These days, we’re trying to convince ourselves that we’re
frail. Apparently, we are vulnerable
once we leave home and go to universities.
For example, there are “safe spots” these days within colleges when “traumatic
debates” go on about, say—abortion. People
go to these places to recover while these debates occur. Any rude comment, if it offends someone, can
be traumatic to the offended person. We
can be traumatised if we face any different perspective. This is true at nearly every university. The hypothesis is that you need to be brave to
come out of Plato’s cave. Nonsense. You just need to face the fact that not
everyone thinks the way you do and not everyone has had the same experiences
you have. We’re not identical and we simply
need to face that fact. It’s not hard
and it’s beautiful once you think about it.
It’s also common sense. What
happened to “The truth shall make you free?”
What happened to “Every experience that doesn't kill you makes you
stronger?”
Let’s see. I've
had several traumatic experiences in my life.
To name a few: I had an accident
that nearly killed me. I have had
several operations because of that. I
went through a surgery where my bones didn't heal and so I had to
have another surgery. I've been called a
cripple many times because of it. My
bike’s been hijacked from under me. I
spent the summer before Katrina in bed because of a back surgery and I could
barely walk when Katrina nearly destroyed my home city. Add to that the fact that I simply went
through Hurricane Katrina.
And, of course, I've had my political, religious, and
general beliefs challenged many times.
According to this modern theory of my vulnerability, I should be huddled up in a cave somewhere
shaking constantly. Instead, people have
often said that I'm one of the most courageous people they've met. But I'm not truly unique.
Just think about it.
Our grand and great grandparents experienced WWII. Many of our grandparents were harmed during
the war. Just think about knowing that a
mine might be just next to you. Think
about those people who experienced the London Blitz. Think about those people who had to
experience the Holocaust. Go back a
generation or two and you have WWI.
Think about where the saying, “Going back to the trenches” comes
from. Back then, men had to run through
No-Man’s Land with the great likelihood they would die. And think about the women who were nurses or
wives and had to say goodbye. All of
these people were just your next-door neighbours. So far, I'm a coward compared to them.
The whole of humanity has created unimaginable atrocities
throughout history. But the flip side of
the coin is that we fought these catastrophes.
We've weathered them. We've had
guts that reach out of the Milky Way.
If we've convinced ourselves that we’re
cowards that might not affect you and me.
If we get under attack we might find our guts like our ancestors
did. However, if our leaders have also been
convinced that they are weaklings, that will influence how they fight
back. And because they’re not under
direct attack like we are, their strategies will be weak.
We don’t like the world that’s emerging these days. We might say that we’re not under danger like
we were seventy or one hundred years ago. We in the U.S. and Europe have some of the
strongest militaries there are. That
doesn't matter. We don’t know what the world will be like twenty to thirty
years from now when we millennials are in charge of the world. We don’t know how the world will be once our
children are in charge. Therefore, if we
convince ourselves that we are weaklings, that will affect us for generations. Our leaders and our nations will become
weaklings.
But we are strong.
And so the hypothesis that we are incredibly weak and vulnerable needs
to go.