Someone left
comments in the previous entry demanding that I blog about a recent havoc wrecked by Mother Nature and exacerbated by humans. That if I don't, I am merely superficial and materialistic. =)
This person doesn't seem to realise that I could have chosen not to publish his/her comments. Hence, I am, in an indirect manner, 'blogging' about his/her cause.
Oh... Of the invisible and the visible...
........................................................................
Another piece of news has been hogging the international headlines for weeks. A man-made tragedy. So which is more tragic? The doing of Mother Nature or that of Man?
This man, Josef Fritzl, kept his daughter in a cellar for a quarter of a century and had 7 children with her.
Recently, because one of the cellar children got really sick, he brought her to the hospital and the entire scandal came to light.
I am particularly interested in this because it is an extreme example of family dynamics. What happens within a family. The power dynamics. The lying. The exploitation. The coercing of his offsprings. The physical deformation of his offsprings (e.g. a couple of them born and bred in the cellar with a low ceiling have permanent distortion of the body, e.g. a bent back) is merely a manifestation of the extensive damage done by a parent, i.e. someone in power.
I have read up on the many reports on this incident. These words below struck me most. Read them.
On his second family
In reality, I wanted to have children with her [Elisabeth]. Elisabeth naturally had fear of giving birth but I brought her medical books to the cellar, so she could prepare for the Day X. I brought her towels, disinfectants and nappies.
I was looking forward to the offspring. It was a beautiful idea for me, to have a proper family, also down in the cellar, with a good wife and a couple of children. I made preparations for all possibilities. Every time I left the bunker, I would activate a time lock, which would make sure that the doors to the dungeon would open if I would not return after a certain period of time. Had I died, Elisabeth and the children would have been freed.
After [the youngest boy] was born at the end of 2002 I even gave Elisabeth a washing machine so that she could wash the clothes and bed sheets of the children and not have to hand wash them in the basin.
I always knew during the whole 24 years that what I was doing was not right that I must have been crazy to do such a thing, but still it became a normal occurrence to lead a second life in the cellar of my house.
On being a grandfather
Elisabeth has always taken care of things for the sake of the family. I have tried to provide for my family in the cellar as best as possible. Whenever I went to the bunker I would bring my daughter flowers and cuddly toys as well as books for the children. I would watch an adventure film on video with them while Elisabeth would prepare our favourite food and then we would all sit together at the kitchen table and eat together.
READ MORE
HERE.
Notice the 'forms', e.g. helping to prepare her for childbirth by providing medical books, bring flowers/toys, sitting together at kitchen table for a meal?
From our perspective, these are (i) sick acts with (ii) perverse intentions. But in his world, such acts made total sense. These acts perfected his world. His second life.
Which he tried to protect and ended up sending his sick offspring to the hospital and destroyed his 24 year old secret world.
Because they sound so natural and genuine, i.e. full of good intentions (although some argue that these words are orchestrated such that he could plead insanity later). I'm sure they sound familiar. These are the actions, i.e. the 'Form', of human beings who truly think they are fulfilling their duty as parents, as spouses etc. Despite consciousness of the sufferings of their actions have caused to others (especially those they call their loved ones), human beings have a way of convincing themselves that they have the best of intentions and so their actions are justified.
What I am trying to say is that we, the so-called normal and sane people, too persist in such 'Form over Substance/Meaning' behaviour. Just that we do it in varying degrees within the so-called 'reasonable realm'. I think naming this realm 'reasonable' is euphemistic. This realm is merely 'grey', i.e. not abominable. Which leads me to another set of questions/theme:
Where is the line between
"this is wrong" vs " this is their family business"?
By assuming that every human being has the irrevocable right to bear and raise offsprings without intervention, are we, i.e. the collective called society, being irresponsible or minimally apathetic? Or that the argument is one of difficulty in implementation (See... in this case... nobody knows... she gave birth 7 times in the cellar... no control points etc). Hence, let's just shelve
it.
The Fritzl case is merely 1 such case which has come to light. Can anyone confidently conclude that this is an exception?
Lastly, a consequence of this saga. The Governor of Austria thinks this case has affected the image of the country.
Hmmm... I think it's not so clear-cut.
When I think of Austria... I think of Mozart.
Then again... 'Good Fren' associates Austria with Hitler.
Labels: life
