"Thirst and Suffering in Modern Western Society" was my attempt to tackle the problem of evil. It's a metaphysical approach to history, sociology and anomic modernity. Written in 1992, I never really tried to publish it, even though at the time, I thought it could be important - the reasoning inspired by my own suffering gave me solace that perhaps could have helped others going through similar personal and philosophical dilemmas… but who cares about others, right? It helped me, and that's what mattered. Beside that, I didn't want to be labeled a nutcase. History shows people who loudly declare they've heard the word of God and now understand the meaning of life - those stories rarely have a happy ending. So I sat on what I'd learned in my challenging mental landscapes of the early 90's.
In 2006, fresh off a divorce and with a renewed sense of personal worth and creativity, I dusted off "Thirst", did some editing, wrote a preface, and uploaded it to a personal blog consisting of just that one piece. Then told no one. I didn't link it from my other blogs, pimp it on social media or share it in any online community. Every few years, I would share the link with one or two people who wouldn't think I was nuts and whose opinion I valued.
I share it here now because SOTU doesn't think I'm crazy…
They know so!
Seriously, after 12+ years in this community, I'm not concerned about my reputation nor could anyone rightly think this is shameless self-promotion when I've been hiding it for 33 years. I do, however, value feedback always.
I haven't really touched it in the last 19 years, and I've certainly been exposed to the thoughts of many other thinkers far more accomplished and sophisticated than who've looked at the problem of evil - thoughts I should summarize perhaps as the next chapter.
It's about 30 pages long…
Thirst and Suffering
