Folly of the Beast
It hit me. It hit me while I was doing the most mundane and now seemingly privileged thing - taking out the recycling. We enjoyed a terrific bottle of Pinot Noir over the weekend (another privileged thing) and when I dumped the empty bottle into the bin, the label - and the quote which inspired it - hit me like a ton of bricks.
“For there is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.”
It seems to sum up in a few words most of the feelings of disbelief, sadness, unrest, and incredulousness of the horrific events unfolding - no, unraveling - around the country and indeed in my home town of Philadelphia over the last few days. There is a sense of fear of speaking out - fear that our words will be misunderstood, that our frustrations will be politicized, and that our very safety will be at stake.
How could these lines from Chapter 87 of Moby Dick, published in 1851, ring so true for an entirely different set of what seem to be insurmountable challenges today?
Stay safe.
Artwork by Hunter Patrick