Tuesday, July 25, 2006
An Absence of Gratitude
One of our admirers recently wrote about the universal denial of resources to the democratic social movement in our country, and noted in passing the widespread practice of the theft of creators' work in this field of social endeavor. Ignorance and superficiality aside, we think there are perfectly understandable reasons for this absence of gratitude toward our social protectors.
One is that their recognition exposes the need for protection and thereby the relative unimportance of advocacy as a social activity for extending human rights, and the other is that by supporting the more effective efforts of prophylactic cultural creatives, institutions and individuals would be acknowledging a social obligation rather than a philanthropic consumer choice.
In the end, however, this all boils down to a fundamental respect for human dignity--something that, despite the lofty rhetoric, is noticeably lacking in American society, progressive philanthropy and academia included.
One is that their recognition exposes the need for protection and thereby the relative unimportance of advocacy as a social activity for extending human rights, and the other is that by supporting the more effective efforts of prophylactic cultural creatives, institutions and individuals would be acknowledging a social obligation rather than a philanthropic consumer choice.
In the end, however, this all boils down to a fundamental respect for human dignity--something that, despite the lofty rhetoric, is noticeably lacking in American society, progressive philanthropy and academia included.
