Steve GannMy Brother Weeps
November 19th 2006 23:24
Who Goes Home C.K. Chesterton
Men that are men again; who goes home?
Tocsin and trumpeter; who goes home?
For there’s blood on the field and blood on the foam
And blood on the body when Man goes home.
And a voice valedictory … Who is for victory?
Who is for Liberty? Who goes home?
If we close our eyes, we can hear the crying. A man for his child. A woman for a sister. A child alone. But these are not just several voices. They are multiplied by the thousand thousand. They are the casualties of the human race and they seem to be on the increase.
Yesterday Kosovo, today Darfur. Is Malthus right? Do we become victims of reproduction? Have we poisoned our environment and our society to the extent that we will discard human excess as waste we can no longer tolerate? Was Galbraith right in that we become creatures of our environment with limited ablity to effect outcomes?
Perhaps not. Perhaps the Keynesian view of the universe is too limited after all. Perhaps there can be and should be a voice for change. The question then becomes what direction should we go in to make that change an improvement?
This is not as trivial as it might seem. Too often we are willing to prescribe what we want in the way of improvement, without any idea of how we are going to get there. The first question we can establish quickly. What do we want to change? The next step becomes more complex: Who do we need to co-opt to make the change a practical reality? Then what are the steps to take to make the process happen?
Hast Thou Considered My Servant Job?
Too often we identify the misery in our society and in the outside world and we turn away in fear and frustration. Our mantra becomes: It isn't my problem!
This is wrong. It is always our problem. We share the blame. We share the responsibility. At home with our inability to address the inequalities of our indigenous neighbours. Our loss of compassion for refugees asking for sanctuary. Our unwillingness to address the problems with the aged, the disenfranchised and the fringe dwellers of our society.
Similarly we have shirked our responsibilities with the world at large. We may be part of a global society, but we are also party to a world wide malaise, where we could remediate most of the problems, but we seem to have lost the way.
The environment is already a catastrophe. The problems have been known for years, but there has not been enough concerted resolve for real addressing of the problem. We neglect members of our society who are in danger or need. We hide in shame from the violence in the Middle East, the famine and ethnic cleansing in Europe and Africa and we try to pretend that all will be well in our own back yard.
We say it is not our fault. We say it is the responsibility of the politicians. Rubbish! It isn't the system which is at fault, it is us! If the system doesn't work, then change the system. If the politicians are not effective, then vote them down! Vote them out! Get rid of them! Vote for a team that realises that we have serious problems and that they will do something about them. Vote for someone who listens and will act -- not tomorrow or next week, but now!
Nationality Dame Mary Gilmore
I have grown past hate and bitterness,
I see the world as one;
But though I can no longer hate,
My son is still my son.
All men at God's round table sit,
and all men must be fed;
But this loaf in my hand,
This loaf is my son's bread.
Men that are men again; who goes home?
Tocsin and trumpeter; who goes home?
For there’s blood on the field and blood on the foam
And blood on the body when Man goes home.
And a voice valedictory … Who is for victory?
Who is for Liberty? Who goes home?
If we close our eyes, we can hear the crying. A man for his child. A woman for a sister. A child alone. But these are not just several voices. They are multiplied by the thousand thousand. They are the casualties of the human race and they seem to be on the increase.
Yesterday Kosovo, today Darfur. Is Malthus right? Do we become victims of reproduction? Have we poisoned our environment and our society to the extent that we will discard human excess as waste we can no longer tolerate? Was Galbraith right in that we become creatures of our environment with limited ablity to effect outcomes?
Perhaps not. Perhaps the Keynesian view of the universe is too limited after all. Perhaps there can be and should be a voice for change. The question then becomes what direction should we go in to make that change an improvement?
This is not as trivial as it might seem. Too often we are willing to prescribe what we want in the way of improvement, without any idea of how we are going to get there. The first question we can establish quickly. What do we want to change? The next step becomes more complex: Who do we need to co-opt to make the change a practical reality? Then what are the steps to take to make the process happen?
Hast Thou Considered My Servant Job?
Too often we identify the misery in our society and in the outside world and we turn away in fear and frustration. Our mantra becomes: It isn't my problem!
This is wrong. It is always our problem. We share the blame. We share the responsibility. At home with our inability to address the inequalities of our indigenous neighbours. Our loss of compassion for refugees asking for sanctuary. Our unwillingness to address the problems with the aged, the disenfranchised and the fringe dwellers of our society.
Similarly we have shirked our responsibilities with the world at large. We may be part of a global society, but we are also party to a world wide malaise, where we could remediate most of the problems, but we seem to have lost the way.
The environment is already a catastrophe. The problems have been known for years, but there has not been enough concerted resolve for real addressing of the problem. We neglect members of our society who are in danger or need. We hide in shame from the violence in the Middle East, the famine and ethnic cleansing in Europe and Africa and we try to pretend that all will be well in our own back yard.
We say it is not our fault. We say it is the responsibility of the politicians. Rubbish! It isn't the system which is at fault, it is us! If the system doesn't work, then change the system. If the politicians are not effective, then vote them down! Vote them out! Get rid of them! Vote for a team that realises that we have serious problems and that they will do something about them. Vote for someone who listens and will act -- not tomorrow or next week, but now!
Nationality Dame Mary Gilmore
I have grown past hate and bitterness,
I see the world as one;
But though I can no longer hate,
My son is still my son.
All men at God's round table sit,
and all men must be fed;
But this loaf in my hand,
This loaf is my son's bread.
| 52 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
