I have been thinking today about a Greek word I encountered a few weeks ago during my daily Bible reading. It is found in Matthew 13 and Mark 4, shortly after the Parable of the Sower, and it is the word συνίημι ("syniemi"), which means literally "to send, bring, or set together." In a metaphorical sense it also means to "put two and two together," that is, to understand the meaning and implications of a thing. The passage in which this word appears reads thus:
For the heart of this people has become dull,
and with their ears they scarcely hear,
and they have closed their eyes,
lest they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand (σῠνῑ́ημῐ) with their heart and return,
and I should heal them.
And consider those nations which have historically identified themselves as the Global North. Note how the cultures and political discourse of so many of these nations has been hijacked by the ideology of predatory laissez-faire free-market capitalism, the worship of wealth, white supremacy, and the selfishness of "libertarianism" and "conservatism." Those who promoted this hijacking have loudly and insistently preached the message that there should be no limits or restrictions placed on the "liberty" of individuals for any reason whatsoever. They failed to mention that they are most concerned about preserving the liberty of those individuals in a society who have the greatest economic and political power, who are thus free to indulge their selfishness by stepping on the toes (and any other convenient body parts) of all the rest of us. Yet what is both noteworthy and tragic is that so many of the rest of us have bought the same message and drunk the same Kool-Aid which is sold to us by the wealthiest and most powerful members of our society.
But in recent decades, a number of crises have emerged as a result of this thinking. I will consider only two of these today. Let me mention that both crises could have been mitigated or avoided entirely had our society held a more collectivist mindset - that is, had we been the sort of people who value the common good above the unrestrained exercise of individual "liberty". The first crisis is that of manmade climate change. Yes, I said "manmade." Other accurate phrases or terms would include "anthropogenic" or "human-caused." We have known for decades that industrial activity was altering the earth's atmosphere in ways that would alter the climate - yet the defenders of "liberty" have loudly and insistently denied such knowledge. Why? Because to admit the impact of human industrial activity would have forced these people to confront a moral choice. They would have been faced with the choice of "understanding with their hearts." And that choice would have cost either a numbed conscience or possibly lots of money. The Global North does like its money, doesn't it? (The white American Evangelical/Protestant church really loves its money! Must be why so many of its members and leaders can't seem to put two and two together...) And in addition to the numbing of conscience, these nations chose to continue the destructive chasing of economic gain because many of their citizens told themselves that the consequences of their choices would never fall on them. They said, "What do we care about polar bears? Or about poor island people drowning in rising seas? That's so far from us!"
But in recent decades, a number of crises have emerged as a result of this thinking. I will consider only two of these today. Let me mention that both crises could have been mitigated or avoided entirely had our society held a more collectivist mindset - that is, had we been the sort of people who value the common good above the unrestrained exercise of individual "liberty". The first crisis is that of manmade climate change. Yes, I said "manmade." Other accurate phrases or terms would include "anthropogenic" or "human-caused." We have known for decades that industrial activity was altering the earth's atmosphere in ways that would alter the climate - yet the defenders of "liberty" have loudly and insistently denied such knowledge. Why? Because to admit the impact of human industrial activity would have forced these people to confront a moral choice. They would have been faced with the choice of "understanding with their hearts." And that choice would have cost either a numbed conscience or possibly lots of money. The Global North does like its money, doesn't it? (The white American Evangelical/Protestant church really loves its money! Must be why so many of its members and leaders can't seem to put two and two together...) And in addition to the numbing of conscience, these nations chose to continue the destructive chasing of economic gain because many of their citizens told themselves that the consequences of their choices would never fall on them. They said, "What do we care about polar bears? Or about poor island people drowning in rising seas? That's so far from us!"
Except that now it isn't far away at all. Last year was the first year of my life in which I lived in the midst of a widespread, potentially lethal climate event. It was an event for which to escape, many of us would have had to travel up to a thousand miles to the east. It was an event during which the amount of free oxygen in the local atmosphere dropped to such levels that dangerous levels of carbon monoxide were produced. And it was caused by wildfires that raged from Southern California to southern Canada. We are about to experience another potentially lethal climate event, as daytime temperatures over much of the American West will exceed 100 degrees for several days, and nighttime temperatures will not drop below 70 degrees. (See this also.) Moreover, there will be few places to which to escape, because much of the rest of the United States is also experiencing climate crises including severe weather. And both the heat and the severe weather are likely to recur several times this summer. Would you like a little fire with that order? Or maybe you have enough money to escape to Europe for a while. Except that Europe is enduring its own heatwave (especially Eastern Europe), and parts of Russia have turned into a bit of Hell. (See this also.)
There is also the ongoing crisis of the coronavirus pandemic. What is noteworthy about the United States is the large number of people who have not yet been vaccinated - especially in southern "red" states - as well as the number of people who continue to refuse to wear masks in public. I ran into one such gentleman this morning when I made a quick dash to buy some groceries. I pointed him out to one of the store clerks, who told the man to put on a mask. He protested, saying that he had been vaccinated. Then the man looked at me and announced that he had been to Afghanistan. I don't exactly know what reaction he hoped to get out of me - he was fat and had gray hair, and if he was really a vet, it was obvious that it had been a long time since he had graduated from the college of violent knowledge. I just looked at him. Had he caused trouble, he would have been able afterward to boast that not only had he been to Afghanistan, but he had also been to jail. He did put on a mask. People like him are the reason why the United States is so slow in returning to any semblance of a pre-pandemic "normal."
The United States ignored for a while the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result, the American economy was badly damaged even as our leaders prioritized profits above dealing with the crisis. The United States is now no longer the strongest nation on earth. The Global North has ignored the implications of climate change until now, and as a result, the differential in power and wealth which the Global North has built with respect to the rest of the world is eroding. Could it be perhaps way past time for some of us to start putting two and two together?
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