You Don’t Have To Be Lucky, You Just Have To Be Good

These are strange times.

On one level, everything is wonderful–better than it ever has been. On another level, almost nobody feels that way. The world seems like it’s falling apart. It does not seem like there is much anyone can do about it. Most of us don’t feel like we’re in much of a position to do much about anything.

Sociologists and historians speak of something called “moral luck.”

It’s sort of a confusing term but basically, it refers to being in the right place at the right time for heroics, for activism, for impact. Not everyone finds themselves in a position to reveal some world-changing government secret. Not everyone is there when somebody falls into the water and can’t swim. Not everyone was born emperor in a time of crisis (Marcus Aurelius) or an elected official in a moment of great consequence (Cato), not everyone was thrust into the presidency as Truman was in 1945 or into activism as Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks were in 1955.

This is what Churchill was referring to when he noted, sadly, of the Earl of Rosebery, that the man lived in “an age of great men and small events.” We don’t all have the chance to be heroes on a grand scale. We don’t all get tapped on the shoulder by destiny (as Churchill was).