corimagua

“We need to share some values such as a commitment to fundamental human rights and basic rules of interaction, but we can be wildly different in other areas such as lifestyles, spirituality, musical tastes, and community life.”

 

-Jack Weatherford

Savages and Civilization–Who will Survive?

When I read this phrase aloud it sounds so simple, yet when I look around me it seems hard to actually implement what it tells us in our world. We have to guarantee the essentials for everyone. I have enough faith in the human spirit to think that if we provide the basics for everyone the wold would become a much better place. The basics to me are food, water, shelter, clothing, education, sanitation, health care. We have the technological capacity, the technical know-how and most importantly the resources to guarantee access to the basics for every man, woman, and child in the planet, RIGHT NOW. If we can mobilize millions of people, tanks, planes, flight carriers, weapons and supplies for War, then we can surely provide basics for our entire human population. Get some logistic experts to work this shit out. I wonder how many resources are wasted because of bad allocation? We have to build a system that is efficient and makes logistical sense. The system which we currently run on is inefficient, insane in many ways and deadly in others. “Business as usual”, current resource extraction and consumption levels will destroy us unless we change, we cannot continue with “business as usual”. We need new, radical ideas that will change our course and re-develop our human societies and make them better. We need to listen to radical innovative ideas like those form Jacque Fresco. He is an American architectural designer, concept artist, educator, and futurist among other things. He is an outspoken supporter of a resource based economy; a holistic socio-economic system based in the premise that the earth is abundant with plentiful resource and our practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant an counter productive to our survival.  Peter Joseph, the creator of the Zeitgeist documentaries explains this idea well in his films. Jacque Fresco doesn’t have all the answers, but he is providing alternatives and A LOT of what he says makes great sense. I think that we can solve our problems and change but we need to try alternatives.

We need to have faith in humanity. We are the same people who for thousands of years looked up into the sky and marveled at the moon and one day landed on it. How crazy is it that we made it to the moon? Humans used to look up at this giant floating mass of rocks, levitated in the skies by forces way beyond our understanding and were left in complete awe. Back then, the thought that we would one day send humans into space and land on the moon would never cross most people’s minds. Imagine if you went back 300 hundred years encountered a group of people and told them we would one day make it to the moon. Everyone would laugh at you, accuse you of being crazy and tell you to leave. Imagine the encounter: 

“Hey guys listen up, i know this might sound a little bit crazy right now but look up. See that big rock floating up there? 

“yeah, the moon, what about it?” they answered

“Well, we’re going to fly up to it one day and mark our footprints on it.” 

They stood in silence and looked at each other……… “what a lunatic!”one of them says. And they all burst out laughing hysterically. 

They would sincerely think that you are a nutcase. But what is even more insane is the fact that we actually made it to the moon. Stop and think about that for a second. We figured out we could put people inside this metal container and propel them out into outer space, land on the moon, walk around and gather samples and other sorts of scientific mumbo jumbo and then bring them back to earth in one piece. That my friend, is insane. 

A point i’m trying to make is that radical ideas always seem crazy to many but it is these radical ideas that move our species forward. Humanity needs radical ideas to keep progressing. We are desperately in need of change. We cannot be afraid of change, we have to accept it, embrace it, and move with it. If we can figure out how to land on the moon we can surely provide the basic necessities for everyone.

Another issue the quote talks about which also sounds very simple yet it is hard to activate are basic rules of interaction and egagement. We have to respect each other and our decisions, If someone says no to something then it means no. No one should have to do something they do not want to do. Nothing should be forced on people, all actions should be voluntary. If we make respect an underlalying foundation in our interactions then we create an environment conducive to understanding and cooperation where conflict can be resolved or minimized. All these things might sound obvious and they are, we all know them, but how many of us truly implement them in our lives?

We have to agree to never resort to violence and avoid it at all costs. Anger and Violence are destructive forces which highlight very dark and horrific aspects of humanity. We have to fight these dark, animalistic urges and behave like concious human beings.Violence doesn’t solve anything, violence begets more violence. Like the phrase says, “An eye for an eye will leave everybody blind”. Let a spirit of peace guide our actions and our thoughts and remember that we are endowed with a conscience, the use of logic and reason, and the natural capacity for love. Let’s use these tools to our advantage and make the world a kinder place. Regardless of your religion, we should all adopt the golden rule: Treat others how you want to be treated. This one rule alone can have drastic changes if everyone adopted it. 

All humans, regardless of sex, gender, color, religion, nationality, size, social status or any other sort of distinction we apply to ourselves, we all should agree on these two simple terms: 1-Necessities provided to everyone. 2-basic rules of interaction. 

While we have to be alike in this sense, like the quote states, we can be “wildly different in other areas”. You should pursue the lifestyle you want as long as it doesn’t cause harm to anyone or prevent others from pursuing their own. If you want to better your life then you should be allowed to, likewise, if you chose to lead your life in destructive ways, it’s on you. There are external forces which influence our lives but it is up to you how to react to them. You can let the negative forces in the world defeat you. You can give in to the forces of evil and become corrupt, or violent, or malicious, or negative. But you can also let the forces of good influence you and be honorable, kind, positive. Don’t let negative experiences consume the good inside of you. You can chose how you want to be. You have a sound mind and an incredible spirit. Don’t allow anyone to take that from you.

  I want to live in a world where all children come into this world on an even footing. Where every child is provided with health, education, and love. We should all join hands, as productive members of the planet, and strive for this. Someday we will make this dream a reality but for now we have to deal with the situation that’s at hand. We can’t allow ourselves to be discouraged by the situations we are thrown into. Where you are born and what position you are born into in this life is a roll of the dice. You could get a bad roll and be born into a shitty environment, life is unfair sometimes, but just because your surrounded by shit doesn’t mean you have to become shit also. it doesn’t mean that you can’t thrive and it doesn’t mean you can’t persevere. Just because life handed you a shitty hand doesn’t mean you should stop playing the game because if you don’t play you lose by default. Some people play an easier game, others get extremely difficult ones but we all have to play because therein lies the point in all this: to play the game. Don’t watch others play the game, don’t play the game through others. Play your game. 

The human spirit has an extraordinary capacity for resilience. Human history is marked by countless ennobling acts of courage and love. It is marked by people who were extremely resilient and persevered through the most difficult and trying circumstances. Let history inspire you and also let it bring  you the realization that just like people in the past, you are also strong, brave, kind and resilient. 

You also carry the flame of the human spirit within you. Once you recognize this flame it is your duty to keep the flame alive, don’t let the fire inside you go out.. How do you make the fire grow? With challenge, with struggle, with sacrifice, with resilience, with perseverance. You make it grow by being patient, empathetic and forgiving. You make it grow with every act of kindness and love. You make it grow by being happy, allowing fun and humor to be your life long companions. If you let the human spirit burn brightly inside you it will shine and illuminate others and if your fire burns bright enough, sparks will shoot out which will ignite a fire within others. This way we keep the human spirit alive, now and forever. Keep growing, in the light direction.