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The failure of morals, ethics, values and ideals to
bring anything remotely resembling peace to this fair planet is legendary. Indeed the recently fashionable
ideal of ‘Human Rights’ serves to reinforce the rights of various ethnic, religious and territorial groups
to firstly hold conflicting beliefs and secondly to fight for those beliefs. Similarly the notion of
‘Justice’ gives credence to retribution thereby ensuring grievances between rival groups are rigorously
maintained for generation upon generation.
When appeals to morals and ethical values fail to
end human conflicts, temporary ceasefires are maintained – ultimately at the point of a gun. Whenever
conflict erupts again a truce is then renegotiated and a ceasefire reinforced and the whole cycle of
suppression, revenge, justice and retribution is set in motion yet again. Indeed, given the human
genetic-heritage of animal instinctual passions, it is a tribute to the human perseverance and stubborn will
that the species has survived and flourished as well as it has.
It is obvious that a new solution needs to be found,
for the traditional solution of instilling unliveable ethics, preaching pious morals and maintaining law and
order at the point of a gun has clearly failed in the past, is still failing, and always will fail to bring
actual peace on earth.
The next great challenge for human beings in this
time of increasing safety, comfort, leisure and pleasure is to eradicate and eliminate human malice and
sorrow. To do this means to actively challenge and confront the ‘mother of all beliefs’ – that ‘you
can’t change human nature’.
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