Johnny Cash wrote the song, Ragged Old Flag in 1974, a testament to his faith in the Country and the goodness of the American People. The year was marked with scandal (Watergate) and civic unrest (Viet Nam). There wasn’t much to feel good about, not unlike 2020. Cash portrayed the country in a heroic context, that of a tattered, battle weary American flag with its 200 year legacy of (justifiable) violence and (noble) war. Cash’s poetry waxes pious affection with the lines; “. . . and she’s getting threadbare and wearing thin, but she’s in good shape for the shape she’s in.”
I am reminded of the song today probably because I saw my doctor yesterday for our annual wellness checkup. She spent a lot of time with me probing and taking notes. In the same way Cash progressed from battle to battle and war to war, she moved from system to system. It seems the wear & tear on my eyes and ears cannot be restored but I have the means to cope and so get by. Broken bones have healed but all bones lose their density and mass with time. I need exercise and a good diet just to minimize that loss. Blood work all falls within desired ranges but I am not more powerful than a locomotive or able to leap tall buildings with a single bound; Superman doesn’t live here anymore.
I offered up the Johnny Cash line; I’m in good shape for the shape I’m in. She agreed, “Yes you are!” The difference here is that Cash’s flag is a metaphor and I am flesh and blood. The (Flag) metaphor is to justify if not exalt American hubris, all under the cloak of righteous self indulgence. That is a human failing with otherwise good people. What good is being #1 if you can’t indulge in some self worship and don’t exercise your power over #2 & #3? It’s not about one person or another, but about group dynamics. I aspire only to embrace the change I cannot avoid. Still I struggle with a self inflicted separation that comes with being uncomfortably, disrespectfully different. I think I understand why people, all people, why we dwell in the myth (mirror, mirror on the wall. . .) rather than upset status quo.
I like Johnny Cash even now, almost 20 years after his passing. His music is compelling, voice like thunder and courage to take on controversy. On his best day he was every common man’s champion, speaking ‘Truth to Power’. Still on other days he could be unforgiving, cruel and selfish. But he is still a national hero and we don’t insult our heroes with the truth.
There have been times, not so long ago, that I would speak to issues that begged for a voice. The terms, Right & Wrong carried a moral consequence that Correct & Incorrect did not. A mistake can be corrected but being ‘Wrong’ is a moral failure. Johnny Cash and other like him believed profoundly in the Rights & Wrongs of this life. I think it a hold-over illusion from the Middle Ages, serving only the powers that be. I didn’t make the rules but I can say, “I don’t thing so”; I can say, “Hell No.”
Epictetus (Greek philosopher) an early Stoic wrote, “There is neither good nor evil except in the thinking.” In other words, the truth is whatever we agree on, whatever we say it is. Without human consensus there is neither good nor bad. Stoicism’s popularity and following have ebbed and flowed over time. It gets serious pushback from Christian religion as it negates universal truths. With no obligation to Christian dogma I find the Stoic’s focus on logic, reason and random chance more digestible than updated mythology.
If required to employ a current philosopher-song writer to pick up where Cash left off, demonstrating how times and ideas change, I would default to Willie Nelson. He circumvents battle flags and a prideful culture writing, “Regret is just a memory, written on my brow; I’ve forgiven everything that forgiveness will allow, and there’s nothing I can do ab out it now.”
I am reminded of the song today probably because I saw my doctor yesterday for our annual wellness checkup. She spent a lot of time with me probing and taking notes. In the same way Cash progressed from battle to battle and war to war, she moved from system to system. It seems the wear & tear on my eyes and ears cannot be restored but I have the means to cope and so get by. Broken bones have healed but all bones lose their density and mass with time. I need exercise and a good diet just to minimize that loss. Blood work all falls within desired ranges but I am not more powerful than a locomotive or able to leap tall buildings with a single bound; Superman doesn’t live here anymore.
I offered up the Johnny Cash line; I’m in good shape for the shape I’m in. She agreed, “Yes you are!” The difference here is that Cash’s flag is a metaphor and I am flesh and blood. The (Flag) metaphor is to justify if not exalt American hubris, all under the cloak of righteous self indulgence. That is a human failing with otherwise good people. What good is being #1 if you can’t indulge in some self worship and don’t exercise your power over #2 & #3? It’s not about one person or another, but about group dynamics. I aspire only to embrace the change I cannot avoid. Still I struggle with a self inflicted separation that comes with being uncomfortably, disrespectfully different. I think I understand why people, all people, why we dwell in the myth (mirror, mirror on the wall. . .) rather than upset status quo.
I like Johnny Cash even now, almost 20 years after his passing. His music is compelling, voice like thunder and courage to take on controversy. On his best day he was every common man’s champion, speaking ‘Truth to Power’. Still on other days he could be unforgiving, cruel and selfish. But he is still a national hero and we don’t insult our heroes with the truth.
There have been times, not so long ago, that I would speak to issues that begged for a voice. The terms, Right & Wrong carried a moral consequence that Correct & Incorrect did not. A mistake can be corrected but being ‘Wrong’ is a moral failure. Johnny Cash and other like him believed profoundly in the Rights & Wrongs of this life. I think it a hold-over illusion from the Middle Ages, serving only the powers that be. I didn’t make the rules but I can say, “I don’t thing so”; I can say, “Hell No.”
Epictetus (Greek philosopher) an early Stoic wrote, “There is neither good nor evil except in the thinking.” In other words, the truth is whatever we agree on, whatever we say it is. Without human consensus there is neither good nor bad. Stoicism’s popularity and following have ebbed and flowed over time. It gets serious pushback from Christian religion as it negates universal truths. With no obligation to Christian dogma I find the Stoic’s focus on logic, reason and random chance more digestible than updated mythology.
If required to employ a current philosopher-song writer to pick up where Cash left off, demonstrating how times and ideas change, I would default to Willie Nelson. He circumvents battle flags and a prideful culture writing, “Regret is just a memory, written on my brow; I’ve forgiven everything that forgiveness will allow, and there’s nothing I can do ab out it now.”
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