At a gathering of Republicans a few days ago, Donald Trump talked nonchalantly about the recent sinking of an apparently unarmed Iranian frigate by the U.S. Navy – in the Indian Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from the Persian Gulf. A total of 104 crew members were killed and 32 more were injured.
The president proceeded to make this more than merely another brutal, pointless act of war. He turned it into a glaring – shocking – revelation of truth . . . about the American-Israeli war on Iran and, quite possibly about all wars: about war itself. He was upset at first, he told the crowd, that the Navy sank the frigate rather than capturing it. But when he expressed this to the military officials, one of them responded: “It’s more fun to sink them.”
And the crowd laughed. Uh . . . are we “playing” war or waging it, with that trillion-dollar annual military budget America has? No doubt we’re doing both, but normally the “fun” part of war – the dehumanization of the enemy, the abstraction of people’s deaths (including those of children) – is airbrushed from public discussion by politically correct strategic and political blather. But this is Trump, spouting the quiet part out loud – in the process, causing the global infrastructure of nation-states, borders and militarism to tremble. Could it be that war is based on the least of who we are, the least mature aspect of human nature? In contrast, I quote from a recent essay written by my friend Laura Hassler, founder and director of Musicians Without Borders:
She calls this worldwide awakening “Radical Empathy,” a term in widespread use, which means a deeply rooted sense of connection among people, well beyond
merely sympathy and shared feelings. We are one planet, one people, and we will survive together or not at all.
“Radical Empathy must be fierce, stubborn, creative, persistent,” she continues.
In other words, Radical Empathy isn’t simply emotional. You can say it’s spiritual, but it’s also political. It’s a movement: ever changing, ever manifesting in the moment, ever addressing conflict by reaching for connection and understanding. Yes, global nationalism still maintains the power to wage war. And war is everywhere these days. As Jeffrey Sachs noted in a recent interview, “World War III is here” . . . from Ukraine and Gaza and Iran to Asia to the Western Hemisphere. And the fighting across the world is linked. But at the same time the world is changing. A “global structure of nonviolence” is emerging – pushing, pushing against the deeply embedded infrastructure of war and us-vs.-them consciousness. Finding understanding with your enemy – connecting with “the other” – can be incredibly difficult, especially in the midst of conflict, but Radical Empathy is making it a reality across the planet.
Laura Hassler’s organization, Musicians Without Borders, exemplifies this movement. The organization was founded in 1999, in Alkamaar, a city in the Netherlands. Laura, who was a choir director and organized music events, had put together a concert for the town’s annual honoring of the dead of World War II. But as I wrote in a column several years ago:
And they went to Kosovo. Gradually, Musicians Without Borders became global, working with local people in war-torn regions all over the world – people on both sides of the divide – to create music that transcends the war of the moment. The organization currently has long-term projects in the Balkans, West Asia, Eastern Africa and Europe.
This is Radical Empathy, or at least one example of it – our complex force of hope even as the world’s leaders continue bleeding away the planet’s resources in order to play war. Radical Empathy transcends war. It’s who we are – when we find ourselves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~ Robert Koehler (koehlercw@gmail.com), syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a Chicago award-winning journalist and editor. He is the author of Courage Grows Strong at the Wound, and his album of recorded poetry and artwork, Soul Fragments.
