Investigative Selfism

When do you see yourself as brave, and when do you see yourself as a coward?

I think history is testing us every day.

There is a beautiful speech by writer George Saunders in which he talks about the missed opportunities of kindness. I love that piece. I would share it with my students every time I worked as an educator.

In one of the first essays of my political blog, I wrote about the then-pro-democracy protests in Belarus. It was an essay on bravery, and in it, I quoted one of my favourite authors: Umberto Eco. I want to do it again today.

In his book, Foucault’s Pendulum, the main character reflects on his sense of cowardice, of seeing himself as a coward, just because he didn’t live through times when his bravery would be very blatantly tested:

“Granted, I was either too early or too late for all the great Opportunities, but that was the fault of my birth date. I would have liked to be in that field of bullets, shooting, even at the price of hitting Granny. But I was absent because of age, not because of cowardice.“

He adds,

“You have to seize Opportunity instinctively, without knowing at the time that it is the Opportunity. Is it possible that I really did seize it once, without knowing? How can you feel like a coward because you were born in the wrong decade?

The answer: You feel like a coward because once you were a coward.”

Although not on courage per se, another quote comes to mind, this time a famous one by Oscar Wilde:

“Life imitates art.“

Who doesn’t want to be the brave hero in their own lives? Who doesn’t want to do something heroic once in a while? Who wouldn’t appreciate an opportunity to be seen as keeping to their moral compass even when times are tough? I know I do, and sometimes it’s only the pride of having stuck to my principles that pulls me through those tough times when very little else does.

The Opportunity, as Umberto Eco would put it, to show the world you’re not a coward.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot in recent years. As a political analyst who focuses on Palestine and has lived there many years ago, standing by the people who are being mass murdered and disposed hasn’t been difficult; there has never been any inner debate about it since I learned what has been happening there for decades.

But I would remind myself very consciously that even when everything looks so bleak — either externally or internally, or both sometimes — there is at least this one respect in which I am not being a coward. I might use other descriptors for myself that aren’t kind, but, in the end, I can look at myself in the mirror. I can live with myself.

How strange is it to think that not seeing yourself as a coward would come as easily as speaking out against genocide and ethnic cleansing?

What an easy card we’ve been granted.

But has it been used by all?

We saw this past week how singer Ed Sheeran chose to remove Macklemore from his tour because of his stance on Palestine instead of standing up to the wishes of the Zionist stadium owners. As many have correctly pointed out, Ed Sheeran has the fame, money, and power to have refused this demand. He could have taken a stance, but chose not to. He has missed a HUGE opportunity not to be a coward.

We stand with those who are being oppressed and exterminated, not to be seen as brave. We do it because it’s the right thing to do.

We do it when we have more power and resources, and we do it when we have less power and resources.

Whatever your situation is, I hope you’re the Macklemore and not Ed Sheeran in your own life. I hope you can look at yourself in the mirror. I hope you don’t miss this Opportunity not to be a coward ❤️

As always, stay strong but keep your heart open.

Justina

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