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Part 166: Conclusions:
August 8, 2005:
I have discussed everything I wanted to discuss in this philosophy series. I have looked at the evolution of our government from 1776 until now and noticed the gradual decline of ethics in all phases of government, business, and our personal lives. I have spelled out the changes that we need to make to recover our balance and return to the principles that our founders put forth in the constitution.
I have also discussed a number of the issues that we would need to address in that return to our principles. There are probably many more outstanding issues. In fact, I could continue this discussion forever if I wished to address every issue that has or could come up. That would be counterproductive. Issues will continue to arise and fade as time passes. Once we have established an ethical government these things can be addressed as a matter of procedure. With sound principles of government in place, most issues will resolve themselves. So, we can leave the issues and look to the needed changes and the prerequisites to those changes.
I have concluded that no changes will be possible until we have an ethical population. That is prerequisite to an ethical government. The people who populate the government are, after all, citizens. Of course, this is also true of the business community and the religious community. We have unethical leadership in all phases of our lives because the unethical citizens allow it. I have outlined all of this need for a change of attitude in the citizenry and I am in no way convinced that it will ever happen. I tend to believe America and Western civilization will go the way of Rome.
I fear that the next great civilization, if there is one, will arise in China. Why? Because when we look at the Chinese people, we will find they are generally ethical. There is an underlying ethic in their culture called Confucianism. That ethic began long before there was a United States of America. It was born somewhere around the third century BC and has endured in the Chinese mentality as an underlying bedrock of individual behavior since then.
The Chinese people think differently than us and they act differently than us, but that action is basically ethical. Their behavior is based in their model of ethical behavior which is much more consistent within itself that our Western model is. We may call their behavior treacherous, but that is off the mark. It is different, that's all. If you want to discuss treachery solicit the opinion of any American Indian.
Even with all of these negative probabilities, I continue to hope for a renaissance in the West. If it occurs, It must begin in America. For better or worse, America is still seen as the leader of the Western world. The question is, how will this renaissance come about? I think three forces must interact to produce the needed changes. One such force will be the example set by the few ethical people remaining in our society. This is what I have outlined as the Groundswell requirements. We must set the example through our behavior. We must demand ethical behavior from everyone we associate with and we must teach ethics at every opportunity.
In addition, I believe there is another force at work. Let us look at that. I believe there is some stored up energy similar to the energy that caused what we now call the Renaissance. If we look at the phenomena that took place in the 15th and 16th centuries we must be tempted to call it another of those inexplicable events? The people involved were not more evolved, but there were so many of them. It is almost as though the entire race had evolved. It was like something completely pent up that had to explode, and it did. Call it the little bang after the big bang if you wish.
As we look back at these remarkable men, we can see the movement, the almost striving, toward freedom of thought and expression. From our perspective it seems the enlightenment and the political changes that followed were pretty much inevitable. Putting ourselves into their place however, we may be struck by the enormous risk and personal sacrifice of these men. They put it all on the line, and gave up their own safety in their search for truth. Many of them were punished horribly as a result. In a very real way, the enlightenment came as a result of their tremendous courage.
In that sense, perhaps we can say the dark ages really caused the renaissance. The incessant drive of the life force was thwarted by the massive superstitious religious repression of the creative spirit, but the spirit finally overcame the obstacle. The potential built up to the point where it had to explode like an over-fired boiler. Out of that potential came the renaissance. We can ask, is this also what happened in other events of evolution such as when man became conscious? Were these inexplicable events simply manifestations of an incessant life force ever driving toward higher life forms?
If so, perhaps it will happen again. The question becomes, where will it happen? It could reasonably be in China where the drive toward human evolution has long been suppressed. It is less likely to happen here because there is not much oppression, just a great deal of apathy. Apathy defuses our growth. In China, the life force is actively oppressed. So it was in the colonies. So it was in the dark ages. So history shows us a life force that seems to act to overpower the obstacles we put in its way.
In spite of that, can we have a Western Renaissance? Can America and Americans rise to the occasion? I think we can and I still hope we will. If so, our renaissance will come out of a different, third kind of pent up force. This will be the pent up force of a growing drive in the human being toward a new human awakening. This would be an awakening of a new and powerful drive toward human fulfillment. It will be a movement toward the full human awareness that I call God Awareness. This is a drive toward what may be the ultimate manifestation of the life force. This awakening cannot happen where there is no existing foundation for it. It can only happen where there is already a level of human freedom of thought such as we find in representative democracy. It is my great hope that this awakening will occur within our own democracy. It is really up to the citizens.
I believe the Renaissance was just a first step in the reawakening of man. Now, I believe it is time to take the next step. It is time to move away from the absolutist notions and the magic based primitive beliefs of the Semitic desert tribes. It is time to admit what we do not know and open to a new age of striving for knowledge. It is time to try to understand the universe and our place in it. It is time for man to accept the challenge of his own consciousness and aspire to the greatness that lies within him. The alternative will be the continuing degeneration and ultimate dissolution of civilization.
Everything I know of points to this life force as being as real as gravity. It hangs together logically, so I will believe it until it is proven wrong. It's not like believing and worshiping. It's believing and aspiring to become God Aware. It's growing, not groveling. The religious nuts have it wrong. What I'm really after is the opening of the next renaissance in man. The thrust is toward higher and more complex life forms by the life force. Man is the best there is right now, at least on earth. If there is to be an improvement, it will likely start with man unless a new life form comes along.
This will be the last essay in my philosophy series. I am still
undecided as to my next step. I will probably make a number of
efforts until I find a new direction. One thing that has attracted
my attention recently is the Supreme Court of the United States.
My attention was heightened by the recent retirement of Sandra
Day O'Conner. I am sure I will be looking into that. Out Supreme
Court is an interesting study, partly because the constitution
left it very vague to begin with. This put its formation into
the province of the legislative branch. Oh well! Sigh. I'll look
into some of that crap as I develop my next series of essays.
I will call this series, The Gaffer's Variety.
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