An article carried on the AP recently has the statement: “…the United States and Japan are expected to agree to changes in the joint defense posture this week as the two nations confront rising threats from North Korea and increasing aggressiveness from China.” These kinds of statements in the news are nothing new. It is common for news reports these days to be about the threats and violence one country, or faction within a country, are inflicting upon another. It is so common that I imagine many adults who were born in the 1990s just take it for granted that this is the inescapable way of the world. It isn’t.
I also know that gratefully there are many people in the world, people of all ages, who have a different vision for the world. One in which headlines can read something like: “A cooperative international effort has eradicated hunger in 99.5% of the world’s population and is expected to have completely eradicated it within another year.” Or “International efforts in education and health care have resulted in greatly improved educational and medical treatment options throughout the world.” Wouldn’t that be nice?
I can remember the world during the Presidency of John F. Kennedy. The optimism, the dreams, the good will being expressed on the international stage. Of course, as we know, people enamored of threats and violence killed President Kennedy and effectively turned that optimistic trend around to express what they knew. Toward what they envisioned as the future of the world. And now we’re experiencing their dreams of threats and violence playing out in the world. The world which is our home. Is this any way to run a household? No, it isn’t. Not if a healthy, thriving, worldwide population is the goal. However, a healthy, thriving worldwide population evidently isn’t the goal. At least not among the money/power “elite” that are pulling the economic, political strings in the world. It is apparently their desire to establish a worldwide political/economic system which is essentially a return to something more closely resembling the medieval feudal system.
The above pyramid roughly illustrate the composition of the 21st century feudal system that is being engineered into existence. It is not absolute in it’s designations. For instance, many Presidents, Prime Ministers, and other national heads of state fall in the category of “Lords” rather than being part of the actual international ruling/governing body. And some with a high level of a particular skill which is needed by the ruling body may find themselves at least honorary members of the “Lords”.
The following illustration roughly provides a reference point for how the wealth, which is largely manufactured, mined or otherwise produced by the Peasants and Serfs, is ultimately currently being distributed. The ongoing increase in automated systems which perform labor previously performed by human workers calls to question the need for as large a general population as historically been needed.
Largely by manipulations within the educational, media and entertainment systems, the King and Lords have managed to convince the general public that such an inequitable distribution of wealth is right and proper. This is no small feat considering all the wealth has either been provided by either the natural composition of the Earth itself or the labor of the Peasants/Serfs. Often it is a combination of these things combined.
One inescapable problem with this system (among many) is that people tend to look enviously, lustfully upon the wealth of others. Possibly the money/power elite behind current events believe that by consolidating world rule under one ruling body, as opposed to many fiefdoms which existed during the medieval times that they will have effectively prevented any serious challenges to their position. However, when there is such a disproportionate distribution of wealth taking place we may be certain that there are persons with resources whose egos, whose greed, will not allow them to accept such conditions. This ensures that there will be wars, uprisings, revolutions and the like. Which simultaneously ensures that the conditions which prevent human beings from more fully discovering their innate gifts and abilities will continue to plague humanity. Too much stress and repeated trauma are not conducive to positive, holistic, human development.
So, do we have any options? Yes we do if we work together. We desperately need to largely replace competition with cooperation. Cooperation between individuals, groups, professions, businesses, nations, and with the Earth itself. Humankind has ample stress/challenge placed upon us simply by existing upon this Earth at all (yes, a certain amount of stress is healthy/needed.) We do not need to be continually creating lethal amounts by our own actions.
I love the following illustration. I’ve used it a lot in my blog articled because it sums it up so graphically. It beautifully illustrates for us all we need to do to maximize our potential both as individuals and as a species. To work together so beautifully will, of course, take work. It will require that we sincerely and diligently work to overcome our prejudices, misunderstandings, relatively trivial and not so trivial differences. Impossible? Not at all. If we want it, really want it, and are willing to work for it, we can have it. Might it be hard? Yes, at times it might be. However, it couldn’t possibly take any more work and resources than we currently devote to violence, killing, war. Ultimately it very well may be our only long term option as a species. We are currently in possessions of the weaponry and delivery means to wipe ourselves from our Earthly existence. To think such a potential exists but that some crazed authoritarian head of state or rogue military officer would never actually employ it is, I think, naive. We very much need to curb our intolerance, judgementalism, and other ego driven constructs which separate us and pit us against one another. We very much need to realize our interdependence, our interconnectedness and begin enjoying all blessings which lie in wait for us when we do.
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