by Rod Amis
THINKING EVIL - Rod Amis's first post in the July Contagious Festival introduces his new project.
17 July 2006:
WAR, n. A by-product of the arts of peace. The most menacing political condition is a period of international amity. The student of history who has not been taught to expect the unexpected may justly boast himself inaccessible to the light. "In time of peace prepare for war" has a deeper meaning than is commonly discerned; it means, not merely that all things earthly have an end -- that change is the one immutable and eternal law -- but that the soil of peace is thickly sown with the seeds of war and singularly suited to their germination and growth. It was when Kubla Khan had decreed his "stately pleasure dome" -- when, that is to say, there were peace and fat feasting in Xanadu -- that heheard from afarAncestral voices prophesying war.One of the greatest of poets, Coleridge was one of the wisest of men, and it was not for nothing that he read us this parable. Let us have a little less of "hands across the sea," and a little more of that elemental distrust that is the security of nations. War loves to come like a thief in the night; professions of eternal amity provide the night.
- Ambrose BierceIt was Ambrose Bierce, also known as "Bitter Bierce," who over a century ago set out to show the truth behind the words we casually use. He called his tome The Devil's Dictionary
In admiration of his work, I set myself the task in my youth of updating his "dictionary" to our modern era, in other words, the task of exposing hypocrisy as I saw it. After various drafts and multiple computers, I lost the work. Even that part of it posted on the Web was misplaced during a change of Internet service providers. All that remains of that second edition of The Devil's Dictionary is in my head... Until now.
Join me here, Gentle Reader, as I attempt to provide the new definitions of the words that define our lives. Along the way, I shall make significant digressions and dalliances to look around us at the state of the world by reflecting on the news of our folly. I hope you will enjoy this journey as much as I shall enjoy our destination.
In our national discussions here in the United States certain words are bandied about by politicians and the babbling class we call the punditry without a careful examination of their true meanings. This Dictionary is an attempt to remedy that sad and infectious disease.
Security, n.: The sense that one is safe derived by sacrificing privacy and responsibility to malefactors whose sole ambition is increasing their wealth and your powerlessness.
Rights, n.: Those privileges and perquisites demanded with the understanding that they diminish in value the more they are afforded to others.
Accountability, n.: The power to place blame on an individual or organization, subject them to punishment and ridicule one would find unacceptable when applied to one's self without fear of retaliation or retribution. From "Accountable" an adjective having nothing to do with fiduciary functions in normal practice.
These definitions provide but three examples of how misused many words are in daily rhetoric in the United States. If there true meanings, as provided here, were applied in our every day discourse, the outcomes of our conduct would be quite different from those we experience today.
That is why, in this discourse, I shall endeavor to encourage you to think evil... not differently (tip of the hat to Apple Computer) but in a mean and evil way about how words are used in your country.
(I know, this is not an original idea. Everyone and his/her brother have talked about the Orwellian prediction that language would be abused in the brave new world coming true in our own time. The difference is that they, unlike Bierce, have refused to provide the true definition of the terms we now use.)
Consider, if you will, how different our lives would be if the following definitions were applied in our conversations about the national agenda.
Conservative, adj.: 1. Holding to a vision of a non-existent Golden Age in which everyone was and thought exactly as oneself, transgressions never occurred and virtue was the profound public value. See also "Hypocritical" and "Delusional."
2. Adhering to a standard of "average" which ignores the undisputable fact that the average person on this planet is a thirty year old Chinese woman.
3. Neanderthal.
Politics, plural noun [though usually treated as singular in public discourse] : 1. The activities and discussions, usually gassy and inaccurate, centered around how one's own group or class might wrest from all others the ability to achieve more power or privilege;
2. the act of robbing as many others as possible of power and privilege to one's own benefit;
3. legalized skullduggery.
Marriage n.: A social institution meant to ensure that no individual faces the possibility of achieving true joy or sexual fulfillment in order to establish a means by which the indoctrination of children to the benefit of the commercial classes could be achieved at minimal cost to the state or the community. See also "Involuntary Servitude" and "Divorce."
When allowing oneself to think evil, mean and evil, the net being cast must be wide. In future installments of this project, the reader will be encouraged to cast her net widely, as well.
The Second Post in The Devil's Dictionary: Showing the Love
The Third Post in the Devil's Dictionary: Devil's Night Out
The Fourth Post in the Devil's Dictionary: Your Devil
The Conclusion of the Devil's Dictionary: Devil's Advocate
G21: The World's Magazine
Rod's First Project at the Huffington Post
Rod's Second Project at the Huffington Post
© 2006, Rod Amis.
E-mail your comments to rod@g21.net.
