Humanity

¡Hola!

Today I give you the main thrust of my Notions. HUMANITY is the one thing that unites us all. After you shed all constructed and imposed identities, you are left with the identity of being a Human being. I would like you to think of it now the other way around. You are a Human first and all other identites are built onto that framework, reliant and dependant on it. These identities do not exist without the framework of being Human. To put identites in priority:

1: You are a Human being.
2: You are a citizen of the world.
3: You are a citizen of your nation, province/state, region, and town/city.
4: You have a name.
5: You have certain beliefs.

Race is not an identity. In reality, we are all part of the same race. Race based on colour or ethnic background is a social construct and exists within the Human world only, outside of nature. Racial distinction itself is a form of segregation and admission of difference. Religion, or 'creed' is also a social construct. It falls under beliefs. So do political and economic affiliation, sexual orientation, and gender. Class is not truely an identity, but rather a form of economic and political affiliation which can alter or exist on two different levels during one's life.

As a Human, you will inevitably interact with other humans who share the first three identites with you. However, they only start to differ on identity #4, and at that, it is only a name. Where Humans truely begin to make the distinction between Humanity and the INDIVIDUAL is in beliefs. Sometimes we forget that 'beliefs' is #5, and seek to make it #1 above all else, even to the extent of killing other Human beings. This is called conflict. Conflict exists in nature, but in the state of nature conflict only occurs over resources, since animals are unable to formulate ideas. Groups of Humans, however, use conflict to assert their claims over certain resources, as well as to impose their beliefs on other groups or individuals.

Where two Humans interact, there is often the exchange of beliefs and ideas. How one party reacts to this exchange is a measure of a host of different indicators. Sometimes we call it civility, maturity, open mindedness, or comprehension. Civility is how far each party has advanced beyond animal instincts. Maturity is the degree of wisdom and temperence each party has achieved. Open mindedness is the willingness of each party to accept or appreciate each other's point of view. Comprehension is the ability of each party to understand where the other is coming from. Those who get angry when they hear opinions contrary to their own we ball base or savage. Those who would ignore or despise others for thinking differently we call childish. Those who are bigoted and subborn we call closed-minded. Those who are unwilling or unable to understand other points of veiw we call ignorant or foolish. You see how those that react negatively to different or opposing opinions are thus less advanced than those willing to listen or accept such ideas.

When a difference in beliefs cannot be resolved through wisdom, understanding, or acceptance, Humans have historically attempted to resolve them through brute force, an animal instinct. Over millenia brute force has taken the form of clubs, swords, muskets, rifles, nuclear bombs, and so on. The result is death and coercive pursuasion. Neither of these things we would call civil. When individuals charge groups with the burden of conflict, it becomes WAR. War is a human invention because unlike animal conflict, war endures and produces longstanding animosity. War also involves individuals that were not associated with the initial conflict of beliefs. This is how a debate between two Humans, who were not advanced enough to handle different opinions, can result in the death of millions of Humans who were previously uninvolved. These wars of ideas, products of immaturity, baseness, closed-mindedness, and ignorance, often do not resolve anything. Sometimes it takes several wars of ideas to decide a dominant system of belief (I mean that in a non-religious sense).

Power and authority are both resources and ideas. This is why power is cited as the source of a great many wars. When one system of belief seeks to dominate another, it is called hegemony. This can be expressed in a religion, a nation, or an economic system. The hegemonic system can exist by coersion, or by consent. Sometimes consent can be manufactured by coersion, but it is still coersion. So basically, existing systems of belief are around us today because we allow them or because someone has forced them upon us. Sometimes a system is unwelcome, and the only way to remove it is through action. Inaction is a form of consent. Action usually begins with thought, then organization, then activity. The key to changing hegemonies is THOUGHT.

Conflict is such a huge part of the Human race. At any given time there are numerous wars being fought all over the world. I can think of eight right now off the top of my head. Conflict is the result of differences of belief in all but one of them, that instigated by the United States in 2003. Why is there so much conflict in an age of 'reason' when world leaders are supposed to be mature, open minded, intelligent, and civilized? It is because leaders are not these things. Nor are the majority of the Human race. Many have one or more defect in their ability to recognize the great many different ideas out there. Humans are flawed. If we look to our past, we will see that our civilization has evolved over time. In comparing the development of our civilization to the lifespan of a single Human being, our early 21st century civilization has achieved the maturity of a 10-year old child. Petty squabbles, bullying, and the extensive application of force attest to this. In fact, one of the few things that keep us in relative peace is the stability of the extensive capitalist order. Without the need to produce food and goods to survive, our race would tumble into chaos over disagreements.

Despite the pitfalls of our race, we are also the paragon of all animals. Accidents in nature and fate have supplied humans with the unique ability to adapt to and alter the environments they encounter. Through this process Humans have employed labour saving tools, agriculture, trade, society, and civilization. By developing these ideas, Humans were able to scatter to different environments and conquer each and every one on earth. No other species is so adaptable. With different social groups organizing in different climactic areas, they found a desire to traffic their surplus goods to areas where such goods were unavailable in exchange for goods unavailable in other areas. This concept of trade is also unknown in the animal world. Trade is produced and affects travel, which brought different Human groups into contact with each other. This resulted in the exchange of ideas as well as resources. Sometimes these interactions were beneficial, sometimes they resulted in conflict. From these very simple concepts arose Human language, commerce, invention, and construction. This is how we distinguish ourselves from other life forms on our planet.

Humans have succeeded in mastering nature. The conditions for agriculture, motion, electricity, and radio communications existed before Humans harnessed them. By manipulating what nature gives us, we have imagined and created things that rival the spectacle of nature itself. I am writing on a computer that was forged from resources that originated from all over the globe, on an international network built by Human imagination, through a complex system of code, wires, silicon, and plastic. All of this is the child of Human ingenuity. Never doubt what we can do.

Humans are capable of vision, imagination, and creativity. These are our greatest gifts. In using them, we have the ability to do anything, and we have used them to reach where we are today. Our race has the potential to create and solve problems of massive proportions. We owe it to ourselves that we seek to achieve our own greatness, to strive to maximize our potential. But first, we have to rise above petty conflict. We have to become citizens of the world, and realize that our Humanity needs be the only factor of unification, for after all, it is the greatest thing that we all have in common. THOUGHT, UNITY, and IMAGINATION are the key to a strong, limitless future for our race.

Do not fear anything. You are a Human, and you can achieve anything you can imagine. It just starts with THOUGHT.