Some of the interaction that was meaningful to me….
Me: “I’ve been reading Gandhi’s autobiography.”
Dad: “What did you think of it?”
Me: “Well, I thi…”
Dad: “Ghandi was a stinker.”
Me: “Really.”
Dad: “He was similar to Hitler and Stalin. The new biography is not worth your time.”
Me: “Oh.”
Dad: “There haven’t been any real leaders for hundreds of years. We don’t have any authoritative structure now.”
Me: “So, who was a leader?”
Dad: “Kublai Kahn.”
Me: “Really?”
Dad: “You can’t have any impact without an empire.”
Does my father believe we’d be better off with a Kublai Kahn in charge? Maybe Gandhi’s view on anarchy rubbed him the wrong way? Did Ghandi make no difference to human beings? Did Kublai Kahn’s humanitarian work overshadow his conquests?
I’m going to be thinking about this conversation for awhile.