Talking last week with one of my friends, we were talking over how helpful it is to view these times we live in, as a time of switchover, as a time of transition.
What does this imply ? It suggests we are at the end of one kind of civilisation and at the beginning of another. It means we are seeing the breakdown of many aspects of a way of life which is showing itself as no longer tenable or acceptable in these new global times. A good current example is the revolts against the old fixed ways of hereditary despotism and tyrannical leadership in the Middle East and North Africa. Some see it as a fresh and important new wind of change calling for basic human rights and respect - others as an end to a type of leadership which to many seems way out of date, positively medieval to many western eyes. Both a breakthrough and a breakdown.
To me, it's a nightmare watching the violence in Libya - but at least if I remember that it is part of the reality of transitional times, it gives a context in which to make some sense out of the chaos.
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