Can we just start off and say it’s tough to be a good person sometimes? Could it be because money is the root of all evil and this little thing called society runs on it? There’s a thought. The concept of survival of the fittest literally defines the natural order of the world as we understand it. When something is weak it will be dominated and pushed out until it ceases to exist. That is unless the natural order of this world decides to find a place where a stronger force protects it from existential threats. In that, it must at least find usefulness in the weak. Let’s think, what do the strong find useful? Well silly, 9 times out of 10 it’s a way to obtain more power and strength.
So, are you strong or weak I ask? At the root of it, I don’t think strength means you are a bad person. Surely there are sacrifices that need to be made to develop strength. When I reflect on my life, where I came from, where I am today, what I have, and how much it took to get here… I start thinking about what it means to be a good person, and when does that start because we all have to outgrow bad habits from childhood. The biggest sacrifices I have made in my adult life have been time and personal relationships. Mix into that a few things that delivered blows to my personal character because “it was my job” and here we are. What’s the outcome of all that sacrifice? Well, I can say 2 things on the matter.
First, when you reach a point where you are not struggling to satisfy basic needs, you start to realize that society is fragile and full of illusion. Second, there are needs that cannot be bought or sold.
I try my best to avoid mainstream news because half of it is staged and the other half are lies. When I was younger, I remember believing more of what was on the news or what I read in the papers (not sure how much longer real newspapers will even be around). Growth and maturity, the evolution of the information revolution we are living in, and the all mighty dollar dominating the “narrative” made things clear for me. Society has one very obvious purpose. It’s to serve those that control it. Again, I ask you, are you strong or weak? Are you controlling or being controlled? Is there even an in-between?
Let’s go back to this concept of basic needs. Food, shelter, environment, and health. Let’s think about society and how we have become dependent on this machine that makes us all very weak in absence of it. How would you eat if you didn’t have a grocery store? How would you stay warm in the winter without energy from a power plant to supply heat? What would you do if you fell ill and there were no hospitals around to help? Are you truly ready for survival of the fittest going back to the natural order of evolution? Let’s think of those who are evil controlling society. Certainly they have set themselves up for success when it collapses. Even more scary, they could be planning it’s demise. After all, the biggest threat to the destruction of this planet and the extinction of the human race is just that. Human.
Before we start going off on conspiracy, because I leave much doubt to the term “theory” in many of them, let’s think about the biggest truth that faces us all. What is the one thing that you can count on beyond a doubt? Simply said, we will all die. It’s inevitable. What meaning lies in the life we have, and what goes on after death? What really matters? It’s something I’m still trying to figure out. Purpose.
I have a few ideas, but really it’s one basic concept that I’m holding on to most these days, and that is love. Love survives death. I’m not sure what that means in the grand scheme of existence and consciousness, but I’ve lost a few to death. I can’t tell you every single detail about them. I can’t always remember the way they looked, things they said, or the sound of their voice. I can remember the way I felt, because I still feel it today when I think of them. Love is a constant reminder that I carry with me. It might not last forever as I will die one day, but it certainly brings meaning to their lives for me. So, I ask myself how much love am I promoting to those around me. Money certainly does not buy it. That’s for sure!
If we buy into the concept that love makes you a good person, and money is influenced by evil, things start to make more sense.
So, are you loved and how much money do you have? If you don’t have people that love you, and I mean really love you, does that make you a bad person? If you have money, and play society’s games to keep making it, does that make you a bad person? This is where things start to get a little gray and we can spend a lot of time philosophizing good and evil.
While I feel that I’ve become aware of the illusions in this world and society, I don’t think using that knowledge to my advantage is evil unless I let it rule me. At the same time, if my reasoning for doing things in life is to make others love me, then I will never find love. Attract, don’t chase! True love comes from the fiber of who you are and how you make other’s feel. You cannot control the emotions of others. You can, however, find in your heart what makes you feel love and express it. Share it with the world, and other’s might just catch onto it and share it with you. It’s a beautiful thing!
Okay, but how can simply surviving in this day and age be evil?
Money is evil and fleeting, but definitely necessary to survive. So, don’t support ventures that sacrifice the decency of life and happiness if you can help it. It’s hard to reflect on the fact that pure physical survival is based on the consumption of other life, but it’s true. Plants, animals, or human life. It all has a cost. Whether you are eating a salad grown in a locally sourced farm or one that has forced labor in poor conditions over seas, you are still consuming the life of that plant. One seems less evil than the other. Similarly, does killing your own animal for dinner seem less evil than picking up meat in a store that has been slaughtered by another? Many would say no, they are not killers, but let’s think about that. How many slaughtered animals are thrown out because they could not be sold? Aside from the unnecessary cost of that animal’s life, who could it have fed if only they had enough money to buy it? Which method of killing is actually less cruel?
Final questions in this read to help you reflect on good and evil… Why is one species of life more important than another? Why are plants less important than animals or humans? Is it because they can’t demonstrate pain? Did you know plants clean our air and enable our planet to sustain life? Why are animals less important than humans? Many have their place in this world like bees who pollinate plants or beavers who build dams that fight the spread of forest fires. What have humans given this world? Better yet, what have we taken from it?
It seems like a test that is nearly impossible to ace. Survive or die. Be evil, or good. So, here’s what I say… Find balance and hold on to that inner light. Foster love and happiness and spread it to all forms of life around you. Minimize your footprint, and create life that will not take more away in the process of survival. Most of all, don’t be weak. There is something worse than doing something bad, and that is to be controlled by pure evil. Money is just a means, not the end!