Is dhw Safe??? (Introduction)

by dhw, Tuesday, August 23, 2011, 16:27 (4820 days ago) @ dhw

It might be interesting to draw a parallel between the apparently senseless riots on the streets of England, and the immensely meaningful battles fought and being fought on the streets of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and elsewhere.
The struggle to bring down hated authorities, to have a fairer share in the wealth of the nation, to be free from oppression ... this is something inspiring, and I expect all of us are full of admiration for the courage of the freedom-fighters. The rioters in England live in a much freer society, but relative values play no part in most people's philosophies. They don't think of what they have, but of what they do not have. Most of us don't know what it's like to live under a brutal dictatorship, but we do know what it's like to see politicians and bankers lining their own pockets, to look at desirable articles in shop windows and not be able to afford them, to lose our jobs and businesses as a result of the incompetence of those who are in power, to see vast sums of public money squandered on wars that cannot be won, on technology that doesn't work, on prestige projects that must be paid for with money that might otherwise have been spent on health, education, and facilities which must now be closed down (e.g. libraries).
 
I'm not saying that the riots were a political protest, but you can't separate people's mindsets from the environment in which they live. There is a section of the population ... no doubt mainly young men ... who are growing up generally discontented, and devoid of the sympathy and empathy Matt and I would like to see as the basis of the educational system. Their values are self-centred ... other than their belonging to gangs ... and the aggressive instincts that seem to come naturally to them have no outlet. The riots, like football hooliganism, are a form of self-expression. Maybe these people need a purpose, like the Arab revolutions.
 
Immediately, the religious-minded will seize on this as a reason for turning to God, but the God of the religions is just another authority ... albeit with the advantage that he remains unseen and unknown. His authority consists only in the interpretations imposed upon him by his followers. When they are good, they are good, and when they are bad, they are bad. The same can be said of all authority, whether it comes from Christ, Yahweh, Muhammad, the Buddha, Karl Marx, the teacher, the headmaster, or Mum and Dad.
 
The riots seem to have died down now, and eventually the Arab revolutions will end too ... perhaps with new and kinder regimes. The hope there, and the hope here, must be for a fairer society. But the mixture of human nature will never change, and the degree of social harmony will always be proportionate to the degree of sympathy and empathy within all individuals, from rulers down to the poorest of their subjects. Does this offer a purpose? In my view, the best: reaching out ... not to some unknown, unknowable power, but to one's fellow beings. "Spread a little happiness..." was what we used to sing. Can you think of anything better?