Practice and Theory

[PrinceMyshkin]

“What you suggest may be all very well in practice, but it will never work in theory.” Apocryphal French philosopher.





And indeed, in practice, the world
works very well: the hungry
suffer quietly, out of sight,
the brutes all live in East- or South-Medialand,
the dogmatics rage at each other

and none of this, really,
affects us, while the theory that

--the meek shall inherit the earth;
--the lion will lie down with the lamb;
--we will beat our swords into ploughshares;
--we will love our neighbours as ourselves;
--we will honour the stranger who is within our gates;
--we will not do unto others as we would not have them do unto us...

will never, apparently, work.