Topic: Liberty
Human History: Violence and Voting A discussion of our evolutionary history and how that applies to today's political issuesby Christopher Billings
(libertarian)
Monday, October 6, 2008
All species are special, including humans. As average Americans, we all have an amazing story that starts long before this country was founded. My ancestors came to America in the 1700's and 1800's. They worked, farmed, settled and helped moved the country's quest for manifest destiny forward, ending up mostly in Oregon & California. Going back further, it's believed that one family branch is descended from Magnus Maximus, a Roman Ruler, who also ruled England in 381 - 383 AD.
But a couple thousand years is nothing, compared to the history of our species. There has been a continual thread of life from each of us, back to a time when life first arose on Earth, around 3.5 billion years ago. Life has been passed from generation to generation all these years without interruption, for you to exist. The amount of suffering and cruelty must have been enormous during these evolutionary years, from single celled organisms to the eventual rise of mammals, but somehow life persisted. I'd like to discuss more in-depth the stages we have taken through the billions of years, but will suffice it to say that the cruelest of all creatures to ever evolve, is man.
No other species seem capable of the mass extermination of both their own species, and their fellow species. This slaughter is unheard of in the animal kingdom. It is a sad abomination. If my family tree history is correct, or even if it isn't, my ancestors have done some pretty cruel things in the past several thousand years. Magnus slaughtered who knows how many. I don't know if my U.S. ancestors fought the Native Americans, but they took their land regardless. I'm glad my family was on the West Coast and didn't get involved in slavery. But my point is that these abominations have always persisted, and the present is certainly no exception.
It is the responsibility of every individual to work towards abolishing these cruel abominations, which are perhaps a carry-over from our evolutionary necessity to be mean "Sons Of Bitches", throughout history, in order to survive. Now more than ever, the pen is indeed mightier than the sword...and much more moralistic. We, as a species, need to rise above our instincts and herd mentality, and use our advanced intellect to make positive changes in our society.
The first step is for people to open their eyes and see what is really going on in the world, and our country. Remove the rose colored glasses. Step away from the mainstream media and think about right and wrong. Think independently and rationally. One of the problems with today's society is that everyone does only his/her specific job. The division of labor is now so great, that all people need to think about is their specific niche. Everyone takes responsibility for only their job, without realizing that they are perhaps one link in a chain that connect them to an abomination of some kind. I'm not suggesting everyone should be unemployed, I just think that we all have a responsibility to look at the end result of our actions, or the action of our efforts, with a moralistic approach. With the recent economic situation, we are working more and are too busy running our personal lives, to have time to think about the entire picture. Complacency of the citizens, however, is not an option for a successful democracy. It is our job to keep our elected officials shaking in their boots, if they don't act in a way that suits the general public. We have the voting power, however, who's shaking in their boots? The American public is, because they think there minds are so feeble, that only the politicians can know what's best for the citizens and the world.
We've probably all heard about the Roman Emporer who suggested that all slaves wear white armbands, "No" said a wise Senator, "then they will see how many of them there are". By not paying attention to the issues and not voting, complacent citizens are buying into this "ruling elite knows best" mentality. By becoming a sheep, and allowing yourself to be herded, you are disrespecting billions of years of past life forms (your ancestors), who struggled for survival and a better world. We are all perhaps more special than we know. Hopefully, we can intellectually come together and work towards voting for life, liberty and justice for all.
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Christopher Billings only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Christopher Billings is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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