Perspective

I am busy reading Barton Bigg's 'Wealth, War and Wisdom'. Going along with the theme, and having spent most of the day reading... I went and rented 'Defiance'


There is nothing quite like hearing stories about World War II to give a little perspective on the traumas of day to day life. I think about how disturbed I get by the stories of crime from home (South Africa) and still can't quite imagine how devastating living through WWII must have been. The anger that swells up when I am touched by crime makes me believe that within most of us there is the ability to lose any sense of 'morality' when pushed...

Mainly because I think morality is about a set of rules that we live by, and the correct response becomes difficult to understand when the rules aren't obeyed by everyone. A cycle of revenge starts that is hard to stop.

Growing up stories used to be about good people and bad people... the struggle between good and evil. I thought WWII was clear cut allies = good, axis = bad. I didn't learn about the Nazi support in America. The bitterness in Japan over the British Imperial Rule in the East. Often invaders were welcomed as liberators... until they discovered that the invaders were no friends.

The history of the world, and the world we live in is a murky murky place. While I thank my lucky stars that I am not living through WWII, we all know that for lots of people around the world, these images are not that foreign.

I do think we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.