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“How is it,” asks my interlocutor, “that you immerse yourself in all of this dark history, and yet you don’t seem cynical?”
Well, that’s a fair question. I’m tempted to simply throw down another Edward Abbey quote and let it go at that:
“Don’t let yourself become cynical. Cynicism is a cheap emotion, a craven substitute for thought and action. Cynicism corrodes the will, dulls the conscience, blunts your sense of right and wrong… Stay alert to fine distinctions: become a pessimist like me.”
But, since I’m in the business of expounding upon things, allow me to expound…
Cynicism is both a cause and a symptom of bitterness, and a bitter life is no kind of life for me. I’ve seen bitterness eat people alive from the inside out. It ain’t pretty for anyone — including those close to a person drowning in their own toxic stew.
A cynic can be described as one who sees “hypocrisy and deceitfulness, primitive selfishness and unbounded egoism, and gross materialism and disguised ruthlessness are the hidden characteristics of all human behavior.”
As a lifelong student of frontier history, I can attest that this is a pretty good description of the way the whole thing rolls. Our Founding Fathers were land speculators on a grand scale, knowingly at the expense of First Nations peoples, who were to be bribed out of their lands, assimilated or pushed aside by force when necessary. Resource exploitation has always been the name of the game. And that goes for First Nations peoples, too. The Comanche made Northern Mexico howl for a couple of centuries, and the Apache considered Mexican settlers as practically their employees — raising livestock for them to raid.
The Standoff by David Lozeau.
Greed and duplicity, cruelty and barbarism, held sway on all sides — but so did genuine nobility and heroism, as clashes among mere handfuls of men decided the fates of empires.
And those greedy, patriarchal, slavery-defending Founders yet managed to cobble together a structure for republican government that has given room for the expansion of human liberty. Sort of by accident, the Founders left the door open far enough for Martin Luther King, Jr. to stick his foot in it, with an appeal that can have but one answer:
“All we say to America is, ‘Be true to what you said on paper.’”
Yes, we’re constantly in danger of adopting one new set of chains or another, but the beacon of individual liberty continues to beckon.
My outlook is that it is remarkable that we humanfolk do as well as we do. I figure acts of generosity, nobility and courage should be saluted, even if we know that there are always mixed motives. And especially when they come from someone who is fundamentally a sonofabitch. There are plenty of historical examples, but a mythic tale provides an archetypal one: Jaime Lannister from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones).
Here we have a ridiculously handsome and privileged prince of a great house, an oathbreaker and a Kingslayer who pushes a nine-year-old kid out of a tower window because the kid saw Jaime rogering his own twin sister. Bad dude, right? REALLY bad dude. Yet, he saves a woman from a gang of rapists, at the cost of his sword hand. And maybe the act that originally earned him opprobrium as a Kingslayer was actually a heroic act? Hmmmm…
It’s not redemption, exactly — just a very mixed bag of human messiness.
*
It is my belief that cynicism is often the flip side of idealism. If you think the human condition ought to be better than it is, it’s easy to slide into bitter disappointment. A great deal of the angst that informs what passes for our political-cultural discourse these days has its roots that gap between expectation and reality. If you give cynicism its head, it becomes despair.
I reject despair. As a rather cheerful pessimist, I insist that, yes, it is remarkable that we do as well as we do.
*
My friend Cris Converse once said to me that one of the things she likes and admires about me is that I embrace and use my own darkness. That’s one of the most astute — and nicest — things anybody’s ever said to me.
I think doing so is critical, and I work hard at it. My friends, I am a sinner. While I’m not especially subject to greed or envy, the other five “deadly sins” are my constant companions: lust; gluttony; sloth; wrath; and pride. I don’t try to eliminate them and I sure as hell don’t pretend that they’re not there. I’ve tried to make friends with them and channel them into the most productive — or least destructive — manifestations I am capable of. And that practice helps me avoid cynicism when I look outward.
Art by Marta Dahlig.
I figure most folks are struggling to do the same. Makes it easier to cut people slack.
When I look out across the landscape of the Big Bad World, I see a lot that I don’t like. Principles, liberties and lifeways that I value more than life its ownself are under attack from all sides. I push back where, when and how I can. It’s not enough, and the pessimist in me doubts that I and my comrades will prevail. But I will never succumb to cynicism and despair, because the outcome is beyond my control, but the battle is not. And the battle itself is worthy.
*
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Rick Schwertfeger says
This is just wonderful.
Thanks Rick.
Pat McGowan says
Great, Jim. I think this is a companion piece to Henry Rollin’s essay.
Well, now… Thanks.
Steven says
Excellent Scribbler…I remember the final line in the great grim thriller ‘Se7en’ Morgan Freeman’s cerebral Det.Sommerset’s final line of the film was “ Ernest Hemingway once said, ‘The world is a fine place. And worth fighting for.’ I believe the last part.”
Joseph Campbell ( in one of his great lectures I highly recommend finding ) states, “ Carl Jungs ‘Shadow’ is with all of us. Constantly. And the best way to not let it lead you, is to Romberg what that Shadow is: Simply think of all the things that you despise in other people and that would be the composition of ‘Your’ Shadow.”
I really dislike cynicism, and very much agree it’s cheap and unproductive. I think somehow ( maybe the loss of religious belief preceded and layed the gravel for cynicism ) it’s been ‘chic’ or ‘hip’ to be cynical …but I’m very tepid when it comes to idealism…especially my own.
In the meanwhile I’ll stick to Det.Sommersets rebuke, ‘It’s still worth fighting for…”
Good stuff Steven.
Matthew says
I tend to think a little cynicism keeps you grounded, but too much (and it doesn’t take a lot to have too much) can be soul destroying. And it is not necessarily more accurate.
Jim Pfleging says
Great thoughts. Thank you!! I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my own cynicism recently, this article poked the beast.
In light of current political and social discourse it seems every article, every news aggregator, every commentary is somehow tainted by this unpleasant dye. It’s one thing to own it, it’s another to have it own you. So much so that you can forget what you have and what you could lose.
I think the one thing lacking from this culture of convenience is gratitude. Even the most ardent cynic can be pacified with a healthy dose of it. We forget the sheer magic of turning on a light switch. Better yet the life changing device called a toilet, unimproved for 120+ years.
When Jefferson said a little revolution now and then was a good thing he may have missed the resulting gratitude that develops when peace is finally restored. Hopefully it won’t take a revoluti to improve our cultural optimism.
If I have poked the beast I am well satisfied. Thanks Jim.
You have touched on the entirety of my spiritual practice, which I wrote about in Frontier Partisans post a while back…
John Cornelius says
A pessimist, huh?
Mark Twain maintained that “A pessimist is a well-informed optimist.”
Rings true to me.
lane batot says
Sarcasm is often mistaken for cynicism, and this can be a big mistake. I am often dripping with sarcasm, but part of that is for HUMOR’S sake, but also a way to make others aware of what should be blatantly obvious. Of course sarcasm can be quite negative, too, so you gotta distinguish between the types. And as for GRATITUDE–I think it is hard for many in privileged(they don’t even realize how privileged they are!) circumstances, that were brought up without any real basic wants of any kind, to understand perzackly HOW to be thankful! Only having to do WITHOUT something for one reason or another ‚will teach such “entitled” folk how to appreciate the many blessings most of us get to experience in life. Reminds me of one of my favorite proverbs, from the Apaches(no less) who WOULD know this very well, “A foolish person looks far for death and joy; both are very close.”
Love the Apache proverb.
John M Roberts says
It’s interesting how more than one character in GoT is in search of redemption. The Hound is another. He committed terrible acts at the behest of unworthy kings until he finally said, quite literally, “Fuck it!” And went off on his own. It took a while, but when he buried the family he had robbed a year earlier it was clear that he was trying to make amends (while remaining an utter badass.) Brienne is perpetually outraged because Jaime won’t be the man she knows he should be. There are some complicated relationships in this story. I may be a bit biased because I’ve known George R.R. Martin for 40-odd years, but I think it’s the best story ever committed to television.
The Hound has some of the best scenes in the show, as far as I’m concerned. And my whole family knows what I mean who I say I feel like eating a chicken… or two.
lane batot says
I think GoT has to be the most EPIC thing done on TV to date! And that is just REAL LIFE(even in a made-up world!) when heroes aren’t perfect, and villians aren’t always all bad, and sometimes, if rarely, some total jerks DO eventually come around and become rather decent individuals! But yeah, it’s RARE(in my experiences.…) If ONLY they had featured the Dire Wolves a bit more.……