ADDICTION AND THE HUMAN MIND

a return to peace

We humans are pretty smart – right?  We consider ourselves the most intelligent of all living species, currently living and extinct.  We have even designated ourselves as sub-species homo sapiens sapiens, which means intelligent, intelligent species homo.

Our ancestors created tools, weapons, art.  Modern humans have excelled in medicine, science and technology, and have even managed to land an astronaut on the moon.

Yet at the same time … our modern human world is filled with division, hate, destruction, war, murder, terrorism, ethnic cleansing, prostitution and pornography, prejudice.  As we have amassed more creature comforts and conveniences, we have and are de-maturing.  We don’t need to grow up because we have governments to take care of us, to do the things that we don’t want to be bothered with.

You would think that with all these advancements humans could live peaceably, in relative harmony with each other as well as with Earth and the rest of life on it.  You would think that, but … it isn’t happening.

“Well, at least with all our knowledge, we can get closer to and uncover the truth.”  Actually, no.  We are farther away from the truth than at any time in our 3 million year history (yes, humans have a glorious history that dates back 3 million years).  Today, “information” consists of bias, spin, hype, drama – no one knows what the truth really is.  This one fact alone is a death sentence for humans – the young (of ANY species) cannot survive and be raised without knowing what is true.  Even then, life is often a struggle – not every living thing survives – but the struggle, the overcoming, the successes, and also the failures, is what makes life … life.  Take away the struggle, and you doom the species to horrible suffering and extinction.

We are addicted to our minds.  This is understandable – adolescents worship things – things they can see, feel and touch.  Adults (of any species) graduate to a more realistic view of the world and our place in it.  This view requires maturity, wisdom, discernment, tolerance, willingness to sacrifice for our principles, our vision, our beliefs.

Babies are dependent.  Adolescents are independent.  Adults are inter-dependent, meaning that we have the mature realization that we cannot do life alone; that we need each other; that we are a species that lives not as solitary individuals but in groups, like our closest mammalian relatives (apes, elephants, dolphins, etc.).

The mind, though it can and has accomplished some amazing things, is limited.  It has limits.  And we have reached those.  Actually the mind itself is an amoral repository for information-gathering.  Without a higher purpose or cause or set of beliefs, the mind is equally capable of doing good, or of creating disaster.  And coupled with modern immaturity, selfish and self-centered ego, the mind today is literally killing millions of humans, driving virtually all the larger animals to extinction, and destroying the very planet that spawned us and gave us life in the first place.

As if it could be any worse … we are now a world of nations and governments.  Governments are organizations that allow us to be bullies.  We condone through our government what we would never have the nerve to do individually.  And worse, the unintended consequence of governments is to destroy our natural human design.  Who wants to bother living in and being a part of a community, working together for our unique needs, wants, preferred lifestyle.  Who wants to bother, when government promises to feed everyone, give everyone money, take care of every little problem that you don’t want to be bothered with.   They will:

  • Raise your kids
  • Tell you what to eat
  • Collect half of what you make and use it to make politicians into billionaires
  • Start wars
  • Promote hate and division

We need to regain our maturity – to grow up.  In governments we have created a global monster, and that monster must be caged and re-trained.  Yes, government must be re-trained to fit its proper role.  And what is that role?  PUBLIC SERVANT. Public servant, and nothing more.  Serving the public.  Whenever the scope, power, reach exceeds that of servant, government can quickly get out of hand, take on authority and power that belongs to all of us as humans.  Governments are monuments to our laziness, our unwillingness to own all the vital aspects of our lives (care of the elderly, raising of our young, our health, education and training).  And huge, rich and powerful governments can and basically always DO become bullies.  We throw our weight around because of our power and size, when we would never dream of or have the courage to do that bullying on our own.

Are we proposing that we do away with government, or that government is bad.  No.  But it has gotten out of control – you are certainly aware that numerous governments, globally, are oppressing the very citizens that they are supposed to be serving.  And they are doing that with taxes that they extort from the very people they oppress.  And in most cases, the people have no alternative – to even speak against the government could cost a person their life.

We MUST return to peace.  We MUST require that governments return to their proper size and scope.  After all, from a human standpoint this world belongs to us, 7 billion of us, not to a handful of “leaders,” functionaries, politicians, and bureaucratic hacks.

We can take our lives back and return to peace.  It will take work and sacrifice.  If you would like to be part of a global grassroots movement to return humanity to a path of peace … JOIN US.

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