"Live Merrily, oh my friends, free from cares, perplexity, anguish, grief of mind, live merrily" - Marsilius Ficinus
For what purpose do we freely and seemingly without question submit ourselves to lives of anxiety and stress. There are no Sabre-Tooth Tigers waiting to leap on us in the night, or Wooly Mammoths that can squash us underfoot in mindless stampedes, yet our media, conversations and general tribal consciousness seems determined to find new things to fear and be upset about. Is this simply the way our minds are or is there something more sinister at play...?
The question I believe we should all ask before we simply accept anything we are told as the truth is "Who benefits?". Who could possibly benefit from me being anxious about money, health, terrorists, swine flu, career, peak oil, assets, economy and why the guy down the road smiled at me a little too long today?
I believe that the goal of life is simple - to live well! That of course is a massively subjective statement and well it should be. There are 6 billion people on the planet with 6 billion world views - sure there are cultural and social views groups have in common but every man, woman and child holds secret, personal and often unshared views of what the world means to them. Why are these rarely expressed? Certain people seem to and we either venerate them or tear them down depending on the global mood but in general people seem willing to accept that the world is a frightening place and we need xxxx to protect us. Aha! Who is this xxxx that we all look to then to protect us from this frightening world...?
Government? Those who are doing well with the Status Quo? Big Business? Anxious people make good consumers and obedient workers. Anxiety pushes us towards means and ways to create safety and comfort. Roll out the TV Set and credit cards and forget about revolutions and reformations. Those things are dangerous and if we remove those who are protecting us from the terrorists we'll be naked and alone. Won't we? Like George Orwell's "1984" we are told that we are in a perpetual state of war - the enemy changes here and there but they are always out there. Heck the enemy is even next door - If I don't keep up with the Jones I won't look good and then I will feel stressed and anxious when they invite me to their place for a "let's admire ourselves" party. None of this stimulating company, good cheer, merriment, feasting and fun - this is combat!
Can we escape these mind forg'd tyrannies and create a better world? Only by acknowledging the fear that we are being fed. Until we recognise the trap, we will never escape it.
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