The Forces Of Progress Versus The Forces Of Censorship

“As some Frenchman has said, ‘The stairway of time is ever echoing with the wooden shoe going up, the polished boot descending.’” -Jack London

The story of humanity is no different from the rest of the animal kingdom. It is the story of evolution. And evolution typically occurs at a pace so slow as to be unobservable by the ephemeral human being. It is human nature to desire that progress will come swiftly, so that the lifespan of a human can observe the entire story. But in truth we are individually only able to witness a brief chapter. Only the very wisest are able to see beyond the current events and characters of the day and catch glimpses of the overarching narrative. We call them prophets, philosophers, spiritual leaders. By heeding their words, and acting in faith that our behavior matters, we play our part in helping humanity towards a brighter day.

We are continually frustrated by the slow march of progress, so much so that we attempt to rush it, force our naïve and simplistic ideas of progress upon a world that is indifferent to our desires. We invest our emotions in convenient and simplistic movements, and turn to despair when they have not led us to the promised land. Or worse, we resort to violence in the hope that we might force the pieces into place. But to use violence to make the pieces fit is to hack at the pieces to make them unnaturally conform to our simplistic view of the world. It does not place the pieces where they are supposed to be and only makes the overall picture…