Foreword:
I dusted off this piece from March 2017, originally entitled Us vs. Them. It is a more crucial message in the eternal now then before.
This pendulum movement, the current conservative swing, is a regularly occurring process in the long-term historical course of human affairs. Today, it appears the gains of liberal thought are being lost — however, the pendulum shift always returns, and further left, than before. A gentle reminder to those of us who battle for urgent paradigm shifts, changes many believe are too late already in these environmentally/socially challenged times. It is the battle that matters in the eternal now. We cannot control the outcome, only our struggle for the concepts of right.
So, someone has a different theological or ideological view than yours. Many label these people—them—and their like-minded associates—us. Mankind’s root cause of war lies in manipulating us vs. them, the fear-mongering of differences.
From cavemen to hunter-gathers, villagers, townsmen, fiefdoms to empires, we have battled over territory and resources to support us and destroy them, and despite our differences, growing alliances based on shared interests, along the way.
From the Treaty of Westphalia forward to NATO and the United Nations, along with the development of International Laws, the commons, and trading policies, we have striven to develop established borders. We have continued to develop into larger collectives and alliances of us and them, while increasingly stressing the universal issue of human rights.
At what point, do we move forward? Do we create three territories like in the book “1984?” Do we devolve into chaos, anarchy and watch civilization fall? Or, do we begin to reach our potential as a species and realize, we are one?
The vast majority of people find themselves in multiple categories of us. International polling indicates a larger percentage of humanity views everyone as a collective whole today, than ever before in history, most people still believe our unification is impossible. A hippie image of the planet, holding hands and everyone singing “We are the World.” This is of course complete nonsense.
Even as a global collective there would still be criminals, anarchists and people bent on destroying civilization or usurping power, another reality of the nature within our species. Even united we would need the rule of law and enforcement agencies, courts, fines, and confinements. At its initiation, I suspect aspects of a left leaning world guiding organization would be tailored to cultural beliefs within geographical regions, along with a universal code of law.
Fact, the historical development of humanity has moved toward larger groupings of us with varying differences, the obvious are nationalities and political governance. The question remaining is when us versus them, begins to reach our species’ collective potential as—One.
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