Top of the Food Chain, Ma!

I worry about my species. We are arrogant and selfish creatures who have not learned the idea of stewardship for those things over which we supposedly hold dominion. Instead, we pillage and plunder our home, its creatures and each other. It is that last element that leaves me sometimes a bit hopeless. Unlike the animals before us that were highly successful for millions of years (until they weren't), we have managed to ravage each other without much thought as to consequences, while at the same time claiming some innate entitlement to lord over all around us because WE say we are built in the image of God. Somehow though, I don't think God (by whatever name you know him/her/it) meant us to be as cruel and indifferent to each other as we seem, in our short time on Earth, to be proving to be.

Recently a dear friend of mine was put to a test. She has a job that she likes, co-workers she admires and respects and a goal to build a career. She also has kids and a husband who adore her. Add to the mix a new variable; a supervisor who would not take "No" (or "Hell no," "Not gonna happen," or "No way!") for an answer, a "person" who decided to hold his power over her in an attempt to do his completely pig-like bidding. The short of it is that after months of more and more inappropriate behavior and disrespect, the cork finally popped and this supervisor was reported. Unfortunately, this act on her part took an immense amount of courage (stick with me here). While she has had many many messages of support from friends and strangers alike, she knows that the gossip machine works tirelessly; to spread sordid alternatives, cause and effect scenarios, and out of context judgments across the site. Instead of working in an environment that would be supportive of the victim and set its sights on punishing the perpetrator, she instead works with human beings. Human beings love drama! We have loved drama since the first time a caveman stole his best buddy's cave-wife while the rest of the clan took sides. We can't help it, apparently. For while we love a hero story we also love to watch people fall. Perhaps it gives us some way to measure ourselves as better, or luckier ("Thank God I am not her!"), than those who stumble. Or perhaps it takes our minds off our own troubles for the moment. I also tend to think that we simply aren't as evolved as we like to think we are. We still revert to our more base thoughts and actions. We are, in a word, fickle, and succumb to group-think, dogmatism, and an over-developed sense of self-importance.

My friend's courage is needed now, more than when she first decided on her fateful step to stop a predator from hunting her. Now, she will face speculation, whispers, misinformation and the grueling information dump that will be a trial (or two). She will discover who of those close to her will remain so and who will give up, change sides, or live vicariously through her. She will need to depose, testify, interview, and...wait. All of this will be done in front of an audience; at work, in the community, in the local media. Her fortunes will rise and fall to the delight of those "watching" her. 

We humans laud ourselves and each other when we reach the top or make sacrifices for the common good (of us, especially). But when the hero falls, as so many do, what happens then? Yes, a rhetorical question, because as we know, we are the first to check the media to get the gory details (e.g., Oscar Pistorius, Lance Armstrong, Michael Jackson) and toss in our two cents. The thing is, we are, as a species, pros at this stuff by now. While the Internet provides us with lightning speed information (right or wrong) we have been yearning for scandal since time immemorial (Gladiator fan clubs, camp followers, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, ten cent "true stories," yellow journalism, Watergate, the Lewinsky Dress, "Winning," etc). 

Why haven't we moved forward? Or have we? We certainly like to think we have. 

The past hundred years has seen more technological innovation than in the past 10,000 and yet, socially have we really grown? Even this most recent national election highlighted a faction of people who rankled at the idea of "progressive" policies and ideas. Umm, what? 

                            

                                             The Greatness of a society and its moral progress                                  can be judged by the way it treats its animals.

~Mahatma Gandhi

I submit we can accurately add to the above statement: "...animals, elderly and ill."

Humans are, by all accounts, the top of the food chain. We love the power. We could obliterate almost any other species on this planet (in many cases we have). But how many of us view our dominion over other creatures as a responsibility to care for and protect them? (Hu)Man's best friend is the dog, but we over-breed, beat, maim, neglect and kill thousands per year. Anytime you think we have evolved past throwing gladiators into the arena, look at dog fighting and how popular it remains. When dogs (or any other animal we claim to love) no longer serve their purpose (say, in an election, Governor Scott!) as companion, bread winner, entertainment; they are discarded like garbage or destroyed as if they have no right to live as we say we do.

Why do we think we are so special? Why do people like "the supervisor" believe they are untouchable and can destroy people on a whim. Why do countries profess to stand on moral high ground when they ignore (or worse CAUSE) their brothers and sisters suffering across the globe because they are a different color or speak a different language or call their God by a different name. Sometimes I think it has been downhill ever since we figured out fire. How can we spend untold numbers of dollars (pounds, drachmas, rubles) devising better and more efficient weapons, but we can't ensure everyone on the planet is fed? We whine, complain, judge, plunder, ruin, pollute and destroy.

And yet...

Here's where it gets complicated (welcome to the top of the food chain) and thus impossible for me to stay bitter... we demonstrate glimmers. Glimmers of the humanity we strive to be, that we foolishly think we are, that we should be. I am not talking about the "sexy" moments; not the Brad Pitts going in to evenhandedly save a neighborhood in New Orleans (while that is awesome, too), or when a doctor leaves his million dollar practice to help kids in the jungle (again, a great thing). I am thinking about the small, every day miracles that people perform. When people place themselves in harm's way to help another. When a firefighter goes back in the house for a pet. When people inconvenience themselves to see someone else rise up. When volunteers scour frozen neighborhoods to ensure shut-in people have blankets.The moments when a leader of a mega-church, or a politician, or an executive, or anyone with power, steps aside and does something truly good, simply for the reason that it is the good thing to do (I know, I couldn't think of any examples of those but I am hopeful they are out there). When we accept accountability for our role in all the bad. The moments when humans don't think about what's in it for them.These are the moments that give me hope for our species. When I see a stray dog brought in from the cold and given a forever home. When I see people standing up for what will help not only them, but others, of any species- this is when I swell with pride at humanity. For it is not in those moments when the cameras are rolling or the audience is listening that make us top of the heap; it is those incremental moments when we actually do move forward, with humility, compassion, grace, and love, that might actually save us.

Just like the dinosaurs, humans will likely have an extinction event. Whether there will remain a record of a species that evolved to a pinnacle or remained static before it died off, is up to us. The choice is before us every day. Hate or love? Give or take? Create or destroy? Accept or judge? For those who are not content to simply coexist, but strive to live with each other, no matter their apparent differences (I submit humans are much more alike than different, no matter their demographics), these decisions are thoughtful and important moments that affect the future. For those purposely living with myopia and ego- or ethno-centrism, the choices remain automatic and will continue to bog us down in the mire that is, quite frankly, our collective self.

But, as long as I see those glimmers, I remain optimistic that, in Anne Frank's words, "...people are really good at heart." 

Here's hoping.