Have Humans Reversed Course?

Here is the lead from an article published in the New Yorker this past summer:

"The horror of Syria's war is in the millions of pictures that are too gruesome to circulate — charred limbs stacked outside hospital wards, bloated bodies rotting in sniper alleys, a toddler plucked from the rubble without a head."

It seems the rule of law is crumbling. Righteous indignation and cherished standards of decency are falling away and even dismissed as the province of the elite and overeducated. (Illustration created by ChatGPT 4 using prompts written by Darren Phillips on May 13, 2025. Illustration modified by Darren Phillips using Adobe Photoshop.)

After reading the article linked above earlier this evening, I'm consumed by feelings of despair over the inhumanity of man to man. Does it feel like the human race has reversed course? Do we no longer agree or even care about what is and isn't acceptable in war and politics? Are the hard-fought-for triumphs of our time — victories for human rights and the environment — eroding away in the icy winds of greed and indifference?

It seems the rule of law is crumbling. Righteous indignation and cherished standards of decency are falling away and even dismissed as the province of the elite and "overeducated."

More "civilized" nations that are supposed to lead the world by example have allowed the devaluation of facts and reliable data and even science to impede our collective ability to make wise decisions.

Truth becomes more and more difficult to discern as the spread of disinformation becomes more profitable and more pervasive. The loudest, most strident, most powerful among us are the least capable and least compassionate.

Dark forces advance in angry torrents of nativist paranoia. We close our eyes as headless children are plucked from the rubble. ☮︎

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Note: Image and additional web links added in 2025.

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