A Note on Kindness

You know what I think is the missing element from all the argy-bargy that’s been going on in politics, and life in general lately?
It’s kindness; simple kindness.
There’s trouble with Covid vaccinations.
Trouble with gender equality issues.
BIG trouble with Climate Change.
And I’m wondering about a novel approach to problems -  using kindness.
 
I listened to the PM the other day, reciting one of his ‘word salads’ that he uses to try and placate his critics and, as he tried to say that he was on everyone’s side, the reason he sounded insincere is that there were no accompanying words of kindness offered. The word ‘respect’ was flung around, with no attached note as to (or from) whom this ‘respect’ would be delivered. There was a lot of ‘look at me’ and much of how he ‘understands’. We know he speaks kindly of his family, but he never seems to speak kindly of – or to - his fellow Australians.

The vaccination debacle is one of the best illustrations of the undesirability of putting all one’s eggs in one basket. (Definitely no kind thoughts there!)

Then from many commentators, the current explosion of women’s rights and the (necessary) push for gender equality is often met with either derogatory comments about ‘militant feminists’ or the defensive, ‘not me – not ALL men’ claim.

Few people stop to think in a kindly way of their fellow human beings, male or female.

Albert Schweitzer once said,
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate”.

Notice the words, misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility. (A lot of that around, lately).
That those things may ‘evaporate’, once kindness is instigated, may well be correct. But we don’t seem to have the time to devote to being kind.
Does it take too much effort?
Too much thought?

Is it possible that lack of kindness could be halting real progress in the Climate Change dilemma?
If the world’s population, especially the world’s LEADERS, applied a truly kind attitude to OTHER PEOPLE – their fellow man - then perhaps it would be an easier task to make Climate Change an imperative - and begin a huge desire to get working together on solutions to save us from inevitable destruction.

Instead of pandering to the god of money and the money-men, whose only thought is of themselves, how about thinking of everyone as needing consideration.

General KINDNESS towards our fellow man would achieve this.
Nothing less is my guess.  Futile, I suspect.

“Be kind whenever possible.
It is always possible.”  (Dalai Lama)