“I arise in the morning,” observed E. B. White, “torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” When I came across this playful remark the other day, it reminded me of the question the Emperor Haile Sellassie is said to have asked his grandchildren every evening, “What have you done for Ethiopia today?” If Ethiopia can symbolize the world, I can ask myself the same question. Alas, I’m forced to admit that I spend more time considering how to enjoy the world than how to improve it. In fact, I’ve never hoped to improve the world at all, beyond trying not to make it any worse.
Most of us, myself included, are so preoccupied with getting through the day that we give little thought to how we might make the world a better place. But perhaps it’s just as well. For one thing, it’s hard to be sure what’s an improvement, as the controversy over the health care law demonstrates. For another, our efforts to do good often produce undesirable consequences. It’s been argued, for example, that Israeli organizations such as Rabbis for Human Rights and Machsom Watch, which try to protect the Palestinian population from the abuses of the Occupation, may in fact be helping to perpetuate it. By making the Occupation more tolerable, these organizations may be lessening Palestinian resistance as well as persuading Israelis that the Occupation is, if not benign, at least not so bad. And to take another example, the plethora of NGO’s now operating in Haiti may in fact impede reconstruction because of wasteful duplication of effort and lack of coordination. The position that enabled Haile Sellassie’s grandchildren to do much good also enabled them to do much harm.
But I’m neither a prince nor E. B. White. Beyond recycling, giving to charity, visiting the sick, abstaining from meat, contributing to the political party that best represents my values, and doing my best to be pleasant to others, I don’t see much else I can do that would improve the world. So perhaps I should concentrate on enjoying it instead. That’s a lot easier, at any rate. I’m fortunate in that many of the routine activities of everyday life give me pleasure, from folding the laundry to washing the dishes. Both offer a modest sense of accomplishment and provide, during the performance of those homely tasks, a time for contemplation. I’m lucky in being pleased not only by solitary activities but also by social life, for the company of family and friends has given me much joy. At this stage of my development, I find it as hard to improve the world as it is easy to enjoy it. It is, I suppose, unfeeling to enjoy myself when I’m doing so little to alleviate misery in the world, but I hope that at least I’m not making matters any worse. That too would be a contribution
Royal Ethiopia is a symbol to us all, so I feel the question has broader implications. As such, it's a valuable lesson to us all, to ask ourselves how specifically did we make the world a better place today than yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIn a sense, we are all royalty, and in a broader sense, we have to ask ourselves that question every day, no matter what.
Thanks and blessings on you all who read this.
Jim
Jah-Jim, I like your statement that we're all royalty and therefore we all have an obligation to make the world a better place. It's not easy, though, even - or perhaps especially - for royalty.
ReplyDeleteInteresting issue. I believe that even small acts can make a better world. Smiling to people and being kind are small important jestures in a town where most people are rude, frantic and in a bad mood. Small jestures make us enjoy the world and make it better. No contraddiction. The political side is more difficult. I gave up, thinking that the oppressed people themselves are the only ones who can save themselves. Wally
ReplyDeleteNo, there are no clear answers. That which seems to improve the lives of some may make life harder on others. Indeed, as you point out, the lives that appear to have improved may not have actually done so. I wish *knowing* how to truly make lasting, beneficial changes was as easy as *believing* that one is making lasting, beneficial changes.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I do the best that I can to improve matters where I am able, and to avoid causing harm as I go. For now, that's the best I can do.