{"id":346,"date":"2025-06-10T14:32:58","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T21:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/?p=346"},"modified":"2025-06-10T17:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T00:05:10","slug":"an-inconvenient-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/10\/an-inconvenient-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"An inconvenient truth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s not that kindness is a moral imperative because it’s convenient. Kindness is a moral imperative because unkindness done to one turns that one’s grandchildren into monsters who will return that unkindness a thousandfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if the unkindness being done to Palestinians were to stop today, with all of the trauma that has been inflicted upon those children, what does the world have to look forward to in 80 years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When will we begin to think about the effects of our actions on other people’s grandchildren first, rather than condemning our own to suffer the consequences?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s not that kindness is a moral imperative because it’s convenient. Kindness is a moral imperative because unkindness done to one turns that one’s grandchildren into monsters who will return that unkindness a thousandfold. Even if the unkindness being done to Palestinians were to stop today, with all of the trauma that has been inflicted … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-reflection"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paor1p-5A","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":787,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/22\/are-redheads-sun-drenched-brunettes-or-spicy-blondes\/","url_meta":{"origin":346,"position":0},"title":"are redheads sun-drenched brunettes, or spicy blondes?","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"June 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently received pushback from the usual channels when I posted about decolonizing the gender binary. As is my way, I went looking to history to see if I was being unfair to white guys. What I found was pretty clear, and it's not just related to race (like gender,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chronicle"","block_context":{"text":"chronicle","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/chronicle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/img_1516.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/img_1516.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/img_1516.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/img_1516.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/img_1516.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/img_1516.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":446,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/22\/showing-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":346,"position":1},"title":"Showing Up","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"June 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We hear this phrase a lot: just show up. It seems to make a lot of sense. If everyone shows up, we have a party. Hurray. If no one shows up, no party. Boo. In the West we've grown up to think of ourselves as unique, individual beings that are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "didactics"","block_context":{"text":"didactics","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/didactics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":267,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/21\/prepare-well\/","url_meta":{"origin":346,"position":2},"title":"prepare well\u2026","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"February 21, 2025","format":"aside","excerpt":"Prepare well-crafted invective for the powerful person you are trying to reach, but be kind to the person who answers the phone. Use the on-hold music as an opportunity to practice loving kindness.","rel":"","context":"In "politics"","block_context":{"text":"politics","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":279,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/13\/asking-for-an-end-to-violence-needs-no-qualification\/","url_meta":{"origin":346,"position":3},"title":"Asking for an end to violence needs no qualification","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"May 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"If one recognizes the Palestinian people as equally human to oneself, one will experience no moral dilemma as one simultaneously condemns their slaughter, starvation, and displacement; and desires that Hamas-held hostages be released. On the other hand, if one finds oneself making statements which include clauses such as \"sad, but,\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "politics"","block_context":{"text":"politics","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/image.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":259,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/22\/theres-a-little-black-train-acomin\/","url_meta":{"origin":346,"position":4},"title":"there’s a little black train a’comin’","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"February 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"No one should be confused about what is happening in our government. It is cultural revolution, on the scale of the program implemented by Mao in China in the 1960s and 70s. It is an attempt to create a complete break with institutional memory so as to assert greater control\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "reflection"","block_context":{"text":"reflection","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/reflection\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"people cooperating to make a train","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/IMG_9927.jpeg?fit=1179%2C758&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/IMG_9927.jpeg?fit=1179%2C758&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/IMG_9927.jpeg?fit=1179%2C758&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/IMG_9927.jpeg?fit=1179%2C758&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/IMG_9927.jpeg?fit=1179%2C758&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":623,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/29\/portrait-of-a-scientist-early-20th-century\/","url_meta":{"origin":346,"position":5},"title":"Portrait of a Scientist (early 20th century)","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"August 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"He was probably a university student, or a post-doc, or maybe already a professor. He was probably married and probably had a new child at home, (and might have even had an idea of what university he hoped his child would attend). He was probably an only child, or if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "didactics"","block_context":{"text":"didactics","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/didactics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions\/349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}