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Considering Wisdom #55
A weekly newsletter from BobBarnardnm.com
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Please share this with your friends so we can encourage others to consider wisdom.
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Thoughts on the intersection of Society/Culture, Productivity/You, and Wisdom/Knowledge.
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Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom – and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech. Benjamin Franklin
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My week is settling into days of meetings, days with no meetings, empty days for writing, and other days for errands. A normal week for everyone. My Physical therapist agrees I have balance issues and is helping with exercise. I will know I have improved enough to quit when I can walk heel to toe without falling. (Today, I couldn’t pass a field sobriety test.)
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We had a little excitement when golfing this week. We interrupted his time in the sun.
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A three-foot rattlesnake.
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We are not born for ourselves alone. Marcus Tullius Cicero
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Who are we born for if not ourselves? This is an interesting thought that goes to the very fabric of the world and how you see it. This flies in the face of the divisions we see in our world and country today, although you could assume that you are born for those only in your tribe or country or who think like you.
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But I would posit that that kind of thinking is much too limiting.
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Another way of looking at this, which is even more limiting but that is used to justify many bad actions, is that we are born for our families. It is Families first. No one else matters or knows anything.
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But I would suggest that a broader view is called for here. We are not born for ourselves alone but for all people despite any artificial lines that are drawn by others, especially in the United States, where we define ourselves as believing in equality. We fall short of making this a reality in our lives, but we must strive for it.
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So, what does or should equality for all mean? In the context that we are not born for ourselves alone, it should mean that we treat everyone equally. We are courteous to all and don’t ignore anyone because of who they are. This is a tall order. As I grew up, we were mostly taught to be courteous to people in authority- police, elected officials, and successful people, but not necessarily to all people. Society defined second-class people- those born on the wrong side of the track, those beneath your economic level. And now we have societal divisions based on political party, liberals, conservatives, professional and labor, etc.
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And then there is the concept of neighbors.
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Who are our neighbors? Those people we care about and should care for if they are in need. And there are many in need in this country and the world. In Las Cruces, we have children who don’t have homes to live in and are trying to attend school. We have homeless people on the streets. We have people who don’t get enough to eat. So, do we turn aside or recognize that we are born to help all those in need?
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1. How often do we ignore those that are different from us?
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2. How often do we waste our resources when we should be helping others?
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3. The problems in our society are huge; how do I contribute to making them smaller?
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1. Donate excess clothes to the homeless shelters.
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2. List three ways you can be less wasteful by doing things purposefully.
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3. Think of ways to publicize and encourage people to help.
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