when i was 21, i thought there was no hope for mankind. there were simply too many of us, we all wanted more than we had, we lusted after what others had. then i grew into this complicated dance of changing humans through non-violence, making the world a fairer place.
now i’m back to where i was 40 years ago. even if somehow we could revolt via violent or non-violent means, install a good, fair, honest, ethical government, pass just laws, there would still be some who wanted to work and contribute less than their fair share, still be some who wanted more than their rightful allotment. but even if it worked, once the good governors died off, the paper pushers and the power hungry would take over, twisting it all out of whack to fit their own human weak need.
if you have government, that means governors. governors mean you have an elite class. elite means some have more than others. there has never been a ruling system that worked. communism, socialism, capitalism, communes, churches, tribes all have leaders. with leaders you have automatic privilege. without leaders you have the rule of the strong or wiliest.
you’ll always have folk smarter and dumber, weaker and stronger, more impetuous or cautious. then there’s the genetically, mentally, morally, and physically damaged who just weren’t born right.
so no matter what, the way man is, we will never have a just world. the only way is to teach the world to think differently, to desire other than they have for 100,000 years. and we have neither the time nor the willingness to do so. we’re running out of world.
our only chance would be like the arch building ants that cannot complete their arches until there are enough of them to reach mass mind, whereupon they know to insert the keystone to prevent the arch from collapsing. such mass mind awareness could happen, but it’s not likely.
we’re not going to fix the problem because we are the problem.
so, there’s no fair world down the lane. probably not even an earth down the lane which will support humankind. there’s no happy ending. there’s no utopia. there are no presents beneath the tree on the magical christmas morning which will never arrive.
what does that leave?
we can only live each of our own lives with the maximum amount of joy we can generate for ourselves, while doing the least amount of damage to others and the environment. it comes back to a combination of mr roger’s “brighten the corner where you are” and every religion’s “do as you would be done.”
humanity is a cancer that has doomed the earth – it’s up to each of us to be more benign than malignant so this dying earth hosts us as long as possible.
nothing – not non-violent revolution, violent revolution, electing good politicians, cutting green house gasses, recycling, sharing the world’s wealth, eating the rich, becoming vegetarians – nothing whatsoever is going to save us in the long run. eventually we’re going to choke ourselves to death.
BUT, all the good things to do i just mentioned could extend our earth life just a little longer. so it comes down to how long we want to hang around, and how miserable we want to be while doing it.
so missus and mister human, i suggest you start doing all the things you’ve wanted to do but have been putting off. do it now, and do it as ethically as possible. don’t worry about the financial cost because money is temporary – as it life and the earth’s ecosystem that nurtures our portion of it.
not only is there no free lunch, soon there’ll be no lunch at all.
