When situations deteriorate to the point of polarization certain things get ritually executed…subtlety, nuance, complexity are all sacrificed for an absolute dualism that makes human connection impossible. Many of our greatest thinkers have plumbed the depths of this phenomenon. Nietzsche, Freud and Kierkegaard – among many others – have elegantly and eloquently measured the devolution to a conflict between the light and the darkness. In the third century AD a Parthian thinker named Mani posited a cosmology that was completely dualistic: a good spiritual world of light was in constant conflict with evil darkness. We have entered this world today.
We keep hearing that America is at a tipping point, that it is time to choose between two world views in direct opposition. We have become both Jekyll and Hyde and certain inputs will push us to the side of darkness…or of light. Our choice has become simple: between the light of inclusive democracy and the dark of exclusionary oligarchy.
In a way it is the choice between life and death.
Thinkers have used two Greek gods to personify the poles. Thanatos, the god of death is in opposition to Dionysus the god of creativity, life, energy and love. We are now seeing these two forces at work. Thanatos brings us a death wish, trauma, depression and a rage for self annihilation; Dionysus suggests the rage to live, the creative energy and a view to the future. Right now -in America- this choice becomes increasingly clear. We are either builders or experts at demolition.
The death energy is a downward spiral that bends us to an arc of destruction. We become fascinated by what we can’t do, can’t allow and can’t construct. Life energy spins us upward toward inclusion, the future and hope. Our choice has become a simple one… and each of us must decide which journey we will take.
I pray we choose wisely.
In a way it is freeing that our choice is a simple duality, without subtlety. It is easy to step over a line in the sand and take residence in the area of our choice. It is time for all Americans to choose. That is the tipping point.
Olio Folio 