Crossposted from Docudharma.
If our near extraterrestrial neighbors are aware of us at all, I’m sure we’re an embarrassment. Must we forever be the savage planet? Is civilization less a veneer and more an illusion? Does it have to be this way? Are humans really this bad - this hopeless? Is war a permanent feature of the human condition?
Sometimes I wonder. But then I think of Michelangelo, said to be somewhat beastly himself, and yet a font of beauty, transcendent and sublime – and I have reason to hope that we are better than our history suggests. Even in all our crudeness there is something profound within us.
But sometimes it feels as though looking for the good in humankind is a fool’s errand. It’s as if we’ve given up...stopped trying to fix what’s wrong. Just started trying to grab whatever we can while any of it still lasts.
Not all of us of course.
For standin' in your heart
Is where I want to be
And long to be,
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.
Donovan CATCH THE WIND
I believe in my goodness
I believe in your goodness
I believe in our goodness
I believe we are all...so much better than this
With every mistake we must surely be learning...
Still my guitar gently weeps.
We’ve killed innocents and tortured heroes. We’ve murdered babies by the thousands.
Southeast Asia.
Central America.
South America.
Eastern Europe.
The Middle East.
Too many teardrops for one heart to be crying.
And the good people of America go on about their business as if nothing real is going on in the world.
There must be some kind of way out of here.
We say we fight to protect freedom, democracy and the American way of life. The truth is we sacrifice our young for empire. We are Viking brutes with advanced technology.
We slaughtered the Indians and forced them to abandon their culture. To this day we discriminate against them and conspire to steal even more of their land.
We are unmoved by shame. We are unimpeded by conscience.
We are blind to the beauty in our own souls.
We are immune to the glory that lies within and without.
Hubble’s view of Orion
Despite the false history taught in our schools, despite the sloganeering, propaganda and outright lies, when we take courage and look at ourselves honestly it’s enough to make you run screaming naked into the night.
The revelations of our government’s skullduggery come now so fast and furious that it’s impossible to keep up.
We’ve wandered the earth killing people to make rich men richer. No wonder we are hated.
Despite all the whitewash, hogwash, and rah rah, we have precious little to be proud of.
And the shame of it is we are all...so much better than this.