Some election thing is going on in Hungary. Not with ballots mailed to voters to be voted at designated polling places but some declaration of allegiance to one of the opposition candidates expressed at tents set up for this purpose by each candidate. Not really understanding the whole thing, I have refrained from exercising my civic right.
I was asked at a recent dinner with good friends what the greatest problems and potential solutions are. Well, it is complicated, so I laid out my thoughts in bullet form. If you need clarification, you know where to find me.
Radical humanism
- More that unites than sets apart
- We have far more in common with each other than differences between us
- Focusing on our common goals works better than exploiting our differences
- Love is the answer
- No, Sex? is the question and Yes! is the answer
- Is a joke spread in singles’ bars
- Deeper truth: life works better when approached with love and compassion
- Not with enmity, ill will or malicious intent
- How love manifests in behaviors is what elevates us
- The key is what motivates action
- To do the right thing for the wrong reason
- “The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.” — T.S. Eliot
- “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
- Do NOT avoid doing the right thing
- Ensure your intentions, motivations and aims are clear and noble
- Look at problems and opportunities from a higher plane of thought
- Put the problem in context
- Know its sources, inputs, environment and effects
- Problems can only be solved where (context) they are defined or created
- Social problems with legal means?
- Health issues with regulatory enforcement?
- Ideological problems with military means?
- Stifle ego-driven demands and urges, avoid judgments
- Ego makes demands (more: not enough; better: not good enough)
- Based on false assumptions of scarcity and perfection
- Find the proper role for the ego
- Who is running your life, making important choices? Ego? Higher Self?
- Expressed as: rational mind (thoughts), heart (feelings), gut (intuitions)
- Or some other, undefinable part of Self?
- Role for the ego: to assess, analyze and advise – not decide
- Make choices, decisions for the greatest good, fully accepting responsibility for consequences
- Extra bonus: this is the path to self-confidence!
- Mean well: Have clear and noble intentions, motivations and goals.
- Tune out rationalizations, biases and false narratives
- Powerful ego can rationalize the most senseless acts
- Everyone has biases, e.g.: confirmation bias, selection bias, information bias
- The media is full of false narratives: ALL narratives are false, abstractions
- Influenced by the biases of writers, editors, publishers
- Be constructive, be a resource, create value and be of service, help each other
- Educate by being, enlightening and inspiring
- Being: set an example, act in ways you want to be treated
- Enlighten: teach how to think, not what to think
- Inspire: paint an inspired, evolved vision of how things could be
