Although I doubt the existence of a G-d that is both all powerful and benevolent, I share in your belief that a sense of purpose is essential if we are to live better and healthier lives and enrich the lives of our fellows.
Also, although I don't like people to romanticize the past, and to assume that things were better in the "good old days" (the depression and the Holocaust were not exactly my idea of good times), I think many Americans had a greater sense of purpose in the past.
Let me go from the abstract to the concrete:
In the immediate aftermath of World War Two, Europe was starving to death. President Harry S Truman suggested that Americans fast for TWO DAYS and that they send the money, that they would have spent on feeding themselves for those two days, to relief programs to save the lives of the destitute and the starving. Can you imagine an American president calling on us to sacrifice today. And please keep in mind that Harry Truman was very attentive to poverty and economic pain in America as he was a Democrat, FDR's last vice president, and in those days lunch-bucket, working class economics was almost the alpha and omega of the Democratic Party. Nevertheless in the same breath in which he asked for more aid to poor Americans, slum dwellers and impoverished farmers, he asked Americans to keep their stomachs empty for two days to feed Europe.
We could easily have a sense of community if we all saw everyone as equal human beings. The state of our borders has nothing to do with how we view humankind. I suspect your view is hierarchical and very different than mine. Since religion has caused immense amounts of violence, death and discord over the history of the world, not to mention being the source of great misogyny, the world might do better without any. Think John Lennon's Imagine.
Although I doubt the existence of a G-d that is both all powerful and benevolent, I share in your belief that a sense of purpose is essential if we are to live better and healthier lives and enrich the lives of our fellows.
Also, although I don't like people to romanticize the past, and to assume that things were better in the "good old days" (the depression and the Holocaust were not exactly my idea of good times), I think many Americans had a greater sense of purpose in the past.
Let me go from the abstract to the concrete:
In the immediate aftermath of World War Two, Europe was starving to death. President Harry S Truman suggested that Americans fast for TWO DAYS and that they send the money, that they would have spent on feeding themselves for those two days, to relief programs to save the lives of the destitute and the starving. Can you imagine an American president calling on us to sacrifice today. And please keep in mind that Harry Truman was very attentive to poverty and economic pain in America as he was a Democrat, FDR's last vice president, and in those days lunch-bucket, working class economics was almost the alpha and omega of the Democratic Party. Nevertheless in the same breath in which he asked for more aid to poor Americans, slum dwellers and impoverished farmers, he asked Americans to keep their stomachs empty for two days to feed Europe.
Love your always topical and thought-provoking musings, Richard! I’m in total agreement on this one. Wishing you good health - and bikeable roads!
Yes we do! Well considered.
We could easily have a sense of community if we all saw everyone as equal human beings. The state of our borders has nothing to do with how we view humankind. I suspect your view is hierarchical and very different than mine. Since religion has caused immense amounts of violence, death and discord over the history of the world, not to mention being the source of great misogyny, the world might do better without any. Think John Lennon's Imagine.