Peace on Earth, Radical Freedom for All

We are born into this world and we die in this world. Our lives are remembered for a time, and then they vanish into the void of history. Each of us in our time exists, and then we do not. Our power in this world is limited to our minds and our beliefs. Individually, we can affect change in the world only to the degree that we can change the minds of others. Our freedom in this life is contained: we are free to believe as we choose. No person can force a belief which we, in our minds can choose to reject.

But this freedom to believe is powerful. It has forced into being religions, governments, and values. From one generation to the next, we pass on those beliefs which we have agreed are in our own personal best interests. And while this has guided the course of our collective history, it remains the most fragile of ideas. A government would cease to exist were the people whom it governs simply to choose to cease to believe. It exists only as an idea. Likewise the gods of old died when faith in them died. Are the religions of today any different? Would Islam or Christianity or Buddhism live past this generation were their adherents to choose to believe otherwise?

There are people in this world who believe that their disposition makes them greater than others, whether it be their social standing, skin color, or religious choices. The reality is that there is nothing particular about our being or existence which makes us better than any other of our species. Our social standing is based in constructs, which, like all other ideas, cease to have value when we cease to believe in them. The natural state of our bodies is not our choice either, therefore making judgements about the value of the person inhabiting a body is irrational. Our religious choices are made from a movement within our minds, and our spiritual choices, whether they are similar to others or not, cannot be judged by anyone but ourselves and our God.

What then is the value of racism, bigotry, or sexism? Does racism benefit the racist? Perhaps in a society where all members have bought into a racist system, yes. Absent of that (and thankfully this world is upending those systems), racism is of no benefit to the racist. It is, or at least it ought to be, a shackle to the mind. It is the central driving force of the racist, and his existence depends on the success of inequality. But in the wholesale rejection of racism by a society, those whose existence is built around espousing this idea of racism, bigotry, or intolerance will find their own existence not only intolerable, but utterly and bleakly meaningless. While hate must be taught, it must also be untaught. For if the bigot, the sexist, or the racist cannot find new meaning past the crumbling of their worldview, they will fight all the more to sustain it. This is why social upheaval always walks hand in hand with violence. It is not the hate for which these people fight, but the validation of their very existence.

Ultimately we must look to the rhythm of our societies with a critical eye. If money has value because we believe it does, what if we cease to believe? If government has power because we believe it does, what if we stop believing? Take all of these constructs away, what are we left with? Our minds. Our ability to believe still. Our ability to hope. Our ability to imagine. Our ability to create. If we chose to stop believing in the absolutism of politics, society, and religion, if we stopped allowing polarization for monetary gain, what would that world look like? Could we actually end hunger, disease, poverty, and warfare? Could we heal the damage our consumption has dealt to the planet? Could we step from this planet and spread amongst the stars?

The only thing that stops us is that we choose to believe that we cannot. The truth is that the separation between war and peace, hunger and plenty, disease and health, poverty and equality, bigotry and acceptance, is a separation of choice. We as a species, have chosen to allow these things to exist. And just as we have chosen to allow them to exist, we can choose them to die.

In the pursuit of power and personal enrichment, people choose to treat others with either respect or disdain. But what the standards that we choose are ultimately meaningless. Power exists until death, and wealth ends when we slip into eternity. What then is the ultimate good? Goodness and righteousness, like all social constructs, are subjective, however, they are limited to two points of view. Inward, or personal, and outward or social. Remove all constructs and there seems to be a biological, an evolutionary disposition in our very being to seek an outward or social righteousness. Certainly, it can be argued that in the face of the absurd, the ultimate good that we can accomplish is the good we do for ourselves. This idea has given rise to rugged individualism, that we are alone in this life and must make our own way.

But rugged individualism is wrong. We are not alone, and the ideas we leave behind when we exit our existence are what echo into the future. To ask whether we leave the world a better place is to create too vague of a standard for morality. The Absurd demands a higher standard.

Have we enslaved ourselves to arbitrary social constructs? Have we bought into inequality because we believe we can do nothing to prevent it? Have we supported violence by believing it is inevitable? Have we wandered through our existence never questioning the status quo, never dreaming of what could be, never imagining a better world?

The biggest lie of this generation is that the wrongs that exist in this world are due to an idea of an unjust system, or an unjust society. Neither can take blame for wrong, because both are fictions. All inequality and injustice stem from the minds of men. We therefore cannot seek aid from our gods for the injustice we have created.

Therefore, the greatest good we can do in this life is to open the minds of those around us, to usher in a revolution of the mind which trends towards equality, justice, and inclusion. To look at our beliefs with a critical mind, to consider not only the primary effects of our actions, but the ancillary effects as well. To approach our existence with skepticism, and the social constructs handed to us from the previous generation with criticism. We must learn all that we can learn, to think as hard as we can think, and to question all that there is to question.

To think that there is a long road to solution is wrong. This generation, in this time, is no more or less equipped to solve the problems of this world. And to be clear, the responsibility to solve these problems lies squarely on our shoulders for the simple reason that we live here, in this world and in this time. And were we to simply acknowledge this fact, and accept our responsibility to be free in this life, all of the seemingly insurmountable problems would become immediately and clearly solvable.

We are sentenced to be free because we are responsible for our actions, our thoughts, and our beliefs. And because we are responsible for our actions, our thoughts, and our beliefs, we are free.

Look not to the gods for peace, but to yourself. Peace is the responsibility of us all.