The House Divided, Part 2
Let’s identify a few of these divisions in the human kingdom.
The most obvious one is that of conservatives against the liberals. Each side thinks they have the truth or the better path, but is one side better than the other?
The answer is yes.
So, which side is it?
The answer is both, but at different times. Through different cycles liberals and conservatives take turns having the better ideas. Conservatives are right when they want to hold on to good ideas of the past and reject reckless changes. Liberals are correct when they reject ideas of the past that are outdated and want to move onward to better ones.
The principle that determines who is on the better path is that of freedom. If conserving a past idea or plan insures freedom then this is a good thing. If changing or discarding it limits freedom then this liberal act is negative.
On the other hand, the elimination of something that had been conserved by society that restricts freedom, such as slavery, is a good thing.
Where freedom lies is the determining factor of who has the better way, and when the two sides differ widely enough so freedom is threatened then conflict will result. The end result will be the domination of one side or the other.
This division plays out in many different ways among us. An unsettling one is the Islamic terrorists’ groups against Western Civilization. Their extreme conservatism limits freedom and they are threatened by the greater freedom of non believers.
There are many other divisions that concern the people such as:
Socialists and communists vs. free enterprise and capitalism.
Labor unions vs. nonunion labor.
Global warming alarmists vs. those who see no major problem.
Intelligent Design vs creation by evolution without God.
Environmentalists vs. those who do not support them
If we examine any duality of a divided house, we will always discover that the core difference resides around the Principle of Freedom. For instance, the problem with the global warming issue is not global warming, but how to deal with possible climate change without destroying our freedoms in the process.
Many have swallowed the party line about business in general being evil, especially big business and wealthy people. Is this really the evil that the media would have us believe?
Not necessarily. There is much illusion to dispel here.
The basic illusion is caused by the operation of this principle:
When free will is minimized through tyranny and fear, neither the good nor the evil within the individual is allowed demonstrate themselves. The life force and vitality of the group or nation diminishes until either the soul force dies or the tyranny overthrown and freedom restored.
When free will is maximized and the pursuit of happiness allowed then both good and evil materialize in physical reality. At first the evil seems more prominent than the good and this causes many pointing fingers and cries for force to restrict the evil. Alas, the laws that restrict the evil usually restrict the good. The true solution is to allow maximum free will and eventually the good will dominate, stability will be achieved and all aspiring individuals will joyfully pursue their dreams.
The fall of the Soviet Empire illustrates this principle. When the tyranny existed in its full glory you rarely heard much about crime, greed, evil corporations, gangs, etc in that empire. The trouble was you never heard much that was good either. The great evil was the suppression of freedom in the name of preventing evil.
Then after the fall of the empire the world became alarmed at all the evils that seemed to be unleashed. Suddenly, in the view of all, we saw great corruption, greed, mobsters, gangs, thievery, unrest, lack of order and more. Things became so bad that many cried for a return to the old ways. The choice did not seem clear to many because with freedom evil is manifest as well as the good. The temptation is to always overcome evil by restricting freedom. The true path is to overcome evil with the light that is exposed through the interplay of good and evil. When freedom is allowed good will eventually dominate.
Great examples of this principle playing out are the changes that occurred in Germany, Italy and Japan after the defeat of tyranny during World War Two. Within a generation the evils that manifested after the war were held in check and much good began to dominate.
Unfortunately, the temptation to restrict freedom again is ever present. There is much truth to the statement that the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance.
The apparent evil that many point to in a free society is that of business, particularly big business. From my experience small businesses have as many faults as big business. The only difference is that bigger businesses have a larger influence in our lives.
So, what is the major complaint against big business?
Most of them center around greed, but here’s the problem. Over 99% of the people of the entire world are greedier than they should be. People just have not evolved to the point where they can work with a completely altruistic motive.
The only way to take away the effects of greed is to take away freedom. The reality is this. If we are going to be a free people, we must let greed manifest where it will and then work toward diminishing the it through our own examples and allowing the enlightened to teach the benefits of overcoming unnecessary greed.
The most often cited example for greed is the big oil companies. Whenever the price of gas goes up they are accused of gouging the people and the average person seems to have set beliefs that the oil people are the most evil and greedy people on the earth.
Then there are the medical businesses where the government has stepped in and attempted to restrict greed and has tried to make things fair by its various restrictions of freedom and regulation within the industry.
Now the strange thing is that we hear many more complaints toward big oil than we do toward big medical or big hospital. When we look at the facts we see the irony here and how deceived the people are in the direction of complaints.
In 1958, at the age of 13, I was injured by an explosion of a homemade rocket. This placed me in the hospital for a month. Over several years I had six operations and spent over three months of total hospitalization.
My hospital room in 1958 was $8.00 a day and the price of gas was 39.9 cents a gallon.
Today (Feb 2007) the price of gas where I live is about $2.20 a gallon and a day in the hospital is around $1400.
Let us suppose that the government interfered with big oil as much as they have with big medical. If gas had risen in price as much as a hospital room, then we would be paying a whopping $69.83 per gallon.
Did you hear that? That’s approximate 70 (seventy) dollars a gallon!
I find it absolutely amazing that people complain more about big oil greed than they do about the spiraling medical costs. This is an illusion that does not have to be if a few basic facts are absorbed by the brain.
The truth is that big oil should receive a pat on the back for not being greedier and holding the price as low as it is.
Just imagine how much easier life would be for those who need medical attention if hospital costs only increased as much as gasoline. This would mean you could get a hospital room as cheap as $50 a day. Wow!
The seekers of the world must learn the Lost Key of the Buddha to discern and judge which of two approaches registers more beneficial with the soul, or the inner God.
Feb 25, 2007
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