Reflections on our system
Let’s start with what’s good, and be grateful and thankful for that. Our society is generally peaceful, and we do not overly fear invasion of our homes or our land, nor violence against us in public. Most that I know have plenty to eat, and do not fear or worry about there being food for the future. Most of us have a roof over our head, and a place in society where we can be without undue harassment. We have good measures of freedom and knowledge available to us. Let us be thankful for these gifts, and the prior generations who have worked and sacrificed so that we may have them.
That being said, while remembering what we have to be grateful for, it is perhaps humanity’s role to seek its betterment, and in our time (and likely all times) there are many things that could be improved. I do not seek perfect, and recognize that reaching too far can cause us to fall back into pits of the past that we should have already passed. I do think that we can, however, prudently and cautiously continue to seek a better life for ourselves and for all of humanity, and simultaneously be appreciative of all the gifts that we have been given and yet still seek more without being greedy or arrogant. Perhaps selfishly, but perhaps correctly, I could argue that desiring better is, or at least can be, a good part of human nature. With this drive we can work to correct norms and systems that no longer fit the needs of the times, test and rebalance institutions and organizations that have become wayward, and search to find well being within our current situation. At one point I remember defining greed (or perhaps gluttony) to myself as desiring things that no longer even provide you with benefit, and perhaps there is something to that definition (it perhaps including in this definition how greed affects others, especially in resource limited scenarios). It is worth asking ourselves if we are being too greedy and foolishly risking much to gain little. It is a balance I will try to remind myself of and hold myself to as I seek improvement for myself and others.
Perhaps what I have come to worry about most over the last few years is our ruling class, and their all consuming addiction to power. It seems that their definition of good is to climb atop society by hook or crook, and once there to do whatever it takes to stay there. There seems to be an increasing acceptance of ruthlessness, and a sense that they would gladly dispatch or deal poorly with a great number of us to achieve their aims. Perhaps my understanding of the ruling class is incorrect, but it is my understanding, and seems to be an understanding that is more widely coming to be believed. Perhaps it is naive to suppose that ruling class is ever otherwise, or that if there were kindler and gentler rulers that they wouldn’t just be supplanted by a more violent and ruthless competitor. Perhaps.
While I believe the desire to improve oneself is human, there seem to be issues with the ruling class defining the good in life as climbing atop others. First, inherent to that definition of good is harm to others, in that the good is always relational (all others must be subordinate). Second, it reduces human life to a narrow climbing higher than others on a heap of shit, rather than appreciating the multitudinous and mysterious possibilities and wonders that might be available to us. Thirdly (and I suppose this depends on the reader’s perspective as to whether this resonates with you), it is a fools errand; it seems likely that we never be able to climb high enough to strive with the almighty powers, and therefore will always be subordinate to them, and thus have set out for the good (getting to the top) something that is unobtainable. Finally, and perhaps most damningly, it is ineffective; a ruler who too single mindedly focuses on the preservation of their own power above all else seems almost certain to become resented, attacked, and deplored, thus making xem more likely to lose that which xe seeks to maintain in the first place. I believe that our rulers need to adhere to the golden rule, and rule in a manner that would be befitting of themselves should they be subject to the same.
I have listed some specific concerns with those in power here. The format of this complaint is loosely based on the story of the 95 theses, though I recognize that what I have written has nothing of the same weight or insight of that author, I was still inspired by it nonetheless.
I believe that those in power need to share power. One first step to that end would be sharing at least some of the knowledge of the priests and wizards with the rest of humanity, specifically knowledge of the practical arts which were gained through the sacrifice of our common ancestry and should not be dishonored by being withheld. I have started the outline of this work, but recognize there is much to do, far more than I can do on my own.
I will not respect illegitimate authority; I may be forced to go along with it, but I will not respect it. I do not wish to have a system in which our currency (our lifeblood of modern times) is controlled by the immoral and distributed without consideration of the value of the individual or their contributions. I do not wish to be a slave, a dupe, or a beast of burden to the system.