tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post5638404803711877343..comments2024-03-28T22:01:11.059-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: Does Gold Tarnish?Ovidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-67430062220146933152016-11-08T09:18:42.597-05:002016-11-08T09:18:42.597-05:00Wow, Zoe, am I glad I have never seen even two min...Wow, Zoe, am I glad I have never seen even two minutes of The Apprentice.<br />But you underline my point with your praise of me. Compassion should not, MUST not be the exception. It ought to be the rule. If it were, society would serve EVERYONE better, including people who tend to be selfish. It's election day here. My candidate's slogan is "Stronger Together." YES!! And safer together too. It's only LOGICAL, isn't it? <br />Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-17378553700557454062016-11-08T09:06:12.739-05:002016-11-08T09:06:12.739-05:00Leye, anyone would think that someone who got to m...Leye, anyone would think that someone who got to my age in 2016 would have developed a whole bunch of cynicism. I sympathize with my cynical friends, even the ones who say that to be a crime novelist one must be a cynic. But I am just not made that way. My father taught me this attitude in these words: If you love and trust everyone, you will be right 99% of the time. My life has taught me that he was right. And I am happier than any cynic I know. Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-84562962066631523392016-11-08T07:10:06.734-05:002016-11-08T07:10:06.734-05:00I have always hated The Apprentice for this reason...I have always hated The Apprentice for this reason. This glorifying of nasty self interest. Leyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14669617004830331791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-58040049957820421952016-11-08T02:00:36.081-05:002016-11-08T02:00:36.081-05:00Wonderful piece, Annamaria. And sadly, the lack of...Wonderful piece, Annamaria. And sadly, the lack of response to the injured man does not surprise me. We have become a society that will either step over the fallen and keep going, or film them on our cellphones in the hopes of going viral on YouTube.<br /><br />Sometimes I feel that human society has gone from barbarism to decadence without first passing through civilisation.<br /><br />And you *are* extraordinary, both for your actions to help a stranger, and for not thinking your friend's failure to turn up was all about *you*.<br /><br />I accidentally caught a bit of the start to the UK version of The Apprentice recently. Listening to the candidates boast on camera about their ruthless ambition and go-get-'em-and-don't-care-who-you-have-to-trample-on-to-do-it greed was stomach-turning. And these are the examples being held up to youngsters of what is admirable.<br /><br />I bet if any of them had been faced with the prospect of helping that injured old man on the street, their first response would have been, "But where's the profit in it?"<br /><br />So YES, you are truly extraordinary, and that's why we treasure you.Zoë Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14065427744062846167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-72409841510237947182016-11-07T17:43:14.783-05:002016-11-07T17:43:14.783-05:00Jeff, something tells me that I won't have to ...Jeff, something tells me that I won't have to ask. I have a feeling you will tell. Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-46541514271224579252016-11-07T17:42:18.875-05:002016-11-07T17:42:18.875-05:00EvKa, I knew we were in for it in the last 70'...EvKa, I knew we were in for it in the last 70's when, for the first time, I saw an ad on the subway for an about-to-launch new magazine called "Self." I immediately wondered: Do people really need a magazine that encourages them to focus on themselves? It seemed to me then that there was already way to much of that. It has, as we all know, only gotten worse. But as I said to Leye above, we have, right now, examples of selflessness and compassion. And people can learn it. And we can all do our best to spread the notionAnnamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-34939217289768915292016-11-07T13:06:52.004-05:002016-11-07T13:06:52.004-05:00Your reflections are consistent with what makes yo...Your reflections are consistent with what makes you the unique person you are, sis. Ask me what I think of the rest of our society on Wednesday. Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-68205604134955344612016-11-07T12:06:44.391-05:002016-11-07T12:06:44.391-05:00A very thoughtful column, AmA. I suspect that wha...A very thoughtful column, AmA. I suspect that what you've called out is primarily the result of two things, one cyclical and the other all new and possibly with no end. The first has to do with the ebb and flow of society, as the generations pass, and right now we're at the low point of the cycle (as I've mentioned in comments before), where society is pulling apart and it's "every man for himself" (to over-generalize). That's going to continue, unfortunately, until some global calamity that lasts long enough for a new generation to grow up during it (such as happened during the 1930s and 1940s), and then society will pull back together more (unfortunately, that also entails great pressure to conform, but that's part of the cycle). <br /><br />The other (possibly non-ending) change is what's being driven by technology. High speed communications, entertainment in our homes... at the same time that technology makes the world 'smaller,' it also makes it 'larger.' It makes it smaller in that we know more about what's going on in every corner of the planet, and we know it almost instantly. It makes it larger in that we know more, we're overwhelmed with vast 'inputs' of information about unrest, war, disasters, dangers, etc, and that makes us "shut down," become inured to the suffering of others through numbing repetition.<br /><br />My hope (which helps me sleep at night) is that the great cycle of society WILL swing back again, AND that eventually the greater exposure to events via technology will push us, as a global society, and thus indirectly as individuals, to more and more 'humane' (if you'll forgive the use of the term here) standards of existence.<br />Everett Kaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12371555243187874414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-54309591433417094352016-11-07T10:59:14.496-05:002016-11-07T10:59:14.496-05:00You have managed to renew my hope in mankind. Than...You have managed to renew my hope in mankind. Thanks for that. :-)Leyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14669617004830331791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-56255708387629175402016-11-07T10:01:17.247-05:002016-11-07T10:01:17.247-05:00I meant ON the same track!I meant ON the same track!Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-14491763638570192572016-11-07T10:00:49.305-05:002016-11-07T10:00:49.305-05:00Leye, it does not surprise me in the least that ou...Leye, it does not surprise me in the least that our minds are not the same track. I also think that there has been a hardening of some hearts of late. There seems to be an upsurge in that, for sure. But it is not universal by any stretch of the imagination. The Greeks and the Italians are showing great compassion toward the immigrants. The Italians are even taking special care of the dead--creating a DNA database of them--out of resect and the need of their relatives to properly mourn for them. Nor is this trend to indifference certainly a permanent direction for humankind. Canada is now a paragon among nations when it comes to compassion. But before Pierre Trudeau, it had one of the most racist immigration policies anywhere. We need only to think of the parable of the Good Samaritan to understand that compassion is a lesson that humans have always needed to learn. We need to be teaching and preaching it now, for certain. But people can learn. They can.Annamaria Alfierihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311596277267789834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-58732541236416200212016-11-07T05:29:34.811-05:002016-11-07T05:29:34.811-05:00Just this weekend, at Afrikadag in Amsterdam, I ta...Just this weekend, at Afrikadag in Amsterdam, I talked about the amazing ability of human to ignore the suffering of other humans. I talked about this in the context of resentment towards immigrants fleeing bombs and Isis. <br />Is this becoming part of what it means to be human? This ability to be unmoved by the pain, suffering, hunger, persecution of other people? This ability to walk undisturbed past a beggar camping out in the cold of winter. To vote to send immigrant boats back to air raids and crucifixions. <br />I like to think that growing up in Africa has made compassion for strangers a part of who I am, that it is a western things this apathy in the face of human suffering. But truth be told, it is a human thing. A modern human thing. And it is scary.<br />Leyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14669617004830331791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-16923456204207953592016-11-07T05:27:17.386-05:002016-11-07T05:27:17.386-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Leyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14669617004830331791noreply@blogger.com