Dear Reader,
It seems to me that to group people as a means of relating to them, or perceiving them is bad. But, to group people as a means of studying human nature is not necessarily so. To this end…
There are two types of people, for the sake of this argument, those that see humans as a burden for the planet to bear, and those that see each individual as a potential. I guess the difference is the philosophy of “zero sum gain.”
I don’t believe in zero sum gain. Even when there appears to be a finite thing, there is almost always some way to produce or acquire said good. Thus negating the zero sum gain. All nature is dynamic. Dynamic change is the nature of the universe. That is a self evident fact. In a dynamic, constantly changing world the concept of zero sum gain is absurd. Mo Ti said that heaven loves all equally, we know this because heaven gives to all, whatever he sows, that he reaps. (Not exact).
The only way zero sum gain has any validity is when mankind imposes upon himself rules that in some way limit his possibilities. In other words, government can impose laws that in effect, if not intentionally, serve to so limit the potential of the individual that there is in effect a “legislated zero sum gain“. In this scenario all society is limited by the myopic legislator. Inevitably as the population grows the conditions of the people worsen. This is not because of the nature of the universe, it is because of the nature of government.
The nature of government is to grow and become decadent. Great civilizations grow is virtue and decline in decadence. This is clearly illustrated by the story of history. From Samshi-Adadd’s Assyrian empire, through Cyrus’s Persia, and highlighted by the rise and fall of Romulus’s Rome. Great civilizations have all risen and then fell. This is because of the nature of government among other things. A common thread between all these and many other ancient civilizations is that as their civilizations aged, their governments grew and grew. Finally the bureaucracy was such a wrench in the machinery of society that society ceased working. The bureaucracies created a ‘legislated zero sum gain’ in their societies. This led to their becoming dysfunctional.
An individual is a potential in that he or she has within him or her the potential to raise the lot of man. Properly nurtured and cared for we are our own saviors. The vast strides that man has made since the invention of Guttenberg’s printing press are a testament to this fact. As the means of invention became available to the masses the masses became inventors. Nowhere is this more true than the example of the USA. Here a man or woman can invent a product, process, or even just an idea, that can save everyone else time energy and waste. Mankind has accrued and stored more knowledge in the last five hundred years than in the thousands that preceded it.
This means most mimics nature’s dynamism. When all people are given access to the sum total of man’s knowledge and have the freedom to utilize it we will be in a truly dynamic world. With the greater and greater use of this freedom and knowledge the sum will gain and gain. Elevating the lot of man, and of men.
So, if you are of the mind that people should be kept ignorant, or must be controlled, you probably believe that we are burdens for the poor planet. If you believe as I do, that people are all gems in the rough, you probably also believe that people are potentials… That is not to group anyone…
