The Needs Of The Many

Roughly 6.5 billion people inhabit the Earth. It is a staggering number, given the limited amount of land suitable for easy habitation and the irregularity of abundance of natural resources. Add to this the seasonal fluctuations, which bring forth habitability changes, and the dynamic weather, and the spread of humanity across the globe is even more remarkable. True, there are other species with larger numbers, and with perhaps greater reach, but none other than Homo sapiens has shown an ability to move beyond the simple forces of nature and evolution, to control its own destiny.

Yet, for our ability to circumvent the natural systems that govern our planet, we are still slaves to the legacy of our ancestors, whose fight for survival was more contentious, more cutthroat, more subject to the vagaries of change. That we are here is testament to their stamina, endurance, and cunning, as their knowledge of the world they lived in was limited, and the vast expanses before them held dangers aplenty. With no ability to predict future events, subject to the whims of a restless planet, somehow they grew, thrived, and were able to begin to wrest a living from the earth, to escape the endless cycles of forced hardship. Even so, they were forced by their environment to adapt, to build behaviors that protected them, allowed them security and growth. Though the forces which shaped those behaviors have been vastly mitigated in millions of years, their impact on us remains.

Our ancestors had to be cautious, conservative, mindful that their group was one of many fighting for scarce resources. Strangers -- those not of the same tribe -- were regarded with suspicion and hostility. Where two groups came into contact, each was made wary of the other, and no doubt, where a resource (food, water, shelter) was coveted by more than one group, there was fighting. In the end, those groups that contained the most adaptable, most adept members, grew stronger, while others died out. This continued throughout millions of years, honing the faculties and skills of the progenitors of Homo sapiens, eventually leading to the humanity we see today. And while we have advanced far beyond anything our ancestors might have dreamed of, we have not shaken the same instincts and behaviors that guided them through the tortuous landscape that was primitive Earth.

We still look on those who are "unlike" us with wariness and hostility. Our desire to hoard resources to ensure our survival, while depriving others of those resources to weaken them, is inherent in our social, economic, and foreign policy. We still fight over those resources, though on a vastly larger scale than those human tribes that roamed the plains eons ago. Even when we live in abundance, we squander it, failing to prepare for what may come, reveling in the simple pleasure of having, as if to have these things means they will always be available. We feel that the things that make us powerful are somehow anointed, given sacred form, and make us more worthy than those who do not have the same things or do not share the same beliefs.

Our advancement as a species equipped us with the mental horsepower to shape and mold our world, to form communities and civilizations, to harness previously unfathomable energies, to move beyond the simple mechanisms of natural selection, and to weather changes in the environment that previously would have crippled our ability to survive. Even so, while the mind has been turned to worthwhile pursuits, and has brought us the marvels that fueled our growth and expansion, we continue to drag along the dead weight of our ancestral behaviors. No amount of mental computing power has seen fit to erase them.

They plague us still, these demons of ancestry. They are the impetus behind bigotry, racism, narcissism, greed, violence, lust, and the need for power. To each of these, a primal emotion attaches itself, overriding the reason and logic of the cerebral cortex, stimulating us at our very core, filling us with fear, envy, loathing, and spurring us to actions that have no place in the enlightened society that our advancement has supposedly led us to. We are not tribes, circling a dwindling watering hole, fighting for survival; we are a species with knowledge and power, capable of forging the infrastructure that ensures that no member of humanity need go without. We have left the dry, barren, dusty plains, and ascended to the lushness of cool, green forests, running water, and bountiful harvests. Still, at the margins, the dry rot of the millennia remains, gripping us amidst our cornucopia. We become petty, insular, unreasoning, savage, treating each other as no better than the animals we arose from, all the while guarding our territory, hoarding our precious commodities, striving to be the last standing amongst our peers.

If we are to succeed fully, to grow beyond the simple savagery, then we must shake off the chains that tie us to a distant and primal past. Our new brain, with all its gifts, must assert dominance over our primitive brain, which stood us in good stead in the past. We must forgo fear, anger, hatred, division, and dogma, if we are to become more than a mere collection of people, but a singular humanity, with a reach that extends far beyond our atmosphere. The longer we wallow in the mud, the less likely we are to survive what lies ahead, and the disasters that lie before us pale to those we know today. We have the capacity to move beyond simple existence, to place a stamp upon the universe. To do so, will require the acknowledgment that we are not few, but many, and that the needs of the many must be met if we are to survive.

The Big Picture

It is interesting how so many of the more divisive issues we face are the result of a narrow scope on a much larger problem. It seems far easier for many to simply lock in on a singular aspect of society that they find objectionable, ignoring the grand scale that encompasses it.

Take abortion. Much fire and brimstone is traded back and forth over its propriety and legality and morality, but it is simply a singular aspect of a larger framework: human reproduction, more specifically, a woman's ability to regulate when and in what manner she becomes pregnant. With the advent of reliable chemical birth control, it became possible for a woman to gain complete control of her reproduction, allowing her to enjoy her sexuality without the constant fear of becoming pregnant at an inopportune time. This remarkable breakthrough would allow humanity to better manage its resources, as it could have lead to fewer unwanted births, and a reduction in the need for social services to help mothers care for unplanned children. Instead, the whole span of reproductive management has come under attack, with abortion being made into the crux of the issue, instead of sex education. Rather than dealing with the causative factors making abortion more prevalent (rape & incest, poor family planning, lack of sex education, inadequate access to birth control), those who would seek to eliminate it concentrate solely on the procedure itself, instead of its place in the grand scheme.

Take oil. For close to a century now, our insatiable need for energy has been fed by a non-renewable source, oil. While abundant energy on a titanic scale pours down upon us every day, we harness our industrial might, our societal growth, and our military muscle to the yoke of a resource we can no longer control. The sources of oil within our political control our limited, and even if we were to drill in every forest, nature preserve, and sea bed within our grasp, we would find little enough, to quench our insatiable thirst. This leaves us vulnerable to the machinations of other groups and countries; do you remember the oil embargo of the early 70's? Even then, when our consumption was nowhere near the peaks it is at today, we were vulnerable. At that moment, we could have diverted our appetite away from fossil fuel, toward clean and renewable energy. The Space Age had given us the solar cell, but rather than pick it up and run with it, we continued to guzzle gas. Our foreign policy, our political will, and our place in the world has been shaped by a resource we can no longer dominate. We have lost our view of the big picture, and left ourselves vulnerable to dictators and terrorists, rather than making renewable energy a matter of national security, as well as environmental policy.

Take poverty. Despite decades of declaring "war" on it, poverty is even more prevalent now than it was in the days of The Great Depression. While the country's economic power continues to increase, and our influence in the world rises, we continue to neglect our own people, relegating whole swathes of our society to a miserable life of deprivation, disease, and despair. The average American is too easily subject to the vagaries of a system whereby those in power become more powerful at the expense of decent, hard-working, tax-paying people, without paying their proper due. So many groups pour so much effort into "saving" things, or "preserving" things, and yet they walk by people who are hungry, homeless, and without hope. How can we talk of our greatness on the one hand, while we continue the policies that keep so many of our citizens bereft of the basic necessities for a decent life? We are only as strong as the weakest among us, and sadly, there are so many who are too weak to fight, too weak to dream, too weak lift themselves up from the mud. Some would dismiss them, claim they should "think more positively," "work harder," or "stop living off my dime," but they would be missing the bigger picture: that we are a nation, a people, brought together to provide mutual support, and charged by our founders to provide for the common good.

Take any polarizing issue, and you will see that it is generally part of a tableau, a small part of a grand production. While it is always easier to live with blinders, to see only that which is before us, it is our duty to look back at what we've done, and look ahead to what we must do, and strive to reconcile where we are as part of the greater scheme of life. Like it or not, we, humanity, are all in it together. What affects one of us, affects all of us, in the end. Like the butterfly, whose flapping of wings brings about additional perturbation of the atmosphere, so each of us adds to the general course of human events through our action, or inaction. If we are to finally grow as a species, then we must accept that life is far more than the sum of its parts. We must look to the broad scope of humanity, and work toward a greater good for all.

Upon The Passing Of The Hour

Tonight, as the clock strikes midnight in every time zone across the face of the Earth, a similar ritual will take place, as humanity celebrates the turning of the last page on the calendar, marking one more rotation of the Earth around the Sun. Another year passes, and takes with it our memories, our hopes, our fears, and all that was. It is as if we mentally wipe a slate clean, and convince ourselves that all that came before may be dispensed with, that a new year marks new things.

It is hubris to believe that you can simply dispose of the past. Each human being carries their past with them in their brain as patterns of neurons, that have recorded everything that person has experienced, storing the knowledge away for future use. Each of us also carries the legacy of humanity in our DNA, transporting through millions of years the actuality and the potential that is Homo sapiens.

So if we wipe the slate clean, it is only the surface that is cleansed, for all that lies beneath comes with us. As it should be.

It is not enough that we resolve to change who and what we are at the turning of the hour; we must make the effort to make actual change, in ourselves, and the world we see around us. For each orbit of the Earth has seen the same human frailties and failings carried on, has seen death, destruction, and disease travel forward along with hope, courage, and scientific advancement. What does not seem to change with the millennia is human behavior. Humanity still grasps at wealth, power, glory, and territory, even as it leaves many of its members to struggle and suffer in mediocrity, poverty, and want.

The future is unwritten -- it is we, as a species, that will write what is to come. If we are to resolve anything this evening, let it be that we will no longer tolerate the inequities of the past, that we will forge new relationships, and find solutions to common problems. Let us resolve to turn a corner, to bring humanity fully into its Third Millennium, with the goal of laying aside the past, and creating a newer, brighter future. It is time that we take the lessons of the past, and apply them to the progress we make. It is time, to learn from our mistakes and work not to repeat them.

And so, I wish you peace, long life, and ask you, in the coming year, to reevaluate you life and your goals, and to be mindful of the direction of humanity. Together, we can accomplish anything.

Brave New Humanity

I was given pause to consider what has changed in the way humanity views the world, between the Middle Ages and now. You can consider that on the grand scale, the world is significantly altered, such that a denizen of the Middle Ages would find it inconceivable, though not totally incomprehensible, that we reached every corner of the Earth and have sent men and machines to the far-flung environs of space.

So, we have progressed, in technology, in population, in resources, in capacity and capability. Perhaps the one area where it can honestly be said that little progress has been made is in thought and rationale. A person of the Middle Ages would be filled with wide-eyed wonder at our accomplishments, but would feel right at home with many expressed attitudes, though our behavior overall would be quite different. While there is sexual freedom, more racial equality, and a greater ability for the commoner to enter the free market, the taboos of centuries past still linger, and we cannot seem to free ourselves of them completely.

For it is clear, that a great proportion of humanity still clings to the dogmas of the past. We are surrounded by the blare of information and the bright lights of technology, and we see all these things, which were no doubt anathema as little as five centuries ago, brought forth into the light of day. Learning and knowledge have repainted our picture of the universe we inhabit, moving us from its center, off to a corner of but one galaxy in a multitude. Science has granted us kinship to our animal brethren, made us important players in the functioning of the Earth as a system, and shown that despite all outward differences, we are one species. We have been given new life, and the possibility of expanding ourselves beyond our cradle, into the galactic milieu.

As such, you would think that all this has transformed us as thinking beings, but, in fact, the pace of external transformation is not matched by our internal transformation. While water may flow, rock may crumble, and even iron yield to flame, human belief is resistant to change to a degree unmatched in the natural world. The eternal struggle between the enrichment of knowledge and the inner turmoil brought about by change is ongoing, fueled by emotion. Those unafraid of knowledge and change embrace differences; those fearful of further erosion of their model of the world cling to personal beliefs, as the stranded sailor to a life raft. Those who live on the edge, charge forward; those who live amidst the quiet, stay back.

So, as humanity moves forward, it drags along the dead weight of the past, an inertia that retards progress and restricts freedom. The ghostly past Marley comes to our modern Scrooge, and warns us that the fetters he wears due to his previous ignorance and self-absorption are also secured to us, though we do not see them, and that we forge new links each and every day. We are in danger of being denied our heavenly rest, because we could not open our eyes to the world around us, and see it for what it is. We deny the evidence of our eyes and ears and hearts, in the constant grasping and shuffling toward grabbing a piece of the world for ourselves, something which, ultimately, death will take from us.

It cannot be that we simply wipe the slates clean, for indoctrination in the new is precisely the same as indoctrination in the old; as the songs says: "Meet the new boss... same as the old boss." We cannot mandate thought or belief -- it is impossible to counteract a definitely opposed will, and our own strictures forbid it. For an American, freedom is just that: freedom to believe what you want to believe, even if the prevailing wisdom is that your belief is based on premises that no longer hold. Each entitled to his or her opinion, no matter what it may be.

Yet, even as that great ideal is important, if we are to be a truly free and peaceful people, there is an overarching principle that must be factored in: we are all in this together. No matter our differences, no matter what we believe, no matter what ideas our principles are based on, our individuality is assured only as long as our humanity is reinforced. No distances, no resources, no beliefs, no conflicts, no perceptions, alter the fact that humanity lives as one on this Earth, and it is, for now, our only home. We may have our differences, but we are all in the same boat.

So, at some point, those who may believe a certain thing and believe it so fervently that to go against it is considered heresy, must learn to yield to greater considerations. This is by no means easy, nor assured, for fanaticism in belief is seldom counteracted by any degree of reason. Still, the general welfare of all, the greater good, will and must take precedence. This does not mean the denigration or destruction of individual belief, as much as it means any group's beliefs cannot be allowed to override what is in the best interests of all, especially those who do not believe as they do. It should be possible to live as individuals amongst a greater group: the human race.

We can hope that movement toward a united and peaceful humanity continues, and that the chains that tie us to a moribund past are broken. As in every century, though, there are those who will resist the change, to their detriment. Those who chose not to ride the tide of progress, are left to founder in its wake. We note their passing with sadness, for it did not have to be so, but humanity's destiny cannot be denied forever. We strive to build, to grow, to learn, to understand, and thus, survive. The human story is still preamble; eventually, it will be written across the stars.

We Get It

Yeah, we get it.

You hate homosexuals.

Yes… you. The narrow-minded, Bible-verse-flinging, ignorant, spiteful, fear-mongering segment of the population that views the idea of people loving people of the same sex so abhorrent, that if you could get away with it, you’d no doubt tie them to stakes and set them ablaze.

You, who are so uncomfortable with the idea of people being different, that you would do anything in your power to deny them the peace of mind and solace you believe is rightfully yours, and yours alone. You, the ultra-conservative, who cannot grasp that the planet has turned a corner into a new millennium, and that the old ways can no longer support human society. We need new ways of thinking, new ideas, not the old, moldy words of people drenched in fear for their life and fear of those who were not of their tribe.

You will not grow. You will not change. You will not open your heart or your mind to possibilities. You live in the staid, sedentary, somnolent backwater of modern society, afraid that “they” will ruin your way of life, take away your freedom, and somehow desecrate all you hold dear.

I have news for you: you have done far more to desecrate your way of life than anyone. You wield your beliefs as a sword, hacking away at anything than offends your “morality.” You claim some type of divine superiority through your faith, a faith based on hypocrisy and ignorance of the words of your own savior. Anything you do not understand or subscribe to is an “abomination,” to be given as little regard as the dust.

You will stand there, in your apocalyptically-driven glory, and claim that you have “nothing against gays,” even as you seek to fund those who would keep them down, keep them in line, and defend your way-of-life by equating them with all the ills of the world.

You hate them.

Not hate in the manner of holocaust, but a low-grade, simmering hate, never spoken, never voiced, never revealed overtly, but clearly written in action and deed. You paper the hate over with a veneer of morality and community service, but this cannot keep your true feelings from leaking out beneath the facade. You will stand and deny human beings rights, because it offends you to think that they could be happy, too. You spout rhetoric about “family values,” even as you cheat on spouses. You would “defend” marriage, even as you trample upon it with your mistresses. You would claim that marriage is a solemn connection between a man and a woman, when it is more the connection between a man and a slave.

So yes, once more you have managed to deny gays the right to marry. New York, New Jersey, Maine, California… you may sit there, smug and self-righteous, proud of yourselves, but know this: your day is coming. Those of us who value freedom, individuality, and prefer tolerance to ignorance will gather our force of will, and we will drive back the demons. We will supplant you. We will cast the pure light of humanity on your piteous and baleful forms, and drive you back under the rocks from whence you crawled.

There will be liberty and justice, for all.

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NOTE: After writing this, I came to find this wonderful video of NY Senator Diane Savino addressing the State Senate before voting on the gay marriage act that was defeated by a 38-22 vote. It says with poignancy and dignity, what I wrote with righteous anger and frustration.