Wisdom
Oscar Wilde is credited with saying, “With age comes wisdom”. The entire quote was “With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone”.
As a country and as a planet, we think that with age comes wisdom. Whether it’s a person, a country, or, for that matter, an entire planet, we have the expectation that we overcome adversity with wisdom, virtue, and dignity. We act for the common good and not for personal gain or favoritism. We embrace the highest ethical standards, with equality as our backdrop. Humility, compassion, and empathy are our guideposts. Honesty is the foundation. This is the ideal of a states-person.
Leaders of a community, a state, a territory, or a country are expected to act in the best interest of all the people they serve.
The Marine Corps defines a leader as someone who inspires and leads a group through intellect, human understanding, and moral character, while embodying honor, courage, and commitment. Our workplace, community, state, and country would be incredible if our leaders lived up to these ideals.
Some will argue I am being unrealistic. My perspective is pure fantasy and not grounded in reality. I think of our forefathers and why they formed this country. I think about all the people who are homeless, who have no idea when they will eat next, who have sick children, and no access to sustained health care. Families are struggling to survive, let alone to hope for a better tomorrow.
Our country and some of our people have done horrible things. We hope we have learned from our mistakes. That age and wisdom have advanced together. Is that wrong to believe or too much to hope for?
There is no honor, no virtue, and no dignity if the only wisdom gained is how to exploit the very people in your keeping. There is no morality, no honor, and no courage when people use their power to intimidate, demean, or dismiss another human being.
There is no leadership if you see abuse, pain, and suffering and look the other way. Worse, when you leverage that for personal gain.
As John Wayne said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway”. And Elie Wiesel said, “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented”.
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Silence is complicity.
I believe that inaction is also complicity. Instead of giving a homeless person a couple of dollars, taking them for a bite to eat is nice. Sitting and chatting for a bit can breathe hope into the lives of the hopeless who feel invisible. If you can’t afford to do that, taking the time to engage in conversation is good too. I gave up on looking to others to help those in need. I often think of the solo senior situation and dream of an agency that would vet the homeless, and pair individuals. I have a spare room, and I would love take someone in. Someone who could help out with stuff I can’t do any more. There are a lot of good people who are homeless. It’s all about finding the right one. I guess I’m being unrealistic as well.
@Sinda A lot of people do that in my area, they advertise on facebook free room for exchange for help around the house and yard. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt, A police check would be the first thing to do before taking in a complete stranger. Sadly it opens up a whole can of worms that I wont go into. But it would be nice
It’s wonderful to have a big heart and want to help people who are down and out, but inviting strangers almost invites them to take advantage. There’s many other ways to help.
Wow lots of food for thought. Carl Rogers was my psychology guru. All humans strive for progress, even though it hurts. That baby who will learn to walk despite falling many times. I also believe that ‘most’ humans do the best they can given their personal abilities and life experience. However that gives two exceptions (or many million) The many positive traits you list are not the only traits common to us all. Within humankind is cruelty, just for fun. Some form of cock/dog\human fighting exists in most cultures.Greed is also very human. Leading to all forms of gambling which fuels the fighting. Put greed and cruelty together and you have the nasty under belly of humanity. I do believe that most of us are decent human beings and some real evil does exist. But there are many negative traits within us all.