diversity on all levels

… works best for all parties.

It is rather strange to observe the wide range of tactics humans can come up with, to discriminate against, choke off, censor and block, anyone who in any way, shape or form appears to be different from themselves and/or disturb their self-image.

It is as if any deviation from some kind of “accepted group-norm” represents an imminent danger, and requires action to passify, punish or eliminate everyone who doesn't fit whatever “norm” one happens to be a follower of – by choice or through pressure.

Why do humans continue to indiscriminately divide each others up in “us and them”, and construct conflicts and declare wars to eliminate opposition?
How many new feuds and millions of losers do humanity really need? Haven't we got better things to do with our short lives?

If everyone everywhere looked, thought and acted like me, the world would be a very boring place indeed.

checks and balances

The bigger the pool the better, but only if diversity is not only accepted, but promoted in such a way that everyone can, and of course also is willing to, keep adding something of value and help keep the pool (read: 'community') fresh with new ideas and solutions.
Everybody stands to gain in such a scenario.

On the other hand: when everyone has to conform to “accepted group-norms” – written and unwritten rules and regulations – in order to be accepted, what we end up with is lots of stagnant and smelly pools.
Everybody stands to lose – it is just a matter of time.

Most pools start out seemingly fresh, but once its inhabitants start feeling comfortable and settle in to “the way things are”, and “norms” get introduced to keep it that way, mud starts to accumulate and choke off life as we know it. That's how societies wither and die.

Enforcing changes on a society tends to have the same effect, as altered conditions creates conflicts and tear down the (mental) fabric that holds communities together. Without a minimum of common ground people start working against each others instead of for each others. The sense of cooperation for a common good gets lost, and entire societies simply fall apart.

History tells us that regardless of whether politics, religions, economics, race, customs, traditions, habits or laws are used as base to set “norms”, the above holds true.
Will we ever learn?

sensible discrimination

Being able to discriminate based on what makes most sense for oneself over time, is important in a world saturated with noise and agression. However, it doesn't make much sense to become single-minded – lock on to one view forever and stubbornly stay ignorant to, or in denial of, all else.

Flexibility is a necessity in day to day life, and a solid dose of pragmatism doesn't hurt either. Knowledge helps with both, and we can only get so much of that in schools.

Remember that discrimination doesn't have to be about taking a stand for or against anyone or anything. It is just a necessary technique that all humans apply day in and day out anyway, so we may as well take advantage of it.

Everybody has the right to speak, but nobody is, or can be, required to listen to everybody, or to anybody for that matter. We simply cannot afford to have “open channels” to all that goes on everywhere all the time – it would overwhelm us, so we all select and make decisions all day long. In short: we discriminate.

Sensible discrimination is what lets each of us stay who we are as individuals, while allowing us all to take full advantage of the fact that not everyone in our communities is like us, carry the same knowledge, or is equally proficient in various areas.

fear nothing, not even fear itself

Fear may serve its purpose the moment something bad is about to happen, but fear should never be allowed to cement itself into our minds. Being fearful is not a useful emotional state to be in, and it most certainly doesn't deserve to be nurtured and kept alive.

As most sources for lasting fear are pretty unclear – most people just fear the unknown, one should either get informed and do something about those sources of fear, or ignore the fear they cause.

Fear is a powerful weapon in the hands of unscrupulous people who want to be in control of our lives. Terrorism thrives on fear, and, without the ability to incite fear, terrorists got next to nothing in their arsenal.

Wondering who are behind the various sources of fear? Zoom in on those individuals and groups who got most to gain by us being fearful and most to lose if we aren't. They can be found everywhere, so it is wise not to limit our search to declared terrorists and their organisations.
Do not forget to look very closely at those who claim they only want to protect us from whatever it is we supposedly fear. These “protectors” risk ending up being sidelined, without power, purposes and positions, if we have no fear…

harmful agendas

There will always be some – individuals or small groups belonging to self-declared elites or other criminal fractions – who tries to set the agenda (for everyone but themselves) in the larger groups they manage to infiltrate and dominate.

These “leaders” with harmful agendas are easily recognized by anyone with reasonable good historical knowledge and brainpower, in that they play groups of people up against each other in every way possible, and won't themselves add anything of value.
They are only in it to empower and enrich themselves, at whatever cost to others. They will sacrify even their closest and most loyal followers without hesitation or regrets, whenever it suits their personal agendas.

A game of lies, deceit, distractions and cover-ups, is the trademark of rising “leaders” with harmful agendas. Once in position, easily forgotten promises, temporary dependencies, shifting loyalties, and both veiled and unveiled threats, become main tools to keep them there.
We can track these “leaders” by observing how their loyal followers quickly run out of factual arguments for why they support them, and in how laws are written and (often brutally) enforced to protect them in their “God given” positions.

People without harmful agendas in leading positions throughout history, are so rare that we can write most stories about such creatures off as fiction and myths. The few that have been the real deal deserve a special place in human history, which they rarely ever have gotten.
Again, will we ever learn from history?

be happy, and in control

In the midst of diversity, each of us must stay in control of our own lives. Leaving control to others is like asking for trouble and total chaos, and why on earth should sensible people from any walk of life want that?

While each of us only have to accept and tolerate what serves us personally, we also have to extend the same right to others. Even those we don't like or agree with do deserve a space of their own, but there is no reason for us to let them into our spaces if we don't want to.

Being able to apply free will in all life's situations, is what it is all about. And, as long as that extends to each and every one of us – with the indisputable limitations that follows absolute equality, we can salute diversity and carry on with our lives in relative peace and harmony.
Now, given what human history should have taught us, is that even possible?

sincerely georg; sign

Hageland 24.aug.2017
last rev: 29.aug.2017

side notes.

what does it all mean?

It's a dream, maybe. A dream that one day a high enough number of humans will become the rational and logical beings some claim we are, to tip the balance towards more positive solutions to all problems humanity encounters.

Will it ever happen? I have no way of knowing for sure, but reality seems to point in entirely different directions for the time being.

Wherever we look, antipathy and aggression seems to be humanity's favored reactions in all situations. It is as if we think that whatever evil we encounter, can only be counteracted by introducing even more evil.

Should not humanity as a whole have evolved beyond such destructive thinking and behavior by now?
Fact is I think we have, but something is preventing us from becoming the constructive forces we could be – together.

That “something” that stands in the way of progress, seems first and foremost to be our continued reliance on leadership – someone that will dictate laws, standards and norms, and make decisions for us.

That any but the most brain-dead among us need decisions to be made for them, defies all logic and rationale. However, we don't seem able to move beyond that antiquated notion, despite all the destruction various dictators and other decision-makers have caused throughout human history, and continue to cause today.

Now, extract the meaning out of that…

maybe not in our time, but…

Nobody decides what's in our dreams, and there's no harm in dreaming of progress for the human race as a whole while we're at it.

Dreams may be reflected onto reality, so let us hope we don't have too many nightmares flowing around.

I am hopeful that humanity, one day, will evolve out of the dark ages and throw off the chains. We have the potentials, and it is madness to stay chained down when when we all could be free and do something useful with our short lives.

time to rethink…

There is no common definition of “a good life”, so let us first and foremost stop pretending that there is, or ever was.

There isn't even a common definition for “progress”, so let us not fool ourselves to believe we have found one that suits anyone but the few.

Personally I tend to measure quality and usefulness over profit, in that we first and foremost should make sure humans and their products cause no harm. Only after that is established can we evaluate potential usefulness.
Such an approach makes more sense to me, than to constantly repair, rebuild, replace or cover up what has gone wrong because we messed up – mainly for short-term profit.

vaste not, want not…

Preserving, recycling and regenerating existing resources to make them last and support us, makes more sense than to look for new resources to exploit and areas to destroy. The earth has limited resources and area, and it will take a while before we can start to exploit other planets in meaningful ways.

In a world full of hungry mouths and with a growing population, and more than 30% of all food produced going to waste, there is not much to gain by developing new ways to produce more food (or food-like substances) that can be wasted.

What we need is removal of all barriers in food-distribution, so the food that is produced can reach the hungry mouths. Those of us who are not really going hungry – rather the opposite, can help on the overall situation by limiting the food we let go to waste.

go it yourself…

Don't expect a savior to come along to save us, as all any such entity can bring is more mind-control and oppression, which lead to even darker ages.

We have had plenty enough experience with “saviors” by now, and all it has brought is regress and suffering for more people. About time we break out of these nonsensical and destructive circles, and start shaping our own future.

We may still repeat mistakes from the past, but at least we will have choices and can decide not to repeat them all. Even the most miniscule signs of movement towards something better, counts as progress.

old school…

What is taught in school is by definition “old stuff”, and to a large extent rather outdated. Although some of the old stuff is quite useful as base for further studies, students who want to learn something new will have to search for it everywhere but in school, and make learning a never-ending process.
Educated people update their knowledge continuously, in order to stay educated…

look again…

History books don't provide complete and reliable information about anything in human history. The victors have always dictated what to include and/or rewrite, so guess what is left out.
So, seriously – if you think you can handle the truth – don't mind so much what history books are meant to tell us, but rather what they, for the most part quite intentionally, do not tell.

a few suggestions…

… and that's not even scratching the surface.