The Side Of Impossibility
August 29, 2008, Matthew Good There is no side to be taken but that of the innocent, of those who pay with their lives for the corruptions of others. Hostilities between South Ossetian and Abkhazian separatists and the Georgian military didn’t suddenly begin earlier this month, they began more than a decade ago. During that time, as is always the case when fools employ guns to solve their problems, innocents have lost their lives.
I have removed every entry that I have made about the conflict, and my reason for doing so is quite simple. Because the only side that is worth taking is that of those that pay the price for the agendas of others that would rather have lived in peace.
I am tired of it. I am tired of the justifications of death. I am tired of sides, of the rhetoric spewed to criminalize the actions of some while defending the actions of others. I am tired of the altogether defensible actions of military giants and the condemnation of those that haven’t the historical mythology to excuse or glorify their behaviour. The deliverance of death is the deliverance of death, its method is of absolutely no concern to me. I could care less if it comes in the form of a suicide bomber than has been corrupted by some radicalized religious ideology or from 20,000 feet and delivered by someone that has been propagandized into believing that they are defending life by taking it.
I am tired of the deafening silence of the majority and the sensationalized wailings of the world’s minority voices that have always been able to produce the loudest of human misrepresentations. I am tired of politicians that don misleading new suits but care nothing for change and of so called activists that are so in love with ‘the struggle’ that the purpose of it no longer matters. Both are equally as revolting to me.
All of us, no matter what parts of this world we inhabit, get one kick at the can – religious promises to the contrary be damned. If we are to allow ourselves to be controlled, to be divided, to listen to those minority voices that misrepresent our true interests – of simply living our lives in peace – then we might as well commit global suicide. In truth, we are already in the throes of just that, even though confronting that reality is something that far too many people are uncomfortable admitting.
There is only one absolute in this life – death. As a species we have perfected more ways to deliver it than we have cures to combat it, which says something grotesquely significant about our inability to demand better. For the sake of our children, for the sake of our neighbour, for the sake of nature, for the sake of ourselves.
Fuck who you are, where you come from, the colour of your skin, and the God you worship. You have a greater responsibility - a responsibility to ensure that all of those things do not result in the promotion of division, willful ignorance, and suffering.
What ‘side’ am I on? I’m on a side that is considered by most an impossibility. And that is precisely why it remains one.
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Thank you for this. I have arguments with friends about this sort of thing and “impossible” is the word that always comes up. It is frustrating to see how many people are conscious of what needs to be done but chose the path of least resistance.
Is there any hope to be had?
Unfortunately we need to ‘HATE’. Why?
“Fuck who you are, where you come from, the colour of your skin, or the God you worship. You have a greater responsibility - a responsibility to ensure that all of those things do not result in the promotion of division, willful ignorance, and suffering.”
My political morality loves that. It’s a profound entry.
I have nothing worth adding– really well written. I know you have no political aspirations, but damned if this isn’t a campaign speech I’d love to hear.
I want to be on that side too.
hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess
[...] Good ranted today about a refusal to take sides in the Georgia conflict because all sides are taking lives–and [...]
Dear Mr. Good,
If death is the only absolute of life, then what of life?
“Kick at the darkness until it bleeds light.” (Cockburn)
Great post Matt.
A client in a home that I work in - a man in his forties diagnosed with schizophrenia - shared a profound sentiment the other day when he and some other clients were discussing some of the things going on in the world right now. He said that when he hears of such conflict, all he can do is think about the situation as if looking at Earth from a point in space far away, and seeing a tiny blue speck - the only one for vast distances around it with life such as ours, and the little, cosmically meaningless people on one side of the blue speck are constantly destroying little meaningless people on the other side of the blue speck, or trying to find ways of taking over the other side, over and over again, and it is ultimately pointless. I was moved by what he said. Human life on this kind of scale is truly just a short flicker and all we seem to be able to do with it is to make that flicker shorter. People are just too wrapped up in their own problems to see things from a bigger picture.
And people say that Obama’s speech was good? Matt, what you need is a giant podeum and and equally huge Tom Waits style megaphone to deliver a rant like that.
Well done. One of the best posts in a while.
I especially love that last line.
Kudos.
oo
U
holy fuck ive got CHILLS from this piece…but have got to ask, what perpetuated this entry? (other than the obvious, i mean)…i know i dont write shit anywhere near this calibre unless something sets me off…
reminds me of the SOAD song “Boom”….
I’ve been walking through your streets
Where all your moneys are earned
Where all your buildings crying
And clueless neckties working
Revolving fake-lawn houses
Housing all your fears
Desensitized by TV
Overbearing advertising
God of consumerism
And all your crooked pictures looking good
Mirrorism, filtering information for the public eye
Designed for profiteering
Your neighbor, what a guy.
Modern globalization
Coupled with condemnations
Unnecessary death
Matador corporations
Puppeting your frustrations with a blinded flag
Manufacturing consent is the name of the game
The bottom line is money
Nobody gives a FUCK
Four thousand hungry children leave us per hour from starvation
While billions are spent on bombs
Creating death showers
“but have got to ask, what perpetuated this entry? ”
I’d imagine that he was sick of either being asked what side he was on, or sick of being assumed to be pro-Russia.
Great entry, by the way.
“I have removed every entry that I have made about the conflict,…”
Too bad… With all the hoopla in the news over this during the last couple of weeks, your posts on this subject were the most accurate and eye-opening I could find. Had I not read them, I would’ve been grossly misinformed about the situation.
Its a horrible truth that most people will only believe what is most convenient for them. Worse still that they are so quick to blindly accept “fact”.
[quote comment="63324"]“but have got to ask, what perpetuated this entry? ”
I’d imagine that he was sick of either being asked what side he was on, or sick of being assumed to be pro-Russia.
Great entry, by the way.[/quote]
i was kind of looking for a more specific answer (thats why i put in brackets ‘other than the obvious’)..it seems pretty obvious to me that he is tired of “sides” (hence the entry in the first place), and i dont think ANYONE who reads these posts ever assumed he was pro-anything when it came to the Russia-Georgia conflict…i just thought it might have been a particular piece of journalism or a conversation that sparked this…
It is better to fight for something considered to be impossible that you believe in than something corrupt and easily obtainable that makes you sick. Great post, Matt, if there is anything we cn learn about this world is that while we all tend to live in a grey area. There are many things that are on the side of things that we would consider to be bad if we had no affiliation. Thus we tend to support it, think of it as noble, ect while in that same instance thinking of the same to be corrupt.
Maybe an imposibility to most but not to all.
When I read this post this is exactly what went through my head….
“Jesus Fucking Christ, someone else gets it. Thank YOU.”
Excellent post. Wow.
You totally just blew me away with your words. Well said!
Great post Matt.
Your quote, “Fuck who you are, where you come from, the colour of your skin, and the God you worship. You have a greater responsibility - a responsibility to ensure that all of those things do not result in the promotion of division, willful ignorance, and suffering.” should be written above everyone’s door and the last thing we see before we leave the house every morning. I’m not sure if it would help, but what a powerful reminder…..
im left speechless after the intake of this entry.
Matt, that’s some of the best you’ve written in a while.
very well said.
Stunning. Please, will you send it as a letter to The Times?
Holy fuck Matt, you are brilliant!!!!!!
The side of impossibility is also the side of the bleeding hearts, the naive, the idealistic, etc …
Why is it that caring more about humanity than profit and politics is seen as being radical? Isn’t this the most obvious side to be on? In a thousand years of living, I will never understand.
As for the insignificance of a single human, for that human, a single life is all there is, so every life is immeasurably significant from one person’s perspective and can never be taken lightly. That is not soft-hearted left-wing thinking, that is a reality that has nothing to do with politics.
Forever grateful that you are one of the most eloquent voices of reason in a stupid world of hyperbole and insanity.
The main losers in a Cold War are those caught in the crossfire. Vietnam, Afghanistan, Korea and so forth.
But even if more people shared your view and acted on it we would not succeed in preventing conflict. To me it is an inseparable part of humanity, however vile.
THESE were my thoughts from the day the conflict hit the media. Again I am in the right place, so thanks for this.
i am often told that i believe in an impossible thing when i state over and over that i believe that peace is attainable…but as Matt stated in subtly different context, it is the nay sayers that quash any chance peace has of perpetuating itself globally…but i still wish you all peace love and understanding…even the nay sayers…
“…you may say i’m a dreamer/but i’m not the only one…”
D.
The utopia that has been fleshed out to the point that the philosophy has enough depth to actually believe their may exist a possible future for humankind when sides are rare rather than the norm is Roddenberry’s Universe. The most unfortuante part of a Roddenberry future is that humankind must face its worst fear, a nuclear/chemical world war before we really wake up.
But a ray of hope has shone around me. During the last year, I have seen a change in most Americans around me towards understanding that the world is in crisis and the ways of the pass have not worked. Many are now at the point of seeing themselves as only equals in the world. Their seems to be a growing consciousness towards understanding the oneness that links everything together.
I believe in the human spirit. Matt, you are a great example of its resilience. You have meet your demons, struggled to be free and now look what you’ve become.
WOW! That gave me a lump in the throat.
What a world it would be if people didnt think the possible was impossible. Call me naive, but having some hope is better then having none.
[quote comment="63328"]
Too bad… With all the hoopla in the news over this during the last couple of weeks, your posts on this subject were the most accurate and eye-opening I could find. Had I not read them, I would’ve been grossly misinformed about the situation.
[/quote]
I second that.
I understand the sentiment behind your post Matt. It was an awesome post. I often find myself struggling with the same issue, but to ignore the source and history of a conflict serves only to ensure that there will never be any hope of a resolution.
To say that the US was wrong to go into Iraq is not a defence of Saddam Husein, and to decry Palestinian suicide bombers is not to condone illegal Israeli settlements and brutality.
To say that Russia was not the instigator in the Georgian conflict is not so much taking sides as it is stating what should be obvious to anyone looking at a chronological history of the events that took place - that is something the Western media has so far conspicuously failed to do. Your previous posts on the issue helped alert and inform a lot of people of these and other facts. By removing that information I think you are doing more harm than good to the cause of those actually paying the price of this conflict.
I’m sick of state and religious sanctioned murder and I’m also tired of feeling sheepish because I don’t want to be perceived as taking sides and being labelled as a (insert bad guy here) sympathizer.
Those of us who follow your blog know you aren’t defending any act of violence when you describe it’s root cause and the issues surrounding it. Violent acts are almost never committed without a reason. Even sociopathic politicians usually act for personal gain and not purely evil intent.
Matt, your analysis is always brilliant and balanced and sensible. It would be a great loss to all concerned to lose that.
Faith: One either has it, or one doesn’t.
“Faith in a Seed” is a marvelous, little known book by Thoreau.
To follow science alone, and down the paths humanism leads, is to turn your back completely on the supernatural. And the miracles live in the supernatural. That world from whence we all originated, from that infinately small speck.
Life is tenacious, life struggles,life grows despite everything man puts in it’s way. But to think that life is not sacred, is a road I do want wish to embark on. Man cannot solve his own man made problems. He is not equipped.He is unable to put aside his ego and take the road that his heart reveals to him.
If you want to save the world, first you must forgive them.
I was upset to see the posts go. They did contain more accurate information than any of western media ever reported. It was an evolving discussion. Changes were made as the conflict developed and I believe those posts were a good representation of the type of confusion and emotion that can exist in the World today. Of course I wrote many comments, so I may have right to pout.
I am still waiting to hear for a western news channel/outlet to announce the number of casualties on the Ossetian side.
True, life does grow. Europe was in ruins many times over but you would never know it. My home city was under siege for over 4 years, bombed every day, but is practically unscathed. The issue is, the Americans may have learned that the world is in crisis, but another group of people somewhere else have not. Long time ago Europe was living in filth, ravaged by plague and with priests burning ancient Greek manuscripts - why do we know of those texts? Arabs had the translations back from when they were invaded by the Romans, they were excellent and meticulous translators compiling large libraries and extending their own studies of mathematics and, for some reason, medicine. We should really be working together.
Here is a dream - what if every soldier just stops doing their job? You have to shoot in order to kill, right? Seems simple enough.
Well said Matt….a beautiful delivery of some powerful words.
The last three paragraphs were particularly moving and I agree with what ket said.
[quote comment="63505"]I was upset to see the posts go.[/quote]
I agree, vika. I sort of regret it too that he deleted them. I often resorted to them when writing entries for other blog spots.
Just keep talking and loving because we are not alone… there are many who believe as we do that hate is NOT the answer and that our greatest enemy is ourselves and the propaganda machine we buy into from our lazy boy chair… click… “The war in Irag continues”… click… “a bomb set off today”…. click… “Man shot dead out side”… click… “child abuse is on the rise one report says”…. click… click… click.
It’s ironic don’t you think. We rail against the oppressors, those in power, who propagandize and mislead. Somehow, we’ve been given the illumination to see all the wrongs in the world. We can damn the hypocrites, the liars, the cheats, and the abusers. We see the light, the oneness, the equality, the understanding. But each one of you has stood in front of the mirror and confronted the real problem - our self. Unless you’re a sociopath with no conscience, you’re all troubled by what ails you. But it’s a lot easier to suppress what really needs to change, our individual character, and, instead, focus on the big world out there. That’s why going to church is such a hard thing for people, because they look at that sinful congregation member in the next pew and say, “What’s he doing here? I’m not going to a place where there are sinners!” In our relationships, we lie about ourselves, trying to present something we’re not, to that person we “love”. It’s easier isn’t it, being someone we’re not, but it can go on only temporarily. Our faults eventually catch up with us, just as they have for Matthew. We enjoy his music and his lyrics because he expresses his own failings and the failings of others. I have particularly enjoyed his latest album and “Born Losers” specifically, describing his or someone’s relationship struggles - such a sad, sad song about the flaws in human lives. Matthew is right, but only partly. Death IS the point of life, but life is really our preparation for death. We look in the mirror and see a flawed being, a liar, a cheat, an abuser, an often-selfish life force who daily struggles with specific character flaws, some inherent, some learned. Whatever the case, it is our responsibility to invest as much energy as possible on becoming the person who we need to be. For myself, it is the daily struggle of being the best father I can be for my children, especially my almost 6 year old daughter who has a very severe form of cerebral palsy. I often do not deal with her, allowing my wife or my other children to look after her daily care. I spend time sitting here at the computer when I could be reading or playing with one of my other kids. It is always a struggle facing my flaws and will be for the rest of my life, I imagine. It’s much easier to look at a place like Georgia and invest there, needlessly, when my 8 year old son wants his daddy to be with him. One thing keeps me going – Hope. I believe that there is a point to the suffering in the world and in my life. Suffering will not end, just as each of you will never reach a point where you no longer need to grow. Suffering is a Gift. You know it Matthew. In Wisdom there is much suffering. This is why Christ was crucified, allowed himself to die. It was his gift to us, to see that our suffering has meaning. We do not seek it out, but if we truly try to live our lives the way they’re meant to be lived, we cannot escape it. What we do with what ails us, is the point of our lives and gives meaning to our deaths, to ourselves, and to those who watch our lives being lived.
the biggest problem is that most of us have failed to realize that our purpose on this planet is to create new ideas and to move forward, to evolve
we have been blessed as the species meant to carry on a greater harmony for every living being on this planet, working together as one, yet we squander our opportunity on bullshit
we allow greedy individualists to occupy our governments instead of keeping an ever watchful eye on their policies
this is why private corporations let advertising dollars and repetitious music and programming rule the airwaves, because it creates dormancy of creativity and docile, accepting populations
I’ve read this about five or six times and the only thing I could do was send it to a few friends of mine. It leaves me speechless. I suppose that is part of the problem.
I would like to say that I totally agree with you on this subject. Until greed for power and avarice become an antiqated notion, people will be killed. Don’t let me get onto the religion subject. I really enjoy what you have to say about every subject you bring up Matt. Keep it up.
It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to
carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.
— Anne Frank
That is what is really sad, it seems as though we can advocate what is good and what is right all we want for the rest of our lives, as can our children and those who manage to continue after them (with the state the world is in, i really find it difficult to speculate that far) but the power and money which has ruled this glorified space rock has done so as far back as we can remember and will continue to do so until human existence is through…that is why it is so important to believe that there is a purpose for us here, we all have a part to play in this life no matter what God or gods (if any) are the driving force behind our actions…someone after money and power has little depth in the way of mental enrichment, and they know after this, that’s it for them. There is nothing good waiting for someone who has spent their lives bathing in greed, lust and corruption…no, it is not up to some (insert country here) monkey to waltz in with his G.I. Joes and demolish and recreate what HE feels would make the world better in HIS eyes…none of what is happening is right and it never will be. But this is the way the story is to play out…Matthew, because of you, awareness to so many toilets on this planet are exposed to the general, brainwashed public who would not otherwise have a clue to what really goes on; because of you, so many people like me, who could never stand up for themselves or what is right, are able to sleep knowing that these knowledges are recognized and shouted out in protest by way of your beautifully intense music and articles…you are the eyes for those who cannot see, the ears for those who do not listen and the voice for those screaming inside yet cannot speak. You are an angel of sorts for our time, thank you Matthew, every word that comes out of your mouth and your pencil brings us closer to what is real and what is not. You’ll probably now block me from writing again because my post is so long, but it was worth it…you speak for so many of us, thank you Matthew.
wow!…now does this Matt guy know how to party or what?!!!!!!!!
(crickets)
fade out
[quote comment="63502"]Faith: One either has it, or one doesn’t.
“Faith in a Seed” is a marvelous, little known book by Thoreau.
To follow science alone, and down the paths humanism leads, is to turn your back completely on the supernatural. And the miracles live in the supernatural.[/quote]
If there are two options, one must not be compelled to choose between them if both may be taken up.
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