ALMOST half a century ago, the American writer Gertrude Stein lay dying. Her good friend of many years, Alice Toklas, asked her: “Gertrude, what is the answer?” To which the dying writer replied –her last words – “Alice, what is the question?”
In his his Human Rights Agenda, J Kenneth Blackwell posits that if we, as a people, are to analyse the many problems that confront us on the world stage and have any hope of identifying feasible solutions, we must accurately define the issues, zero in on the relevant facts, and avoid inflammatory political rhetoric that contributes very little to understanding. No wonder, argues Blackwell, that an ancient Chinese proverb suggests: “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.”
The Chinese proverb was perhaps…
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Sunday Independent (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2025-03-23