OUTSIDE THE BOX 10/30/2020
The old joke asks, “What’s the difference between humans and animals?” The answer, “Our ability to accessorize!”
But, really, what civilizes humanity, that raises us above the eternal cycle of man’s inhumanity to man that has plagued the race since Cain killed his brother Abel? The two civilizing forces of the arts and education. Immersing us in tradition, history, accomplishments, and teaching us the value of service to others and the values imbued in the eternal verities of truth, justice, beauty, compassion, mercy and love.
Whether we like it or not, we are now a global community. We have passed the point of no return. All the reactionary pull toward the glories and nostalgia and illusions of the past are now operating through the fear of this enormous challenge and change that is facing the planet. Staring at the past, with the hope of relief and comfort from the present issues, will not solve them. That’s where the artists, scientists, poets, philosophers, educators, humanists, leaders in all fields of human endeavor need to look for new creative and “outside the box” solutions and dare to take the courageous steps towards those solutions. This is the time for intuition, instincts, dreams, visions, and brainstorming. It is not a time for the faint of heart. It is a time to welcome diversity. It is a time to mix the cultures and the races, where ideas can comingle, co-create, cooperate and perhaps generate and synthesize a new perspective, to bring into view a new avenue to travel, to create new connections resulting in unique and novel structures and designs for living that respect the sanctity of the planet and expand the good for the human race.
What we are witnessing now is the old order breaking down as a result of the new order bubbling up and surfacing into the consciousness of the race. The seeming destruction is part of the creative process. It does not have to be as destructive, if the awareness of the process is more readily brought into the conversation and the apparent fears are allayed. This is where the arts and education come into play. The artists are natural leaders, and so are the true educators.
The last thing I would like to say about all this fear of the “other” was best said by Oscar Hammerstein in a song he wrote the lyrics. That song in South Pacific is “You Have To Be Carefully Taught!”