Paths, Peace and Community

In response to the colonel's last post, I'm going to see if I can flesh out the intertwinings and divergences of my cosmology with taoism.

The idea of the Path, which I had not considered before, is entirely helpful in understanding Out There. I am not sure, due to my unfamiliarity with taoist thought, if the Path is a singular term meant to offer guidance to all, or more uniquely shaped depending on the subject. When applied to my ideas, however, I believe that it is the latter. The Path is singular to an individual. In a previous brainstorm that I never got around to posting, I wrote that one must align themselves with "the cosmic whole" - I had yet to develop a concept of Out There - in order to know inner peace. This is not to preach homogeneity, however, there are myriad paths (and some non-paths) that lead to the Peace.

I do believe in a flow of energy akin to yin and yang, and to these ideas I would attach no "good" or "evil" labels. They are, instead, simply positive and negative in the mathematical sense, not morally or ethically. This is where I diverge from taoism, though. The Fear is indeed negative, and not mathematically. The Fear produces reactions in those it affects which can be destructive both to the particular subject and to humanity as a whole. While it may not necessarily be evil, it is most certainly dangerous.

I have started to think that one of the ways in which subjects today might reach the Peace, or at least inner peace, is through a sense of community like the one the colonel hinted at toward the end of his post. Politically speaking, I find myself more and more drawn to communalism - which is to say, relatively small societies based on self-sufficiency and mutual respect among their inhabitants.

In answer to the question ending the colonel's post, I would say there are actually two answers. The first is, simply, yes, there is a difference. Inner peace is individual, Peace itself cannot in any way be individual. On the other hand - no. They are not different. I gave some thought to this, and in the sense that each subject is a microcosm of Out There, inner peace for an individual can represent the Peace on a larger scale. I'm sure that sometime in the future I'll have to qualify this again, but for now it'll do.

Finally, going back to the idea of communalism - is it possible? Is a shift of society to living in smaller, close-knit and self sufficient communities still doable given the massive distance between subjects in today's world? I had a conversation about this the other day, and the only answer I could get was that it was "easier said than done." Well, fucking right it is. But take a look at the history of mother earth tell me that we've only ever done what is easy. It would be ridiculous to believe that we always take the easy way out - that view, in my humble opinion, is a result of the distance we feel between ourselves and others. We are essentially self-interested, but that doesn't mean that the terms of the conversation cannot be changed to rip the self-interested door off its hinges and clear the way to believing in ourselves - with an emphasis on "our" - again.

So. What creates this distance? Is there any way to remedy it?

-the ambassador