Some philosophical musings for y'all. The ideas below have been circling my head forever, and I thought I should get them out to stop them becoming a kind of brain crack.
The human race exists as a mosaic, with each individual human a tile in the wider picture. All humans need to perform a unique function and have unique characteristics to those around them- a mosaic would not be a mosaic if all the tiles were the same colour and shape. Equally, the human race must stand united, with each given a place of roughly equal standing in the scheme of things. In a mosaic, all the tiles, however diverse, need to function together to create the image. It would not work if some tiles were seperate, and tried to create an entirely different image. Nor can we discard some tiles and say "these only make up the background, we can do without them"- for in a mosaic, all tiles ultimately have an equally significant part in building the image.
This matter of unity is of desperate importance.
Good can only arise from unity. Equally, all evil stems from division.
Everything which attempts to bring injustice, destruction and misery into the world comes from the state of mind which says that some people are irrelevant, can be discarded; or that different groups of people should be treated differently. This is what selfishness, greed, discrimination and hatred all boil down to.
Selfishness and greed come from placing a disproportionate emphasis on your own needs, and disregarding those of other people. Consequently, you set "you" and "others" on a different level, and break up the mosaic.
Discrimination is the belief that some humans are fundamentally beyond the scheme of humanity. It treats the subjects of your prejudice as something other and less than human.
Hatred, and it's lesser forms, are when you let someone's faults or the fact that someone hurt you obscure their identity as your equal and partner in the scheme of humanity.
It is when we allow ourselves to have a mindset of unity that selflessness, generosity and defense of the weak and the good will arise from us. It is when we consider ourselves to be united with all other humans that we will strive for justice, creativity, protection, and higher quality of life.
Selflessness is not placing yourself at a lower level to others- that would be counterproductive. True selflessness is viewing yourself as one in the mosaic, rather than just one. Selflessness understands the interdependent nature of humanity, and that it is good to work for the needs of others. To work solely for our own needs is ultimately self-destructive; we all rely on the selflessness of others at some point in our lives, and the more we give to others in our times of plenty, the more we will receive in our times of need.
Generosity is similar, but it could be said to centre more on the wants of others than the needs. It is often that we disregard the apparently frivolous wants of others, for sexual partners or material goods or social status, while desperately chasing after our own wants of the same nature. When we are generous, we understand that all wants are effectively equal in nature. Providing for the wants of others allows us to develop a more objective perspective on our own wants, and to grow into a place in the mosaic which is more close-knit with our fellow humans.
Finally, to defend what is good for all or for many is to place an equal status on those outside your close circle and within. If we fight for fair trading laws for the third world, or for just treatment of immigrants, we cease to believe it is acceptable to benefit "ourselves" at the expense of "them". We accept that the human race is one continuous collection of individuals, one gigantic "us", and that the needs of those distant from us are no less important that the needs of those close.
Finally finally, to defend the weak is to embrace them as our brothers and sisters and partners, as one with us regardless of their ability or strength.
But my belief in the importance of unity is not the same as collectivism. I do not believe it is the role of government to enforce a policy where they do whatever is right for the "greater good", or cease to see their citizens as individuals. This, remember, would violate the first rule of the mosaic, that everyone must be allowed to be completely themselves, and to perform their own function. It is also ultimately destructive to unity itself- collectivism demands that we sacrifice the wellbeing of a minority to create the greatest good possible for the majority. This is at the expense of true unity.
No, the way to achieve unity is through a kind of communitarian individualism. Don't worry, I'll explain.
We must continue to treat every individual as that, an individual. That is key. But we must also establish a true community amongst these individuals. This we do by making sure everyone has equal access to happiness, that those who cannot provide for themselves are provided for, that the hereditary class system is extinguished as much as possible. It also relies on maximum freedom of speech and expression, as controlling the kind of beliefs our citizens can hold or express is akin to hacking away at the edges of a puzzle piece so it will fit where we think it should fit (yes, the mosaic has briefly become a jigsaw puzzle), when there is a perfectly designed place for it somewhere else.
Above all, we must keep the state of mind which allows us to view all humans as equal, diverse partners. Then, we will instinctively approach problems in a way which allows us to maintain unity and the human mosaic.
The end!
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