Tonight I learned that Kevin Drum has died. He passed away on Friday, March 7th, from Multiple Myeloma (the same illness that took my uncle Paul several years ago). Drum's diagnosis came in 2014, and he talked about it openly on his blog, up to and including just a few days before his death.
I knew of Kevin Drum through his blogging. During the early aughts, when I started to become more politically aware and involved, I began reading certain online musings by folks -- Andrew Sullivan and, on a local level, IlliniPundit, to name a couple. Drum's blog at that time was Calpundit. Eventually, he began blogging at Mother Jones. When they parted ways, he started what would be his final online venture. So, yeah, I've been reading Kevin's musings for over twenty years.
His death has hit me hard. It is a reaction both understandable and foolish. Understandable because he is someone whose online presence was a regular part of my daily reading for two decades. I became familiar with his thoughts and writing style and, quite often I agreed with him. Drum was a liberal, but had a way of presenting issues without being strident. He was big on digging for facts, and would often provide charts and data points to back up his beliefs. My sadness at his passing also feels a tad foolish because, well, I didn't actually know him. For me, Kevin Drum was effectively a collection of words on a page. It seems kind of odd to mourn his death so much, but then that's one of the potential side effects of the age of the Internet, We can feel something for people we've never met (and likely never will).
Curiously, Drum's passing puts me in mind of my mom. They were both people with strong political opinions. They both had a kind of philosophical streak -- Drum with his views, and also his (very good) astronomy photography, and mom with her thoughts on the meaning of life, what happens after death, etc. With both of their passings, I'm left thinking, 'What's the point of it all?'
All of the blog posts Kevin wrote about current events. All of the conversations I had with mom about life and death. None of it seems to matter anymore. At least, nor for them. The issues of the corporeal world are no longer their concern. Depending on your beliefs, they have either moved on to a different plane of existence, or they have simply ceased to be. All of the atoms that made up their brains (wherein housed their thoughts, emotions, and curiosities) have broken down and dissipated.
It all makes me feel a little less connected, a little more alone. Their revels now have ended. All of the worldly things that concerned them are no longer their problems to dwell upon. The issues that Kevin Drum wrote so frequently about are now solely ours to consider. Until, that is, our time comes, as well. And it will, sooner or later. Which, again, in the immediate depression that comes upon the aftermath of someone's passing, makes me wonder what the point of it all is?
I know, I know. There's no easy answer. That's why we think about things. And that's why we do what we can to hopefully make the world a better place for ourselves and for others, both currently and for the future. At least, that's my best guess. Kevin Drum and my mom were good role models for that. Now, they rest. It's up to those of us who remain to do our best. Maybe that's the point of it all?
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