“We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.” ~Albert Einstein
For well over 2000 years a competitive “dog-eat-dog” mindset has dominated the world’s most powerful human civilizations. The goals of our leaders (as well as most members) have been to conquer, defeat or control whatever (and whomever) we can. Those who thought differently were quickly pushed to the side, silenced, enslaved, ignored or demonized.
Look closely at the challenges humanity has been struggling with. What is the root cause of the environmental destruction, the poverty and inequality, crime, racism, terrorism, economic instability, mindless consumerism, endless wars and skyrocketing military spending?
These problems exist (in my opinion) because the most powerful human cultures and civilizations have propagated a world view that presents life as a never-ending war between opposing forces- a struggle between good and evil, man and nature, friend and enemy, “us” vs. “them.” Such dualistic thinking can serve a useful purpose at times, but creates chaos, inequity, unhappiness and instability when allowed to continuously dominate people’s lives.
For thousands of years, those in power have sought to perpetuate mindsets of competition, insecurity, scarcity and fear among the masses, in order to maintain their “ruling” positions. Nationalism, militarism, materialism, sexism, racism, colonialism, slavery, industrialization and consumerism are culturally conditioned ways of thinking and behaving rooted in a competitive and cold hearted view of fellow human beings and the natural world.
Like Adam & Eve, we continue to feed one another the lie of good vs. evil, rather than sharing the true story of ourselves as sisters and brothers, magical children of the Tree of Life. It’s almost as if the human family has been living under a spell, brain-washed and hypnotized to live in fear, to close our hearts to greater generosity, joy, wisdom, creativity, cooperation, peace and compassion.
Without a doubt, the warrior mindset has served a useful evolutionary purpose on our planet. There have always been situations of scarcity and conflict where brave and unselfish heroism was needed. The problem is that with the rise of hierarchal civilizations (and a corresponding “ruling class”) our loyalty, bravery and willingness to battle “enemies” has been continuously manipulated by those in positions of influence and power.
When small tribes go into battle their chiefs go with them, and are willing to die. Civilizations’s rulers- from ancient Rome to modern Wall Street- keep themselves safe behind guards and high walls, seeing their warriors as pawns, not brothers.
In the current global narrative being spread by Western media and governments we are told that our modern Civilization is locked in a war with blood-thirsty Muslim terrorists. Is this story true? As journalist Nafeez Ahmed has suggested, the narrative of a “Clash of Civilizations” that is being told to the world may actually be intended to feed our fears, and distract us from seeing the bigger picture, that industrialized Civilization is actually in a state of crisis (see video).
When fear-based thinking dominates a society the innate wisdom and compassion of artists, poets, teachers, musicians, women, children, elders and animals is often treated as inferior and unimportant- if it does not support the goals of leaders– be they kings, queens, emperors, dictators, terrorist masterminds or corporate CEOs…
Jesus understood this, as did the Buddha, Lao Tsu, Gandhi, Helen Keller, Albert Einstein, Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama, John Lennon, Martin Luther King, Jr. and countless others down through the ages. Millions honor and treasure their words, but are we ready yet to become “warriors” of compassion, to put wisdom into action, to open our hearts and question the fearful and aggressive thinking that our “great civilizations” continue to perpetuate?
As Einstein said, in order for our species to survive, we may have to.
~Christopher Chase
“War is Obsolete, All Life is Interrelated” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
”When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
~ Sri Chinmoy Ghose
The Crisis of Civilization (Documentary of the Big Picture):
“I look at you all see the love there that’s sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don’t know why nobody told you how to unfold your love
I don’t know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you.
I look at the world and I notice it’s turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps.”
~:~
Creative by Nature 
This warrior mindset must be a very ancient phenomena of the old days when man needed to fight tooth and nail just to survive. Animals still do it.
But are we animals? No need to keep to this barbaric behaviour any more. A shift in consciousness is long overdue.
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We are born peaceful and culturized to mistrust. Alan Watts says we are here to play. We should have never left that urge behind. When somebody does something you see as wrong, don’t say, as so many do today, “seriously?” just laugh and play on.
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“The real struggle of the twenty-first century will not be between civilizations, nor between religions. It will be between violence and nonviolence. It will be between barbarity and civilization in the truest sense of the word.” https://www.daisakuikeda.org/main/peacebuild/peace/peace-03.html
Reblogged this on Wes.
thank you!
The last video says video not available, thank you
Loe all you share thank you
Unprecedented though, what we now see as competition in the form of wars wether silently or blown out is a creation of how we have been solving our crisis or peoblems.
The Great Paradigm Shift of our age has begun. For those interested in helping to mid-wife the next one into being, I highly recommend the Bioneers. Their annual conference will be held soon and will be available virtually.
I love your post. However, I think with problematising our warrior side, particularly as men, we can risk pushing it into shadow as an unnacceptable part of our psychology that we try to disown. I like your reference to the noble aspect of our warrior nature in the past. But I believe it will always be with us, and task is not to somehow move past it, but to integrate it and use it consciously, in whatever noble cause or goal we may have. Otherwise it gets pushed into shadow, and comes out in other ways – making war on those we percieve as ‘other’ for saying the wrong thing, or turns on us in some cases, leading to self-loathing or self-harm.
I think it becomes a problem when we allow ourselves to be used by those in positions of power to kill other people, so as to increase their power. The warrior as defender of community and family is natural, even as hunter is needed for all species. It’s how we have been used as pawns that has created recent problems in history, in my opinion.
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