Painting by Max Pechstein,
You don't have to be a Princeton professor of George Kateb's stature to figure out that "...the human condition is likely to have far more pain than satisfaction or pleasure or self-realisation." Hard as it might be to accept the idea that life can be, at most, tolerable, as Kateb puts, judging by my my experience and that of people I know well, he is right on target. The question, then, is how to deal with such a gloomy prospects. "The point," says Kateb, " is to live one's life... never to think that you can lead the good. ..two things define a tolerable life....work and love..." What we one must do, he adds, is "..find something you like to do and do it as well as you can...as long it is not indecent, cruel or exploitative...care for people other than yourself... work and love."
I have no trouble finding work I like. That credit for that goes to my family whose interests and skills are many. Thanks to my maternal grandmother and my parents, I am as happy preparing a meal as I am planting a garden, crafting a piece of silver jewelry, a polymer clay sculpture or a story.In a way these occupations are interconnected. They feed my creative self figuratively and literally and always, as I pursue any of these interests my sustaining force is love--love of my daughter, of my family, of the man in my life, of friends and those they love. This is the easy love, the love that blossoms all by itself. The hard love, the love that takes a painful struggle to cultivate is the love of humanity in general and of those whose values are in total opposition to mine. For example, I have among my acquaintances on a social media list, folks whose political views I do not share. Often these views are based on religious affiliation, as if only followers of certain dogmas were entitled to fairness and compassion. I struggle against this mindset as I try to grant each individual the respect I would like to deserve. Nevertheless, when someone lumps an entire people together and ascribes evil character traits to all political opponents, I have to struggle very hard not to reject that person along with his views. Being a citizen of the First World brings with it many privileges. It also brings the unbidden wrath of many for whom everyone my country, my political party, my socio-ethno-religious group is by definition a no-goodnik.
I confess that I often feel like retreating into my warm and cozy shell where none of this nonsense can reach me. Why care that a republican calls Democrats "scumbags" and that that the American government and/or Israel orchestrated 9/11? At times I feel like shaking the silliness out of some of these folks. That is a feeling that does not last. Ours is a damaged world. It does not need any more anger. I can live kniowing that Life can be tough, as Kateb says. I can apprehend some people occasional awfulness and go beyond it. No matter what happens, there is always love and work. There always tikkun olam, the opportunity to mend the world a bit at a time. Without it, there would be no point in being human.
