JUNE 26, 2015
HOW MUCH NEED ?
At first blush the idea of basic need is clear:
Food, shelter, clothing, and the caring attention of others when we are too young, too old, or too ill to care for ourselves.
What could be simpler?
From the beginning if we had decided to provide these essentials for one another before we expended time and energy in providing anything else, would anyone now be without the basic necessities of life?
If you think such an idea is a ridiculous simplification, ask yourself:
What do we need?
Each of us undoubtedly may produce a list of imagined needs that have no relation to food, shelter, clothing or healthcare.
Are any of the items on our lists of imagined needs essential to our life, our liberty, or our pursuit of happiness?
If all people knew that malnutrition, homelessness, tattered shreds of clothing, and pain or death for lack of care would never be a part of their lives, how easy would it then be to get individuals to rise up against one another in acts of violence and of warfare?
So where is the rub?
Why is there no guarantee that satisfaction of the basic needs of life will be the living experience of every human being?
Might it be that our ever growing demand for more gets in the way?
Our image of ourselves is frequently and favorably set in our minds by what we have and by what we may afford to buy. Our desires may differ. Very few would deny that most of us make plans to obtain the objects of our desires whatever they may be. And let us admit it: Most of us like to measure our accomplishments. And more than just a few of us like to compare our accomplishments to those reached by others.
Don't think so? Then why are sports so popular? Why do many want the best possible house in the most acclaimed neighborhood in which they may afford to live? Why do the most well-to-do among us often insist on continuing to accumulate wealth at an ever increasing rate even though what they currently have far exceeds any amount that they may possibly spend in the remaining years of life?
In the course of life and in the face of inevitable death what does one have to prove?
Perhaps here is the rub:
One may feel that life only has significance and meaning if their particular life has stood out among the vast crowd of human beings who inhabit the earth. Above all else some may feel that they must be noticed to be worthwhile. And among these (whatever their number may be) desire has no end. Whatever is accomplished there is still more to do, more to get, more to have, more to measure.
Once measure becomes a primary determinate of self-worth nothing must stand in the way of personal accumulation. Any possible threat to one's ability to keep what one has or to get more is a challenge to one's personal identity. One's greatest fear is of anything that may prevent one's personal journey forward to new heights of measured accomplishment.
Is not fear the force that drives us into the arms of tyrants?
