The Revolution Is a Relay Race

Column by JGVibes.
 
For many centuries, the dismal state of civilization has been largely ignored by those who have had to live through it.  The pain, depression and confusion that can come from admitting the twisted nature of our day to day existence has been far too much for most people to cope with, so throughout history, people have created extremely complex justifications and rationalizations for the violence and insanity that was taking place around them.  This is how our species has gotten to where it is today, with numerous brutal empires stretching across the entire globe, to the point where there is no longer anywhere to escape to.  With the general population in a constant state of denial for many generations, the people and organizations that controlled the world's land and resources have been able to consolidate their power with minimal resistance.  This is a process that has been taking place since the dawn of civilization, from the times of human sacrifice and divine rule.
 
People oftentimes make the mistake of thinking that the revolution started right at the moment when they found out about it.  In reality,  the battle between freedom and enslavement has been raging for centuries, and has played out like a relay race where each generation passes the mission along to the next.  The only problem is that those on the side of freedom have not had the ability to participate in this process.  For the better part of history, the general population was illiterate and poorly educated, making it that much more difficult to immortalize their side of the story and their ideas for future generations.
 
Meanwhile, those who sought to enslave humanity were very familiar with planning beyond their own time, as it often took many generations to complete large projects, such as palaces, bridges and monuments.  Military conquests were known to take several generations as well.  The ruling class has always been accustomed to long term plans and goals that outlasted their own lifetimes.  Sadly, with most of humanity living a survival-based existence for the better part of history, it has been hard for people to see past their next meal, so looking into future lifetimes was probably not very common.
 
Although, at least in the past there was some sort of concern for the world that was being left behind for the unborn, even though there was still widespread confusion and indoctrination.  Nowadays with the extremely sophisticated mental conditioning made possible through the media and government schools, people have been trained to live as if they were the last generation on earth.  On top of that, people continue to pass along the mentality of their oppressors onto their children as their ancestors had onto them.  Luckily, thanks to the widespread decentralization of information that has been made possible by the internet, there are more people than ever who are starting to question the society that they were born into.
 
This is definitely a great victory in the struggle for freedom, but unfortunately many people become depressed and discouraged when coming to the reality of their existence.  A world of peace and rationality seems like such a total stretch of the imagination because it is drastically different from what we experience today, but that doesn’t mean that this world is impossible.
 
Every generation there are many drastic paradigm shifts that radically alter the way that people interact with each other, and for the most part all throughout human history these shifts have contributed to a slow, upward progression towards a more peaceful world.  Unfortunately, tragedies like mass murder, slavery and subjugation do still take place, but they are getting harder and harder to justify because our species is in the process of evolving beyond the type of mentalities that trigger this kind of behavior.
 
When approached from this perspective, it becomes obvious that freedom and peace is inevitable for our species.  That does not mean that you should just sit back and wait for it to happen, because the more people who get involved and put their intellect and energy towards outgrowing the violent social systems that we were all born into, the faster it will actually happen.
 
By noting that the struggle we are facing is a multigenerational one, I am in no way saying that our generation can’t make great progress in our lifetime and lay a solid foundation for a free society while we are here on earth.  I am simply making the point that although it may seem like this moment in time is the climax of the human story, every person who is alive right now was born into an age old revolution that will eventually be passed onto future generations to carry on. That’s how things really are when you think about the big picture.  This doesn’t just apply to parents and their children; anyone who has the potential to develop and share an idea has the potential to help lay the foundation for the first free society that ever existed.