Dear Friends,
It seems to me, we need to grow up and accept people for who they are, not what we would have them be, or what society would make them… but who they/we are. Which of course means looking at ugly truths as well as beauty marks. We all have flaws and virtues. Some of our flaws are obvious, while the virtues, often angelic, are hidden, and so we judge by what we see, the warts, instead of the virtues not available to us. Thus we judge harshly that which should rightly be eyed with empathy. When we throw people out like the trash, we lose great advantages, because it is often the most different among us that are the ones who change the world for the better. Even as those who appear to be all things to all men, perfect and ideal, and because of their perfection demand to rule… always usher in Hell on Earth.
There is no way to measure, other than war, how people behave when stressed. Do they huddle inward, harm or become heroes? No one thought Audy Murphy would be a hero. That pip squeak of a sawed off runt, was rejected by every branch of the service, until he hit the Army. They said he could bleed like the rest. Then he went on to become the most decorated veteran of World War Two. Those recruiters saw the flaws, not the hero that the flaws camouflaged. How often do we do this, and by doing so, lose that which we should have won? Is that aspi creepy guy who doesn’t look you in the eye, a potential hero? Let’s hope we never have to find out, but, the likelihood is not as unlikely as you might think. Moreover, we all have the potential to be heroes, villains or cowards.
There are multitudes of kinds of people. Some are Thrasymachus’ “great men,” others are industrious, conscientious, angry, lazy, smart, suckers, the go to guys and the screw ups. We are a mixed lot. That mixture is what makes capitalism and liberty so effective. It allows all of us to get the advantages of all of us. Some are violent and physical, their nature is to protect the rest of us as police, military or in the spectacle of sports. When they are not given a stake, they turn to violent crime. Others are caring and empathetic, they are suited to be doctors, nurses or teachers, isolate them and they become self destructive. Meanwhile, there are those who are conscientious. They show up, do a good job and don’t call in sick. Take away their job and they collapse into opiate addiction to cure back pain.
I know a guy who was out behind a store taking drugs one night. He looked across the frozen river and saw two children playing on the ice. Him and his drug addled friend risked their own lives to try to save the boys. In the end, they did pull one child from the frigid water, while the other, a friend of mine at the time, was drawn under the ice by the current… to his death. They never found his body. Had those two teenagers not been taking drugs behind the store that cold evening, both boys would have died that night, and probably no one would have known how. Twenty something years later, in an act of metaphysical injustice, that heroes own son was killed in a motorcycle accident, but no one was there to save him. Is it in our best interest to waste talent, empathy and humanity, in this cold, harsh and limited world?
The funny thing is, the most flawed are forgiven their flaws, especially those with nothing but flaws. Take the Bidens for example. President Joe Biden’s political career has been characterized by mediocrity punctuated by plagiarism. Now, the Hunter Biden lap top reveals that his career has also been saturated with corruption, perversion and greed. His multitude of flaws have been hidden, even the rape allegation, while his son skates on dozens of felony charges. Including weapons violations. Charges, the lawyers fees alone would bankrupt you or I, then the time in the penitentiary would make us new men. Even as Comey, Strzok, Page, Rosenstein, Podesta, Swalwell, Clinton, Cuomo, Newsom, and all the people on Epstein’s list, their crimes against humanity go uninvestigated and covered up.
All of which shows that we need to look at people with a more nuanced eye. As Pericles exploited the ostracism, today the elite exploit scandal to destroy the good, while the plethora of their pathological peccadillos are personal. Just because someone is short, strange or shy, doesn’t mean they are not a hero. Wise people recognize that those who change the world are often the oddballs, and accept them for who they are. Allowing them room so they can pull us up with them. It is not wise however, to ignore scandals that involve crimes against humanity, and especially when they are hidden by the powers that be. Those scandals portend evil men that will visit evil on mankind. We, as adult human beings, have a duty to open our eyes, behold the ugly and the beautiful, then judge with human hearts.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
