The Horror

 In Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS the dying Kurtz  "cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath—"The horror! The horror!" This line has been interpreted in numerous ways, the most popular being that it expresses Kurtz's final reaction to our inhumanity to one another. But perhaps it expresses something more fundamental.

One winter, many years ago, I was down with the flu but thought it might be good to get out of the house for a few minutes. I  slowly trudged through snow along a deserted part of Centerport harbor, and I saw, across the small bay, a five-year-old boy wander out onto the ice and fall through. He was alone. For a time he held himself up on the edge of the ice. Then he sank down and only his hands appeared above water, held up, I assume by air trapped in the his sleeves. No one could reach him in time. I recall, regularly, a dozen useless memories like that, and my memories must be mild compared to what the police dream of at night or to the visual horrors combat veterans bring home and refuse to discuss.

We live on a planet where life forms feed on one another. We try not to think about it. We invent rationalizations. Descartes famously argued that dogs can not feel pain. The Preacher tells us that horrors are God's mysterious will and we should worship Him. Meanwhile, we head toward a catastrophe of climate change, population growth and environmental destruction. We are intent on turning the Earth into a mess no human being has experienced before.  Of course we cannot predict exactly what is coming, but it seems likely that the ocean will become more acidic quickly, before fish can adapt. The insects that pollinate our crops may die out. This was once the stuff of science fiction, but now we are about to make it real.

The President has announced that the most important issue he will face in a second term will be climate change. The people of our nation and China and Africa and India will not agree to any big inconveniences, of course. We might build a six inch berm of sand to ward off tsunamis but only if it doesn't force us to raise taxes. Yes, life is hard. Let's try not to think about it.