the democracy of Armageddon
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Armageddon Earth.
I grew up during the Cold War, during a time when people lived in fear of nuclear holocaust. Mr. Ronald Reagan was President of the United States, and our archenemy was the Soviet Union, or what he called the “Evil Empire”. At that time, there were over 70,000 nuclear weapons worldwide – enough to blow up the world thousands of times over. I wondered, what species in their right mind would ever allow things to get so far past the point of reason? I was afraid that the world was going to end, and I had barely even begun to live. I had nightmares of bright, orange mushroom clouds, and snowy, white nuclear winters. I was afraid for the world, and for myself – because I did not want to die. But it seemed like I had no control over my fate or the fate of the world. Why was I born into this kind of world? Why couldn’t I have been born in a world of peace and harmony, instead of a world filled with war and fear?
The Cold War ended more than fifteen years ago, and I think it is a miracle that nobody accidentally pressed a button, and that the human race managed to survive that period. People today no longer live in fear of nuclear holocaust. Yet the threat still exists: anytime you have 30,000 nuclear weapons on one planet, there is going to be a threat of destruction. But you probably didn’t know that there are still 30,000 nuclear weapons remaining on the planet, did you? Because nuclear weapons are usually hidden from public view by our own governments - and what we don’t know, we tend not to care about. And your government doesn’t want you to care about it – because they don’t want you to think or do anything about it.
But it is true, at least there are fewer nuclear weapons than before. So you may think the world is now a better, safer place. You may think because of modern medicine, the Internet, and rapid progress in technology, that the world is getting better. You think because you have a color cellphone, a DVD player, and nice clothes, that the world is getting better. But the year is 2005, and I look at the world, and I believe that humanity is still in crisis – and that the world is getting worse. For who truly believes that we are headed towards world peace??? Many people laugh derisively that such a thing is possible.
The signs of chaos are everywhere. Water resources are declining, soil erosion is increasing, rainforests are being cut down, animals and fish are disappearing, the air we breathe and the water we drink are becoming more polluted, and we even inject our own foods with chemicals. Fifty years ago, none of these things were happening - but now, they are. Yet you believe the world is a better place – you believe we are making progress. When someone says “We are making progress,” I laugh and wonder, “What world are you living on?” Perhaps you judge progress by how well you are progressing in your own little world – and not the world entire. And who is causing all these things to happen in the world? You, me, and our next door neighbors. Our enemy is not Russia - we are the enemy.
Selfishness destroys both the Self & the World.
This is so, and you know this is so, because all you need to ask is one question: “Do human beings now tend to be more selfish, or more selfless?” More selfish, we would agree.
For who is your master? Your self or the world? When you think of your interests, who do you give priority to - you or the world? When you aim for happiness, which one is more important, yours or the world’s? Which life do you care more about – your life or the life of the world? And which death do you fear more - your own death or the death of the world? We can only guess where the priorities lie for most other people – but your heart and mind know your own answers.
The world supports you with life – but do you support the world with your life?
We tend to think first and primarily of our own interests, rather than the interests of the world. And this self-centeredness has deep, long-term consequences, both in our own lives and for the life of the world. Imagine 10 selfish people on a small plot of land with limited resources - what will happen? Most likely they will compete against each other until only a few survive and command those resources – this is called our survival of the fittest. Competition and capitalism are the “natural order” and “human nature”, they say, even though nearly all “primitive” societies were able to cooperate & co-exist without capitalism for thousands of years. Now imagine 6 billion self-centered people on our small planet, fighting for resources and competing with each other to survive and amass wealth – it is no surprise that the state of our earth & human societies are deteriorating. Something will soon give way – something will eventually collapse.
The way each of us lives our life affects the entire planet. Some human beings, here and there, do perform saving actions to help our planet and its inhabitants. Look at the people you know - how many even talk or think about the world’s problems as much as they talk and think of their own problems? To say nothing of acting or living. The saving actions of the few are far outweighed by the destructive actions of the many – and this is so, because human beings are currently more selfish than selfless. And as we perform more destructive actions with increasing frequency and magnitude, we move ever closer to unknowingly destroying ourselves.
For you know your own life will end - do you think the world cannot end as well? As you have the power to destroy your own life, so we also have the power to destroy our own world. Care not for your life, and you will die. Care not for the world, and the world will eventually die. You need love from the world – do you not think that the world needs your love as well? If we do not stand up for the world, the world will eventually fall. And then you and all your loved ones will also fall.
As long as we put ourselves before the world, and do not put the world equally with ourselves, then the world as we know it, and ourselves, will most likely end - either gradually or suddenly, quickly or slowly. For selfishness nearly always leads to destruction if it is unchecked – this principle is true for kings, thieves, movie stars, CEOs, and ordinary people like you and me. If you have ever had an overly selfish lover, friend, classmate, boss, or co-worker, then you know that selfishness does not help relationships, but hurts them. That it infects the atmosphere and the surrounding environment with negativity and ill will, rather than trust, respect, and good will. That it takes away and destroys, rather than gives and creates. That it promotes disharmony, rather than peace. Selfishness repels people away from you, rather than attracts them to you. Have you ever seen a selfish person that is genuinely happy? In the end, selfishness actually hurts the selfish person.So over the long-term, selfishness is actually not even in your own self-interest – while selflessness is.
If we continue living together the way we do now, our world will end, and our time will come. There is still time and opportunity for the hearts and minds of men to change - but if our hearts are set in stone, so our future is set in stone also.
You don’t make a difference - you ARE the difference.
Do I see this situation as being black and white? Yes, I do. On the edge of life & death, when the entire world hangs in the balance, there is no neutral ground to stand on. How we live, is our vote to save the world or not to save it. This is the democracy of Armageddon: your life is a “Yes” vote to save the world or a “No” vote to not save the world and merely save yourself. There is no “Abstain” vote because you cannot abstain from life except by suicide and eliminating your own vote. And even then, such a vote to abstain from the fate of the world is one less vote, one less voice, one less mind and one less life for “Yes”. If you abstain, your vote becomes a “No” vote by default.
It is said that your life can make a difference in the world, but I say that your life does make a difference, whether you want it to or not. Every second, every moment, for better or for worse, you are making a difference now. And you are choosing what kind of difference you are making – every moment, every second. What you buy, what you eat, what you do, how and why you live, who you are, and perhaps most importantly, even what you think and what you love – they are all making a difference. At the deepest level of reality, you don’t “make” a difference – you ARE the difference.
You & the World are ONE.
I still don’t want the world to end; I still do not wish to die an early death. But I can have no life of my own without the life of the world. So now you can understand why one of the driving forces of my life is saving the world and avoiding Armageddon – it is so that I can also save myself and all that I love and all that I do not love. It is not about “doing good”, but simply a matter of survival. It is not about “being a hero,” because we all need to be “heroes” if the world is going to live. Because I can’t have a good life, or any life at all, if the world is going to end. My self is connected to the world, and so they are ONE.
It took me many, many years to make my peace and let my life go, and to accept that my fate is tied together with the fate of the world. But I have made my peace with the end of the world and the end of my own life, because now I understand that Armageddon is democratic: one life, one vote. Live your vote to care or not to care. For the end of the world will be the outcome that we all have chosen and created together. We will live, or we will die – because of how we all lived. I must accept that I am a citizen of the human race, a citizen of the world, and that if the world ends, I will have been partially responsible. I believe we are all partially responsible. We are ALL responsible for our world.
For I see my life, your life and the life of the world as being connected with each other. They are not separate, but One. My future, your future, and the future of the world are connected. For if the world lives, I can live and you can live. But if the world dies, I will die and you will die. If the world is at peace, then you have a better chance of being at peace; if you are happy and at peace, then a part of the world can be happy and at peace, and those around you will be touched by that happiness and peace. But if the world is not happy and at peace, then any happiness and peace that we may feel, will be limited and temporary. For you are not just you, but you are also a part of the world. Whether we like it or not, you and me, we are all bonded together with the world. Your happiness or unhappiness affects the world – just as the world’s happiness or unhappiness affects you. Our happiness on this earth is interconnected. In the end, one is not more important than the other.
And we will know the world is no longer heading towards its destruction when I can once again ask you the question, “Do you think human beings are more selfish or more selfless?” On that day when you can answer, “More selfless,” then we will no longer fear other human beings or the end of the world. This one change of heart can change our future, our world, and our lives. For you can always know the state of the world by knowing the hearts of human beings - for as all our hearts are, so shall we act and live in the world, and so shall our whole world be. The fate of the world rests within all our hearts.
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