Sophie hasn’t been writing and was on the point of despair until…
Confession: I am failing to write. My attention is all on public events. They just crowd out everything else. I feel so helpless.
International news is horrible and increasingly frightening. The horror of Gaza is inescapable. And Ukraine is still putting up brave resistance to Russian invasion. There are almost daily reports of Russian incursions by drone and fighter jet into European air space, not to mention cyber attack.
A terrible tide of anger seems to be building in many parts of Europe and across across the United States. Anger fills Social Media. People take up extreme positions and some test the law to breaking point
Then, on Friday, an attempted attack on a Manchester synogogue caused the death of 3 people, one of them the attacker. Three others remain in hospital. Their families must be on the rack.
ANGER
The trouble with being angry is that it fogs you up. You can’t make decent judgements when you’re shaking with anger.
Above all, it makes you want to smash things — and sometimes people. Yes, that may bring momentary relief. But in the end the places and people will need to be restored. And it will be so very much harder depending on the extent of the damage. Not least to yourself.
It will take generations to heal the wounds of Gaza. And huge courage, wisdom and depth of generosity on both sides, if it can even start to be attempted. For first, they will have to put aside anger and learn about each other.
As the musicians in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded by Maestro Daniel Barenboim and Palestinian-American academic Edward Said in 1999, did. The continuted existence of that wonderful project is a tiny little flame of hope, I think.
But it is very hard to let go of anger, especially when it is justified. And there are so many perpetrators at the moment — dictators, would-be dictators, tech broligarchs, social media rabble rousers, the greedy, cruel and ignorant — it would be all too easy to hate.
HELPLESS?
A sense of personal helplessness has to be the cause of a lot of anger, I believe. That helplessness is exacerbated in turn by an avalanche of new ideas, cascading out of phones, tablets and computers. And new tools, notably AI, can be alienating.
In fact, I have a character who has been whispering in my ear for some months now, who thinks that all things digital have materially diminished his comfort and reduced the intellectual capacity of his students. (He is a Professor of the Old Sort.)
His theory is that the last three generations have been looking for a “strong man”/hero/champion to rescue them, instead of working problems out for themselves.
As evidence he cites the rise of the super hero at the end of the Depression into wartime (Superman 1938, Batman 1939, The Flash 1940, Wonder Woman 1941.)
There was another flurry in the 1960s – Spiderman, the X-Men, Thor, Ironman, from Marvel Comics. That coincided with a general liberalisation of social mores. Probably equally unsettling to some.
And of course the whole boiling bounced enthusiasticaly into the twenty-first century and is still going strong in the cinema today. Add to that the increasing popularity of magic and fantasy in fiction and film, and his case start to looks quite persuasive.
DISTINGUISHED PROBLEM SOLVER
I find that argument rather dispiriting — Humanity deskilled by a foul alliance of Internet, AI and muscle-bound actors. But then, I remembered that some people do manage to plot a course through life that is completely original. And they take positive action that really does change things in important ways.
A sad loss occurred only this week. But what a fulfilled life and what huge legacy she left. Every time I think of her, I smile.
Dr Jane Goodall spent her life studying chimpanzees, was the first to reveal that they used tools, empathised with them as fellow creatures and saw the absolute necessity of conserving their habitat. Her studies, and her warmth, inspired many to follow her.
I commend to you the utterly delightful appreciation of Jane Goodall as a feminist inspiration by Jill Filipovic at Slate.
It gave me hope.
STOP PRESS 5th October. I now learn that Jane Goodall recorded an interview with Netflix in March this year to be released after her death. The warmth, the seriousness and the blessed straight talking are all there. Above all the hope. I admit, I shed tears. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BZ0je7I90E
Sophie
It’s a time for modest leaders who listen, Sophie, and deal with the problems, not for those who hurl blame. We’ve been there, seen the violence it generates and we know how that ends.
Oh you are so right, Liz. I keep remembering Churchill’s sniffy dismissal of Clement Atlee, “a modest little man with much to be modest about”. But what that modest little man achieved in one premiership!
There is much to be said for a government run by a decent man who cares about what he’s doing more than his ego.
Yes, Sophie, but (sadly) today’s leaders have to work within the 24/7 news cycle plus social media. It was difficult for Atlee; it’s much more difficult now. And although most people now would agree that Atlee achieved a huge amount, people at the time were complaining about lack of housing, the continuation of rationing, terrible living conditions and more. (I was watching a rerun of Foyle’s War the other night which brought all that home to me.) It may be that, in a decade from now, people will view the current anger etc with less helplessness. It’s always different with the benefit of hindsight, isn’t it?
But you have given us food for thought and modest hope, which we all need right now.
Thank you for your wise words, Joanna.
You are not alone in feeling that way, Sophie. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, that gives us all hope x
Solidarity saves! Thank you for your understanding, Sarah.
I so agree with you.
Thank you, Susan.
So well said, I want to turn away from the news, but do not want to be dumbed down.
It’s a nasty calculation to have to make, isn’t it Nancy? Sometimes I just have to take time out.
I have today added a STOP PRESS to my original post, giving a link. Jane Goodall recorded for Netflix a wonderful message to the world to be released after her death. She was hopeful.
It’s very tough in these times of greed and lack of care for those in need. One feels bombarded on every side from news to social media and you can’t escape. Overwhelming sometimes. One just has to hold to one’s beliefs and trust that good will prevail.