文章背景介绍

● Author

Norman Cousins (1915—1990)

Careers:

● writer

● editor

● citizen diplomat

● promoter of holistic healing

● unflagging optimist

Lifelong Concerns:

● war and peace

● world governance

● justice

● human freedom

● the human impact on the environment

● health and wholeness

Belief in world governance:

● He believed that enduring world peace could only be achieved through effective world governance.

Belief in world federalism:

● He argued for a world no longer based on the supremacy of nationalism and other superficial differences.

Contribution to peace and human well-being:

●He arranged for medical treatment in USA for 24 young Japanese women who came to be known as the “Hiroshima Maidens”;

●helped support the medical care of 400 Japanese children orphaned by the atomic bomb;

●with his wife, legally adopted one of the "Maidens";

●helped create a program for the “35 Polish women who had been victims of Nazi medical experiments during the war”.

Summary of his life:

● In June 1983 Cousins told the graduating class of Harvard Medical School that the "conquest of war and the pursuit of social justice... must become our grand preoccupation and magnificent obsession." These certainly were the concerns that obsessed him throughout his life, and over the years he battled through his writings and actions to make them matters of more general concern. Driven by the shock and portent of Hiroshima, he worked to combat unchecked nationalism, promote federalism, and build a sense of world citizenship, in the belief that people as a whole might yet construct a new world order of peace and justice. His optimism, intellectual curiosity, and commitment to the preservation of human life were equally unquenchable.

Quotations

● Inevitably, an individual is measured by his or her largest concerns.

Life is an adventure in forgiveness.

● A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas—a place where history comes to life.

● If something comes to life in others because of you, then you have made an approach to immortality.

● Just as there is no loss of basic energy in the universe, so no thought or action is without its effects, present or ultimate, seen or unseen, felt or unfelt.

● Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences.

● Bird’s Eye View

Bird’s eye view: a situation or topic as if viewed from an altitude or distance

● Tribalism

Originally, tribalism refers to behavior and attitudes that are based on strong loyalty to tribe. Scholars believe that modern regionalism, racism, and nationalism are merely more refined forms of primitive tribalism.

●World Population

●Globalization

1.In his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas Friedman wrote: “Globalization is not a phenomenon. It is not just some passing trend. Today it is an overarching international system shaping the domestic politics and foreign relations of virtually every country, and we need to understand it as such.”

2.As thoughtful people concerned about world affairs, our job is to pick up “globalization”, examine it from all sides, dissect it, figure out what makes it tick, and then nurture and promote the good parts and mitigate or slow down the bad parts.

3.Globalization is much like fire. Fire itself is neither good nor bad. Used properly, it can cook food, sterilize equipment, form iron, and heat our homes. Used carelessly, fire can destroy lives, towns and forests in an instant. As Friedman says:

4.[Globalization] can be incredibly empowering and incredibly coercive. It can democratize opportunity and democratize panic. It makes the whales bigger and the minnows stronger. It leaves you behind faster and faster, and it catches up to you faster and faster. While it is homogenizing cultures, it is also enabling people to share their unique individuality farther and wider."

5. Globalization has dangers and an ugly dark side. But it can also bring tremendous opportunities and benefits. Just as capitalism requires a network of governing systems to keep it from devouring societies, globalization requires vigilance and the rule of law.

6. Anti-trust laws, the Securities and Exchange Commission, labor unions, charities, the Federal Trade Commission, and countless other agencies and organizations keep American capitalism in check. Similar transparent mechanisms are needed to make sure globalization is a positive force in the world.

7. Globalization will always have cheerleaders who are blind to the destruction globalization can cause. And it will always have strident opponents blind to the way globalization gives some people their first opportunity to fulfill basic aspirations.

8. As with most issues, the majority of people will be in the middle. They will see globalization not as something to worship or demonize. Instead, they will see it as something to mold, shape and manage for the betterment of everyone.