Mankind

I was watching History Channel's "Mankind: The Story of All of Us" last night, and it's fascinating to see who becomes a great historical figure. Those most worth mentioning were the revolutionaries who shifted power, the great inventors, and the maven explorers. The comments of the great kings were also interesting; their ideas weren't new, but were common across geographical and cultural lines. Most strove to unite vast kingdoms and create peace through unity and domination. But they all go about it in the same old war-mongering way, because of their lust for power. If you were to take that lust out of the equation, there would only be peace and unity, leaving out the domination. In the latest Arab Spring movement, I think it was clear that a common chord was struck all over the world, demanding better leadership. Regime after regime fell in the Middle East, not because some great conqueror was toppling them, but because people saw their neighbors rise up, and felt a unity with them, and a desire to do the same. We each had our own grievances specific to our region, but were united in a desire for greater accountability, less corruption, inequality, and a chance to be heard in a more democratic society. There is never any war between Nebraska and Texas, Massachusetts and Connecticut, etc.; what would it take to make that a true statement of all neighbors? What would it take to make a United States of the World? A common constitution by which we all abide, a common currency, and likely an unacceptable loss of local sovereignty?

I'm also correcting Yin's paper on "The Rich and the Rest of Us," and it occurred to me the author cannot get his mind wrapped around the unimportance of wealth in the first place. By claiming that losing one's money and property can strip a person of their dignity and identity gives far too much power to money itself. It's likely a true statement, and may be how the dispossessed feel, but there is little emphasis on the need for a full paradigm shift, rather than just shifting around in the shallow, materialistic mindset we have now.