I'd Like to Teach the World to Hug

I was born  smack dab in the middle of the seventies right after Vietnam and the hippies were waning out but before the real emergence of disco.  A lot of commercials from my early childhood reflected the turbulent times and that longing for a gentler time. Coke had a hippy nostalgic jingle that they periodically recycled every few years. Usually it featured all these young happy kids with long hair and love beads holding flowers and singing "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." I was addicted to that commercial--it was right up there with the Hawaiian Punch jingle and the theme song to "The Greatest American Hero." That early fixation was an indicator of future idealistic and sentimental behavior. The happy warm fuzzy feelings I got from this song made me wonder what it would be like to teach the world to sing or hug or play. Society and our parents invest all this time in instructing us to brush our teeth, not run red lights and say excuse me after we belch. When it comes to empathy though, our mentoring skills fall noticeably short. Lately there has been an excessive amount of malevolence in the world. Terrorists go on a killing spree in India. An eight year old boy confesses to killing his father. OMG, what is happening to us? Is compassion an outmoded, old-fashioned virtue? It makes me want to curl up and cry somedays. A lack of empathy for others is the most dehumanizing attribute one can have. I'm not sure what the remedy is but I suspect that warm, affection and positive touch would play a major role in healing our damaged spirits.