Want To Change the World? Start in the Mirror...

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Apr 23, 2023

You Can Never Reform the World, But You Can Reform Yourself

April 14, 2023

By: Gary D. Barnett

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”

~ Albert Camus

It is best I think, to not spend one’s precious time in this life in pursuit of things that have never been known, and cannot be known. Both the beauty and ugliness of life are in the moment; real life is meant to be lived, not dissected and pondered to find some ultimate or secret meaning. This is not to say that individual responsibility should be abandoned, but it is to say that one knows not what his life will bring, what suffering will occur, what riches might be gained, what natural happiness is possible, or when he will wither and die. To waste this life in pursuit of future wishes, to live by hiding from yourself in favor of the collective crowd, to destroy your individual spirit and time on this earth in hopes of eternal bliss; is to seek an escape from this reality that is your very existence. That is not the way to confront and conquer conflict, to gain inner peace, to experience love and nature, or to be a motivating influence for those you cherish and those who may be moved by your presence.

The individual that I often speak of, is of tremendous importance, as one can never change or improve others, he can only grow and improve self. One cannot live for others, he can only live for self. This requires less exposure to the crowd, and more individual solitude, so that an enormous amount of energy is not squandered simply attempting to fit in or to feel ‘normal.’ Each and every one of us is unique, and the only way to know and be ourselves, is to break away from the insanity, the intensity, the chaos, the evil, and absurdity of life in this world, and discover who you really are, and become that person. This is a vital step in any effort to find truth, whether or not that truth is desirable. Once truth is accepted, it cannot be discarded, and this lays the foundation for the individual to face and embrace life fully, and without anxiety.

Many tend to shun the philosophical aspects of life, and choose to avoid becoming an individual, the person they really are; in order to escape reality for the perception of what is expected. This is a refusal to be yourself, and therefore, you live only in order to survive and obey, which is not living at all. This leads to an empty life, and one that is more likely to be filled with despair, depression, loneliness, uncertainty, and a lack of confidence. If ever there were to be a contagious ‘virus’ pandemic, it would be that the bulk of society has forsaken the sanctity of self, and of the individual; in favor of the falsely perceived safety and anonymity of the collective herd, where effortless fictitious contentment and pity reside.

I bring up this matter because this is the world that has been created, and for the most part accepted, by that large segment of society that is referred to as the masses. They have allowed a ruling class and its governing system to divide them, to abuse them, to steal from them, to control them, and to murder them; all with little defiance. The masses make up the bulk of humanity, and therefore, are the most important and vital part of society, but once they live and act as one mob, they become irrelevant in the cycle of life. They become easily controlled to such an extent as to be tossed aside, treated as a shepherded flock to be sheared and slaughtered, instead of being respected for their independent strength and resolve in the face of adversity.

Many will always gravitate to this lowly position — many more will be secretly against this acquiescence to authority, but will succumb to it in order to fit in and avoid conflict — while some will speak out, but only when protected by numbers, and only until State resistance becomes more aggressive. This is societal mediocrity at its most base level, and the scourge of mankind. Only the very few will fight against this assault to the end, and stand against State tyranny as individuals, whether alone or en masse. They accept the risk of all others, with the full understanding that most will run and hide, and continue to obey their chosen masters.

What all this boils down to, is that the State, (rulers and government) while always the enemy of the people, can only be the antagonistic master over society if the people at large allow this to be so. The State has no power other than that given to it by a supporting, submissive, and lethargic population, but so long as the individual steps to his own music, lives every moment of life as if he is forever free, and disregards the horde of naysayers whose only objective is repetitive boredom and a safe existence, he will be saved from eternal enslavement of his body and mind.

Only when one lives life to the fullest, disregarding the inclination to understand the meaning of it all, and embraces every moment as an opportunity to be free of the rule of others, and free of their thoughts and opinions, can he truly become the owner of himself. He is then the epitome of the free man. He is honestly happy, is a light for others, and is an example of what can be achieved as opposed to what is feared by most. The essence of being, lies in the individual spirit of man, not in the cluttered universe of the crowd and their eternal fear, their confusion, their attempts to escape responsibility, and their ignorance.

Few have lived their life without regret, but that does not have to be so. Become what you are.

“What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: ‘This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more’ … Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: ‘You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine.”

~ Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science