The Anti-Hero and American Culture

Was Sitting Bull an American hero?

"He was a medicine man who healed broken hearts and broken promises... though he was put in prison, his spirit soared free on the plains, and his wisdom touched the generations." - Barack Obama.

Quite a lot of people are disturbed and upset with President Obama's inclusion of Sitting Bull in his 'Hero's Hall of Fame.' Such individuals point out that he was little more than a terrorist. Whilst he did not actively participate in the attack on General Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, he acted as a spiritual advisor to his warriors. However they fail to point out that an advance party of Custer's began the conflict with an attack on Cheyenne and Lakota tribes in that area. The Indian response was once of defense and protection of their people and land, rather than an attempt to annihilate the perceived enemy. 

"Hear me, people, we have now to deal with another race, small and feeble when our fathers first met them but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough they have a mind to till the soil and the love of possession is a disease with them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break but the poor may not. They take their tithes from the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule... They claim this mother of ours, the earth, for their own and fence their neighbors away; they deface her with their buildings and their refuse. The nation is like a spring freshet that overruns its banks and destroys all that are in its path... We cannot dwell side by side... shall we submit or shall we say to them: 'First kill me before you take possession of my land” - Sitting Bull.

Sitting Bull's commentary on the state of his nation could well be read in a modern context. Materialism (many would argue) has become a greater force in society than charity. Everything is reduced to the desire for possessions. We exist in a society that is heavily taxed, the rich it seems get richer and the poor descend into even more profound destitution. There is great inequality in terms of education and health. We have to fight for everything and anything we can get. We are the anvil of a corrupt government that, more often looks after itself rather than caring for the people of the nation. We can never really 'own' the land on which we live, nor secede from the government. Through sovereignty the government possesses the land, the fact that we assume that we possess the land is a persistent illusion.

"Sitting Bull’s history has been written many times by newspaper men and army officers, but I find no account of him which is entirely correct. I met him personally in 1884, and since his death I have gone thoroughly into the details of his life with his relatives and contemporaries. He was gifted with the power of sarcasm, and few have used it more artfully than he. We say he is an untutored man: that is true so far as learning of a literary type is concerned; but he was not an untutored man when you view him from the standpoint of his nation. To be sure, he did not learn his lessons from books. This is second-hand information at best. All that he learned he verified for himself and put into daily practice. In personal appearance he was rather commonplace and made no immediate impression, but as he talked he seemed to take hold of his hearers more and more. He was bull-headed; quick to grasp a situation, and not readily induced to change his mind. He was not suspicious until he was forced to be so. All his meaner traits were inevitably developed by the events of his later career..." - Dr. Charles A. Eastman.

Sitting Bull was humble but sharp-witted and intelligent. True to the principles of the American dream he rose to the top of his society. The paradox is that he spoke against the very concepts and principles by which he is considered to be an American hero. In order to understand his form of heroism we must come to terms with ourselves, our own history and maybe even come to the conclusion that the way we see the world may not, in matter of fact, be the only or correct one. White, Anglo-Saxon society may owe more to it's capacity for conquest rather than for whatever merits it claims to possess. Ultimately we have still a lot to learn from cultures that were deemed in history to be inferior.

Thus, I extend my sincere gratitude to all warriors who courageously fought for their land and freedom against oppression and injustice. Your example has inspired me, knowing that oftentimes the greatest enemy are the ones who call themselves our leaders. Blessings on Veterans Day 2013. Sometimes we have to ask what it is that we are fighting for, who are the winners and losers... and most important to question the motives of the leaders who get us into the situation in the first place!

All Rights Reserved / Copyright David John Drew 2013

Heraclitus on 'Time Well Spent'

“Time is a game played beautifully by children.”  - Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 535 – c. 475 B.C.) In Fragments (2001) translated by Brooks Haxton.

Heraclitus is difficult to understand and to translate, and he thus acquired the epithet ‘The Obscure.’ He is probably more well know for his meditations on the ‘Logos’ and the controversial ‘Panta rhei’ (everything flows). It seem surprising that children often emerge as subjects in his philosophical fragments. In this respect they provide analogies of the way we perceive the world, and in his opinion we could do better to implement the practical and quite pure (or, innocent) approach that is typical of infants. Contrasted and compared with the wisdom of the child is the plain ignorance of men. A drunken man is led and guided by a smooth cheeked youth, and the elders of Ephesus would do better to leave the governance of the town to the youngsters. Heraclitus pounds out his view that children are capable of recognizing phenomena that adults are blithely unaware of. Whether this is due to the demands placed upon us through education, inherited ideas or concepts, or simply the daily life of work and relationships is unclear.

The concept of ‘time’ is an extremely important one for adults, for obvious reasons. How else would the world work in an efficient manner if time was left to it’s own devices. It must be harnessed and employed with maximum efficiency. But the child fails to recognize this. To a child, time is infinite and eternal – there is never a lack of it. There is no ‘must’ or ‘have to’ within a particular time frame. Time is that period in which that what should be done, is performed regardless of limits or boundaries.  The essence of Heraclitus’ proverb is that time spent is therefore pleasure gained in an infinite present. As adults we attach concepts of investment, reward, and expenditure to time. In this respect we do not possess enough time to fully extract any or all perceived benefits from it. Time thus becomes a burden and a pressing deadline rather than the opportunity to explore, create and interact with others. We have become prisoners of time rather than allowing it to liberate us, and we spend our lives attempting to escape from it. As adults we spend our entire working lives looking forward to retirement, only to find that by the time that we reach that stage we are in fact miserably dried up and too wasted to enjoy anything. For the senior, time becomes the possibility to drift into unconsciousness and sleep.

Perhaps we could spend just one day of our week submerged in a time out of time, not mechanically check a watch or clock – and instead pursue a wild passion and delight in the moment, maybe we could or might taste real happiness or bliss. Just one sip of the infinite in the present is a priceless gift that cannot be bought at any cost.

All Rights Reserved / Copright: David John Drew 2013.

The Mirror of the Soul

Proverb of the Day: 

Today I was prompted to consider something in Spanish, which on further analysis is not only a proverb about the spiritual state, but also the physical appearance and the way that we reflect our inner machinations and temperaments to others...

'La cara es el espejo del alma' (The countenance is the mirror of the soul).

Sometimes in English we say that the face is the window of the soul which is an almost parallel meaning. I believe that as we grow older, mature, that our faces take on a character which gives insight into more than our physical existence. Our loves, life, pains, moods and thoughts all become etched like a map across the face. How expressive these features are, and also how many people go to great lengths to disguise themselves with masks. Perhaps, as Cicero (106-43 CE) said, that the eyes are the most expressive, or capable of interpreting the messages flowing through the mind. Cicero's proverb is far more intriguing and worth contemplation:

"Ut imago est animi voltus sic indices oculi" (The face is a picture of the mind as the eyes are it's interpreter.)

For me, the most poignant reflection upon the face and state of the soul is that uttered by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13: 1 - 12:

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing... For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

If we were to draw a lesson from all of this, it may be that we must fill our minds with good and reasonable thoughts, even love. Just as our bodies may suffer from an excess of junk food, our minds can deteriorate from ill use. One simply cannot express love whilst the subject of war and conflict is running through the mind.

All Rights Reserved / Copyright: David John Drew 2013.

Golden Standards: The Modern Code of Chivalry

I recently took a brief, excursive look at medieval concepts of chivalry and codes of honor, and their application in contemporary society. It is an interesting topic made more so by the fact that there are many who uphold similar values in the present day. I must extend my admiration to people who actively seek to cultivate within their lives honest values and ethics based on ancient and historical examples. It is not so much dwelling in an idealized past but directly confronting the variety of social ills that besiege us today. Amy Farrell comments:

"Look at the state of the modern human being. Look at world governments full of corruption, nations ruled by despots, religious fascists terrorizing innocent people. Look at our neighborhoods full of gang crime... our schools full of violence, our prisons full to bursting, our civil courts full of people blaming each other, our bodies full of drugs and alcohol, our souls full of doubt and despair... Yes, but how can we change this? We do it one human being at a time. We start with ourselves. We choose to cast off the habits of selfishness, self-gratification, greed, laziness, slovenliness, crudeness, cruelty, debauchery, dishonesty, arrogance, betrayal and lawlessness that debases humanity... This discipline of self-examination is the first step on the path of Chivalry...”

It is a very ancient concept 'Change oneself to change the world.' We see a world degraded by corruption but refuse to acknowledge that collectively we are responsible for it. The wild notion begins to emerge that if we have failed in our diplomacy, if we have offended or punished a people through some action... then we are attacked ourselves We have failed to see that the error of our actions have caused an abysmal reaction.

There must eventually come a time, and I believe that we have reached that juncture, when, as individuals we must make the world changing decision to practice honesty with ourselves and others. Beyond any political, religious or nationalistic affiliation we can adopt values as a standard which may be measured. Old fashioned though they may seem, I think the traditional values of truth, honor, justice, valor, prowess, loyalty, largesse, courtesy, noblesse, and humility can engender a society in which compassion prevails against notions of oppression. It is simply not enough to hope or pray for such conditions to arise... we must manufacture them, and the most amazing thing is that they can be made virtually cost free.

All Rights Reserved / Copyright: David John Drew December 2013