When Coronavirus came to town, Villa Zoomers joined hands and settled in. While many stood and wondered, Zoomers assumed a proactive stance that has engaged them since early March. The “Black Lives Matter Movement” was in full bloom and Zoomers (many hesitant at the time) soon answered its call to explore together the various injustices that have existed in our American society.
Since that time, they have continued to discuss such things as alleged police brutality and the injustices in the prison system. They have examined the inequities in our voting and economic systems and talked about the roles of membership and leadership in the search for a better kind of politics. They have considered the plight of the American Indian and have seen the far-reaching effects of their enforced relocation.
This week the Zoomers’ broad range of exposure was apparent as they continued their discussion of Fratelli Tutti. It is not so much what was said (though comments were open and astute); it was by far the sincere recognition of the need to face honestly the personal inadequacies of the past. It was a heart-felt willingness to change within themselves those things that fall short of the ideal.
As much as Zoomers wish for a world based on universal human rights, they recognize that our world today is far from utopian. Human rights are not equal. While one part of humanity lives in opulence, another part goes hungry. By the same token, women have yet to attain the same stature and recognition as men. War, terrorism and religious persecution are judged by different standards depending on economics and convenience. In the end, these disparities leave us in a constant quandary.
It would seem that today’s technology should be a means of bridging the divides that separate us. Paradoxically, “we have certain ancestral fears that technological development has not succeeded in eliminating.” Human nature still stubbornly resists change and holds suspect what is new or innovative. Thus, today we find that Society builds walls for itself that close out all that is threatening and foreign.
Certainly, it is ours to break down those walls and celebrate the opportunities for building bridges.
