While the weasels in North Korea and the Middle East attempt to rip the soft underbelly of America, you have to ask, “Is love enough?” According to John Lennon, Rod McKuen, Omar Khayyam, Walter Benton, and most organized religions, it is. Unfortunately, one of the cherished illusions of most Americans was shattered in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack: That the world loved us and that the ‘Beacon of Freedom’ as represented by American society and its value system was admired by all. Events have demonstrated that in fact, the United States is envied and viewed with fear& loathing, even by many of our so-called allies.
What has given rise to this simmering resentment? Americans are arguably the most giving and generous people on the planet. Since World War 1, the United States has attempted to feed and clothe the world, rebuild shattered societies, free the oppressed, and has generally mucked about in other people’s business; all in the interest of spreading ‘Freedom’ and promulgating the ‘Dignity of Man’ and ‘Human Rights’. It is true that many of these efforts have been self-serving: Some to relieve the guilt of consuming 70% of the world’s resources, some to promote political stability, allowing ‘Big Business’ to increase shareholder value in an economic system based on ever-increasing consumption, and some to enable more effective missionary work by the various religious factions. But most have been a result of genuine empathy with the plight of others less fortunate, as felt by the fat and happy average U.S. citizen.
Yet, most people capable of critical thinking recognize that economic expansion based on population growth and consumer economics cannot be sustained for long. We are drowning in our own wastes. The very air is becoming unfit to breathe, the semantically loaded phrase ‘Global Warming’ (more properly described as climate change), and population density are steadily eroding the freedoms we seek to protect. Our vaunted technologies, especially in medicine, have allowed populations in third-world countries to explode, giving rise to the horrific images that we see in the media of starving children in Africa. Add to this the regrettable behavior of ‘primitive’ societies that have adopted the advanced technologies of destruction offered by the arms dealers of the ‘civilized world’, without evolving the social responsibility and infrastructure required for control of such weapon systems, and we have a recipe for disaster. As the 21st Century gets underway, our choices have become stark: Either we become a space-faring species that utilizes the vast resources of the solar system to continue our expansionist ways, or we totally revamp our place in the world’s biota; that is, we reduce our population to a sustainable level, and confine ourselves to an ecological niche that allows for coexistence with the other species that inhabit our little planet (the Spaceship Earth concept).
While the former choice seems to me the most logical, the latter also bears some careful scrutiny. The most successful human social system appears to have been the tribal society. For tens of thousands of years, humans have lived and thrived in such systems, albeit with internecine warfare brought about by the clash of ideas and the struggle for resources. Historically, tribal societies do not allow for much in the way of individual freedom. Rigid social control is the norm, and no tolerance is given to the lazy, greedy, or otherwise deranged among its members. Any infraction is quickly dealt with: death or banishment (another form of death). Yet such societies offer great benefits. All members of the tribe are ‘Fathers’ and ‘Mothers’ to the children, ‘Ownership’ of goods and property is a very flexible term, based on local conditions, and no one is left alone to suffer from adversity or afflictions.
It occurs to me that with our prowess in the physical sciences, and knowledge derived in anthropology, sociology, archeology, neuroscience, and other social sciences, we can evolve a social system that takes advantage of the benefits of tribal living while allowing the expression of individual differences and innovations that lead to ever-improving lifestyles. In such a system, giving, sharing, and love of our fellow man can become the norm. It’s not a bad way to go either. The only problem is that sooner or later, such a society may become stagnant. It is beyond my limited understanding of things to see past this dilemma. But regardless of which direction we choose, I believe in love as the ultimate solution: In love of self, love of truth, and love of others lays our ultimate salvation. Mankind no longer has the luxury of time. We must build a truly loving society that cherishes the individual as well as the masses, and more importantly, other species. And we must learn to take responsibility for our actions, both as individuals and as a society. We can do this without recourse to religion, representative democracy, socialism, or other current forms of organized social control. Happy Holidays everyone!
Oil on canvas by Fredrick Remington
