| | | Just my somewhat naive thoughts on this. They are not meant
as advice, because I am decidedly unqualified to give advice, having never served in government of any sort, and having run in the opposite direction from any kind of administration. Now I can give advice in endless torture via humor and teasing ...... I have degrees in that. :)
Here is the problem. As we get older, we are more entrenched in our ways: our thinking, the way we wobble about, how we do algebra, how we treat others. Try teaching an old man some ballet steps or the meaning of a quadratic equation and you'll see this very quickly.
We have all been sold a bill of goods from the time we were young. Who sold us these? The clowns in charge who liked money, religion and power. Why they did this is, I think, a separate matter. But here we are. So we habitually pat ourselves on the back as a group and demonize some other team which poses some potential competition.
The idea of 'excellence' from the Greeks is a good one. But people have a way of messing up good ideas. Starting with team sports --- which we all mistakenly take for granted as a naturally good thing, without looking deeply enough and asking questions --- we migrate these ideas to our team versus the other team.
Here is the odd thing. Whatever the evil we recognize in the next-door guy (and who among us does not know a terrible next-door guy? :) ) ........ we are absolutely incapable of recognizing such an evil unless we very well know that same thing in ourselves first. It's a fundamental notion and it's anyone's guess why everyone does not see this. Even a saint must suffer from this. That may help explain why you'll never find a saint shuffling about in search of a sharp implement to use on the next-door guy.
So, in sum, I think we are all stuck until we lift the veil that covers our eyes, get rid of the "us vs them" warmongering leaders, stop making guns and bombs for them and focus on things like good bread and cheese and lots of dancing. We really and truly are all in this together, and the leaders are tricked and trick us into otherness. There is not much in life beyond bread, cheese, wine and dance. Maybe gold, but it does not go down as easily as bread and cheese and wine, and you certainly can't dance with it. Yes, life is short and the only moments we have go by very fast. We may as well sit up and experience them. What is the alternative? |
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