A Prompt for a Reflection
“Regard for power implies disregard for those without power…”
Two of my favorite pieces of writing are my children’s essays in response to the famous University of Chicago supplemental essay questions that are part of the application for undergraduate admission.1
My son answered: “So where is Waldo, really?”
My daughter answered: “In 2015, the city of Melbourne, Australia created a "tree-mail" service, in which all of the trees in the city received an email address so that residents could report any tree-related issues. As an unexpected result, people began to email their favorite trees sweet and occasionally humorous letters. Imagine this has been expanded to any object (tree or otherwise) in the world, and share with us the letter you’d send to your favorite.”
Part of me always wanted to be a humanities professor.2 So, here is my chance. My May 31st Friday Reflection (#40 for those keeping track) was inspired by the quotation from Robert Caro’s epic biography of Robert Moses:
“Regard for power implies disregard for those without power…”
Here’s my idea. If you are feeling inspired (and have the time) write an essay, having to do with this quotation, that has some relation to medicine. Get it to me by 5/30/24 (sensiblemedicine2022@gmail.com), before mine goes up on the 31st. I will post a few of my favorites. Keep it under 1200 words.
As an extra incentive, there is a Sensible Medicine T-shirt in it for those who get “published.” They’re very cool t-shirts. (Maybe include your size and whether you want men’s or woman’s cut with you submission. They run small).
(Photo by Aaron Burden)
I am, admittedly, crazy biased here.
Art history or classics.
After half century of reflection, I finally discovered what I believe to be the ultimate context-free definition of right vs. left, in quite general terms, one that transcends all cultures, all times, and delves directly into the spirit of the divide:
The right embraces the powerful, the left embraces the powerless.
Such a definition is completely general and transcends context, because those who are perceived as "the powerful" or "the powerless" also vary greatly with context (time and place). Every right-wing philosophy is underpinned by the essence that society should rally and be organized around the interests of the powerful, the "winners," the "job creators," and so on. Every left-wing philosophy is rooted in the idea that the powerless form the bedrock of society, the "salt of the Earth" carry the world on their shoulders, etc.. Right-wing philosophers like Ayn Rand view the powerless as a ball and chain, a drag upon the powerful champions of society. Left-wing philosophers like Karl Marx view the powerful as exploitative, appropriating the lives of the powerless owing to their position in society.
Consistent with this definition, the supposition that "regard for power implies disregard for those without power" suggests that the right vs. left divide of human society is irreconcilable. The converse should also be true: "regard for the powerless implies disregard for those with power." Is it true?
Perhaps. Such a rift appears to be fundamentally rooted in human nature, some persons in every society gravitate toward the powerful, while others feel empathy for the powerless. Some seek authority, while others abhor centralized power. Some believe that a rich man has less chance of advancing to heaven than navigating a camel through the "eye of the needle," while others view all exercise of power by the powerful as fundamentally overbearing and unjust.
The above definition of right vs. left explains why both of the supposed "right" and "left" in mainstream US politics (i.e., Republicans vs. Democrats, respectively) are invariably right-wing. Both parties pay lip service (only) to their alleged cause, however, both are backed by powerful factions of oligarchs. US politics has devolved into a silly fight between powerful factions, akin to a football game between Yale and Harvard. The fight serves to keep everyone divided, and the perpetuation of the most culturally divisive issues (guns, abortion, etc.) serves to distract the public from recognizing that they really have no democracy, no choice...no hope.
And...what is the position of those who vie for admission to the University of Chicago, or pays attention to, and places value in, what such a powerful institution thinks about them? The answer is clear: Any who seek admission to University of Chicago clearly possess a right-wing mindset.
Where IS Waldo?!?