Mankind’s true moral test lies in how it treats Animals
George Woodcock on Milan Kundera:
"The real subject of Kundera’s novels is the way that lying to the state leads men and women to lie in their relations with each other. Because the totalitarian state has destroyed the kind of natural trust and cooperation that should exist in a free society, infidelity flourishes, and Kundera’s novels are inhabited by petty Casanovas seeking freedom through promiscuity. They are guilty, they feel compassion for their victims, by they find it hard to stop."
Given the disgusting degree to which lying and deception epitomize 21th century Wall Street, and the dealings of corporate America’s big oil, armament, accounting and stock brokerage firms it’s clear that totalitarianism isn’t the sole cause of infidelity.
Woodcock continues:
"Kundera is really telling us that when the state becomes so powerful that trustfulness between human beings is destroyed, then men and women become ruthless towards each other. The relations between human beings become similar to the relations between humans and animals because, in such circumstances, humans, like animals, have no power."
And, yet, despite the truth in this and the way that Food Inc. mass produces and butchers innocent creatures, the bond between human and animal can be as strong or stronger than between human and human. Witness a recent local news story here where a three year old boy lost his life in an effort to save his dog.
August 31st, 2009 at 3:33 PM
Sorry. Man is an animal and a meateater last time I checked, and Enron’s president probably loved his dog and ate steak. People will continue to love or hate each other; friends will gather and help those in need of help; tribes will espouse their own interests; parents will continue to nurture children (or abuse them), altruists will do good, lovers will love, and there is no such thing as perfection and no universal antidote for the failings of individuals, entities, religions or governments. Welcome to evolution.