I think things will continue to unfold. I have a sense that many of the world's problems come from selfishness and self-centeredness. If you look, evil on the large scale doesn't usually come from wanting to be evil. The greatest evil tends to come from desiring to conquer perceived evil in the world. For Hitler, it was the Jewish people (not evil). For Bin Laden, it was against evil Western civilization (not evil). The greater extreme you go to to rid the world of what you believe is evil, the more evil you will do. That's probably why Jesus said to avoid resisting evil. It's a tough lesson to follow, but crucial for the Kingdom of Heaven (Utopia).
The founding father's envisioned a world of personal freedom. That's absolutely essential, but it cannot be sustained if individuals do not support the whole. If mega-corporations search for every legal loophole to maximize profits, then it's not possible to leave them with less regulation. The founding fathers swore their lives and fortunes to each other in the pursuit of freedom. That common good has less support today. The world appears unbalanced.
This greater good must be fostered, but forcing people to support it would be counter to personal liberty. Servicing the common good needs to be fostered. It needs to be raised up as a guiding principle and as core a value as the pursuit of freedom is. It seems like getting something for nothing is valued in our culture.
So:
- Take care of yourself first, otherwise you cannot help others. Do not trust government to take care of you, but be self reliant.
- Use your personal freedom to support the greater good, the common good. Help others to grow their good.
It's not appropriate to force people to support the common good. Everyone is at their own stage of growth. A good goal is to encourage enough people to support the common good that we bring the world to a stable place.
No comments:
Post a Comment