The first time I encountered the expression, May you live in interesting times, it was attributed to Robert Kennedy, who had supposedly called it an “Ancient Chinese curse.” The idea is/was that the kinds of events that make times interesting are usually unpleasant: wars, famines, earthquakes, serious storms, and so on. A headline to the effect of “Neighbors fight to the death over a petunia patch” will create more interest than one stating, “Neighbors cooperate to raise petunias.” An old saying in the newspaper industry (and radio, TV and Internet news as well) is, If it bleeds, it leads.
It is easy to see why that is so. Wars and rumors of war have been associated with the end of times for centuries, and they generate more interest than peace and prosperity. We (humans in general) pay more attention when we have something to be afraid of. People, in fact, seem to go out of their way to find things to be afraid of. If you’ve read much history, you know that history tends to consist of a chronicle of wars. England and France, for example, have been “friends” for a long time now, but that wasn’t always the case. Their history is anything but a “love fest”.
It’s almost as though we (humans) can’t stand it if things are too peaceful and comfortable for too long. When resources are scarse, it makes sense for humans to fight over the resources that are available. If nothing else, such battles reduce the number of humans desiring the same resources. That may not, however, be the most sensible way to ensure that everyone has enough, and, as long as people are afraid they won’t get “their share,” they will fight to ensure that they won’t be among those who don’t get enough. That’s basically the reason Cain killed Abel.
One thing we can say for sure about the current times is that they are “interesting.” I have wondered about the degree to which the desire to “keep things interesting” influences the way people vote. Would Donald Trump have been elected president if a majority of voters hadn’t wanted to “shake things up”? The problem with “shaking things up,” of course, is that not everyone will be happy with the result. That essentially guarantees another shake-up, another roll of the political dice, and as is true for dice, the result for each roll is random.
I suspect that the story about Cain and Abel is at least metaphorically true. It also suggest an ongoing story, a story without end. Humans will continue killing each other until we encounter another species in the galaxy that challenges us for dominance. If you have read (or watched) much science fiction, you know that the bulk of it is “us versus them.” In the ongoing “Star Trek” stories, earth may be peaceful, but the galaxies are anything but. There are always wars and rumors of war….
An old song, often played during the Christmas Season, is Let There Be Peace on Earth, which includes the concept of “let it begin with me.” That is both the promise and the difficulty…. We have often been told that The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
That is probably true. When we fail to pay attention to what is actually happening, we are asking for trouble. A long time ago, a baseball player named Satchel Paige, said Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you. We need to stay focused on the outcomes we wish to achieve, and when we lose focus, we are asking for trouble. Yes, interesting times provide numerous distractions, but that’s all they are. We need to remain focused on what we want if we are to achieve it. It is not a guarantee, of course, as the unexpected might be gaining on us.
The bad thing about “interesting times” is that they create the need for “internal vigilance.” The good thing about them is that, if we pay attention, we will never be bored….
