Humanity in Flux: Would a Species That Recognizes Its Own Worth Be Actively Destroying Itself?

[ashling]

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/20952-humanity-in-flux-would-a-species-that-recognizes-its-own-worth-be-actively-destroying-itself

When we take a look at how we treat each other as people, it is safe to say that we do not seem to value human beings very much. In a system based on materialism and the pursuit of "success," money and power have come to define a human being's value. Consequently, nothing has inherent worth - everything is just a means to obtaining a desired end and satisfying our seemingly obsessive need for recognition and power. In the pursuit of these goals, the environment is being destroyed with a fanatical vigor one expects of an adolescent consciousness whose shortsighted impulse for instant gratification leaves it dangerously indifferent to the consequences of its actions; at the same time, countless human lives are sacrificed in wars over resources while financial tyranny waged against the working class in the form of austerity is plunging millions of people into poverty across the globe. Nothing is off limits in corporate capitalism's suicidal quest for profits. But, when everything has a price, nothing has inherent value.



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Our oligarchic rulers have successfully convinced us that their values are ours - most of us seem to believe that humans are inherently worthless and only serve as means to achieving one's personal objectives. In this kind of culture, everything and everyone - including friends and family - become disposable commodities to be used, exploited, and worn out for self-interest and shortsighted ego-desires. Unsurprisingly, in such a society, friendship is a foreign concept and practiced in superficial settings and contrived "meet ups" that mask an inner sense of isolation and loneliness, a natural by-product of an egocentric culture. We are disconnected from one another because we do not value anything for its essence - the inherent worth of cooperation, friendship, and genuine togetherness is considered a bore and a waste of time. There always seems to be some ulterior interest inherent in our relationships that satisfies our fleeting appetite for company - rarely do people get together out of a genuine desire to connect and honestly share themselves with each other.

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Undoubtedly, we are sowing the seeds of our own annihilation. It is perhaps humanity's unconscious desire to destroy the worthless within, because what is devoid of value is insignificant, meaningless, useless and it deserves no attention or love - and above all - it does not deserve to exist.

In order to stop our unconscious march towards collective suicide, we must undertake the painstaking process of self-discovery and transform the personal belief structures that betray our own sense of worthlessness.[6] There is no higher power, no God, no Messiah that will magically come down and save us from ourselves: it is up to each one of us to expand our awareness and channel the higher ideals of cooperation, unity, justice, and compassion here on Earth. We can only do so once we recognize our own inherent worth and decide to act on our potential as unique creations of an ever-evolving consciousness whose existence is worth saving. Viewed from this perspective, "we are the ones we've been waiting for." Will we heed the call?

[JVS]

1. Is that a trick question?

[ashling]

4. Every now and then one of my students will ask me that

I told one that I resented the inference that a question that required critical thought to discern nuance was a "trick."

He dropped the class soon after

[nolabear]

2. This might be the most important question asked on DU.

It's hard not to be overwhelmed by such thoughts and feel as if we can't do anything about them, but if enough of us do just a little we might be able to evolve enough to keep us from destroying ourselves entirely. I can't claim to have the strength to lead in that endeavor but I can, in my own way, follow, and I hope that people who are not only enlightened but tough and determined can help us move away from simply panicking and attacking one another until there are no more of us.

[Agnosticsherbet]

3. We are individually conscious, not species conscious

So there is no mechanism for the species to be aware of its worth. Individual worth is based on cultural concepts and varies from culture to culture.

[GreenEyedLefty]

12. +1

[KT2000]

5. not our own worth

Have to disagree with this. The root of the suicide is in believing others have no worth. That makes some people feel more worthy as long as there are those who will suffer - but not themselves. This is the dog whistle of the oligarchs.
The oligarchs have tricked the masses into believing their own sickness. To the spiritually bereft, the oligarchs look like leaders.
What they do not realize is that even cannibalism makes money for someone.

It is the old Twilight Zone episode in slow motion - To Serve Man!!! It's a cookbook!!!

[ashling]

6. The root of the suicide is in believing others have no worth.

and not realizing that others are us/

out another way,

We are the others for whom we have no empathy

[The2ndWheel]

7. Worth and value are subjective

I think I just have to point to history to show that.

There is no higher power, no God, no Messiah that will magically come down and save us from ourselves: it is up to each one of us to expand our awareness and channel the higher ideals of cooperation, unity, justice, and compassion here on Earth. We can only do so once we recognize our own inherent worth and decide to act on our potential as unique creations of an ever-evolving consciousness whose existence is worth saving.

I don't know what isn't subjective about that. If there's no higher power, and it's up to each of us to figure it out, that's pretty much the definition of subjective. If you leave things up to people to figure things out for themselves, you're going to end up with many different definitions of worth. You'll end up with different scales of worth. You basically end up with the world we know today.

[loyalsister]

8. Our greatest strength is our greatest weakness

Language is the characteristic that distinctively elevates us intellectually. And yet...

"Most creatures take the world outside as they find it and instinctively become partners with the environment. Man is the one creature who can alter himself and his surroundings, as the geologist Hodgdon Bradley has wisely observed, yet he is perhaps the most seriously maladjusted of all living creatures... He is the one creature who is able to accumulate verifiable knowledge about himself and his environment, and yet he is the one who is habitually deluded. No other animal produces verbal monsters in his head and projects them on the world outside his head. With its help, man can conquer the unknown; with it he can grievously wound himself." - Stuart Chase- "The Tyranny of Words" 1938

Language is the root of all evil because to begin with, disagreement is embedded in language and is the main source of conflict. As we have evolved we have created complex meaningless ideas that have escalated human conflict to a level of world wars and threats of nuclear annihilation. "Communism" "democracy" "socialism" "fascism" are meaningless as they can not be fully agreed upon in meaning or merit.
People have gone to war over things that have no concrete meaning. 6 million murdered citizens is not fascism. It can be viewed as a concrete result of an agenda to prove that fascism has legitimate meaning and is a superior form of government. (The author was particularly concerned with the rise of the 3rd Reich).

"Communism" is a word that was powerful enough to convince the American people that it was a good idea to conduct war against it.

At this point, I think that being finally in a position to deal with concrete happenings, as a species we have not developed an understanding of them if there is no linguistic enemy to motivate people.

Concrete evidence of climate change is colliding with concrete materials that provide our comfort. Climate change has no effective propaganda language to compare with our "way of life" and all that goes with it.

Just one way of looking at how our evolution as a species could be a fatal paradox. We have used our intelligence to bring us to the brink of self extermination before. I think what is happening now naturally has similar roots.

[flvegan]

9. Depends on if that species "recognizes" its "worth" as being worth MORE than another.

Every animal fears, one could say that's recognition of worth. I don't think that it's the recognition of worth, insomuch as it's the weighted value of "worth" in this case. Every "thing" or "one" has inherent worth (to address the article), and if you don't think so, ask the one you try to strip it from.

Lose the "self" and the ego and it all gets so much easier.

For me, call already heeded.

[Warren DeMontague]

10. Except, Human beings are NOT "actively destroying" themselves.

The human animal is by far the most successful organism, and species, on the planet right now. Sure, that could cause- and is causing- some problems. But that is a far cry from "active suicide".

In fact, the world is getting less violent, more prosperous, and more connected. We have big problems, but we also are a mere century or two from the widespread adoption of indoor plumbing. The idea that "wur doomed", while popular in some circles, is not borne out by the facts.

Yes, we have big problems facing us, and we have big opportunities, both.

To say we are on an "unconscious march towards collective suicide" is ludicrous.

Flame away.

[Victor_c3]

11. This is kind of off topic, but the article and comments made me think of this

I have a vision of the future in my head where everyone has everything and just about anything that they want as a result of technology. When people have everything, they seldom want anything.

I'm thinking of something kind of Star Trek-ish. When CPT Jean Luc Picard goes to see his family and his home on earth, they are living an agrarian life style where they work the land with their hands because the labor is fulfilling to them, not because they have to. They wear simple clothes, work with simple hand tools, and work like people did hundreds of years ago. They do labor because they want to and it is fulfilling to them, not because they have to.