Pesach time is now upon us. Been working now as a supermarket cashier for quite some time now and it's times such as these that force me to reflect on the nature of the financial and economic system that we (i.e. planet earth at large) live in.
How much exploitation and downright merciless coercion goes in to the various 'outputs' that surround us. On how many tears was the tomato that we eat today grown from? How many workers were worked to exhaustion so we could have vanilla flavored pudding stocked neatly on the shelves? How many times have people been victimized of their basic rights yet grin-and-bear-it under the fear of financial duress and ruthless capitalistic cost/benefit mechanisms?
The clothes we wear; The buildings we live in; The movies we watch (I remember getting a job as a movie extra -- worked till the wee hours of the morning and got paid an amount in cash that didn't even match basic minimum-wage).
The above may sound anti-capitalistic but in fact it's much of a larger picture than political theory alone. It's the realization that we live in a system of wheels-within-wheels with dysfunction on levels of scale so large --beyond even the level of individual level of countries and blocs!!-- that what real hope is there for change? A world in which whole countries and continents are living in a rat race to compete for lower interest rates, financial investment and capital, etc etc that who can you really blame when the newly-divorced-cashier-mother breaks down in tears because they won't let her stop working (despite her running a fever) because there's just too many customers at the supermarket to service and the age of consumerism doesn't believe in compromising for teary eyed customer service reps.
So when you come across that ginger-faced, happy-go-lucky, life-is-just-peachy individual who got lucky on the toin-coss in regards to the life he was born into (or even for that matter made for himself), I think it's the duty of every sensitive man to give him a proverbial slap in the face and make him aware of just how shitty the world we live-eat-and-clothe-ourselves-in really is. Just how miserable the people and animals that we prop our 'first-world lifestyles' on really are.
God save us because there's no one else who can; and God forgive us for the evil ruthless machine that we're all apart of.
Happy Passover.
דניאל ז ז
בָּאתַר דְּנָה חָזֵה הֲוֵית בְּחֶזְוֵי לֵילְיָא וַאֲרוּ חֵיוָה רביעיה [רְבִיעָאָה] דְּחִילָה וְאֵימְתָנִי וְתַקִּיפָא יַתִּירָא וְשִׁנַּיִן דִּי פַרְזֶל לַהּ רַבְרְבָן אָכְלָה וּמַדֱּקָה וּשְׁאָרָא ברגליה [בְּרַגְלַהּ] רָפְסָה וְהִיא מְשַׁנְּיָה מִן כָּל חֵיוָתָא דִּי קָדָמַיהּ וְקַרְנַיִן עֲשַׂר לַהּ
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7 comments:
And in what form is the “ proverbial slap in the face” to take ? And to what truth are you as a representative of Israel to the world around you to “make him aware” of ?
As you so aptly phased it “G_d save us for there is no one else who can.” So how does he do that other than by those he has called ?
I answer these with the premise that Ya_ eh calls for the “slap” to be the visibility of Ya eh’s Truth in our lives.
1) That by our adherence to His Truth, the “newly-divorced-cashier-mother” will see that our faith is not in ourselves but in the G_d we serve.
2) That through the example of that same adherence the “life-is-just-peachy individual” will also see that life’s blessings come from Ya_ _ah and not our earthly fathers or from our own hands.
Just as Esther’s was in a place at Ya_ eh’s appointed time, and that by her willingness to take a chance for the purposes of righteousness, her earthly king granted those justice for whom she had stood in the gap for. Thus should not we try to recognize our G_d appointed times, and be willing to stand in the gap for those around us, who we share a common identity with ? Be it going humbly to those in charge and requesting relief of grievance, or by acting ourselves to stand in the needy ones place.
Then just as Mordecai who was once under unjust charges and dishonor, was later cleared of those and in fact placed in a position of honor before all of the lands inhabitants, so as to instigate justice.
Can we not therefore reasonably suppose that the “newly-divorced-cashier-mother” of Esther’s day saw Esther’s courage and was drawn to the G_d of her strength, Ya_ _eh ?
Can we not also reasonably suppose that those “life-is-just-peachy individuals” of Mordecai’s community took note of Mordicai’s plight and its reversal of circumstance and question in their minds – how does that happen? Again, thus drawing them to to Mordecai’s G_d, Ya_ _ah?
So rather than focusing in on the negative circumstances of your Egypt, Wilderness, etc., why not instead focus in on the one who redeems us and the righteousness that he has called us too. Then some of those around us will be drawn to Him by seeing how he has changed our lives. And by that the true meaning of Passover is exampled to the world.
Shalom,
Luke of Fort Worth
Hi Luke :-)
I agree for the most part. The ultimate solution is in our adhering to our faith in Truth - but nonetheless a bitter tirade rant in appropriate now and then given the circumstances :-)
Your referencing of Mordechai and Esther is very interesting and I agree with the points raised although I would point out that by Mordechai too - a systemic shift did not occur. The exile of Persia remained. The overall system remained intact and it's the systemic corruption of our present situation that's hurt me so much. The fundamental infrastructure that seems to be an insurmountable obstacle to overcome - absent God's help...
Ooohkay....
I in no way make light of your current situation, but this post reads more like Nietzschean resentment than a constructive observation.
It's amazing to me how a mind as sophisticated as yours, one that does make keen observations - if obscure - has put forth such an utterly myopic and ridiculous argument.
Hopefully Pesach has liberated you from such misanthropy and you can get back to the task of sharing worthwhile food for thought.
@anonymous - point taken and understood. Thanks for the feedback. blessings, danny
What is Nietzschean resentment?
@anon1 - i'm not a complete buff on Nietzsche myself to really give a completely accurate answer. In a nutshell though, Nietzsche wrote about a lot of negative things in the world - nihilism, exhaustive beauracracy, and the fundamental ratzon of every human being to exert power (among other things). so basically it's a way of saying 'being a sour grumpy old man' :-)
In his Geneology of Morals, Nietzsche suggested that people are constantly trying to feel superior and when confronted with the superiority of others, they become somewhat resentful and seek to redefine what superior means in order to reassert their own superiority. For instance, ancient Greek society placed a value on natural beauty, and those people in the society who were physically attractive benefitted from a certain superiority. Socretes, a rather ugly man - a plebeian no less! suggested Nietzsche, used philosophy to assert his superiority, such that he could say I may not be beautiful, but my mind is more honed than yours, so I'm better than you. More aprpose to the post, Nietzsche suggested that the Jewish people created morality out of resentment for being slaves and as a means to reassert superiority over the Egyptians. Punching a guy in the face because he is doing well, (particularly when he works hard for it, as opposed to the "coin toss success") while you may not be reads more like resentment to me (and hasty generalizations) than an argument to enlighten those who may not appreciate some of the negative implications of our current society. And here I'd hardly call it symptomatic of capitalism as it is more a matter of industrialism and treating certain humans with the same coldness typically reserved for the machine.
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