There are many sayings about life which, I guess, are intended to offer some kind of comfort to our existence on this planet and within space and time. Sayings like “life is short to make the most of it” [your life is the longest thing you’ll ever experience], “life is unfair and life is hard” [‘unfairness’ and ‘justice’ is a human concept, an ideology. Life is only hard if you make it hard, to quote Maslow “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail”]. Whatever could or has been said about life, whatever idioms are expressed and whatever ideas are shared or suppressed one thing above all should be thought about; we are all made from the same things, from the same atoms from the same elements. We share this is every living and non-living things on the planet and within the universe. If our existence is based on sheer chance then every life is important, I mean really important. This goes beyond being unique, beyond politics, race, and material possessions. Every life should be cherished.
If anything should be taken from this it should be that it is ultimately possible for us to be free. Real freedom exists within us, as individuals. Real freedom is not the power to vote, or the right to fair trial, although these things are important, what do they mean in the grand scheme of things? I guess that I’m trying to say has already been said by someone else, said a lot better. That next time we are about to say or do something shitty, remember what the late great Bill Hicks said:
The world is like a ride at an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think that it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills, and it’s very brightly coloured, and it’s very loud and it’s fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question – is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us. They say ‘Hey! Don’t worry, don’t be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride.’ And we…kill those people. Ha ha ha. ‘Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride. SHUT HIM UP! Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and family. This just has to be real.’ It’s just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. But it doesn’t matter because: it’s just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings, and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourselves off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here’s what you can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defence each year, and instead spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, for ever, in peace.
hey! Well said via Bill. I needed to read that today. Thank you xxx
I see the point you are making, but isn’t the “life is only hard if you make it hard” remark a contradiction from the rest? Although our own attitudes and perspective on things is undoubtably important on the shaping of our lives, it cannot be denied that many people are born into particular circumstances (e.g. poverty, illness, limited opportunity) that restrict the choices they are able to make.
Like you said though, if it was acknowledged that we are all interconnected maybe this is something that could also be acknowledged and prioritised…
It is a contradiction, it’s meant to be a contradiction. I think a point that could be made is that we should not be born commodities, consumers, poor, rich or anything other than human beings. The moment we start making judgments about the lives people live, one of the conclusions we could reach is an idea of justice and comparative value based judgments. For example, people in other parts of the world have horrible lives […when compared to ours]. Is this a fair comparison? What would make it a fair comparison?
Oh ok.
I take that point, but to me it is a philosophical question whether or not that’s a fair comparison to make, which I don’t want to be drawn into
In my view, unfortunately to talk about anything we need to use concepts and value judgements, otherwise making sense of the world around us is impossible and becomes pointless to discuss. The end result is simply going to be: well, everything is relative. Which may be true, but I personally don’t believe that is satisfactory, if anything it seems like the easy answer.
I agree that we are human beings first and foremost, and should be considered as such, but we are also all born into societies of one kind or another with ‘rules’ laid out for us and a language already in place for us to use, to frame how we think of things. This is always worth examining, it is not enough for me for it to be relative and meaningless.
Love all the opinions expressed here! How is everyone?
Thank you very much for your post! I am very interested in your points.