We like to believe that we live in a thoroughly modern world and we do have so many conveniences available that were not here years ago. Washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, toasters, memory foam mattresses, wash and wear clothing, cars that get amazing mileage, air conditioners, even robot vacuums. Doctors can vaccinate us against smallpox, whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, treat us for high blood pressure, diabetes, even depression.
But for all this, we are hardly more than savages.
Beyond a certain point all doctors really know how to do is remove bad things with surgery or chemicals. People still believe the color of skin makes us better or worse human beings. We are greedy, preferring to hoard things and accumulate money rather than work for the common good. We judge each other on superfluous things believing that if you have expensive houses, cars, jewelry, clothing, it some how designates you as a better person. How many hours we work means more than what we did with those hours.
In the end, many of us are not much more than magpies flying around eating, procreating and collecting shiny objects for our nests.
It may be modern, but there must be more. Somewhere there must be kindness, empathy, actual caring, not just passive aggressive posturing.
As long as people still starve for lack of food, die for lack of medical care, suffer for lack of justice, the world may be modern, but it is certainly not humane. Being a human is not necessarily laudable.
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