A Guest Blog by William Nelson
Some say there is nothing new under the sun, and there is a lot of truth to that, but is it ultimately true? We can never know for sure because the ‘something new’ by it’s very nature will come as a surprise, if we already believe that there is ‘nothing new’ under the sun.
The rest of this article contains nothing new for those who have taken the trouble to really think about and examine the issue, but it is my hope that I have presented it in a refreshing new light, or else put a refreshingly different light/spin on the matter of responsibility.
We (humans) must think about who we are. If we really think about this consistently and deeply, on and on over time, it becomes a meditation. Some recoil at the word ‘meditation’ associating it with Eastern and therefore unfamiliar religions/philosophies, but if you take the literal meaning of the word meditation ‘concentrate/focus’ then we are all meditating when we consider and think about things deeply, consistently over time. Think about it. Many, for whatever reason would like to say that they do not and have never meditated, because it’s against their religion or whatever other reason they might have, but, again, if you define mediation literally and divorce it from what the individual may be meditating/focusing his mind on, then we all meditate and we do it quite a bit. But I will come back to this later.
Who am I? Who are we? Why am I here? What is all this? (Universe, reality, existence etc) These questions, if we really think about them deeply and consistently, on and on over time, i.e. meditate on them as individuals, we will come to the answer, as I have. Independent of any established philosophy, religion or school of thought, though the answer will be infused with aspects of each individual’s culture and heritage, it will ultimately be the same for everyone.
Who am I? I am the son of my father and mother. I am also an individual in my own right. But who was my father? He was the son of his father and mother, and also an individual in his own right. Who was my mother? She is the daughter of her mother and father as well as being an individual in her own right as well. Without going very far back down the line, I can already see that I am first of all an individual in my own right, but also have elements of my father, mother, paternal grand-father and grand-mother and maternal grand father grand-mother! Six other individuals. It is necessary for each of us to think about this more. We could not have come into existence without our parents. We have elements of our parents in us and they have elements of their parents going back to the first Man. This I believe formed the logical underpinnings of ancestor worship, the ones that came before. Remember that this is true for all individuals in existence today, so eventually we trace who we are to the first Man and Woman.
But who were they? Who were their parents? Where did they come from? Did they spontaneously emerge on a fully formed Earth, already populated with animals and plants and minerals ready and waiting for them? This is something our form of knowledge can never fully explain. It is a matter of faith. However if one continues to think deeply, and consistently on this, a realization emerges that one has elements of all one’s ancestors going back to the first human, but at the same time has his or her own individuality. Who is that individual really? Only the individual psyche can truly answer that question satisfactorily, but I assure you of this, if the question ‘Who am I?’ is consistently thought about, deeply, consistently, over time, an answer does emerge. That answer is ‘I Am Who I Am’. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. Gone thru the entire, deep thought i.e. meditatative process.
But wait, what does all this have to with the Inescapable Responsibility? We are responsible, people. We are responsible for what we do. We are responsible for what we don’t do. Many of us don’t like this Truth. This Awesome, Magnificent, yet burdensome and exacting Truth. But if we are ‘Who We Are’ then responsibility is inescapable whether we like it or not. Millions choose the idea of an all encompassing God and less powerful Devil to take on this responsibility, to take this truly awesome weight off our shoulders. We have always said to ourselves ‘Its in God’s hands. It’s destiny, It’s nature.’ Anybody, anything but, us as individuals is responsible, should take responsibility. That works, and it for many of us, is not only a solution but the ‘right’ solution. But I beg to differ, we are responsible, individually and collectively whether we use the notion of a Higher Power or capricious Nature to skirt this responsibility.
The inescapable fact of existence is that our actions produce results. We know this, yet continue to flinch from taking responsibility for our actions. As a corollary we tend to neglect the fact that we are responsible for our inaction as well, and also flinch from taking responsibility for that as well. When I wake up on a Saturday for instance I might have some coffee, eggs, bacon and toast as well as some orange juice for breakfast. We usually don’t think (deeply) about where the food comes from. We usually don’t think further than say the supermarket or grocery store where we purchased the items. But let’s go a little deeper here. The bacon is the flesh of a pig, an animal, we found on this planet, much the same way we found ourselves on this planet. Over many years thru trial and error, we found that the flesh of this particular animal was quite tasty when prepared in different ways, and we love pork, and we buy it and eat it in various dishes. But do we think about the animal’s life? The whole chain of events and cause and effect that led to it, or part of it ending up on our plate? This is important not because I want to preach about animal cruelty and the virtue or vice of eating pork. Humans will make those decisions anyway. It’s important to help us further understand what responsibility is. By buying that pork/bacon we are responsible for that animal’s death.
‘Huh?! What are you talking about? I didn’t kill it! In fact between you and me, I didn’t even know that pork came from animals let alone pigs. Hey, and even if I am ultimately responsible for it’s death, it’s food! I gotta eat. I gotta feed my family. Better the pig than me.’ All these responses are perfectly valid reasons, responses, justifications, excuses. I am not casting or apportioning blame or accusing anyone of doing anything wrong. I am just saying that when we eat pork we are responsible for that animal’s death. We are also responsible for the whole industry and supply chain that went into the production and delivery of that pork to our breakfast table. Remember when I say responsible, I am not casting blame or moral fault of any kind, just establishing responsibility.
Can responsibility exist apart from fault or blame? I feel it can. As long as we are clear in our minds what we are/ are not responsible for. As long as we can objectively approximate the extent to which we are individually and collectively responsible for eating the pork and the (consequences of eating/not eating pork), we should be okay. The problem is we cannot or do not. If we did, there would be no need for me to write this article, and indeed the world would be a much better place, by several orders of magnitude.
The current situations we find ourselves in, collectively and individually, is akin to someone eating the pork/bacon every weekend or every day and then saying , ‘I had nothing to do with that pig’s death. Or indeed I had so little do with it’s death, that it’s ridiculous to say that I am an in anyway responsible for it.’ ‘ Look all I did was go to Safeway or Giant and get me some bacon. I did not kill that pig. Indeed I feel for pigs. They are very intelligent creatures, greedy yes, but very intelligent. They love their young, take care of them, make good pets etc.’
When pressed another might say,’ look I know we gotta kill them. How can we eat them if we don’t kill them? Whoever heard of eating bacon without killing the pig? I mean if we could kill them without suffering and pain, I’m all for it. Anyway moving on..’
Another might say ‘Look, I’m just a small person, with a lot of problems of my own, there’s nothing I can do about how pigs are killed or whether they are killed or not, I focus on my problems and what’s in front of me at any moment, and anyway I don’t eat bacon, I prefer burgers myself.’
Yet others might say, ‘What can you do, if you tell them not kill pigs, they’ll think you’re unpatriotic or something? So what are you saying? Look, I eat pork, but only a little bit , so how can you really say I’m responsible?
Another may say ‘What do you want me to do about it? Only other kinds of animals not pigs should die, so I might live? Are you some kind of vegetarian? Is that what you are? I’ll report you to National Security. Hey, I’m even thinking of making a citizens arrest here.’
‘The Devil made me eat this pork.’
‘Do you want humans to starve? If we didn’t kill and eat that pig some other animal would kill and eat it. We did it a favor. It was dying anyway, it had cancer. There were too many of them, we eat them to keep things in balance. God said we must eat pigs. Next thing you’ll be telling me I’m responsible for all the other animal’s deaths as well. I don’t eat chicken, am I responsible for that?’
This could go and on. Don’t these answers sound similar to the answers reasons we give in other situations? Aren’t these responses similar to all the reasons/ answers we use to avoid taking responsibility? The fact remains that we are responsible for that pig’s death. If we eat the bacon, and if we support or allow others to eat the bacon. Not just the pig’s death, but the whole industry involved with raising, feeding, killing and transporting that pig to our plate. Remember the object here is not about taking this or that moral position, or a position that we think is moral, the objective here is a deeper, more consistent understanding of responsibility. The inescapable truth is this: If we did not kill that pig and eat it, it would still be alive today or have died of other causes not related to becoming fodder for humans.
Someone who knows, and who says ‘I am Who I Am’ would understand that when he or she felt the desire (not necessity)) for pork, that some pig was going to have to die as a result of that desire. I call it a desire not necessity, because we can always eat other things, it is not necessary to eat pork. Knowing this, that person would be honest with himself and others, and approach his/her pork eating with more clarity and enjoyment. When faced with the consequence of consuming pork, mass pig deaths, and the awful pig farm pollution in this country, the human diseases and disorders, said individual/s, would be ready and willing to accept responsibility for the damage to the environment as a result. Would be wiling to accept the personal illness if any and costs associated with their pork consumption Would be willing to pay for and clean up that damage, because they were honest and clear about their desire for pork causing the deaths and the pollution, and all the human sickness.
The problem is since we don’t know who we are, we throw up all the reasons, statements and attitudes given above in a bid to avoid taking responsibility for the consequences of our desire to consume pork, even while enjoying the pleasures of pork.
You may be forgiven for thinking this is an anti-pork article and that writer has something against eating pork and killing pigs, but you would be wrong. This is an article about the inescapable responsibility and the need for us as a species to understand and take responsibility for our actions and or (inaction) and in case you missed it is also about meditation and a better understanding of The Self. The fact that the pork issue can readily be substituted with just about any modern politically contentious issue is merely coincidental.
Bio: Mr. William Nelson is a free-lance writer. He has written four screen plays several short stories and a novella all of which he hopes to publish in the near future. Mr. Nelson can be reached via email at hypnos63@yahoo.com