I was watching this video the other day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWSg1z0hzjs
(why did they call him a “class poet”? The version I watched didn’t have that).
At some point he says he got into poetry because most of the poets he read who were contemporaries were “sissies”. He asked, in effect–I forget the exact verbiage–how they would write about nasty fist fight?
And obviously, the guy is an asshole sometimes. He is also sometimes brilliant.
I am going to say I try to do philosophy in roughly the same way he wrote poetry: straight forward, clear, in your face sometimes, and unapologetic. And yes, I am definitely an asshole sometimes. I’m working on it. Seriously.
But one of the great problems of the moment is that nobody wants to ruffle feathers. Nobody wants to risk offending anyone, much less being openly pugnacious and aggressive. Here is the thing: THOUSANDS of qualified academics, the world over, HAVE KEPT THEIR MOUTHS SHUT EVEN THOUGH THEY KNOW THIS PANDEMIC RESPONSE IS AN ABSOLUTE CLUSTER FUCK AND COMPLETELY INDEFENSIBLE SCIENTIFICALLY.
It’s far better to go too far, especially when principles and human lives are concerned, than to hide in fear. I would sooner forgive someone who goes too far in an honest cause than someone who chickens out and fails to do their job when their job needs doing.
This poem was written by a pugilist who DID NOT GIVE A FUCK.
If you’re going to try, go all the way.
Otherwise, don’t even start.
If you’re going to try, go all the way.
This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, jobs and maybe even your mind.
It could mean not eating for three or four days.
It could mean freezing on a park bench.
It could mean jail.
It could mean derision, mockery, isolation.
Isolation is the gift.
All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it.
And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds.
And it will be better than anything else you can imagine.
If you’re going to try, go all the way.
There is no other feeling like that.
You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire.
DO IT. DO IT. DO IT. All the way
You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.