{"id":150,"date":"2008-12-22T13:22:08","date_gmt":"2008-12-22T11:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filosofille.wordpress.com\/?p=61"},"modified":"2026-05-12T09:13:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:13:15","slug":"qa-10-dec-08-radical-maturity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/qa-10-dec-08-radical-maturity\/","title":{"rendered":"QA 10. (Dec 08) Radical maturity?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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British medical volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. Rosaleen Ross (back right) and Reginald Saxton (others unnamed)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The other day someone spoke of \u201cmaturity\u201d, and I thought how quaint<\/em>. With all the changes that befall us in the world, and all the changes we try to make, how rarely do we experience \u2013 or desire \u2013 simple ripening, that something should grow into its own fullness, in the fullness of time. So<\/em>, I wondered, what\u2019s that about?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mostly, it\u2019s about hatred of the present and the past it rode in on. When what is cannot be tolerated and patience is both impossible and unthinkable, we must insist on real<\/em> change: transformation, evolution, revolution. The past, with all its ignorance, mistakes and cruelty, can only ripen like a stinking corpse. It offends our sensibilities. We will make a new beginning, build a better future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Now, clearly, the present is<\/em> intolerable and the past full of what we\u2019d like to leave behind. Clearly, we can\u2019t go on like this. You all know what I\u2019m talking about. But what interests me here is the opposition of maturational change, which is fruition, and radical change that breaks from its root conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The desire for radical change is commonly presented (by conservatives) as a pursuit of the na\u00efve and idealistic, as an adolescent phase. When the young become mature, they will learn to accept reality, the ways of the world and their own limited ability to effect anything. What a sad grey story, all adrip with complacency, complicity and capitulation. (Also, curiously enough, precisely a story of radical change.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A much more interesting \u2013 and less discussed \u2013 possibility is that of a mature radicalism. This phrase suddenly brings to my mind a great host of teachers and elders I have had the good fortune to meet. All of them who consistently refused to accept that injustice could remain unchallenged, consistently believed that we could indeed each make a difference, could together make a better world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The maturity of their radicalism \u2013 I mean, their enduring aspiration for real change \u2013 was expressed in their conduct and in their skilful use of whatever conditions they encountered. Truly matured, all grown up, grounded in themselves, ripe and juicy. Passionate, engaged, creative, smart. Compared to their younger selves, these revolutionaries (in whatever field) are not so hot-headed, not so adamant, not in such a hurry, not so captivated by their own power and daring. In short, they\u2019ve gotten over themselves. (More or less. There\u2019s still lots of ego around, but even that can be put aside or put to use. As needs be.) They settled down, but, unlike those erstwhile radicals who mature into docility, they didn\u2019t settle down to sleep, but to work. Fearlessly, for the long haul, whatever it takes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, they also provide us a vision of a radical maturity. This coming of age isn\u2019t simply an attainment or a culmination, not just the natural end of a natural line. (That\u2019s just death.) In this radical maturity, you don\u2019t come to rest in yourself; you\u2019re always setting out again. Looking forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(In memory of Rosaleen Ross, 1909-2008<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"ripe3\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day someone spoke of \u201cmaturity\u201d, and I thought how quaint. With all the changes that befall us in the world, and all the changes we try to make, how rarely do we experience \u2013 or desire \u2013 simple…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[23,24,25],"class_list":["post-150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-everyday-philosophy","tag-change","tag-maturity","tag-transformation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2376,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions\/2376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.further.co.za\/helen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}