I’ve been thinking about this “theory” for quite a while now: in a world that we view as being comprised of negative and positive events and actions, most of those we label as “negative” stem from fear. “Fear-thinking” is a huge component of much of the discussion about the second-amendment controversy that has been re-lit by the killing of the Sandy Hook school children and staff. Gun ownership is an obvious example of fear in action. People are frightened of other people, be they oppressors in the government, run-of-the-mill criminals who want to rob your home, or psychopaths. People want guns to defend themselves and to give them an illusion of safety and power in a world that they can’t control.
But I don’t want to talk about gun control here. Gun violence is just a symptom of the larger culture of fear that we live in. I’m thinking of the quagmire of less specific, but more pervasive and insidious, human conditions caused by fear: what terrible wrongs exist in our world, and how do those relate to fear? We can all quickly come up with a list of wrongs: war, poverty, discrimination, oppression, murder, rape, theft. It seems to me that these wrongs are often manifestations of fear, usually fear of losing something we have (or that we think is within our grasp) or fear of not getting what we want. Look at that list of wrongs next to this list of things that people want: power, money, love, acceptance, dignity, comfort, freedom. Fear of not having these things causes people to inflict war, poverty, oppression, and criminal acts upon other people in an effort to get them or keep them. Incredibly, wrong-doing sometimes stems from the fear of losing what we think is our moral high ground. Much violence is inflicted on the world in the name of religion that is masquerading as God’s will but can actually be attributed to the fear of losing something: ascension to heaven, face, authority, power, land, resources.
John Lennon was visualizing a world without religion and countries when he wrote the song “Imagine.” He was imagining a “brotherhood of man,” or a world free from fear. But he also says “it isn’t hard to do.” I think it’s extremely difficult to imagine. We’ve never seen a world like that. It’s a world without war. It’s a world without poverty, discrimination, deprivation or other miseries that man directly inflicts on huge numbers of world citizens in the world we do know. It’s a world where people’s differing religious beliefs can coexist peacefully, where the validity of one religious ideology does not hinge on the debunking or destruction of another.
It’s a world where power is diffused instead of being amassed within the political strongholds. The world without fear is mainly a world where resources are fairly distributed so that the masses don’t suffer while a relatively few people have vastly and obscenely more than they need. It’s a world where profits are irrelevant because people don’t fear not having enough money to have everything (and more) they can dream of that will make them secure and comfortable and happy. Without a profit motive, how do things get produced? It’s a capitalist’s worst fear! I sometimes wish that the newer generation of Star Trek writers would have delved more deeply into the Federation’s inner workings and politics. In that series, while the rest of the universe still has its battles to fight, the Federation has solved the issues of poverty and deprivation. It no longer uses money, so its people don’t need to be rewarded with more money if they have been particularly successful at saving Earth (or the universe) that day. Like our world, in the Federation model people are rewarded with more power for being good at being heroes. But have you seen Federation officers abuse their power much? Power struggles within the Federation’s ranks or upper echelons are rare. The Federation’s people are highly evolved human beings who are not much ruled by fear. Its people don’t even get headaches anymore. Is that a medical improvement or a condition of living free from fear, I’d like to know?
I take a hopeful message away from the series, but many viewers might be more fearful. After all, the Federation rules the entire planet. It seems to be benevolent, but how do we know that everybody hasn’t been brainwashed into compliance with its wishes? Those Federation minions all seem so placid and satisfied! Is the Federation actually trying to take over the entire universe? (On its face the Prime Directive, which Kirk certainly needed, prevents this.)
The truth is that we don’t have a good model of how a society and economy work in the absence of fear. How do you create true democracies that are not castrated by power-hungry oligarchs? (I won’t bore you by going into the ways U.S. citizens have been manipulated by government fear mongering. Hint: the so-called war on terror.) Can we become an enlightened, fearless population that participates in a world economy that is not dedicated to excess and is somehow sustainable? Our present world economic model is not sustainable. We panic if the economic growth rate dips below 3 percent. How can our planet sustain this growth of its population and its economy indefinitely? The planet’s resources are not endless. New solutions will need to be found or the cost of energy, materials, and food will become prohibitively expensive. If or when the materials for an iPhone and staples like oatmeal become so scarce that only a millionaire can afford them, how scared will we all be then? What wars will we fight then?
In the meantime, corporations use what belongs to all of us and demand high profit margins for goods that are necessary for survival. Must our agribusinesses profit from feeding the hungry people of the world? Does the pharmacology business need to make a larger profit from patients in the U.S. than everywhere else in the world? Does the U.S. healthcare industry need the insurance business skimming profits from it? Should energy industry profits be put to use to solve the problems caused by drilling, spilling, and burning the fuel? In other words, do we want to live in a world of desperation and stratified wealth where relatively few people can allay their fears, or do we want to live in a world where all people have some security and a decent standard of living—clean water, clean air, food, health care, and shelter?
Okay. Now I’m just feeling angry, and I’m trying to feel the love. I will postulate that the good in the world stems from love. It sounds corny, but a culture of love must be our future. I don’t want anger and fear to win. Every day we hear stories of people who act fearlessly and from love and they do wonderful things. If we all tried harder to live in that state of grace, what is possible? Is living in grace so hard to do? When you think of the people you know personally, doesn’t it seem possible? Because the people you know are not malicious, are they? Probably not. They are probably just afraid.
I am. I’m afraid to post my ideas and writing. I’m afraid that my fragile finances will fall apart and my family will starve on the street. I’m afraid that my children will face horrible hardships. I’m afraid I will end up alone. I’m afraid that I am powerless and I will die while feeling powerless. These personal fears prevent me from functioning at the enlightened and selfless level I envision is necessary for all human beings, if we are to wrap human kind in a blanket of peace and justice. I feel unable to see beyond my petty fears and the minutia of my own life, trapped in a cramped cell of my own making that hinders my efforts to break out and take action. I am paralyzed, unsure of what fearless actions I can take today that will make a better world tomorrow.
For today, I’ll just post this, with love.
Zookworld 