We only control ourselves.
Diverging from meaning, and looking at control, again, yes, again is an interesting study.
There will always be victims, and perpetrators, however in the course of our pampered meaningless American lives we generally are not faced with such vagaries. So taking this to luxurious philosophical discourse I am talking about manipulation and control of our decisions.
We make all of our decisions, no matter how contrived or rationalized, no matter what external forces may affect us. This is also literally true, physically and biologically in terms of the origins of physical action only occurring within each of us, but we’ll leave out true violence and persecution for the moment.
I am always struck by the alacrity for blaming in this country, or in this modernized meaningless western life style. Excuses. Everyone makes excuses. No decision seems to be made based on inner desire or motivation but rather is blamed on circumstance beyond our control.
The truth underneath everything is my relentless mantra, that our actions reveal values, values motivated into action, and that a choice has occurred underpinning the motivation for the action. Blah, blah, blah. Not recognizing this truth and making excuses is tantamount to preaching tolerance and non-violence while murdering innocent living beings. That is an extreme used here only as a metaphor. Like a government persecuting other autonomous nations through death and violence in the name of freedom or some other wonderful value or concept purporting to honor and value life.
Peeling away the layers of external forces and turning inward to ourselves, frees us from the abdication of responsibility and the bearing of a burden of guilt for other’s actions, while in fact making letting it all go possible.
Let go of having control over anyone other than yourself, deeply considering one’s choices, always asking yourself for advice, being completely true to yourself, standing up for your values, relentlessly, is true freedom, and responsibility.
And don’t think this applies to the helpless in the sense that those in need, still need help and possibly cannot, literally, take action. Like small children. Take great care of your children and all children, teach them the same responsibility for themselves, and maybe someday we will have an enlightened society that can watch the earth cease to support life as we value it, together in harmony.
amen
“Peeling away the layers of external forces and turning inward to ourselves, frees us from the abdication of responsibility and the bearing of a burden of guilt for other’s actions, while in fact making letting it all go possible.”
Dang – you’ve dropped the nitty right into the gritty. You ought to consider writing stuff.
But tell me, do values just hang out there by themselves (maybe like fruit on a tree) or are they part of a larger belief system (like branches attached to a tree)?
They are the roots.
Roots aren’t enough. What supports the roots? Dirt? Water? Values grow or evolve out of something. What??
Guess I misread the metaphor.
Stop beating around the bush!
Values grow out of nature and nurture, genes and environment.
All That Is
have you read mountains beyond mountains, by tracy kidder? great example of someone who is living your mantra. fucking excellent example. read it tonight and we shall discuss it and our world philosophy this weekend.
“Stop beating around the bush!”: Quit bringing George into this.
“Values grow out of nature and nurture, genes and environment.”: Yes, but so what? It doesn’t work. Whose values? Are mine better than yours? Look around – this planet is in a state of chaos. Everyone is making decisions of some sort, even while they’re blaming someone else. Unless there is some agreement on common ground, everyone can be true to themselves and there will still be chaos.
Haven’t read Kidder.
Insanity, don’t forget that nothing has meaning without point of view.
In trying to decipher what the heck you are driving at I assume you are referring to the human experience when you reference the world.
The world is fine. Came down with a virus for a time, the human race, but, takes more than the human race to kill the host.
As for the human experience, chaos always reigns, and always will. If you desire that we all be true to a set of common values and precepts, not gonna happen, thankfully, but it has been tried.
The uniting values of the human race all stem from animal behavior that is pre-programmed in the genes, and however unsatisfactory this may be, is the fact.
Overcoming those limitations is the cause of the blooming of great societies that, alas, always fail to sustain these enlightened periods, when the other human urges come to the fore.
Luckily, we have renewal. This time, truly, renewal is not enough, for us.
weren’t the 70s a drag? let’s try and make the 80s good.
I wish you would say what you mean.
The only bummer about the eighties was the murder of John Lennon and the myriad only children born of former hippies turned middle class Americana.
Ah well, some of them are brilliant little shites with big mouths.
that’s crazy that i quoted john lennon and you mentioned him in your reply without knowing he’d said that. i just meant let’s do this thing, you know?