Want Sane, Decent Leaders? Vigilance Is Required

Plato (pictured here with Athena, goddess of wisdom,  looking over him) is supposed to have said:  The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. This, of course, is why it makes our skin crawl when we see people so remarkably uninvolved in the world around them.

There was never an “easy” time in human history, where civilization was on a kind of auto-pilot and the public welfare made progress on its own; the success of humankind as a wise, kind, and ultimately thriving species has always been in doubt.  But the stakes are so much higher now than in any time in history, with the possibility of nuclear weapons in the hands of rogue states, the steady march of climate change and ocean acidification, the curtailment of civil liberties, and the dozens of other threats to our survival – all of which have greatly upped the ante.

I hope you’ll join me in urging people – especially young people — to get involved.  Our civilization faces huge challenges, and they won’t take care of themselves.