On the Freedom to Set Nothing Free

I

It is the time of Ragnarok.

It is the time of Apocalypse.

It is the hour of Bogeymen and Night's descent and Dawn's abeyance.

It is the hour of Doomsday and Judgment that weighs the Zenith of life against a single feather.

It is now;

is it not?

II

But the blind see neither dawn nor night nor Bogeymen beyond sight whose passing is unseeing terror and fear.

But the deaf hear not Gjallarhorn either. Nor silent murmur of beggars demanding demanding demanding pardon. The desperate. The insincere. The selfish.

III

Which is to say, though the fool is neither blind nor deaf by affliction, the fool is blind and deaf by choice.

Not unlike the ass.

Thus, the fool and the ass choose.

And pass the time and hour no wiser than the idiot.

IV

Alas, the idiot is impervious to knowledge, and therefore, no wiser with time and hour than without.

Not unlike the fool and the ass.

V

Such is choice. A powerful act. That blinds. That deafens. That stupefies.

As for time? As for hour?

Is time and hour: choice? Is time and hour: powerful? Is time and hour: act? blinding and deafening and stupefying?

VI

Which is to say;

in the time of Ragnarok;

in the time of Apocalypse;

in the hour of Bogeymen and Night's descent and Dawn's abeyance;

in the hour of Doomsday and Judgment that weighs the Zenith of life against a single feather;

the blind and the deaf and the fool and the ass and the idiot sense not the unseen and the silent and believe;

their blindness incurable;

their deafness most certain;

their wisdom infallible;

their knowledge all knowing.

VII

Which is to say;

such is freedom; to choose;

such is power; to act.

Which is to say;

to blind, to deafen, to stupefy is the freedom to choose; to blind, to deafen, to stupefy is the power to act.

VIII

It is, therefore, no wonder at all that upon such time and upon such hour, there is heard neither weeping nor joy.

IX

For a time is a time and an hour is an hour and what is time and what is hour to the blind and the deaf and the fool and the ass and the idiot impervious and oblivious?

X

Which is to say,

a time to the incurably blind for whom oblivion is sovereign:

is nothing;

So too, an hour to the most certainly deaf.

XI

Thus, the wise and the all knowing see and hear nothing upon such time and upon such hour that is absent of weeping and joy.

XII

With laurels upon brows of idiots;

it is the time of would be gods;

it is the hour of ignorance's reign.

Or;

is it not;

now?

XIII

Alas, nothing shall become of the blind and the deaf and the fool and the ass and the idiot.

XIV

Except, laurels undeserved upon brows undeserving. Naught but naught and charade.

And so too, would be gods and ignorance's reign.

XV

Then, what of such time and what of such hour? Then, what of such farce and what of such sham? Then, what of nothing?

XVI

From nothing is beget nothing.

XVII

What, then, is nothing?

But the blind and the deaf and the fool and the ass and the idiot;

who believe:

it is their time and it is their hour of their godhood and their godship?

XVIII

As for the time? As for the hour? That is? That is not as the blind and not as the deaf and not as the fool and not as the ass and not as the idiot believe?

It is the time of Truth.

It is the time of Lie.

It is the hour of make believe horror that beguiles the fearful and the frightened.

It is the hour of what blooms beyond nothing that sets nothing free.

It is now;

is it not?

XIX

Which is to say;

freedom begets freedom; choice begets choice;

power begets power; act begets act.

Which is to say;

the time of truth begets the time of truth; the time of lie begets the time of lie;

the hour of make believe begets the hour of make believe; the hour that sets nothing free begets the hour that sets;

nothing;

free.

XX

Alas, though free will is freedom inalienable;

time and hour is eternal.

Not unlike mortality and immortality. Neither mutuus. Nor aequum. When all is said. When all is done. What blooms beyond nothing is;

what blooms beyond mortality is;

immortality.

Epilogue

i

Is nothing a lie of would be gods? Or is immortality? Is nothing a make believe horror of ignorance? Or is eternal determinism?

ii

Wisdom infallible lies.

So too, knowledge all knowing.

For;

wisdom infallible and knowledge all knowing is the freedom and the power and the choice and the act of the blind and the deaf and the fool and the ass and the idiot;

wisdom infallible and knowledge all knowing is the ignorance's reign of would be gods;

wisdom infallible and knowledge all knowing is;

nothing.

iii

Or:

is godhood and godship of nothing worth weeping and joy?

Then, weep! If nothing is worth weeping for.

Then, joy! If nothing is worth joy for.

iv

Though, all time is all time and hence, eternal. 

And so too, hour. 

Mortality is now and no more.

Further Reading

a dialogue: Brief Seasons of Intellectual Dissipation from Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (Ambrose Bierce as Dod Grile)

a fable: The Dog and the Sparrow from Children's and Household Tales (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm)

an essay: Resistance to Civil Government (regarding The Rights and Duties of the Individual in relation to Government) (Henry David Thoreau)

Note

On the Freedom to Set Nothing Free composed March 27, 2018 (last revision April 2, 2018)

Postnote composed September 28, 2018 (last revision October 5, 2018)

M

Postnote

(i)

It has never felt more true that today is the day that sets nothing free. That today is the day of the supremacist whose hubris makes believe 'realities' and 'truths' that serve self interest are real realities and true truths. That today is the day of neighbors who but for sparrows would be spared accountability for barrenness of morality.

Alas.

Todays have come and todays have gone.

Todays exactly like today.

Avertible.

Yet ceaseless.

Because every today is the day of the supremacist whose 'realities' and whose 'truths' are make believe. Because every today is the day of the fool and the ass and the idiot. Because every today is the day of the 'only human'.

And tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow?

Tomorrow will be another today that has come. And tomorrow will be another today that has gone. And tomorrow will be another today exactly like today. Every tomorrow will be every today. Exactly like today. Avertible. Yet ceaseless.

For the promise of tomorrow is the lie that makes believe that freedom is not freedom that choice is not choice that power is not power that act is not act that free will is not free will

today

and tomorrow

and yesterday

for all time

and at every hour.

For the promise of tomorrow is the lie

that

promises are worth weeping and joy.

(ii)

speaking of todays have come and todays have gone; todays exactly like today

who sees with equal eye, as God of all, a hero perish or a sparrow fall, atoms or systems into ruin hurl'd, and now a bubble burst, and now a world  

a poem: Epistle I.III from An Essay on Man. Moral Essays and Satires. (Alexander Pope) (@ Project Gutenberg)

(note: minor modifications are mine)

(iii)

Postnote Note

Postnote is no more pessimism than On the Freedom to Set Nothing Free is nihilism.

Postnote is how On the Freedom to Set Nothing Free retains immediacy midst today's clime as potently and as fittingly as yesterday's clime.

Postnote is how passages of hours and times alter not a whit that which remains impervious to make believe: the truth.

(iv)

Postnote Annotation

'the supremacist' - 'race' is not the only extant much less the only worthy or the only vital or the only material, etc. 'category' exploited by supremacists to legitimize and to defend superiorism at the expense of aequum and mutuus

indeed, every real and believed 'race', 'religion', 'employment', 'status' or 'class', 'net worth' or 'income', 'gender' or 'sex', 'political leaning', etc. is exploited by supremacists to proselytize superiorism vis a vis 'race', 'religion', 'employment', 'status' or 'class', 'net worth' or 'income', 'gender' or 'sex', 'political leaning', etc.

'neighbors who but for sparrows' - see The Dog and the Sparrow from Children's and Household Tales (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm)

indeed, but for sparrows, how many supremacists and how many fools and how many asses and how many idiots and how many 'only humans' evade accountability for barrenness of morality?

speaking of Workin' as Intended (tvfs); speaking of The Princess in the Tower (tvfs)

'the 'only human'' - it has never felt more true that today is the day of the apologism of the 'only human'

indeed, what make believe 'reality' and what make believe 'truth' serves self interest more than that make believe 'reality' and that make believe 'truth' that lies? that make believe 'reality' and that make believe 'truth' that deceives? that make believe 'reality' and that make believe 'truth' that malices? that make believe 'reality' and that make believe 'truth' that declares:

to be 'only human' is to be liar without apology! to be 'only human' is to be deceiver without apology! to be 'only human' is to be malice incarnate without apology! and to be lie apologist and deceit apologist and malice apologist is to be 'only human' who weeps for nothing! and to be lie apologist and deceit apologist and malice apologist is to be 'only human' who joys for nothing!

M