Submitted by Terence Blackett
Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing – Adolphe Monod
I am fascinated by art in its most variegated and versicoloured forms (especially the Renaissance period). But the works of Dutchman Jan Vermeer (1632-1675) inspires incredible curiosity on my part especially where this extraordinarily gifted artist was able to apply his craft at his leisure for many years due in part to the support from his in-laws. Vermeer suddenly dies at a young age (gone too soon by some accounts) before his notoriety could even reach beyond the vale of his native Delft (for as is often said – the good seem to die young).
In many of Vermeer’s masterpieces such as the (“Girl Reading a Letter by an Open Window“) or (“Girl with the Pearl Earring“) or his most celebrated piece (“The Milkmaid“) – the interplay of light, shadow and color on the faces and features of the common people of his day is a remarkable abstraction and interpretation of how when light is used in its correct resonance – the effect it creates is not only timeless but measureless.
So borrowing from the key to Vermeer’s alluring appeal in the use of “light”, it is my hope to disseminate shards of light through the prism of modern moral philosophy – justifying how in our restless age of upheaval, the mounting problems exacerbate because of our refusal to point to the obvious, the common and the familiar and to definitively do something about it.
We are reminded in Scripture to “rise and shine when the ‘light’ comes”. Sadly this clarion call often goes unheeded because of the moral inertia of those hearing (yet refusing) to accept the call.
Today many are asking – ‘how do we extricate ourselves from the gloom and darkness of social, financial and moral oppression?’ Can we learn anything from the similitude of nature? Can it provide understanding as we see how glorious sunlight days are often followed by dark, grey stormy clouds? Is it possible that the polarizing forces of light versus darkness will remain an impenetrable cloud which will hang over mankind until the end of time? And if that is so, then are we resigned to a benighted sense of fate which means – no matter what we attempt, nothing in essence will really change?
Truth-haters, status quo adherents and agendists become unhinged in the face of moral philosophy especially when the light of truth exposes their inherent cavilling and their myopic social distortions in a world placated with dark deeds, maledictions and subterfuge. Yet most of us refuse admonition choosing rather to remain in an abnegationist mindset, exasperatingly throwing our hands up in the face of forces and challenges which seem beyond the realm of our control or our ability to do anything about them.
It is for this reason alone that I chose the “Curse of Meroz” to exposit and to amplify the wretched conditions we are facing in an age of bankrupt economies, “highway” robbery and the transfer of wealth (to the richest 1%); dwindling life chances because of war; insurrection and the polarization of cultural & religious strife; austerity measures and the politics of abnegation and abrogation being imposed on us – (in part) due to our own reckless desire for more and more consumerism at the expense of the wider world yet steeped in draconian labor practices and the maliciously invidious nature of globalization. Yet in all of this, the damnable state of affairs is not completely or entirely our fault. Other forces are clearly at work.
The question is – “WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?”
In the Book of The Judges – “The Curse of Meroz” came about because the common people refused to come to the help of their own kinsfolk who were being oppressed. Ancient Meroz was a village 12 miles from Samaria in the land of Canaan where the Israelites were defending their homes, property and families from the onslaught of their enemies. Those who were in Meroz simply refused to come to the aid of their brethren and for this reason were cursed.
One could argue that they didn’t commit any crimes against God. That may be true! However, failing to help their own in a time of war was not only unpatriotic but their “neutrality in a time of crisis was regarded in Heaven as the greatest hostility against God and those most vulnerable”. Sullen indifference, a lack of sympathy and the insalubrious climate of denial was complicitous with treachery, being traitors to a cause, while aiding and abetting a ravenous enemy.
Wherever you turn within the kaleidoscopic panorama of modern politics one gets easily mugged by reality when you realize that much of the media rhetoric is housed in lies and sophistry. The newest maxim is – “WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER”! But why are our political leaders trying to make us believe that life is pretty much like a “High School” musical? Have we given them a reason to really think that we are either too stupid, too ill-informed or simply too reticent?
Since the Stock Market Crash of 2007/8, a catalogue of lies, spin and political doctoring has created a fragile world of unease where the hollow platitudes of our so-called leaders keep falling on disillusionary ears. We are being told that we all have to bear equal weight as “cuts” in social services and other austerity measures is needed to curtail spiralling fiscal deficits. Yet the truth is – the rich may pay a bit more but disproportionately the poorest in our societies will eventually eat the bread the “devil” kneads as they bear the brunt of the falling axe.
Last week, the French people fell on to the streets in record numbers to tell President Sarkosy how they felt about his measures and so from Greece to Spain, to Portugal, to Germany, to France, to the UK, to America, to the islands of sea, comes a call to action. We will either lie down and be ravagingly shafted or incite and agitate social unrest, civil disobedience and possibly anarchy as the deafening claxon gongs in this age of mounting instability and economic fragmentation.
Goodness is NOT* the absence of doing bad. Many of us with moral values know only too well that one is judged by what one leaves undone. The Scriptures remind us that, “to him that knows how to do good and doesn’t do it – to him it is sin”. So the greater the knowledge of the right thing to do and the inertia in not doing it result in the sin of omission. We often quote the famous utilitarian Sir Edmund Burke – “all it takes for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing”. This is the “CURSE OF MEROZ”!
The error in judgment is in “DOING NOTHING” – for the person who never makes a mistake is the person who never does anything – but is that not the greatest mistake of all?
The curse of Meroz is apathy – in a world rife with cowards, deniers, deserters, shirkers, laggers and apostatizers – folks who think they do a lot by doing precious little. Even former President George “Dubyah” Bush understood (in his arrogance) that “if you are not with us, you’re against us”. With that in mind, the question is – how can we influence positive change in our own socio-political sphere of influence?
The sad irony is – doing nothing now will have severe repercussion for the near future given the fact that we are already being saddled with burdens which are increasingly hard to bear.
Statistics from the World Bank and the ONE Campaign suggests that “3 billion people today live on less than US$2/day with 1.4 billion of those people living on less than US$1.25/day – the definition of those who live under these conditions are termed as living under “extreme global poverty.” Who will be next?
* Approximately 9.2 million children under the age of 5 die each year, mostly from preventable diseases. That’s approximately 25,000 children each day.
* 2.5 billion people around the world do not have access to adequate sanitation and about 885 million people do not have access to clean water.
* Every day, 4100 children die each day from severe diarrhoea – as a result of poor sanitation and hygiene (HAITI’s crisis current case in point).
* Approximately 600 million children live in extreme poverty.
* Nearly 11,500 people die every day from HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Nearly two-thirds of these people are living in sub-Saharan Africa.
* 75 million children are out of school around the world, a figure equivalent to the entire primary school-aged population in Europe and North America.
* Check your assumptions. Americans believe that their government spends 24% of the Federal budget on aid to poor countries, but the actual figure is less than 1%.
* Daily disasters. HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria – all treatable diseases – claim the lives of over 8,000 people (EVERYDAY*) in Africa due to lack of access to proper health care.
* The water walk. Women in developing countries travel an average of almost [4] miles each day to collect water.
* The poor pay more. People living in the poorest slums can pay as much as [10] times more for water than those in high-income areas of their own cities.
* Gender disparity. According to the U.N., the majority of people in poverty are women, who globally earn roughly half as much as men.
* Daily bread. Food prices have risen 83% since 2005, disproportionately affecting those in poverty who spend a higher percentage of their income on food.
* No school for you. In 2005, a conservative estimate stated that 72 million children around the world of elementary school age were not enrolled in school.
* The global wealth gap. The richest 20% of the world’s population receives 75% of the world’s income, while the poorest 40% receive only 5% of the world’s income.
Surely, holding our political leaders accountable MUST BE* critical at this time. A recent CBS 60 Minutes documentary carried a 13 minute piece on white America’s unemployment plight which I found really fascinating as it cast “light” on what is coming to a town, village or a neighbourhood near you pretty soon. If this video is indicative of an emerging social trend, can you imagine the disproportionality of how poverty does affect Black and ethnic groups across the spectrum given the unequal distribution of privilege amongst people of color?
Clearly, we are not all in this together and as things gets progressively worst – one wonders whether economic class warfare will be next on the agenda given that the “rich are getting richer” while the “poor gets poorer” and the politics of the “strong” continues to undermine and dominate the “weak”.
So tell me – is doing NOTHING* still an option?
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