A voice of reason from the insane

One of the best contemporary American authors and my personal favorite, Kurt Vonnegut, passed away yesterday. The recurring theme of his work was, simply, community. We (humans) are social animals. We need to interact with others, that stimulus is an important part of a healthy life. The American culture takes a different view, favoring the idea of the rugged individualist. Americans are in love with the idea of the immigrant who pulls himself up by his boot straps to become wealthy and influential.

Thats all crap.

People need other people to survive. Someone to care for us when were sick, encourage us to accomplish our potential, to join with us to build a better world. The often irreverent Vonnegut refers to this philsophy as humanism and himself as a humanist. What makes the idea of humanism so grand it two fold. First its simple, and can be summed with the old adage "Do unto to others as you would have undone to you." Second its about doing the right thing because its right, not because you want something out of the trade. I have been affected by his life and his work and would like to think that I could be a humanist my-self. I try hard at this everyday.

So it goes.