The Golden Rule (Winter Solstice 3of12).
In previous posts linked below, I discussed the possibility of meaningless nihilism in a Godless universe; explored, briefly, 10,000 years of religious storytelling (mythology), and moved onto an alternative view of who Jesus might have been: The Gnostic Kristos.
Imagine this: a time not too far from now when pollution wreaks havoc upon the earth; when less than 10,000 people own 95% of all the wealth on the planet; when resources dwindle and mass shortages cause chaos throughout the world; when machines police you into oblivion! It couldn't possibly happen here I hear you say! Wrong! And the truth is all these scenarios could very well happen this century given all the current trajectories, and do you know why? Because humanity was persuaded that The Golden Rule was a myth, too; that it was archaic thinking espoused by someone who didn't even exist!
How much did the universe charge you for being here? Were all the plants and animals charging you interest for use over the last few hundred thousand years of human history? NO! In fact, we were here and it all existed freely...
Circa about 250 years ago in Europe...The emergence of capitalism in its present form. There's a saying about capitalism, 'what was once free now costs a hell of a lot of dough!'...It was at this time that the Golden Rule got thrown into the trash bin of history and we're now seeing the cumulative disastrous results of this error...Okay, I can see this will need some unpacking.
The trading of goods and services was alwaysa priorifor humanity. It is how we go about doing this that is crucial and this is the crux of The Golden Rule: embrace it and survive and flourish and dismiss it and watch and see what happens...Let me ask you this: if Jesus existed in some form and taught The Golden Rule then why do you believe it wouldn't be relevant to economics? Please, have at 'er on this one in the comment section.
Part three is coming to a close here and I'll leave you with this to ponder: can any human being meet their potential when their 4-basic needs of FOOD/WATER, SHELTER, EDUCATION, and HEALTHCARE, are taken away from them via UNNECESSARY exploitation and coercion? It's these issues which are central to The Golden Rule and are at the heart of this particular matter!
And we'll be exploring this further as the 12 days of Christmas pass us by once again...Previous posts below: here,here,and here.In upcoming posts, we'll get into what a possible Gnostic Kristos ( if it exists) thinks about 1700years of Christendom; what it might think of Islam and Judaism;what it might think of Hinduism (and to a lesser degree) Buddhism as they relate to the ideas of karma and reincarnation.