The Old Testament got it right on this one. Some things can only be fixed by being replaced by something new and functional
In response to yesterday’s short EON piece on how Noah’s tale communicates an ironically elitist message, the principle of which may be sound, a reader wrote in the comments section: Wrong…. the two of each species WERE INNOCENT of their worlds’ crimes and chosen to start their species again. And Noah was obedient to the WORD! Be very careful that YOU get the interpretation right!
To which the only fitting response on a corrupt Sunday morning during a corrupt June weekend in the beginning of a corrupt summer in an almost bankrupt country in a floundering continent that has come together in a creaking and faltering union under the auspices of a system that faces difficulties because of the actions of people who abuse its ideals to further their own selfish ends, is this:
‘There’s so much in your comment with which to disagree, and so much to comment on in a rebutting kind of way, and normally I would do it, but instead I feel like agreeing with you, and happily, too. I’m delighted that this tale communicates to all believers that the only way for a higher power to clean up a corrupt world and restore a functional one is to choose only those worthy to survive, pouring the rest down the proverbial drain. It’s a logical way for life to reboot.’
Pity that most believers won’t survive this arrangement. They’re probably certain they’re obedient and righteous and worthy as we speak, much like the entire world was certain it was following God’s word when the world was flooded and only Noah and his family were spared, to everyone’s slight surprise — ‘you mean EVERYONE else was a sinner?’ — ‘yep, apparently so!’ — and Noah floated away on his animated cork, leaving behind a world of sin to be washed clean so he and his chosen animals could repopulate it.
I think it’s genius, and descriptive of how life in our corrupt and entropied world reboots itself. All we need to do now is figure out what the higher power of our age is and how it will reboot the system, ridding us of the liabilities created by the flounderers.
Hint: when the IMF and the Troika and the Central Banks slam the core of under-performing and unaccountable countries or states, liquidating their assets and restructuring their entire setup for not having abided by the Word of the economy, the aim being to restore the system’s functionality, let everyone know that these high-handed financial bodies do what they do in the name of a godly principle, precipitating a fresh start. They’re flushing the system, getting rid of those who erred, choosing those who didn’t, paving the way for a new world.
And when you ask these omnipotent high-handed organizations, ‘How can you be so callous about it, how can you effect such brutal economic measures on the masses, whose only sin was their participation in an already rigged and dirty game?’ don’t be surprised if they tell you they got the idea from a holy book.
Rub-it-in aside, the principle is sound. For a faltering system to come back to life, the parts that don’t work have to be replaced by new ones. End of story.
Beginning of a new one.
PS – perhaps the higher power we’re most closely bound by is the Earth — a complex organism inside which we operate, and whose corporeal, mechanical, multi-biological, electrochemical and essential workings we need to abide by (the Planet’s Word) before it shuts down on us.
Just a thought.
Or we can go back to the literal interpretation of ancient books, foregoing their underlying principles in favor of theological nostalgia and meaningless conflict.
From the collection of writings EON: THE ANGRY COMING OF AGE