With the OJ trial, the illusion of Justice finally fell...oh, we *knew*
that Justice was for sale...we all *knew* that. But we wanted to believe
otherwise...I know I did. Relentless cynicism is such a weary path...
it's hard holding up that lantern, searching for the honest man.
And now another pillar has fallen. Trust. Ethics. The belief that somewhere
on our planet, in our country, there lives an organization of human beings
that is collectively impeccable with their word, that honors truth above
profit, that sees and acknowledges that there is great wisdom in the
systematic instantiation of deeply-held ethical beliefs; that sees indeed
that the long term best interest of each of us is best served when honesty
and trust is at the top of the list, with 'profits' and 'gain' being
a distant second or third or even further down the list. The ethics
of Enron and Arthur Andersen (and the 5th Amendment justice that ensues)
makes OJ Justice seem palatable by comparison. If I get mine and screw you,
am I made better? Are you? Don't we all need each other afterall?
Or is that too an illusion?
My heart has been heavy these past few weeks...while I have been a champion
of hope for several years now, I am not without my dark side; I too fall into
the abyss of despair when the reality of this world creeps in - just watch CNN
for an hour -- QED. How then can I choose to believe in hope when all
signs point to the inevitable demise of modern civilization? Alas...
the arguments do not necessarily follow logic if providence is less than
divine. Perhaps, in the end, that is all we can hope for. Or maybe ET
will save us. Or maybe it's simply a question of perseverence...I do not
believe that material gain will ever fill the personal void of anyone, nor
do I believe that Justice bought can long-term balm a dishonet conscience.
In the end, we each faces ourselves. Denial, self-deceit and ultimately
even despair must fall away if we are to truly expose our souls to our
god, whatever those terms may mean.
Hope, it seems, is its own reward. I choose hope. The alternative is
to choose hell. I choose hope. That doesn't mean I will not yield to
anger, nor does it mean I will ignore injustice. The path with a heart,
however, is the path of hope. That much I do know in these interesting times...
Liz and I missed a trip to the east coast due to a terrible security
snafu at the Reno airport...suffice it to say I will not choose to fly
Southwest Airlines again, if I can help it. The appeal of air travel
has reduced considerably since that one dark day. America has fallen
victim to its own illusions...Goff's Law
in action. My sweet Liz is fond of quoting
Gone with the Wind, "Tomorrow is another day, Scarlett."
If
there's hope for humanity it's in software