PERSISTENCE



Durable change occurs in reaction to persistent effort. I always think of fad dieting as a good example of poor strategy for durable change. Starving myself for a week or two can make a remarkable impact on my morning weigh-in. However, it is not a practical lifestyle, unless I want to be perpetually cranky and threaten my body's long term health. Durable change at my waistline requires sensible and persistently wise nutritional choices.

 

This philosophy is sadly lacking in today's digital age. There is no persistent progressive effort. There are simply actions and reactions, usually melodramatically reported in digital media. Melodrama is the driving force of our celebrity-crazed age. Durable change is neglected for immediate gain. The jubilant party atmosphere in West Baltimore last evening after the announcement of indictments against police officers is a startling example of a bread-and-circus culture.

 

Real issues must be approached with real determination and endurance in order to be dealt with progressively and rationally. Research, hypotheses, experimentation...these take time, concentration and resources. Show-trials in Nuremburg and The Hague may have exposed the issue of massacre, but they have not eliminated massacres. Awareness may lead to research, hypotheses and experimentation with anti-massacre methods, but that hard work must be done before a durable solution to genocide is reached. It is obvious from the history of our species that we will not automatically evolve away from violence and injustice.