“Rub-a-dub-dub Three men in a tub. And who do you hink they are? The butcher, the baker, the candle stickmaker . Run 'em down. Knaves all three”
Not blogged in a while and thought I would draw upon a very old nursery rhyme that most of us will remember but not necessarily realise its context. I draw upon it as I question the behaviour of people as of late. In a world that seems to be going mad., the rhyme rings true.
Origins and meaning
“The earliest versions of this rhyme published differ significantly in their wording. Dating back to the 14th century, the original rhyme makes reference to maids in a "tub" – a fairground attraction similar to a modern peep show. The rhyme is of a type calling out otherwise respectable people for disrespectable actions, in this case, ogling naked ladies – the maids. The nonsense "Rub-a-dub-dub" develops a phonetic association of social disapprobation, analogous to "tsk-tsk," albeit of a more lascivious variety. The nursery rhyme is a form of teaching such associations in folklore: for individuals raised with such social codes, the phrase "Rub-a-dub-dub" alone could stand in for gossip or innuendo without communicating all of the details.” Wikipedia
Calling out respectable people for disrespectable behaviour is not what I wish to do. For the most part we all posses volition and thus know right from wrong. This leads to me to bemoan the current state of affairs when I look to humanity globally and then again locally at home.
Where are we going as a race when Globally we think in nation states and argue with each other. Take Ukraine for example. What is it about?
Locally, we have a Government in power that seems to represent a certain echelon of society to the detriment of others.
The rhyme reminds us that we must cut though the image that is presented to us, the reality that is not true. At the moment we hear so many points of view in the form of Governments, Politicians and this mentality feeds down to society, and is also delivered via Media.
I suppose we need to stand up to such messaging and denounce it, and create a new narrative - I know this is possible as I work in Media. It then becomes a question of a) choosing to do this, and b) then doing it. We, I suspect, are already seeing this in some of the “anarchy” conservative society refers to. Maybe a new way that society and humanity deserves as people protest.
We cannot expect others to shower us “with meaning and happiness”. We need to join in to break the current narrative and rhetoric of those we disagree with, including organisations (“organisms” maybe) in order to make change. Einstein is rightly quoted that if you keep doing the same thing, and expect different results, then that is insanity. Are we as insane as those we refer to as being insane when we sit back, do nothing, and expect different results?
Maybe we all ought to read Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche? Yes, yes, yes, it is heavy going and a tad old, but it is an important text for today’s calamities.
Nietzsche challenges the traditional definition of good and bad as simplistic. It traps us into inaction. Nietzsche shows we are all human and it is how we ultimately express ourselves as output that defines who we are and our behaviour. After all there is good in the worse of us, and bad in the best of us. He challenges traditional morality and the aforementioned view of good/evil and pushes an affirmative approach to what we perceive and thus morality - we have volition. If we do not take affirmative action as an expression of our humanity, the very state of the modern individual is at risk, as is the societies we have built. And remember none of us are perfect.
Footnote:
I had not planned for this Blog entry to be a rant, and certainly don’t think it necessarily has to be interpreted in such a way. I have had a tough time in recent months, and honestly for a while even before these months. I have resurfaced so to speak, but different and learned from all I have tasted and learnt by way of experience. I think this is reflected in this Blog entry. In a way it is a statement of how I feel.