Each book ends with a poem. The poem that closes Bertie Plays the Blues talks about the power of friendship, not simply in the sense of one's social circle, but more in the sense of each human's relation to the other:
"But it would be wrong...to dismiss the possibility
Of making bearable the suffering of so many
By acts of love in our own lives,
By acts of friendship, by the simple cherishing
Of those who daily cross our path, and those who do not.
By these acts, I think, are we shown what might be;
By these acts can we transform that small corner
Of terra firma that is given to us..."
Alexander McCall Smith, Bertie Plays the Blues (Edinburgh: Polygon, 2011), 309
It made me think of the recent events in Syria, and the global attempt to respond effectively. Ought one to seek a diplomatic - and entirely non-military - solution, or are there situations in which a military intervention is the best (or right) thing to do? Utilitarianism suggests that we should pursue whatever will lead to the greatest happiness, or good, for the greatest number, but how can one ever fully calculate the repurcussions of a single decision? What may appear good in the immediate situation may have negative consequences five, ten or a hundred years down the line. So, who do we consider when making our moral choice? The Syrians suffering now? Their children? Their grandchildren?
And what might it mean to be friends with Syria? (Can you be friends with a country?) A friend is a fellow, one who lives life alongside. Can a friend stand back and watch the kind of suffering we have been seeing over the last few months? Or is it a friend's duty - like a parent's - to let the country sort itself out and only offer a comforting hug in the shape of aid for those most in need?
"By these acts... are we shown what might be," says Alexander McCall Smith. What is certain is that whatever we, that is, our governments, decide, it will shape not only the world's view of us, but also our view of each other.
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