Why, in the writer's view, do people seek personal possessions?
Freedom and selfishness
It is always the problem of how to change an ideal into reality that
gets in the way of both the leaders and the people. A thought is not a deed and
never will be.
We are not magic men. We cannot imagine something into
existence - especially a change of behaviour. Just as we have been conditioned
to be what we are now - greedy, competitive, stingy, mean - so we need to learn
to love, to learn to be free.
Freedom is a difficult thing to handle. How
many people given the complete freedom to do whatever they like would die of
boredom? No structure, no rules, no compulsion to work from nine to five, no
one telling us when to do this, do that - it sounds great until we try it.
We've learned to be directed by so many others - by mommy, daddy, teacher,
principal, boss, policeman, politician, bureaucrat, etc. - that freedom from
all this could be overwhelming. Imagine: making love, eating, sleeping, playing
... and ... ho, hum, now what? Where do you go and what do you do when the trip
ends?
Give people freedom and they'll do all the things they thought
they never had a chance to do. But that won't take very long. And after
that? After that, my friend, it'll be time to make your life
meaningful.
Can you do it if you're free? Can you do it if others no
longer require you to do what they say is best? Authority is only necessary for
those who need it. Most of us need it because we've been taught to believe
that we have to be concerned about others. For instance: 'You're
selfish if you think of yourself,' or even: 'Ask not what your
country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.'
Sorry
friends, but that's all Christian, authoritarian, manipulative bullshit.
You've got to get in touch with what your real needs are before you can
begin to be of value to others. The other-directedness of Americans that is
promoted by mom, God, and the flag has pushed us to the precipice of Fascism in
this country. We are no longer able to think for ourselves, we think for the
'good' of others. 'Who am I?', 'What do I really want
out of life?' These are considered selfish questions. So a whole society
goes down the drain. So it is with communes, whose members are too eager to
help their curious 'brothers,' who find it remarkably easy to create
all kinds of physical and figurative mess and then leave it for the members to
clean up.
Challenges to this traditional, other-directed, do-gooder mystique
are met with admonitions and scoldings: 'Why are you so selfish, all the
time thinking only about yourself? Don't you have any regard for the
rights of others?' (The intent and frequent effect of such a question is
to make one feel guilty and consequently willing to conform to the
'altruistic' wishes of others.) And because we have become so
confused about what is really important to us as individuals, we believe these
admonitions - and with good reason. Our demands are indeed 'selfish'.
As we are no longer capable of knowing who we really are, we are compelled and
desire to be like someone (everyone) else. We feel we must have money, a new
car, power, position, prestige, and an all too material sense of personal
worth.
(From Communes USA by Richard Fairfield)
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