Do we have the power?

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.
- Benjamin Disraeli

In most cases, power is what you achieve by causing others to submit to your will. That inevitably means the sacrifice of some part of a person's free will.

A person who has lost some of his free will is crippled. His soul, the part of him that is his real being (not just his body), is crippled. His weakness is emphasized by virtue of comparison to the strength of the powerful person, the person in control.

It could be said that every democracy is effectively a dictatorship. The person with the power controls the words and the votes of those elected under him. No law is passed without being approved by the most powerful person.

What we have today is not unlike what existed in the Dark Ages, only tidied up a bit, and the cultural groups are much larger. And people aren't killed for disagreeing with others. Except maybe in Russia and the Middle East. Oh, and China and the Stans. And Ukraine.

All great civilizations of the past were built on a base of military power. In the 21st century and beyond, such empires will not be possible. Some people in every part of the world are prepared to sacrifice their own lives to make sure that any country that attempts to control others by military might will be destabilized through acts of "terrorism."

Disraeli said that we can help people by revealing their strengths to themselves. That includes giving them the power to control their own lives.

Those who feel they control their own lives will want to work together with others who feel the same. This could provide a base for a great civilization based on people who work together for the mutual benefit of every one of them.

This is not socialism, but a new phase of humanity.

No one, no society, will become truly great by making some of its people small.

We need to help each other up. We need to help each other to learn our strengths.

Together we have strengths to be a great civilization. On our own, we have the strengths only to survive under the power of our leaders.

Few leaders are prepared to put the welfare of their people ahead of their own best interests. But then, we do not teach that as a goal to strive for.

We could teach that. It works.

Bill Allin
Turning It Around: Causes and Cures for Today's Epidemic Social Problems, striving to light the path for those who want improvement.
Learn more at http://billallin.com