tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post7835961229811735473..comments2024-03-28T00:11:33.489-04:00Comments on bensozia: Scenes from the Life of Bunny MellonJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-79886387390932941152021-11-01T08:30:02.025-04:002021-11-01T08:30:02.025-04:00What happens to the poor when they attain the weal...What happens to the poor when they attain the wealth of the rich? Do they become despised in turn for their attainment? The cycle never ends, and human nature never changes.Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14442944847913877189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-20858045797376328542021-11-01T01:49:25.145-04:002021-11-01T01:49:25.145-04:00@Ann
What will I have gained by grasping at other...@Ann<br /><br /><i>What will I have gained by grasping at others' momentary blessings?</i><br /><br />Justice? Fairness? Decency? Humanity? A diminishment of senseless suffering? Hope for future generations to live in a world not despoiled by greed and selfishness?<br /><br />You would tell the poor and exploited of the world not to grasp at the "momentary blessings" hoarded senselessly and in obscene excess by others? To not despise those who condemn them to live in misery and desperation, while they themselves live in unimaginable excess and privilege? To be content with their wretched lots in life while others lord over them as if they were insects, all on the premise that "we all return to dust in the end anyway"?<br /><br />Such a stance is violently abhorrent to me, and smacks of the hideous complacency of comfort and privilege. It would be impossible for me to remain civil toward anyone who earnestly thinks such things, and so I shall excuse myself in disgust. I would ask you to seriously dwell on the response your words have prompted, and engage in some self reflection and soul searching - but I fear it'd be a pointless and fruitless request.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-28190098196166965862021-10-31T19:39:37.291-04:002021-10-31T19:39:37.291-04:00My principles are to not begrudge others what they...My principles are to not begrudge others what they have, to not live in resentment. I myself work in a menial job, and others above me earn much more. But I do not begrudge them their success and I have my job by virtue of their leadership. I judge my worth not by what I receive, but by what I give, and have found I need not despise others for their gifts. By doing so, my heart is light and my cares are few. We all return to dust in the end anyway. What will I have gained by grasping at others' momentary blessings? Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14442944847913877189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-21536313048512551822021-10-31T12:11:59.592-04:002021-10-31T12:11:59.592-04:00@Ann
Ahh, so given all the would-be gardeners we ...@Ann<br /><br />Ahh, so given all the would-be gardeners we have who are stuck working dead-end jobs to pay the bills, and therefor are effectively denied the opportunity to develop their gifts, surely you agree we already live in a massively tyrannical society?<br /><br />Or is it simply enough for you that a small handful of ultra-privileged elites get to develop their gifts on behalf of the rest of us, and you're content leaving the rest to do the grunt work that pays for the opulence of the few?<br /><br />Bunny Mellon's "gift" was the ability to live a life of luxury in an ivory tower, bossing around menial workers to suit her exact whims, all in the name of creating literal walled gardens reserved for the privileged.<br /><br />What of the gifts of the people who actually broke their backs digging and planting those gardens, and erecting those walls? What of the people she treated like pawns, literally tricking them into doing precisely what she wanted despite their refusals? What of the people who, generations later, are still spending their days toiling in the dirt to maintain the gardens to exact specifications set in stone generations ago, like Tsarist soldiers ordered to stand sentry over an empty plot of grass for no apparent reason, because a flower once grew there that Empress Catherine fancied and ordered guarded year round?<br /><br />...or are their "gifts" the ability to spend their lives working for their bread, with the privilege of earning their paychecks by catering to the whims of the rich?<br /><br />...or does none of that matter, just so long as you can vicariously enjoy the fruits of "her" labor without lifting a finger yourself? (Even though you can't, because these gardens aren't open to the public. Or are mere pictures enough to satisfy your principles?)<br /><br />...and suppose you <i>didn't</i> enjoy the look of the gardens - would you still defend them, and the expense of their design, creation, and maintenance? What of people who <i>don't</i> vicariously enjoy "her" labor? What of the people who would prefer we actually uphold the egalitarian values this country was founded on, and that we spuriously claim to hold so highly?G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-12906601781274397482021-10-31T09:22:28.823-04:002021-10-31T09:22:28.823-04:00As a member of a riff-raff myself, I feel no more ...As a member of a riff-raff myself, I feel no more resentment to some one like Bunny Mellon sharing her gifts with the world than I do Tiger Woods sharing his golf game, particularly since I can vicariously enjoy the fruits of her labor without lifting a finger in the design, creation and maintenance of her gardens. And while I abhor tyranny, possessing a talent and sharing it is hardly tyrannical. Denying others the opportunity to develop their gifts is. Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14442944847913877189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-10934366559588540192021-10-31T04:40:56.572-04:002021-10-31T04:40:56.572-04:00For a country that was founded upon the conceit of...For a country that was founded upon the conceit of rejecting monarchy and aristocracy, we sure do produce (and eagerly celebrate) an awful lot of petty tyrants.<br /><br />...but I suppose trifles like fundamental principles are a small price to pay for such pretty flowers, and the equally tasteful fences around them to keep out the riffraff.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com