Human Parts

I wonder if the question of who we are is still on people's minds.  I really don't want to presume one way or the other.  I wouldn't want that imposed upon me, nor do I want to impose that on others. Nevertheless, the question still remains.

Maybe the question is lost in the infinite amount of news and information.  And yet, it is the transmission of the "current events" (whatever they may be - mostly we hear bad stuff) that the question of one's existence emerges.  What are the motives for particular actions or ideas? What is the real self?

What is the self which views human life as disposable and utilitarian?  What is the self which politicizes the body?  What is the self which insists on seeing the other through the self-imposed mask of ideology? 

The self, which is blind to the dignity of human life has ceased to recognize one important aspect of it - innocence.  The mask of ideology works both ways.  The masked self fails to see the whole person that is before them, sees only parts, and even then the obstructed vision concludes that the parts are alien.  

At the same time, the mirror image of the masked self turns on itself because it only sees the hardness, absurdity, and grotesqueness of the mask which they have willingly placed upon their face.  Over time, the face, whose essence has been neglected, conforms to the shape of the mask of ideology.  The masked self has lost its face.  Can it ever be found again? 

That which awakens one from the passivity and tranquilized state is the innocence and helplessness of a child.  But what happens when the ideological slumber is not interrupted by the cries and neediness of children?  The self which is in an ideologically induced walking coma will repeatedly fail to experience the fullness and intactness of human life (whether his or her own, or that of the other).  That self will not be able to go back into the origin of his or her own.  That self has lost its way and the all-important question "who am I?" has lost the meaning completely.

As I write this, I realize how depressing it may sound, particularly the last line.  It bothers me that for some people such a question is of no consequence. 

But, on second thought, it isn't depressing - it is simply a reality of things.  Hiding from reality will only cause more damage to the metaphysical structure of each person.