If I have it right, when it was pointed out to Ghandi that passive resistance would not have worked with Hitler, his reply was that you had to give it several generations. I am not sure even that would have worked. (It certainly have helped the Jews or gypsies, or gays or disabled in the immediate neighborhood.) But then wars haven’t gotten us too far either. There seems to be something in the nature of man that allows certain of them to rise to power which, when they have it, they use to torment others. But then what do those individuals or nations standing by who observe this do about it?
In an op-ed piece in yesterday’s Times, Arthur Brooks cited a study in which subjects were shown a.) a British sit-com; b.) a nature documentary; and c.) an “uplifting” Oprah episode. The Oprah watchers reported feeling the most optimism about humanity and desire to help others.
Is the answer more Oprah?