Archive for Values

The Vision Thing

May 4, 2010 Communication, Consciousness, Evolution, Politics, Values No comments

Those of you who are as old as I am may remember that when George H. W. Bush ran against Bill Clinton in 1992, there was talk that he lacked “the vision thing.” Bush was accused of running as a competent manager, rather than someone who had a grand philosophical vision of where the country should go. At least that’s how I remember it.

Clinton’s “I feel your pain” turned out to be a better message than George Bush Sr.’s “I know what I’m doing.” But in truth, neither candidate then, and none of the candidates today, really have the vision thing. The best that can be said is that every four years we have a choice between two opposing philosophies of governance. And both philosophies operate within fairly narrow agreed-upon parameters.

Nowhere, for example, is there a politician who says that he has a vision for how human beings should all live together on the planet—a vision for where evolution is taking us. Politicians don’t even really speak in terms of a global vision. It’s still the U.S. vs. China, or the West vs. the Third World, or the rich vs. the poor.

So it is left to philosophers and activists and NGOs and academic commissions to promote the vision of how all people of the world can live together in peace, harmony and physical security. The shift to a global consciousness is already starting to occur among—dare I say—intellectuals. Articulating this vision in a way that is simple and powerful enough to gain traction in popular culture is the mission of HumansTogether. Despite clear evidence that no one is paying attention yet, I am confident that they will.

Empathy and Compassion

April 20, 2010 Consciousness, Evolution, Politics, Values One comment

Based on what I’ve been reading lately, specifically The Empathetic Civilization by Jeremy Rifkin, human beings have evolved into highly empathetic creatures. In fact, an individual’s well-being is highly dependent on the successful transmission of empathy from the mother, or other primary caregiver, to the child. The whole notion that people are driven solely by self-interest turns out not to be true.

I’m only a little way through the book but so far his over 600-page scholarly treatise seems to be providing an extremely well reasoned and well researched case to support what I call “species consciousness.” Rifkin calls it “biosphere consciousness.” The point is that we must identify ourselves with all of humanity on a planetary basis if we are to avoid global catastrophe.

From empathy to compassion is a short side trip. That’s where the Charter for Compassion [http://charterforcompassion.org/] comes in. This site/organization/movement bases its call for global togetherness on the Golden Rule, which it says is at the center of every great religion and spiritual practice.

Rifkin’s book and the Charter for Compassion are part of a growing global meme that we must become one humanity, that we must act as “HumansTogether.” To do this we must first scrape away the layers of cynicism and pessimism we have acquired through our lives and recognize that we and others are fundamentally not “just looking out for number one.”

We must examine the evidence and recognize that we are instead highly social creatures who at our core are much more about compassion and empathy than greed and selfishness. It may take a little digging, but the evidence is there. It just doesn’t get any press. But as Rifkin points out, the only reason our worst behaviors are featured on the news is that they are unusual. Most of the world is actually the opposite of the news, full of loving, concerned people who want to work together to help everyone.

Question Your Beliefs

April 14, 2010 Evolution, Politics, Values One comment

Where do your beliefs come from? Did you get your religion from your parents or did you reject your parents view completely? Did you make a decision to believe what you believe based on logic or did your values come by absorbing the views of your community or culture? Do more highly educated people have different beliefs than less highly educated people?

It’s hard to answer these questions, at least for someone who hasn’t read a lot of scholarly literature about the subject. The point is that beliefs come from a lot of places for a lot of reasons and most of them are not acquired based on a logical evaluation of all possible alternative beliefs.

Religion and culture are good examples. There are probably people who chose a religion after carefully evaluating and comparing all the tenants of the world’s spiritual practices. But more than likely the religion you have is the one your parents had, and you adopted it without really being aware that there were alternatives. And even without exploring the alternatives, there are many Christians who believe they have a handle on the ultimate governing principles of human reality. Those who were raised in other traditions believe just as fervently that they are the most righteous.

In this country, it kind of goes without saying that “America is the best country on earth.” Many, if not most of us, simply except this. We have an ingrained bias against anyone who is not American, even if we know intellectually that being born in any particular location doesn’t make a human being superior to another human being.

The fact is that beliefs drive behavior and if we are going to pull together as a species to solve the imminent planetary crises that we face, we have to take control of our beliefs. They can’t be random. We need to come together around a set of beliefs that recognizes that we are more alike at the core than we are different. Before we think of ourselves as Americans or any other nationality, we have to think “I am a human being on planet earth.”

This bigger picture vision locates us more appropriately for working together and appreciating our common humanity.

Lost in the Flood

March 28, 2010 Communication, Evolution, Politics, Values No comments

I wear my iPod when I go for a walk. Today, when I heard Springsteen’s “Lost in the Flood” off his first album from way back in the 70’s, a new meaning occurred to me: Lost in the flood of thoughts.

All of us, unless we take great pains to step outside them, are lost in a flood of conscious thoughts that prevent us from connecting with our true selves. We’re focused on the things that are right in front of us, right off the front bumper of our awareness, instead of looking down the road and getting a more comprehensive view of what’s actually affecting all of us.

We get absorbed with our own self identities instead of the fact that we are all human beings on planet earth. We are all the same.

All of the hate and separation we feel from others is based on a belief that we are all different and that those differences are dangerous. They are dangerous because the others may want to hurt us, or because the others have ideas that if correct, would make us wrong, or cause us to question what we believe. And no humans are really in love with being wrong or having to change.

And that’s the point, under the superficial differences of appearance, culture, religion, class, gender and politics; we are a single species that is way more the same than different. We are all here together on this planet, an infinitesimal oasis in a cold and empty universe (so far as we know). After billions of years, we are the highest example of life-based, matter-connected consciousness that exists (so far as we know). And we’re in danger of destroying ourselves because we see our own personal survival and that of our group as being in competition with other humans who are exactly the same as us.

I believe the highest calling we have as humans, is to recognize that all of us are responsible for getting our species through to the next stage of evolution. This can be a world in which we cooperate together by acting from a set of beliefs based on we are all the same, we are all valuable, and we are all deserving.

The alternative is a set of beliefs based on I’ve got mine, good luck to you. That belief is not going to move humans forward. That belief will keep us divided and invested in fighting with each other, because it is based on a fundamental untruth—that I, my family and my group are better and more deserving than all the others. It is based on denying the truth that we humans are all the same underneath.

Values that Bind Humans Together

January 17, 2010 Values No comments

HumansTogether is about finding the values that can move us to a planetary “species consciousness.” Haiti is a good example, both of the things that bind us together as humans and of the lack of global coordination that is required to face these large disasters.

We don’t ask what religion these people are or what their political party is before we bring aid. The whole world unites to bring aid.

But soon the politics will begin. Those who are expending resources will begin arguing over control. The right wing in this country will start to object to the amount of money being “wasted.” Such is human nature.

We will face such disasters again. Will we learn how to coordinate relief globally? Or more importantly, will we be able to rise above what divides us and help all people on the planet live together, instead of competing for resources?

HumansTogether believes that if we are to cope with the changes that are coming in climate, water and population we need a common set of beliefs and values.

To us, most religions suffer from anti-rational magical thinking and a dogmatic, closed-mindedness to other belief systems. Yet at the root of most religions is a philosophy that encourages compassion and caring for your fellow man. It’s those common values that are important.

The values that we need most are a recognition of our common humanity and an open mindedness. In other words, a respect for others and a recognition that we don’t know everything. It would also be helpful if humans were more interested in being helpful and supportive than in being right. More on values as we go along.

Proposed Rules for Global Harmony

June 14, 2009 Politics, Values No comments

I just read an article in the May issue of Wired about the Georgia Guidestones, aka the American Stonehenge. The Guidestones are a huge granite monument built in 1980 by a mysterious man who called himself R. C. Christian. I was very intrigued. The main point of interest is that the message is pretty much in agreement with the philosophy of HumansTogether. The possible exceptions are the limit to the population and the bit about reproduction “fitness.” (Although one can imagine a value system that favored these limitations in order to produce a less competitive and more abundant, healthy species.)

The premise of the Guidestones seems to be that earth has had a global catastrophe and needs some guidelines in creating civilization 2.0. So the apocalyptic vision is something we want to avoid, but in general, the global approach is something that we can get behind. Here’s what is written on the slabs in 8 languages:

MAINTAIN HUMANITY UNDER 500,000,000
IN PERPETUAL BALANCE WITH NATURE

GUIDE REPRODUCTION WISELY —
IMPROVING FITNESS AND DIVERSITY

UNITE HUMANITY WITH A LIVING
NEW LANGUAGE

RULE PASSION — FAITH — TRADITION
AND ALL THINGS
WITH TEMPERED REASON

PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATIONS
WITH FAIR LAWS AND JUST COURTS

LET ALL NATIONS RULE INTERNALLY
RESOLVING EXTERNAL DISPUTES
IN A WORLD COURT

AVOID PETTY LAWS AND USELESS
OFFICIALS

BALANCE PERSONAL RIGHTS WITH
SOCIAL DUTIES.

PRIZE TRUTH — BEAUTY — LOVE —
SEEKING HARMONY WITH THE
INFINITE

BE NOT A CANCER ON THE EARTH —
LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE —
LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE

Why HumansTogether?

June 14, 2009 Values 2 comments

The planet is under stress. Soon there will be too many humans and not enough clean water or food. Our global economic system is breaking down.

Already millions live in misery. Hate and war are common. We are at a point where we must work together globally or face even greater hardships. If we don’t cooperate to create a fair distribution of resources and sustainable abundance, rather than compete over the earth’s bounty, life will be miserable for all—even those who win the competition.

HumansTogether is based on the idea that we humans should focus more on what we have in common than what separates us.

Our common humanity should bind us together in community and compassion on this miracle of a planet. Religious, national, racial, cultural and political beliefs that pit humans against each other should recede and the sense of our common humanity should grow in our consciousness. This is the only way to overcome the many planetary crises we face.

To help humans make this shift in focus from us and them to us, HumansTogether will promote a new understanding that our species is the crowning cosmic creation of billions of years of evolution. The matter that humans are made of was literally created in stars. We must see ourselves as citizens of the Cosmos—perhaps the only example of self-awareness in the universe.

We must learn that our differences are not as great as our common humanity—at an evolutionary level we are all the same.

HumansTogether is an ongoing exercise in articulating new shared positive beliefs and values based on what the latest scientific discoveries and advanced thinking has to say about the fundamental questions and truths pondered by our species.

Our explicit focus will be on the quintessential eternal issue: What beliefs and values should human beings hold in order to produce the most positive results for the most people?

Beginning as a blog, our goal is to become a content producer of diverse media that focus on cultivating common beliefs and values that have occupied our collective consciousness for a long time. We’ll take a fresh look with an eye toward finding as much objectivity and agreement as possible.

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