Danger, continued
A continuation on a theme from an earlier post:
If this world goes to hell in a handbasket, corruption will surely be behind the fall. Without the courage to do what's right, to stand up for a set of principles, we become pawns in the hands of those who can pay us off or intimidate us. Healthy societies need brave souls who are ready and willing to challenge corruption and injustice the moment these evils rear their ugly heads.
Civilization is also at risk of decline due to revenge codes. The idea that justice is only achieved by doing to others the same harm they have done to you is terribly unwise. We all know the phrase, "an eye for a an eye leaves the whole world blind." Not only is revenge-as-justice unwise because it simply causes more harm instead of prevents it, but it fuels hatred and violence that can last generations instead of nourishing understanding and caring. Plus, emotionally fueled reactions to personal harm are much more likely to hurt the wrong person than, say, a methodical investigation, arrest, and prosecution.
Danger exists for us all so long as people are willing to ally themselves to a group/leader/belief system/idea/etc without adequate evidence/reason that what they commit themselves to is in fact true and wise. The kind of allegiance that follows from simple reactions to emotional appeals is easily and commonly secured by any power-hungry person or nebulous mythology (or the combination of the two).
Related to this is the belief that truth is best found by "listening to your heart" rather than trusting in science, reason, and logic. Yes, personal, emotional truth is discovered by a keen awareness of one's emotions (it is true that I feel this way...), but matters of external fact are not realized by emotional divining.
Addiction to the overstimulating is another obvious force for societal decay. One can not live a healthy, fulfilling life if one is slave to intense desire-the kind of desire that prevents a natural range of emotion and monopolizes a person's thoughts and time.
Nationalism has bonded people together in the pursuit of common goals. Too bad the goal has often been the killing of others in battle/war. Group identity that is well informed is one thing, but group identity based on nothing but simple pride and circumstance is both ignorant and dangerous. Group identity=group think, which we all know can get out of hand. Tyrants love it though.
On a related note, the belief that one is "special" or "chosen" can lead one to justify the mistreatment of others. It may be impossible to abolish the feeling of being better than someone else; after all, its a fact that superiority exists in all kinds of ways. Its when the feeling of being better than others, or "chosen", is not checked by a respect for individual rights and an intelligent humility that harm may be incurred.
Politics and power struggles also keep society from progressing. In my mind, government exists to fix problems, provide security, and guarantee our rights. I know, in practice things aren't so simple. But power struggles-and this applies to all power struggles, not just political-undermine real efforts to get things done. Maybe not as big of a deal as addiction or corruption, but still a corrosive force in society.
For this post about "Danger", you might think I'd list things like The Seven Deadly Sins (wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony) or the offenses listed in the Ten Commandments. Not a bad idea, if I agreed that they were all legitimate concerns. Wrath? Yeah, that's bad (it implies violence), but is wrath a thing anymore outside of the realm of gang-leaders and tyrants. Just seems weird. What about greed? Yes, unchecked greed is a problem, but only like out of control drinking is a problem. Unto itself, its a fairly natural impulse. Pride? Don't be silly-everyone has pride from time to time. Sure, it does no one any good to be an arrogant asshole, but still doesn't seem like a big deal. Certainly doesn't mean that some kind of great crime or harm will come from it. Lust. Nothing wrong there. Envy. Nope. Gluttony? For obvious reasons, not good, but not a global problem. Unchecked, unplanned consumption of the planets natural resources is a major problem, but I don't call that gluttony. As for the Ten Commandments, I'll refer you to George Carlin's stand-up bit.
Anyway, I wanted to write this post and elaborate on the claim I made a few posts ago about "Danger!" These are the kinds of things that we should be trying to eradicate. No, not homosexuality or abortion or lust or contraceptions or working on Sunday or not praying on Friday or eating pork or paying our tithing or doing baptisms for the dead or teaching the Bible or any number of things. No, these concerns are a waste of valuable time and huge distractions to larger issues that genuinely pose a threat to society.
If this world goes to hell in a handbasket, corruption will surely be behind the fall. Without the courage to do what's right, to stand up for a set of principles, we become pawns in the hands of those who can pay us off or intimidate us. Healthy societies need brave souls who are ready and willing to challenge corruption and injustice the moment these evils rear their ugly heads.
Civilization is also at risk of decline due to revenge codes. The idea that justice is only achieved by doing to others the same harm they have done to you is terribly unwise. We all know the phrase, "an eye for a an eye leaves the whole world blind." Not only is revenge-as-justice unwise because it simply causes more harm instead of prevents it, but it fuels hatred and violence that can last generations instead of nourishing understanding and caring. Plus, emotionally fueled reactions to personal harm are much more likely to hurt the wrong person than, say, a methodical investigation, arrest, and prosecution.
Danger exists for us all so long as people are willing to ally themselves to a group/leader/belief system/idea/etc without adequate evidence/reason that what they commit themselves to is in fact true and wise. The kind of allegiance that follows from simple reactions to emotional appeals is easily and commonly secured by any power-hungry person or nebulous mythology (or the combination of the two).
Related to this is the belief that truth is best found by "listening to your heart" rather than trusting in science, reason, and logic. Yes, personal, emotional truth is discovered by a keen awareness of one's emotions (it is true that I feel this way...), but matters of external fact are not realized by emotional divining.
Addiction to the overstimulating is another obvious force for societal decay. One can not live a healthy, fulfilling life if one is slave to intense desire-the kind of desire that prevents a natural range of emotion and monopolizes a person's thoughts and time.
Nationalism has bonded people together in the pursuit of common goals. Too bad the goal has often been the killing of others in battle/war. Group identity that is well informed is one thing, but group identity based on nothing but simple pride and circumstance is both ignorant and dangerous. Group identity=group think, which we all know can get out of hand. Tyrants love it though.
On a related note, the belief that one is "special" or "chosen" can lead one to justify the mistreatment of others. It may be impossible to abolish the feeling of being better than someone else; after all, its a fact that superiority exists in all kinds of ways. Its when the feeling of being better than others, or "chosen", is not checked by a respect for individual rights and an intelligent humility that harm may be incurred.
Politics and power struggles also keep society from progressing. In my mind, government exists to fix problems, provide security, and guarantee our rights. I know, in practice things aren't so simple. But power struggles-and this applies to all power struggles, not just political-undermine real efforts to get things done. Maybe not as big of a deal as addiction or corruption, but still a corrosive force in society.
For this post about "Danger", you might think I'd list things like The Seven Deadly Sins (wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony) or the offenses listed in the Ten Commandments. Not a bad idea, if I agreed that they were all legitimate concerns. Wrath? Yeah, that's bad (it implies violence), but is wrath a thing anymore outside of the realm of gang-leaders and tyrants. Just seems weird. What about greed? Yes, unchecked greed is a problem, but only like out of control drinking is a problem. Unto itself, its a fairly natural impulse. Pride? Don't be silly-everyone has pride from time to time. Sure, it does no one any good to be an arrogant asshole, but still doesn't seem like a big deal. Certainly doesn't mean that some kind of great crime or harm will come from it. Lust. Nothing wrong there. Envy. Nope. Gluttony? For obvious reasons, not good, but not a global problem. Unchecked, unplanned consumption of the planets natural resources is a major problem, but I don't call that gluttony. As for the Ten Commandments, I'll refer you to George Carlin's stand-up bit.
Anyway, I wanted to write this post and elaborate on the claim I made a few posts ago about "Danger!" These are the kinds of things that we should be trying to eradicate. No, not homosexuality or abortion or lust or contraceptions or working on Sunday or not praying on Friday or eating pork or paying our tithing or doing baptisms for the dead or teaching the Bible or any number of things. No, these concerns are a waste of valuable time and huge distractions to larger issues that genuinely pose a threat to society.
posted by Josh at
5:59 PM
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