Muirhead Bone: Rainy Day, Deal ((20th century)

This writing week saw the first hard freeze in this Valley They Liked So Well. It also saw the start of its typical seasonal socking-in as this bowl filled with fog that the weakening sun could not manage to burn off. Rudolph the Red-Nosed had a prominent franchise here in my youth, and would today if video games hadn’t undermined most of our traditions. The Villa felt cozy with the fireplace blazing after my granddaughter Tilda struck the fateful match that lit the first pile of kindling and firewood, leaving the fireplace warming through the long post-Thanksgiving weekend. I continued my exploration of Decency in its surprisingly many guises. I suspect that if I focused this much attention on any topic, though, I’d only undermine whatever I thought I understood about it beforehand. Learning settles nothing, but usually opens ever more complicating and confusing cans of worms, ad infinitum.

I began this writing week trying to set a crooked record straight, reframing the slandering that has lately been insisting that the seat of our self-governance has become a swamp needing draining, in DeCency. I continued undermining my previous understanding by introducing relativity into the inquiry with RelativeDecency. I took a slight side trip to comment on the indecencies embodied in monopoly, oligarchy, and other SelfDealing. I delved into my InnerIndecency before confronting the MoralHazards inherent when interacting with apparent insanity. I ended this foggy writing week with Ferocency, a story focusing on the ferocity Decency sometimes employs and enjoys. Thank you for following along as we passed into the seventy-fifth story in this series.

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Weekly Writing Summary

D_e_C_ency
“Beware the land speculator promising to eliminate non-existent swamps.”
This Decency Story deconstructs the false “Drain the Swamp” story concocted to foster the self-hate that authoritarian states require.
This Decency Story argues that Washington DC was never a ‘shithole’ but a city established on self-governance and civic pride, not ruins or corruption. I criticize the ‘Drain the Swamp’ narrative as misleading and damaging, insisting that self-governance requires compromise and is not fundamentally corrupt. Instead, those who denounce it propagate self-hate, which renders citizens vulnerable to manipulative, authoritarian figures. Ultimately, this story warns against those who attack government for personal gain and proposes valuing the civic Decency that DC represents.


Unidentified Artist: Social Settlements: United States. District of Columbia. Washington “Noel House”: Noel House, Washington, D.C.: Library and Reading Room (. 1903)

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RelativeDecency
“…I will remain confident that I understand what constitutes some relatively absolute Decencies.”
This Decency Story dabbles in relativity, a property that even Decency exhibits.

This Decency Story discusses how Decency seems subjective, existing on a spectrum, and therefore difficult to define or consistently judge. Individuals may believe in their own Decency, but this conviction can be delusional or based on changing standards. Attempts to understand opposing perspectives often fail due to profound differences in values. Ultimately, people maintain confidence in their own sense of Decency, even if it cannot be absolutely agreed upon or proven.

J. Edwards*: Color Relativity (1942-1949) *Newcomb College Art School Student
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SelfDealing
“Nobody Decently corners any competition.”
This Decency Story discusses SelfDealing, a hair-splitting necessity sometimes taken to indecent excess.

Decency demands that individuals avoid overreaching and monopolizing resources to maintain fairness in society. Monopolies and oligarchies create inefficiency, exclude others, and suffocate competition. Selfishness must be balanced with the needs of others, as extreme forms—either in greed or self-denial—ultimately fail to sustain society. Pursuing self-interest without regard for others leads to destructive outcomes, undermines cooperation, and ultimately creates instability and opposition.

Stuart Davis: Study for “Package Deal” (1956)

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InnerIndecency
“They ultimately only manage to fool themselves.”
This Decency Story speaks about how we seem to perceive InnerIndecency.

This Decency Story discusses how easily beliefs can turn into firm convictions about things that don’t exist and how outwardly Decent people sometimes hide damaging inner beliefs. I warn that appearances are deceptive, as everyone naturally conceals some indecency beneath their respectable roles, and that it remains prudent to be skeptical of others’ true character. Inner beliefs reveal themselves over time through actions and words, and those who boast of their Decency may actually display more indecency than they readily admit. I ultimately advise caution in judgment, acknowledging both the limits of perception and the prevalence of self-deception.

Honoré Victorin Daumier: The Emperor of Morocco in Consultation With the Famous Magician Desbarolles. “- This small line here indicates to me that you are going to get a royal thrashing!,” plate 126 from Actualités (1859)
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MoralHazards
“What does it mean to respond Decently then?”
This Decency Story asks how the presence of insanity affects Decency.

This Decency Story reflects on how Decency isn’t fixed but shifts with context, emotional state, and the behavior of others—especially when faced with irrational or ‘insane’ actions. Encounters with such behavior ignite internal conflict, questioning whether conventional limits can or should be set aside, and whether retaliation or abandoning Decency might become justifiable. This raises deeper doubts about responsibility, fairness, and the nature of justice when only one party adheres to Decency standards. I conclude that Decency must be a series of ongoing choices made in situations without clear answers, particularly when the environment undermines simple moral responses.

Unidentified Artist: Danvers, Massachusetts Insane Hospital (c. 1903)
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Ferocency
“Under certain uncertain conditions, a two-by-four to the side of the head could be considered an intervention of Decency.”
This Decency Story reminds me that Decency sometimes appears in ferocious guise.

Decency shows up in many forms, sometimes gentle, sometimes tough, and might not always be tied to outward kindness. Social standards have become fuzzier, and what has become accepted as Decent often depends on context and the observer’s interpretation. Decency seems deeply relational—it always affects someone else, even if that someone is part of oneself. The concept resists a simple definition and often blurs the line between helpful and offensive, but it tends to shape meaningful experiences even through awkward or challenging exchanges.

Hieronymus Wierix: Cruelty (1577)
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To Just Continue Searching
I have been trying to be on my very best behavior while I've been investigating Decency here. To do otherwise seems unthinkable, however I might struggle to embody what I aspire to achieve. This amounts to nothing more or less than the standard issue human condition, contrition most probably required. I have fallen prey to virtually all of my usual human frailties here. Surprisingly, I've somehow managed to muster no new ones in this effort, though I could be fooling myself on that count. It might be that we can only resonate more deeply with whatever we originally embodied, and that progress, transformation, and even salvation, amount to little more than vanities, pleasing to an otherwise unappreciative palate. What ever convinced me that I wasn't born fine, fully capable of living my three-score and ten and then some, given the benefits of modern dentistry and psychic healing? I notice that I seem to be one of those left standing, however unlikely that might have seemed at times. It's no testament to my prescience that I've accomplished anything. I have been writing this Decency series on spec, precisely like I've approached every other accomplishment in my life. We're trained to believe that we can plan and reassure ourselves with some adopted or discovered prescience. It was never once thus. I found the opposite. I appreciate myself as I finish this writing week, for persisting through clear evidence that this might not be going anywhere interesting until it, as always, somehow turned fascinating. I do not need to understand anything, it seems, but to just continue searching.

©2025 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #Decency, #PureSchmaltz