Thompson, Time, and Gillard

Boiling water, when put under specific conditions, could freeze faster than ice-cold water. The phenomenon, called Mpemba effect, is a vivid contradiction between our perception and common sense. Despite seeming nonsensical, science champions its legitimacy – the warmth at first doesn’t guarantee the warmth at last. As, moral behaviors guarantee nothing in regards to one’s morality after all. One who used to pursue the virtue of conscience, occasionally, comes up to commit – or encounter – the critical downfall of morality. Moral licensing has inflicted a variety of problems on the society, and has barely revealed itself as the root cause of such problems. Gradually and steadily, moral licensing has been rising itself to the surface of our consciousness. Despite the severity of issues it has invoked, I am afraid to admit that we have no other option but to wait till it rises; only the constant awareness and patience, would let us overcome this social problem.

Elizabeth Thompson drew The Roll Call in the late 19^th century. During the last one and a half century, the world altered dramatically. Light bulb was invented. World War I and II occurred. Moon expedition succeeded. The Soviet Union collapsed. The internet was created. Female rights, too, has been through significant changes. The 19^th Amendment granted women suffrage in the United States since 1920. Able female leaders are serving their duty as the representative of nations, corporations, and societies. Male dominance on the other sex, in many instances, is no more considered an obvious truth but a shameful reflection of social immaturity. Julia Gillard, the former prime minister of Australia, encountered the world of the 21^st century. That indeed is a difference. Conspicuously more unbearable is the threshold Thompson had to overcome compared to that Gillard suffered from. Neither a cultivation of finer moral standard nor a belabored essay of the mankind to enlighten individuals contributed to the disparity as a major factor; time, by itself, alleviated the folly of the mankind.