9. THE TROUBLES
"From the standpoint of reason
Both Emotion and Intellect
Are forces on the loose—
Unpredictable unreliable
Susceptible to suggestion
And manipulation—
A raw potential in need of
Control and regulation.
Encountering no indication that
The forces washing around it are
Not meant for its use alone and
Enamored by the idea that
Human nature is not perfect but in need
Of guidance and supervision
Reason takes on the responsibility
And harnesses a life
Into serving rational objectives.
Has this noble effort
Perfected human nature?
For all the good that
Words have done to human kind
They have also done damage—
The din of non-stop mental chatter
Blankets the host system with
A layer of noise so dense
That awareness of the rustling
Sensations and feelings
Are smothered beyond recall.
This is when
Consciousness takes over—
The left hand of reason watching
What the right hand is doing.
The two
Consciousness and awareness
Have little in common:
Awareness is the inner eye
Fixated on the spirit level—
Every sensation informing how
Here and now you fare.
Consciousness keeps its gaze
Fixated on external events.
Clueless to feeling it coordinates your
Actions by what experience dictates.
With consciousness in the lead
You get your bearings from
Common knowledge in circulation
And the codes of behavior
Deduced from it."
*
"Constantly tested by
What it sets out to do and
What it actually accomplishes
Reasoning rooted in common knowledge
Plays it safe by relying on attitudes—
A common sense deduced from
Experience and handed down from
Generation to generation—
Standardized behavior applicable
To many similar situations
A saving grace to Reason.
The logic is simple—actions which
Have repeatedly proven to be effective
Will under similar conditions
Deliver similar results.
You strike an attitude every time
You respond or act as if by habit.
No need to consult with or
let feelings interfere.
The shortcut saves much thinking
But misses the subtle nuances that
Differentiate similar situations
One from the other inviting
Misunderstanding and frustration.
When situations you approach with
A purpose in mind—
A person a people a creature
Or an institution—
Fails to deliver the expected results
Dispositions replace attitudes.
Disposition is a behavioral tactic
A strategy that sets a frame of mind
Good only for a specific situation.
If the posturing projected
Does not deliver the goods expected
You alter your stance
By switching dispositions—
From emotional to rational from
Submissive to assertive to resolute behavior—
Each tactic aimed to overcome resistance
One way or the other."
*
"Reason faces its own shortcomings
Most severely when its efforts
To make things better
Only make them worse.
A mind
Distressed by failure
Overwhelmed by the injustices
Of the world is apt to wander to
The far side of Reason where
The primal rules of survival
Are the law:
Take what you need or perish.
If you entertain the possibilities
You envision yourself in action
Taking charge of your life; and
If you begin to savor
The imagined rewards, before long
A plan of action suggests itself.
Suppose you plunge into action—
Glory be if the risks taken
Deliver the expected gratification
And fulfill a pressing emotional or
intellectual need.
Your planning your cunning
Your daring have paid off—
The world in day-glow colors
Yours for the taking beckoning
You To stop wasting your life.
Action is the true measure
Of Reason's prowess and
It's only fare that you—
A victim yourself—
Victimize others in turn.
An eye for an eye
Explains it all.
The newly gained sense of power
Oozes delirious omnipotence—
Reason's most glorious reward."
*
"Attraction is
At the core of all intentional deeds.
When you fight Attraction it
Charms teases seduces casts spells—
Every image every word suggesting
A powerful tempter lurking
In the folds of the mind watching
Your every thought and move
Challenging you to cross the line
That holds you back from
Acting out the wish.
Attraction
This voiceless impersonal pull or tug
Becomes a temptress a seducer—
Demon mammon the devil of lore
Painted on walls pictured in books
Described in sacred texts—
Attraction to be shunned feared
Bargained and reasoned with
Even outsmarted.
If temptation gets the better of you
There is always the Evil One
To blame."
*
"Isn't Reason the only faculty
Able to divert energy from
Its prescribed course and
Channel it into activities meant
To deliver specific results?
Aren't evil deeds expected
To deliver specific results?
Don't all intentional activities
Call for planning ahead and
Isn't planning—arranging activities
In the order of cause and effect—
The exclusive domain of Reason
The foundation of all civilizations?
Don't you see?
Remove Reason from the equation
And where else will Evil find
The necessary brain tools?
The recipe for evil calls for
No special ingredients—
Pick any situation or image
Strip it clean of sensory impressions
So no scruple of a feeling will sneak up
To corrupt the enterprise
And the chosen victim becomes
Mere object—a fixture necessary
In attaining the expected results.
Let the urge exercise the mind and
A plan of action is at your fingertips.
What we call evil—
Acts that victimize others for personal
Gain advantage or satisfaction—is
Grounded in an ancient rationale
That flourishes to this day in
Animal and human survival.
Only the norms have changed—today
It's no longer take what you need
But take what you can.
Morals?
A tool has no morals.
Like any other faculty
Reason too is there to be used
And in skilled hands it will do
What it is meant to do
As long as Emotion
Of whatever shade or color
Supplies the motivation.
Moral codes of behavior
Distilled from social or tribal custom
Are not unique to humans.
To avoid confrontation
All social creatures watch their step—
Consequence teaches
Which actions reward docility
Which invite punishment."
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