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Governments, Economies, Religions
These are a few of the main systems by which humans organize themselves into groups for their mutual benefit. What are they and how do they work? Here is one interpretation...
• Part 1: Governments
• Part 2: Economies
• Part 3: Governments & Economies
• Part 4: Revising The Systems
• Part 5: The Mechanisms of Control?
• Part 6: Religions
• Part 7: Conclusion
Part 1: Governments
In this analysis we will use the United States as our model. We will talk about its structure in the idealized sense, and then point out a few ways in which it fails in practice. First, what type of government does the United States have?
It is often said that the United States is a "democracy". This is only partially true and somewhat misleading. The more complete term "representative democracy" does not fully encapsulate the entirety of it either. Less often, one hears that it is a "republic". This is closer, but still not quite it. So, what is it then?
The United States is technically a "Federal Democratic Republic"...What a mouthful...
To breakdown each part very generally:
• By "Federal" we mean that it is a group (or "confederation") of state governments united by a "federal government". Hence, the name "United States". It may have actually been modelled after the Iroquois Confederacy, a group of Native American tribes.
The federal government is separated into "three branches". They are...
1. The "Legislative Branch" (made up of "Congress") - these people make laws
2. The "Executive Branch" (made up of the "Presidential Cabinet") - these people enact laws
3. The "Judicial Branch" (made up of the "Supreme Court") - these people review laws
Notice that it mostly revolves around "laws", rules which we all agree to live by. The underlying system of law is called "Common Law". In the most basic sense, it is essentially "The Ten Commandments" of the bible. Obviously we cannot live together if we are constantly stealing from each other and killing one another.
Violation of laws results in some kind of rehabilitation and/or punishment (e.g.: education, therapy, community service, prison, etc.). Whether or not a violation has taken place, and its severity if one has occured, is determined by a "judge" and a "jury". A "judge" is a person thoroughly informed of what the laws are, and a "jury" is a group of randomly selected people who show no strong biases. The person accused of violating a law is presumed to be innocent. Guilt must be proven by physical evidence, eye-witness testimony, etc. There is an emphasis on justice for those affected by the violation, mercy for the ones who violated it, and fairness for all throughout.
This structure is intended to faciliate an equal distribution of power. All three branches of the federal government "check and balance" one another. The state governments follow a similar design, and while they operate semi-autonomously from the federal government, they are interconnected. The general outline of this system is given within a document called "The U.S. Constitution".
• By "Democratic" we mean that every position within the above groups are filled through a recurring process of voting. People who meet a few basic qualifications are welcome to try to convince others that they are capable of effectively fulfilling the duties of one of them. These positions are ones of "public service", not of "private interests". In other words, the roles are intended to be of service to everyone, not only the person within that position. Upon entering one of these roles, a person must take an oath reflecting this aim. They last for a set period of time, and there are means by which people can be removed from a position before it ends for purposely violating the oath or a law (i.e.: "corruption").
• By "Republic" we mean that every human being has intrinsic "God given rights" as a consequence of merely existing. An attempt to specify what these rights are is done within a document called "The Bill of Rights". In essence, the life of every human being is important and meaningful. It is this aspect of the government that is the motivation behind all others. In this sense, the government is organized from the "bottom-up", rather than from the "top-down". Again, it is run by all people to serve all people, none excluded. We cannot take away each other's rights and no one has more rights than any other.
It is an elegant system, but even the most elegant of systems is useless if it is misunderstood and misapplied. Every aspect of it has been and continues to be undermined by those who try to circumvent the working of the system to their own ends. To give a couple of examples...
Example #1: The content of the laws made by the people within Congress can be influenced through "lobbying". Lobbying can be as simple as sending a letter to someone in Congress sharing ideas about what you think society needs. However, in many instances it takes the form of bribery (i.e.: someone literally paying money to try to get laws passed that are self-serving). More and more, it seems that the content of laws is ensconced in "legalese", technical jargon purposely intended to obfuscate rather than make clear. Sometimes business owners and politicians will even write laws together in private meetings!
How can anyone willingly follow laws that they neither understand nor are made reasonably aware of? If we all have equal rights, no one is "above the law", especially those who are tasked with implementing it.
Example #2: All of the people who are voted into different positions are usually separated into "political parties" based upon their stances on social issues, causes that they have contributed to previously, and other aspects that can affect how they carry out their duties. This often degrades into a kind of cliquishness. People argue over whether they are labelled as part of one group or another (e.g.: are you a "Democrat" or a "Republican"?), rather than paying attention to whether or not people are self-responsible in their behavior.
This produces bias within the voting because there are often many people of many different political parties who do not get coverage by the "mainstream media" and who do not appear on the "ballot" (i.e.: the options to choose from when voting). Is it only the illusion of choice?
Further, the means by which people vote (i.e.: "electronic voting machines") and how those votes are counted are insecure and unreliable for many different reasons.
...We can give more examples throughout every aspect of the system, but all in all, it is easy to see that there is a severe lack of transparency and accountability.
Part 2: Economies
Is business much better? How is the economy of the United States structured?
It is often said that the United States is "capitalist". Depending upon how one defines the term, that is only one aspect of it. Some might say that it is "based on supply and demand", "competition", or some other guess at its functioning. Again, these labels are hit and miss. So, what is it?
The United States technically has a "Free Market Enterprise" form of economy. We will give a very general breakdown of these terms like we did with the ones related to government. Please keep in mind that all of the following is intended to occur within the context of the government that we have already described...
• By "Free Market" we mean that all businesses are either part of a "Public Sector" (i.e.: those owned by the government in service to all people) or a "Private Sector" (i.e.: those owned by individual people for personal benefit). Both sectors are required to follow certain regulations so that power remains decentralized and they can keep each other in check. Things can also shift from one sector to the other (e.g.: "privitization" is when a business moves from the Public Sector to the Private Sector). The goal is to keep a balance.
If there was only a Private Sector (i.e.: no limits on individual ownership), then it may lead to a "tragedy of the commons". A "tragedy of the commons" is when some people strive to hoard and/or destroy natural resources out of greed, lust for power, etc. The survival of all is put in danger by the actions of a few.
If there was only a Public Sector (i.e.: no ownership because all of the natural resources of society are held in common, what some might call "communism", "socialism", "collectivism", etc.), then it may lead to a concentration of power within specific positions of the government. Who can truly decide how all of this is to be distributed without personal bias and without attempting to control others through it?
Therefore, going too far in either direction stratifies society into two different classes of people (i.e.: those who have access to natural resources and those who do not). This places people at odds with one another. All wars that have ever been fought are founded in some kind of division of this type.
• By "Free Enterprise" we mean that everyone is free to start their own business. There are many details behind what exactly this entails, but we will give a simple outline here...
People are willing to be a part of things that they can see the benefit of. If we have an idea that could serve society, we can team up with others who identify with it and we can help each other to make it happen. At its core, this is what a "business enterprise" is.
We often give specific names for the different roles and responsibilities that people can have within a business. For example:
A "stockholder" provides the resources that allow the business to sustain itself, an "employee" utilizes those resources to make or do something (i.e.: a product or service), an "employer" or "manager" oversees the entire process and keeps it going through careful organization, a "customer" exchanges resources to receive that product or service, and so on.
All of them are contributing something important. Like a government, a business cannot continue if all of the people who make it up cannot work together.
The regulations that all businesses must follow, no matter what sector they are in, prevent stratification within each business and among businesses in general. Employees cannot be mistreated, customers cannot be cheated, and the environment cannot be abused. Therefore, there are standards for safety, quality, cleanup of waste, etc.
Since these issues affect everyone, these regulations are enforced by all persons throughout multiple organizations across both sectors. These organizations include "regulatory agencies", "watchdog groups", "unions", etc.
It isn't always obvious when regulations are being ignored or manipulated, so these organizations are important. To give a few examples of the types of activity that people within them help to uncover and prevent:
If the people within a business create problems for others while also trying to sell them the "solution", it is called "racketeering". If they purposely limit alternative options for a product or service, it is called a "monopoly". If groups of people (i.e.: multiple businesses) conspire to form a monopoly, it is called a "cartel". There are different ways that this can be done, such as "price fixing". This is when multiple businesses within the same industry all agree to keep a set price, thus cheating their customers.
Notice how all of these tactics cause some kind of inequality. Whenever and wherever these types of behaviors are found, the people who are responsible for them are violating laws, and it is handled as any other violation of the law would be. For example, there are "antitrust laws" intended to break up monopolies, penalize businesses with fines, etc.
While this entire scheme seems lovely, and gives a general idea of how it is intended to function, it is clear that this is not how it currently operates in many situations. Again, attempts to bend every aspect of it towards selfish desires are prevalent throughout.
Part 3: Governments & Economies
A Hydra is birthed from the interplay of governments and economies. Its many heads cause chaos right beneath the surface of everyday life for most people. Let's explore a little bit as to how:
Governments charge taxes for the purpose of funding things which are towards our collective benefit (e.g.: the building of schools, hospitals, roads, etc.). However, there is usually no itemized list as to how all of this money is spent. It may also go towards the creation of "black-ops" programs within the "military-industrial complex" (e.g.: the manufacture and sale of weapons, the furthering of mass surveillance, "proxy wars" that are carried out by covert and clandestine means, etc.).
Inversely, people attempt to use "tax loopholes" and other methods with varying levels of "legality" to amass huge amounts of wealth. There are potentially many aspects to this process. For example, a person can put their money into off-shore bank accounts to get around the tax laws of the country that they are in. Although, some of these methods are more involved...
If a person starts a business and registers it as a "corporation", they protect their assets by insulating the activity of the business from the behavior of the individual people who run it. As nonsensical as it sounds, the "corporation" itself is treated like a "person". If an actual person registered their business as a "sole proprietorship" and was sued, they could have their personal property confiscated because their name is synonymous with their business. Sole proprietorships are usually small businesses made up of very few people, whereas corporations could have thousands. It is impossible to be responsible for anyone's behavior other than one's own, so it is obvious why these distinctions exist. But they are often abused, especially when it comes to "big business".
Many people attempt to "succeed" at the expense of others while hiding behind the name of a business. For example, the larger that a business becomes, the more tax breaks that they are given for providing communities with more jobs. This might be nice in principle, but it does not necessarily mean that those jobs are stable, or fair in the sense of work and profits being distributed equally!
• Some business owners, or others with large amounts of control and influence within a company, might give themselves or their friends a "golden handshake" (i.e.: substantial pay and benefits, usually as part of a "severance package"). While at the same time, they subtly undermine the functioning of the company as a whole.
• Some owners of small startup companies try to hire as many people as possible in a short amount of time. This is called "hypergrowth" and is done with the hope that their business will be bought out by a larger company before it fails. If the owner(s) get a sudden windfall, the future of the company itself (and all of the other jobs that make it up) can still be uncertain. Some companies "buyout" the competition to close them down.
• Some business owners try to get around antitrust laws through "corporate consolidation" (e.g.: the merging of many smaller companies until an entire industry is dominated by only a few larger ones). Likewise, the same way that a person can register their company as a "corporation", a corporation can own "subsidiaries". These are separate businesses that are controlled by a "parent company".
• "Non-profit organizations" are ones that are intended to serve communities in various ways. They are not part of the government and do not make a profit like a business, so they survive off of donations, grants, volunteer work, etc. Donations to non-profit organizations are "tax deductible" (i.e.: untaxed). Some business owners create connections to non-profits whose activities can further the interests of their business. To put it another way, the profits of the business are not taxed because it seems as if they are given away as "donations", but in reality it is being used to grow the business indirectly.
• Some might commit "insurance fraud" by quietly taking out insurance on different aspects of a company that they know will fail and then lying about its value. Some do "insider trading" (i.e.: buy and sell stocks based on information not available to the public). These methods are "illegal". If the public welfare is thoroughly tied up within the operation of a business, then it can sometimes lead to a "subsidy" from the government or a "bailout" (i.e.: when tax money used to prop up failing companies). This is "legal".
• Some business owners "outsource" the jobs within their companies to other countries to skirt around fair wages, safety regulations, poor working conditions, child labor laws, etc. They take away jobs locally and abuse people globally. In many instances, the products that they make are sold outside of the country that they are produced because the people who make them cannot afford to have them. These people are essentially "indentured servants". They have few options so they are stuck working without much compensation just to survive.
• When a higher minimum wage is enforced, some companies hire less in order to balance out how much they pay their employees overall. Likewise, some might fire people during times when profits are actually up, speaking of it euphemistically (e.g.: "necessary cutbacks") and providing no legitimate reasons as to why. People are objectified as "human resources" who have no value unless they meet some metric related to the "success" of the business. If they don't, then they are simply replaced.
• Some business owners try to get free labor through "unpaid internships", demand high levels of skill without offering proper training, and/or force people into jobs that cover the responsibilities of multiple positions without the corresponding pay increases.
...etc.
In nearly all of these cases, the people who seem to "succeed" are the business owners, while the majority of the employees get "the short end of the stick" as it were. Wealth is repeatedly funnelled in one direction, blocked in the other, and those who work the hardest often see the least benefit for their toil.
Similar problems exist for customers:
• There are products that are purposely designed to be as addictive as possible and advertising campaigns intended to manipulate. [This alone has had a vast effect on the development of the culture of the United States over the past hundred years or so.] There are huge "public relations" (or "PR") departments in most companies whose sole purpose is to try to convince everyone else that they are "trustworthy".
• Some companies control supply and demand by purposely limiting options (i.e.: "artificial scarcity"). Some products are literally designed to fail so that one can only get so much use out of it before having to buy another (i.e.: "planned obsolescence"). The creation of some products uses up resources faster than they are replenished and/or creates very harmful pollution.
These two things are a deadly combination. They have formed a kind of collective psychosis that induces people to endlessly "consume" to the detriment of each other and the environment. Convenience or waste? Again, very few people seem to "win" from this state of affairs.
But why do these problems exist? And why is there such a high concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a relatively few people on Earth as the problems go unchecked?
Part 4: Revising The Systems
Some of this is due to corruption within the systems, such as regulatory bodies that enable destructive behavior and hide the truth rather than uphold it (e.g.: The Poison Papers). However, much of it is also by design. Let's explore a few examples...
While scientific literacy and cultural-historical awareness is important, there are many subjects that most school curriculums only touch upon that are vital to living:
• Hygiene, Nutrition, and Exercise
• Basic First Aid
• Mental-Emotional Self Management
• Goal Setting and Planning
• Study Techniques, Learning How To Learn
• Effective Communication Skills
• Ethics, Morals, Values
• Logical Reasoning, Spotting Fallacies
• Creative Problem Solving
• Homemaking (e.g.: Cooking) / Survivalism (e.g.: Foraging)
• Handling Common Tools (e.g.: the creation, maintenance, and repair of power generators, electrical appliances, and so on)
...etc.
It makes more sense to help people to become self-sufficient directly rather than dancing around the subject with abstractions. If there truly is a great concern about persons becoming "good citizens" that make useful contributions to society, then why not teach children these things plainly throughout all 12 years of public education? The answer is because it is not usually intended to teach, but to condition one into thinking and feeling a particular way about life, to become heavily dependent on a pre-existing status quo. More often than not, schooling is little more than a cog factory for a corporate machine or a tool to brainwash one into furthering some political/religious agenda.
Many persons (such as Peg Luksik, John Taylor Gatto, Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt, Norman Dodd, Paolo Lionni, and others) have covered a lot of the details behind it, so we won't go through that here. Instead, we just want to point out an aspect of it that all people should be questioning no matter what label they adopt within these systems (whether "teacher", "student", "manager", "employee", or something else)...
Why does it seem that most workplaces and school campuses have an oppressive environment? Nearly everything about everyone is controlled (e.g.: when you can arrive/leave, when you eat, when you can use the restroom, what you wear, etc.), and everything is observed and judged in some manner (e.g.: grades, work assessments, etc.). Behavior is directed through punishments (e.g.: suspended, fired, etc.) or rewards (e.g.: awards, raises, etc.). Some might argue that things like strict rules and hierarchies are "necessary" in order for these organizations to function, but isn't it personally more effective and enjoyable to be a part of groups that are transparent and collaborative in nature? The systems should be designed so that it is apparent how we are all helping one another and whether the tasks that are vital to life are being accomplished. No one should feel forced into doing constructive things for society, especially when there is a high level of inequality throughout. It can be tricky sometimes to escape from it, and people learn to cope with it to the point that it becomes accepted as "normal". This is not "normal".
On a local level, the small business owner is made to conform to the practices of the larger businesses around them in order to survive. This is done until it starts changing the topology of the landscape. In other words, most cities are not centers of thriving family-owned businesses that serve their communities. They function more like prisons with invisible bars. People are divided into social classes based on which side of town they live, and it is often easy to go down an "income bracket" but hard to move up. Again, we see a stratification which divides.
On a national level, the situation is not much different. Much like how patents were orginally intended to protect the work of an individual inventor, the purpose of stocks was to give people the opportunity to create their own businesses, including when they may not have all of the financial resources in order to do so. Others can invest in your idea by buying stock in your company and you pay them back as your business turns a profit. Over time, the system has been distorted into a "stockmarket" that operates like a giant casino, and just like a casino, "the house always wins".
Part 5: The Mechanisms of Control?
While "speculators" gamble with thousands of people's livelihoods and skim money "off the top", it is really the "bankers" who have rigged the game. Let's explore how it is set up in "first-world countries" (such as the United States and the UK)...
"The Federal Reserve" is nothing more than a bank. We could more appropriately refer to it as "The Central Bank". Banks use what they do not have. This is why those who operate banks try their best to keep people using them (e.g.: some accounts need you to leave money in them for a certain period of time, some accounts require a deposit that cannot be withdrawn, some credit cards and loans have a high interest tacked on to whatever you borrow, etc.).
While it is often made out to be some complicated thing, money is merely an "IOU" from this bank. It has NO value. It is literally debt and a surplus of money is actually an increase in debt! More banknotes are issued than are backed by something of value (usually tangible resources like gold or silver). This is why money is worth less the more that there is in circulation. This is called "inflation". Therefore, having more money is not necessarily a solution to our problems when it also requires more of it to get the same things that had once cost less. Money is a trap.
With an increase in access to money, some start "living beyond their means" and struggle when things seem to tighten up. Bankruptcy and repossession affects both individuals and groups (e.g.: "the dot-com bubble", "the housing crash", etc.). Many "invest" in things which they cannot afford, and then lose it all when the rug is suddenly pulled out from under them. Some people have made it their business to pull this rug, then snatch up those things while they are priced at their lowest. Debt itself is designed to take away what people think they "own", and most people will probably never truly "own" anything. Even land is continually taxed. Many are forever renting, shifting around the debt trying to "make ends meet", and becoming so exhausted that the "bread and circuses" prevalent within more affluent areas only serve to distract them from the reality of the situation.
The fact of the matter is, no one wants to toil their life away. So, everyone attempts to break free from the cycle of trading their time for money by getting other people to work for them in some manner. At its worst, it is a ruthless system where people continually fight and struggle against one another, sometimes to the death. Local battles become wars on the world stage, and warfare has expanded to encompass all people and nearly all aspects of life (i.e.: "total war"). As Major General Smedley Butler pointed out, many people have created their fortunes by instigating wars and continue to do so.
We do NOT need to compete like this! With the right equipment and access to natural resources, it doesn't cost much of anything to manufacture most of the things required for life and almost all of these processes can be fully automated. Abundance should be increasing as we continually learn to do more with less. Why is there still poverty and power struggles of any kind whatsoever?
The book "Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars" puts forth the idea that this type of activity is intentional by many of those who control the international banks and other institutions with vast wealth and power. This might seem absolutely ludicrous, but the patterns described are very important to be aware of. To give a simple summary:
Everyone is dependent upon natural resources. Whoever controls the natural resources controls the direction of society. The monetary system is a tool used to gain control of both natural resources and entire populations. The countries that surrender their economies get the financial support needed to "win" wars. Refuse to play the game? Then get the shake down by your well-funded "enemy". Either way, a dummy government is installed (like the "banana republics" of Honduras) that will serve the interests of specific businesses and tyrannically oppress their citizens. Whether taken by force from without or undermined with manipulation from within, a sort of artificial "globalization" is taking place intended to centralize all of the world's resources and people.
Outrageous? We have already seen (in Part 1) how money can control a supposedly "democratic" government through lobbying, and (in Part 3) some of the means by which some multinational corporations have turned the globe into a vast plantation. The people in "more developed" areas are akin to "the servants within the master's house", while the people in "less developed" areas are like "the servants who work the field". All of them are slaves, but the former often mistakes themselves as "better" than the latter because they don't do "hard labor" like those "heathens" over there. Meanwhile, the "masters" are so disconnected from reality that they see everyone else as "useless eaters" whom are better off dead, but only after they have taken care of all of the chores for them. Call it what you will ("colonialism", "imperialism", "despotism", etc.). Again, it is simply a stratification driven by a psychopathic degree of arrogance and greed, one that has led to untold amounts of suffering.
But the real chaos ensues when it is coupled to our technological ingenuity. The book further posits the existence of a sophisticated computer system that controls and/or accurately predicts the market to such a degree that an entire society can be shaped without the majority of people realizing it. Thus, economics becomes a "silent weapon in a quiet war". As wild as it sounds, there might be some evidence for systems like this being used to manipulate the stockmarket. These aren't without precedence. "Wargames" and other types of simulations of large populations have been occuring for a long time. There is a lot of data out there to build a realistic representation of the world, whether it comes from surveillance by a government, market research by a corporation, or some combination of both. The largest of governments and corporations on Earth obviously have methods for directing the activities of large numbers of people. They could not function otherwise.
These kinds of ideas are often labelled as "conspiracy theories", but it does not really matter much whether some of these systems are secretly designed by small groups of people to function destructively, or have unintentionally become destructive through our collective indifference. The unavoidable truth is that many of them are currently putting all of us in danger. Hopefully, Parts 1-4 have made it clear that there are significant problems that must be addressed without laying the blame on anyone in particular. We do not want to point fingers, but to highlight important patterns so that we can become aware of them and transcend them together. Therefore, the real question is...
How can we transition from the state of the world as it is now, into one that repairs the damage and serves everyone? This is a question that requires everyone's participation and skills. No one has all of the answers (including me!), but we have attempted to share some ideas that could be of help. Hopefully they will be of service to you in the tasks that lie ahead of us.
Part 6: Religions
Much of the above seems dark, and while it is serious, it is also infused with hope. One thing that people often turn to for hope and insight in challenging times is religion.
The religion that is most predominant throughout the history of the United States is Christianity. While the gist of it is simple (e.g.: the teachings encourage individuals to attempt to live a life of humble virtue in emulation of Christ), we won't get into the historical details and theological underpinnings of Christianity here. Instead, we will point out the fact that, like any set of ideas, they can sometimes be twisted to further destructive behavior.
Hypocrisy makes a mockery of the teachings and the promise of forgiveness becomes a license to abuse. (The term "hypergrace" is sometimes used to describe it.) Likewise, there is a fine line between claiming to be aligned with God and attempting to elevate oneself above another (i.e.: the sort of "holier-than-thou" moral superiority that people sometimes fall victim to).
Whether taking place within the context of Christianity or some other philosophy, this sort of "divinization" can be incredibly dangerous. Just because something is done "in the name of [blank]" or assumed to have the "blessing" of [blank] behind it, people can rationalize all sorts of atrocities and even feel justified in doing them. And when driven by fanaticism and hedonism, we have people who are certain that they are always right, that everyone else is always wrong, and who will stop at nothing until they completely have their way. But again, we want to emphasize that none of this behavior is exclusive to any one philosophy. This type of behavior can be carried out by anyone, including those who claim to follow ideologies that eschew Christianity or other religions (such as Satanism, Luciferianism, Atheism, etc.), and even by those who claim to hold no stance at all (e.g.: Agnostic, Nihilistic, etc.).
Within the United States, there is supposed to be a "separation of church and state" (i.e.: the government is not considered a religious organization). There is no monarchy with a "divine right to rule", nor any "imperial cult" that people worship. In principle, organizations cannot be used to force any particular ideology and everyone is free to practice whatever religion, or lack thereof, that they see fit so long as it does not incite violence or cause harm to others.
While this sounds nice, philosophic ideals are still used as "political footballs", cult-like activity still occurs within various institutions, "cults of personality" crop up around specific individuals, and people sometimes try to distort or fabricate scientific data in order to further self-serving aims (whether political, economic, etc.).
Ultimately, labels matter very little. One can claim to be/do/have all sorts of things and not follow through on the behaviors that might be associated with that label. We must take the time to fully understand the intentions behind words in addition to their meanings. And to be proven trustworthy, constructive words must consistently correspond with constructive actions.
When the humility and compassion of Christian teachings have been expressed sincerely, they have lead directly to the formation of many of the redeeming qualities of the United States government and economy. Despite all of problems that we have pointed out, we do not want to "toss the baby out with the bathwater". It is important to emphasize that they are some of the most useful systems for creating a cohesive civilization in existence. They have been shaped by numerous people from many different cultures over a very long period of time, people whom have honestly tried to direct them towards the service of everyone. This unification of diversity is beautiful and is something that I hope can expand until it "is on Earth as it is in Heaven" (i.e.: the ideal is made manifest through each and every one of us).
Part 7: Conclusion
We have attempted to offer a balanced perspective on a few vast and complex systems. There are still many details that we have not covered, but hopefully it has served as a useful overview of several important aspects of society that affect us all, whether one lives within the United States or not. There are also some other tough issues (e.g.: prejudices that have led to the genocide of native peoples and minorities within the United States) that we have not mentioned. We will explore those subjects elsewhere.
As naive as it might sound, I would like to believe that the majority of people on Earth simply do what they know best, that they do not necessarily have a malicious intent to purposely harm the people around themselves, and that most of the destructiveness that does occur is due to overwhelming fear and ignorance. But there are also reasonable limits to this sort of patience and understanding, when it starts to become an acceptance of abuse towards both self and other. Unawareness and inaction eventually become complicity. Striving towards self-responsibility in ways that are constructive, and holding each other accountable to the same, is a necessary part of living together.
Many people are attempting to address the problems that have been mentioned here in various ways. For example, rather than applying technology towards taking advantage of people, they might try to use it to improve the security of voting systems through decentralization, to track the creation and content of laws in order to prevent fraud, to widely distribute useful information, to multiply and share natural resources more effectively, etc. While all of these things are both admirable and necessary, at their core, these issues are ones that every individual must also face within.
Changes of heart and mind are more primary than any amount of planning or technology, because it is our thoughts and feelings which guide the development and use of all technology and are the motivations for enacting all plans.
With that said, we truly hope this document has been helpful in some way. We will continue to focus in on the redemption of this world in every way we can.
Thank you so much for reading. ❤️