Embrace Agency

In contrast to the whiny, self-pitying Barbie speech, I have a life-affirming story about human agency, dignity and civilizational drive.

As you all know, on June 7 Russians blew up the Kahovka dam, creating an environmental catastrophe of enormous proportions. Ukrainians could sit there and feel sorry for themselves but that is not our way. In the humid soil at the bottom of the former reservoir, they have planted vegetable gardens.

It’s still a catastrophe but you can either drown in self-pity or plant some vegetables and guarantee a nice dinner for yourself in the Fall.

When I first went to Cuba, I was stunned to see groups of people sitting at entrances to buildings all day long, drinking rum and smoking. They sat in the most abject filth and it never occured to them to get up and clean their own space. That’s the lack of agency fostered by an authoritarian regime, and it’s sad to see. One of the things that makes us human is the capacity and the need to change our environment and to make it beautiful. Another is our individual agency. Once that’s gone, we turn into a sad shell where a human being used to live.