0 
0 I read daniel’s post today, and it broke my heart!
It broke my heart because I can see myself writing it one day. I can see other bloggers I know from many different countries writing it as well. You just have to change the name of the country to your respective country and, Presto, you are there. Sure, here we don’t have chavistas, but we have the MB here, and their influence is causing so many people to leave, which can also be said about Hezbollah in Lebanon, the various militias in Iraq, and the list goes on and on.
I remember once reading about the encounter between Our super asshole ex-president Nasser and the supreme socialist scumbag Che Guevara and how Che asked him about the number of egyptians who left the country en masse after his land and property “reforms”. Nasser responded to Che’s question by saying that no giant exodus took place, and that the people stayed. This surprised Guevara, who informed Nasser that his “reforms” must not be successfull, for the degree of a revolution’s success is only measured by the amount of people who end up leaving the country because of it, feeling that this new revolutionized society is one where they just couldn’t live in. Only when the country becomes unliveable for those the reforms has as its victims, then and only then are they successfull.
I keep thinking of that whenever I think about this country, and how this day has arrived for the many many egyptians linning up in front of the canadian and american embassies, and how more will surely come. And those following paragraphs haunt me for it:
Tonight I also feel strangely liberated because all my obligations
toward Venezuela have ceased. I do not need to worry anymore about its
future. There is no role for me in that future. The battles to come
will be fought by different people, for different reasons and my advice
will be laughed at. The battles to come are not my battles anymore. I
have been left on the wayside by a people who has decided to entrust
its fate unto a single man, deranged, egotistic, uncompromising,
blustery, disrespectful, amoral. People who value that have no business
talking to me except to make sure that I shut up, that I stay quiet,
that I never remind them of their emptiness.But it is fine with
me. Really, I am the better for it. During four years I have tried to
deliver a consistent message of ethos and culture, of gentility and
passion. There is nothing I can say today that will not be a repeat of
what I have written in the past 4 years. It is time to move one, to go
to new ventures. For four years I have sacrificed so much to pass a
message. So many hours spent at a computer, so many friends ignored, so
many obligations disdained. It is time that I regroup some. The new
Venezuela has nothing to offer to me and yet it is my country and I
will not leave it. Tonight more than ever I understand the ending of
Dr. Zhivago. I am Yuri Zhivago tonight. I just need to change my life,
isolate myself from all the degradations that will come to Venezuela as
the incompetence of Chavez will have now free rein to finish off
historical monuments, National Parks, customs, culture, traditions. Now
I need to nest, to bring out all the books that I have bought over the
years and never had time to read, to start listening to music again as
I forget about the news.It is not that Chavez has beaten me, he
just has convinced me that I need to lead a parallel life, with select
and trustful friends, and forget about the dreariness of the coming
Venezuela, where streets will be named for obscure assassins, where
buhoneros will rule the cities, where nature will become too dangerous
with crime and pollution to visit. We will gather in small groups,
reminisce, rebuild in our imaginations a gentle Venezuela that could
have been.
We already do that here!
I don’t want to think about it. Sometimes I don’t want to think anymore at all. Oh how I envy those bastards who live in the middle of nowhere and do nothing but farm lands and only worry about what to eat and what they will do the next day, and who can’t name a single foriegn president and can’t point any country out in a map. How I envy my auc-ian friends, those usefull idiots who do nothing all day but talk about cars, haircuts, gossip and who appeared in what magazine. How I envy those who just don’t care, who tell you point blank that they never discuss politics or religion, because it will just upset them. I wish I could do that. To just not care anymore. That would be so nice. I can’t wait for that day to come.
The day has arrived for Daniel, and I hope he is a happier person for it, even though I doubt it. That day will come for me as well, and for many people I know who also care and try to chnage things despite the nagging knowledge they have that they are powerless. It will be a liberating, yet very sad day. And as much as I long for the salvation of apathy, I fear the day I recieve it, for that will mean that a good part, a decent part, in me has died, and that the people I fought against are the ones who managed to kill it….
…and that I allowed them to do that.
English
Let me know when you are heading for Canada. I would not recomend the period December to March, as the shock to your system may be a bit much. You will need some time to aclimatize.
So we may see you here some day.
I have thought about picking out a cave or a canyon to live in here in the Great BAsin, high desert of nevada too. In time perhaps… you are more than welcome to share my cave.
I’m starting to feel that way about the US. People don’t acknowledge or understand the threat of terrorism, the political discourse has become unbearably shrill and hateful, religious maniacs and militant atheist both trying to force their nonsense on me and into my personal life, people just selfishly consuming consuming consuming to the point where the average person would rather give money to our enemies and keep us in bondage rather than make the “sacrifice” of supporting alternative energy or driving something smaller than an Abrams tank. And the list goes on and on.
Sometimes I just want to live on a small island in the Pacific eating fruit from the trees and smoking homegrown while the rest of the world crashes and burns.
Sandy, let me try to cheer you up. I am sorry I have no useful analogy to help you other than an American one, but that is all I have to work with. Benjamin Franklin founded the first anti-slavery society in the colonies. He never lived to see even a small dent in the practice of slavery. But he still made the effort, confident in the idea that planting that seed would bear fruit for someone else, even though he benefited not a jot from it. So everything you do to oppose the jihady fucks or the shariah-law nuts or the military dictatorship thugs, though you may never see anything from it, is worth doing because you have a responsibility to the generation that comes after you. You live in a world with electricity, vaccines, and so forth…you didn’t create any of that and you can’t pay back the people who provided it to you, so you can only try to pay it forward…
Also I forgot to say what an important service your belly-dancing videos are to the culture of the whole world
One of my favorite sayings….
“I’ve never felt better since I’ve given up hope”
Well, I hope when that day arrives that there are countless other “sandmonkey’s” that arise to take your place in Egypt. I hope.
I feel that way in regard to immigration in the western world. For America, in particular, I fear the influx of unskilled and unsuccessful Latin Americans may finally lead us down a very bad road. For Europe, the future looks even more ominous. Between immigration, terrorism, the hubris of modern liberalism, multiculturalism and political correctness, and the selfishness and excess characteristic of modern life, there is a “bad spirit” rising everywhere in the world currently.
But I’ve also come to terms with it. If people don’t want to listen now and act to save what is good, well, what can I say? Great nations aren’t murdered; they commit suicide. Empires rise and empires fall. There are Golden Ages and Dark Ages. Chaos and dissolution are as much a part of the human experience as order and progress are. It is just a shame that mankind cannot ever seem to learn the lessons of the past and permanently escape the cycle.
The good news is that we never regress completely.
A great majority of people choose apathy because caring hurts. Those who cannot find refuge in apathy suffer from intermittent depression. The amount of crap in the world is simply overwhelming.
Sandmonkey, I sympathize. But I hope you never have to give up your fight
The world has always been a dangerous and often stupid place. But there have been those great souls who know this, but keep standing up for what they know is right, because it makes them like themselves better than if they didn’t stand up.
Even if it doesn’t change the world, these people – by keeping their self-respect intact – give good people who care someone to connect to.
Also, through you, Sandmonkey, good people connect to other good people, and form a network of friends.
Even if this doesn’t change the world for the better, it makes life spiritually friendlier for your kind of people. And I think it must do something for you, too. : )
Besides, you’re too amusing a writer to give it up. I mean, you have to enjoy churning out your own terrific humor!
I know, caring is painful. But it beats walking around like a zombie.
Just make sure you give – AT LEAST – equal focus to the good things in the world: the music you love, the art you love, the people you love. You know, your loves. There’s a lot of great achievement and intelligence in the world. Your soul needs to be fed, so make sure that while you’re lambasting the stupidities that you also give yourself plenty of time to notice and enjoy all the good stuff.
We loves ya, Sandmonkey.
Tallulahdahling
#8 Tommy. My feelings exactly. Throughout history there have been ‘difficulties’ in our evolution and I have no doubt that there will be many more. Quick bit of history here kids. Cicra 236 BC and Eratosthenes, the chief librarian in the library of Alexandria worked out that the Earth was round, its approximate size and hence from these measurements the distance to the moon etc. Took Europe nearly 2,000 years to get over this. The Roman Empire, Arabic/Hindu mathematics, refuting the Ptolemaic view of the universe etc. WTF ? Why ? The world will go on. Except that now we have the means to obliterate all life on Earth. I doubt that we will do it but it comes back to the fact that we are evolving and Chavez and his ilk are a speed bump in the road of life, nothing more. As I touched on before however, there has been a ‘joker’ added to the deck and that is the fact that there are some who might use weapons which will really ruin our day. Remember that the internet hasn’t been around that long and the ‘blogosphere’ for even less time. Our biggest threat is not from Chavez but from people whose idealogy would see our destruction, and theirs, based on the fact that they are doing Gods work. That’s scary. I worry not about Venezuela, I worry about the ME and its half-assed bellicose dictators and religious nutbags who think that the way forward is through mass murder. Sorry, fence the whole place off and send its adherents home from the rest of the world. We’ve moved on, tell the wacko’s to try it sometime or is that an oxymoron ?
Somebody call Sandmonkey the wambulance. The world is shit, every country is apparently in decline and we are all going to die in a few years because Al Gore wasn’t president even with the popular vote which doesn’t count for jack when the electoral college votes for president. (bush is the main problem re: global warming, right?). Egypt doesn’t have to worry about an economy if we are all drowning because the oceans are rising and skin is burning because the ozone is gone.
You need to have a few drinks and relax. Maybe things will work out in Egypt, maybe they won’t. Have a few drinks sleep with a smokin’ hot woman and worry about the future tomorrow.
Thanks for visiting.
Well, I did not think about looking for solace in your neck of the woods (or lack of them as the case might be) but I should have known better and looked. After all Chavez wants to make Venezuela a big mental desert…
Why do you think the world is so hopeless and dark?
SM, Bienvenue in the adult world, now you can start your real role ;
it is not just a world of ideals your comming in, but a world of poor an rich animals, wether you decide to become Mother Theresa, wether you chose to become a second Mubarak 😆
let’s play it on dices !
endlich Tommy is flirting with philosophy 😆
Because there are so many people who only use violence and do not respect freedom and individual rights who are in power. There are many who prefer death to life getting hold of weapons of mass destruction, if you do not think that is dark and that we are close to a hopeless situation then you are an extreme optimist and perhaps I am a rampant pessimist.
anon, was that directed at me? I was joking about global warming etc… We are all going to die, but it probably won’t have anything to do with climate change.
You could change “chavistas” to “neo-cons” and it would sound like 2004 as it was seen by the crazy section of the democratic party. People entertain themselves with the prospect of their country falling apart even if it isn’t. Chavez is a disaster, but it has to happen.
Egypt is going to be egypt and it doesn’t really matter what a few people do. In the future there will be bloody and painful wars, innocent people will die and suffer for no good reason and humanity will not reach some sort of common ground. That’s the way it works, like it or not.
Instead of worrying about anything enjoy a few drinks, the company of a woman you care about and relax for a while. There is plenty of misery ahead no matter who you are so you might as well enjoy the luxury that you are currently blessed with.
“Eat and drink, tomorrow we die:)”
We’re dealing with the effects of global dumbing-down. Idiots worldwide are joining together to create ineffective, dysfunctional governments run by power-hungry morons who attract the lowest common denominator of intelligence. It’s happening everywhere (though it does seem to be especially prevalent in the Middle East). Here in Israel, you wouldn’t believe how many bloggers I’ve heard from who simply don’t have the energy to blog about current events anymore because we’re so disgusted by how low our public officials have sunk in every conceivable sphere of life.
Thank you for words SM.
To mike, #17, you are soo right. I have read the same arguments used Chavistas, being used by neocons.
Liza,
You’ve got it. A global dumbing down is exactly what we are facing right now. With the advent of increasing effective methods of birth control, the dummies too stupid to practice it actually have an enormous edge these days. I have little doubt that the global IQ is in free fall right now.
Wow. Couldn’t sleep so I got up to surf the net and I come upon this posting by SM and this comment thread. And you all have expressed many of my own feelings for me. Much wisdom and good advice here from all. This is why your blog and readers are great. Have an awesome day, all.
#17 Mike…a nice double Brie, good salami and decent scotch…not bourbon, I don’t have a sweet tooth, and see what tomorrow brings. Something to cure the evils of the world. Any other thoughts as to what we need folks ?
An open educated mind for all, a universal belief in “treat others as you expect others to treat you” and that would be a damn good starting base.
“An open educated mind for all, a universal belief in ‘treat others as you expect others to treat you’ and that would be a damn good starting base.”
It would, but what do we do about the inborn psychopaths and egomaniacs?
Actually these do treat others as they expect to be treated – as objects. What I think you mean is, treat others as you would like them to treat you – as human beings like yourself.
I understand.
These words, in such dark moments, give me solace. They’re from Auden’s “1st September, 1939”:
All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
Be strong. This, too, shall pass.
From the UK things look equally bleak with our politicians (all parties) and MSM inept, venal and despicable. I believe we are in for very hard times ahead. Sometimes I feel like retreating to some remote place too .. but I have children and will fight to the death to make sure that their world doesn’t descend into darkness. Keep hope SM
Daniel lives in a country that will now be under every whim of an egotistical communist populist dictator who is preparing for war with Uncle Sam.
Sam lives in a typical Arab dictatorship, a place where you want to scream but nothing comes out, where you hope that things will improve, but will not because people are too locked into ignorance and those that stand out are soon beaten into submission or worse.
While I live in which was once a free place, but now we have decisions being taken by people who were not voted in and a gradual but nevertheless steady erosion of rights and freedoms all in th name of tolerance, while an elite central cadre laugh themselves silly at the little people who have not worked out that they have lost something precious.
I wonder which of us is in the worst place for suffering depression about the situation.