God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Matthew 7:6)
Kurt Vonnegut was ahead of his time. How many people in 1965 were concerned about the gap between rich and poor? The drawbacks of capitalism? Or the environment? As he said elsewhere, we were rolling drunk on petroleum at this point in history. All these ideas were just getting started, shaking up the status quo. Here in the early 21st century, they are much more influential.
The author isn't subtle about setting up Eliot Rosewater as the holy fool who believes that he can use the Rosewater fortune for good. He is continually casting his pearls of kindness and compassion before the swine of the capitalist system, and they do try to tear him to pieces. Being subtle is a good way to be overlooked, after all.
I love this book because it introduces Kilgore Trout, the unsuccessful science fiction writer whose works seem to end up almost exclusively in pornography shops. Is Trout an alter ego for the author? I suspect so, as he wanders through Vonnegut's published works at will.
The problem is this: How to love people who have no use? In time, almost all men and women will be worthless as producers of goods, food, services, and machines, as sources of practical ideas in the areas of economics, engineering, and probably medicine too. So—if we can't find methods for treasuring human beings because they are human beings, then we might as well, as has so often been suggested, rub them out.
It seems to me that this Covid-19 (doesn't that sound like Vonnegut named it?) pandemic has started to push us closer to this with the idea of the guaranteed income. Recognizing that everyone should have the basics, whether they've been successful or not. That jobs are decreasing as robotics and artificial intelligences take on more roles.
I first read Vonnegut as an undergraduate in my 20s and I loved his questioning of the system and irreverence for Western society's sacred cows. Today, in my late 50s, I find myself focusing on what I think is one of his main ideas: Babies, God damn it, you've got to be kind. Kindness for not only our families and friends, but also for those less fortunate and even for those who are supposedly more fortunate. A trip down memory lane.
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