Finding a Spiritually Sound Political Stance
abracad, · Categories: spiritual politicsWe are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Human experience is a paradox. Our fundamental purpose is to experience unique individuality, and the many lessons this state presents. However, at essence we remain in oneness with our Spiritual source, and also share the common purpose of re-discovering that oneness as we journey through life.
Humans are clearly the most successful species on the planet. Our achievements tower above anything found in the animal kingdom. Much of that success thus far is due to our social nature and membership of "society". But society needs structure (eg leadership, direction) in order to function. The way in which that structure is determined and implemented is through politics.
Finding a Political Stance
Political stance exists in numerous dimensions, we can hold a particular stance on every issue under the sun. However, two commonly considered dimensions are that of left-right and libertarian-authoritarian.
The left represents the philosophy of communism and socialism, in which society's wealth is largely controlled centrally and (re-)distributed so as to eliminate or alleviate inequality. The right represents free-market capitalism, in which wealth is accumulated according to individual ability (eg at accumulating wealth).
Libertarianism values individual freedom over centralized external control. Authoritarianism, by contrast, favors a strong central authority (state) to which individuals must subordinate personal freedom for the "greater good".
A further consideration in reaching a political stance is the conflict between selfishness and altruism that mirrors our Spiritual oneness and earthly individualism.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett gave an interesting take on this dichotomy at a meeting with MBA students (reported by Business Insider Dec. 10, 2013)
Just imagine that it is 24 hours before you are born. A genie comes and says to you in the womb, 'You look like an extraordinarily responsible, intelligent, potential human being. [You're] going to emerge in 24 hours and it is an enormous responsibility I am going to assign to you — determination of the political, economic and social system into which you are going to emerge. You set the rules, any political system, democracy, parliamentary, anything you wish — you can set the economic structure, communistic, capitalistic, set anything in motion and I guarantee you that when you emerge this world will exist for you, your children and grandchildren.'
But there's a catch -
just before you emerge you have to go through a huge bucket with 7 billion slips, one for each human. Dip your hand in and that is what you get — you could be born intelligent or not intelligent, born healthy or disabled, born black or white, born in the US or in Bangladesh, etc. You have no idea which slip you will get. Not knowing which slip you are going to get, how would you design the world? Do you want men to push around females? It’s a 50/50 chance you get female.
It's not wrong to be selfish. We are, after all, born for the very purpose of individual experience, to do the very best we can with the metaphorical hand of cards we are dealt (ie innate characteristics and external circumstance).
Might the optimal way be one that encourages (and rewards) enterprise, but enshrines for all a guaranteed minimum level of rights and dignity.
How to express your political stance
- If you are fortunate enough to live in a democracy, vote - for the choice closest to your stance. Abstention should be a considered rejection of available options, not the consequence of apathy.
- Consider running for office.
- Support causes closest to your stance. The Internet makes activism easier than ever before by way of e-petitions and posting or commenting on blogs and social media.
- Walk the talk. Make life choices consistent with your views.
See also:
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