Strange ... all this talk of sacrifice coming out of Little Donald's mouth ... about how he sacrificed by giving people jobs? I did promise I'd riff a bit on the notion ... I'm sort of ready. But a few things to start. The word ... sacrifice? in English, it must come through the Latin or the French ... to Make Sacred/Sacer/Sacre ... To Render Holy or Profane, depending on the context. Sacer in Latin means both Holy and Profane. Just like the Hebrew Kadosh whose various forms can mean Holy or something, instead, that has been set aside for Special Activity, even Prostitution ... context is all ... קדוש הקדש ...קדש או קדישה. A philologist named Abel in the 19th C. suggested that there were very old words that initially took on opposite meanings ... maybe these words pointed at a certain comparison in Human-kind's early language ... as in, Sacred and Profane. Simon the Son of Isaac in the 13th C. suggested, instead, that the Hebrew word -- chances are -- indicated that Something had been Set-Aside or Made-Special for a Certain Purpose.
OK! OK! So, originally Sacrifice means to make holy ... Our soldiers ... our police ... are given a particular task of risking their own welfare for the sake of the safety of the community. Walking on a highwire or on the ledge outside a 20th story window wouldn't likely be described as a Sacred Task but a Stupid One. Don Qixote -- at least on Broadway and in this manner -- is described as willing:
Yes. Our soldiers and police sometimes take on extremely dangerous tasks for, as we say, a cause greater than themselves. When they are hurt or die, we do describe their behavior as sacrificial. Sacrifice takes on a meaning of giving over to others something(s) that we are not obligated to give to the other but that we do out of a sense of caring/love or a recognition of equal or greater need in the other. Some ancient mystics even saw God's Creation of a World that was to be inhabited by humans as necessitating a Pulling Back by God ... a redaction ... what they called TzimTzum (צמצום). Afterall, if God is everywhere, how could there be space left for us human-folk unless God pulled himself back ... gave up a part or sacrificed a part of God's omnipresence.
To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
(and) to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...
Yes. Our soldiers and police sometimes take on extremely dangerous tasks for, as we say, a cause greater than themselves. When they are hurt or die, we do describe their behavior as sacrificial. Sacrifice takes on a meaning of giving over to others something(s) that we are not obligated to give to the other but that we do out of a sense of caring/love or a recognition of equal or greater need in the other. Some ancient mystics even saw God's Creation of a World that was to be inhabited by humans as necessitating a Pulling Back by God ... a redaction ... what they called TzimTzum (צמצום). Afterall, if God is everywhere, how could there be space left for us human-folk unless God pulled himself back ... gave up a part or sacrificed a part of God's omnipresence.
Parents, similarly, need to Back-Off ... to Redact themselves ... to Make Space for the kids' need to individuate ... room for their spawn to make their own lives. Partners need to make space for each other. Hell ... even Drivers need to make space for each other on the road. We give a Part or Piece of Ourselves for the Other. Little Donald's sense that by creating jobs, he has sacrificed is not easy to understand ... and harder to swallow. A few days ago, I suggested that it was representative of a sense of entitlement on the part of an employer to parse his hiring of another as sacrificial. It is typically seen as a fair-exchange ... employer gets the value of the employee's labors and the worker gets paid. Thus Hiring/Being-Hired is an agreement that's part of the Social Contract that keeps Production going and prevents Class Warfare between the Haves and the Have-Lessers.A Good Deal all around.
Two days ago, I poked fun at and parsed Little Donald's claim that he had sacrificed by creating jobs in the following way:Y'see ...
Two days ago, I poked fun at and parsed Little Donald's claim that he had sacrificed by creating jobs in the following way:Y'see ...
Y'see ...
I gave people jobs.
Believe me ...
They didn't have jobs
and
You can take my word for it, they
You can take my word for it, they
Wouldn't've had jobs if not for me!
Trust me ...
"I worked very hard" ...
I coulda done all these jobs myself ...
These Big Hands of mine ...
Well, you know ...
Coulda built Trump Tower, myself ...
These Big Hands of mine ...
Well, you know ...
Coulda built Trump Tower, myself ...
Y'do'know -- Don't'cha!
I'm the only one who can solve any big problems.
So, y'see, Working Stiffs ...
If not for me, and my sacrifices,
You'd have nothin'!
You'd have nothin'!
Ah, but what I really wanted to talk about was the absurdity of waiting for a 70 year old man to change, as if he were a delinquent high school student getting another chance ... like the kid that had offended teachers and students; the one that proudly talked about using bribes or strong-arming to get his way; the one who used phrase-repetition to strong-arm; and who never accepted responsibility for anything and absolutely never apologized ... the one whose behavior was just plain thugly.
... That'll have to wait for the weekend.
... That'll have to wait for the weekend.
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