We are amazingly complex beings – complex yet in a strange way quite simple in our needs. We actually only need sufficient food, shelter, clothing, close contact with a chosen few others of our kind, a modicum of comfort and a ‘space’ or time for ourselves to do our own thing to be happy and have peace of mind.
Yet somehow in the mix we seem to get it wrong. We complicate life by introducing desires – now some desires are good; the desire to better oneself; the desire for a mate and for children; the desire to help others. These are admirable desires; these are humble desires.
My concern is what happens when our ego kicks in. Our ego ‘tells’ us we are better than the next person; our ego tells us that we are hard done by and that we ‘deserve’ better or deserve more. These are not humble desires. These are the desires that give rise to corruption and fraud, to criminal activities, to categorizing people by race, colour or creed; to cruelty and abusive behaviour, to wars and death and destruction. These desires start us on the slippery slope of apartheid, of ethnic cleansing and generally deeming some people to be less than human – e.g. South Africa, Nazi Germany, Bosnia, Rwanda/Burundi, the Israel - Gaza problem and unfortunately many, many other examples in every country, including Australia (the aboriginal question).
On the issue of cruelty we humans are I believe the ‘caretakers’ of all sentient beings – all life forms (by sentient beings I mean all creatures that have nerve ends that can feel pain and use their senses). We are all on this earth together and as humans (at the top of the ‘food chain’) it is our duty, one of the reasons for our existence, to care for and preserve all life forms. Some we eat, some we use for other purposes – personal transport and to carry our burdens, some provide us with material for clothing. Bountiful nature has provided us with all we need. We might not appreciate it but all life forms have their purpose. So when my son (a lawyer) told me, some years ago now, that a female articled clerk told of how she used to spray geckos with insecticide to hear them scream, I was left speechless. I have no idea if geckos can scream and I have no desire to test it out – but I have no reason to doubt my son’s word – he was as shocked as I was. How anyone could even contemplate doing what this girl (allegedly) confessed to doing is quite beyond me. If it is true this is a sad example of a manifestly deviant ego and some warped desires completely over shadowing reason, compassion and basic decency.
On a less violent and more topical vein the entire Wall Street fiasco was brought about entirely by ego – the vastly inflated ego’s of many people for whom enough was never enough.
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having an ego. It is necessary to have one, to identify our individuality. I AM different from you – I have a different outlook on life and I have had different experiences and I am a male. Females have a different viewpoint again. This is as it should be. It is when we start making a virtue of our differences that problems arise.
We have to be very careful. We have to use reason. Of course the best way of avoiding the entire issue is to be ethical and treat EVERYONE (and all sentient beings), all together now – one, two, three – “As we would like to be treated.” Simple isn’t it?
No comments:
Post a Comment