8pov

The world can certainly do better than this. Here's why.

Monday, July 12

The Chains of History

Though we are invariably tied to the past, we need not bring it up everytime something must get done. Daily, we are inundated with 'new' information; filtered, edited, and beamed directly to us from everywhere. Our perceptions and interests shape this information and the world around us shapes the arena in which this knowledge is put to use. Our actions are, however, constantly ineffectual against the tide of history - a backward-looking directive to avoid the condemnation to repeat history. And yet, with a great degree of predictability, humanity lives up to the expectations his "inherent nature," permitting the course of history to define the future.

Ancient Greece is often cited as the source of our current civilization. Democracy, economy, and power weilded by the rich and priveliged delivers the mandate for a subjugated population. Nothing will change because this is the only 'right' path. Fundamental flaws in the design of the archetype are buried beneath the necessity of structure itself to keep people - a flock of sheep - in line and out of trouble. The rule of law, though rewritten in many respects throughout history, continues to protect those who know it or who can afford to employ those that do to manipulate it. The greatest achievement of the Greeks, in my humble (and somewhat uninformed) opinion, was to establish the groundwork for people to manipulate each other at every possible moment.

The Greeks made great strides in the establishement of law, commerce, philosophy, and warfare. These paramount aspects of knowledge have reached the far corners of the populated world and, to this day, shape the course of human affairs. These chains of history include all of the missteps of human development, the paths that are to the obvious detriment of individals, populations and species everywhere. Abstraction begets ambiguity, and in the midst of this mess lies opportunity for manipulation.

With the rise of scientific inquiry, the divergence of thought processes from mere belief-systems toward irrefutable and reproducible evidence, humanity has stumbled onto the fertile ground in which we may make a new beginning. Mankind posesses the resource and capacity to educate en masse, though we constantly concern ourselves with the erosion of individual 'cultures,' 'values,' and history. While we actively seek the answers to these issues, our 'cultures,' 'values,' and history undergo an alternative erosion.

Propagandist media "spins" every story in favor of publishers, advertisers, and nationalist agendas. The global economy dictates the actions of all individuals who buy, sell or trade in any commodity; all the while ensuring that everything - including you - is a commodity. Laws are written or rewritten by (laughably monikered) "representative governements" or (hardly any different) despotic tyrants who, by virtue of position, determine not only their own salaries but how much the population is to be taxed. There is no recourse for these people of influence as they were "democratically elected."

But there is no better way of living. Right? We MUST believe everything we are told. Democracy is the only way to freedom. The most important thing to every human being is a strong economy, a strong nationalist sense of pride, and to stay in line with the law. This path, though we see the downward spiral on a daily basis, is the ONLY path. Political, legal, and economic corruption aside, our future is 'secure.'

What happens when the system fails, when civilization as we know it ends? What happens when the economy can no longer support itself, when there is no more power for our machines, when the air is toxic, and when there is no food, clothing or shelter? The answer is simple: survival of the fittest.

"... At the height of their fame and glory, they TURNED on one another, each struggling in vain for ultimate supremacy... In the passion and death of their struggle, the very article that had raised them to such Olympian heights was lost... their techniques vanished..."

When only the manipulators are left, it is only natural that each seeks to manipulate the next until all are lost. The chain of history, with repsect to humanity, will self-terminate with an individual placing himself above all possible concern: survival of the fittest.

Those that work the system get ahead, this is easy to see. No-one can play by ALL of the rules and succeed. Behind every great fortune and every grand achievement there lies a loser. Someone, invariably, must suffer a loss to counterbalance the gain of another. Thus are the aspirations of mankind chained to its history. To ignore the damage done in the name of achievement is arrogant and irresponsible.

Honor and responsibility lie in self-sacrifice, to admit of loss of oneself to perpetuate the gains of others. It is the yoke of humanity, to concede that which one desires most to perpetuate the gain of all.