"...and to state quite simply what we learn in a time of pestilence: that there are more things to admire in men than to despise." from The Plague by Albert Camus
According to Greek mythology when Prometheus gave fire to mortals Zeus was so enraged by his actions he decided to punish both Prometheus and the mortals. What happened to Prometheus is well known, but what he did to mortals is a bit less straight forward. He had a sort of whip around with all the other gods to create the woman Pandora. She was an amalgam of all their contributions. Her name actually means all-giving or all-gifts. He then gave her a jar (not a box) and filled it with all the woes, pestilence and misery that he could find. She was then released onto man with her jar which at some time was opened, and then emptied of all the sickness and diseases stored in there. The future history of man was thus determined.
Interestingly one thing remained in the jar. According to the poet Hesiod (from around 750 to 650 BC) Hope was the one thing left behind. Now for centuries after the story was recorded it has been debated and speculated about by interpreters of this myth as to whether Hope was withheld because it was actually the worst sickness of them all. You know – a vain and pointless emotion that feeble man hangs grimly onto in the face of all the troubles and strife that he endures, and is ultimately defeated by. Or alternatively is Hope something that was withheld precisely because it gives man the psychological tools, the dignity, and the necessary strength to endure all of the kinds of misery released upon him by Zeus and still function, endure and achieve. The conflict is nowhere resolved in the original text.
Come down nearly 3,000 years to the 19th and 20th century and opinions on this became very divided. First there was Nietzsche, and then Freud, who subscribed to the first interpretation and ultimately saw Hope as a sickness that prevented man from taking ultimate control and becoming the dominant “Uber-Man” he was destined to be. On the other side was someone like Kierkegaard, and then later Karl Barth or Dietrich Bonhoeffer who saw Hope as the thing that separates us from the animals, and like Faith and Love (“These three” according to St Paul in 1st Corinthians 13) it gives us strength and self-respect to rise above all the crap.
Now what should we think? I think that in the final analysis we choose which interpretation of the origins of Hope we wish to for ourselves. It is basically comes down to a choice between Nietzsche and Kierkegaard in an intellectual sense. But that’s all a bit abstract, airy-fairy and unreal. I suggest it’s more practical to focus on Albert Camus’ quote and ask ourselves the question, “Is mankind more to be “Admired” or “Despised”? Once again there is no right or wrong answer because we will ultimately find for ourselves whatever we need to justify our conclusions. When we observe the way mankind copes with the absurdity of life, it will depend on what we are looking for. In our modern and extremely confusing world we inhabit there is so much complexity we can basically find whatever answer we want.
So how does this relate to our here and now, and what about the current huge health crisis we’re all dealing with? Well a bit of history is in order. WW1 was actually the first war in history in which the majority of people were killed in action by the enemy. Prior to that disease killed many more people in any prolonged war than died on the battlefield. For example it has been estimated that of the 620,000 who died in the American Civil War 2/3rds were as a consequence of disease. In fact since the start of the Neolithic Era (10,000 Bce) epidemics and pandemics have been the natural order. There has been the Black Death, many other kinds of the Plague, Cholera, Smallpox, Aids, Influenza, Ebola, Polio ... look it up sometime, the list is extensive. The more populations moved about the more sickness spread. And historically how have we humans managed all this disease? The answer is simple – appallingly! Our recent very commendable management of the Aids crisis was so completely out of character. The facts are that we are, and have always been, hopeless.
So given the understanding of germs, bacteria and viruses we now possess we are obviously in better place to manage a pandemic than at any time in history. And how are we doing this time? Well I reckon the answer to that is like the discussion on Hope, or the nature of mankind. You can find whatever you want to. If our starting place is that mankind is despicable then we’ll probably end up going down the cynical path and whinge about everything and blame everybody else. Finding fault is oh so easy when we specifically go looking for it. But if our initial premise is that while mankind is extremely flawed and imperfect, but on balance is to be admired, then we might try cut everyone about us a bit of slack – including the Government. Yes, I mean that! We might resurrect that good old fashioned “Benefit of the Doubt”. Remember that? We might try to be more tolerant and forgiving, and accept the fact that everybody is trying to do their best in an extremely bewildering and complex situation – once again, even the Government. And instead of whinging and blaming we all might look at ourselves and ask, “What is there that I can do to help?”
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