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The Way of Power Politics is the Way of the Chimpanzee
Humanity needs a new playbook. Traditional texts can help us, but we have to read them critically. And knowledge of our history is key.
Will Smith’s Outburst at the Oscars brought the issue into focus.
Watching last night’s Oscar show I got to thinking about humanity’s propensity for aggression. I’m referring specifically to Will Smith’s violent reaction to Chris Rock’s tasteless joke about Jada Pinket-Smith’s alopecia.
I was watching the ceremony with my husband, and he commented that Will Smith looked depressed during and after his outburst.
Isn’t everyone a little depressed right now? We are two years into a global pandemic, democracy seems doomed, and now a megalomaniac has started an aggressive war and seems intent on world domination or even nuclear destruction.
Watching Smith’s halfhearted apology for his physical aggression, I felt like he knew, on some level, that what he did was not exemplary behaviour in this age of societal polarization and a possible backsliding into fascism and global conflict.
He knew it, but he didn’t own it. He didn’t apologize to Rock. Perhaps he will rethink…
