A Commentary on Boxing and Culture

One of the blessings of the free exchange of ideas is their eventual reduction into those which have substance and are retained and further refined, and those which prove to be inherently flawed and are subsequently discarded. Thus has Western Civilization re-invented itself and its institutions over the millennia and bestowed upon us the freedoms we enjoy today.

We, in the West, have, over time, woven a tapestry of values from the fiber of our common experiences which has proven workable, if imperfect, and largely just. There have been great leaps forward and tragic slides backward. Much has been recorded; the successes overemphasized in ink, the bloody stains of failure still visible on every page of history. The contributions of the Greek Philosophers and Roman Lawgivers, the Western Enlightenment and the American Experiment; all the great accomplishments have been well credited, dark ages and darker deeds minimized, if not excused.

But between, behind, beneath and before those events were the people ...