Sublime

It may seem strange that people who have already attained a position of power through violence invest so much time in justifying their plunder with words. But even plunderers are human beings whose violent ambitions must contend with the guilt that gnaws at them when they meet the eyes of their victims. And so a story must be told, one that raises

She reflected on how it must be for people in greater positions of power. ‘What if you’re having to make a decision about whether to bomb Libya or not?’ she mused. ‘Would it be helpful to imagine yourself as the mother of a child that might get killed as a result, or would that make it harder to make that decision? If you were too connected to your

I think a kid who practices imagining why a classmate keeps forgetting his homework might become an adult who can imagine why a father might risk everything to cross a desert with nothing but his child on his back.

This characteristically human combination of optimism and deservingness is critical to good mental health.