am by what is happening in the State senate of my home state, Wisconsin. To see what Scott Walker and other Republican governors are trying to do—crush unions, decimate the middle class, make it so their rich friends and backers in the private sector never have to pay taxes, blame the budget crisis in the states on the workers in the public sector, and refuse to do the right thing, that is, tax the wealthy which would go a long way in solving the problem of the deficits—really burns my ass, as my dad used to say. Speaking of my father, he was president of the CIO Union at Hamilton Beach, the factory he worked at in Racine for 35 years. He was president for 12 years and after his tenure in office he resembled Bill Clinton, the elder statesman whose experience was still of value to members of the union. I’m sure he is turning in his grave over what is happening in Madison: a frontal attack on not only collective bargaining, but also a questioning if unions should even exists. They want to flush down the toilet a tradition that has been around for 75 years. The only consolation is the response to this outrageous attack, as tens of thousands of local and sympathetic people have been demonstrating for the past 2 weeks and have no plans to let up until the governor, Scott Walker, agrees to remove that section in his so-called Budget Repair Bill about outlawing collective bargaining. To see the public workers react with such alacrity and passion, and in such huge numbers, warms my heart. As Paul Ryan put it, “Cairo has moved to Wisconsin.”
I posted a piece on my blog earlier today about the situation and how I viewed it; but it did not included the phone conversation that a blogger from Buffalo managed to record when he posed as Dave Koch, a billionaire businessman—an oil man-- who is one of Walker’s backers. It proves what I thought and wrote about in my article: he admits that the budget crisis was just a vehicle to achieve his main goal, which is a long time right wing ambition, stamp out the unions once and for all. The blogger who trick him into the revealing conversation was Ian Murphy. He did some research on Koch and was able to sound like him and talk like him. Walker was so full of himself he was, as Murphy put on THE LAST WORD last night, he was “oblivious” and never questioned the authenticity of the other voice on the line. He was unguarded and spilled the beans willy-nilly. He admitted the hubbub that he created around the State’s budget woes was merely a smoke screen for his real target, the public sector unions. He said “This is our moment” and I want to do “something big.” To eviscerate the unions at this time, before the 2012 election campaign gets rolling, would just about cinch a Republican victory in the fall, and of course he would be a hero of the party, maybe even its presidential candidate. One looks at Walker and it’s clear this man’s middle name is AMBITIOUS. If he were to win this first round in this class warfare, and the other Tea Party governors follow suit, he’d automatically go to the front of the class. However, the game is far from over. Indeed, a poll conducted by USA TODAY and CNN had 61% backing the union views and collective bargaining, and about 31% backing Walker’s stand. In any event, thanks to Ian Murphy the cat is out of the bag and he ain’t going back in it.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Battle Joined
2011_2_22 The Battle Joined
Events in Madison, Wisconsin, last week and continuing this week has made it clear that the Republican party is the captive of its ultra-conservative wing who are hell-bent on this mission: “to take the country back.” That has been the mantra of the Tea Party folks since their inception. Sarah Palin uses the phrase often as well. They want to take it back to the time when WASPs were on the top of the social heap, when business had a freer hand, when regulations were minimal for business, when minorities knew their place, and when government was small and ineffective. The Far Right would also love to roll back the union movement to the dark ages, especially the public-sector unions, who, it should be known, contributed $200 million to Obama camping in 2008. If they could eliminate the opportunity to put that much into the 2012 election that would be a big plus for Republican chances to sweep in 2012, with a THANK-YOU nod toward the Supreme Court for their ruling that Corporations were comparable to persons and therefore could spend as much as they like on their candidates.
Now the newly elected Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, 43, steps forward with his “Budget Repair Bill,” a foolproof plan to take the public-sector unions down under the guise of spreading the pain among all middle class taxpayers in regard their pension and benefit plans. I call it foolproof because he knows he has the numbers to win easily in the State Senate. So he launched his plan and when he did 14 Democratic senators walked out in order to stall the vote, which they would have lost. At the same time 5000 union people and sympathizers began to demonstrate in and around the Capitol building. By last Saturday 70,000 were joining the protest movement and Walker said he couldn’t care less: he was doing the right thing and therefore he wasn’t going to negotiate with anybody; it was a done deal and the senators should return to their jobs, as should all the teachers. In his view Unions need to be knocked off their high horse; they needed to be brought down to earth to be as poor as the majority of taxpayers and members of private-sector unions. They must be punished for being such good negotiators. He cleverly exploited the resentment among other taxpayers whose benefit expenses have increased over time. Walker is only leveling the field (in a downward fashion) while the rich get richer (in an upward fashion) as their taxes keep getting cut (all for the sake of the economy, of course.)
What’s really galling is when the Union agrees to accept an increase in costs he won’t sit down and talk to union leaders about the worse aspect of his so-called Repair Bill: he has outlawed collective bargaining for benefits, vacations and work conditions. So there are the bare knuckles, the full outrage of this bill, what can not stand in the eyes of union members of whatever stripe because it is business trying to, finally, having a good chance to eliminate a major countervailing power, something business has dreamed about since the inception of the union movement. Walker is trying to get across the idea that unions aren’t necessary, they are the bane of business and progress, and they should be outlawed. This attack is the reason this is such a BIG DEAL and why the demonstrators have to not give up, for the very existence of the idea of unions seems to be at risk. Collective Bargaining means having a seat at the table; it is the cornerstone of Unionism; it is what it’s all about. No individual can fight for justice and rights like an organized group can. Walker is now talking out of both sides of his mouth. He keeps say the senators should come back and let’s talk about what’s not negotiable. Dear Sir, that makes no sense whatsoever. So the standoff continues.
Going on at the same time in the House was more evidence of right wing attack dogs.
The Republicans, now lean and mean, purged of all moderates and newly aggressive after their triumph at the polls last November, have begun a blitzkrieg on the federal front while Walker and others of his ilk begin on the State level. And it has already proved viral, having spread to Ohio, Indiana and Iowa. The ultra-conservatives leading the charge have read their taking control of the House as a mandate to go after spending—programs they don’t like, for ideological reasons—with a meat ax. They slashed $61 billion from the budget. Cuts included domestic program and foreign aid (always a favorite to get rid of), school programs, nutrition programs, environmental protection, and heating and housing subsides for the poor. They defunded Planned Parenthood, sections of the Health Care Bill, and the Public Media,
NPR and PBS. (These most likely won’t make it through the senate.)
The Far Right would love to bury the union movement, which they have hated for many decades; they feel the moment is right to attack with 16-inch guns. No doubt Governor Walker is making a big play, desiring to get out front early, establishing himself as fresh and capable candidate for president next year. It’s quite a gamble and the endgame is yet in sight. If he does indeed start the ball rolling on a systematic dismantling of union power, it certainly would be a leg up for the Republican who could manage that.
Happily I can report that there are mass demonstrations in those other states trying to do what Walker has started. The battle is joined and far from over.
Events in Madison, Wisconsin, last week and continuing this week has made it clear that the Republican party is the captive of its ultra-conservative wing who are hell-bent on this mission: “to take the country back.” That has been the mantra of the Tea Party folks since their inception. Sarah Palin uses the phrase often as well. They want to take it back to the time when WASPs were on the top of the social heap, when business had a freer hand, when regulations were minimal for business, when minorities knew their place, and when government was small and ineffective. The Far Right would also love to roll back the union movement to the dark ages, especially the public-sector unions, who, it should be known, contributed $200 million to Obama camping in 2008. If they could eliminate the opportunity to put that much into the 2012 election that would be a big plus for Republican chances to sweep in 2012, with a THANK-YOU nod toward the Supreme Court for their ruling that Corporations were comparable to persons and therefore could spend as much as they like on their candidates.
Now the newly elected Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, 43, steps forward with his “Budget Repair Bill,” a foolproof plan to take the public-sector unions down under the guise of spreading the pain among all middle class taxpayers in regard their pension and benefit plans. I call it foolproof because he knows he has the numbers to win easily in the State Senate. So he launched his plan and when he did 14 Democratic senators walked out in order to stall the vote, which they would have lost. At the same time 5000 union people and sympathizers began to demonstrate in and around the Capitol building. By last Saturday 70,000 were joining the protest movement and Walker said he couldn’t care less: he was doing the right thing and therefore he wasn’t going to negotiate with anybody; it was a done deal and the senators should return to their jobs, as should all the teachers. In his view Unions need to be knocked off their high horse; they needed to be brought down to earth to be as poor as the majority of taxpayers and members of private-sector unions. They must be punished for being such good negotiators. He cleverly exploited the resentment among other taxpayers whose benefit expenses have increased over time. Walker is only leveling the field (in a downward fashion) while the rich get richer (in an upward fashion) as their taxes keep getting cut (all for the sake of the economy, of course.)
What’s really galling is when the Union agrees to accept an increase in costs he won’t sit down and talk to union leaders about the worse aspect of his so-called Repair Bill: he has outlawed collective bargaining for benefits, vacations and work conditions. So there are the bare knuckles, the full outrage of this bill, what can not stand in the eyes of union members of whatever stripe because it is business trying to, finally, having a good chance to eliminate a major countervailing power, something business has dreamed about since the inception of the union movement. Walker is trying to get across the idea that unions aren’t necessary, they are the bane of business and progress, and they should be outlawed. This attack is the reason this is such a BIG DEAL and why the demonstrators have to not give up, for the very existence of the idea of unions seems to be at risk. Collective Bargaining means having a seat at the table; it is the cornerstone of Unionism; it is what it’s all about. No individual can fight for justice and rights like an organized group can. Walker is now talking out of both sides of his mouth. He keeps say the senators should come back and let’s talk about what’s not negotiable. Dear Sir, that makes no sense whatsoever. So the standoff continues.
Going on at the same time in the House was more evidence of right wing attack dogs.
The Republicans, now lean and mean, purged of all moderates and newly aggressive after their triumph at the polls last November, have begun a blitzkrieg on the federal front while Walker and others of his ilk begin on the State level. And it has already proved viral, having spread to Ohio, Indiana and Iowa. The ultra-conservatives leading the charge have read their taking control of the House as a mandate to go after spending—programs they don’t like, for ideological reasons—with a meat ax. They slashed $61 billion from the budget. Cuts included domestic program and foreign aid (always a favorite to get rid of), school programs, nutrition programs, environmental protection, and heating and housing subsides for the poor. They defunded Planned Parenthood, sections of the Health Care Bill, and the Public Media,
NPR and PBS. (These most likely won’t make it through the senate.)
The Far Right would love to bury the union movement, which they have hated for many decades; they feel the moment is right to attack with 16-inch guns. No doubt Governor Walker is making a big play, desiring to get out front early, establishing himself as fresh and capable candidate for president next year. It’s quite a gamble and the endgame is yet in sight. If he does indeed start the ball rolling on a systematic dismantling of union power, it certainly would be a leg up for the Republican who could manage that.
Happily I can report that there are mass demonstrations in those other states trying to do what Walker has started. The battle is joined and far from over.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Potboiler Fantasy
2011_2_09 Potboiler Fantasy
Finished another drawing last night, an atypical work. How do I describe it? Well, it is three fantastic figures in huge pot, another figure outside the pot, with a fiery mandala on the outside of the pot, which indicates whatever is in the pot is ‘cooking.’ In the back of my mind were two things: memories of my catholic youth and stories about certain martyrs who were killed by boiling them in oil; and images from Alchemy, the ‘Bath of the Philosophers,’ especially that image I have seen in several books of Christ in a ‘bath’ with an alchemist stoking the fire with a bellows. Two of the figures look like creatures in that bar scene in “Star Wars,” and the third figure is off to the side and of a somewhat different character, less grotesque but still fantastical. One of the Aliens has the head of a crock, a long neck like a giraffe and two tits on its neck, and a crown on her head. The other has a snake-like neck and a head that combines a snake with a bulbous effect. Very strange indeed! Its right arm is visible on the right side of the format, with its right hand shaped like a gun. Why? I don’t know. Maybe he is Jared Loughner’s true self. The third figure is a variation of an image I have used twice before. He has a long stiff beard, a bird’s beak, a checkerboard jacket, a black circle oh his right deltoid, and head compose of concentric circles with stars visible inside two rings. At the center of the circles is a white and empty smaller circle. He’s a mystic traveller of some sort; he stares off to the right, perhaps gazing at depths the two aliens have no notion of. There are stars inside two of the concentric circles, some are white, and some are black. The stars are repeated on the outside of the pot, inside the mandala. There is one other creature alongside the pot, a cow-like critter that seemed to be braying for all he’s worth.
Surprise, surprise! The house defeated a Republican bill to extend the Patriot Act when 24 Republicans joined Democrats to vote it down 277-148 (in a process that required 2/3 vote.) Eight Tea Party types joined the no vote.
There is a crisis reaching critical mass in our judicial system as Republicans continue to block Obama’s choices for the circuit court with delaying tactics, once more playing politics rather than doing the right thing. But the White House has been slow to nominate too and the confirmation process in the senate is dysfunctional as well. In short, they are not keeping up with the need for enough judges, not replacing those who are retiring. When Obama took office there were 54 vacancies. Now there are 101 with 46 of them considered in an emergency status.
The federal stimulus package provided $58.5 billion for food stamps. The program helped 43.6 million people in November 2010. Half of them were children. Before the recession the program was serving 26 million people. The money spent also helps the economy.
President Karzai wants all reconstruction and development units that support NATO troops should be phased out, as the Afghanis do not want them changing their country by outside whim and attitude of knowing what’s best for a people they don’t really understand.
I haven’t watched any TV news yet today but yesterday Omar Suleiman made some remarks that came across as threats to folks in the square downtown--that the government would not tolerate them staying there very much longer and may have to call out the police. The crowd yesterday was the biggest yet. It would be suicidal for the police and the leaders of the old guard to fire on that many of their citizens. Could they be that stupid? They have had their way for so long they can’t stand the idea of the rabble pushing them around.
(Saturday: The revolution succeeds)
On the 18th day of the uprising that became a revolution, Feb. 11, Mubarak finally realized his day was over and he resigned the presidency and the Military assumed the temporary custodial care of the government until the election next September.
Yesterday and events of last night will take an honored place in my memory, as vividly as the assassinations and other events of the sixties and seventies. First it was Tunisia that chased out its autocrat, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been in office for 30 years, who fled to Saudi Arabia. Tunisia is a relatively small Arab state with 12 million citizens, while Egypt has a population of 85 million and is regarded as the, so to speak, the flagship Arab state, the historical and cultural center of the Arab Universe. Nonetheless, Egypt’s “little brother,” Tunisia showed it what was possible and “big brother” picked up the baton and began its revolt. And as I write this thousands are demonstrating in Algiers, with riot troops out and helicopters in the air above the crowd. All freedom-loving people are hoping that Egypt ‘s success will spread the contagion through North Africa into the states of the Levant. If the revolution remains largely secular and pluralistic, Israel will probably be safe, or at least as safe as it is now.
For 30 years the 18 million citizens of Cairo were under the thumb of the hated “emergency law” which sanctioned a secret police who could throw people in jail indefinitely without a trial. This revolution was definitely a youth revolt, as all the pictures of the Arab Street indicate, as the children of those who had suffered the most under Mubarak road their parents anger and frustration to a triumph of the will of the younger generation. It was thrilling to watch it all unfold, in one of television’s greatest moments.
On Friday night the rumor was that Mubarak was going to step down, give up the presidency, and the crowd in the square were pent up with excitement. They felt that way because a military spokesman said that would happen. But instead he simply delegated powers to his chief crony, Omar Suleiman, and would hold on to his title as president as new committees work on reforms prior to the elections in September. He referred to himself as the father of his country and struck a tone of Father-Knows-Best and he wanted the children to behave and quit this nonsense in the streets. He revealed he just doesn’t get it, remaining paternalistic and patronizing to the bitter end. The anger, frustration and disappointment in the massive crowd were palpable, but somehow it was contained; it never translated itself into an anarchist fury of destructiveness. They maintained their stance of non-violence, which I thought was close to miraculous. Plans were made to walk over to the presidential palace in the morning.
Now, what happened between the end of that Friday night speech and Saturday morning about 9:30 Tucson time, when Suleiman made his brief announcement on State TV that the president had stepped down and was on his way to his vacation home at Sharm El-Sheik by the Red Sea. Apparently, the military stepped in and forced him to give it all up once and for all, twisting his arm to get out of town. Whatever they actually said, he complied, seeing no other options at that point. Hearing the news the crowd erupted in cheers and shouts that went on and on through the night, as unbridled joy and celebration burst out of tens of thousands of delirious Egyptians.
Many question remain and a rocky road is no doubt ahead for the movement that brought about the change, but the first big step has been accomplished. Three cheers for the youth of Egypt!!
Finished another drawing last night, an atypical work. How do I describe it? Well, it is three fantastic figures in huge pot, another figure outside the pot, with a fiery mandala on the outside of the pot, which indicates whatever is in the pot is ‘cooking.’ In the back of my mind were two things: memories of my catholic youth and stories about certain martyrs who were killed by boiling them in oil; and images from Alchemy, the ‘Bath of the Philosophers,’ especially that image I have seen in several books of Christ in a ‘bath’ with an alchemist stoking the fire with a bellows. Two of the figures look like creatures in that bar scene in “Star Wars,” and the third figure is off to the side and of a somewhat different character, less grotesque but still fantastical. One of the Aliens has the head of a crock, a long neck like a giraffe and two tits on its neck, and a crown on her head. The other has a snake-like neck and a head that combines a snake with a bulbous effect. Very strange indeed! Its right arm is visible on the right side of the format, with its right hand shaped like a gun. Why? I don’t know. Maybe he is Jared Loughner’s true self. The third figure is a variation of an image I have used twice before. He has a long stiff beard, a bird’s beak, a checkerboard jacket, a black circle oh his right deltoid, and head compose of concentric circles with stars visible inside two rings. At the center of the circles is a white and empty smaller circle. He’s a mystic traveller of some sort; he stares off to the right, perhaps gazing at depths the two aliens have no notion of. There are stars inside two of the concentric circles, some are white, and some are black. The stars are repeated on the outside of the pot, inside the mandala. There is one other creature alongside the pot, a cow-like critter that seemed to be braying for all he’s worth.
Surprise, surprise! The house defeated a Republican bill to extend the Patriot Act when 24 Republicans joined Democrats to vote it down 277-148 (in a process that required 2/3 vote.) Eight Tea Party types joined the no vote.
There is a crisis reaching critical mass in our judicial system as Republicans continue to block Obama’s choices for the circuit court with delaying tactics, once more playing politics rather than doing the right thing. But the White House has been slow to nominate too and the confirmation process in the senate is dysfunctional as well. In short, they are not keeping up with the need for enough judges, not replacing those who are retiring. When Obama took office there were 54 vacancies. Now there are 101 with 46 of them considered in an emergency status.
The federal stimulus package provided $58.5 billion for food stamps. The program helped 43.6 million people in November 2010. Half of them were children. Before the recession the program was serving 26 million people. The money spent also helps the economy.
President Karzai wants all reconstruction and development units that support NATO troops should be phased out, as the Afghanis do not want them changing their country by outside whim and attitude of knowing what’s best for a people they don’t really understand.
I haven’t watched any TV news yet today but yesterday Omar Suleiman made some remarks that came across as threats to folks in the square downtown--that the government would not tolerate them staying there very much longer and may have to call out the police. The crowd yesterday was the biggest yet. It would be suicidal for the police and the leaders of the old guard to fire on that many of their citizens. Could they be that stupid? They have had their way for so long they can’t stand the idea of the rabble pushing them around.
(Saturday: The revolution succeeds)
On the 18th day of the uprising that became a revolution, Feb. 11, Mubarak finally realized his day was over and he resigned the presidency and the Military assumed the temporary custodial care of the government until the election next September.
Yesterday and events of last night will take an honored place in my memory, as vividly as the assassinations and other events of the sixties and seventies. First it was Tunisia that chased out its autocrat, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been in office for 30 years, who fled to Saudi Arabia. Tunisia is a relatively small Arab state with 12 million citizens, while Egypt has a population of 85 million and is regarded as the, so to speak, the flagship Arab state, the historical and cultural center of the Arab Universe. Nonetheless, Egypt’s “little brother,” Tunisia showed it what was possible and “big brother” picked up the baton and began its revolt. And as I write this thousands are demonstrating in Algiers, with riot troops out and helicopters in the air above the crowd. All freedom-loving people are hoping that Egypt ‘s success will spread the contagion through North Africa into the states of the Levant. If the revolution remains largely secular and pluralistic, Israel will probably be safe, or at least as safe as it is now.
For 30 years the 18 million citizens of Cairo were under the thumb of the hated “emergency law” which sanctioned a secret police who could throw people in jail indefinitely without a trial. This revolution was definitely a youth revolt, as all the pictures of the Arab Street indicate, as the children of those who had suffered the most under Mubarak road their parents anger and frustration to a triumph of the will of the younger generation. It was thrilling to watch it all unfold, in one of television’s greatest moments.
On Friday night the rumor was that Mubarak was going to step down, give up the presidency, and the crowd in the square were pent up with excitement. They felt that way because a military spokesman said that would happen. But instead he simply delegated powers to his chief crony, Omar Suleiman, and would hold on to his title as president as new committees work on reforms prior to the elections in September. He referred to himself as the father of his country and struck a tone of Father-Knows-Best and he wanted the children to behave and quit this nonsense in the streets. He revealed he just doesn’t get it, remaining paternalistic and patronizing to the bitter end. The anger, frustration and disappointment in the massive crowd were palpable, but somehow it was contained; it never translated itself into an anarchist fury of destructiveness. They maintained their stance of non-violence, which I thought was close to miraculous. Plans were made to walk over to the presidential palace in the morning.
Now, what happened between the end of that Friday night speech and Saturday morning about 9:30 Tucson time, when Suleiman made his brief announcement on State TV that the president had stepped down and was on his way to his vacation home at Sharm El-Sheik by the Red Sea. Apparently, the military stepped in and forced him to give it all up once and for all, twisting his arm to get out of town. Whatever they actually said, he complied, seeing no other options at that point. Hearing the news the crowd erupted in cheers and shouts that went on and on through the night, as unbridled joy and celebration burst out of tens of thousands of delirious Egyptians.
Many question remain and a rocky road is no doubt ahead for the movement that brought about the change, but the first big step has been accomplished. Three cheers for the youth of Egypt!!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Riders of the Chariot
2011_2_03 RIDERS OF THE CHARIOT
Patrick White’s novel RIDERS OF THE CHARIOT is a narrative about the creative tasks of four connected characters whose lives magically interact in Sydney, Australia, in the post-war years of the forties and fifties. They are more examples of the breed that White thought of as the burnt ones, touch-by--God-individuals engaged in what Carl Jung would term “Opus Redemption.” The four compose the RIDERS OF THE CHARIOT with the Chariot in this case being a reference to Merkabah Mysticism and Jewish Gnosticism, with one of the four, Mordecai Himmelfarb, being a zaddik, the Hasidic ideal of the just and honest man. The ‘work of the chariot’ involves sacrifice, abuse, misunderstandings, humility, visions, highs and lows—even a crucifixion. It all boils down to being a loner, a crank, an outsider, and a social pariah. As for the halo, few can see it, including some who wear it.
The Four Riders are part of a spiritual vision, which I’d characterize as a common thread of mystical intuition about UNIO MYSTICA, our underlying reality. All four Riders suffer terribly and lead lives of utmost isolation; they are people that God has separated from the common run of humanity, the vast population of “normal people,” each for their own service and purpose. All four live out the roles of scapegoat, pariah, or illuminated outsiders who carry the moral and metaphysical burdens of their fellow creatures. They act out their lives in their respective roles in the context of modern life, within their various spiritual legacies.
Mordecai Himmelfarb is one of the four Riders in White’s novel and he is of particular interest to me because he is the fictional representation closet to my own experience, and that’s one reason the book has special meaning for me. Himmelfarb was a professor and author in Europe prior to World War II. After the war he moved to Australia (Sydney) and took a job in a factory that made bicycles, a menial job at odds with his past and true capacities. Few people could understand his post-war choices. But it does not seem so strange to me. So what was involved with his decision to move to Australia and take such a job? After his earlier social and academic success something happened which emptied that life of the virtue it once had. Rhea, his beloved wife, was seized by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp and he never saw her again. He felt a profound guilt over her disappearance and death, and the only thing that made sense to him was commitment to a life of humility and obscurity. To deny what he had been became a spiritual goal for Himmelfarb. Such a life was more important than “a place in the pews.” Worldly achievements were the playthings of egocentric humanity. He had another goal: to transcend his ego.
My life since I left university teaching has followed a similar path. My post-war choices (the Vietnam War, of course) have been seen by many of my older, academic friends as pretty strange and puzzling, for like Himmelfarb I found a job as a custodian in a neighborhood Presbyterian Church. When I resigned my position at UNLV in 1971, I was fully aware I was committing professional suicide. But I didn’t care. I had moved beyond that concern. I was that fed up with Higher Education in America. My moral imperative and personal vision were at odds with theirs. I had been a political activist on campus for 5 years and it earned me a reputation as a troublemaker, which would cost me tenure. But no matter, I wanted to and needed to make a gesture of defiance when I left to show my former colleagues that there were things more important than job security. So I quit before they could can me. For me it was all part of THE GREAT REFUSAL, the inclination to reject war, materialism, egotism, careerism, social status, environmental abuse, and mainstream values. I walked away from a position I was good at, as Himmelfarb did in Europe to pursue an alterative path. As one academic friend of mine put it, “You climbed a mountain and when you reached the top, you took a leap in the dark, ignoring what you had won. You abandon a post others would kill for. You treated it as garbage in, garbage out.” As I read that today I think of what Ed Abbey once said: “I live at Fort Fuck-it-all.”
Like Himmelfarb, humility became a main concern for me on my new job. Being a janitor was a parallel position to what the ex-professor from Europe had done, and believe me, the transition from Assistant Professor and Big Man on Campus to being a janitor, the lowest of the low, a real scum-job, wasn’t easy; it took a long while, as I had to wrestle with my ego time and time again. Working for Presbyterians made it even more difficult, as they were uppity and aristocratic, believing they had more clout than their numbers would indicate. I went from the limelight to complete invisibility. It was a true test of principle—as radical a turn-around as one could imagine. However, I did have one thing going for me from the get-go: my working class roots. I had worked in five factories in Racine, Wisconsin, my hometown, before I was twenty-one. My father and mother had been life-long factory workers, and so were many of my relatives. In some ways it was like being back in a familiar saddle.
Nonetheless I would characterize those years at the church as my time in purgatory. Other time I saw my service as on the chain gang, or my time as a desert ascetic. But in measuring its impact on me, it was one giant leap foreword in regard my pursuit of self-knowledge, the ultimate attainment. That was the over-all goal, along with putting that knowledge to creative use in my drawing and writings.
Patrick White’s novel RIDERS OF THE CHARIOT is a narrative about the creative tasks of four connected characters whose lives magically interact in Sydney, Australia, in the post-war years of the forties and fifties. They are more examples of the breed that White thought of as the burnt ones, touch-by--God-individuals engaged in what Carl Jung would term “Opus Redemption.” The four compose the RIDERS OF THE CHARIOT with the Chariot in this case being a reference to Merkabah Mysticism and Jewish Gnosticism, with one of the four, Mordecai Himmelfarb, being a zaddik, the Hasidic ideal of the just and honest man. The ‘work of the chariot’ involves sacrifice, abuse, misunderstandings, humility, visions, highs and lows—even a crucifixion. It all boils down to being a loner, a crank, an outsider, and a social pariah. As for the halo, few can see it, including some who wear it.
The Four Riders are part of a spiritual vision, which I’d characterize as a common thread of mystical intuition about UNIO MYSTICA, our underlying reality. All four Riders suffer terribly and lead lives of utmost isolation; they are people that God has separated from the common run of humanity, the vast population of “normal people,” each for their own service and purpose. All four live out the roles of scapegoat, pariah, or illuminated outsiders who carry the moral and metaphysical burdens of their fellow creatures. They act out their lives in their respective roles in the context of modern life, within their various spiritual legacies.
Mordecai Himmelfarb is one of the four Riders in White’s novel and he is of particular interest to me because he is the fictional representation closet to my own experience, and that’s one reason the book has special meaning for me. Himmelfarb was a professor and author in Europe prior to World War II. After the war he moved to Australia (Sydney) and took a job in a factory that made bicycles, a menial job at odds with his past and true capacities. Few people could understand his post-war choices. But it does not seem so strange to me. So what was involved with his decision to move to Australia and take such a job? After his earlier social and academic success something happened which emptied that life of the virtue it once had. Rhea, his beloved wife, was seized by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp and he never saw her again. He felt a profound guilt over her disappearance and death, and the only thing that made sense to him was commitment to a life of humility and obscurity. To deny what he had been became a spiritual goal for Himmelfarb. Such a life was more important than “a place in the pews.” Worldly achievements were the playthings of egocentric humanity. He had another goal: to transcend his ego.
My life since I left university teaching has followed a similar path. My post-war choices (the Vietnam War, of course) have been seen by many of my older, academic friends as pretty strange and puzzling, for like Himmelfarb I found a job as a custodian in a neighborhood Presbyterian Church. When I resigned my position at UNLV in 1971, I was fully aware I was committing professional suicide. But I didn’t care. I had moved beyond that concern. I was that fed up with Higher Education in America. My moral imperative and personal vision were at odds with theirs. I had been a political activist on campus for 5 years and it earned me a reputation as a troublemaker, which would cost me tenure. But no matter, I wanted to and needed to make a gesture of defiance when I left to show my former colleagues that there were things more important than job security. So I quit before they could can me. For me it was all part of THE GREAT REFUSAL, the inclination to reject war, materialism, egotism, careerism, social status, environmental abuse, and mainstream values. I walked away from a position I was good at, as Himmelfarb did in Europe to pursue an alterative path. As one academic friend of mine put it, “You climbed a mountain and when you reached the top, you took a leap in the dark, ignoring what you had won. You abandon a post others would kill for. You treated it as garbage in, garbage out.” As I read that today I think of what Ed Abbey once said: “I live at Fort Fuck-it-all.”
Like Himmelfarb, humility became a main concern for me on my new job. Being a janitor was a parallel position to what the ex-professor from Europe had done, and believe me, the transition from Assistant Professor and Big Man on Campus to being a janitor, the lowest of the low, a real scum-job, wasn’t easy; it took a long while, as I had to wrestle with my ego time and time again. Working for Presbyterians made it even more difficult, as they were uppity and aristocratic, believing they had more clout than their numbers would indicate. I went from the limelight to complete invisibility. It was a true test of principle—as radical a turn-around as one could imagine. However, I did have one thing going for me from the get-go: my working class roots. I had worked in five factories in Racine, Wisconsin, my hometown, before I was twenty-one. My father and mother had been life-long factory workers, and so were many of my relatives. In some ways it was like being back in a familiar saddle.
Nonetheless I would characterize those years at the church as my time in purgatory. Other time I saw my service as on the chain gang, or my time as a desert ascetic. But in measuring its impact on me, it was one giant leap foreword in regard my pursuit of self-knowledge, the ultimate attainment. That was the over-all goal, along with putting that knowledge to creative use in my drawing and writings.
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