CURRENTS
The light, the dark
Plato said, 'We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when grown men are afraid of the light.'
It's hard to believe that our leaders, savagely beating their chests and declaring war without end, conjuring naked and brutal savagery against our perceived enemies, and visiting wanton destruction of entire countries and their inhabitants, could be afraid of the light.
But they are.
When a religious leader, a 'man of God', calls for the assassination of a world leader; when a Reverend calls for the extermination of all gay people; when an estimated two-thirds of the EU's population expresses "an assumption" that Jews are to blame for the insurgency in Iraq (not to mention terrorism itself); this is fear. It is not rational.
Hatred is uncontrolled fear.
If light is Truth, then darkness breeds fear. When fear is the main driver of the core consensus reality of a nation, then darkness stands as its second.
If darkness breeds fear, then light needs to be shed.
"Some are born to follow the light. Others are born to bring the light."
I said that, I think.
Part of bringing joy and happiness to the world is to bring Truth and its second, LIGHT. It is quiet in the light. There is no fear. All fear is nothing but ignorance and blindness.
There is NO ONE WAY to the light. All roads towards the light lead to Truth. All true religions are toward this light. It is NOT RELIGION that brings darkness.
It is FUNDAMENTALISM, which is fear of the light. It grows towards the darkness and death. It kills, abhors, resents life and light.
There can't be an end to violence and insanity and war until there is an end to fear, and fear is not calmed by darkness. It is fed.
When, in the course of this coming century, men and women remove the veil of darkness and see that when you hurt your neighbor, you hurt yourself, we'll be ready for the next step. The stars, maybe. A nice vegetable garden is ok too.
I remarked to a friend that if jazz poodles, promoters, and record executives were held to the same laws of accountability in America as the Fortune 500 companies, as far as human rights abuses are concerned, they would all get lousy scores. Microsoft (not my favorite software company) and Apple (may the Schwartz be with you guys and gals) are both industry LEADERS in the area of civil rights for diversified populations.
It's true. No use trying to weasel out of it. The 'jazz world' is a very very VERY small teeny tiny itsy bitsy world because it has neglected to DIVERSIFY. Not just neglected, but obstinately REFUSED. It is men's music played BY men FOR men in very manly fashion.
The people that buy my Music are guerilla agents, undermining the status quo with remarkable bravery and tenacity.
"Hilary Clinton stands a better chance at becoming the President of the United States of America than she does of getting a job in a jazz band playing trombone."
I definitely said that.
If the visual image is silly to you, you have a prejudice.