Desiring difference
I have spent last week doing nothing much and watching old movies - to be precise, movies made by Swedish writers, actors, and social consciences Hasse Alfredsson and Tage Danielsson. Tage died, alas, in the mid-80s, Hasse is still alive but very old. Their movies and shows, and books, are related to the absurd humour of the Marx brothers, but with a considerable amount of criticism of society. I have also been reading contemporary reviews, and am saddened by one of the constant comments: that their views on society and mankind are dated, naive, too left-wing, childish.
Maybe they are, at that. They speak of a world that contains meaning: meaningful relationships to other human beings and to the natural world, meaningful work, meaningful hobbies. They speak of a world where everyone, including children, criminals, the elderly, and unsuccessful people are seen, heard, taken into account, important, and bountifully forgiven when needed. They speak of a world where we are all needed, and where we can make choices about our future: not caught by distant political power, markets, and decisions made by people we never meet. They speak of a world that acknowledges difference.
Perhaps this is naive; it's a word often applied to anyone who says that peace, co-operation, content, and interaction should be valued above money and power. Perhaps it's childish and dated to think that we can change the course we're on if we're not happy with it. Perhaps it's too left-wing to say that everyone in the world should be needed, wanted, and empowered. However, I don't think so.
To work towards a world where everyone is valued and cherished for their own sake, for their partaking in the infinite diversity of life, may be insanely optimistic, but it's not naive. The cynics, who claim that no one acts out of anything but self-interest, and that everythign is a zero-sum game, are the naive ones - because that is simply not true. Human motivations are not so easily defined and categorised. Acts of charity and grace and generosity are committed every day. Anyone who gives up their seat on the bus to an elderly person just proved the cynics wrong.
In fact, I don't much care if it's naive to believe in empowering everyone. It all comes down to which world I want to live in, and to my duty to be the change I want to see.