The weight of the past

This is not to say that nostalgia is our inescapable fate. The lesson I am trying to draw from reflecting on the examples of Snowden and the N.F.L. is not that the thrill ends early. Rather, in their extremity these examples bring out something else. For most of us, as our lives unfold we simply do not, we cannot, know whether we have peaked in an area of our lives — or in our lives themselves — in ways that are most important to us. The past weighs upon us, not because it must cancel the future, but because it is of uncertain heft.

~ Todd May from, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/the-weight-of-the-past/

ɕ

Non-violence Versus Non-existence

Why is this? How has the United States become so saturated in slaughter?

There are, of course, many reasons, but three stand out, one of which is deep and longstanding and the others of more recent vintage. The deep reason lies in our competitive individualism. … The second reason is the decline of our ability to control events in the world. … The third reason is economic.

~ Todd May from, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/is-american-nonviolence-possible/

ɕ