Utopianism or How I Would Like to Save
the World
By
Martin
L. Cowen III
I
want to save the world. To do so I will attempt in this essay.
We
are recently blessed with wonderful visitors at FOR Pub. Special thanks are due
to President Ron for having revived this activity, thus bringing many old
friends back to us and providing an easy meeting place for new friends.
We
have had in recent months three visitors who have been on spiritual journeys.
(Psychologist Nathaniel Branden defines “spiritual” as “of or pertaining to
consciousness.”) I myself have been on a spiritual journey and most of us in
the Fellowship of Reason have been on spiritual journeys, so draw no negative
connotation from this observation.
Sometimes
spiritual journeys begin with, or at some point involve, the observation that
the world is troubled.
Billions and
Billions
The
world population is about 7,114,000,000 people today, over seven billion. Among
these numbers are people in the various stages of life: infant, child,
adolescent, young adult, middle age, mature adult, and senior, each stage with
its own problems and pleasures. Among these numbers are people who live under
different regimes, ranging from totalitarian to democratic socialism. Some
people live in grinding poverty (by American standards). Most Americans and
Western Europeans live comfortable middle class lives. Among these numbers are
people who are mentally and physically disabled in various ways. The variety and
number of people and circumstances are unfathomable.
Slavery
Among
the many existent human circumstances is slavery. Yes, there is slavery in the
world today. One web site, www.freetheslaves.net,
says this: “There are 27 million people in slavery today. They are forced to
work without pay, under threat of violence, and they’re unable to walk away.” A
map from www.freetheslaves.net shows
the following slave states and continents:
Slavery
is a big problem.
There
are billions of horrible human situations.
The
Beautiful
On
the other hand, there are countless beautiful things, circumstances, and human
actions. Here is “Hunters in the Snow” by Peter Bruegel (1565), one of the most
beautiful paintings in the world.
There
are beautiful people. Here is a picture of my own beloved son.
In
the lives of the people of the world there are beauties, like “Hunters in the
Snow” and Lindsey, and there are horrors, like slavery.
To what do
you pay attention?
I
observe that Utopians tend to focus on the ugly rather than on the beautiful.
Furthermore, Utopians tend to focus on the big rather than the small. Slavery in
the world is a big, ugly problem. A felled tree across a public street in one’s
neighborhood is a small problem.
A big,
ugly thing, like slavery, is impossible eliminate. I remember my experience
with writer’s block. I vowed to work at least 3 hours a day on my book. Nothing
happened. When I changed my goal to 15 minutes per day, bingo! I started
writing. Of course, I usually ended up writing more than 15 minutes per day.
The
point is that a too-big goal causes paralysis. Having “eliminate world slavery”
or “achieve world peace” as a personal goal is impossible and paralyzing.
While
human beings can conceive of the infinite, an individual can only act within an
arm’s length or a day’s walk. While human beings can conceive of eternity, an
individual can only live about 60 years as an adult (from age 20 to age 80). In
my sixties now, I can assure you that this is not a long time.
Big
Goal Utopianism is like insisting that one write 3 hours per day. The goal is impossible
and paralyzing.
Rightly
choosing on what to focus is crucial.
Choosing the
Beautiful
People
go on spiritual journeys because they are experiencing a “dis-ease” of
consciousness. The true goal of a spiritual (remember this word means “of or
pertaining to consciousness”) journey is to “ease” your consciousness.
Having
too-big, unrealistic goals that paralyze one’s body and mind is not the proper
path to ease of consciousness or to well-being, or to eudaimonia.
We
have recently learned from our study of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics that the goal of all ethical action is the
beautiful. Therefore, one should
surround oneself with the beautiful and endeavor in one’s life to create the
beautiful. The ultimate experience in the presence of the sublime (the extreme
of the beautiful) is wholeness of self, harmony of self, and radiance of self.
This experience (wholeness, harmony, radiance) is the goal of all spiritual
journeys. Just ask those who have successfully completed their journeys.
Surrounding
oneself with the Beautiful
Choosing
the beautiful involves at least two activities. The first is to surround
oneself with beautiful things, circumstances, and people. Beautiful people are
people of good character. Choosing to associate with people of good character
is the most important choice an individual can make in order to achieve “ease”
of consciousness. An individual of good character is one who possesses virtues:
courage, temperance (or moderation), magnificence, generosity, greatness of
soul, gentleness, sociability, playfulness, justice, practical judgment,
wisdom, and the capacity for friendship. These are some of the virtues
identified by Aristotle.
Not
among Aristotle’s virtues are these: cleanliness, punctuality, pleasantness,
persistence, and honesty. These last five will guarantee one a job, for those
still looking for one. J
As
friend Larry loves to tell me, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” So be
it. One need not choose “Hunters in the Snow” for one’s living room wall. There
are many other great and beautiful paintings, musical presentations, theatrical
presentations, and dance presentations with which to surround one. Great
sporting events are beautiful in the eyes of many beholders. Human greatness
abounds. One need only choose to experience it.
Acting
toward the Beautiful
Choosing
the beautiful involves at least two activities. The second is to act to create
the beautiful. I am not speaking of creating “Hunters in the Snow,” though that
would be marvelous if one had the capacity. Rather, I am thinking of the usual
activities of our everyday lives.
Doctors
find disease in their patients and cure it. A beautiful thing. Lawyers find
clients who have made a mess in their lives and help them clean it up. A
beautiful thing. Software engineers find a problem that needs a solution and
code it. A beautiful thing. Parents find their children need an education and
provide it. A beautiful thing. Yardmen find grass that needs cutting and mow
it. A beautiful thing. Most human activity is action to create the beautiful. A
beautiful thing.
Carrying
your end of the log
The
wanna-be utopian might object that his “big, ugly thing” is in the world and
needs fixing. The list of “big, ugly things” is long. Some examples include
war, terrorism, torture, slavery, crime (murder, rape, kidnapping, armed
robbery, burglary), poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, bigotry, whale
hunting, poaching of elephant tusks in Africa, you name it. This list is
endless. Remember, I could not function with the self-imposed goal: to write
for 3 hours a day. I could only function with the goal: to write for 15 minutes
a day. Applied to “save the whales” or “achieve world peace,” the lesson is
that one has to have reasonable, achievable goals. One cannot “save the whales”
or “eliminate poverty.” These tasks are too big.
The
only thing an individual can do is to “carry her end of the log.” What this
means is that one can only do one’s part of the task or tasks she chooses. The bigger
the task, the smaller one’s part. In the case of “save the whales,” the best
one can reasonably do is to be a financial contributor to Greenpeace. If one is
really into “saving the whales,” one might get a job with Greenpeace and devote
one’s entire working life to “saving the whales.” However, one cannot “save the
whales” by working for Greenpeace and at the same time “eliminate world
poverty.” An individual does not have enough time or resources to do both tasks
as a full time job. As we said above we can think of infinity of space and
eternity of time, but we cannot move an infinite distance or endure an eternal
time. An individual’s life has a very specific duration (about 60 adult years)
and a limited range (usually only within one or two cities during her life).
Defining
your World
Most
people are not utopians or even “reasonable” utopians. (A “reasonable” utopian
is a monetary contributor to group acting to cure his “big, ugly thing.”) Sure,
some tens of thousands of people among the seven billion people in the world
act to “save the whales” by donating small amounts to Greenpeace, but, in truth,
most people do not spend any time or money on the long list of “big, ugly
things” started above.
Most
people’s worlds consist of their spouses and their children. Plus, a few good
friends and, usually, a small moral
community to which they voluntarily adhere (like the Fellowship of Reason).
Within
and among their family, friends, and moral community they build beautiful lives
and are fountains of value and beauty to those around them.
An
individual with a spouse and children does not normally go on a spiritual
journey because a family is a fulltime job, loaded with meaning, requiring most
of her conscious thought and energy. The family is the natural, automatic
source of meaning in human life.
One
need not have a spouse and children in order to find meaning and beauty in
life. It is just a little harder and requires effort that is more conscious.
All
adults have some life experience without a spouse or children. The average age
of marriage for men in America is about 29 and for women in America, about 27.
Most parents live to have their children grow up and move out of the house. One
spouse will survive the other. Therefore, the state of being single with no
kids is an almost universal experience for adults. “Dis-ease” of consciousness
is common at these times.
The
rules for “ease” of consciousness for SINKs (single income, no kids) are stated
above: (1) surround yourself with beauty, including beautiful people, and (2)
act to achieve the beautiful in your own life, even at the tiniest level of taking
a shower every day.
Utopians
make the mistake of defining their worlds too widely. “World peace” or
“eliminate poverty” is not an achievable individual goal. Happy, healthy
children are an achievable individual goal. Performing well in a job that you enjoy
is an achievable individual goal. Having and enjoying a few good friends is an
achievable individual goal.
Still stuck
on that “Big, Ugly Thing?”
Having
an unachievable goal that renders one paralyzed has its advantages. If one is
paralyzed, one does not have to work. I have at least 10 tasks per day that
contribute to my various goals. Ten times 365 (days) times 60 (adult years of
life) equals 219,000 lifetime tasks. If one is paralyzed, one need not start or
complete 219,000 tasks. Whew! That is a lot of work avoided by being stuck in
front of one’s “big, ugly thing.”
Here
is a partial list of my daily tasks (with the help of my beloved wife):
- Get the kids ready for school (showers, breakfast,
clothes, school lunches): 1 hour
- Take the kids to school: 1 hour
- Teach or prepare to teach high school French: 1
hour
- Work at the courthouse: 2 hours
- Work on my private cases: 2 hours
- Pickup kids from school: 1 ½ hours
- Take Alexander to choir: 5 hours (twice a week
for choir; on other days we are at home and eat a family dinner)
- Get the kids ready for bed: ½ hour
- Read, work on FOR projects: 2 hours
- Jog (when I get the chance)
My
life missions are revealed: happy, healthy children, enjoy French, make a
living, work on the Fellowship of Reason, fitness.
I
do not have time to “save the whales.” Most people do not.
My
point is not that these tasks ought
to be another’s, though most people with children live exactly this life. My
point is that everyone should choose beautiful things to create and set about
creating those things.
Have I saved
the world?
Define
the “world.” The worlds I am interested in are my own family, friends, and
associates through the Fellowship of Reason.
In
this essay, I am interested in the “world” of our three visitors who are on
spiritual journeys. If I have been “heard, understood, recognized,
acknowledged”: HOORAH!, then perhaps I have saved their worlds.
To
summarize:
The
world is big. There are billions and billions of people. Through the stages of
the life of each individual (of those billions and billions), there will be many
triumphs and tragedies. In the end each of us dies. There are big, ugly things
and there are beautiful things.
Focus
on the beautiful. Surround yourself with beauty. Act to create the beautiful.
Carry
your end of the log. Do only what you are capable of doing. Do not set goals
that are impossible to achieve and thereby paralyze yourself. Do not target any
of the big, ugly things in the world that are impossible to change.
Find
yourself a spouse or life partner. Find yourself some beautiful friends. Join
the Fellowship of Reason.
I have saved the world!
One Last
Thing
I
have shown you a picture of my beautiful son, Lindsey, above. I have two
beautiful sons and a beautiful wife. That which is particularly interesting
about Lindsey, in the context of this essay, is that he autistic. He cannot
speak. He is only partially potty-trained. He cannot be allowed, unattended,
outside a highly protected environment. Yet Lindsey is a beautiful child. He is
supremely happy. He is well cared for thanks to his mother and me. He will be
well cared for after we are dead by his loving brother. Focus, my friend, on the beautiful.
Do
not project your own prejudices about life onto others. I remember visiting
Peru some years ago. I saw remarkable poverty previously unknown to me. I saw a
6-year-old child herding cattle beside the road on which passed my tour bus. I
saw a mother and children pulling potatoes from a field in front of their one
room, mud brick hut. I expect, though, that the people I saw were happy people
living full, rich lives.
Friend,
carry your end of the log. Your end of log is your own life. Live it well.
