They are wrong. He is wrong. She is wrong. I am wrong. You are wrong. It is wrong.
We are wronged.
It came from discussions, conversations,
tangled monologues, challenges, squabbles,
crossed swords,
that alienating platform
tangled monologues, challenges, squabbles,
crossed swords,
that alienating platform
and
ended in
feelings of hurt
and
hard words.
feelings of hurt
and
hard words.
We are right.
It is written.
Striving for moral high ground we crash
Icarus wings flaming
to Stygian mire.
Icarus wings flaming
to Stygian mire.
Nobody is listening.
Nobody knows.
Nobody cares.
We feel bad.
We think, and we think, and we think, and we think, and we think and we are lost to our thoughts.
We can not think freedom.
We feel bad.
“ if I do not love the world if I do not love life if I do not love people I cannot enter into dialogue.”
― Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Does freedom lie in love?
“The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.”
― Maximilien de Robespierre
Does freedom lie in dialogue?
“To defend the oppressed against their oppressors, to plead the cause of the weak against the strong who exploit and crush them, this is the duty of all hearts that have not been spoiled by egoism and corruption… It is so sweet to devote oneself to one’s fellows that I do not know how there can be so many unfortunates still without support or defenders. As for me, my life’s task will be to help those who suffer and to pursue through my avenging speech those who take pleasure in the pain of others. How happy I will be if my feeble efforts are crowned with success and if, at the price of my devotion and sacrifices, my reputation is not tarnished by the crimes of the oppressors I will fight.”
― Maximilien de Robespierre
Who are our oppressors?
Is there justice in vengeance?
“This, then, is the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well.”
― Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Does liberation lie in forgiveness?
“To punish the oppressors of humanity is clemency; to forgive them is cruelty.”
― Maximilien de Robespierre
Oppression lies in terror.
“[T]he more radical the person is, the more fully he or she enters into reality so that, knowing it better, he or she can transform it. This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled. This person is not afraid to meet the people or to enter into a dialogue with them. This person does not consider himself or herself the proprietor of history or of all people, or the liberator of the oppressed; but he or she does commit himself or herself, within history, to fight at their side.”
― Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
I steal words of others.
Others remain silent.
Am I oppressor?
Am I oppressed?
Who will name me?
Who will love?
Who will listen?
Who will forgive?
the crunch of feet
ReplyDeleteon shattered soil:
a soundtrack to the uncovering.
brown leaves, faded with time,
shelter the possibilities beneath,
even with the cold reality among us;
i am stargazing again,
with my head on the ground,
wondering about the roots and flowers
still yet to bloom in this dead
of winter.
I remain, as ever, hopeful
for the possibility
of love.
-Kevin
So do I Kevin.
DeleteSo do I.
Hypothes.is margin chek, dude. I don't know the source of this hidden river so my responses are by guess and by gosh. Love, listen, and forgive if I am wrong.
ReplyDeleteI tried to avoid the muddly source Terry.
DeleteI learn so much from the flow.
Simon, misspelled something and deleted. Is the face book dialog a male based dominance thing? Feels like it.
ReplyDeleteScott, I think it may be about virtue.
DeleteGood point. Who is most pure in speaking for those who are prevented from speaking for themselves? Who is an appropriator for gain, who speaks truth in a representative manner and IS actually oppressed?
ReplyDeleteAnd what of frustration as things seem to be going to hell?
Yes. I think we have to start not from words but from emotion.
DeleteI can say any old craptrap to mask my pain.
Picking something at random, because it is a bit of a buzzing confusion to me: Forgiveness as the way forward. Does liberation lie in forgiveness? you ask.
ReplyDeleteWell, for forgiveness to be the solution, the problem would have to be with people. We would be imagining a situation where people are in control. Some of them are the oppressors; the others, the oppressed. When the oppressed manage to find their way out of their echo chambers and unite against their oppressors, they could then face a choice: Send the bad guys to the guillotine, or forgive them and send them into exile.
The problem is that people are no longer in control (if they ever were). Everyone is now effectively an employee, just fulfilling their job description. They are just doing what has to be done according to the pressures created within the system. Those forces come into contradiction with one another, and judgements have to be made (revealing a little human influence), but they are always made in the interests of stabilising the growing system.
If the problem is the system, forgivenness is presumably irrelevant (an inappropriate object).
In short: No, forgiveness does not liberate because it misidentifies the source of the oppression, which identifiable individuals can no longer be held responsible for.
Thanks for your comment Torn.
DeleteYes. So what do you see to be the source of oppression and what is (if any) the means of liberation? And what does oppression or liberation mean to you?