The Unendinng Carnival, and - Janus

 

                                                              Janus, an original acrylic painting

                                                               24" X  36", on stretched canvas - unframed

                                                                    ( click on image to enlarge )

     Janus was the Roman god of new beginnings, the two-faced god from whom nothing

could be concealed, and the god from which we derive the name for the first month of the year.  

The sculpture below is one example of the ways the artists in ancient Rome depicted him.

 

      In December, following the presidential election, as I was breathing a sigh of relief, 

I began thinking of doing a posting about the two-faced god, for this month's entry.

The idea of having that kind of duality, of the ability to honestly, look back and chronicle 

the past, while peering into the future at the same time, seemed like the kind of valuable

self-improvement resolution America should have for the new year of 2021.  We had

fresh hope in the air, a new start, with an administration based on science and truth,

 instead of a president who had politicized the plague, and installed a fascist regime in the 

White House.  The mad carnival seemed to be about to come to it's end.

     And then, on January sixth, the fresh hope was met with reality.  Trump, the loosing 

and angry, narcissistic sociopath, rallied his moronic militias and white-supremacists, 

and sent his goon squads to invade our nation's capitol and attack the members of 

congress, to try and overthrow the election and make him a dictator. 

    So, once again we are faced with the flaws which seem to be inherent in a fairly 

large percentage of the human species.  Many of us tend to be egocentric and mindless

dolts, who will act on any stray impulse, without giving a thought as to whether it is 

wise or a good idea.  Many still continue to gather and party, during this pandemic,

while defiantly going unmasked, because they say it's their constitutional  right to 

be as stupid and inconsiderate of other people as they want to be.  The human 

carnival continues, as it has for several thousand years, and as it always will, until 

we learn to change.  

     If we can only use the duel vision of Janus, we have our hindsight, to learn 

from our history, and our foresight, to plan for a better world, in the future.  

A good start would be a higher education policy, which would help every citizen

rise to the limits of his or her, full potential. 

                                                              E. P. McNerney