Tags
“The Importance of Selfishness”, “The Real Human Beings”, Calvin Luther Martin, compassion, genocide, giving, greed, indigenous cultures, Karma, kindness, Native Americans, self interest, Thanksgiving
By Dean Henderson
I like the concept of Thanksgiving, though the history is rightly associated with the Native American genocide at the hands of Euro-banker mercenaries. Thanksgiving should serve as a metaphor for the kindness which the “real human beings” embody.
Those European expeditions, financed by the inbred Sangreal (bloodline) Illuminati Kings, were designed to decimate indigenous people and, more importantly, their collectivist worldview, which still today serves as a roadblock on the bankers’ path towards world domination.
The best book I’ve read lately is The Real Human Beings by Calvin Luther Martin. A well-known Rutgers history professor, Martin tired of the academic climber scene, quit his job and went to live with the Yupic people near Bethel, Alaska.
Martin’s book speaks of two very different realities, which cannot be reconciled. As such, the indigenous reality has been continually discredited, suppressed and physically attacked by the invader reality. It is a story of givers and takers- a tale of a people who see themselves a part of nature and a people who see themselves separate from nature.
While the latter group outwardly appears arrogant and superior — inside they are haunted by the guilt, shame and fear that result from this alienation from nature.
Where this last group went wrong is the subject of countless books and much debate. Quantum physics has become a major thorn in their intellectual side- a sweeping indictment of the notion of objectivity which serves as the foundation of Western invader “science”. Here is another small piece of the puzzle dissected in a paper I wrote titled The Importance of Selfishness. The argument goes something like this:
Indigenous cultures hold a high regard for gift-giving. The Lakota Sioux and most Plains tribes have a giveaway ceremony. The Northwest Athabaskan tribes practice this same tradition through potlatches. In Ituri Pygmy society the hunter who makes the kill always eats last. In all hunting and gathering societies there is an understanding that giving is a means of gaining respect and is thus the ultimate act of selfishness. In such a society one’s self-interest coincides with the interests of the tribe, destroying the dualistic Western invader notion of self which facilitated the rise of Homer and Aristotle and other purveyors of the merits of pirate capitalism.
This same metaphysical harmony exists in all the world’s major religions. Hindu doctrine espouses a circular notion of karma, whereby a person — through good deeds and purity of heart — accumulates nirvana or enlightenment. Nirvana ultimately translates into being reincarnated into a higher caste in one’s next life, so acquiring karma through giving is most definitely in one’s self-interest. Tibetan Buddhism — along with its counterparts Taoism, Confucianism and Shintoism — goes even further down the road of selfishness. The Dalai Lama teaches that compassion towards oneself is the primary component of compassion towards others and towards life in general — that self-interest is equal to the interest of the whole. Early Christian sects believed that giving alms would result in eternal salvation. The modern day passing of the tray at most churches symbolizes the notion that through giving one can attain Heaven. Islamic and Jewish laws contain similar non-dualistic ideas on the subject.
So what caused the emergence of this guilt and shame-ridden duality in Western scientific and cultural circles? The reason probably has more to do with economics than it does with philosophical underpinnings or scientific consistency, though at some point the three became inextricably linked. The market began dictating and funding a certain brand of science and philosophy to perpetuate the consolidation of international monopoly capitalism. It is instructive that when scientists cynically rail against the evils of human nature, while their philosopher cohorts chant down self-interest, both camps are quick to cite unjust economic schemes and relationships as their example. Rarely do they mention that these schemes seem to be confined to modern Western capitalist societies, where a skewed framework based on duality encourages the split between self-interest and altruism. Nor do they broach the question of whether greed is, on a long-term basis, a truly selfish act or one of self-destruction. Their self-censorship keeps them well-paid spokespersons for the oligarchy, which profits from this mockery of logic via its never-ending international capitalist shakedown cruise.
In indigenous cultures and pre-industrial societies- where buying and selling occurred only at a local level- the economy was based on sharing, reciprocation and an egalitarian dispersal of resources. Those whose kindness was greatest were honored and respected leaders of their communities. Since there was no perceived duality between the interest of oneself and the interests of the whole tribe, the village worldview remained un-fractured and intact- reinforcing a loving, sharing integration with all living things, rather than the defensive violent separatism which has accompanied the rise of industrial capitalism. When resources are derived at a local level it is obvious that any hoarding of goods results in the demise of both community and self. Self-interest is furthered reinforced by a healthy respect for the ecosystem that sustains everyone. One must give back to the soil and thank all hunted animals and gathered plants. Without reciprocity survival is imperiled.
As commerce moved beyond a local level, it needed justification for the short term greed which propelled it outward. Self-interest increasingly came to be viewed in terms of money and property. A class system emerged. Equality and sharing gave way to colonization of resources in far-away foreign lands and the exploitation of cheap labor through a rigged international monetary system. Western invader philosophies which promote dualism and atomism are myths fashioned to rationalize this colonization process. Self-interest became associated with this cunning colonial approach to attaining wealth, so that potential competition could be intellectually snuffed out. This supposed self-interest is now played out daily on the world’s stock exchanges and in corporate boardrooms around the world.
As capitalism reaches its final phase and internationalizes further, one can expect even darker views of self-interest and human nature to emerge, foisting additional guilt and confusion upon an increasingly fractured and shattered people. Self-destructive tendencies will become more prevalent as people become more alienated from the wholeness of self and from the planet- which operates on a basis on whole cycles. Amusement, distraction and titillation- all products of self-hatred- will become the norm. Failure to recognize these delusions will result in increased destruction of both the planet and its increasing “not-real human beings”. Perhaps these deadly myths can only be destroyed if the economic structure which spawned them- namely monopoly capitalism- is itself destroyed.
A Lakota proverb says it best, “We are not much, but we are a whole lot more than nothing.”
Love yourself, so that you can love your family, your neighbor, your community, your state, your country, your world and your Mother Earth. Hoka Hey! Happy Thanksgiving!
Dean Henderson is the author of four books: Big Oil & Their Bankers in the Persian Gulf: Four Horsemen, Eight Families & Their Global Intelligence, Narcotics & Terror Network, The Grateful Unrich: Revolution in 50 Countries, Das Kartell der Federal Reserve and Stickin’ it to the Matrix. You can subscribe free to his weekly Left Hook column at deanhenderson.wordpress.com
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