Two Insights

Henry Morton Stanley, African explorer and adventurer of the 19th century, was a man of many words. His observations of human nature were based upon experiences with different cultures and levels of civilization. Check this out: “The malignant and deadly conspirator is always lean,” he concluded. Fatties reflected a higher probability of trust, honesty, openness and conciliation. Stanley also came down on scientists ( especially the Emin Bey) he encountered. “Why were scientists in comparison with Christians guilty of a certain hardness and indelicacy of feeling?” he asked. When confronted with the issue of “inner beauty” they would most likely “yawn and return an apologetic and compassionate smile.” Doesn’t Obama have that “lean and hungry look,” first described by Shakespeare and probably the source of Stanley’s allusion? Scientists who condemn doubt about global warming and intelligent design exhibit no spiritual depth. They simply forge cooly ahead with faked or agenda-driven data, denying the existence of insight while claiming only the facts of hard science matter. Whatever criticisms can be leveled against Stanley (who had his flaws) his two insights are correct; let us consider applying them to America’s present President and the politics of environmentalism.