July 9, 2009

Optimism

johncarney on blogging/reporting/typing:

The world, as I see it, is down with a score of ailments that are painful and difficult to look at. Almost all are chronic and incurable. The best we can do is to remind ourselves that life is good, and humanity is stubbornly charming despite and because of its flaws.

But the realization that our problems are basically insoluable is not a call to complacency. There’s a lot to be done. First and foremost, we have the task of demonstrating the insolubility of our great problems.  Knocking down the latest incarnation of the world improvers’ messianic passion, showing that the latest sovereign balm is nothing more than snake oil, is a never-ending task because the world-improvers will always be with us. The presence of the improvers is, in fact, one of our insoluable problems. More generally, we have the task of celebrating beauty, welcoming good and honest work, and fighting against those who insist that life is a dreary affair and thus must be immediately be made even drearier.

There’s a kind of austere beauty in this line of work. It’s fun and stimulating once you get the hang of it.