It would be a lovely thing to have an accurate history of humanity inked on papyrus, etched in metal, or carved into rock. But no such markings exist — at least none that aren’t under lock and key in the Vatican, or hidden under the Sphinx.
We grew up accepting the fairytales of evolution or creationism that gave us anecdotal grounding for our journey through life, but those lessons of origin never got thoroughly scrutinized in our elementary schooling. Modern scholastic guidance is more centred on training younglings to be effective soldier ants — productive members of whatever collective they were born into — not philosophers or dreamers.
The heavy existential questions in life are not even pondered by the average human for the most part. I find that rather incredible. Mystics and seekers seem to be in short supply these days. But I suppose I shouldn’t be overly shocked, as science has put its foot down with prejudice in its declaration we are the biological derivatives of genetically mutated animals who wandered the planet before us.
Evolutionary theory is fascinating, but it’s still just a theory — which is euphemism for “a story we made up because we really don’t have an accurate fucking clue of how humans came into being.” Sure, proponents of evolution will tell you the facts are irrefutable, but science has continuously been telling us that since they took hold of the reigns as dominant religious authority. Science “facts” change daily, as new observations are recorded. If thousands of “well-respected” careers weren’t so heavily vested in maintaining a status quo of “truth-and-fact,” most of the theoretical rubbish we ascribe to today would have been tossed in the dumpster long ago. Science and religion are nothing more than covert big businesses. Maybe not really that covert. And humanity’s betterment has never been at the forefront of any corporate entity.
But our topic does not concern proving or refuting the stories we’re continuously prodded to put our faith into. We’re going to examine the most fundamental element that has transformed this once harmonious biosphere into an escalating cesspool of filth.
What’s at the core of the human animal’s lack of ability to find balance on the planet? An aberrant gene? Rogue electrons run amok? Some unknown particle waiting to be discovered after spending billions smashing atoms into teenier and teenier bits of energy?
Nope, nothin’ that fancy.
The scourge of humanity is selfishness.
It’s what’s at the heart of everything gone wrong in the world. The source of all pain, misery, and discord. The cause for war, murder, cruelty, poverty, homelessness, jealousy, rage, racial hatred, and the creation of America’s Got Talent — every single fucking thing wrong, bar none.
Whatever example you can think of that reinforces a wall preventing humanity’s access to a garden of paradise, I’ll show you at least one selfish individual holding a trowel.
So let’s talk about selfishness. I’m pretty sure we all have an idea what the word means, but let’s analyze it anyway. Forget the bullshit Wikipedia “insight.” Selfishness is the characteristic of putting full interest of self before all other thoughts or actions consequential to anything not-self. It’s a state of mind that is conditioned and motivated by a separatist ego perspective… a belief/fear/acceptance that there is rigid distinction between the parts and whole… a disconnect from the holistic biosphere we exist within… a disconnect from every rock, insect, tree, or small animal that comprises this world. Essentially, me first, fuck you.
I want to take a slight side-step here by mentioning a fellow human who added some definitive flavour to my life recipe. Mark Passio is his name. He’s pretty much all business — hardcore, with not much glee to his talks. But he pointed out some fundamentals of existing on this planet that have been worthy of amalgamation into the feeble brain I have at my disposal.
He has a series of lectures on Natural Law. I highly recommend checking them out. Though Mark, like I said, is not much interested in spreading his word as a Zen guru, his insight is invaluable nonetheless. The relevant part, from one of his interviews I listened to back in the day, had to do with “sin.” He ranted a bullet-proof interview breaking every offence humans could perpetrate upon one another as a form of stealing. I could print you a link here, but it’s not necessary. Research if you’re interested. A Duck-Duck-Go search will give you ample hours to meditate upon.
The stealing thing stuck in my brain over the years. And it doesn’t take much effort to connect stealing to selfishness. Our entire society is predicated upon one form of selfishness or another, one form of stealing or other.
I recall a tale about someone trying to explain to a member of a dwindling indigenous tribe about owning property. It was impossible for the native to grasp the concept. It’s the land. How the fuck do you own the land? It made no sense to him whatsoever. Nonetheless, the Earth is now carved up in imaginary lines, and people build fences every day to claim a piece of the ground as their own. Locks are put on every building, car, toolbox, and suitcase to say MINE! HANDS OFF!
The lack of respect we have for one another is appalling. I recall buying a cap for my pickup truck when I was traveling west as a youth, so I could carry my shit safely from inclement weather, and I remember distinctly what the guy who sold it to me said: “The locks on this thing are cheap, but they’re really only there to keep the honest people out.” The honest people? Jesus, what a fucked up perception this planet has of right and wrong.
Whether it’s a brick wall topped with barbed wire, or a 5-dollar tumbler on a shitty truck hatch, the fear of trespass into our personal spaces has made us paranoid, miserable, and devoid of trust. All of this stems from the worry of some opportunistic douchebag wanting to acquire something they’re not entitled to. And the selfishness goes both ways… “This is mine, you can’t have it. I will use force to protect it if necessary,” and, “I don’t care if someone traded paper dollars for your trinket, or used barter-and-trade to acquire it, I’m gonna take it for my amusement, cuz that’s what’ll make me happy in this moment.”
You can’t even wander around now and put up a tent in some remote area to spend a night, without fear of some kind of reprisal — because every square inch of land is “owned,” whether by people paying kickbacks to the government, or the monarchs themselves, defining territory as “Crown Land.” Fuck, what a mess of this place we’ve made.
All of the madness is derived from fear of some sort of theft, and all the fear of theft stems from a selfish asshole saying, “Mine! You can’t play with it.”
Before we talk about solutions to shift our lives toward a possible utopia, let’s examine a staple technique the puppet masters use to perpetually keep us in chains.
Their go-to method?
Divide and conquer.
I have no insight into who initially imagined this device of control, but it has been used unabashedly since long before wedges were first impressed upon soft clay to keep records of transaction.
The technique is childishly simple — keep everyone in a fearful mentality of us-versus-them, suspicious of any skin-colour, tradition, or ritual that differs in any way from the “correct” teachings learned as a toddler. And, of course, each of us believes our youthful teachings to be undoubtedly correct.
This is why sports teams exist. This is why countries exist. This is why religion exists, and this is why fucking Abercrombie and Fitch exists, whatever those words mean. When the inmates are perpetually divided amongst themselves, there’s little chance they’ll rebel against the guards or warden to correct the injustices their environment doles out on a daily basis.
(Cont’d in Part 2)
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