Thoughts about good & evil on March 16, 2012

A month ago today, Pieter Bruegel the Elder or, possibly, one of his students, put in an appearance on this page via a painting featuring the flight of Icarus. He -- Bruegel, that is, not Icarus -- returns today with a piece entitled "Dulle Griet" or "Mad Meg." She is a character from Flemish folklore. Bruegel depicts her here leading an army of women to pillage Hell. Mad Meg does not appear to be a particularly attractive woman, but she seems to me to be the type of woman I would like to meet -- one who dares to look Lucifer in the eye. This painting was completed in 1562, and today "resides" in Antwerp, should you care to view it personally.

We all shine on

Have you ever known a man who ripped an infant in half? Literally, I mean. I have known such a man.

Have you ever known a woman who hired a man to kill her husband? I have. More than one.

Have you ever known a woman who left her baby in a house and then set the house on fire? I have known two of them.

Have you ever known a man who had a literal gunfight at a waterhole with two other men about which of them owned the water rights? Yes, I have. The wild, wild West still exists for some.

How many murderers, rapists, arsonists, bank robbers, hired killers and death row inmates, including a serial killer, have you ever sat down with, drank coffee with, shared a cigarette with, shook hands with, maybe stood face-to-face with and talked down when they were in an absolute rage, chatted about girlfriends with, childhood, dreams, hopes, what made them do their crime, religion, gotten to know pretty well, had come to work for you five days a week and, even, grown to like in many respects and, sort of, considered to be friends?

Well, I have known these people and have had long conversations with many of them. And, I still have no clue. I still do not know why people believe what they believe, do what they do, think what they think. Once, I thought I might write a book about these people and a few others, but the more I learned, the less I understood.

Before I go any further, I suppose I should mention these people were among inmates I saw every day when I worked in a state penitentiary system. One of the women who left her infant child to die in a burning house was my clerk, my "secretary," for several months.

Back to the point: It had been that way before and, probably, will be again. The more I learn, the less I understand; the more I study, the more I question, the deeper I dig -- the less I understand.

Actually, I more-or-less believe that the majority of people around us each and every day either are completely stupid about the society in which they reside or are themselves mentally unbalanced.

(Yes, I might be talking about you.)

(Well, maybe, not you, but the person standing next to you.)

(Well, maybe, none of you. Maybe, me ....)

It seems to me that too much time is devoted in trying to find ways in which people are alike when it should be spent understanding people's differences. We cling to each other while we live, but we all know we are alone from the moment we are born until the moment we die, no matter how many others happen to be next to us during our trek through life. What happens after life is anyone's guess.

There is good and there is evil in all of us, of that there is no doubt. And, there also is no doubt it exists in matters of degree. To study the commonality of mankind might reveal useful information, but it is the disparity of mankind in which the real mysteries of our existence are hidden, and through which study might reveal pragmatic and revolutionary knowledge. Intelligence is measured on a numerical scale; mental abnormalities and psychological aberrations usually are viewed in legal as well as medical terms.

But, how are good and evil measured? If you know, tell me.