So, what is it most people care about why do we feel the need to defend ourselves? I believe there are two types of people in this world: There are the people who may seem like they go against the grain of society, in reality, they are just doing what may be in the minority because it's not valued in mainstream society media. They have no real higher power they look up, but seek truth for themselves and the good of people. Their ideas on the meaning of life are based on the assumption that truth is valued more than money, even if the truth isn't easy to digest. These people care about the well-being of others, so much so that they may seem preachy in their actions. If they use their power or beliefs to hurt others, though, then they wouldn't fall into this group. Anyone who needs control or uses harm to get others to believe what they do, is doing so out of fear (fear of not holding power, fear of being looked down on, fear of being punished, fear of losing friends, fear of losing money), leading me to the second group of people. There are the people who go along with the media and the beliefs that are ingrained in us that make us believe we need things in order to be happy: life is fueled by constant thoughts of money and power (I use money and power interchangeably because money and power usually go together). Health is undervalued for the sake of money, others are not as important as money (even if people say they value money to help others), happiness at the moment is pushed aside for the thought of money that could later make all their dreams come true. Life becomes a monopoly game, but who's winning, and what is the prize? I understand everyone's life is there own, so who's winning and what's the prize is up the each individual. These ideals we create for ourselves are all in the mind. Money and something to base our beliefs upon is necessary for all to survive, but that shouldn't be the main goal. Even health as a goal is tricky. We can do our best, but good health won't always manifest. With money, we can work our days away, and still end up with nothing or be miserable individuals, but people see money as a solution to all of their problems and it is tangible, so it's value is usually deemed higher than anything else. Then, you have religion as a belief structure (the only other thing I can see as being valued as much as money in our world), but when religion also causes fear and possibly harm to others, because you are placing beliefs and values in some greater thing. We are taught to turn off our brains, take in information and spit it back out and to follow orders. If we do this, how can we possibly truly care about others, ourselves, and the environment in which we live?
People then feel the need to defend their actions because they may not truly understand why they believe the things they do, or are afraid to understand why they hold the beliefs they do. Anyone who proves a threat to their beliefs on life, is seen as an enemy and treated as such.
The important thing for both types of individuals, whether you create your own ideas of happiness and what is right or if you go along with mainstream media, is to understand why you want the things you do and where this image of what is right for you is coming from.
This may all sound very idealistic. It is my belief that there is no need for people to hate one another, so why do they?
We have so much potential and good as humans to make our lives better, but what is it we do with this knowledge, ability, and power? All so often, it is used to hurt others, in the hope of benefiting a few. This is where the two groups of people come into play again. We can create things that are truly beneficial and live a life in harmony with others; or we can create things soley for money, things that destroy or have hidden potential for harm. For example, what good is food for the masses, if it's food devoid of nutrition and causes serious health risks and harm to our envioronment? The idea (food for the masses) starts out as sounding good for the people. yay! But then you get into the facts behind it, (how the food is being created with chemicals that could be used as chemical warfare and kill thousands of species of plants and animals, not to mention harm our collective home, the planet) and you realize that food for the masses in the way in which it is being created isn't really being made because it's good for us. Corporations are controlling the food and our beliefs. Our health in their hands... for money and because it's easier for them. Why do people have organic farms? It's not because they will make more money, it's not because it's easier. Small, local, organic farms do what they do because they have strong moral beliefs of what's right, that doesn't revolve around money.
I even understand with my last example, that it is a broad generalization. It can be argued that not all corporations are bad and not all small organic farms are good, but it is an example to show the extremes of two types of people and why our world is the way it is.
What can we do? We need to see what we have, instead of what we don't have. We need to live in accordance with our beliefs, and ask ourselves everyday what is fueling these beliefs: Fear, control, money? We need to let all of that go. We need to educate ourselves, read and talk to others, in order to help each other and ourselves.
Thank you for reading my ideas. Much love.