No, Rodney, we cannot. Ours is the great nation of rugged individualism,
where I takes the preeminence over we. Our history has been
marred by wars - even once almost coming apart as we fought among ourselves over
the issue of slavery. Today, if we are to believe the rhetoric, we are faced
with the choices of either going back to "old ways" that brought us the present
distress or turning our country into a socialist state. Not much thought about
compromise. Civility is fast going the way of the dodo bird. Can we get along?
Nah, too many don't seem to even want to try.
After his video taped beating by L.A. police officers in 1991 sparked an
outrage across the land which led to a very unsatisfactory jury trial of the
officers involved, which controversial verdicts led to riots, Rodney King
finally stepped to the microphone and in an effort to turn the page on this ugly
chapter asked, "Can we all just get along?"
Those words immediately became fodder for the our nation's comedians and
eventually became something of a national joke.
King made sense to me back then and his words still resonate with me today.
Unfortunately, Rodney King - who drowned in his swimming pool yesterday at the
young age of 47 - did not live to see us learn to get along with each other. I'm
satisfied this great hand-holding and singing of Kumbaya will not come in my
lifetime either. In fact, I'm fairly certain that universal peace and the
recognition of the universal brother- and sisterhood of all humankind is a pipe
dream.
It pains me very much to say that.
After thousands and thousands of years of evolution our species has not
evolved to the point of recognizing the survival value of learning to simply
agree to disagree, and to concentrate on common ground rather
differences.
We can get along for the most part with our family, with our tribe, with
those who we are in association with who hold our particular life philosophy,
but the guns are ever handy to be aimed at those who dare to differ. Okay,
sometimes we just use our fists and claws. Most often we stick with using our
tongues to belittle and berate our "opponents." But allowing for variations on
common human themes? No, we can't seem to master that.
Human nature is truly a devil's fart.
Update: I feel like adding an additional thought to this post after seeing
some of the comments that have come in so far. I guess I did end on a sour note.
That shouldn't been taken as my having decided to throw in the towel. Much the
contrary. I smile at strangers and plan to keep doing it. I try to mediate
disagreements among my coworkers, friends, and family and plan to keep doing so.
This blog will continue to function as a call for a spirit of kindness
and broader understanding. I stand convicted for the some of the times in the
past when I fell short there. I will try to the best my ability to preach
compassion and understanding to everyone I come in contact with who will listen
to me. I'm all with the old saying, "better to light a single candle than curse
the darkness."
Now those of us who feel this way will likely fail, especially for the
foreseeable future; yet that is no reason to quit or give up. In fact, it is
reason to try all the harder, I believe. Healthy self-interest has a place, no
doubt. Unbridled greed and selfishness, however, only sets us back on the path
to our pre-human roots. We are thinking animals, tool-making animals (and I
think machines are extensions of tools, and can be a sources for greater good if
used by those with just hearts), we are - so far as I know the only religious
animal (if you stumble at the word "religious" substitute spiritual
instead). And I'm not talking about God or supernaturalism, but morality and
ethical behavior, about the highest ideal we can reach for. By that I mean we
have the ability to look at the big picture and see that if we all pull together
we can accomplish some amazing things. Divided, of course, we will continue to
fail and to war with one another.
So, yes, human nature sucks and our work is cut out for us. Now that we realize that, let's all get busy and do what we can to overcome the odds against us.
So, yes, human nature sucks and our work is cut out for us. Now that we realize that, let's all get busy and do what we can to overcome the odds against us.
13 comments:
Full peace may be an unattainable goal, but I still think we should strive for a better world nonetheless. We benefit by reducing strife and hatred, even if we can only reduce them by degrees.
We are creatures whose ancient ancestors crawled up out of the primordial slime. We are a part of all life, and the history of all life entails 'seek what I need, or die'. Other things die (not willingly) that I might eat. Selfishness has to be built in, through ageless eons.
Fast forward. We learn agriculture and stabilize our food supply (we still must kill to eat, but have refined the process so only a few have bloody hands). But fear, fear of the other, fear of not having enough tomorrow, fear of even I know not what, governs from deep regions of the brain. Watch the small creatures, the birds and the squirrels. See how they are constantly looking around them, to ascertain 'is it safe?'. This is in us. Now can we transform ourselves so that, despite its being there, and being necessary, it no longer rules us? Ah, that is the great question.
It does appear that the ageless reality of competition and self seeking has engendered a creature that is more base than noble. This is the reality.
But some nobility is there. Noble and generous and even self sacrificing actions take place. While there remains any hope for the improvement of the species, let those of us concerned strive for it.
Don't know if nobility can prevail. The answer to Mr. King's question surely does seem to be no. But long odds are not reason to quit. Let us strive to change that answer from no to yes. (To summarize: what Ahab said, fluffed up a little.)
Let's see how one of Mr. Ken Keyes' pronouncements flies:
'An angry person lives in an angry world. A loving person lives in a loving world. everyone you meet is your mirror.'
I agree with the comments above. It is sad to be where we are but I'm not ready to give up. At least on this blog you do a good job of promoting peace and civility.
@ Ahab,
I decided to add some further thoughts to my post (see update). Certainly as bad and perhaps hopeless as it is, I would never throw in the towel. As Gandhi exorted us, we should seek to be the change we want to see.
@ Exrelayman,
I added a more positive postscript to my post. We are long out of the primordial slime - I'm disappointed we haven't made further progress. But we musn't give up.
@ DoOrDoNot,
I do try and regret that in the past I allowed myself to get sidetracked from time time. Check out my update to this post.
I saw Rodney talk about those words of his and why it is that he said them. His mother wanted him to. She was so distressed by the mayhem and basically asked Rodney to say somthing to bring calm. He did it for his mother.
I don't know why I thought to add it to the discussion here but for what it's worth I did.
Life sucks and then you die. Not a revolutionary thought. And inbetween---we blog. PARTY!
Never thought for a minute that you had given up on all of us as a species.
@ Zoe,
Thanks. I honestly didn't know that. Still, I think it was a good point and I'm saddened it's thought of as a bit of a joke. I was watching a report on his death this morning and they pointed out that he had forgiven the officers involved and sought to turn that into something positive. That's good.
@ Diane,
I guess. Wish more of us sought to make this life more of a heaven.
@ Don,
I'm glad. I need to remember to be more positive even when discussing something that greatly troubles me like this.
Doug, I can party and do my best at making this life heaven for me and all I meet. The two are not exclusive.
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