I am working this out as I go, so bare with me…
any understanding of life begins with the simple thought, I will die…
the young don’t believe it and the old try to pretend it isn’t there…
and when I die, what can I take with me? nothing…
born into the world naked, die out of the world naked…
many hold to the thought of some god or heaven or even hell…
but I cannot know that…I cannot experience it before it happens…
the more likely explanation is death is just like falling asleep…
conscience one moment and then nothing…
I exist as one of several billion people…
I am not unique or one of a kind… I am simply another…
a long line of humans existed before me… and I can only assume
that a long line of humans will exists after me…but I cannot know…
when making a journey, one must not only have the starting point,
but one must have the destination, the goal in mind…
and no matter where we start, the end is going to be death…
this must be where we begin our understanding of life…
that life must end… not all life, just my life…
so in light of this… what values should I hold?
I cannot take “it” with me, whatever “it” is…
so, no matter what I do, it is temporary…
no matter what I build, it is temporary…
no matter how much I buy or sell, it is temporary…
the massive consumption that fuels our current existence,
it won’t change my existence because it too, is temporary…
I suffer personal losses… family, friends, loved ones… they too will die
and I must grieve… but I still exist… until it is my time…
cars and couches and TV and refrigerators, books, stoves,
water bottles, wife’s and daughters all come and go from our life…
and yet, I still exists…until it is my time…
we search for the permanent because nothing is permanent…
so what should my values be in a world that has its individual pieces
come and go… individual pieces like cars and couches and tree’s and human beings…
I cannot influence the past… it can only impact me…time flows in only one
direction…
I cannot change the right here and right now because it would be like
trying to stop the earth in mid rotation…I cannot…
so what is left is, from here on…
from this moment to the next…I can change that…
so, we must understand that the immediate present I cannot change,
but I can change from this second into the future…
so we must devote our energies from this moment into the future…
and once again we ask… what values should we hold from this moment into
the future?
the next question becomes, what do I care about future generations once
I am gone? I am gone… why should I care what happens after I am dead…
if, if we admit the fact that we cannot take it with us…whatever
it is, then we can understand, that our possessions, that our own personal
goals, that everything about us, is gone… then what is left?
the fact is, that my own personal existence has no point by itself…
were I to disappear in the next 2 minutes, few would notice
and after a while, few would remember me…so given this…
what should my values be?
the only way, the only possible way, my existence would have
any value, of any kind is by the continuation of the human species…
if the human species ended, then my life and your life and Descartes life
and anybody else you can think of, would have no value…
to understand the value of human life doesn’t mean the value
of our cars and couches and TV’s and stoves… the value of human existence
lies with something other then our material possessions…
for material possessions come and go… we have had 10 different couches
in the time my wife and I have been married… it doesn’t matter what kind
of couch we have… the value arises in the fact that we are the matter that
continues to exists… what that means is, my wife and I are the only
aspect that remained the same after so many couches… we are the
continuity, not the couches… our human lives… which presided over
so many couches… it that which remains has the value, not the
material objects itself for they come and go…
so, it is not my life that has the value, for I am another one who will
die and as every single person alive now… will die
it is not our individual lives that matter… we are simple the couches
that come and go… but that which continues has the value…
the only thing that will continue is the existence of human beings…
after me, will come billions more… that is the continuation of human existence
and that is the meaning of life… not the individual, but the species…
that which remains has the value…
think of human existence as a river… and I am just one drop in
the long flowing river… the value is not the one drop but
in the continuation of the river… and we must have values
that allow the river to continue to flow… those are the values
we must hold…
now is that river specifically American or catholic or white
or gay… no, look at a river, you cannot see the individual
drops of water… it doesn’t matter if the drops of water
are shades of gray or black or believes in this ism or that ism…
you can only see the river… the flow of the water…
that is the human species… stand far enough away
and you cannot see the individual drops…you cannot see me…
and I exist within that river and soon, I shall no longer be a part
of that river… but if the river continues to exist… then I
have played some role in keeping the river flowing… a very small
part granted, but a part nevertheless…
our values must be values that allow the river to continue to flow…
our values must be values that allow the human species to continue on…
but we don’t exist within a vacuum… we exist within a system…
the human race is tied to and connected to the earth… we are a part
of the earth and the earth is part of us… we cannot separate out
which is earth and which is human…human beings
exist as part of a river of life that has flowed for over 2 billion years…
look at that river… do you see the human race? no, you just see a river
of life… all life flows in that river… like the mighty Mississippi…
as it flows down from Minnesota to the gulf of Mexico… you cannot
see any individual part of the river… you cannot see any individual
drops of water… you can only see the river as a whole…
and that whole is also the whole of life as it flows down…
and when it reaches the gulf of Mexico, it doesn’t just disappear…
it flow into the gulf where it becomes part of an even larger body of water…
can you tell the specific water that came from the Mississippi from
the water that flowed from the Missouri river or the water that
flowed from the Amazon river or the water that has been there
all along? no, if you look over a large body of water, you see WATER,
but you don’t any individual water, any drops of water… you see
water as it reflects the sun light…and you see the waves and you
might see the birds and sea life as it moves above and on and below
the water… we are that sea… we are the individual part of the water
and we are part of the sea as it flows to an ever bigger sea
we individual parts of the human existence flow into life itself
we are the Mississippi and we flow into life itself which is the
gulf of Mexico which connects into ever larger bodies of water…
life… the tree’s and grass and birds and plants and dogs
and elephants and the air itself… all parts of the sea of life
which flows into an ever bigger sea which is the earth…
does that river of life take note of the color of the drops of water
or the sex of the drops of water or the religion or wealth of those drops of water…
no, it doesn’t matter in that river or sea what the individual drops do
or feel or believe in or hold sacred… what matters is the river or
the sea…the individual drops are just that, individual drops…
and it doesn’t matter if the drop are American or white or catholic
or not religious at all… that is why the debate over what beliefs
we should have or what country is the greatest or if some colors
are superior to other colors… it just doesn’t matter…if we are
just drops in the river of life… who cares that America is the greatest
country on earth…because America at one point didn’t exist…
and at some point in the future will no longer exist…
religions come and go… as the believers in Ra…can’t find any, can you…
and did the greatness of the Aztec’s count for much today?
all those we things we take very seriously, like country and religions
and faith and color of the race… really doesn’t matter because
in the end, they all just flow into each other and become something
else…a river flowing down to the sea…
take the long picture of life and our petty arguments over
race, creed, sex, color don’t amount to anything…
does the river care if two drops of water are fighting over which
belief is the “right” belief?
take the long term view of the species and much
of what we do, no longer makes any sense…
think about the world after you die…
did it matter that you got some promotion or
a raise or fell down and broke you arm? or believed
in this god or this country or in the purity of race?
no, it doesn’t matter… so what beliefs should you hold?
what should your values be?
Kropotkin