World peace without loss of individuality, possible?

Almost four years ago, I wrote an article in Dutch and with current events at our globe…I translated it: curious to your thoughts, my dear neighbors at this globe.

~~~

The idealist in me would like to live at a globe with peace all over. A world in which people don’t purposefully (or should I say consciously) hurt each other, cause pain, destroy one and another.
The cynic in me wonders: can it become a reality at all?

Created by (a) God, evolved out of apes, fallen down from space… Whatever theory is the truth for you, at one point in time human beings walked around our globe for the very first time. These people lived at a small part of our planet and somehow managed to survive. To me it seems, they had to reproduce themselves amongst each other. Thinking of that, it brings a completely different perspective towards incest: we are actually one large family. Anyway, I deviate…
At a certain point in time a part of this group of people came up with the idea, there could be more chance to survive at land further ahead, so they left. In my opinion this process repeated several times and the whole world was at peace. And then something went wrong.

Instead of groups of people letting each other just be, each group at their own piece of the globe, there was one group (maybe several groups) who decided to claim the part of another group. Was that decision originated from the urge to survive? Did back then already people exist, who were turned on by power? Did humans, ages ago, already started this ongoing fight about which way of living is the right way?

What was it, during those days, that made people decide to hurt each other, cause pain, destroy one and another?

To me that had to be about the individual part inside each human being. Up to the present day, there have always been people more curious then others, people quicker to be unsatisfied, those who are eager to retrieve all the power/control. In addition, I really believe each one of us possesses all thinkable characteristics/qualities you can come up with: caring, nice, spontaneous, curious, inquisitive, clueless, jealous, bright, sad, controlling, social. Name it; it is inside all of us.
The place you were born, the way you were raised, your experiences in this world, your physical well-being, your mental ability (I think I covered the most important ones) influence which characteristics and qualities develop and upon which one you will or will not act.

We human beings are unique as a breed, however also unique within that breed: which to me is a good thing, since just survive is no longer enough for us, hence, I think we would extinct without for instance curious people. The question remains: is it possible to ever retrieve a world again, in which groups of people exist, each at their own part of this globe, letting each other be, to live in peace: world-peace.

Is it a possibility with all these various individuals? We like to place each other in boxes and we could divide the world and spread those boxes, give each box a separate piece of the earth. But then I wonder, can we be divided in boxes in the first place? I don’t fit in the box for gays, I do fit in the box for straight (struggling with these words, straight, gay, hetero sexual…jeeeeez..we are all humans anyway…). However, if in that box for hetero sexuals also racists are placed in, then I don’t fit. A hetero-democratic box then. But I am not sure, if I am a die-hard democratic either.  I think I descend from a curious caveman, who also was the first to think ‘if you think you can destroy me, I will beat you to it’.

We humans are too much of an individual to get everyone aligned, with all our noses in the same direction. There aren’t only hetero sexuals , gays, black, white, rich, poor, democrats, republicans, lovely people, psychopaths, nerds, clowns…
Back to nature, gain money, against animal cruelty. There will always be an overlap, just like there will always be differences.

Although the world keeps changing, the earth with its environment and creatures on it, the individuality of people won’t. The past reveals time and time again, it is just not possible to get all our noses in the same direction. The present hasn’t changed that much, so far.

Is it a solution to put all ‘idiots’ together at one large island, bomb it and done? Without for instance Hitler, we wouldn’t even know, what we definitely never want again. No, I don’t (never will) understand it either, however there are still people out there today, who would still embrace Hitler. Do we keep sending them to such an island? Aren’t we Hitler’s ourselves then? Aren’t we already, thinking of what many of us would like to do with for instance the leader of North-Korea.

Ai. Oh dear. Hm.

Should we then give up our individuality for the purpose of world-peace? Or could the answer be to accept one and another as the individual each of us is? With that acceptance, the knowledge we posses and all we’ve accomplished so far and then go back to the same sphere at the time the first humans started to explore: live and let live?

The cynic in me thinks: I won’t be around long enough, to see this becoming a reality.
The idealist in me keeps hoping for acceptance, for world-peace.

Without the loss of individuality.

~~~
N.B. I’m a Dutch soul, living in Germany, therefore my English will not be perfect 😉

 

27 thoughts on “World peace without loss of individuality, possible?

  1. By starting at the very beginning / root of the problem you develop a great argument. Serious, but also with a good humor; like it:-). You are right with the early human groups on earth somehow. Today we have, although there is still enough resources and food for all, fast grown / growing population. However, I know about a Neanderthal who was killed by other humans during his lonely wanderings in the Alps. And possibly there was already in-group aggression at early times in human history.
    Your approach is clever. If everybody was similar, we wouldn’t have envy, for example. We don’t need to be the same in all aspects, as that would take away our humanity. I recommend the movie “Harrison Bergeron” for this vision. For another approach, see my second point below…
    My approach:
    First of all: everything that is imaginable is also possible. And we have many examples of people who are, while given the same situation as others, more peaceful than others. The explanation might not lie in genetics (for most of the cases).
    Second: as long as there is dependency on groups, groups will fight against each other. Therefore one must be self-sufficient, independent, and this can be achieved only with a mature (immaterial) spirituality, which on the other hand side connects all human beings despite their independence anyway. The pure form of a world citizen would be culturally neutral, non-nationalist, independent respectively part of all humanity. The world government should enforce ongoing cultural exchanges for everybody, so nobody starts to put down roots in one place that he then starts to protect by violent means. That would reduce ignorance and separation from others in other places.
    Third: People need a super-ordinate goal to get a sense of “we”. It would be ideal to find some alien tribe in the space that could be fought as a united humanity for survival. When environmental problems / climate changes becomes more obvious and more immediately a threat for a majority of the world, then we could also have found a unifying subordinate goal. In any case it seems like we need a common threat in order to be able to generate a common interest. I hope we’ll find out soon how we can create such a case (mentally) without the immediate real danger of a physically blown up world.
    Fourth: Thank you too to continually serve as a role model with openness (your curiosity for example) and believing in the phenomenon that some when a critical mass of people will exist that turns around the thing by animating the rest to imitate and follow …
    Sorry, but the length of my comment is representative for the bigness of inspiration I got from your great article:-). All the best!

    Liked by 1 person

    • First of all, thank you for taking the time to read and to respond. Much appreciated!
      No apology necessary for the length: I know how it feels to be passionate about something and you just could talk for hours about it 😉
      And last, definitely not least, always heartwarming to hear, if I inspire someone to do anything, so thank you for this compliment 🙂
      Clever, me? Maybe…I learned years ago the importance of root-cause analysis and since then, it helped me a lot to deal with, well various issues I come across in life. I hope we will never become similar! It would become a boring place, and we wouldn’t have much left to learn about…The movie, thanks for the tip. Will put it on my ‘have to watch this’ – list.

      Everything that is imaginable is also possible.
      I am not sure, if I can go along with that statement. I do believe we are all connected by the same energy, however that doesn’t mean we experience that energy at the same level. Again, I think that is just fine, since I believe we need the difference, the Yin and Yang, the positive and the negative. To me, it will take more then imagination to achieve a better world.
      I do agree with your second approach, however…Enforce? We humans are still teens; tell us what we have to do and we won’t do it. Show our neighbors there is a way to reach more understanding, acceptance and in the end love is in this world, which has become so visually focused (tv, you-tube, internet). I think we talked about it the other day and now I think of it, yes, keep repeating it, that is indeed another way. However, also keep repeating/reminding of the flaws of the past too. The phrase ‘threat others the way you want to be treated’ comes to mind.
      Doesn’t that goal already exist? We can complicate it as much as we want, but in the end it is all about survival. Even if we chose to keep on fighting each other, if we go on like we do know, well, there won’t be much left to fight on (earth) and against ( extinction of all on earth). I don’t have all the answers yet either, but one of the reasons a person like Trump won is, in my humble opinion, because he used words ‘common’ people understood/understand.
      Hola, I now read your fourth point again…yes, that is exactly what I mean! Again, not sure if I am already at the right path, but your comment is absolute motivating. Thanks again Mathias!
      I still believe world peace is possible, but at the same time I am afraid we have to go to a whole lot worse first to reach that. Brexit, Trump, Erdogan, melting poles, increasing fires, tsunami’s, earth quakes and the world still seems to be in denial. Although I must admit, people like yourself…my hope increases too!

      Liked by 1 person

      • Hi Patty.
        Great, you’ve beaten the length of my comment. And very much appreciated to have such a lively discussion. I feel that you really care about peace and are taking the efforts to find out the reasons, explore options, and stay motivated. That is awesome.
        One point that I’d like to comment this time: I agree that Trump speaks the ‘common’ people language, unfortunately the vocabulary of hate. But there is also the very ‘common’ language of love. Maybe it is about cycles, and after it got worse (as you mention too), time for a more positive attitude will come again too. Maybe we can accelerate that process a bit, or support a quick recovery hopefully soon. And, as you do, I still believe (and will always believe), that humanity can evolve and will master new strategies for a peaceful survival. Let’s work, and see … All the best!

        Liked by 1 person

          • wauw dat is een mooi geschreven stuk, dat zouden alle wereldleiders en trouwens eigenlijk iedereen eens moeten lezen. Ik hoop met je mee dat het ooit gaat gebeuren die wereldvrede maar denk van niet zeker niet met deze idioten die nu aan de macht zijn.

            Liked by 1 person

          • Dank je wel! Tja, ik ben er ook cynisch over, zoals je hebt kunnen lezen. Echter is het wederom tijd om iets te doen, dus dacht ik…laat ik dit artikel eens vertalen 😉 Daar was ik trouwens langer mee bezig, als het orgineel destijds, pffff
            Tja, niet iedereen in mijn ogen is een idioot..respect voor de Mexicaans president, dat hij tegen Trump ingaat bijvoorbeeld. We gaan het zien, maar we kunnen ook best veel doen 😉
            Fijn weekend Hillechien! En nogmaals dank voor je tijd en reactie, XxX

            Like

          • in die van mij ook niet allemaal idioten maar zo’n ventje als Trump daar moet de wereld toch echt mee uitkijken denk ik. respect overigens voor de Mexicaan ook van deze zijde hoor

            Liked by 1 person

          • ik hoop met je mee, heb het idee dat die zelf nooit gedacht had dat die een kans maakte maar tja de mensen hebben gekozen hè

            Liked by 1 person

  2. I came across your post via David Snape and really wanted to touch base with a like minded human.
    A little while back I put my thoughts into words and wanted to share them with you, so here goes:-

    “I look at the world today, and wonder. what went wrong and how did we end up this way.

    In the beginning when man was new, we lived in harmony with the planet, and its other
    inhabitants. We hunted and gathered, like all other creatures we took what we needed to survive from the abundant supply available. We respected the right of other species occupying
    this planet, we did not go out of our way to destroy their food sources, and avoided endangering
    their future.

    But at some point in the last few thousand years, we decided that the planet was in existence
    purely for our benefit, and we, “the superior species” could do as we wished, and take whatever we wanted.

    We cut down forests, the home to many species, to till the soil and grow crops, and in doing so
    denied many other species of their food supply, eventually wiping them out. The abundant supply of food now available to human led of course to a substantial increase in the human
    population at the expense of others.

    Other creatures sharing our planet continued to take only what they needed. The Lion sort
    the antelope to feed his family, took only one from the herd, and allowed the others to survive.

    As the human population grew, more land was needed to grow more crops to feed more humans, and so on and on it went. The environment of more and more of the other species
    sharing our planet was destroyed to make way for the needs of human.

    Now we must add to this, the foibles of the human. They became hungry for more, greed became endemic. To this end, power and control became important. The powerful could
    control the food sources and hence control the ever growing population. Fighting ensued,
    and divisions amongst the human population took place. Humans became divided by colour,
    region or belief. The powerful introduced various forms of fear mongering to control their
    regions. Religion was chief amongst the devices used to control the masses. The invented
    fear of retribution by an angry “GOD” became the tool of control. The divided population
    became more and more competitive, their group needed to be more aggressive in an effort to control their region, and wars where fought over territory. All the while we destroyed more
    and more of our fellow inhabitants on the planet and took over more and more of the available
    food source regions.

    We are conducting a war against our planet. There is a natural law of survival and coexistence that existed before our time and remains today, but we humans refuse to accept its existence,
    believing that we are above such things, we may do as we like and are not prepared to accept the consequences.

    While we are the most advanced inhabitants of the planet, and we have access to huge amounts
    of technological knowledge, with this come RESPONSIBILITY and the need to be aware of the
    effects of our actions on our fellow inhabitants. Our responsibility extends to the need to ensure
    that the environment is right for other species on the planet to advance and grow as we have.”

    The world is in even worse shape now than when i first penned the above, and I despair for our future as there appears to be no will to change. Still it feels good to share with like minded humans.

    Regards
    Greg Weekes

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Greg,
      Thank you so much for this reply. Indeed, we have to take responsibility. About 10 years ago I developed sort of a personal vision:

      A Dreampack, is for me a way of life. One in which, in a respectful manner, the natural needs of a living being is fulfilled in the 21th century.
      A Dreampack, are for me also the souls who, together with me, form ‘my’ Dreampack.
      A Dreampack is for me also the place where I realize ‘my’ Dreampack.

      And first in Dutch, since last year in English I also developed a website about this…www.dreampack.com

      Yes, I feel that despair too. However, people like you reaching out, strengthen my believe, there are still beautiful souls who are willing to take responsibility and even fight for our wonderful earth.

      Again, I really appreciate your response and connecting with me!
      Kind regards,
      Patty

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  3. Hello! I appreciate this post so much. It resonates with a post I recently wrote regarding people so badly wanting to fit others into a specific box. I believe individuality is vital. We see the demise of people who want to be like others rather than celebrating their own beauty. It’s heartbreaking. I believe world peace and individuality is quite a feat but not impossible. We have to stay hopeful, right? So glad to have found your site! It’s wonderful.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Your article is illustrated in the first book of the Bible. I don’t believe the Bible is the “holy word of God,” but I do believe it contains some stories of human history, as passed down in verbal folk tradition by the earliest humans. It’s possible that each person mentioned in the Bible is a simplified representation of something larger. Adam and Eve were not two people, for example, but thousands of people each, the first men and women that went from being “animal-like,” talking to nature, and living without clothes, to the beginnings of “human-like” consciousness, as we know it. The story is that one of their sons killed the other son. This story may be a record of the first known war between two tribes. It wasn’t long after humans became conscious of life and death, wants and needs, emotions and opinions, that the wars began. Animals kill each other to survive, but not with the deep-rooted intention to rule over other animals, destroy them, enslave them, or have vengeance on them. We are indeed a unique species.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Eeks…my article is illustrated in the first book of the Bible…not sure how to feel about that, haha
      Or maybe, Sunday school left a greater mark in my being, as I thought it had…
      Anyways, maybe we all should go back to the base…just survive and don’t over-analyze. But hey,who am I kidding…we are human beings 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      • Haha…I absolutely did not mean it in a religious sense, though! More of a “history of human beliefs” kind of things. I was just picking up on your illustration of how different beliefs do come together and make some universal points. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

Looking forward to connect with my neighbors !

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