When Henry Kissinger died this past week, articles used words like “complicated” and “difficult” to describe him and the decisions he made that adversely affected the lives of millions in Cambodia, Chile, East Timor, and Bangladesh. Political maneuvering to protect state interests, I guess, could be difficult, but Kissinger chose ideology over morality, and that’s why what is happening now around the world is causing such a headache and debate here at home.
We all have to make difficult decisions. We have to pick the lesser of two evils many times, and most of us choose that path. But there are times when the difficult decision makes some lean into the side of ideology over what is best for humanity, and during this holiday season, I’d like us all to reflect on that thought.
Ideology vs. morality. Both are systems of deeply held beliefs but one connects us to others in a way that is flesh and bone instead of words on paper and praxis. Ideology lives in theory and operation, whereas morality often exists in the flesh and experience of the human being. Morality and morals are closely linked, but what we often call “morals” is ideology in practice.
All of these concepts are mutable and can change as societies and thoughts of humankind shift.
What we once allowed as ideological people and under the morality we were brought up with before we learned to be critical and to examine more deeply seems to be undergoing a drastic shift in today’s political climate. These changes have given rise to the #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter, Occupy, and other recent political positions, including ideological right-wing movements like Right to Life and the Tea Party. All of these movements have shifted our beliefs and, in turn, challenged what we think of as moral and correct in our lives. More and more Americans seem to understand that we are our brothers’ keepers, and that means it is our responsibility to consider the whole and not just the individual. With that said, rugged American individualism dies hard, and it is fighting for its life right now.
So when our eyes look back at someone like Kissinger, we are horrified. How could he remain a free man, fed and watered on a pension of our tax dollars after causing the deaths of millions of people around the world? How can he be considered palatable by any stretch of the imagination?
Kissinger represents the moral failing of U.S. foreign policy, and as we see our leaders make similar mistakes, we’re dealing with big dilemmas. How can we separate our morality from our ideology to do what is best for humanity?
I don’t have an answer, but I know that as we move into another year, the more I see political maneuvering and the treatment of our power in the world, I’m disheartened that we still deem some people worth more than others instead of looking for ways to bring solutions so that more people can survive and build together instead of moving farther and farther apart.
Take that how you will, readers, but I hope that in the new year, your heart leads you toward kindness, fairness, and a true sense that you can and do affect all of the people around you.
‘Til 2024. •
