Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

The news, of late, has been bleak, so much so that I feel we can be forgiven if we find ourselves pervaded by thoughts of despair.

Race riots. Ascendant nationalism. Market instability. Climate crises. Dismantled safeguards. Increasing inequality. And now, a spreading pandemic.

Seriously bleak.

In years past, when faced with bleak times, I have found comfort in stepping back to take in the longer view.

I see human history as a set of swinging pendulums. War/Peace. Democracy/Autocracy. Boom/Bust. Cruelty/Compassion. Selfishness/Altruism. Many pendulums, all swinging from their pivots, each describing society’s travel from one extreme to the other, back and forth throughout the centuries and millennia.

That image in itself isn’t all that uplifting, but here’s what I also see. All those pivots? All the points from which those pendulums swing? They move, too. Over time, the pivot points creep their way along a spectrum, and all of them—all of them—trend toward the kinder, more liberal, more peaceful side of each scale.

Yes, to see some of those improvements you have to step back a fairly long way, but they can be seen, and if we, as a species, are continually moving in a particular direction—toward peace, liberty, prosperity, and compassion—this tells me that those desires are inherent within us. Not only that, because they persist throughout history, it tells me that those desires are more powerful than our harsher, more animalistic drives.

Frequently, we give in to our passions and ire. Other times, we allow our complacency to overcome our industry. Eventually, though, our passions cool and, in the end, we do act, with the result that, each time, we kick the pivot point on that pendulum a little bit toward the happier side of the spectrum. Peace, freedom, love, compassion, empathy; the desire for these is etched in our DNA, and though it might not feel like it, over time we tend toward these goals. They define the direction of society and the arc of our history.

Today, those pendulums, many of them, have swung to the bad side, but that’s exactly when we can effect long-term change and kick those pivot points toward love and liberality. We need to do something, though.

To effect a long-term social change, we need to be courageous in our empathy and expand our notion of self-interest. We need to realize that society is not a zero-sum-game, and that by helping others, we also help ourselves.

My life is better when my neighbor doesn’t have to worry about medical bankruptcy. My life is better when the kids in my town have been well educated. My life is better when my homeland isn’t beset by disasters of our own making. My life is better when everyone earns enough money to live and can contribute to the general funds that ensure our mutual well-being. On and on, it boils down to this:

My life is better when others’ lives are better.

Times are bleak, but they will improve. 

We just need the courage to look beyond ourselves, see the constants in our mutual history, and head that way.

Onward.

k