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By all measures, we are living today in the best of times, but we complain as though we are in the worst of times. Since 1800, our population has increased sevenfold, and the number of farming units has fallen sharply. Yet, we have more food now than ever before. Obesity is already a declared illness but may well become an epidemic.

Also, 80% of people lived in dire poverty; currently, it's about 8.5%. As many as 88% were illiterate then compared to 10% today. Worldwide life expectancy has also doubled since then, and in 2024, it almost touched 74. Also, in the old days, 50% newborns died before turning five; now, below 4% do. While 19th-century American households spent 58 hours at household chores, now it's 18 hours.

They may look like cockroach survivors to many of us, but our ancestors in the heavens probably think we are the overreacting type who would readily burn a house to scare a mouse. That would not be fair. The Spanish Flu of 1918 wiped out 50 million and was more devastating than COVID-19 that killed 7 million. It is because we kept complaining that epidemic control evolved and got better.

Our complaints may not have brought down global warming yet, but it has flattened the rate of carbon emission. It is now rising at 0.2% per year and not 1.9% as it did between 2005 and 2014. Rarely, if ever, did people complain in the past about steam engines and chimney smoke darkening the skies. Instead, soot and yellow smoke became lyrical at the hands of poets.

This is what democracy has done to us. It's a time machine, and once we board it and if the person at the wheel is adroit, we are in for a ride at dizzying speed. We see and taste things nobody ever did before, and like spoiled brats at a roller coaster, we keep screaming for more. The machine, however, has a built-in flaw. It has no reverse gear and cannot go back to the past, near or distant.

By all measures, we are living today in the best of times, but we complain as though we are in the worst of times. Since 1800, our population has increased sevenfold, and the number of farming units has fallen sharply. Yet, we have more food now than ever before. Obesity is already a declared illness but may well become an epidemic.

Also, 80% of people lived in dire poverty; currently, it's about 8.5%. As many as 88% were illiterate then compared to 10% today. Worldwide life expectancy has also doubled since then, and in 2024, it almost touched 74. Also, in the old days, 50% newborns died before turning five; now, below 4% do. While 19th-century American households spent 58 hours at household chores, now it's 18 hours.

They may look like cockroach survivors to many of us, but our ancestors in the heavens probably think we are the overreacting type who would readily burn a house to scare a mouse. That would not be fair. The Spanish Flu of 1918 wiped out 50 million and was more devastating than COVID-19 that killed 7 million. It is because we kept complaining that epidemic control evolved and got better.

Our complaints may not have brought down global warming yet, but it has flattened the rate of carbon emission. It is now rising at 0.2% per year and not 1.9% as it did between 2005 and 2014. Rarely, if ever, did people complain in the past about steam engines and chimney smoke darkening the skies. Instead, soot and yellow smoke became lyrical at the hands of poets.

This is what democracy has done to us. It's a time machine, and once we board it and if the person at the wheel is adroit, we are in for a ride at dizzying speed. We see and taste things nobody ever did before, and like spoiled brats at a roller coaster, we keep screaming for more. The machine, however, has a built-in flaw. It has no reverse gear and cannot go back to the past, near or distant.

By all measures, we are living today in the best of times, but we complain as though we are in the worst of times. Since 1800, our population has increased sevenfold, and the number of farming units has fallen sharply. Yet, we have more food now than ever before. Obesity is already a declared illness but may well become an epidemic.

Also, 80% of people lived in dire poverty; currently, it's about 8.5%. As many as 88% were illiterate then compared to 10% today. Worldwide life expectancy has also doubled since then, and in 2024, it almost touched 74. Also, in the old days, 50% newborns died before turning five; now, below 4% do. While 19th-century American households spent 58 hours at household chores, now it's 18 hours.

They may look like cockroach survivors to many of us, but our ancestors in the heavens probably think we are the overreacting type who would readily burn a house to scare a mouse. That would not be fair. The Spanish Flu of 1918 wiped out 50 million and was more devastating than COVID-19 that killed 7 million. It is because we kept complaining that epidemic control evolved and got better.

Our complaints may not have brought down global warming yet, but it has flattened the rate of carbon emission. It is now rising at 0.2% per year and not 1.9% as it did between 2005 and 2014. Rarely, if ever, did people complain in the past about steam engines and chimney smoke darkening the skies. Instead, soot and yellow smoke became lyrical at the hands of poets.

This is what democracy has done to us. It's a time machine, and once we board it and if the person at the wheel is adroit, we are in for a ride at dizzying speed. We see and taste things nobody ever did before, and like spoiled brats at a roller coaster, we keep screaming for more. The machine, however, has a built-in flaw. It has no reverse gear and cannot go back to the past, near or distant.

By all measures, we are living today in the best of times, but we complain as though we are in the worst of times. Since 1800, our population has increased sevenfold, and the number of farming units has fallen sharply. Yet, we have more food now than ever before. Obesity is already a declared illness but may well become an epidemic.

Also, 80% of people lived in dire poverty; currently, it's about 8.5%. As many as 88% were illiterate then compared to 10% today. Worldwide life expectancy has also doubled since then, and in 2024, it almost touched 74. Also, in the old days, 50% newborns died before turning five; now, below 4% do. While 19th-century American households spent 58 hours at household chores, now it's 18 hours.

They may look like cockroach survivors to many of us, but our ancestors in the heavens probably think we are the overreacting type who would readily burn a house to scare a mouse. That would not be fair. The Spanish Flu of 1918 wiped out 50 million and was more devastating than COVID-19 that killed 7 million. It is because we kept complaining that epidemic control evolved and got better.

Our complaints may not have brought down global warming yet, but it has flattened the rate of carbon emission. It is now rising at 0.2% per year and not 1.9% as it did between 2005 and 2014. Rarely, if ever, did people complain in the past about steam engines and chimney smoke darkening the skies. Instead, soot and yellow smoke became lyrical at the hands of poets.

This is what democracy has done to us. It's a time machine, and once we board it and if the person at the wheel is adroit, we are in for a ride at dizzying speed. We see and taste things nobody ever did before, and like spoiled brats at a roller coaster, we keep screaming for more. The machine, however, has a built-in flaw. It has no reverse gear and cannot go back to the past, near or distant.

By all measures, we are living today in the best of times, but we complain as though we are in the worst of times. Since 1800, our population has increased sevenfold, and the number of farming units has fallen sharply. Yet, we have more food now than ever before. Obesity is already a declared illness but may well become an epidemic.

Also, 80% of people lived in dire poverty; currently, it's about 8.5%. As many as 88% were illiterate then compared to 10% today. Worldwide life expectancy has also doubled since then, and in 2024, it almost touched 74. Also, in the old days, 50% newborns died before turning five; now, below 4% do. While 19th-century American households spent 58 hours at household chores, now it's 18 hours.

They may look like cockroach survivors to many of us, but our ancestors in the heavens probably think we are the overreacting type who would readily burn a house to scare a mouse. That would not be fair. The Spanish Flu of 1918 wiped out 50 million and was more devastating than COVID-19 that killed 7 million. It is because we kept complaining that epidemic control evolved and got better.

Our complaints may not have brought down global warming yet, but it has flattened the rate of carbon emission. It is now rising at 0.2% per year and not 1.9% as it did between 2005 and 2014. Rarely, if ever, did people complain in the past about steam engines and chimney smoke darkening the skies. Instead, soot and yellow smoke became lyrical at the hands of poets.

This is what democracy has done to us. It's a time machine, and once we board it and if the person at the wheel is adroit, we are in for a ride at dizzying speed. We see and taste things nobody ever did before, and like spoiled brats at a roller coaster, we keep screaming for more. The machine, however, has a built-in flaw. It has no reverse gear and cannot go back to the past, near or distant.

Humans are deluded creatures who always think they are born to rule and dictate. This human delusion has assumed dangerous proportions in these times when humans are on a rampage, destroying and devouring all those they fallaciously perceive as inferior. The religio-scriptural belief humans are the best of all creations has made us believe we are the monarchs of all we survey.

The misconception that nature has made us the undisputed supreme species who can eliminate others at will, underscores speciesism. The great Persian mystic Hakim Sanai wrote centuries ago, "Humans must learn to coexist with all creatures," and the poet Anvari said "Hubristic humans are threats to all creatures and non-human animals."

All mystics believe the very concept of equality and egalitarianism could be fully understood and realized only when humans could accept the most exalted truth- that even a leaf, an ant, and a branch of tree has a pure essence and spirit, is as sacred as the human spirit.

In other words, it is not enough to establish equality and egalitarianism among humans; there should be seamless equality and a spirit of relatable empathy among all. How can we be condescending or disparaging to any other species on Earth? Never forget every particle glitters with effulgence of divinity. The problem with us is our ingrained condescension. Even in our so-called love for animals and other species, there is always an element of pontification that can be equated with Rudyard Kipling's downright pejorative phrase, "The White Man's Burden." Who has given us the right to treat animals the way we have been treating them right from the dawn of human civilization?

Humans are deluded creatures who always think they are born to rule and dictate. This human delusion has assumed dangerous proportions in these times when humans are on a rampage, destroying and devouring all those they fallaciously perceive as inferior. The religio-scriptural belief humans are the best of all creations has made us believe we are the monarchs of all we survey.

The misconception that nature has made us the undisputed supreme species who can eliminate others at will, underscores speciesism. The great Persian mystic Hakim Sanai wrote centuries ago, "Humans must learn to coexist with all creatures," and the poet Anvari said "Hubristic humans are threats to all creatures and non-human animals."

All mystics believe the very concept of equality and egalitarianism could be fully understood and realized only when humans could accept the most exalted truth- that even a leaf, an ant, and a branch of tree has a pure essence and spirit, is as sacred as the human spirit.

In other words, it is not enough to establish equality and egalitarianism among humans; there should be seamless equality and a spirit of relatable empathy among all. How can we be condescending or disparaging to any other species on Earth? Never forget every particle glitters with effulgence of divinity. The problem with us is our ingrained condescension. Even in our so-called love for animals and other species, there is always an element of pontification that can be equated with Rudyard Kipling's downright pejorative phrase, "The White Man's Burden." Who has given us the right to treat animals the way we have been treating them right from the dawn of human civilization?

Humans are deluded creatures who always think they are born to rule and dictate. This human delusion has assumed dangerous proportions in these times when humans are on a rampage, destroying and devouring all those they fallaciously perceive as inferior. The religio-scriptural belief humans are the best of all creations has made us believe we are the monarchs of all we survey.

The misconception that nature has made us the undisputed supreme species who can eliminate others at will, underscores speciesism. The great Persian mystic Hakim Sanai wrote centuries ago, "Humans must learn to coexist with all creatures," and the poet Anvari said "Hubristic humans are threats to all creatures and non-human animals."

All mystics believe the very concept of equality and egalitarianism could be fully understood and realized only when humans could accept the most exalted truth- that even a leaf, an ant, and a branch of tree has a pure essence and spirit, is as sacred as the human spirit.

In other words, it is not enough to establish equality and egalitarianism among humans; there should be seamless equality and a spirit of relatable empathy among all. How can we be condescending or disparaging to any other species on Earth? Never forget every particle glitters with effulgence of divinity. The problem with us is our ingrained condescension. Even in our so-called love for animals and other species, there is always an element of pontification that can be equated with Rudyard Kipling's downright pejorative phrase, "The White Man's Burden." Who has given us the right to treat animals the way we have been treating them right from the dawn of human civilization?

Humans are deluded creatures who always think they are born to rule and dictate. This human delusion has assumed dangerous proportions in these times when humans are on a rampage, destroying and devouring all those they fallaciously perceive as inferior. The religio-scriptural belief humans are the best of all creations has made us believe we are the monarchs of all we survey.

The misconception that nature has made us the undisputed supreme species who can eliminate others at will, underscores speciesism. The great Persian mystic Hakim Sanai wrote centuries ago, "Humans must learn to coexist with all creatures," and the poet Anvari said "Hubristic humans are threats to all creatures and non-human animals."

All mystics believe the very concept of equality and egalitarianism could be fully understood and realized only when humans could accept the most exalted truth- that even a leaf, an ant, and a branch of tree has a pure essence and spirit, is as sacred as the human spirit.

In other words, it is not enough to establish equality and egalitarianism among humans; there should be seamless equality and a spirit of relatable empathy among all. How can we be condescending or disparaging to any other species on Earth? Never forget every particle glitters with effulgence of divinity. The problem with us is our ingrained condescension. Even in our so-called love for animals and other species, there is always an element of pontification that can be equated with Rudyard Kipling's downright pejorative phrase, "The White Man's Burden." Who has given us the right to treat animals the way we have been treating them right from the dawn of human civilization?

Humans are deluded creatures who always think they are born to rule and dictate. This human delusion has assumed dangerous proportions in these times when humans are on a rampage, destroying and devouring all those they fallaciously perceive as inferior. The religio-scriptural belief humans are the best of all creations has made us believe we are the monarchs of all we survey.

The misconception that nature has made us the undisputed supreme species who can eliminate others at will, underscores speciesism. The great Persian mystic Hakim Sanai wrote centuries ago, "Humans must learn to coexist with all creatures," and the poet Anvari said "Hubristic humans are threats to all creatures and non-human animals."

All mystics believe the very concept of equality and egalitarianism could be fully understood and realized only when humans could accept the most exalted truth- that even a leaf, an ant, and a branch of tree has a pure essence and spirit, is as sacred as the human spirit.

In other words, it is not enough to establish equality and egalitarianism among humans; there should be seamless equality and a spirit of relatable empathy among all. How can we be condescending or disparaging to any other species on Earth? Never forget every particle glitters with effulgence of divinity. The problem with us is our ingrained condescension. Even in our so-called love for animals and other species, there is always an element of pontification that can be equated with Rudyard Kipling's downright pejorative phrase, "The White Man's Burden." Who has given us the right to treat animals the way we have been treating them right from the dawn of human civilization?