What is peculiar about the human mind is that it drives things forward, it demands constant and perpetual progress and what we might call a “progressive environment.” When considering human progress, we really do have few options. The only alternative to progress is to decay and perish. As for the “social order”, the laws of nature are harsh and unforgiving. What is obsolescent has to be discarded and replaced through a regeneration process. Darwin was surely right when he described “the survival of the fittest” and “the selection process” as nature’s two important laws. These two laws reflect the intense competition for the top position. Only the fittest can occupy the top position and all others are removed when weakness is exhibited.
Challengers competing for the top position are seldom far away. Challengers stimulate regeneration – regeneration of the social order. I believe that God has given the world two very powerful tools, regeneration and evolution. Perhaps we can say the two are the same, they work together. The purpose of regeneration is evolution, and the purpose of evolution is regeneration. The natural outcome of the two is always progress – human progress. I would like to refer you to the progress we have made in the last ten thousand years.
For example, innovation and invention in warfare is a good indicator of our progress. After all, the weapons industry is most probably the biggest industry in the world. The reason for this is obvious: we are, first and foremost, predators and killers. Modern technology has only made us more proficient predators, with bigger and deadlier weapons. We like warfare; it is in our genes, in our blood. We like the rush of adrenalin as we hear the war drums beat. The reason we like war is because the insanities of war allow us to unleash our fury and savagery. This is the important function of war: we destroy the old world and we destroy the old and obsolescent social order. Nothing changes without war; nothing can change without war.
The old social order is collapsing in the Middle East. The struggle is likely to intensify and become more violent. Some regions of the Muslim world are already seeing an increase in the incidents of terrorism and suicide bombings, particularly Pakistan and the Middle East. Killing innocents is no doubt a crime, but “terror” is considered a weapon, a political weapon, and there are always political aims and goals behind each and every act of terrorism. We have often seen governments use terrorism to achieve political goals.
THE INDIVIDUAL
Russell Razzaque is a British psychiatrist and in his book titled Human Being to Human Bomb: The Conveyor Belt of Terror (ICON BOOKS LTD, 2008, LONDON) he has analysed the personality traits of 11th September 2001 and 7th July 2005 suicide bombers. He has tried to make sense of the motives for becoming a suicide bomber. His research has led him to look into the childhood and family backgrounds of the perpetrators as well as how they became suicide bombers. In his view, their upbringing plays a pivotal role. He identifies the lack of bonding between child and parent to be the main reason. I publish a few paragraphs from the book Human Being to Human Bomb:
In my opinion, however, this explains only a part of the phenomenon. I agree with Razzaque that an unhappy childhood does leave a big vacuum in the life of a human being. Weakness can easily make us prone to being exploited by those in positions of power. Those of us with flaws and weaknesses are at a higher risk of becoming pawns in a much bigger game. That’s all – pawns and nothing more. Suicide missions are not a modern phenomenon. In fact, suicide missions have always been part of warfare. During World War II, allied soldiers volunteered for missions behind enemy lines, knowing that their chances of returning alive were virtually zero. Yet, they freely volunteered, believing that it was the right thing to do.
 The right thing to do is of course “the cause” and it is “the cause” that arouses us in our battle against evil. We have a fascination with evil. It is part of the human psyche. “We fear evil, but we are fascinated by it. We create myths of evil conspiracies and come to believe them enough to mobilize forces against them”, argues Philip Zimbardo in his latest book The Lucifer Effect, How Good People Turn Evil (RIDER, 2007, LONDON). Zimbardo has written an invaluable reference book on a most important topic. It is a remarkable contribution to the study of evil and the causes of evil.
THE SYSTEM
Zimbardo’s work has led him to conclude that “institutions create mechanisms that translate ideology – say, the causes of evil.” True, the real culprit is the system that creates the conditions in which the crimes are committed. I do agree with Zimbardo. But the question arises: what is the system? Zimbardo’s view is clear. He believes it is the “power elite,” working behind the scenes, who create the conditions of life for the rest of us. It is the power elites who help create the conditions for war and peace. I have written about the power elites in my June 2007 article.
The title: THE CLASSES THAT SUBVERT PROGRESS
The URL: www.restoringthemind.com/newsdetail.php?newsid=8
I publish a few paragraphs from the book The Lucifer Effect:
The real control and real power resides with the system’s operators and guardians. And no one is allowed nor can be allowed to challenge the system. Charles Freeman, in his book AD 381: Heretics, Pagans and the Christian State (PIMILCO, 2008, LONDON), refers to Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) the famous philosopher and theologian and argues “even Aquinas lived under continual threat of excommunication.” Excommunication was a powerful weapon in the hands of the system’s operators and guardians, namely the church and the priestly class. A mere whisper of the word was enough to bring shivers down the spines of ordinary people as well as monarchs and statesmen. Today oppressed people in Pakistan and Middle East fear being labelled a “terrorist” by the operators and guardians of the obsolescent system. Nelson Mandela was also labelled a terrorist when he tried to challenge the obsolescent and oppressive system. However, Nelson Mandela did succeed in changing the social order eventually.
THE OBSOLESCENT
It is when power is concentrated in the hands of a few corrupt men that human progress is endangered. The Romans were only too happy when the Roman Empire collapsed, argues Terence Kealey in Sex, Science & Profits, How People Evolved to Make Money (WILLIAM HEINEMANN, 2008, LONDON). Perhaps this explains why the Arabs were so successful in expanding the borders of the Islamic world in its early days of expansion. The “system” is always more balanced in its beginnings – hence it’s more attractive.
The current situation in the Islamic world illustrates my argument. The Islamic world is being ruled by corrupt men, men refusing and rejecting progress. Therefore, I expect the coming upheaval (the purging process) in the Middle East to be severe in intensity. It is interesting to note that supporters of the Ottoman Empire (1299–1923) despise Kamal Pasha Ataturk for his role in dismantling the Ottoman Empire. In my view, what Kamal Pasha Ataturk did was only sensible and natural. The Ottoman Empire, or “the system,” had become obsolescent and dysfunctional. It had become unhealthy and backward. It was like a living carcass.
The Western “system” has also signs of obsolescence, and I would argue that it is now in the advanced stages of collapse. The system is trying to stay alive by restricting creativity and sucking the blood of Iraqis. Killing Iraqis is necessary to support the oil industry as well as the American automobile industry. The American system in fact opposes freedom, the most important ingredient for creativity and prosperity.
Whenever the system becomes obsolescent and dysfunctional it becomes a tool of oppression instead of progress. Then the system has to be challenged and pushed into collapse. The Roman, Greek and Ottoman Empires perished because progress had stopped. Nature’s two most powerful forces – evolution and regeneration – move to replace the existing social orders or systems. I would argue that the American social order is in the throes of a regeneration process – it is about to be replaced. A new world is waiting to emerge. I am confident that the new world will be less resistant to progress and a lot less dysfunctional than the previous world. |
