Wit & Whim

You cannot understand the present unless you understand the past. The present is only the momentary continuation of the past and is part and parcel with the same. So why is it that when American history is discussed, be it in schools or books, that we seem to skip from the freeing of the slaves right to the beginning of the first World War? One would almost think that slavery ended with the end of the civil war. It did not. It might have ended in name, but it was not over in reality. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were obeyed in the south only because the union troops, underneath the command of the brutal but efficient Sherman, ensured it with force. The black populace voted for the republicans; the party of the abolition. Republican power during this short span was greater than it ever was and will ever be again. And the black populace enjoyed greater civil rights than they would until the mid twentieth century. 1866 saw the formation of the KKK; the, evil, white trash, scrub bas...

There was no difficulty naming my blog because the name is the force that inspired me to create the blog. The warm sun baking my skin, Dostoevsky forgotten for a moment, I allowed my mind to wander and it wasted no time ushering in my daydreams, which slowly wended their way into memory. As I sat up, licking my dry lips, it struck me just how fast Whims can run away with you and all the odd little places they have the power to take you. This is not a new revelation; I have long since come to terms with the knowledge that whims are the most powerful creatures in the world. But their strength and prowess astound me anew each time that I encounter them. It is as Jonathan and I documented some long time ago; Wit and Whim may often be complimentary forces, but Whim holds the mastery. Whim is easily my favorite word and holds fountains of meaning for me. But how did Wit come into all this? Is this boy so arrogant that he should declare himself a Wit? Probably. But Wit does not enter this pic...