On November 19th the Dalai Lama spoke about compassion at a leadership summit in New Delhi, saying humans should behave more like ants (echoing King Solomon in the Bible). True, ants often show a devotion toward their nestmates that the citizens of human nations cannot match, but there are species with societies that show internal strife. Far more disconcertingly however, the compassion of ants is matched by their aggression: unity within each ant society and goes hand in hand with an absolute intolerance of outsiders.
This makes ants are terrible models for political idealists. Indeed, most ant societies act toward each other like the Chinese have done toward Tibet, but far worse: they will annihilate outsiders without mercy.
Compassionate humans must forge our own path through this world.
Click on the picture to watch two minutes from the Dalai Lama's speech.
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