Insecure at Last, A Political Memoir

Insecure at Last, A Political Memoir by Eve Ensler

I just recently finished this book by Eve Ensler, a Political Memoir allotted to the governments movements, or lack thereof, to provide the promised security to all peoples. Ensler writes in her introduction that we are a nation striving for security. She says, "In fact, security is essentially elusive, impossible. We all die. We all get sick. We all get old. People leave us. People surprise us. People change us. Nothing is secure. And this is the good news. But only if you are not seeking security as the point of your life.
      When security is paramount you can't travel very far outside a certain circle. You can't allow too many conflicting ideas into your mind at one time, as they might confuse you or challenge you. You can't open yourself to new experiences, new people, and new ways of doing things. They might take you off course. You can't know who you are; it's more secure to cling to hard-matter identity. So you become a Christian or a Muslim or a Jew, you are an Indian, or an Egyptian or an Italian or an American. You become your nation, you become your religion. You become whatever it is that will freeze you, numb you, and protect you from change or doubt. But all this does is shut down your mind. In reality, you are not a drop safer. All this striving for security has in fact made you  much more insecure."

Ensler considers our nations "security" in regard to the rest of the world's security. After 9/11 we were unable to feel secure as a nation, which should have been an opportunity for our country to commiserate and identify with the global sorrow that happens every day. Instead, our pain was pronounced as the single, most important pain in the world. Our security was the only thing that mattered. Which really, has left us feeling more insecure as a nation. And so Ensler concludes, " I think about how impossible it is for humans to get their bearings or power of meaning without gathering. I think maybe the closest we get to the feeling of security is in the gathering, the coming together, becoming a group, a community, a whole."

An incredible book. Mind boggling and eye opening. You can't just read it and walk away. The book talks out against the movements made to relieve and "secure" our country during 9/11, the invasion on Iraq, hurricane Katrina, and other global tragedies.

"The world is indeed a near-death experience, forcing us, if we let it, to let go of certain illusions that separate us from one another. Having this in our consciousness could be the elixir that makes us more feeling, more present, more appreciative, more loving, more generous."