are we not wo/men?

this from a lewisham (london) england library sign-up sheet:

please tick the box which best describes your ethnicity:

asian/asian british – bangladeshi … asian/asian british – indian … asian/asian british – pakistani … asian/asian british – any other … black/black british – african … black/black british – caribbean … black/black british – any other … chinese … mixed – white & asian … mixed – white & black african … mixed – white & black caribbean … mixed – any other … vietnamese … white – british … white – irish … white – any other … any other*

*please provide details for ‘any other’

me, i’m mutant mongrel … bit of german, bit of irish, bit of english, bit of scot, and a lot of outlaw – but mostly i’m mutant. i still believe in right & wrong, truth & justice, politeness, style, grace, manners, sharing bounty … these used to be human characteristics. now that they’re not, i claim mutanthood.

the good news – all those ethnic variations above make this neighborhood a delight to the eyes, a pleasure to the ears, and stimulate the mind. most folk here are gentle with my whiteness, return my smiling thank you with huge smiles and thank yous of their own. not all, of course – but most.

why all these labels? we all came from the same place long ago. we’re all headed to dust very soon.

in the movie island of lost souls (1933 – the 1st & best version of h. g. wells’ 1896 novel the island of dr moreau), bela lugosi as sayer of the law cries out “are we not men? what is the law?”

what is the law? … it’s easy – do as you would be done. how hard is that? 

you don’t want to be hurt, don’t hurt others. you don’t want to be stolen from, don’t steal from others. you don’t want to be murdered, don’t murder others. you don’t want to be lied to, don’t lie to others – or yourself. and don’t let your politicians do these in your name.

we don’t need religions to justify being good – simple physics will do… according to the heisenburg uncertainty principle, what you seek determines what you see, what you ask determines what you hear, what you do determines what is done – in other words, what you beget is what you get.

i’d say it all comes down to self interest. you want a good life, then be good. it’s worked for me. i’ve got my kathy, i’ve got good friends, i’ve got great stories, and i’m on the adventure of my life – an adventure you all have told me you wish were yours.

your proof is in my pudding.

reading all our bombing and raping and mass murdering of women and children in iraq has really gotten me down. told kathy it’s always been this way, and it always will because governments are run by the rich – and the rich have always done what they want. i was losing hope again, and hope is the only thing that keeps me going. but kathy saved me yet again – she pointed out we are a young race, maybe 5,000 years of actively interacting in so-called civilization… she says we may yet grow in spirit, we can grow in spirit – she believes we may yet grow into decent folk.

i thank her for that. she keeps saving me, one way or another.

may you all find your own metaphorical kathy.