January 1, 2022
Maya Lin, a 21 year old college student, designed the Viet Nam Memorial, and we are now paying the price for her genius. She drew attention to the importance of the individual, replacing emphasis on the ideology of statues—for example of Robert E. Lee or George Washington.
But now the individual is asserting its “ideology,” demanding recognition and admiration. The LGBT community, for example, demands not just their right to live life as they choose, but they sometimes often go further, insisting on their right to be admired for it. When they are denied that admiration they become angry, which fuels the anger of those denying them the right, creating increased polarization in our society.
That’s the way the Wheel of Life turns (as Tibetan tankas express it). Hopefully, that Wheel gradually turns into a drift towards goodness in the human genome.