Perhaps this is merely a problem of perspective, and as members of this generation we are unable to recognise which of our contemporaries will achieve greatness, but it seems as though we lack people who can be numbered among the giants of the past.
Looking at the politicians of today it is easy to pick out the major players who will dominate the history books. However, there do not seem to be any people who would sacrifice their careers, their health, their lives for a cause merely people who are very good at the political game. There is no one like William Wilberforce, Gandhi, Lincoln, or even someone like Churchill who saw what needed to be done and did it, regardless of popular opinion, a fact which eventually cost him his career. There do not even seem to be the type of person powerful enough to define an age; no Robespierre or Napoleon, who, regardless of whether people see them as a hero or villain, had the power in their generation to change history with a word.
I don't see someone like Annie Lebowitz ever being listed with Da Vinci, Rembrandt or Picasso. As much as I love the work of Seamus Heaney I don't think he equals Elliott, Yeats, Milton or Dante. There is a lack of greatness among our generation.
I think this is largely the result of education. It is hard for genius to grow when everyone is taught at the same pace, held to the same standard, when there is one acceptable answer and deviation is not tolerated. This is not necessarily bad, it raises the fortunes of the majority a moderate amount as opposed to a few achieving greatness. According to Henry Newman fostering greatness is not the purpose of education: "It neither confines its views to particular professions on the one hand, nor creates heroes or inspires genius on the other. It is the great ordinary means to an great but ordinary end; it aims at raising the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste, at supplying true principles to popular enthusiasm and fixed aims to popular aspiration, at giving enlargement and sobriety to the ideas of the age, at facilitating the exercise of political power, and refining the intercourse of private life. It is the education which gives a man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them."
Yet, in an age when professional athletes are revered as never before, when the lives of pop sensations are followed with rabid enthusiasm, when the story of an orphaned wizard who might be the chosen one has launched an unparalleled franchise, when superheroes have finally become mainstream and widely popular, when a Batman movie was the summer blockbuster, it seems as though this is not enough and people want a hero, need greatness to inspire them.
(While not the original intent, this post may or may not have developed into an excuse to include the above picture by Alex Ross).
1 comment:
It seems like people of this time look for heros they know, that they are close to. Maybe it is because we are narcistic, it's all about me, myself and I, or maybe it's too much exposure to people of high standing, like sports stars, singers and politians. Men like Kennedy are exposed to have dirt and skeletons, and there goes the hero title. But when asked who someone's hero is you may hear them say their parent, spouse or friend. And of course time will tell great masters, who may end up inspiring others of a future generation. Think of all the authors and artists who were not known until well after their death. My husband is an artist, I like to think someday his art will be valued for all that it is worth. In the meantime, I believe in what he makes and what it expresses, so in a sense, he is a hero to me!
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