I am gloomy. Murky. Dismal in thought, often. “Mark the Dark” I’ve been called. Despite holding on to the shreds of youthful idealism, I revile the human race. I stand on the rim and loathe and laugh at it from without. On good days, I disdain and disparage people. On bad days, I despise them. They bathe in a toxic cauldron of hatred, violence, jealousy, ignorance, and cruelty. They claim to be the most intelligent entities spawned by evolution on this earth. Often, then, I question the direction and speed of evolution.
I’m not a joiner. But I can’t help being a member of the human race. I was born that way. I don’t hold out much hope for us. Whether it will end for us in a holocaust of fire and fallout, or starvation and disease on the heels of overpopulation, I can’t foresee. But though I have fanciful science fiction story ideas about humans thousands and millions of years hence, I don’t see us surviving long enough to even leave our solar system.
But Egypt has given me renewed hope. I never would have believed this could happen, especially in the mideast, where religious zealotry and intolerance is legion. This organic, social-media-managed uprising had its desired effect through the perserverance of people who had had enough of tyranny. There was no dynamic leader, no cult of personality to inspire the masses to overthrow their despot. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people can come together, essentially leaderless, and agree to protest without violence in the face of violence, and not give in to mob rule when they’re attacked, to stand up Ghandi-like for their future and the future of their children; if that doesn’t rekindle hope for humanity, what can?
I pray (so to speak) that their righteously ousted government doesn’t lead to another manifestation of tyranny.