Lessons in Laxity : Respecting the Third 'R'

There is something about the human condition which gives me the shivers. No, it is not that dangerously abstruse notion of man's capacity for evil. Rather, it is what I would regard as man's incapacity for self-restraint.

One of the very first things one learns in Dr.Palo's POL-211 class is the three 'R's: reliance on diplomacy rather than confrontational tactics; respect for treaties signed and, last but not least, restraint in the pursuit of national interests.

However, it is my personal conviction that restraint - especially self-restraint - is one of the most dangerous, if not elusive, words. Ever since diplomacy started taking its shape and form with the Concert of Europe to what we have come to know and understand diplomacy today, it has been a lofty notion: restraint from pursuing one's own national interests. However, in this increasingly secular Western society, it appears that self-restraint has taken over.

Why, in fact, is restraint elusive? It is elusive because one never quite manages to exercise it completely. Above all, restraint is dangerous because, ostensibly, the more you restrain yourself from certain activities, the more likely you are to over-indulge in the very same activity you were trying so desperately to eschew.

Small wonder then, that one can never have complete peace, complete cessation of violence or complete harmony. We need look no further than Northern Ireland where the endeavour to come to some peaceful resolution is consistently being hampered by a clique of people within that same group of peacemakers - and these people purport to also want peace? In essence, what they basically intimate through their attitude is a tacit agreement to comply with peace, then a subsequent volt-face: "Oh yes, I'm in the peace talks also". "But", they will say, "wait, I have to kill my enemy here and there first before I can fully appreciate the significance of these peace talks". It seems like a harrowing and vicious cycle, for the very minute peace - or a military standoff at least - is declared, violence becomes the order of the day within a few weeks. I suppose the reason for this is that subconsciously, you believe that you have exercised restraint to such an extent that if you default once with the exercise, you can always try again.

The fact that one cannot seem to restrain oneself is really no mystery. I guess it is because we basically are undisciplined - both spiritually and socially : when we like something we will keep on at it - as long as it gives us pleasure and causes nobody else any harm - whether it be prurience or just pure hedonism. Can we blamed though? I do not think blame should really be apportioned to anyone. Some people simply have self-discipline and others simply do not. That, of course, should not prevent us from trying to reach that spiritual level of self-restraint.

In the long run, I think it would be intellectual suicide to contend that man is in an imperfect condition. After all, what can one expect from the type of society in which we live in? No-one seems to have time for self-restraint. Can we be blamed? I do not think that blame comes into the equation here, because after all, people are used to a culture of going about things the way they want to and the way they see fit. Life is short; time is short. Man is, in essence, a born hedonist and probably forever will be. It seems, though, that we like to think we can be perfect to some degree, and therefore rules and regulations ostensibly provide an ersatz sense of security which we all strive for. Unfortunately, you only have to turn to the news to realize that this is not the case.

In the final analysis, the case is that we are all probably born with an innate sense of recalcitrance which consistently impedes our desire to exercise restraint towards anything which we may deem incorrect. Violence, murder and atrocities everywhere are indications that sin is real and within all of us. And so is the desire to resist restraint. Perhaps, one day, we can all walk away from our ineffable fears and the darkness in which we inhabit. Reaching for the light - whatever that may be -may probably be our only hope that we probably do have respect for the third "r" after all.

@Max Sunrise 1998