The Early 21st Century and the Philosophy of Loss
It’s that time of the decade when everyone seems to be doing their end of the decade thinking, and despite my resistance to doing so, I have done so. When I teach my personal recollections of the history of my lifetime I tend to look back on the 80’s as the worst of historical periods, but the 00’s will probably eclipse the 80’s.
The events of the 90’s encapsulate well in an Indigo Girls song that’s hidden at the end of their 1999 album “Come on Now Social” called “The Philosophy of Loss.”
Welcome to why the church has died
In the heart of the exiled in the kingdom of hate
Who owns the land & keeps the commands
And marries itself to the state
Modern scribes write in Jesus Christ
Everyone is free
And the doors open wide to all straight men & women
But they are not open to me
And who is teaching kids to be soldiers
To be marked by a plain white cross
And we kill just a little to save a lot more
The philosophy of loss
There are a few who would be true out of love
And love is hard
And don’t think that our hands haven’t shoveled the dirt
Over their central American graveyards
Doctors & witch hunters stripped you bare
Left you nothing for your earthly sins
Yeah but who made this noise just a bunch of boys
And the one with the most toys wins
Who is teaching kids to be gamblers
Life is a coin toss
And of course what you give up is what you gain
The philosophy of loss
Whatever has happened to anyone else
Could happen to you & to me
And the end of my youth was the possible truth
That it all happens randomly
Who is teaching kids to be leaders
and the way that it is meant to be
the philosophy of loss
President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech really drives the Philosophy of Loss home. Given two weeks after announcing the escalation of our occupation of Afghanistan, the President argued passionately for the use of deadly force as a means to keep peace and freedom.
It seems more and more states are willing to accept subhuman status for gay men and women by not providing them with equal rights. This is done under the guise of protecting the sanctity of marriage?
When I first heard this song in late 1999, I thought things would get better and the millennium would bring less of this Philosophy of Loss. It hasn’t. It seems to have etched it even deeper into our national psyche.
Filed under: History, Music, Politics on December 27th, 2009
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