How do we define
“humanity”?
A quick search online gave me
two definitions. The first, of course, is The Human Race. Us. Our entire
species. The second definition reads: humanness, benevolence. The synonyms given
in this second definition are listed as compassion, brotherly love, fraternity,
fellow feeling, philanthropy, kindness, consideration, understanding, sympathy,
tolerance.
The first definition is a
physical one, explaining that we are living beings, different from others that
occupy space on this planet such as monkeys or worms. The second definition has
to do with that which is not physical. It refers to the inner being, to our
emotional and spiritual aspirations. I use the word aspirations because of all
that I have been seeing lately as I watch my nightly newscasts and surf the web.
I see many examples of people who lack the essence of the second definition. I
see many who appear to lack humanity.
We cannot change the fact that
we are human beings; we can, however, exercise control over the level of our
humanity. The first definition is etched in stone. The second is a matter of
choice.
We began our experiments in
society, we human beings, in caves. There is evidence to support this fact. We
likely banded together for survival, and not just from other clusters of human
beings. I imagine at one point the large, carnivorous predators on this planet
outnumbered the humans.
As our social development
progressed, we made our structures more complicated. Beginning in ancient times,
there was a small upper class—the nobles, if you will, that held all the power
and made all the rules; and then there were the serfs and the slaves—the workers
who barely survived, but who knew their place and continued to work for the
nobles because they didn’t know any better.
Serfs and slaves were
drone-like, and completely expendable. The concept of that second definition of
humanity had not yet been created. It had not yet been discovered or
chosen.
Through the ages, we’ve changed
and evolved in our societal structures, although it wasn’t a unified journey
that was species-wide. In this day and age there exits several different forms
of society on earth, running the gamut from uncontacted tribes, living as they
have since the dawn of time, to democracies, where there are neither noble
classes, or serfs by birth.
Just as during this process we
came to know the depths of the negativity we humans could sink to, so we also
discovered the heights of positivity to which we could rise. We learned to
define that which was best in us, as our “humanity”.
Modern life is complicated, no
question about that. Change is happening at an ever faster rate. The world
around us seems unstable. There are wars and rumors of wars. There are those who
hate with such fierce devotion, they would kill in cold blood all those they see
who are not like them. We call those people terrorists, because they use their
violence to breed terror in us.
Others use fear as their weapon
of choice, to destroy not the body, but spirit. I’ll leave it to each reader to
come up with a name for them.
There are many who believe the
best way to combat this fear is to turn back the clock. They believe they can
end the reality of terrorism by stopping the forward momentum of our social
evolution. These people would like to go back to what they call the “good old
days”. Those days in their minds were the days when people knew their place,
when life was good, when the “right people” had the jobs in the mines and the
sweat shops, giving them money and security.
I feel sorry for anyone who
actually believes this. Thousands seem to support the concept of regression and
they’re all convinced that not only can they make this happen, but that they’ll
somehow come out on top when they do. They will no longer be powerless or
insignificant or whatever it is they believe they are now. But you know what?
It’s kind of a funny thing, really. All those people who are decrying modern
society and wish to somehow create a tumble back in time? They will not, as they
believe, suddenly become the elite, the nobles, the ones who will be, to borrow
an English expression, in the catbird seats.
No, the ones who will be at the
top will be that same 1% that we have at the top, financially speaking,
now—because they already are. Those believers will be the serfs, the ones doing
their overlord’s bidding—because they already are.
They will, in truth, have
sacrificed their freedom and their humanity for a prison of
ignorance.
Love,
Morgan
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