By Arthur Dash
Copyright newsday
THE EDITOR: I start with a quote from Desiderata, a document that I see as the only perfect document I have ever come across. It says, “Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many people strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism.”
When one looks at what is happening in the world today, it is easy to conclude that those who stand for nothing, those who are guided by power and wealth and would do whatever it takes to achieve it are the successful ones.
It is easy to see that money and power determine what is sold as morality, responsible media coverage, and what institutions can be manipulated or ignored to satisfy those with the money and power. So, one asks what is the value of things like sincerity, love, honesty, and high ideals. Desiderata says that life is full of heroism. Perhaps it may be pertinent to look at that aspect of life.
There are the many teachers who impart knowledge to children every day with passion. The researchers committed to finding cures for diseases and the things that negatively affect human life. There are the engineers and scientists who dedicate their life to finding innovative ways to improve human existence.
People are going into combat areas to feed the needy; there are doctors who, rather than seek financial reward, dedicate their lives to going into rural areas and offering their services for free. There are the wives and husbands who put aside their personal desires and goals to be the rock of their family, providing stability and love to the home.
Yes, everywhere life is full of heroism.
As we observe politicians, business personnel, religious people, media personnel, many in public office and places of influence compromise or sell their high ideals for power and wealth, note that it is the few good people in the institutions who strive for a better world, like the United Nations and similar bodies that keep our civility alive.
Without the efforts and dedication of the few good people our world would quickly degenerate into a society driven by racial discrimination, by the power of weaponry, by sects of individuals believing that they are superior to other human beings and by religious domination.
The future of TT and the world depends on those willing to stand for high ideals and who cannot be bought by money and power. Those are the people who would see peace, harmony, economic development, charity, love, and social development contribute to preserving the world for generations to come. One should make a conscious effort to strive for high ideals as eventually, regardless of our social status or wealth, we will pass away, and we would have either contributed to a better world or sowed seeds of disharmony and pain among men.
STEVE ALVAREZ
