Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Hope is for suckers
I just read this article by Derrick Jensen and it revived in me feelings I’ve long had about the concept of “hope.” I don’t think it’s hope that keeps me working for justice in my own small ways. It’s probably more frequently outrage or anger...or sometimes just a reaction, e.g. when I see someone struggling with lots of packages, trying to open a door. Almost every single time, I’ll rush over to hold the door for them. Why? It just feels right. That, my friends, is often how activism starts. Not necessarily believing your actions will have a huge impact...but rather, doing what feels right to you.
Henry Miller on hope:
“Somehow, the realization that nothing was to be hoped for had a salutary effect upon me. For months, for years, in fact, all my life, I had been looking forward to something happening, some extrinsic event that would alter my life, and now suddenly, inspired by the absolute hopelessness of everything, I felt as though a great burden had been lifted from my shoulders.”
More Miller (courtesy of Owen):
“Hope is a bad thing. It means that you are not what you want to be. It means that part of you is dead, if not all of you. It means that you entertain illusions. It’s a sort of spiritual clap, I should say.”
Here’s one more link that’s somewhat on topic...courtesy of the Cat Lady.
Rosebud…
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