“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s in ability to sit quietly in a room alone.” — Blaise Pascal
“I feel monotony and death to be almost the same.” — Charlotte Bronte
Self-discipline and self-mastery can be considered — for all practical purposes — the sole basis of true freedom. True good — compassion and each of its lovely first cousins too — is contained in our conscience; the essence of our humanity is within us.
Without the awareness of the presence of true good (within each of us), we will never seek it*. We will instead seek selfish goals, which is what most U.S. citizens are doing as I write… wreaking havoc in the universe, while simultaneously patting themselves on the back for being good. False goods are sought, and people are bought and sold easily.
*Addressing the relatively few clinical psychopaths in our midst will only serve to distract from my main point here.
Social inequality, then, is the result of immorality and the uncontrolled disunion of folks… if one pursues this train of thought. The separation of people from one another is advocated, one might say, by the way in which Silicon Valley conducts itself with its customers… who — every single one — it views only as commodities. As all our other major corporations do too. But society has a momentum going right now which does not require intentional breaking of natural bonding. Morality must be seen as dwindling daily, and that dynamic must be seen as… unnecessary.
Authentic prosperity is contingent upon morality. And morality is dependent upon an embrace of hope; evil extinction-thinking or guaranteed apocalypse outlooks preclude moral behavior for most.
And so… I urge readers to get with a fresh plan for action in solidarity which exalts trustworthiness and kindness. That sort of thing. Rather than continuing to act as if there’s anything in the works at present anywhere in the U.S. …anywhere here where personal pride does not rule.
Left-of-center politics — truth be told — is all about one-upmanship. And that is being nurtured by so-called alternative media outlets which fancy that advocacy of ideology without a need for deep personal transformation is worth anything.
Concerned citizens are screaming about how important their “morality” is when contrasted with the values of their opposition. But authentic morality embraces differences, appreciates the variety found in the natural world, which includes people with different profiles.
To really get the gist of this article, I ask you to ask yourself what new self-discipline you’ve taken upon yourself of late. To date, what radical personal changes have you gone through?
Do you really think that you’re going to make a big difference in this world without altering your habits. Most writers, reporters and readers on alternative media outlets are on a treadmill, and have no intention of transforming themselves, do not see any need to do so.
And that’s why a sameness has descended upon our interaction. We cannot sit quietly with ourselves, the essence within us which is not contingent upon where and when we were born.
I speak of our sad sameness source here, of course.
Rachel Olivia O’Connor is a member of the Oxman Collective. She can be reached at [email protected].