Jealousy

Mark Chapman. The name that forever is associated with “The Jealous guy”. Not sure the song had anything to do with his pulling the trigger to kill John Lennon. The talented and the wannabe. Stardom and starstruck.

Takes two to tango e.g. The Fan (De Niro and Wesley Snipes), Play Misty for Me (Clint Eastwood/Jessica Walter).

Not just in India or Britain, everywhere, we have two classes: the powerful and the powerless.

In taking down the former, the latter feel empowered. They stabbed our writer, maimed our journalist, shot our singer and jailed our dissidents.

Disagreement prevails, not dialogue. Nowadays, there is even a prebuttal speech, then an informal rebuttal rally in PA .

Quite a disagreement. Jealousy?

Strong enough to kill. With words first. Then incitement. Keeping the Secret Service busy, on both sides: past and present President.

How come my student debt wasn’t forgiven? (I went on and won two cars at work to pay them back. Check it out, it’s in the record).

Kids today get it easy. But then, back when I was in school, my set of worries were different: AIDS, Nuclear annihilation, and the Challenger explosion. Today, we face Artemis delay launch, Omicron variant and the resurrection of the former Soviet Union.

Inflation rise, old worker age rise and high rises taller everywhere, not just in Malaysia.

Planners who had the foresight to preserve green space, like Central Park, should be remembered forever. Greeneries remind us of nature, of long-lasting values and of that which is bigger than ourselves.

Live your life so they want to shoot, to maim, to jail and to stab you. Wish I could write that well, speak that forcefully and arouse that much passion.

In the end, we’re just nano dust. Stardust and emptiness. But for now, while still kicking, fingers running on the keyboard, let’s make them feel jealous, as much as we are “jealous guys” ourselves.

Back in the late 70s, the dust seemed to have settled at the end of the Vietnam era. We started seeing “Deer Hunter” and “Taxi Driver” (America, are you talking to me?). A period of introspection. Of collective PTSD. Rebuild Better. Then the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Give Peace a chance, like Lennon used to sing.

In death he lives on. Still a jealous guy. Still disruptive and controversial. But not just as an individual; he turned icon. So passionate and personable that a doorman can just shoot him, out of jealousy and envy. For a while, we all thought Hate ruled. That the music died. Even today, we see a stabbing of writer, of journalist, shooting of politician and jailing of dissidents. The human race still thrives, evolves and disrupts itself violently to re-bend the moral arc. Even when we all hold on to the inevitable truth, that all men/women are intrinsically worthy of living and dying in dignity. That our end should be just as glorious as our beginning, when we were showered with enough love for the road.

The inherent right to live and live fully. Mark Chapman should have cheered for J Lennon. Instead, he hummed the song and acted out his illusion of grandeur, as if killing could snuff out and silence the music. About time we click on Youtube and search for Jealous Guy. It will bring you right back to the time I was referring to above. AIDS, nuclear annihilation and the Challenger explosion. Are you talking to me? I am the only one here.