A Holistic Approach to Social Issues
”That is the exploration that awaits you! Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence.” - Leonard Nimoy
The public discourse is segmented along innumerable lines, creating the illusion of vast complexity. Often, the individual is disheartened, feeling powerless to affect meaningful change. It is impossible to leverage broad insight from a position of narrow focus, and holistic knowledge is discouraged by this compartmentalization of social issues. An endless litany of questions abound: How shall we care for the poor and the elderly? What shall we do about crime? Is technology helping or harming us? But these conversations all happen on the surface level - the level of effects - with nearly no attention being placed upon causal factors.
Our imagination is shackled by this complexity. We are bound by the million-and-one control systems imposed to address each problem individually. Our lives become a hobbled effort to proceed amidst a minefield of constraints. We are enslaved by these obstacles posing as “solutions”.
Where does this leave the well-meaning individual? What power does one slave have to aid another? At best, they may offer some paltry, temporary relief; but they wield not the power to actually solve their problems. Most families cannot even afford to raise their own children (abdicating that charge to the state), or bear the responsibility for their own elder members, no less aid the broader society in any meaningful way. They are too busy dragging their ball-and-chain of monetary enslavement, trying to keep up with the material status quo, and meet the false responsibilities thrust upon them by their culture. They must trust to others, and thus their good intentions are funneled into a political system which manipulates their intent, turning it against them in a ritual of dark alchemy.
And where is the tribe, the proverbial village that is required to raise a child, and to care for all in mutuality? It is scattered to the four winds. It, too, is segmented along political, racial, religious, economical, generational, and gender lines. It is divided and boxed in the individual square-home packages that comprise the urban and suburban landscape, like so many products ready for shipment. And products we are, for those who sap our life energy to support their own indulgence.
"Know thyself and you will know the universe and the Gods." But in the aggregate, we do not know ourselves; our nature, our needs, our power... We have been sold a false image of ourselves, and thus the world. We cannot expect fine fruits to bloom upon a tree born of corrupted seed. All springs forth from the root, and the myriad ills which degrade our person express in our society, and create the circumstance of futility we have endured for centuries. Chasing our tails, the same issues arise again and again, bearing new fashion to reflect our current time, but hung upon the same monstrous form of deception that has plagued our various cultures throughout history.
Money, authority, dogmatic religion, the ego - false Gods all. And until a widespread understanding of who we truly are is sought in earnest, it will not be found; and if not found, then deception will abound. Of course, Truth will out in time (if we can survive long enough), but while it remains willfully ignored in favor of a false pursuits, mankind will suffer greatly.
The hour is getting late, and time can run out. We stand upon the brink of a technological system of global captivity that can bind mankind for millennia under the misaligned guidance of sociopaths with no ability (no less inclination) to support humanity's thriving. These creatures are an embodiment of our collective dark side; our unwillingness to fully embrace our natural responsibility for our own lives, and those of our global brethren.
To solve surface-level problems like crime, elder care, etc., we must establish a foothold in true, eternal principles. We must recognize both our individual self-ownership, and our broader unity. We must see other as self, and love the self in earnest. We must marry heart and mind together in holy union, such that they may serve as left and right footfalls, carrying us toward an ever-expanding potential for creativity, cooperation and prosperity.
For this to come to pass, we must value such an enterprise above those false attainments presented as the highest goals of human existence. Let the mansion, the temple, and the storehouse sought, be that of the self; and from that noble pursuit all else in favor of the good will derive. Commit to this quest in your own life, as it is here that your true power lies. We do not change the world – we change ourselves, and in so doing, the world in changed.
Thanks for checking in!
Brian Blackwell
Relevant articles supporting a deeper understanding of the ideas presented above may be found here:
This paragraph is so poignant and pertinent,
The hour is getting late, and time can run out. We stand upon the brink of a technological system of global captivity that can bind mankind for millennia under the misaligned guidance of sociopaths with no ability (no less inclination) to support humanity's thriving. These creatures are an embodiment of our collective dark side; our unwillingness to fully embrace our natural responsibility for our own lives, and those of our global brethren.
I sense the truth in what you're expressing here and entirely agree that we must find that heaven and true-value change within our own psyche's rather than forcing all out and how the masses doing so is creating this wretched and looming shadow. And, to make sure I'm not making it about the masses, love thy neighbor.
Anyway, I will end here because my thoughts are circling and I am excited by what you're saying and afraid sometimes it's too easy to just start writing a bunch and have a difficult time articulating just what it is I'm attempting to say :)
It’s a shame... the medium does seem to imply a need for brevity and more careful organization, which makes it a limiting factor. At the fireside, an unbounded expression of those whirling thoughts would glorify the speaker by her earnest engagement, and would no doubt be fettile ground for enriching the bond between friends. But feel free to share your thoughts as your inspiration dictates; I am certainly interested to hear all you have to say.
Warm smiles :)
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