Friday, May 31, 2013

A Thought On Saving The World

Saving the world is a tough task.  It is not to be taken lightly, and people of all political/religious persuasions think they are the ones most apt to come up with the cure-all for what afflicts contemporary man...  In whatever way he may be afflicted.

We are presented so often with "snake oil" theories that offer us the crux to the problem, the kernel of truth that we have so far been missing, an equation that will balance all ailments in a sublime equilibrium of values that no one has quite seen or anticipated fully.

As a result, contemporary man has been forced ever deeper into the unforgivably shallow pool of politics, and thereby shifting towards the post-apocalyptic-paradaisical-utopian-doomsday festival of solutions to the culture that do nothing more than treat the externalities of an internal hemorrhaging.  Allegories aside, most politicians nowadays attempt to address serious cultural states-of-affairs with either economic or legislative proposals that in effect deepen any perceived problems, and reinforce a strong and damaging dichotomy between the government and the citizenry.

Therefore, I ask the question: If the state seeks to answer cultural questions with government policies that tend to remain political in origin and scope, how can we effectively escape this downward trend with initiatives that endeavor to a genuine renewal of cultural and political life?

Perhaps the answer is not to be found in politics, per se, but in a wider look at the underpinnings of human happiness, which flourishes in a culture that values the good, the true, and the beautiful.  It may be the case, then, that what we should be doing is supporting the material mechanisms for making beauty ever more present, ever more real, and ever more possible.

To stand behind a politician is to stand behind a special interest group, an agenda, and even propaganda.  The politician can only take us so far, and in today's world, "so far" is much more damaging than we give it credit for.  To stand behind an artist, a writer, a sculptor, or filmmaker, however, may be the best way to authentically save the world.

More on this to come...