I just watched a program, narrated by George Clooney, on news coverage of JFK's assassination. It is well worth watching, if you can find it. It brought me to reflect on a tragic aspect of our existence as we currently experience it. Within this society we share--which is the cumulative product of our individual attitudes and behaviors, and, simultaneously, the setting in which we explore who we are and what we might be--we harbor the capacity for the hatred that makes assassination possible, and the structures of thought that provide the rationale and justification for such acts. In psychological language, such feeling-charged structures of thought can be called "complexes," and "pathological." In the old days, they no doubt would have been associated with ideas about demonic influence and possession. 

Whatever we name them, it is frightening that we live in a world where there seems to be less and less concern about how to notice when our brains are being hijacked by such ideas and impulses, and about what the results may be if we act upon them. Careful, nuanced thought is criticized as a sign of weakness. Heroes are made of people who advocate for action without discussion or reflection beforehand. Adding to our danger is the fact we seem to be losing our ability to think critically about information and stories that present themselves as factual news. Small groups and subcultures buy into versions of reality that would not stand the test of careful thought. Based on untested and errant pictures of what is real, they sometimes make decisions that affect things adversely for many more than just themselves.

All of these thoughts arose for me as I watched this program about how history was radically changed in 1963, by the ending of JFK's life. It is frightening that we remain subject to the same forces that, time and time again, have set back the clock on social progress, and our growth towards humane ways of being. Even this post, which, I dare to say (whatever else may be said about it) is thought out quite carefully, will evoke anger and judgment from someone, because ... well, that's just what we do, these days. We get mad. We get rageful. We get indignant. It's a sign to us of our strength. It's a confirmation to us of the rightness of our cause. It's a sign that tells us we are not responsible for what we might do next.