Enough of fame; a pox upon these actions

The fame of good men’s actions seldom goes beyond their own doors, but evil deeds are carried a thousand miles’ distance. [Chinese proverb]

In this time of conflict and turmoil, insecurity and despair, if there’s one question one cannot ask, with the expectation that there will be universal agreement, it seems to be the one that starts, “Who could fail to be moved by...?”

Adding to our grief is the loss of trust in the innate goodness of our neighbours on this planet. For now we all know that there is clearly a substantial body of people, not just ‘out there’ but even ‘right here’, on every ‘side’, across every political and religious divide, who indeed fail to be moved by the horrors that they and their teams unleash.

The Independent never fails to bring to my attention the anguish of victims. This must have an effect on its sales: from those like me, who look at the headlines and photos, who reflect, wince, then opt for another paper, as opposed to those bold souls who buy because of those very headlines, those very photos.

On Monday, the blow was the death of Fares Akram‘s father. Now it’s someone we ‘know’. Fares’s Dad. Journalists force us up close and personal. We now chalk up for our Ongoing Concerns lists, Fares’s wife, their baby and the nameless, invisible, overlooked women and children in that region, whom they represent.

Yesterday, the photo of the three Samouni children being carried to their graves. The day before, the anxiety of Ibrahim Dawwas. Next week, no doubt, a flurry of images. From Zim, the DRC, Afghanistan...

Enough. Enough of fame. A pox upon these actions.

Yay, Yay! Yum, Yum!

The cheer of a favourite four year old expresses some of my glee on coming across the teaser Kindness — the great taboo on the front page of Saturday’s Review Section of The Guardian. What a start to the year...

Turned out this section’s lead story was an extract from the book On Kindness, a joint effort from psychoanalyst, Adam Phillips, and historian, Barbara Taylor.

This against the background of ongoing conflict across the globe, and the increasingly vicious conflicts that dismay and depress.

While a soppy Fifties scene accompanies the story in the print edition, a Fra Angelico fresco of St Lawrence distributing alms accompanies the online edition.

What this, and the story’s headline, the Christianity-associated admonition to Love thy neighbour, could suggest is that kindness is predominantly a Christian value, and I wonder how many atheists, agnostics, and those of other faiths, scanned the headline, dismissed the story, and paged on.

But then, who am I to talk? After all, I eventually felt I had to two words to this blog’s title, hoping this would somehow clarify that it’s not based on some Old Testament rant.

The book itself looks both at the evolution of the concept of kindness over the centuries, going on, from a more psychoanalytical perspective, to examine our ambivalence about kindness . The Guardian's piece gives an overview of attitudes to kindness over the centuries, its appeal to, and dismissal by, the human psyche, concluding with the claim that “it is kindness, fundamentally, that makes life seem worth living; and ... everything that is against kindness is an assault on our hope.” (My italics. My sentiments.)

I recommend this read.

Note: On Kindness is published by Hamish Hamilton. I see that it’s currently going for half the published price on Amazon UK but, re the US, please note that your Amazon indicates the book won’t be released there until late May.