“I have of late--but wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.”
-Hamlet, William Shakespeare (This quote came to mind, perhaps as a result of the latest Shakespeare portrait issue that made the cover story of the Sunday Washington Post Magazine and has to include a nod to Hair, since whenever I hear these words, I cannot escape the era of my coming of age).
As I become more entangled with reading and reacting to things political, I find my sense of humor failing. Under the last administration, I could understand why that was so but now it is for an entirely different reason, it’s not the politicians (although I feel a sense of disappointment that is growing), it’s the people.
I see so called Christians ignore their call to charity toward one’s fellow man and not judging others.
I see people who complained about political protesters turning town halls from civil debates/discussions into rude shouting matches.
I see some religious leaders calling for the death (through natural causes, of course) of elected officials and others so consumed with homophobia that they turn funerals into protests.
I remember the adage that you get the government and society you deserve.
I guess it can all be summed up by Linus from Peanuts: “I love humanity, it’s people I can’t stand.”
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