The Modern Man

I will not believe that man is such a worthless creature. That he walks this Earth merely to find comfort and safety. That each man needs every other, however lowly and inept. I will not abide Socialism or Liberalism or any other of the human hating religions.
I believe man has a greatness. That he is born to drive to perfection, and unable to reach it, drive even harder. That every man owns a ‘fire in the belly’. That it is his right, no his duty, as a human to find and work that dream.
And I believe there are those who would quench that fire. Who’s self loathing and personal contempt too, force them to undertake the quenching of others. They are the enemy. Of myself and of man. It is their fear that brings the blackness to life. Their search for safety. And Utopia. And someone to blame.
Men used to know that life was dangerous. That the control of their fates was in the hands of the gods. They would curse when it was in them to curse, and laugh then when laughter was fitting. But they understood that life was uncaring of whatever doom they were due. And in that knowledge was freedom.
Freedom from fear. Freedom from the cage of comfort. Freedom from the shackles of safety.
But no more. There are too few men like this left. Most would surely and easily cede that freedom to bike helmets, no smoking zones, and Social Security. Comfort at all costs and comfort for all. At the barrel of a gun if necessary.
And safety, too. Let us all never die. Never be injured, and never get sick. And we’ll sue if we do, if that’s what it takes. Someone is guilty of my encephalitis.
But the truth in the end, is the fruit from the tree of knowledge was fear. Sweet, sugary fear. There are those who’ll admit it and those who will live it. Those who will spit it and those who will swallow it whole. And those as well who will offer it free.
But with all this still, I will not believe
that man is such a worthless creature.