Unless and until we come to accept and appreciate the unity we share by virtue of being the remarkably fortunate children of mother Earth, we will persist in feeling unsettled and lonely and to behave abysmally. As long as we cling to the notion of alienation from and superiority to our relatives, we will act to confirm our depravity. It is the cherished illusion of "specialness" which creates and ensures "awfulness".
I miss Carl Sagan...and I miss my sister.
9 comments:
Great video, and summation too.
I sometimes wonder though if at the root of our species' superiority complex lies a pool of insecurity and conflicted feelings of inferiority, which are so painful for us to deal with that we take it out on other animal beings instead.
Thank you for commenting HGV. I'm thoroughly tainted with the psychoanalytic tendency to look at any extreme stance as possibly being one motivated by a maneuvering away from an opposite potent but disavowed/denied urge. The pantheon of defense-mechanisms includes the strangely (I've always thought) named "Reaction Formation". Wikipedia includes this phrase in the definition: "...a defensive process (defense mechanism) in which emotions and impulses which are anxiety-producing or perceived to be unacceptable are mastered by exaggeration (hypertrophy) of the directly opposing tendency."
I've found awareness of this unconscious tactic to be useful in trying to understand behavior from some humans. Televangelists and politicians especially (e.g., Jimmy Swaggert).
I'm firmly convinced that some of the driving force behind our murderous history toward our sister/brother Earthlings is attributable to our attempt to deny/disavow our own animality and our subservience to the natural world. Couple that with a serious inferiority complex (which anyone with one eye and half a brain would apprehend) engendered by our obvious deficiencies in grace, strength, speed, wisdom and beauty when we are compared to so many of our sister/brother animals...well...such a mixture of denied avoidance and dismay can create monstrous behavior....and has (on our part).
You and I concur on your observation. :-)
I agree with you both. I think we're jealous of birds and mammals that fly without mechanical means, animals that run faster than we do, are more beautiful in their furred and feathered nakedness than we are, are more skilled in the arts (can you weave a spider's web or make an oriole's nest?), and smarter in many ways than we are.
I wish everyone would watch the Carl Sagan clip.
I love the 'vegan' image. Is it clip art, available to be reproduced?
Thank you for commenting Joan. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one whose thinking a lot of our mayhem is driven by envy.
I've sort of moved to the position that if someone puts it on the internet then it belongs to everyone (not, however, to make money off of) to use freely...provided profit isn't involved. So, do what you will...I saw it and was totally impressed with it and copied it into the post. One of the genuine pleasures of the vegan movement is how little the ugliness of profit has intruded upon it. If that ever changes significantly then we're probably in trouble.
Few illustrate better than Sagan of what the full potential of man could be. If only we were smart enough, courageous enough, and humble enough to ask the right questions. I'm not certain of any "purpose" either... But I'm totally positive that it's not to devour the earth or harm others while I'm here.
And for the good ones - They are never here long enough. Terribly sorry for your loss. :'(
Thank you for commenting Bea. If our "purpose" were to be to harm...then the sooner we're gone the better.
I appreciate your condolences. My older sister's death has left me feeling rather numb...this has been a terrible past few months because of her loss...and because of the loss of several fur people who were so very significant for me. The losses seem to stack up and become overwhelming at times.
I'm so sorry, veganelder, and I apologize for not acknowledging your loss in my earlier comment. And it's so much harder, isn't it, when the losses are multiple.
My dad passed away this summer quicker than we thought he would (less than two weeks after our last visit), and even though we weren't super close (his five kids grew up knowing that he wanted to leave the marriage as soon as the youngest of us -- myself -- hit 16), it's still unsettling when the first parent passes away. My oldest brother took it the hardest because he had more memories of him, but when his dog of 14 years whom he adored died three weeks later, it too felt overwhelming for him.
Please take good care of yourself while you grieve, and know that you are much admired, respected and loved within the vegan community. Hugs to you!
Thank you for commenting HGV. I appreciate your thoughts greatly.
I'm so sorry to hear that HGV - You're right, its awful when a (first) parent dies. I know, my Dad being gone September, fourteen years ago. He was quite the man with a big heart. :'(
I'm thinking like VE said, the losses stack up... It's like a links of chain isn't it? Each grief and loss connects to the ones in the past. I don't ever remember losing someone and not remembering the others gone before. So much to be said for loving in the moment. <3
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