a cause, a cause, my kingdom for a cause

or is it a horse? a fox, a whale, a forest, a bunker-holed pussy, a buffalo, a country, a race, a laborer, a prisoner, a king, an emperor, a fuehrer, a prophet, a god?

it never ceases to amaze me (a selfish, myopic, capitalist, libertarian, pig) how some people lose themselves in some cause or other. i, pretty comfortable with myself and with close to zero traces of guilt, try my best to live my life the way i want, while generally letting others live the way they want as long as they don't try to interfere with my and other people's freedom to live so.

on the other hand, these causeniks will so 'unselfishly' renounce so much of what i would call little creature comforts of life and put themselves in harms way. instead of enjoying the spectacle of police or whoever, beating up, tear gassing, and drenching people, while sitting comfortably at home as i do, these people will actually go and endure all that humiliation. some of course will go further than that, they will beat up, kill, bomb, fly airplanes into buildings, and commit suicide too.

all because of a cause 'greater than themselves', that will supposedly and probably (who knows?) improve the wellbeing of somebody or something, even if that somebody or something not heard, never desired, and even possibly actively opposed, that cause. it is not as if these causeniks will gain anything material personally now or in future. posterity will only remember founders or leaders of movements or causes not the cannon-fodder. btw here i am not talking about the leaders, who after all are selfishly expressing their personal will when founding or leading a cause, but about the 'unselfish' followers only.

i like other cynical bastards used to measure people, actions, and ideas, by price than by value, by clarity and sharp edges than by dimness and bleariness, by foundation than by decoration, by vigorous application than by enervated refinement, probably do not get them or their motivation. i actually think they are in fact running away from themselves, their miserable lives, and their petty insecurities when they bury themselves inside a cause (how ghastly to think so, no?). according to me they crave the security that a cause with its followers and opponents, rituals (ranging according to cause, from brown shirts to polished boots to periods of fasting to vegetarianism), and unquestionable beliefs provide. they invariably delude themselves into thinking that this is not so, and that they are acting rationally for the good of others.

i also think that once these people get past a certain age and get a paying nine-to-five job, a half decent fuck, a pretty house (similar to others in the neighborhood), a vehicle, and a kid or two, they will forget all about the cause, except as rather exaggerated anecdote material when they had a glass or two and an occasional check when they can spare the cash. imo that is as it should be.

as i said i may be wrong and may be doing them 'an injustice' by belittling their causes and beliefs when fancy takes me, but that's just me. as a thoroughly selfish person, who believe that nothing is greater than self, i cannot and will not spare any such 'unselfishness' to thrive or let it interfere with my freedom to potentially do anything i wish, even by word.

to do so will simply be dishonest. dishonesty to oneself is the greatest and probably only crime in my book.

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apologies to shades of shakespeare and richard the third. richard actually died heroically, defending his crown from a pretender with a flimsy claim; leading what was probably the last such charge of the heavily armored medieval knights after most of his army had deserted him. elisabeth the first, that pretender's granddaughter, was in throne when shakespeare wrote the play.