Hello.
The task of writing falls to me today.
My uncle seems to think himself a latter-day Abraham - or Abram - and speaks of an odyssey to some other land. He thinks that it is a pity that Mars is not being terra-formed and capable of sustaining a population.
He often thought that it would be a good deal for the Palestinians to trade their ancestral homes on Earth for large regions of Mars; this being a deal that Netanyahu et alii would jump at and the hideous American Bush-type, evangelical mentality would rejoice over.
Of course, in the fullness of time, Mars would become a paradise, and the USA and its loyal allies might have to renege on some promises made to Palestinians...but that was all just a sci-fi story plot.
He looked at the photos and paintings of his relatives and ancestors, then came to the conclusion that he was responsible for the welfare of the future generations. He wants to be part of the future, not tied to a dead cadaver (as he puts it ) of the past and its obsessions!
The best I came make out is that he does not consider our present problems a divine retribution; rather a self-imposed debasement brought about by our insistence on creating Ironies for our enemies to laugh at. Virtue is not susceptible to ironic reversal, only Arrogance is, only Greed is. Virtue may well be its own reward, for all he knows.
The actual people who work, they will save the country.
The actual industries which employ them, they will save the country.
He writes:
"It is almost Spring;
I can see a haziness of promising warmth
rising from the pastures out back.
It is the time of reflection and rebirth:
a short remembrance, then a plunge
into life again!... a mirror and a slap."
and
"Things to do:
Watch Cable TV muted, and watched the mad men and women yell and grimace and cavort, flailing their hands, frowning mightily, sermonizing pastorally; all of them satisfied with themselves, secure in their wisdom, even in the most dire calamity, that their knowledge is wealth and power.
What does it mean?"
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