The Human Prospect Essay

It is worth mentioning that the human prospect is a broad term that could be used to define different aspects of human nature and existence. Human existence could be defined by thoughts of damnation and salvation and values passed on to generations. Human prospect, therefore, raises a disturbing question in the minds of many as they try to understand what hope the future has for the human race. The reason for this question is the broadening doubts that arise on the life on earth based on the values the recent few generations have held constituting the limited capacity to imagine the future of the humans on earth. The reason for the uncertain future is that there has been a deterioration of different things and values that would lead to a catastrophe in the fearful dimension. Looking at different experiences and values that existed in the past and how they are happening today, it is evident that human existence is quickly moving into a catastrophic dimension in the near future. In this essay, I will reflect on the values of Bell Hooks, Martin Luther King, and Howard Thurman. I will also compare their value the three legends stood for and the values that are practiced in the society today.

Bell Hooks was a social commentator and a poet who for love as a practice of freedom in the society. Bell spoke on issues of race and gender based on love. She believed and advocated for love since she believed that love as a guiding value would shape the world to a direction of political vision as well as radical aspirations. She adds that without embracing love and fully addressing it in our daily struggles for liberation, it will be completely impossible to create a culture of communication among the people which is the key aspect to improved and better living. Without love, there is bound to be a continued system of domination which includes racism, classism, and sexism among the people. Bell believes that love is not the longing for a collective transformation of the society or the end of dominations, but rather it is the end of the different things that hurt the humans leading to negative struggles (Day, 109). She believed that love is the key that makes growth and expansion of a society possible.

However, in the society we live today, there is no evidence of love among the people. We live in a culture dominated by anti-love. Therefore, the society lacks the value of love that embraces communication and rather uses violence to sustain itself. Most of the people in the society today fail to love themselves and even other people around then leading to constant violence amongst them. Additionally, in today's generation, the importance of love among the humans is mocked and taken for granted. As a result, love is seen as a business deal or a framework of competitive consumer capitalism. Thus, love is viewed as a machinery of buying and selling different needs which is what makes things run. The kind of thinking has led to a generation that is more self-centered and puts its needs before the needs of others leading to violence among cultures. The commercialization of love has led to emotionally lost humans due to value negation and valorized materialism. From Bell, I would want to recover the value of love that is not corrupt and focused on making growth and expansion of the society possible.

Howard Thurman was a theologian who believed in the value of nonviolence. He focused more on the need for the humans to ones in a while taking a break and instead focus on inward cultivation. Howard in his sermons influenced the whole generation of his time and those that followed both spiritually and intellectually. His value and principle of nonviolence among the people mainly influenced the people and especially the African Americans during the freedom struggle. He believed that the nonviolence message would be slowly passed to the entire world if the African Americans practiced it in their struggle (lane, 17). However, in the present generations, the humans do not understand the benefits of nonviolence. The value of nonviolence is viewed as a weakness. People prefer settling their individual differences not through communication or other peaceful interventions but through violence. Evidently, there has been an increase in violence between nations, races, gender, and political divides as each side or individual try to show and prove their superiority and power. As a result, human existence on earth has become one that is full of competition leading to constant violence. From Howard, I would recover the value of nonviolence where the people embrace open communication rather than violence while faced with disagreements.

Martin Luther King Jr. is a well-known legend whose values were greatly influenced by Howard. He was a civil right movement leader who stood for equality of all the people despite the color, class, gender, or culture in the society. He believed that people's value is determined by their commitment to make the world a better place. To advocate for equality and inclusion of all the people, King used different values such as courage, nonviolence, justice, love, human dignity, sacrifice, and forgiveness. Just like Howard, King believed that violence would never make any situation better but rather gets it even worse than it was before. Therefore, he refused to retaliate with physical violence during his struggle for equality freedom. Also just like Bell, he also believed love that would mean considering even one's enemies as friends and doing what is right for their sake. He adds that love comes with forgiveness to make room for togetherness at all times. However, in the present generation, most of these values are not presence leading to continuous violence, hatred, and lack of forgiveness among the people (Worthington, 222). From King, I would recover the value of forgiveness where people learn to easily forgive their victimizers, thus creating room for repentance, love, and togetherness.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I strongly believe that today's generation is in need of concrete values that we can borrow from the previous generations to prevent a tragic future for the coming generation and human existence in general. The three main values I would recover from the past generations would be love, nonviolence, and forgiveness. The reason is that these values will act as a primary source of healing and reconciliation for the already hurting generation. Through love, people will be able to think of the needs of others before their own. It will also change the competitive aspect and lead to oneness and service to others. The value of nonviolence will allow room for peace among the people in the society and in return lead to unity among the people. Lastly, the value of forgiveness will give room for healing and reconciliation in the already broken interactions among the humans. With these values, I believe that we will be certain of a better future for us and the coming generations.

Works Cited

Day, Keri. "Love as a Concrete Revolutionary Practice." Religious Resistance to Neoliberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2016. 105-129.

Lane, A. J. (2015). Nonviolence Now!: Living the 1963 Birmingham Campaign's Promise of Peace. Lantern Books.

Worthington, B. (2013). Martin Luther King Jr. as Identificatory Conglomerate. Black Theology, 11(2), 219-239.