We are nearing the end of the second decade in the 21st century. Much has changed, some things for the better, some not. This week I lectured on Ivan the Terrible (a mistranslation, it should be Ivan the Awesome—someone who instills admiration and fear) and of course this brings me to our present world leaders and makes me ponder: how far did we come, as persons, as human beings? The world is civilized; its inhabitant is not, maintained the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gassett a century ago and while his philosophy is more complex than this quote by itself reveals, it sounds oddly true to me.
Nous approchons de la fin de la deuxième décennie du XXIe siècle. Beaucoup de choses ont changé, certaines pour le…
