Humanity Has Failed

I have been thinking a lot recently about the world around me. Maybe I have a unique perspective, or maybe I am just disgusted by what i see. I thought id share this unique perspective with DP and see what you think.

From a grand perspective at this point I have come to the final conclusion that humanity as a whole has completely failed. (with a few exceptions here and there).

To better explain how I came to this conclusion let me submit the following fact:

It is a basic human essential to:

a. Eat
b. Be clothed
c. Be sheltered from the elements
d. Be able to provide for ones offspring

To deny any human any one of these items for any extended period of time is to kill them.

Now lets consider our world, more specifically our country. We have evolved a system where to obtain ANY of the above human essentials it requires monetary payment for them. There are exceptions to this rule but generally the american way is to get a job in order to "provide or sustain".

Gone mostly are the days where you can willfully (without a permit, license, or allowance) hunt your own food, sheer a sheep and make your own clothing or create your own dwelling for shelter.

Couple this with the concept that the most accepted way to make an income and obtain basic essentials mean you need "gainful employment". Not to say there are not other ways but generally now days if you want to provide a life, not of utter poverty you will most likely need to work. And with restrictions the way they are starting a small business is hard to say the least (if not impossible for someone currently impoverished)

I am not sure the exact figures in percentage but just about every position I have applied for performs a comprehensive criminal background check. And most if not all will deny you if you have a criminal history on file.

In our country today there are hundreds of thousands of laws on the books. 88,000 added last year alone, not to mention we have by far the largest population of incarcerated people in the world. This information does not include the number of people with a previous criminal history. Generally speaking the number of people who have ever been in trouble with the "law" is staggering.

As we increase the number of "Social" crimes we also increase the number of criminals being prosecuted. As such we increase the number of people with a criminal history.

Due to the current track trace, database etc life. We also increase the number of people who cannot find decent income based on their criminal history.

In sum we are denying large portions of humanity the very basic essentials in life by simply calling them a criminal in a database somewhere.

How can a world of deny its people basic essentials based on set of laws or rules that may or may not even be just. How can we turn our backs on food clothing and shelter for those who need it based sheerly on the notion that they broke a social law?

Before judging I ask you to look at the laws on the books today and tell me how many felonies you have committed today without even knowing about it. There were some great writeups about this recently which some lawyers did to show that most people commit 3 felonies a day without even knowing it.

If there is a god I would imagine he would be appalled at our lack of integrity, morals, and most of all our lack of humanity. Our willingness to dictate others basic human needs based on mob rule mentality and our utter lack of compassion for others in the world.

I would imagine that any intelligent being out there in the universe would see this world for the crap that it is and shun us based on our own ignorance and stupidity.

What are your thoughts?

reply to post by KineticX


Humanity has failed?

Because of, if I'm reading this correctly, materialism? Or at least partly because of...?

You need to look on the other side of the coin.

Go to a museum and take a gander at artwork that speaks to the soul with in all of us. The quiet loveliness of a garden with flowers in riotous bloom. Man and nature working together...again, speaking to the soul within all of us.

The kindness of strangers who help without expectation of return. They help because they can, or even must.

I know the darkness sometimes seems all encompassing at times, God knows I feel that way all too often...but humanity has a light side, too. One that seems to come out when it's needed the most. That's been my experience, anyway...

Yet we manage to deny each other basic human necessities based on a set of social values and rules which are made by corrupt individuals on a power trip. We strive to oust those from society who think critically, question authority and protest injustice.

We beat, pepper spray and stomp on those who think, act creatively or express themselves. We think oddly of those who look different, act different and are different.

We criminalize homelessness, have corrupt charities, and prop up morally bankrupt individuals who have their own greed in mind.


Please tell me what materialism has to do with this? Please tell me how we deny sheer basics of food clothing and shelter to those who would break the status quo.


Yes my friend we failed. Regardless of how many pretty pictures we paint in a museum or what wonderful arts we have. As a whole we failed.

I see good in humanity everyday at work, random acts of kindness in the street all the time.
We are far from perfect and have failed in many aspects but it is an ongoing thing we strive to be better, individually and socially.
The only time we can say we have completely failed is If we destroy ourselves.
Sometimes the little things we do are the most important.

reply to post by KineticX

Humanity Has Failed

Oh yes, indeed it has... and not just here in this age.

Our species has had numerous, repeated occasion s which could have been applied to rising above itself. But, as history clearly shows, we sidestep those opportunities... leaving the greater to suffer for the benefit of the few.

That's our story, as a matter of fact. We choose not to learn a thing from the past except, perhaps, how to repeat our worst mistakes.

Hmmm maybe you see things i dont. Or maybe for you the small things outweigh the big ones. I dont see random acts of kindness i see stupidity and willful ignorance to the obvious. I see people only caring about themselves and as a race i would argue we can fail in an overall nature long before we destroy ourselves. Destruction isnt always a sign of failure. Its often a sign of a rebirth. As for our "evolution" what once we had we lost, what was once free is no longer.

Sounds like life has beaten you down OP, we all get like this at one point or another but don't give in even If you think humanity has failed It doesn't mean you have to.
Chin up, the glass can be half full If you change your perception.

reply to post by KineticX


All that is true, to our very great shame. I don't deny that in the least. But you seem to be denying the very real acts of kindness that happen all around you, every day. No, most of them don't change the world...or maybe, just maybe, they keep the world from being an even darker place then it is?

Ordinary acts of kindness, the ones that brighten an otherwise horrid day. The attractive young woman, or young man, who cheerfully help you change the tire on your car? Happened to me, a few months ago. Didn't need to, just did.

The older man who tutors college kids in literature, and history. Doesn't have to, just does... The examples are as endless as the darker ones we see in the news all the live long day...

I help out where I can... I don't expect anything in return, and almost always receive it , but I don't do it because of any reward...I do it because I can.

My own little attempts at making the world just a little better, one person at a time... Who knows? Maybe I've helped the next great social changer? Or inspired him/her to become one... But whether or not that is the case, I help because I can.

Yes, the world is dark, sometimes hideously so... But so, too, are there blindingly bright bursts of light brought on by acts of kindness. Don't deny those, because that's as much a part of our humanity as the dark.

Actually im personally doing OK. I was thinking about this as i contemplate taking a new job with a larger income.. I wondered for a minute about the current way things are and about how so many others dont have what I do and not really through any fault of their own but in a lot of cases circumstance. I came to this realization that others are being barred from obtaining what I currently have and i didnt see that as good humanity.

reply to post by KineticX


Not barred exactly... But I understand what you mean, and it sucks. So we help those who we can help. We can't help them all, more's the pity... But if we set an example? Who knows what might happen?

It hurts when you/we see something like that...it really does. Especially when it's kids who have so much ahead of them...so we help, because we must.

As I said, I do what I can. If we all do what we can? The world becomes a better place. But we can't make 'em help, can we? So, set an example. It's all we can do...

Like building a rock wall, the process is the same. Each stone represents some action or achievement on behalf of human beings. Overtime, some rocks on the wall will fall; that is, certain articulations of rocks will not support that of the rocks above them.

That being the case; when they do fall , they fall into a position which is stronger and more stable then when they were first articulated.

In regards to you assertion that humanity has failed; I do not believe so. I believe a couple of rocks have fallen.

Humanity fails and succeeds on a daily basis in my mind, however as long as we have more successes than failures we will stay around
Perhaps if the teaching of young people in schools allowed a greater emphasis on compassion and the betterment of the group as opposed to individuals we may progress to a more equal life sooner we may be able to encourage humans to help each other as the norm as oppose to enjoying one upmanship but on the whole I think we still could get to the point where we nearly all get along and see the fantastic planet that we share for what it is, our one chance one go place of one life
Maybe we can all get a bit more pleasure from life without involving vast amounts of money,waste or other excesses lets hope so

reply to post by KineticX

You present a rather bleak perspective but that does not make it untrue. There are many others that feel the same, or very similar, to what you present here, a failure of humanity.
Given the unfettered political-economic direction that America is in, and much of the rest of the industrialized world, it does appear that humanity is doomed. The truth in this matter is one that most do not like to hear and one that I have had a very tough time hearing and reading about myself. But as I have stated just because it is bleak does not make it untrue. Truth is all too often very painful to realize.


Another ATS member, dreamingawake, brought this author to my attention which I recently have been reading about, Chris Hedges.

Chris Hedges - Death of the Liberal Class


Here is the original link from the previous ATS thread.
Chris Hedges: Urban Poverty in America Made Me Question Everything

Well....the point of it all....is that there is no point.

We spend an overwhelming amount of our thought and effort trying to justify this life or this life condition...there is none.

I hear that "we are spirits having a human experience"..."we are hear to learn"...

Learn what? How to be cruel? How to sit idly by and watch multitudes suffer in pain and despair?

Sure, there are a few sparks of light out there...but they do not begin to make up for the darkness that IS mankind.

Tell yourself we are wonderful little goodie two shoes all you need...we have become one of the most horrible abominations that ever cursed this planet with it's presence.

We have the capacity to feed, clothe and shelter nearly everyone...but we don't. We use clever excuses like "if you just give it to them, it won't mean anything...they won't strive...they won't advance"...

Bunk...

A well fed, warm and secure mind dreams and invents...is more clever and bright....than a cold and hungry one.

So go on and tell yourself that greed is good...that the lust of money and materialism are "motivational"....that gluttony and envy is what has driven technology...perhaps so...but it is still a blight on the earth and one day we WILL have to answer for the coldness in our hearts toward our fellow man....we have failed socially...

The purpose of life is not the acquisition of "stuff"...if the purpose of life is not the extinction of suffering....then the purpose of life is...that there is no purpose.

We may candy coat the insanity and tell ourselves that we can only build bridges one stick at a time but in reality its not true and is simply a way of helping us all sleep at night.

I like the next guy try to help as many people in as many areas as I can. Yet I still cant help but wonder if maybe this idea of human culture and free society is just a sick joke or scientific experiment. One similar to a person watching the rise and fall of an ant empire in an ant farm. I often wonder if humanity is the result of a cruel scientific experiment and if God / Supreme Alien being is up there laughing or disgusted by our follies.

Ive seen people do some pretty wonderful and pretty awful things in my life. More than i care to remember. Ive seen greed ruin friendships and materialistic gluttony destroy families.

Sometimes the truth is hard to face and I can understand that. However the truth is the truth and it at some point has to be reconciled with.

I strive to better myself in as many ways as I can. Learn more, read more, create things etc. I take pride in my family and raising my kids in a way that they can grow and learn the same way I have. I try to teach morals and values and integrity. To me thats all I really can do to plant hope for the future.

reply to post by KineticX


I´m going to disagree, we haven´t failed.
We haven´t even tried.
Just same stuff in a different package since day one.

Originally posted by KineticX

... Maybe I have a unique perspective, or maybe I am just disgusted...
...I thought id share this unique perspective with...
....From a grand perspective at this point I have come to....
...If there is a god I would imagine...
...I would imagine that any intelligent being out there...

What are your thoughts?

My thoughts? Your OP is filled with a lot of I, I, I, i'd, I, I and I. This is the problem with the world today. Too many people are too busy promoting themselves and how great they are and posting a thousand pictures that they took of themselves on their facebooks (which in reality is solely a tool to encourage narcissism). People are so arrogantly filled with this overinflated, egotistical opinion of themselves - thinking that the rest of the world is the problem while they are the ones with the grand solution. Everyone wants everyone else to do the changing, to do the donating, to do the helping and the hard work. If you want change in the world - be the change that you demand others to be. Don't sit there in your warm comfortable house filled with food, cars, nice clothing, and all the other nice things you probably have and bitch on a public forum about what others are not doing. Go set an example and don't brag about it.

People of the world need to be concerned with what they themselves are doing and quit obsessing over what others are not doing - then and only then will the world begin to change for the better.

reply to post by Damian65


A few sparks? It only takes one to light a candle. It only takes one to light a warming fire.

Someone once said "'tis better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness."

Mankind can be a dark, dark creature...we see that on the news every day. Hour after hour. The sparks seem few, and far between..., and so small in comparison to the overwhelming darkness around us.

T.S. Eliot says it better than I ever could...

O Light Invisible, we praise Thee!
Too bright for mortal vision.

O Greater Light, we praise Thee for the less;
The eastern light our spires touch at morning,
The light that slants upon our western doors at evening,
The twilight over stagnant pools at batflight,
Moon light and star light, owl and moth light,
Glow-worm glowlight on a grassblade.
O Light Invisible, we worship Thee!

We thank Thee for the light that we have kindled,
The light of altar and of sanctuary;
Small lights of those who meditate at midnight
And lights directed through the coloured panes of windows
And light reflected from the polished stone,
The gilded carven wood, the coloured fresco.
Our gaze is submarine, our eyes look upward
And see the light that fractures through unquiet water.
We see the light but see not whence it comes.
O Light Invisible, we glorify Thee!

Being human is a struggle against our darkness, a struggle to stay on the side of the light. Ying, and yang. It's not easy. Maybe it's not supposed to be...

Darkness is our lot only if we allow it to be.

Humanity has failed only when we all give up to our dark nature. I've not done so, and while I fail from time to time, I'm not quite ready to give in to the dark...or to claim that we've failed.

reply to post by KineticX


"Fail" would imply that we had a goal to begin with. And we didn't. We, as a species, just "are". If we want to set up goals and whatnot, fine. But failing is only by our standards.


As it regards your other points....it would seem that anyone can feed, shelter, and clothe themselves should they so choose by avoiding human mercantile, etc. However, it is easier to get a job and buy clothes than to make them from scratch yourself.

You participate in society because you choose to. If you want to stop, just take up somewhere in the remote reaches of the wilderness, and go about it. You can then stop failing.

Originally posted by seagull
reply to post by Damian65

 

A few sparks? It only takes one to light a candle. It only takes one to light a warming fire.

Someone once said "'tis better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness."

Mankind can be a dark, dark creature...we see that on the news every day. Hour after hour. The sparks seem few, and far between..., and so small in comparison to the overwhelming darkness around us.

T.S. Eliot says it better than I ever could...

O Light Invisible, we praise Thee!
Too bright for mortal vision.

O Greater Light, we praise Thee for the less;
The eastern light our spires touch at morning,
The light that slants upon our western doors at evening,
The twilight over stagnant pools at batflight,
Moon light and star light, owl and moth light,
Glow-worm glowlight on a grassblade.
O Light Invisible, we worship Thee!

We thank Thee for the light that we have kindled,
The light of altar and of sanctuary;
Small lights of those who meditate at midnight
And lights directed through the coloured panes of windows
And light reflected from the polished stone,
The gilded carven wood, the coloured fresco.
Our gaze is submarine, our eyes look upward
And see the light that fractures through unquiet water.
We see the light but see not whence it comes.
O Light Invisible, we glorify Thee!

Being human is a struggle against our darkness, a struggle to stay on the side of the light. Ying, and yang. It's not easy. Maybe it's not supposed to be...

Darkness is our lot only if we allow it to be.

Humanity has failed only when we all give up to our dark nature. I've not done so, and while I fail from time to time, I'm not quite ready to give in to the dark...or to claim that we've failed.

I appreciate your sentiment, I really do. I did at least acknowledge that there are some sparks of light in the darkness.

In my opinion, we are on a slide...an avalanche into societal collapse. Each new generation is more selfish and self indulged than the last. As long as we embrace the worst parts of ourselves and then tell ourselves it's Ok...everyone is doing it...it will continue to get worse.

I have all but completely lost hope in humanity. I go to public places and watch the people and it aches my heart. Some, I can just see and feel the pain on their faces...others, I can see the arrogance and selfishness. I have come to avoid large crowds, the pain and disgust I simultaneously feel makes me less than enthusiastic to go to places like the mall.

I can completely understand the OP's sentiments...perhaps slightly different but overall, the same general idea.

I can't really explain more about what my eyes see...some smart @ss (that is exactly the type I am talking about) will try to justify that which cannot be justified. They are obviously nailed between the eyes with the description of moral decay and the embrace of the animal nature...they think it's ok so why is it not ok?

We may be animals, but we have the capacity to rise above that....but the larger part of humanity has chosen not to and instead, has chosen to wallow in the absolute worst parts of human nature. Greed, gluttony, lust, envy, anger pride and sloth.

I'm sorry if calling a duck a duck is bothersome to some people. Humankind are animals and getting worse...we are not evolving into the light...we are devolving into darkness.