A wise humanity, in politics as elsewhere, comes only of remembering that even the largest groups are composed of individuals, that individuals can be happy or sad, and that every individual in the world who is suffering represents a failure of human wisdom and of common humanity. The aims of statesmanship should not be abstract. They should be as concrete as the affection of parents for young children.
Source： Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 9: Steps topwards a stable peace, n8
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Even China, with the largest population and one of the most powerful collectives, and even Japan, where over a hundred million people live within a small land area, are composed of individuals. When we grow accustomed to thinking solely from the perspective of the state, rather than centering our thoughts on individuals, individual suffering tends to be overlooked. Politicians, by nature, ought to prioritize the happiness of the people, but when the prosperity of the state is conflated with the well-being of its citizens, political thinking can gradually drift away from the actual concerns of the people. This is evident, for example, in Prime Minister Ishiba’s decision to give 100,000 yen to each newly elected LDP member as a congratulatory gift. Although these funds may technically come from party membership fees, they contain a substantial portion of taxpayer money, revealing a significant disconnect from the sensibilities of ordinary citizens.
Incidentally, in today's "Words of Russell," the phrase "a failure of human wisdom and of common humanity," if translated literally, would mean "a lack of human wisdom and of common humanity." However, since "common humanity" can be difficult to grasp in Japanese, I have translated it as "a lack of human compassion."
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