Sunday, March 6, 2005
Making ourselves wise
Today's GB Shaw quote is fitting in the extreme. Do the words victimization, corporate crime, political correctness, family crime, etc., all rampant these days, sound familiar? Shaw says that recollection of the past may not make us wise, but it is the crucial first step. Knowledge is power and all that. But once we know how we got wherever we are, taking responsibility for the present and the future is the "it" step. Although many of us don't take it. Think about the woman who put her drive-in coffee cup between her thighs and got burned and sued for a gazillion dollars. Think about Ward Churchill who is the poster child for irresponsibility since he's not Indian, not an artist, not accurate in his name-calling analogies and cruel to top it off. Think about former President Clinton who played semantics to the beat of his own drum and wears his smile like armor. Think about Lawrence Sumner, the Harvard president who says he wanted to stimulate dialogue when he made ridiculous remarks about the differences between men and women and then went all-over naive about the effect his words had and then expressed surprise at the reaction. For a welcome variation on the theme, think about Martha Stewart who although maintaining verbal silence accepted the consequences of her actions calmly and with a certain amount of grace (and public relations). For something to worry about, think about the accusations made by the Italian journalist released today in Iraq; she denies any culpability in drawing the gunfire that injured her and killed her driver; anti-Americanism is one thing but believing that even rogue soldiers would spray bullets at a car just because it was there is foolish whereas Italian drivers are renowned for racing along and refusing to stop even for Alps (read here about the widening swirl of controversy). Anyway, there are many examples, public and private, and it would be lovely if we could generally fulfill our desires while still assuming responsibility for ourselves.
Labels: reflections, writing
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