Commitment & Country

I have commitment to my family, my friends, myself & my ethics, to trying to be honest, also to the importance of the Arts in human experience. Some people feel they have a commitment to their country, I'm not sure about that. It's too wide a concept. Too nebulous. What does it mean? England, the "United?" Kingdom? Does it literally mean the land, the population, the current politics? If so it's an awful lot of very diverse things & people to be committed to. I can't be committed to everything & everybody.

I feel I have to be more discriminating. I have to exclude things - I'm not committed to religious zealots of any belief system. I'm not committed to Climate Emergency deniers, or criminals. I'm not committed to politicians, (but I am to politics). I'm not committed to the Royal Family, (but I'm not against them). Once you start to think about commitment it raises all sorts of complicated issues. 

It is however, important to have commitment to something & some people. If we didn't have any commitment to anything we would be lesser human beings. If we are only committed to ourselves, our own self gratification & importance in the grand scheme of things we would be very one dimensional people. 

I have recently been in the company of a few people who I found to be completely self absorbed. Conversation was very one way, they told me things with very little pause for breath & no opportunity for me to participate in the conversation. It was exhausting & very boring. I found myself wondering why they thought I would be in the least bit interested in or entertained by the recounting of their lives, often over a very long period.

So I think we should all think more about being committed to being better people. Instead of being committed to our own small worlds we need to develop our critical thinking skills - the ability to interpret, evaluate, and analyze facts and information that are available, to form a judgment or decide if something is right or wrong. Instead of just being curious about the world around us, critical thinkers make connections between logical ideas to see the bigger picture. We need to cultivate empathy, interest in other people & things.

Commitment is important, but I think the Western world is becoming committed to the idea that they know best.