A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
–Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader (1929-1968)
For some reason I have not often read the quotes on Michael Josephson's weekly email reminders of his commentaries, but I did today and the above quote was there. I noticed my son giving money to a homeless man the other day. That was good I thought. I fear that the political acrimony in this country is making the Jericho Road worse - not better. It is possible that the tensions here and abroad are not worse than in previous times, but they seem worse to me. Maybe I have just forgotten the 60s - or maybe I was tuned out and oblivious. I just know that lately, as I have tried to understand the national debates on foreign and domestic policies of the USA, I more and more find myself concluding that I either have to get involved or tune out. But if educated minds, the likes of Paul Krugman, Megan McCardle, and Will Short, to name but a few journalists, can't agree about how to make a better road, not to mention [if I give them the benefit of doubt] the well meaning politicians, whatever their ideology, then what could I possibly contribute?
Maybe I'm happier being a "good Samaritan" and not a road changer - not to say that the two are mutually exclusive - but the latter seems hopelessly fruitless.
Another quote on today's email was:
The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence but by oft falling.
–Lucretius, Roman poet, philosopher (c. 99-55 BC)
Maybe the "good Samaritan" acts do more in the long run to make a better road.
