The Poetry And Philosophy Of Troubled Times | On Point with Tom Ashbrook

You don't often hear a poet and a philosopher on the radio. And at the same time? A first.

Billy Collins can make even a bleak future (past, present) sound inviting. How does he do that?


THE FUTURE

When I finally arrive there—

and it will take many days and nights—

I would like to believe others will be waiting

and might even want to know how it was.

So I will reminisce about a particular sky

or a woman in a white bathrobe

or the time I visited a narrow strait

where a famous naval battle had taken place.

Then I will spread out on a table

a large map of my world

and explain to the people of the future

in their pale garments what it was like—

how mountains rose between the valleys

and this was called geography,

how boats loaded with cargo plied the rivers

and this was known as commerce,

how the people from this pink area

crossed over into this light-green area

and set fires and killed whoever they found

and this was called history—

and they will listen, mild-eyed and silent,

as more of them arrive to join the circle

like ripples moving toward,

not away from, a stone tossed into a pond

New Yorker

The Poetry And Philosophy Of Troubled Times | On Point with Tom Ashbrook

prayer and sacrifice

Theists sometimes claim that any problem with the concept of God can be fixed by downgrading His divine attributes. Here's how some atheists react to the idea of a non-omniscient Deity:

But seriously... I heard Tom Ashbrook sign off from his radio discussion of the Haiti tragedy yesterday with "Say a prayer for Haiti." Now really, if that was going to work would there have been a magnitude 7 quake in such a pathetic, impoverished backwater in the first place? What, you have to say the magic words if you want to incur divine favor?


I know, it's mostly rhetorical. People don't know what else to say. But as Dan Dennett asked, when well-meaning friends offered to pray for his damaged aorta, would they also offer to sacrifice a goat? Point is, those who reject the power of prayer need a new vocabulary of concern. Instead of praying for Haiti, what should we say? (We already know what we should do.)

Marcus Brigstocke is another Brit with some thoughts about all this:

Copenhagen

Just heard a wonderfully sobering exchange on the radio between Bill McKibben, author and environmental activist, and David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The points at issue: was Copenhagen the unmitigated disaster most of the world seems to think it was? Or is there a good spin to be put on gradualism, baby steps, and the maddeningly slow and weak political response mustered to the climate crisis to date? Did Obama come with too little, too late? Or did he save the day?

More pointedly: environmentalists had high expectations for Copenhagen. Are they right to be disappointed and discouraged? Should they keep their shoulders to the wheel? Yes and yes.

McKibben is the very voice of clear-eyed radical engagement, unblinking realism, and sweet reason. He rightly points out that even the sharpest politicians don't seem to grasp the uncompromising urgency of our predicament. A caller rightly pointed out that the issue is not the survival of planet earth, but the tenability of our continued human presence here. The more our leaders delay, the more irrelevant we become.

Political incrementalism is clearly inadequate to the challenges we face, but we must persevere. The alternative is too hopeless to contemplate.