Civilization

 We are taught that civilization begins in the valleys of the Middle East. We count art, architecture, writing, music, dance, engineering, law and science as constituting civilization, dismissing the culture of indigenous peoples. We count civilization as our human glory.Still, we can’t escape ownership of the brutal aspects of civilization—war, slavery, repression, sex slavery—because they are intricately tied into those glorious creations. If we look at the world as we see it now, we have to work hard to believe in the direction of MKL’s “arc of the moral universe.” The most resolute morality we can muster has not defeated human bondage, degraded behavior and deranged power. 

The people of Ukraine are reminding us of the best in our nature, of the qualities that make us human. If what is happening in Ukraine generates feelings from deep within us with an intensity that surprises, then those are the feelings that affirm our shared humanity. If those feelings impel us to act, then those are the feelings that can make the world right.

We are embedded in a culture that numbs us with slick marketing, celebrity, pretty lies, spectacle and screens incessantly blasting out visual noise. Consume, be entertained, die. It will take great effort and sacrifice to extricate ourselves from this culture and commit to making the world right. 

How do we bend the arc the right way?

NB: Right after a CNN report on the horrors happening in Ukraine, one commercial on a product to relieve the stress of your cat and another from Angela and how she lost 37 pounds.