Avoiding Labels And Seeking Origins

[NOTE: These posts are an ongoing presentation, meant to be read beginning with the earliest and ending with the most recent. If not read in that order, there is a potential loss for the reader in an overall understanding of what is being presented. You have been warned.]

Before I can begin talking about solutions, we need to identify the problems. In other words, we need to know where we are in order to figure out where next we wish to go. Identifying the problems doesn’t mean to give them a name or a label, like “affordable healthcare,” or “too much government regulation,” or “too much deregulation,” or “tax rates,” etc. In fact, as much as is possible, I want to try to steer clear of labels. And let me tell you why.

In 1976, John Brunner wrote a book entitled “The Shockwave Rider.” The story takes place in a future where all of the computers in the world are linked together in a giant worldwide network (a prophecy that has essentially already come true). The main character, Nick Haflinger, forced into becoming an outlaw, does something ingenious that forever alters the entire world almost overnight. But I’m going to save telling you what it is that he did for discussion on another day. The point that I want to make here has to do with a statement that the character makes later in the book: “If evil exists in the world, it is when people treat other people as though they are things.” In contemplating the meaning of that statement, I have come to believe that one of the prime ways of treating others as “things” is by referring to them with labels, particularly in a derogatory sense. I’m certain that many people who do this are deluding themselves into thinking that they are being kind and humane by speaking of people through the use of generalized labels rather than more personally referring to them.

You know what kind of labels I’m talking about. They have been used to demonize people throughout the centuries. Niggers, kikes, pollocks, wetbacks, chinks, greaseballs, honkies, spicks, queers, japs, jerries, yankees, slopes, faggots, rebels, gooks, witches, towelheads, etc. And today we have taken once descriptive labels and turned them into labels of hate, distrust, and derision. Labels such as liberal, hippy, conservative, communist, environmentalist, capitalist, socialist, and fundamentalist.

You see, referring to people through the use of labels helps to cloud their humanity, thereby making it easier for one to demonize them. But human beings are not demons. And I am in firm agreement with John Brunner that dehumanizing others is evil. And labeling them is an easy way to do that.

So let’s go beyond the labeling of our problems and instead delve into where they came from and how they developed. Warning: this is going to take awhile. It’s no slam dunk. I told you, I want to determine how it all fits together, and everything has its part to play. So we’re going to have to go way back and do some brush-ups on history, and religion, and science, and economics. By so doing, we can make sure we’re all on the same page. Or, at the very least you’ll see what page I am on and how I got there.

Now, I speak from an American perspective because that is what I am. And because, as I was growing up, it was stressed in my education that American principles are based upon Judeo-Christian values, I speak of those values often. Over half of the world’s people claim personal religious beliefs that come down to us from Abraham. That’s over 3 billion people with a common origin of religious belief. To ignore those beliefs and values, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim, would really be pretty stupid. Like ostrich time, folks. But, like I say, I don’t want your vote, so I’m free from some of the restrictions that might limit others who are running for President. So I will be talking about these values. Now, if you’re going to be offended by that, well just hang on, because by the time I’m done I’m certain that some people will think that I am offending those beliefs rather than promoting them. But only time will tell how anyone will react.

I grew up in a religious movement that was a mixture of science and religion. Back in the 50’s we called it Practical Christianity, that is to say original Christian principles applied to one’s life in a scientific manner. Science. The open, inquiring mind. That has been me: open and inquiring. Always looking for information, always seeking connections, always on the alert for the appearance of patterns.

In order to understand many of these things, I have had to go back to the origins of many of today’s ideas. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m no history scholar. But part of the reason for that is that I have discovered that a certain amount of what we cling to as “history” is actually a bunch of bunk, at least as far as the facts are concerned. I recently heard a prominent historian say, it is not the job of the historian to preserve the past, but to decide what of the past to preserve and what to discard. My only response is, “says who?”

Growing up as a civic minded American, I was taught that our economic system of Capitalism was of outstanding virtue. The watch word was that in this country of opportunity, anyone could become a success. And I still believe that to be true. However, there is a flip side to the story of success. It is not a story that is told, but is, rather, a story that is hidden and denied. It took me a long time to come to terms with that and to discover ways of modifying it so that the cost of the promise was not so high.

My dear friends, you may note that while I’m in the midst of writing these posts, changes of major proportions are taking place in the world and you may wonder why I am not addressing those changes, as so many politically motivated blogs are wont to do. The simple reason is that there is little that I could say or do that will change what is already taking place. True, I have my own opinions and occasionally comment upon the ragged state of affairs, but I hope to avoid getting caught up in that trap in my run for the White House.

As I write this, only a handful of people even know that I have declared my Presidential ambitions. I’m certain that will change with time. In the meantime, I’ve fallen behind in my writing schedule, but since nobody knows, it doesn’t really matter. So I’ll write what I can when I can and alter posting dates, if I must, to give a general continuity to this “political” campaign. There’s still time to catch up. So keep those cards and letters coming in, kats and jammers! We’ll find a way out of this mess yet!