An elderly reader recently rang me to comment on an Albert Einstein quote she had read published in a local paper.
I was intrigued. The reader, 84, said she felt that society was descending into a sadder world than what she was used to. The quote resonated with her powerfully. It went: "Our task must be to free ourselves . . . by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." She said she read it several times, and it made more of an impression each time she did. It was her thought that people don't care as much about others as they used to. I'm sure it is true that in the priorities of life, "others" are not as important as your own wellbeing. We also have responsibilities that extend to our families, and it is that complexity of modern survival that does not give us much time or energy to direct to the needs of others.
We rely on organisations, charities to spark our compassion. They encourage us, with sophisticated advertising, to part with our money and time. And perhaps, because we have so many charities bidding for our time, we treat their causes as a commodity, something we know is vaguely good but can be discarded when times are tough. Einstein's quote is nicely phrased, but I don't believe compassion can be generated by sheer will. People have it, sometimes in buckets, but I think our natural evolution keeps compassion at a certain level - you can't will it to go higher. There are too many complications, too much background noise to deal with. And that means, unfortunately, we either filter out the struggles of others, or we simply don't see it any more. We all have compassion. Rather than hunting for a cause, or taking it into your head to save the local feral cat colony, perhaps the best step forward is knowing your neighbours, and forming groups - something that was far more common before the internet arrived. Humanity - and compassion - comes through human connections, and really seeing what's happening with others.
Andrew is editor of the Wairarapa Times Age
