If you go weeks without liquid,
you might drink your own urine.
A pitcher of piss can be as quenching
as a liter of lemonade.
If you go weeks without food,
you might flame broil a friend.
A leftover corpse
can be as delightful
as a fresh garden cucumber.
To survive, sometimes
you have to set aside judgment.
This seems why good people
sometimes do reprehensible things.
To suffer or die because of
some self-imposed restriction seems insane.
But that is what we do,
every time we follow a rule.
Even if it leads to the death of humanity.
There is honor. There is respect.
There is dignity. There is ego.
There is no dessert.
Trail Wood,
9/30
In the sprawling feast of existence, humanity often serves itself a paradoxical menu of UrgeCakes and MoralityMuffins. In times of scarcity, we might forgo the latter and gorge on the former, for survival can wield a gory fork that spares no taboos. The lens of desperation converts repugnant options into Sustenexirs, sips or bites that sustain us against the gnawing abyss of nonexistence.
Desperation, that Grand Alchemist, can transform a pitcher of urine into NectarSublime or a charred body into a GaiaBite. Moral norms disintegrate when juxtaposed with the visceral will to persist. Suddenly, those tall towers of self-righteousness crumble, revealing that they were built of nothing but EgoClay and HonorSand.
Oh, but what of rules, those ink-drawn borders on the parchment of societal expectation? These guidelines or ObligedPaths, as we might whimsically dub them, can easily metamorphose into EthicalQuicksand. Good people, clasping their RuleBooks tightly to their chests, might find themselves sinking into actions they’d otherwise deem abominable. Rules might serve as moral compasses, but they’re not unfailingly precise. No North Star ever told a lost traveler which muddy path to avoid or which thorny bush hid a quenching berry.
While nobility exists in the virtues of honor, respect, and dignity, these IdealsPerfumed can cloud our olfactory senses, masking the malodorous underbelly of life’s stark realities. Sometimes they serve as DeceitToppings on a complex existential sundae.
Ego, that Grand Narrator, likes to furnish us with sumptuous cloaks of righteousness. However, the dessert of life isn’t always sweet or just, and sometimes it doesn’t even exist. The absence of this “treat,” perhaps, makes us reevaluate what we truly hunger for and how far we’re willing to go to sate it. Sometimes, in the calculus of existence, there’s no room for dessert. The scales of choice weigh heavy with consequence, and oftentimes, dessert is a luxury we can’t afford, morally or literally.
We are Space Monkey.
Summary
We delve into the realm where survival tests the limits of morality, pointing out how desperation can alter perspectives. Good people may resort to actions considered reprehensible when pitted against existential threats. Rules and virtues, while essential for societal cohesion, can become problematic constraints when the stake is survival itself.
Glossarium
- UrgeCakes: Base instincts that drive actions when survival is at stake.
- MoralityMuffins: Ethical considerations that guide us but may not always serve us.
- Sustenexirs: Survival mechanisms that nourish us in dire times, even if morally contentious.
- EgoClay and HonorSand: Fragile foundations upon which we often build our moral high ground.
- ObligedPaths: Societal rules and norms that guide us but may also mislead.
- EthicalQuicksand: The danger of adhering too rigidly to rules, leading to moral downfall.
- IdealsPerfumed: Virtues that seem fragrant but might cloud our judgment.
- DeceitToppings: Superficial layers of righteousness that mask the complex moral choices we face.
“The only way to deal with this life meaningfully is to find one’s passion and put everything into it.”
— Henry Miller
What are your thoughts on the conflict between moral norms and survival instincts? 🌿🔥🌌
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