News roundup, June 2018

The biggest news in the world so far this year is probably the staunch conservative political turn here in the USA, reminiscent of the resource fixation, egocentric leadership, saber-rattling, disgust, and contempt that led humanity into world wars one and two last century… so that’s the focus of this short mid-year news summary: the ultraconservative trend here in the States.

First, let’s put conservatism into perspective.

If you took all the liberals and conservatives in the world and separated them into two groups, what do you think would be the biggest neurochemical difference that set them apart?

Likely answer: How disgusted they are.

A scientific study this year mirrors an earlier study that finds that conservatives are more inclined to be 1) repulsed by things they find disgusting and 2) roused by political leaders whose demeanor mirrors that disgust.

Which would explain why a big segment of America today, taken over by conservative politics, is filled with contempt toward those whom the conservatives find disgusting: the homeless, the poor, the migrants, environmental activists, proponents of workers’ rights and alternative energy, gays, out-spoken women in leadership positions, bleeding-heart liberals, the United Nations….

There’s a part of our savage human disposition, a survival mechanism, that compels a big segment of the population to be disgusted by things that might pose a danger to our tribes, communities, and nations… and mob disgust rears its ugly head at times when a group feels threatened.

The disgust response is as much a basic part of our human nature as is the urge to fight our enemies or the urge to have sex with someone we find desirable.

So I’d be presumptuous to say it’s good or bad or right or wrong to be disgusted, to fight, or to follow one’s sexual urges… but I can say this with some certainty:

It’s savage.

It’s part of the savage disposition that helps us carnal humans survive in a savage world, and it often goes in direct opposition to the spiritual or noble part of us that compels us to love and trust each other, and to help others who are less fortunate.

Our noble side is that eternal, spiritual part of us that embodies the true destiny of mankind and our personal spiritual fate. At least I hope, for humanity’s sake, that it’s our noble, spiritual part that holds our fate. It’s our spiritual core that pulls us toward the light… into situations and realms of peace and order.

Our savage side is that brief (span-of-a-lifetime), volatile part of us that helps us to survive the rigors of Earth. It invariably pulls us into darkness… into situations and realms of chaos and conflict.

One thing I’ve learned in my spiritual research is that all souls everywhere are free to make their own choices, but we should bear in mind the simple, timeless truth:

Noble choices endow us with light, peace and order, while savage choices pull us into darkness, chaos, and conflict. Not just in this life but the next.

If that’s the case, it’s easy to predict that the conservative turn of America will lead this nation and its neighbors around the world into greater darkness, chaos, and conflict in the coming years.

Again, I would be presumptuous to call the current turn to conservatism good or bad or right or wrong, considering that much of human history on Earth has been wrapped up in darkness, chaos, and conflict… but it’s certainly a savage turn.

It’s a savage choice the USA has made, and it will have painful consequences for the nation and for the world… and especially for the conservative political leaders and their power brokers who’re leading us down this path of darkness.

Refresher:

• Noble values include love, honesty, trust, good will, concern for the less fortunate, service to the community, and the betterment of humanity (these are the values that motivate the finer spirit within us);
• Savage values include fear, deception, mistrust, contempt, selfishness, thievery, and callousness (these are the values that motivate our hormone-driven outer shell, our carnal body).