Clichés & Despair

Paolo Pietropaolo, to whom I listen every Sunday on the CBC, said that something was a cliché, and then he said, “But it has a kernel of truth in it.”

No Paolo, a cliché’s foundation is truth; it’s entirely true. At least, that’s what I believe. Isn’t a cliché a cliché because it’s overused? And isn’t it overused because it’s universally accepted as appropriate for its reference, valid, and worthy of passing on? Clichés are today’s virals.

And while I’m critiquing the CBC, another thing that bugs me is that most, if not all, hosts say “see you tomorrow/next week” at the close of their show. “See?” Really” That’s not the right verb. Say, “Talk to you tomorrow/next week.” That’s honest. As is, “to,” and not “with.” 

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The newsletter and my editorial on our recruitment campaign seems to be a hit. We have already received several donations. The board is pleased. It’s going to be a tough act to follow, but I have an idea that single -topic, in-depth newsletters might be the way to go, each one ending with an appeal for funding that’s tied to the subject.

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I talked to Dwight yesterday morning in London, UK. He came home overnight. But Bruce has just begun a month in Italy, and Beth leaves for Paris in two weeks. Oh my God, I loved traveling. I have no bucket list. I cannot possibly get into an airplane. In my script, written in rhyme, includes these lines, in the part about seeing Dr. Shoja: “I’m to commit to co-existence; to accept, and not resistance.” Instead, I love reading Beth’s blog when she travels, and Bruce sends me images and stories.

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I’m going to die believing that I will be escaping chaos. I think capitalism is evil. It rewards only the rich. And I think greed is evil, it rewards only the self. Capitalism has no ethics, no social responsibility, and so I expect chaos in the future that will be hard on everyone. There will be war with no tangible enemy when social/financial order collapses. 

I wish I didn’t think this way. But I am not proud of my species. My species disappoints me, based on what I see playing out in the news on the national scale, and in so many actions of individuals all around us, I am ashamed of us. What overwhelms me is the sense of powerlessness I feel and hopelessness I feel. 

The burden of knowledge is pain—knowledge of the fragility of our planet and what we continue to do to it. What we have done to animals exceeds, is as atrocious as human genocides.

The worst part is this: Capitalism is the force that created the current crisis on our planet and in our atmosphere. To fix the planet, to save the planet, is not coherent with the need for growth that is intrinsic to capitalism. I fear we are doomed to fail. 

I don’t want to think/feel this way. Plato thought intellectual leaders should govern social policies; he did not believe in democracy. I’m team Plato. 

Living here in a log home in the forest with animals, on an island helps me focus on nature and away from the news.  It also helps that the clinic, the monologue, and books, provide distraction.

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I wrote to my LBGTQ colleagues. Not only do several enthusiastically support my idea for bring us together to party and to raise funds for the clinic, but Daniel, wonderful Daniel, pledged $500 for the clinic. The plan is to see what happens with the Nanaimo Foundation next week, and then if they say the grant is a go, to have a planning session at Jay’s house. And we’re off ….