Philosophy Now Forum

in our troubled age, many seek comfort and meaning in
our ism's and ideologies.. nationalism, antisemitism,
the fear and hatred of the right.. in the vast number of
conspiracy theories of the right wing...
we can find a similar time during the years of the Reformation and
counter-reformation... where all kinds of conspiracies were created
to sooth the worries of the masses...mostly antisemitic theories..
(we haven't changed that much in a thousand years)
and why must we follow or pander to our worst instincts?

it is easy, oh so very easy to fall into this trap of seeking comfort
and meaning in the worst parts of our humanity.. in the hatred
and fear that is just under the surface of our humanity...
the animal instincts that we are born from...

but let us reject our primal instincts, and become human...
let us reject tribalism, nationalism, antisemitism, anti-life,
ism's and ideologies like conservatism and MAGA beliefs.....

but why Kropotkin, I am perfectly happy hating democrats,
women, liberals, socialists, colored people, Jews, and anyone who doesn't
agree with me.... but think about it.. this hate and fear doesn't exists
in isolation or separate or apart from our society...
by making fear and hate your primary emotion, this is what
you offer to the society, state, or your fellow human beings...
is that your gift to society? hate and fear?

Socrates gave us two maxims...

1. to know thyself

2. the unexamined life isn't worth living...

what have you done today to answer these two maxims...

few, very few have heard the call to examine their own lives...
are you one of the brave souls that
have the courage to examine your soul?

to know thyself,.. to know what your ''qualities'' are?
and to overcome them? and even braver to become,
who you are?

for we are in the middle, halfway between the animal we once were,
and the human beings we can become if we no longer hold to fear and hatred
that hold us from becoming human, fully human...

Kropotkin

one of the reasons I write what I write is because I hold there is no
difference between the disciplines... that there is no difference
between history and economics and philosophy and astronomy
and biology and physics... they all paint different sides of the same story...
the human story.....

of putting our place in reality into context.. and therein
lies the story of existence.... our story.... how do we put an individual
into context and how do we put individuals into context within a society/state...
and how do we put our collective stories into context...

what we do as human beings is to understand context...
what is the context or relationship between us and other objects
and what is the context or relationship between two distinct and separate
objects... say a cow and the moon or a rock and ants....

if you look hard enough all objects are connected and related in some
fashion... we seek relationships between say, us and stars? We can find that
in knowing that we are made of ''star stuff" as Carl Sagan would say...

everything in the universe is connected.. if you look long enough...

Kropotkin