Hope on the Buffalo

As spring blooms I gaze at the clear waters of the Buffalo River and think about how beautiful it is. However, I find myself struggling to actually enjoy the beauty knowing all the horrible things going on around me in the world. I then think back to a conversation with a professor I had a while ago.

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My philosophy professor had just finished a lecture on some philosopher who attempted to define what is true justice. I had been listening to him, but I honestly disagreed with him on several points and decided to go to my professor's office hours to point out all of the flaws of this philosopher.

"Doug I have to say I think Rawls is a complete idiot to think that veil of ignorance actually can be applied to society. Yes I understand we can't actually apply it, but to even use it to describe something as complicated as justice… it's idiotic!"

Doug chuckled at my comments and said, "Well Chris let me ask you this: How else would we go about defining justice without having any bias to each other?"

I responded, "Certainly not by assuming we have no values or biases to our world…"

We continued to debate on the topic, but eventually I asked him a question that had troubled me since the start of the semester.

"Doug, why should I even care about the definition of justice? There's so much that needs to be fixed in our society and defining a word should be the least of our worries."

"Because we need the standard, Chris, we need it so we can have a goal post and know when we've strayed far from it," he responded.

"How could you even have hope that we're getting any closer to justice? Since the dawn of humanity we have committed cruel injustices against each other and we still continue to do so. I truly believe that we'll never reach justice…"

"Boy, are you asking the tough questions, Chris. I can't guarantee that we will ever reach justice but I have hope. We've made great progress in equality over the centuries but there is still so much work to be done. Perhaps I'm the biggest fool ever for this, but I have hope. I have hope that through fighting the good fight we can make good change in the world."

"But how can I have hope when there's rich billionaires who can get away with anything, politicians who are corrupt, and people who are just unkind and unloving?" I asked.

"People have always been fighting for the right things in history. They've dedicated their whole lives to the fight and many have lost their lives. So I fight for those people, I fight for those who have no voice, I fight for the future. There are so many people that I care about that I wish to make this world a better place for them. Hope is the only thing that keeps me fighting and even when I feel defeated I remind myself of the small wins, the improvements in people's lives that give me the strength to keep fighting. I do it for them."

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So as I look at the glistening water of the Buffalo River I once again think about why I still wish to make a change in the world. I've had other people ask me the same question about why I still care about politics or issues in our world that I can't immediately solve. I tell them "It's because I have hope that one day they won't worry about these problems like I do."

It's hard to come by hope these days, but I find that nature always revitalizes it. The way the world seems to slow down and become more majestic and calm reminds me of what is possible in our world. It's possible that one day our society will learn to love each other, to show empathy for each other, to learn from each other.

Until that day I will continue to fight the good fight. Not just for me, but for those before and after me. So that they may enjoy the beauty of the world without worries.