How Long Will My Statue Last?
What is right today, may not be tomorrow.
When great people fall, we continue to laud their resurrected glory by carving their legacy into stone. In parks, colleges, and museums, stand erected relics of a past hero whose celebratory cheer has reverberated throughout generations into the present day.
And just as we build statues, we also tear them down. We remove all traces of those who once perpetrated deeds that we can no longer vindicate; deeds that, though normal they may be in the past, are now deemed incompatible with our modern conscience. While some argue we shouldn’t erase history, others insist we shouldn’t glorify the wrong side of it.
So how long will my statue last?
I’m actively anti-racist. I’m a pro-choice, body-positive feminist. I’m an LGBTQ+ rights activist. I’m a believer in the freedom of movement, religion, and expression. I’m a supporter of equitable education and healthcare. I’m an advocate for climate justice. I’m everything that makes me a progressive hero of today, yet perhaps a tyrant of tomorrow.
How long until a future society has decided that I am no longer worthy of celebration for I had committed, unbeknownst to me now, a heinous offense?
Our world is eternally a moral gyre of values as transient as the generation that held them. Yet we oftentimes are fooled by the illusion that we have already ripened into a quintessential civilization of universally superior beliefs. Perhaps we will never break free from this cycle of building and demolishing statues.
So how long will my statue last?
Palis Pisuttisarun is a social entrepreneur and activist based in Bangkok, Thailand. In his free time, he enjoys doing origami, programming, and watching too much RuPaul’s Drag Race.
