I am ever so pleased to have seen Thomas King speak today. No, I didn't bring anything to get autographed, or speak to the amazing author whose voice speaks with such great storytelling ease, what I did bring was ears to listen. His brief lecture (gosh, whenever I'm looking at a public lecture and thinking it's brief or even too brief, I know it's a good one!) brought up so many issues.
And while I could go on for ages about politics or elections, causes or problems, storytelling or perceptions, or even a myriad of other topics touched upon by Thomas King, the noteworthy concept that he did address was ethics. He used stories to illustrate the value (or lack thereof) that we, as North Americans, place on ethics. It is easier to be lazy. More convenient to be lazy. Easier to forget about ethics. Easier to live in our material reality in comparative comfort and surrounded by convenience than to follow ethical routes all of the time. To take responsibility takes effort and this is simply not the easiest route. He goes on to explain that we are not without ethics, but rather act with them sporadically or speak of them frequently, but that it is not a constant. Instead, acting with ethics is an action that we all neglect to do frequently (or perhaps on an individual level, some people neglect to do so more or less frequently than others).
And then my mind thinks of inertia. Because scientific discourse must enter the discussion at least somewhere, at least in my way of thinking. And I am reminded of how it is easier to remain inert, than to get up and start moving.
And while perhaps each individual's method of acting with ethics might differ in one way shape or form (because certainly 100% agreement is a notion that is unheard of in such a seemingly diverse society of mixed views and backgrounds), Thomas King's notion does hold some weight.
All in all, an enjoyable lecture by one of the more vibrant public speakers I have had the pleasure to watch.