January 2013

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart had many important lessons to teach, but to me one stood out from the others, as it is very relevant to modern times.  Okonkwo's inability to respond effectively to the changing world around him led to his downfall, as he had made his entire world revolve around being the greatest Igbo.  Not that he is to be blamed for this, but others were able to survive - many embraced Christianity, and even those who did not still appreciated some of the white man's practices; the trading post, for example.

The inability to change is something that has caused a lot of problems for humanity worldwide.  It can be seen in the revolutions in the Arab world, where rebel groups overthrew their conservative (usually dictatorial) governments, as the government was unwilling to give in to change.  It can also be seen in our own government, where the two parties stand by their ideologies no matter what, and nothing gets done as a result.  The fact that we continue to use fossil fuels without making major efforts to incorporate renewable fuels into our energy supply is also a sign of our inability to change.  Certainly, the incompetence of our government and its inability to update our infrastructure could lead to our downfall.
I think the use of a party system is a big mistake, and serves no use but to divide Americans on many important issues.  The labels of conservative or liberal are especially silly when applied to individual persons, as in order to truly be a liberal one must support all the liberal ideologies, and the same applies to conservatives.  One can be a democrat and be anti-abortion, or one can be a republican who supports gun control.  It would be much better if politicians were simply elected based on what they stood for, and if legislature were voted on based on what it would do, not because it was written by a republican or democrat.  Sooner or later, something is going to have to give.