The impartiality which,
in contemplation,
is the unalloyed desire for truth,
is the very same quality of mind which,
in action, is justice,
and in emotion is that universal love
which can be given to all,
and not only to those
who are judged useful or admirable.
Thus contemplation enlarges not only the objects of our thoughts,
but also the objects of our actions
and our affections:
it makes us citizens of the universe,
not only of one walled city
at war with all of the rest.
In this citizenship of the universe
consists man’s true freedom,
and his liberation
from the thralldom
of narrow hopes and fears.

— excerpt, The Problems of Philosophy
by Bertrand Russell p. 161

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Bertrand Russell was one of the famed intellectuals of the 20th century.  Russell was a mathematician, authoring with Alfred North Whitehead, Principia Mathematica, a three volume work on the foundations of mathematics.  As a Cambridge professor he was a mentor and collaborator with Ludwig Wittgenstein.  He was also known for his principled pacifism.

These words by Russell captured my attention.  They are as incisive today as when Russell penned them.

The acceleration of globalization has reached an inflection point.  Which is it going to be?  We are at a fork in the road.  Will we pause, slow down so that we can assess the lay-of-the land, this place to where we have come: a rapidly warming planet driven by our use of carbon based fuel, depletion of animal species and flora due to human population incursion, an increasing disposition to war with more leaders of nation states indulging in warlike rhetoric as cyber attacks proceed against political processes.  There is more.  That is enough.

We can deliver ourselves from our narrow hopes and our forebodings if we will do the formidable work of learning to listen, to self reflect, to consider the logical consequences of what we hear and see particularly in the media.  This is painful work, similar to binding a wound with just a single hand to apply the bandage.  We must turn to one another for help.

Need I add that we must repudiate the abusive, enraged, vindictive man that somehow has been elected to the White House?  We must devise a way forward.  No one else is going to do this for us.