September 2010 archive

I found this quote over at Tumblr, “reblogged” by Kai at “Knowing Coves” (formerly zuky –here’s a link but not sure it works).

It’s from Ursula K. LeGuin:

What about success?

Success is somebody else’s failure. Success is the American Dream we can keep dreaming because most people in most places, including thirty million of ourselves, live wide awake in the terrible reality of poverty. No, I do not wish you success. I don’t even want to talk about it. I want to talk about failure.

Because you are human beings you are going to meet failure. You are going to meet disappointment, injustice, betrayal, and irreparable loss. You will find you’re weak where you thought yourself strong. You’ll work for possessions and then find they possess you. You will find yourself – as I know you already have – in dark places, alone, and afraid.

I hope you live without the need to dominate, and without the need to be dominated. I hope you are never victims, but I hope you have no power over other people. And when you fail, and are defeated, and in pain, and in the dark, then I hope you will remember that darkness is your country, where you live, where no wars are fought and no wars are won, but where the future is. Our roots are in the dark; the earth is our country. Why did we look up for blessing – instead of around, and down? What hope we have lies there. Not in the sky full of orbiting spy-eyes and weaponry, but in the earth we have looked down upon. Not from above, but from below. Not in the light that blinds, but in the dark that nourishes, where human beings grow human souls.

I don’t know if I’ll listen to Obama’s speech on Iraq tonight (8PM EST).  Got one of those “breaking news” emails from WaPo giving an excerpt of the speech:

“Ending this war is not only in Iraq’s interest – it is in our own,” the president will say, according to prepared remarks. “The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people. We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home. We have persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people – a belief that out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization.”

I used to be naive.  I used to believe the truth would triumph over both lies and denials.

I still believe this.  I just see it in a way different time frame, lol.

The truth eventually does come out.  Just takes longer in direct proportion to the power involved in keeping the truth … controlled.

We had a brief opportunity after the defeat of George W. Bush to face that truth in such a way that we wouldn’t go through a much longer period of time processing it in distorted dribs and drabs.  We were unable to grasp that opportunity, and I believe now we are witnessing why that has happened.

There is no fault here as far as I’m concerned.  My view at this time is not political but just human.