Dear Friends,
It seems to me… the essence of human heartedness is wanting good things to happen to good people. The Confucian term Jen, becomes, goodness, empathy, “human heartedness,” etc… as translated by E. R Hughes. I favor the term human heartedness for the associations it brings up. What then is good, empathetic, and indeed human hearted? Since these words are all adjectives, the noun they modify has to be considered in any logical examination of the topic, that noun is human being. Now to narrow the field of inquiry, what would a human being who is good, empathetic or in other words, human hearted, want? Certainly not that evil happen to anyone… except as comeuppance. Clearly someone who is good would want good to happen to everyone. Civilization, in every sense, flourishes when people are human hearted, and rot when they are not. It follows then, to be human hearted is a self interested choice, as that choice transcends immediate self interest for societal self interest, freely self imposed, it can be said to be… self interest rightly understood.
Civilization, even in it’s most infinitesimal, is a boon to humanity. Think of the difference in standard of living of a single man alone in the wilderness, against that of a group of ten people, who have formed a community. The single man alone would stand a better chance however, if the group turned against itself, insuring no one survive. The more human hearted the members of the group the better the chances of survival, and in fact, some level of comfort achieved. While the woman alone, eating grass tops and a meadow vole, sheltering in a hollowed out ice cave might survive the night, the human hearted group, sleeping in a yurt warmed by a fire, after supping on roast venison would get a far better rest. Civilization is a boon to humanity while barbarism is a curse.
It is that sense of justice and human heartedness that has allowed humanity to form civilizations. In my definition of civilization, I do not mean empires that spread through conquest, no those are always barbarisms, I mean civilizations that create peace, prosperity and with liberty for the people. Those only rise when the people are human hearted and justice prevails. Eliminate one of those legs and civilization collapses back into the ocean of chaos that surrounds and constantly batters it. Since civilization provides the indispensable framework for people to improve their lot, and civilization itself relies on both justice and a human hearted people, to be both just and human hearted is in each and every one of our personal best interest.
If we seek, in our own self interest, to be human hearted… whom then would be the best candidates for good things to happen to? If we believe in the underlying philosophy of the old adage, “what goes around comes around,” then we understand that what a person visits in the world he or she should get back. In other words, at the core of sane human beings, a sense of justice speaks to us, and says, “what he sows shall he reap…” Those of us who sow good in the world, as a matter of justice, deserve to reap good, those who sow evil deserve to reap evil. Since that sense of justice is innate in humanity, people who are human hearted, share in that characteristic. Therefore a person who is good, empathetic and in fact human hearted would favor good people to have good things happen to them, out of a sense of justice. That is why we get angry when a good guy gets killed in a movie, it is our innate sense of justice, revolting at the injustice.
Some people have a false notion, they can be unjust and the opposite of human hearted, without effect to the civilization that allows them their comfort, prosperity and health. The false logic continues, since many others are human hearted and just, civilization will go along fine, and being unjust and uncaring they can get the advantage. To believe so however is as childish as it is ignorant. The seeking of immediate gratification over long term gratification leads to poverty, suffering and want. It is common sense that spending all of one’s pay on booze will lead to health issues and an impoverished retirement. Ignorant, in that injustice and psychopathy are the same as, defecating in one’s water supply.
If we want an ever increasing level of comfort, then we should seek to be human hearted, and to be human hearted means to want good things to happen to good people. The best way to make good things happen to good people is by creating civilization. Prosperity, comfort and health are goods that are always most plentiful when true civilization is present. The false notion that we can be selfish and unjust destroys the very civilization itself we rely on for so much. So, be human hearted…promote good things happening to good people, be good yourself so you deserve good things, be just… and you will be doing your part to promote civilization, prosperity, comfort and health, for yourself, your children and all your loved ones.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
