DonaldFG
VIP Member
- Jan 4, 2015
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One would expect a successful species to function in coordination and cooperation with each other for their common good. Since there is strength in numbers, this should especially be true the more intelligent the species. The insect populations seem to have this principle down pat, but the dominate life forms have problems. For both primates and humans, for example, the local groups (families, communities, etc.) cooperate generally well. As the scope of observation broadens, however, we see conflicts.
THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY
(Surviving against the odds)
Why is this true when so much more could be achieved through intelligent cooperation?
Why is this true when so much more could be achieved through intelligent cooperation? It's not hard to imagine your answers to this, but let's think about it for a few minutes. My analysis may seem too simplistic to you, but consider the principle of Occam's razor first. What causes our serious conflicts and disagreements? During prehistoric times, human groups not familiar with each other didn't understand the other's culture. And before large scale villages formed, there likely were very few leaders looking to establish power positions. Most people just wanted to survive and nurture their families. We humans were just learning what resources were out there and what we could do with them. It's most probable given specific circumstances that many individuals and groups learned that they could do far better with each others help - "strength (and power) in numbers". At the time represented by the image, everyone was basically equal. Going forward many millennia and Before the European influence grew very large in America, native Americans were well on their way to establishing governments organized from the ground up - power was dispersed not that different than the Greek invention of democracy. Check out these Wikipedia articles for more: Native Americans in the United States and Great Law of Peace. (The above graphic is from Wikipedia's article on "Caveman".)
The "Native Americans" article has this statement: The indigenous cultures were quite different from those of the proto-industrial and mostly Christian immigrants. Many native cultures were matrilineal and occupied hunting grounds and agricultural lands for use of the entire community. Europeans at that time had patriarchal cultures and had developed concepts of individual property rights with respect to land that were extremely different.
THE ALBATROSS OF WAR
(Impeding Human Progress)
I have always been a "big picture" sort of person, always trying to figure out why our human societies have so many problems. I tend to concentrate far more on national and international news then local stuff - in other words things that effect humanity as a whole. Yes, we need to pay attention to local happenings, especially municipal political moves that impact our lives. BUT, from where does most of the impact on us really come? The things that impact us most are decisions made by our national and international leaders - not the Mayor or other official of "our town". Our Kings, Premiers, Presidents (along with their so-called parliaments, congresses, etcetera) make decisions that have huge impacts on us all the time - it matters not what economic system is used. They make wars (which are actually power grabs between themselves, not their peoples). They make laws to keep us in our place politically, thus making it extremely difficult to get them out of power. And as these leaders gain experience with their power, their propaganda is more and more convincing.
Examine closely the majority of the population of any and all of the conflicted countries, and you will see that "Most people just want to survive and nurture their families". The majority don't have hatred directed at other nations or cultures, as long as they are left alone. In times of conflict, these are the people who become refugees. And they are the majorities! Any hatred that develops is the result of their peaceful lives being destroyed by outside forces, whether from inside or outside their own nation.
War is one thing that impacts us in a big way (and exposed for what it is by General Smedley Butler in his book - War is A Racket), but that is only the tip of the political iceberg that keeps the human population from blossoming forth with all of its potential for achievement and success. Our intelligence is obvious by what we have achieved in the last 10,000 years. But try to imagine how far we could have gone if our society were functioning without the political albatross of power holding us down as it has!
We, the people, deserve to be able to live in peace without being forced into wars for the profit of a minority elite. Just about every nation in recorded history has had this problem, and except for the actions of their rulers there would be no wars because the majority of people just want to live in peace! But let one ruler decide to try to expand his range of power and get his people to attack another nation (mostly through lies to his own troops), and you then have foreign people getting clobbered for nothing. And they have to fight back of course. When nations grow too large and their national government slips out of control by its citizens, empires are formed. Due to the lack of attention by citizens just living their lives, governments are taken over by officials who work for their own interests rather than the peoples while these officials lie about doing the people's bidding. Unfortunately, American citizens as a whole ignored the exceptionally profound statements made in the farewell address by President Dwight Eisenhower. This is not something to take lightly!
(The above video does not seem to be working here.)
Our government today is what happens when people are not permitted to rule their own lives. War is something that impacts us all, but laws made up by a ruling minority create all sorts of problems for citizens. Some laws may seem good for some folks, but be bad for others - occasionally very bad. Laws that produce good results for everyone are few and far between - their best chance to get passed are dependent on whether they effect the rulers negatively.
FLIPPING THE RULES
(Majority Power)
Now the question for the majority of us is do we want to continue repeating our violent and unsatisfying history in this way? Will we never learn what we are doing, and what is being done to us? Although we have described ourselves as civilized, I would say we are still barbarians by our actions. Our kind has learned to work together and cooperate in the past for the common good, and with our intelligence there is no reason we cannot get our act together and make a better world for everyone globally. The USA is in a unique position today to set an example for all other nations considering its world dominance. But the use of military dominance impresses no one; it only make others mad.
In the United States, our ruling elite have so established themselves in power that anyone trying to change the current political structure has no chance using the system as it is. No chance! Candidates for significant public offices are filtered early on, even before campaigns begin. Those who would upset the "apple cart" from within the two dominant political parties are marginalized by the corporate media which is fully integrated into the political system. Recent cases are Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and Mike Gravel. Third party or independent candidates sometimes make it into office due to enormous public support, which is hard to come by to say the least considering the landslide of misleading propaganda about them. Ross Perot and Ralph Nader came close for President- but no cigar there.
Violent human history continues to repeat itself with most of us apparently learning nothing in the process. The American pendulum (and that of other nations) of social progress versus social destruction swings back and forth over each generation as its citizens relax during good times and forget what caused the previous generations bad times.
This upside-down power structure will destroy us if it continues. When the minority elite refuses to share a nations wealth, that nation eventually collapses (check history). Only countries that allow the majority of their people to live wholesome satisfying lives continue with reasonable majority support of its citizens. Our government makes the laws that rule us, and most American citizens are not finding the direction of late very satisfying. Elected officials often admit that their clients are really corporate lobbyists, not individual citizens from their districts. Therefore, the government that rules us is not ours (but it should be). Major corporations pay little or no tax, while us average Joes must surrender a big chunk of our income. And worse, many laws that govern us are actually written by corporations themselves or by organizations they hire. These writeups are then handed over to a willing law maker. Laws exist that forbid us from saying anything negative against certain corporate products. For example, Oprah Winfrey was sued when she said something negative about hamburgers. She ultimately won in court because our Constitution protected her, but she endured a huge unnecessary hassle that discourages others from saying anything similar publicly. Meanwhile, laws that protect the people are disappearing or are being ignored.
There is only one way the majority of citizens can have the sort of future we all dream about for ourselves and future generations. Freedom is not simply being able to go where you want, and buy what you can afford. Our species has the ability to create a far more elaborate scenario for us. We need to learn to nurture our society as a whole (including all cultures within it), rather than just as individuals. The common good needs to be raised to the top of our priority lists. We need a society that allows everyone to enjoy the benefits of new technologies, benefits that raise the lifestyle for everyone. To become truly civilized, we need to think in terms of one for all and all for one. We need to end the "war racket" which destroys what we have built, and begin our full force defense against the threats coming from nature - and there are plenty of those as we have seen. We need defense against disease, violent storms, earthquakes, threats from space like asteroids, etc. We should not have to defend ourselves against ourselves. We need to learn to care for our planet that makes life possible for us and our fellow creatures. There is so much more we can accomplish if we learn to cooperate and work together! This is our reality. If we set the goals we all desire for our society, our future will not become the disaster that most Hollywood action movies depict (example: Terminator, a classic portrayal of human created disaster).
THE PEOPLE'S HISTORY
(Surviving against the odds)
Why is this true when so much more could be achieved through intelligent cooperation?
Why is this true when so much more could be achieved through intelligent cooperation? It's not hard to imagine your answers to this, but let's think about it for a few minutes. My analysis may seem too simplistic to you, but consider the principle of Occam's razor first. What causes our serious conflicts and disagreements? During prehistoric times, human groups not familiar with each other didn't understand the other's culture. And before large scale villages formed, there likely were very few leaders looking to establish power positions. Most people just wanted to survive and nurture their families. We humans were just learning what resources were out there and what we could do with them. It's most probable given specific circumstances that many individuals and groups learned that they could do far better with each others help - "strength (and power) in numbers". At the time represented by the image, everyone was basically equal. Going forward many millennia and Before the European influence grew very large in America, native Americans were well on their way to establishing governments organized from the ground up - power was dispersed not that different than the Greek invention of democracy. Check out these Wikipedia articles for more: Native Americans in the United States and Great Law of Peace. (The above graphic is from Wikipedia's article on "Caveman".)
The "Native Americans" article has this statement: The indigenous cultures were quite different from those of the proto-industrial and mostly Christian immigrants. Many native cultures were matrilineal and occupied hunting grounds and agricultural lands for use of the entire community. Europeans at that time had patriarchal cultures and had developed concepts of individual property rights with respect to land that were extremely different.
THE ALBATROSS OF WAR
(Impeding Human Progress)
I have always been a "big picture" sort of person, always trying to figure out why our human societies have so many problems. I tend to concentrate far more on national and international news then local stuff - in other words things that effect humanity as a whole. Yes, we need to pay attention to local happenings, especially municipal political moves that impact our lives. BUT, from where does most of the impact on us really come? The things that impact us most are decisions made by our national and international leaders - not the Mayor or other official of "our town". Our Kings, Premiers, Presidents (along with their so-called parliaments, congresses, etcetera) make decisions that have huge impacts on us all the time - it matters not what economic system is used. They make wars (which are actually power grabs between themselves, not their peoples). They make laws to keep us in our place politically, thus making it extremely difficult to get them out of power. And as these leaders gain experience with their power, their propaganda is more and more convincing.
Examine closely the majority of the population of any and all of the conflicted countries, and you will see that "Most people just want to survive and nurture their families". The majority don't have hatred directed at other nations or cultures, as long as they are left alone. In times of conflict, these are the people who become refugees. And they are the majorities! Any hatred that develops is the result of their peaceful lives being destroyed by outside forces, whether from inside or outside their own nation.
War is one thing that impacts us in a big way (and exposed for what it is by General Smedley Butler in his book - War is A Racket), but that is only the tip of the political iceberg that keeps the human population from blossoming forth with all of its potential for achievement and success. Our intelligence is obvious by what we have achieved in the last 10,000 years. But try to imagine how far we could have gone if our society were functioning without the political albatross of power holding us down as it has!
We, the people, deserve to be able to live in peace without being forced into wars for the profit of a minority elite. Just about every nation in recorded history has had this problem, and except for the actions of their rulers there would be no wars because the majority of people just want to live in peace! But let one ruler decide to try to expand his range of power and get his people to attack another nation (mostly through lies to his own troops), and you then have foreign people getting clobbered for nothing. And they have to fight back of course. When nations grow too large and their national government slips out of control by its citizens, empires are formed. Due to the lack of attention by citizens just living their lives, governments are taken over by officials who work for their own interests rather than the peoples while these officials lie about doing the people's bidding. Unfortunately, American citizens as a whole ignored the exceptionally profound statements made in the farewell address by President Dwight Eisenhower. This is not something to take lightly!
(The above video does not seem to be working here.)
Our government today is what happens when people are not permitted to rule their own lives. War is something that impacts us all, but laws made up by a ruling minority create all sorts of problems for citizens. Some laws may seem good for some folks, but be bad for others - occasionally very bad. Laws that produce good results for everyone are few and far between - their best chance to get passed are dependent on whether they effect the rulers negatively.
FLIPPING THE RULES
(Majority Power)
Now the question for the majority of us is do we want to continue repeating our violent and unsatisfying history in this way? Will we never learn what we are doing, and what is being done to us? Although we have described ourselves as civilized, I would say we are still barbarians by our actions. Our kind has learned to work together and cooperate in the past for the common good, and with our intelligence there is no reason we cannot get our act together and make a better world for everyone globally. The USA is in a unique position today to set an example for all other nations considering its world dominance. But the use of military dominance impresses no one; it only make others mad.
In the United States, our ruling elite have so established themselves in power that anyone trying to change the current political structure has no chance using the system as it is. No chance! Candidates for significant public offices are filtered early on, even before campaigns begin. Those who would upset the "apple cart" from within the two dominant political parties are marginalized by the corporate media which is fully integrated into the political system. Recent cases are Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and Mike Gravel. Third party or independent candidates sometimes make it into office due to enormous public support, which is hard to come by to say the least considering the landslide of misleading propaganda about them. Ross Perot and Ralph Nader came close for President- but no cigar there.
Violent human history continues to repeat itself with most of us apparently learning nothing in the process. The American pendulum (and that of other nations) of social progress versus social destruction swings back and forth over each generation as its citizens relax during good times and forget what caused the previous generations bad times.
This upside-down power structure will destroy us if it continues. When the minority elite refuses to share a nations wealth, that nation eventually collapses (check history). Only countries that allow the majority of their people to live wholesome satisfying lives continue with reasonable majority support of its citizens. Our government makes the laws that rule us, and most American citizens are not finding the direction of late very satisfying. Elected officials often admit that their clients are really corporate lobbyists, not individual citizens from their districts. Therefore, the government that rules us is not ours (but it should be). Major corporations pay little or no tax, while us average Joes must surrender a big chunk of our income. And worse, many laws that govern us are actually written by corporations themselves or by organizations they hire. These writeups are then handed over to a willing law maker. Laws exist that forbid us from saying anything negative against certain corporate products. For example, Oprah Winfrey was sued when she said something negative about hamburgers. She ultimately won in court because our Constitution protected her, but she endured a huge unnecessary hassle that discourages others from saying anything similar publicly. Meanwhile, laws that protect the people are disappearing or are being ignored.
There is only one way the majority of citizens can have the sort of future we all dream about for ourselves and future generations. Freedom is not simply being able to go where you want, and buy what you can afford. Our species has the ability to create a far more elaborate scenario for us. We need to learn to nurture our society as a whole (including all cultures within it), rather than just as individuals. The common good needs to be raised to the top of our priority lists. We need a society that allows everyone to enjoy the benefits of new technologies, benefits that raise the lifestyle for everyone. To become truly civilized, we need to think in terms of one for all and all for one. We need to end the "war racket" which destroys what we have built, and begin our full force defense against the threats coming from nature - and there are plenty of those as we have seen. We need defense against disease, violent storms, earthquakes, threats from space like asteroids, etc. We should not have to defend ourselves against ourselves. We need to learn to care for our planet that makes life possible for us and our fellow creatures. There is so much more we can accomplish if we learn to cooperate and work together! This is our reality. If we set the goals we all desire for our society, our future will not become the disaster that most Hollywood action movies depict (example: Terminator, a classic portrayal of human created disaster).
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