A few days ago I posted the quote:
“Love is the only way to rescue humanity from ills”
-Leo Tolstoy

And one of my wonderful, loving friends commented:
“I believe this wholeheartedly but unfortunately, in my experience, most don’t. I wish there was more empathy and tolerance and people not being so quick to judge. But then, I’m told I don’t live in the real world. I like my dream land.”

Here is my response to that :

And I would debate whomever said that to my last breath. The more I study and learn of all our actions as human beings, the more I see that the most enduring and successful acts are always those wherein we compromise the fewest ideals, wherein we account for and care for the greatest number of lives possible. In fact it is our failure to live up to those ideals that inevitably causes the downfall of any movement or individual actor. I believe if you scan through examples throughout history (and look for the long term, not short term results) this point will be well illustrated.

I suppose this question feels particularly pertinent to address at this moment in history when we as a human race are being challenged to evolve to the point where we realize our unbreakable bond to all our fellows. When we are being challenged to see that every time we try to avoid this responsibility it comes back at us one hundredfold. I actually don’t so much see a “migrant crises” or “climate change”, I see that I am part of a human race which keeps continuing to try to avoid coming to the inevitable realization that we are responsible to and for the whole of life, not simply our lone fraction, and unless and until we embrace that fact we will continue to manifest these disasters which force us to look.

And once again that whole statement could be summed up as “Love is the only way to rescue humanity from ills”.