DON’T BITE ME

Before giving the cats their morning treats Meugh announced to them, “Ah me wee cats I have something to say to you before you get your morning goodies and I want you to pay close attention as it is very important.”

The cats all gathered at Meugh’s chair and peered at him giving the indication that they were seemingly paying attention.

Meugh continued, “Lamont, Pawline and Patchtricia, you are not to bite me or scratch me or by any other manner draw blood upon my person for the next week.”

Lamont, Pawl, and Patch, watched him very intently seemingly hanging on every word that their human servant said, much to Meugh’s delight.

“You see my fine felines,” Meugh lectured. Next Tuesday I am going to a hospital to have a large kidney stone removed surgically. Since I am the hospital, a place known to have sick people in it, and therefore laden with all types of germs, bacteria and various other microorganisms that can do bodily harm it is important that I have no gaping wounds, scratches or bites upon my person. Is that clear?”

Patch with her typical expression of questioning then asked, via telepathy obviously, “What is a pital?”

“Huh.” Meugh said a bit dumbfounded. “Pital?”

“Yes, pital,” Patch messaged, “I know perfectly well what a house is, we live in one of those.” Gazing at an obviously confused Meugh she continued. “You said you were going to a housepital, so I ask again, what is a pital.”

Meugh just sat there in his chair looking confused. So, all three cats put their psychic brains together and verily shouted into Meugh’s cranium, “Treats. Give us treats. Give us treats now!”

At this point Meugh reached over and began handing out the treats to Patch, Lamont, and Paw. After they had their treats, then Lamont crawled up into Meugh’s lap and bit him and then jumped down to the floor and left laughing a sneaky little cat laugh. Paw and Patch laughed too, they thought that was very funny.

Meugh heard a meowing voice in his head that said, “Bite me!”

        

Human Entitlements

Cats may have entitlements and so do human beings. (see previous article.)

I regularly hear the term entitlement used in a derogatory manner. It is used to demean those folk who are seen as abusing our hard earned tax dollars to be parasites upon others. For instance, students and young people in general can be viewed as having too many entitlements. Lazy buggers would to work and appreciate all that we do for them.

Most commonly we sneer about the entitlements of those who make use of our welfare system and abuse that system. The lazy welfare mother, who gets paid for having children rather than working. The drug addict benefits from rehab programs. We complain about those who use food stamps to augment their buying power. The list goes on an on and you and I have probably used them in this negative manner as a way of expressing our superiority over others.

But we have entitlements as citizens of the country and as human beings. Our country was build, in part, upon these assumptions of entitlements: entitlements of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; basics of the constitution and its preamble.

In this country we are entitled to find work that we find rewarding. We are entitled to education, to improve ourselves and those around us. We are entitled to voting for those who share our values and beliefs. We are entitled to decent health care. We are entitled to not be abandoned with life goes wrong for us. We are entitled to have our end years without undue strife. We have many entitlements that we should expect and is a part of citizenry.

When we poo-poo the abusers of entitlements as being deadbeats do we also include those who do in fact, get more than their fair share of the bounty in the land of opportunity. Do we complain in the same manner about CEOs who get outrageous salaries at the expense of the workers in the industry? Do we complain about bankers and Wall Street investors who take public money when the gamble and lose? Do we complain when politicians cater more to those who contribute extravagantly to the campaigns?

Well, we do complain about the later but not in the same way. We somehow seem to thing their false sense of entitlements is not as bad as the down and outers. The abusers of our social welfare systems are small in number and take little from the overall good these programs provide. In contrast, the harm done but the greedy of our society do incomparable harm to society. The 1% ers are not entitled to govern our society, but they are. Grumbling about the abuses of those who receive government entitlements just removes our focus from the fact that we live now in an oligarchy rather than a democracy.

Cat Entitlements

“I believe in cat entitlements,” Announced Lamont one day.

“Cat entitlements? What’s that,” asked Patchtricia?

“Well, furry liter mate, just because we are cats and live with human beings, we should have certain inalienable rights,” answered Lamont.

“That sounds interesting,” said Pawline joining the conversation. “Please tell us more and get specific Lamont.”

“Well,” orated Lamont warming to his topic, “to begin with we have basic entitlements: food, shelter and clothing. Umm, forget clothing that’s not necessary in our case, in fact, clothing is objectionable.”

“True, true,” purred Patch. “I totally agree.”

“But beyond these basics,” continued Lamont raising up on his haunches, “we have other thing we are entitled to. We are entitled to regular petting. We’re cats, and the human servants have a responsibility to pet us and brush us with some regularity.”

“Yes, yes,” chimed in Paw, “oh yes, we need brushing and petting. I may not crawl up on their laps as you two do on occasion, but I do love being brushed and petted. You’re right, we are entitled to being petted a groomed. Here, here, more, more.”

“Furthermore,” proclaimed Lamont now filled with righteous cat power, “we have the right to pursue cat happiness. We are entitled to play and have toys to play with as fits our nature and disposition. We are entitled to scratching areas, posts, rugs, ropes and the like. You can’t be a proper cat without scratching something.”

“I most heartily concur,” exclaimed Patch, “We are cats hear us meow. We are entitled to not only food but treats personally fed to us by our humans. We have to right to shed hair anywhere we like and expect that the humans will pick it up it they are so inclined. We are entitled to look out windows as much as we want at the world. We are entitled to pretend we are great fierce cats in search of prey. We are entitled to pounce upon a human when we feel so disposed. It is our right.”

“Now you get it,” encouraged Lamont. “We have many many entitlements just because we are cats. These entitlements are our proper due as domestic residents among the humans. Entitlements are our due.”

With that said, all the cats took cat naps and dreamed of more entitlements they had coming to them, just because they were cats. One such entitlement is obvious the right to sleep on humans whenever they wanted.

Oh my we're cute!

TOWN WARS?

I read a novel by Wendel Berry, Jayber Crow lately. It is about a barber in a small town with rather amazing thoughts about almost everything. A good read and I’d recommend it.

The story is set in Kentucky and covers the era that includes our two world wars. Jaber’s thoughts on war led me to thinking about how war always seem to take place on a large level and not small ones. One could argue the interfamily disputes such as the Hatfields and the McCoys could be seen as wars but it would be stretching a point.

I thought what would happen if my hometown, New Sharon, Iowa had fought a war say with its neighboring town, Lacy. This is not a real stretch as they almost did.

There were three towns in my area that consolidated so as we young’uns could get better educations; something Jaber Crow would disagree with. The first two went together when I was in high school, Barnes City and New Sharon without much of a hiccup. But after I graduated it came time for Lacy to join the other two. I think a new schoolhouse had been built by that time. However, Lacy and New Sharon had been archrivals in sports over the years and it was not a welcome joining for many. Oh the students didn’t mind much, in fact, it meant a larger dating pool, a good thing. But the parents chaffed under co-habituating with their sports enemy.

The school year opened and students went to school in the new building, but the school board from Lacy refused to give up their books for the students to use in studying. The issue went to court and the court ruled they had to give up the books or the board would have to go to jail. The school board preferred going to jail; I don’t remember whether they actually did or not. Nevertheless, it was a hot time in three small communities. However in the war, if you want to call it that. Vast sums of money were not spent, nor were guns brought to bear and nobody died. Especially young people did not become “cannon fodder” it was the old folk who faced jail time in contrast to big wars between nations.

That was Jaber’s point in the novel as he said, “Port William, I thought, had not caused war. Port William makes quarrels, and now and again a fight; it does not make war. It takes power, leadership, great talent, perhaps genius, and much money to make a war….I still can’t connect Port Will and war except by death and suffer. No more can I think of Port William and the United States in the same thought. A nation is an idea, and Port Williams is not.” Nations fight wars is Crow’s opinion not towns.

Jaber Crow also believed that great organizations, such as nations, cannot love their enemies as Jesus instructed us to do.

What nations seem to lack, especially large nations in that sense of intimacy and relatedness that small town communities have. Someone in a town may go berserk from time to time and kill another. But they don’t raise money, train family members and get so psyched up that they are able to kill their neighbors (except the Hatfields and McCoys that is.)

Perhaps if the world was more intimate, wars would be more difficult. Or if we began to thing of others in this world as “us” in contrast to “them”, it might be more difficult to wage war. Or, as they said in the 60’s “what if they gave a war and nobody showed up?”