"Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg."
Yes, no matter how right the wall may be, how wrong the egg, I will stand with the egg.
Someone else will have to decide what is right and what is wrong; perhaps time or history will do it. But if there
were a novelist who, for whatever reason, wrote works standing with the wall, of what value would such works be?"
Have you had your morning coffee yet? I hope so....
Those words are an excerpt of a speech from one of my favorite authors upon accepting the Jerusalem Prize, an award for literary excellence.
It must have been difficult to stand in front of Nobel Peace Prize-winning President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and say what he had to say about the recent conflict between Israel and the Palestinians who occupy the west bank.
The metaphor of egg and wall is one we can apply to many situations and for me it states simply that individual life and spirit must never be crushed by the unfeeling wheels and gears of governments and large corporations.
But what of the burden incurred by the egg?
Although we do not ask for it we are all born into this world bound to our particular culture with an obligation to live with consideration and courtesy and to eradicate any unfairness and discrimination that infects society. Yet when deadly violence is used to force ones views of propriety upon the populace or coerce others it is wrong. It is wrong for the individual as it is wrong for the state. This we already know. We have all known it since childhood when we were told to share our toys and not fight over them, so why do we insist on ignoring the rules that worked for us so well in kindergarten. If you believe that I am oversimplifying things and that the dynamics of international trade and politics is much more complex, then you haven't truly watched children at play.
Their world is a microcosm of the global situation. It might be more factual to say that theirs are the roots from which our garden grows.
No I am not a communist, socialist, liberal or a hippie who smells of patchouli spreading the word of love and peace from my VW micro bus. I am just a misplaced man wondering why the world is caught up in a self destructive spiral. We really need to put things into their proper perspective. There are some who are boo hoo hooing about the economy and how they can't afford the things they used to.
If you have a home, you're OK.
If you have a job, you're OK.
If you have clean water to drink, you're OK.
If you have safe food to eat, you're OK.
If you are reading this then you're OK.
What I cannot fathom is the things people will do to make money and the things people spend money on. Where is the justification in selling arms to countries and people who we are absolutely certain that they will be using them in a malicious way? America is the greatest manufacturer and exporter of military weponry in the world today.
Many of the countries that purchase or develop weapons would be better off spending that money to feed and educate their own people instead of worrying about racial cleansing or saber rattling with their neighbors
How can we voluntarily purchase drugs (I support the homegrown movement if there is one.)that do nothing but make us stupid and support the efforts of those who would like nothing more than for you to be complacent and ignorant.
Why is there support for industrial practices that pollute and poison us or abuse and sometimes maim and kill laborers; often children. I am not suggesting that we should all start riding bicycles, wearing hemp clothes and go hunting with bows and arrows for our food.
The main problem, as I see it, is with our present global economy and the structure on which it is based. The free market system is geared towards accumulating personal wealth with very little concern for the development or benefit to society as a whole. This allows, even with government controls and legislation, the greedy and unscrupulous to extort and influence the market in an attempt to increase their power base and wealth.
There will always be walls for eggs to break upon.
As long as the individual does nothing but think and act sefishly there will be no end to the strenghtening and propagation of the walls that surround us.
Be most wary of those who profess to have your best interests at heart when they only seek to fatten their own coffers for they will be the first to lob eggs at the walls and sacrifice our progeny on the altar of avarice.
