Chapter 31 Thirty, the last hundred years
It must have been easy to write this book twenty years ago.In most people's minds at the time, the word "intolerance" meant almost exactly the same as "religious intolerance," and historians wrote "a man who was a fighter for tolerance" and everyone thought he had spent his life in against the ills of the Church and against the tyranny of the professional priesthood.
Then war broke out.
The world has changed a lot.
What we get is not one system of intolerance, but a dozen.
Not one form of cruelty to fellow human beings, but a hundred.
A society just beginning to shake off the horrors of religious bigotry has to endure even more painful forms of racial intolerance, social intolerance, and much lesser intolerance whose existence a decade ago would not have even occurred to us.
The idea that many good people lived until recently in the pleasant fantasy that development was an automatic hour hand that never had to be wound again if they gave an occasional thumbs-up seemed horrific. Shaking their heads mournfully, they mutter "Vanity, vanity, all that is vanity!" They complain of the obnoxious obstinacy of human nature, which, generation after generation, has been frustrated and always refused to learn. Not until the point of utter despair do they join the burgeoning ranks of spiritual defeatists, clinging to this or that religious association (who transfer their burdens onto others), and declaring themselves defeated in the most mournful of tones and will no longer participate in future social affairs. I don't like this kind of people. They're not just cowards. They are the betrayers of the future of humanity.
Having said that, what should be the solution?Is there a way around this? We have to be honest with ourselves. There is no solution. At least not in today's world, where people demand instant results, and hope that by means of mathematical or medical formulas, or an act of Congress, all the difficulties of the earth can be solved quickly and comfortably.But those of us who are used to looking at history from a developmental perspective feel hopeful knowing that civilization will not start or die with the advent of the twentieth century. Now we hear many sad and hopeless assertions (such as "humanity has always been that way", "humanity will always be that way", "the world has never changed", "it is exactly the same as it was four thousand years ago"), It's all untrue. This is a visual error. The road to progress is often interrupted, but if we put aside our emotional prejudices and make a sober evaluation of the history of 20,000 years (for this history alone, we still have more or less concrete materials), we will It will be observed that the development, though slow, is indubitable, that things always pass from a state of almost indescribable cruelty and brutishness to a nobler and more perfect state, and that not even the great error of the World War can shake this firm opinion, which is True.
Humans are incredibly resilient. It outlives theology. Someday it will outlive industrialism. It has survived cholera and plague, brutal persecutions and Puritan statutes. It will learn how to overcome the many spiritual sins that plague this generation.
History has carefully revealed its secrets, and it has taught us a great lesson. What man makes, man can also destroy it. It is a question of courage, and secondarily a question of education.
Of course this sounds like a cliché.In the last hundred years, education has filled people's ears and even made people hate the word.They yearn for a time when people could neither read nor write, but could occasionally use their spare intellect to think for themselves. The "education" I am talking about here does not refer to the pure accumulation of facts, which is regarded as the necessary spiritual inventory of modern children.What I am trying to say is that a true understanding of the present comes from a benevolent understanding of the past. In this book I have tried to show that intolerance is nothing but an expression of the instinct of self-preservation of the common people. A pack of wolves that cannot tolerate a different wolf (weak or strong) must get rid of the unwelcome partner. In a tribe of cannibals, whoever's tendencies would anger the gods and bring disaster to the whole village, the tribe would not tolerate him, and would drive him savagely into the wilderness. In the Greek Commonwealth, who dared to question the foundations of society, he was not allowed to live long in this holy country, and in a sad outburst of intolerance, the troublesome philosopher was mercifully sentenced Drink a cup of poison and die by it. Ancient Rome, which could not have survived by allowing a few innocent zealots to trample upon certain laws which had been indispensable since Romulus, had to intolerant against its will, and This point runs counter to its traditional liberal policy. The church is actually the spiritual heir on the territory of this ancient empire, and its survival depends entirely on the absolute obedience of its most obedient subjects, so it is forced to the extreme of repression and cruelty, so that many people would rather endure the cruelty of the Turks than Willing to ask for Christian mercy. The great fighters against the dictatorship of the clergy were always in great difficulty, but they had to show intolerance to all spiritual innovations or scientific experiments if they were to maintain themselves.So in the name of "reforms" they make (or try to make) the same mistakes that their enemies have just made, who lost their power and influence because of them. How many ages have passed, and life, which was a glorious journey, has been transformed into a terrible experience, and all this has happened because human existence hitherto has been completely shrouded in horror.
I repeat, terror is the cause of all intolerance. Whatever the method and form of the persecution, its cause is fear, and its concentrated expression can be clearly seen in the expressions of extreme pain on those who set up the guillotine and those who throw the firewood on the funeral pyre.
Once we recognize this fact, we immediately have a solution to this problem. When people are not overwhelmed by terror, they are very inclined to integrity and justice. Until now, people have rarely had the opportunity to practice these two virtues. But I do not think that it is any great thing that I should not live to see these two virtues fulfilled.This is a necessary stage of human development.Humans are young after all, too young, ridiculously young.It seems unreasonable and unjust to require mammals which became independent only thousands of years ago to possess these virtues which can only be acquired with age and experience. Also, it can skew our thinking. It makes us angry when we should be patient. It makes us speak harsh words when we should show mercy.
Often, in writing the final chapters of such a book, there is a temptation to play the role of doleful prophet and do a little amateurish preaching. Never do this! Life is short, and sermons are apt to be lengthy. It's better not to say anything that can't be expressed in a hundred words.
Our historians are guilty of a great mistake.They talk about prehistoric times, tell us about the golden age of Greece and Rome, talk about a hypothetical dark age, and write rhapsodic poems about modern life ten times more prosperous than the past. If these learned Ph. D.s stumble across a human condition that doesn't seem to fit the picture they've artfully composed, they make a few humble words of apology, muttering that, unfortunately, this less-than-ideal situation A remnant of a barbaric past, but when the time comes it will vanish like the stagecoach for the train. That sounds sweet, but it's not true.It can satisfy our self-esteem and make us believe that we are the heirs of the times.If we knew who we were—a contemporary embodiment of ancient cave dwellers, cigarette-drinking Neolithic man driving a Ford, caveman riding an elevator up an apartment complex— That would be better for our mental health. Then, and only then, can we take the first step toward the goal still hidden in the mountains of the future.
As long as the world is haunted by terror, it is a waste of time to talk about the golden age, about modernity and development. As long as intolerance is an integral part of our law of self-preservation, it is simply a crime to demand tolerance. When intolerance such as the massacre of innocent captives, the burning of widows, and the blind worship of the written word has become absurd, the day will come when tolerance reigns supreme. It may take ten thousand years, or it may take a hundred thousand years. But that day will surely come, and it will come on the heels of humanity's first victory—a historic victory over its own fears.
The idea that many good people lived until recently in the pleasant fantasy that development was an automatic hour hand that never had to be wound again if they gave an occasional thumbs-up seemed horrific. Shaking their heads mournfully, they mutter "Vanity, vanity, all that is vanity!" They complain of the obnoxious obstinacy of human nature, which, generation after generation, has been frustrated and always refused to learn. Not until the point of utter despair do they join the burgeoning ranks of spiritual defeatists, clinging to this or that religious association (who transfer their burdens onto others), and declaring themselves defeated in the most mournful of tones and will no longer participate in future social affairs. I don't like this kind of people. They're not just cowards. They are the betrayers of the future of humanity.
Having said that, what should be the solution?Is there a way around this? We have to be honest with ourselves. There is no solution. At least not in today's world, where people demand instant results, and hope that by means of mathematical or medical formulas, or an act of Congress, all the difficulties of the earth can be solved quickly and comfortably.But those of us who are used to looking at history from a developmental perspective feel hopeful knowing that civilization will not start or die with the advent of the twentieth century. Now we hear many sad and hopeless assertions (such as "humanity has always been that way", "humanity will always be that way", "the world has never changed", "it is exactly the same as it was four thousand years ago"), It's all untrue. This is a visual error. The road to progress is often interrupted, but if we put aside our emotional prejudices and make a sober evaluation of the history of 20,000 years (for this history alone, we still have more or less concrete materials), we will It will be observed that the development, though slow, is indubitable, that things always pass from a state of almost indescribable cruelty and brutishness to a nobler and more perfect state, and that not even the great error of the World War can shake this firm opinion, which is True.
Humans are incredibly resilient. It outlives theology. Someday it will outlive industrialism. It has survived cholera and plague, brutal persecutions and Puritan statutes. It will learn how to overcome the many spiritual sins that plague this generation.
History has carefully revealed its secrets, and it has taught us a great lesson. What man makes, man can also destroy it. It is a question of courage, and secondarily a question of education.
Of course this sounds like a cliché.In the last hundred years, education has filled people's ears and even made people hate the word.They yearn for a time when people could neither read nor write, but could occasionally use their spare intellect to think for themselves. The "education" I am talking about here does not refer to the pure accumulation of facts, which is regarded as the necessary spiritual inventory of modern children.What I am trying to say is that a true understanding of the present comes from a benevolent understanding of the past. In this book I have tried to show that intolerance is nothing but an expression of the instinct of self-preservation of the common people. A pack of wolves that cannot tolerate a different wolf (weak or strong) must get rid of the unwelcome partner. In a tribe of cannibals, whoever's tendencies would anger the gods and bring disaster to the whole village, the tribe would not tolerate him, and would drive him savagely into the wilderness. In the Greek Commonwealth, who dared to question the foundations of society, he was not allowed to live long in this holy country, and in a sad outburst of intolerance, the troublesome philosopher was mercifully sentenced Drink a cup of poison and die by it. Ancient Rome, which could not have survived by allowing a few innocent zealots to trample upon certain laws which had been indispensable since Romulus, had to intolerant against its will, and This point runs counter to its traditional liberal policy. The church is actually the spiritual heir on the territory of this ancient empire, and its survival depends entirely on the absolute obedience of its most obedient subjects, so it is forced to the extreme of repression and cruelty, so that many people would rather endure the cruelty of the Turks than Willing to ask for Christian mercy. The great fighters against the dictatorship of the clergy were always in great difficulty, but they had to show intolerance to all spiritual innovations or scientific experiments if they were to maintain themselves.So in the name of "reforms" they make (or try to make) the same mistakes that their enemies have just made, who lost their power and influence because of them. How many ages have passed, and life, which was a glorious journey, has been transformed into a terrible experience, and all this has happened because human existence hitherto has been completely shrouded in horror.
I repeat, terror is the cause of all intolerance. Whatever the method and form of the persecution, its cause is fear, and its concentrated expression can be clearly seen in the expressions of extreme pain on those who set up the guillotine and those who throw the firewood on the funeral pyre.
Once we recognize this fact, we immediately have a solution to this problem. When people are not overwhelmed by terror, they are very inclined to integrity and justice. Until now, people have rarely had the opportunity to practice these two virtues. But I do not think that it is any great thing that I should not live to see these two virtues fulfilled.This is a necessary stage of human development.Humans are young after all, too young, ridiculously young.It seems unreasonable and unjust to require mammals which became independent only thousands of years ago to possess these virtues which can only be acquired with age and experience. Also, it can skew our thinking. It makes us angry when we should be patient. It makes us speak harsh words when we should show mercy.
Often, in writing the final chapters of such a book, there is a temptation to play the role of doleful prophet and do a little amateurish preaching. Never do this! Life is short, and sermons are apt to be lengthy. It's better not to say anything that can't be expressed in a hundred words.
Our historians are guilty of a great mistake.They talk about prehistoric times, tell us about the golden age of Greece and Rome, talk about a hypothetical dark age, and write rhapsodic poems about modern life ten times more prosperous than the past. If these learned Ph. D.s stumble across a human condition that doesn't seem to fit the picture they've artfully composed, they make a few humble words of apology, muttering that, unfortunately, this less-than-ideal situation A remnant of a barbaric past, but when the time comes it will vanish like the stagecoach for the train. That sounds sweet, but it's not true.It can satisfy our self-esteem and make us believe that we are the heirs of the times.If we knew who we were—a contemporary embodiment of ancient cave dwellers, cigarette-drinking Neolithic man driving a Ford, caveman riding an elevator up an apartment complex— That would be better for our mental health. Then, and only then, can we take the first step toward the goal still hidden in the mountains of the future.
As long as the world is haunted by terror, it is a waste of time to talk about the golden age, about modernity and development. As long as intolerance is an integral part of our law of self-preservation, it is simply a crime to demand tolerance. When intolerance such as the massacre of innocent captives, the burning of widows, and the blind worship of the written word has become absurd, the day will come when tolerance reigns supreme. It may take ten thousand years, or it may take a hundred thousand years. But that day will surely come, and it will come on the heels of humanity's first victory—a historic victory over its own fears.