Thursday, October 14, 2010

Chilean Miners Rescued

I often despair of humanity. We seem to be unable to shake off our dark side and so often we are selfish and thoughtless. Today though I'm cheering for what is best in us. The Chilean miners, trapped underground for sixty nine days, are being brought to the surface one by one. They appear amazingly healthy, given their ordeal. Their rescue has been a remarkable achievement both in engineering terms and in the way it has been handled by all those who have worked so tirelessly together to save them. Everyone involved in the rescue deserves praise for their work - and for restoring our faith in humanity.

I can't imagine the mental stresses that they have been under and I doubt anyone, who has not been in a similar situation, could. Let us hope that they continue to be cared for in the same way as they have been so far and rejoice that sometimes we get it right. We're not as bad as we often believe we are.

4 comments:

Laura E. Goodin said...

It really is so easy to feel despairing about human nature, isn't it? Good to see the evidence that urges us toward a more challenging, more ambiguous, but ultimately more accurate point of view: there is good in the human race after all. Which, of course, demands the question, "Why aren't we as good as we know we can be?" And facing that question is what makes it so much harder to accept the possibility of goodness....

Helen V. said...

We are a complicated species.

Rosanne Dingli said...

It was really good to see it all turn out well in the end. It will take them all some time to adjust, and for their families to once more come to terms with their altered selves.

Helen V. said...

Yes, it is going to be difficult for all of them.