Nihilism, the pragmatic operating philosophy of virtually every
government, corporation and research university is a belief in
disbelief, is a philosophy of meaninglessness, including the too
self-defeating assumption that might makes right. Like many
disasters, Nihilism began with the finest of intentions.
European scientists between 1880 and 1920 were seriously
examining the earth and the universe for clues about matter and
life. They peered outward toward the stars and galaxies with
better telescopes and inward with microscopes, to learn many
cosmic truths. Researchers like Planck, Mach, Koch, the Curies,
Freud, Bohr, Darwin and Einstein used a new way of looking for
knowledge. They called it the scientific method that stressed
facts rather than faith. They were right of course. I don’t want
to cross the Pacific Ocean in an aircraft designed according to
the undisputed brilliance of Thomas Jefferson. Secular nihilism
developed out of Prussian brutality and became deeply embedded
in fiercely secular German universities. It was a major tragedy
as Herman Hesse had his character Heller say in his great
existential novel STEPPENWULF, the brutal beast that walks
upright (man). Hesse was a member of the lost generation that
came of age in the bloody trenches of World War I - the
generation that lost faith in European institutions for
deceiving the people so badly. Heller lamented -- There come
times when entire generations are trapped between eras --not
knowing what to believe -- whom to trust in their search for
life.
In other words, be careful
what you choose to believe because the following
nihilistic, scientist, pragmatic, opportunistic assumptions are
crippling to human health.
SELF FOCUS - Rank the following in
order of their destructive potential in your life.
1. Humans collectively form a resource to be shaped as needed by
government and business, rather than being persons to be
cherished because of their intrinsic worth.
2. Human spirituality is an ancient superstition rather than a
normal aspect of existence that Frankl called the spiritual
unconscious.
3. In seeking human progress, the successful completion of
important projects justifies any and all methods used to reach
society's goals.
4. The earth is a resource to be developed whenever and wherever
desired rather than the home of life as we know it.
5. Each nation's rulers in government, commerce and science
should be trusted to do what is right because they have better
knowledge than the people they command and control.
6. Because life is the result of a great cosmic accident,
individual lives and families are basically meaningless unless
they serve the state or some profitable purpose.
7. Persons who do not fit into the pragmatic views of an
industrial society are worthless and expendable as North
American Indians were when they could not be enslaved.
8. When enough persons and organizations become opportunistic in
their philosophy of operations, doing what they can get away
with, taking everything they are strong enough to keep, a
secular miracle occurs in which the entire society finds greater
satisfaction.
BEYOND SECULAR PRAGMATISM
In the early days of World War
II, when Japan's politicians were developing political ties with
the Nazi's of Germany, Lithuanian police teams were
enthusiastically rounding up Jewish families for shipment in
cattle cars to the death camps that spread like terrible tumors
across Europe. The Japanese Baltic counsul was Sempo Sugihara,
an unpretentious little Foggy Bottom type civil servant who
never dreamed of challenging the powerful movers and shakers who
were leading his country toward disaster in a war they could not
win. When this perfect office clerk, who even ate his lunch at
his desk, discovered what the cruel anti-Semitic Balts were
doing, he exploded in indignation and resolved to do better than
his government who'd ordered him to assist the Nazis every way
he could. Sugihara established a secret escape route across
Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express Railway to Shanghai and to
Hong Kong. He forged passports and visas, lied to Lithuanian and
German officials with his bland Asiatic smile, used money from
his office accounts and sent thousands of Jewish families to
safety despite the increasingly shrill protests from the Tokyo
office. When he was finally dragged home in disgrace, wearing
chains, he declined disemboweling himself in a ritual suicide
for disobeying orders. It was not until years after his heroism
that I discovered that Sempo Sugihara came out of the community
of Nagasaki that deliberately stressed ethical values and
responsible choices. Just to keep the record straight -- that
was the community the U.S. Army Air Forces, in which Jard
served, vaporized at ground zero with the second nuclear bomb.
SELF FOCUS - Rank the
following in their order of importance to you.
1. Develop and widely use
throughout your life and its activities a sound philosophy of
service that creates first class citizenship for all who help
you succeed, through an equitable sharing of the physical,
psychological and philosophical rewards of commitment.
2.
Strive for a sense of belonging in supportive communal groups
by gathering women and men into small, intimate teams such as
business growth centers, clubs or training classes, through
which they find consistent satisfaction by accomplishing
meaningful tasks or sharing satisfying activities with people
who are important to themselves personally.
3.
Draw all the people into the decision making processes of the
group, for then the decisions become their own choices rather
than something imposed by outsiders who don't really
understand what is going on in the trenches where the real
work is being accomplished.
4.
Establish ways of dealing with stress and conflict before the
organization becomes dysfunctional and suicidal because the
vested interest groups prefer personal possessions, power and
prestige far more than group purpose, performance,
productivity and profits.
5.
Empower persons to mature by sharing responsibilities and
rewards. Avoid open-ended assignments that burn out men and
women in a few years, by rewarding self-development and
creativity, and by sharing the emotional results of being a
true member in a good team.
6.
Master the principle of human motivation -- it's a fact that
people seek the relationships and continue the activities that
reward them personally, while rejecting attitudes, activities
and relationships that cause pain or fail to benefit
themselves consistently.
7.
Keep communications open by refusing to let a few fearful or
greedy persons in some chain of command block the flow of
vital information up or down for their own reasons, since
collectively, the members of a group have total knowledge of
what must be done to consistently succeed.
8.
Set the stage for people at all levels of organizational
responsibility and reward to find consistent satisfaction by
connecting personal fulfillment to organizational greatness.
9.
If you haven't the knowledge and wisdom to achieve through
serving society in some area, have the decency to get out of
the way and stop harming a group of good people who deserve
better of life.
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