Glue

Glue

Mike Ault, Copyright Jan 4, 2007

A 2007 a happening at a Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia got me thinking. You see, they had a very expensive sculpture, entitled “Spaceship Earth” that collapsed because it was created with the wrong kind of glue. Seems almost a parallel to our current situation on Earth, doesn’t it? Have we created the world community with the wrong kind of glue?

What have we tried to glue our world community together with? In the past, we used the glue of conflict and conquest, of course many would argue we are still using the same glue today, but I would have to disagree. Today we use the glue of economics and only resort to force when economics and its sister glue diplomacy, fail. Is economics the proper glue to hold our world together?

No one would disagree that economics (the ebb and flow of money and resources) is powerful glue, it will force dire enemies to the bargaining table. Unfortunately, economics can also destabilize and dissolve bonds just as easily if it is not applied correctly. So economics requires an expert craftsman to produce the desired bonding, as we have seen in the current world, these are few and far between.

Of course, it doesn't help when there are those that actively seek to tear the bonds apart, driving division, anger and selfishness. The ones who denie personal responsibility and always seeks to blame others. Ones who would rather cheer on a known lie rather than embrace the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be.

So, what would the proper glue for a world be? A glue that doesn’t dissolve as many bonds as it makes? How about glue composed of equal parts of compassion and tolerance? Any creed or belief that says it is better or has more right to exist, or that it is the only proper one is not binding glue, it drives disunity, stifles compassion and promotes intolerance.

There are obviously creeds and beliefs that by their very nature are intolerable to society (those promoting human sacrifice, cannibalism or exploitation of the weak for example) and must be expunged in civilized society, compassion and tolerance must also be tempered with wisdom and have boundaries. Of course, one could argue that if everyone embraced the concepts of compassion and tolerance, such atrocities would not be allowed to occur anyway.

Without education that is balanced and seeks to teach the truth, I am afraid we will never reach the enlightened state were compassion and tolerance are glue for civilization. Education that favors one set of “truths” to the exclusion of all else isn't education, it is indoctrination. Education that hides or buries history is not education, it is indoctrination. Only when we learn of and understand the failings of the past will we eschew repeating them.

When we ignore the premise that things must be tested, weighed and scientific method used to determine their truth, when the words of only a few are allowed as science and others, with equally valid concerns and facts are censored we cannot hope to reach the understanding needed to make good choices. We must use critical thinking, not dogma, to determine truth. At one time critical thinking was valued and taught, now it is looked down upon and considered not “woke.” Any philosophy that bases itself on willful ignorance is doomed to failure.

We must begin to see things, not just look at them.

If we don’t find binding glue for the world I am afraid we will meet the same fate as the sculpture “Spaceship Earth”, a pile of rubble in the early morning rain.