http://www.swans.com/ December 13, 2004 -- In this SPECIAL ISSUE:
Note from the Editor: Dear readers, allow me to write personally in this space -- an indulgence which I very rarely draw upon -- and kindly forgive this slightly longer "Note from the Editor." Here comes the time to review the passing year. My friends, colleagues and comrades, who make Swans possible time and again, have written their perspectives on 2004. They cover a lot of ground, cultural, societal, political; some are more activist, some more historical, or even philosophical. They are so thorough and talented that I did not feel the need to add my own 2 cents' worth. Read them to your heart's content and do not miss the poignant poetry of Octavio Paz (in three languages!), Walker Percy's excerpt on death genes (to which Phil Rockstroh recently alluded) the essay on Plantation Politics by S. Jeffrey Jones, the usual Martian Blips, and the letters... (All-in-all 20 pieces!)
Had I offered my own views, I think I would have focused on Abu Ghraib, the torture chambers and the violence that permeates our society, but many a contributor addressed these issues. Otherwise, I consider that 2004 is nothing less, or more than contrasting continua. To relate what I mean and in the spirit of the holidays, let me share a little allegory and a small window on my inner self.
The Boy Who Would Be Emperor And The Old Man By The Sea: The boy who would be emperor travels to a garrison to praise the accomplishments of his legions; he calls them the forces of Freedom and Democracy, of good against evil, of light against darkness. The old man by the sea walks into the hall of a youth congress to reflect on what he calls the Battle of Ideas. He is old indeed, while still reasonably fit, but carries a vast experience built upon a lifetime of struggles made of many mistakes and successes -- he is only human, after all. The boy presides over the destinies of his 300 million subjects; his powers are formidable -- he is imbued with a godly mission, to create a World Democracy in his image. His praetorians crisscross the seas, the skies, the lands of the entire world; they are posted in some 170 countries. On his word, and in the name of his god, they rain death and destruction upon the recalcitrants, any peoples or countries stubborn enough to refuse and resist his vision, his manifest destiny. At home, his subjects, year in and year out, lose their pensions, their health care, their jobs; their education system is falling apart, the infrastructure of the country in shambles, so that the boy may finance his crusades and lavish his friends and foreign cronies alike with leis and gold. He is feared and loathed by the multitudes the world over. Even among his subjects uneasiness is rampant; but his aura of invincibility is such, and his admirers and evangelizers placed in so many positions of power, within the halls of prayers and justice, the vast stables of commerce and industry, and the legislative bodies, that only a whisper of opposition can be heard from the inmost depths of his once-upon-a-time much blessed land. His country and his culture are slowly disintegrating, but the boy who would be emperor stands at the pulpit, his face beaming with the charm and pride of death and praise the lord.
Meanwhile, the old man by the sea praises the children of his small country, hailing the future of this tiny island where music and commonality of purpose, art and solidarity, keep defying the odds. The old man talks about the universalization of education, the number of new classrooms, new schools, new institutions of higher learning, in biotechnology, in computer sciences, and new computers, and new video-recorders, and books, and books, and more books -- everything geared toward the well being and the improvement of the daily conditions of the people, all of the people. He is very precise, offering exact figures and statistics on the achievements that have taken place in spite of outside interferences, threats and blockades. The old man looks particularly proud to expand on the field of medicine, on the number of doctors -- over 20,000 -- who help in 66 countries around the world (for instance, 450 of them are currently in Haiti, compared to less than 50 sent by the "International Community"). There are those, you see, who export DU, F16s, 500- 2000 pound bunker-busting bombs...those who export death; and there're those who export doctors and knowledge...those who export life... The old man emphasizes once more the ardent, fundamental obligation to keep waging the Battle of Ideas -- instead of waging endless war and destruction -- for the sake of humanity's survival. He defines that famous, ageless battle as, "the battle of humanism against dehumanization, the battle of brotherhood and sisterhood against the most blatant form of selfishness [...] the battle of justice against the most brutal form of injustice, the battle for our people and the battle for other peoples." And then, the old man becomes silent and walks quietly to sit and rest among the smiling children whose faces beam with the lightness of being, and the peaceful love they all so much deserve...
Last night, my dearest companion and I made love. We made love for hours; with passion and furry; with peacefulness and tenderness; in the darkness of the bedroom; on the sofa in the living room, under the warmed glow of the wood stove; we walked naked outside on the deck and watched the stars, and kissed, and smiled, and hugged...we left no parts, no crannies, no mounts, unexplored, un-kissed, un- caressed. I love you so very deeply, Jan, without reservation, in total acceptation: I love YOU.
And so, my friends, between love and hate, I choose love; and between life and death, I choose life... It is then, with honor, the nobility of the heart, and the humility of the mind, that I have the privilege to nominate, in my name, Swans' Human of the Year: Fidel Castro Ruz, the much beloved president of the Republic of Cuba! (Runner-up: Ralph Nader!)
With much thanks to all for writing and reading, I am looking forward to 2005 with hope and resolve. We'll be back on January 1 with our Infamous Predictions� -- Gilles d'Aymery
As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes) know about Swans.
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Here are the links to the 19 pieces:
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/procks40.html 2004: A Case Study In Forensic Irony - by Phil Rockstroh
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/mdolin05.html 2004: Diary Of A Man In Despair - by Michael Doliner
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/johns06.html Empire Of Amnesia, 2004 - by John Steppling
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/jeb139.html 2004: Reality in Perspective by Jan Baughman
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/joedav04.html 2004: Another Best and Worst Year - by Joe Davison
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/elib022.html 2004: The Lost Year - by Eli Beckerman
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/lproy21.html 2004: Perspectives And Opportunities - by Louis Proyect
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/gsmith35.html 2004: The Insurgent Word - by Gerard Donnelly Smith
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/joelw06.html Retrospective On 2004, Or Why I Need More Sleep - by Joel Wendland
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/mgc144.html Beyond The Beyond: Reflections on a November Visited Upon us . . . Again - by Milo Clark
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/flw022.html 2004: We Could Use Some People Power In The U.S. - by Frank Wycoff
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/pgreen55.html 2004: The Superpower Kept Sinking - by Philip Greenspan
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/cmarow03.html The Message Of 2004 - by Charles Marowitz
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/herman14.html 2004: A Year Of Frightening Regression - by Edward S. Herman
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/mgarci27.html 2004: The Year Of Disillusion - by Manuel Garcia, Jr.
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/xxx110.html Death Genes: "The Second Coming" - Book Excerpt by Walker Percy
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/xxx109.html Libertad Bajo Palabra - by Octavio Paz French translation: http://www.swans.com/library/art10/xxx109.html#fr English translation: http://www.swans.com/library/art10/xxx109.html#en
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/jjones01.html Plantation Politics? Mimes, Minstrels And Miscalculation - by S. Jeffrey Jones
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/desk008.html Blips #8 - by Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art10/letter56.html Letters to the Editor
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SALAAM PAIX PEACE PAZ SHALOM
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Gilles d'Aymery -- Swans
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