11 Comments

Once I was the chief designer of our fourth grade Thanksgiving play for elementary school. People loved it! Anything at all is kinda harsh Karen. Once I was a good chief!

Expand full comment

John, this was beautiful and excellent. I wonder if you have thoughts on how perhaps Russia is trying to navigate its way back to this kind of ethos--how perhaps one dimension (of many) of the Russia/Ukraine divide now is found precisely here?

Expand full comment

Much love to you brother! I do. Hitting the road righit now but look forward to chiming in here. Little by little and I pray you are well!

Expand full comment

Righteous, soulbrother -- listening to you is old school good schooling in the old world; always a blessing. peace and love and safe travels...

Expand full comment

Love this: “Voting is simply a secular sacrament.”

Expand full comment

Did not the founding fathers restrict voting to propertied white men as a way to speak for the collective in terms of governing in a resposible way? Maybe in expanding the vote to all adults we have gone off into indentity politics instead of remembering we are a collective trying to protect ourselves and organize ourselves. In my mind voting is a resposiblity more than an identifier. Very interesting way to bring old world thought and new world thought together. I love peanut stew too, DRC style!

Expand full comment

Peanut stew makes me think of a long sit under the stars and just enough spice to be reminded of my humanity. DRC style is next on my list! I'm a Mali peanut stew guy, often served with a big headed yellow fish, they call it Capitaine. Also...Great stuff over at Broken Clock sister. Little by little we go on this road of life. Peace, and yes, in the end, voting is a responsibility of those who find themselves in a democratic societies. But not all responsibilities are created equal in the end. I think sometimes westerners get confused about what has been. But for expats... you guys have some kind of intuition that allows for paradox I think. At least that is what has happened to me. Peace!

Expand full comment

Always an interesting perspective. A reminder that in our world the situation is pretty much that there are no right answers, only least worse ones. To me, in our nation, much of the problem with voting is that we are voting for far too much. Federal government has grown far beyond what it should be - defense of borders, interstate commerce and the like. The more people fuss about their particular view of inequity, the more politicians are glad to put in place new bureaucracies and wealth transfers to add to their political record. I used to work with some salt of the earth mountain men who would say "we was just mindin' our own business and in come tax". The effect of all this complaining, voting and legislating and taxing has meant we all give more of our treasure to Caesar to be squandered on the cause du jour that most of don't give two figs about.

Expand full comment

Do you really think that in the past everyone always agreed with The Emperor? What happens when the Emperor is an idiot? This is a great deal of polysyllabic nonsense disguising the fact that you obviously think that YOU should be Emperor and impose your will on all the rest of us.

Expand full comment

Wouldn’t it be nice tho, to be a real emperor and just tell people to bring you stuff? Like for a day… a week? Are you saying Karen that, maybe just maybe, I’ve got a shot at being emperor!?

Expand full comment

You would be terrible as chief of anything.

Expand full comment