The Distortion of Good
We have had some thought provoking posts on freedom illustrating flaws on the left and the right. It sounds like many of you identify with the Libertarian Party. Their philosophy does indeed support the true principle of freedom much more than the two mainstream parties (in the US) and many by their talk seem to believe its principles, but by their walk often betray them.
The trouble with the Libertarian Party is that their principles are too big of a leap for the average freedom lover and that is one reason they often get less than 1% of the vote.
What we are looking for is the principle that should govern freedom for an enlightened people.
The basic problem in seeing the principle was worded well by Lawrence:
“Imagine a line extending off in two directions. Label one side “Left” and the other side “Right”. On the “Left” side we have the people who want to use force to implement their view of fairness, e.g., universal healthcare, economic equity, etc. On the “Right” side we have very similar people who want to use force to ensure morality, e.g., ban abortions, flag burning, and instill family values and democracy, at the point of an assault rifle if necessary.”
Both sides see certain ideals that they consider “right” and “good” and then unfortunately are willing to restrict freedom in others to achieve that goal.
Djwhal Khul made an interesting statement about disease that applies to our social ills.
“Disease, both physical and psychological, has its roots in the good, the beautiful and the true. It is but a distorted refection of divine possibilities. The thwarted soul, seeking full expression of some divine characteristic or inner spiritual reality, produces within the substance of its sheaths a point of friction. Upon this point the eyes of the personality are focussed, and this leads to disease.”
This Fourth Law of Healing not only applied to disease of the physical body, but also to the problems of humanity as a whole.
Let us take a system that did cause pain and suffering to its people such as communism in the Soviet Union before its collapse. Most of us would agree that this was not a very desirable system. Even so, it had its roots in “the good, the beautiful and the true.” And what was that? Its two main ideas were equality and sharing. Is there anything wrong with these two principles? No. Not at all. In fact they are two ideals that the Brotherhood of Light are attempting to steer humanity toward.
If equality and sharing are two great ideals why then was the USSR seen as the “evil empire” and the source of so much pain and suffering imposed upon its own people? They presented the ideal of equality and sharing, yet there was little equality or a sense of true sharing there. The evil capitalists actually shared more value in wealth and the poor among them were in good shape compared to some average Russians.
What then was the root cause of their failure?
The answer is quite simple.
Instead of teaching men to do good and allowing good works to spring forth through free will Communism attempted to implement the “good” by the use of force. This is a negative principle believed in by the Dark Brothers which could be stated thus: “Restrict freedom of others (the decision makers excluded) to whatever degree necessary to create the desired end.”
Even Hitler had many ideals he and others considered good such as family values, sexual purity, a powerful government to prevent injustice, higher education made available to all and of course the evolution of Germans into supermen.
Now let me make an all important point here. The problem with Germany was NOT the belief it had in any of its ideals. Instead the problem was that they took action to impose their value of “good” on others through the use of force.
In an atmosphere of freedom that which is truly good and usable will manifest as a plant growing from a seed, but in an atmosphere of restriction even the most wonderful of all seeds cannot sprout and grow, but will suffocate and die.
Thus the philosophy that has come out of Nazism or Communism poses very little threat in an atmosphere of freedom. It is in the imposition by force of an idea of good that negates the growth of the good and nourishes the exact opposite of the desired end.
Let us suppose that you were an idealistic vegetarian and became supreme dictator of the United States. Now you have all this power you think you finally have a chance to “make a difference” and seek to make people do the right thing. You issue a decree that meat eating is against the law and anyone who kills an animal gets life in prison. You also outlaw all hunting and fishing. There. That ought to do it. Now everyone will live the good life as you do and will live happily ever after. Right?
Not quite. Overnight the value of beef cattle goes down to close to zero and ranchers have no means or desire to take care of them. Within a month millions of cattle are starving to death, breaking out of their fenced areas, and getting hit by cars.
Pigs become an even greater nuisance. At least we can get milk from cows but now pigs have nothing to offer and within 90 days the entire species is threatened.
To solve the problem you start up government subsidy programs to take care of neglected farm animals. This puts a great strain on the economy and soon you see that you are very close to economic collapse.
This problem is amplified by great numbers of the most productive citizens leaving the US to live in other countries where they have the freedom to eat meat. To solve this problem you close the doors to those wanting to leave. Even so, many risk their lives to escape to foreign countries.
You are outraged by this and demand that Europe and England return the fugitives so they can be shot as traitors. They refuse so you go to war for three “good” reasons.
(1) To retrieve and punish the traitors.
(2) To “convert” Europe and England to the vegetarian way of life. The slogan your armies are indoctrinated with is “free Europe!”
(3) War will take everyone’s mind off the bad economy and when the war is won you can tax the defeated nations and thus insure continued prosperity for your country.
After the war begins, France in desperation detonates a nuclear device in Washington hoping to kill you and end the madness. Fortunately for you, you were visiting friends in Hollywood and yet live to promote your cause. You now launch a full scale nuclear attack and destroy half the population in Europe. All the other nations of the world no longer are neutral but combine together as one force to fight against you and defeat you. The saying abroad is that you make Hitler look like Mother Teresa.
This just angers you and increases your determination to prevail.
As the war that may end all life on the planet rages on one thought goes through your mind. You cry as you think this thought because the world so misunderstands you.
“Can’t these people see that I just want to help them and save the animals at the same time? Why don’t they see the love that I have to offer? When I win this war (and I don’t even believe in war) I will make things right and a great era a peace and brotherhood will manifest. Then they will understand that I only mean to do good.”
The trouble is that millions of animals that you hoped to save are dying painful deaths through radiation poisoning even as you think these good thoughts.
Fortunately for the world there are no idealists who have supreme power over a major nation. This may seem like an unrealistic parable to you, but let me assure you that there are many idealists that would indeed unleash great misery on human kind if they had the power to restrict freedom.
I once attended a dinner where the founders of a well known environmentalist group were the speakers. I was horrified at some of their beliefs and even more so at the approval they received from the audience.
They advocated the attainment of political power so they would be able to force people out of their homes in major cities and turn them back to their pristine condition so the wild animals could multiply as they did before Columbus.
I wondered when I heard people clapping for them if they realized that Boise was on their group and that if those they were cheering had power that the audience themselves would become homeless and starving.
If we truly want to see the Aquarian Age evolve along positive lines the people will need to exercise common sense in an atmosphere of freedom.
May 27, 2000
Copyright by J J Dewey
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