The wolf you feed.

The most dangerous person is one with nothing to fear.

This makes fear the greatest weapon.

But, we believe in fear of the unknown, the fear of change, more than we believe in the possibility of things becoming better.

Change is hard, even for the better.

We don’t want to accept it. With modern technology and communication, it is even easier to disseminate fear and lies.

We don’t have the attention span or initiative to actually find out the truth. If it is on television, the internet, or in the newspaper, then it must be true.

We accept what is handed to us with the docility of sheep.

It has become more urgent and more viable to do what is monetarily profitable, easier, and socially acceptable than to do what is right. What we prioritize and put energy into is what will come to fruition.

Or, to illustrate with a Native American proverb:

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life:

 

‘A fight is going on inside me,’ he said to the boy. ‘It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil—he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.’

 

He continued, ‘The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you—and inside every other person, too.’

 

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, ‘Which wolf will win?’

 

The old Cherokee simply replied, ‘The one you feed.’”

 

“Entropy is what the equations define it to be.”

~ Claude Shannon

I reckon I was born too late.

I should have been out in the wilds with Thoreau, Whitman, or sipped wine with Montaigne.

We are now stuck in our own systems: the war machine, global governance & sad political charades, healthcare, economics—none of which we quite understand, but we are all enslaved by them nonetheless.

We teach people in our universities how to specialize in a certain skill set and make a lot of money, but they don’t know how to really care about other people or the planet. This will be our great ruin: greed combined with lack of empathy.

“Entropy is what the equations define it to be.”

Empathy, then, is what defines us as evolved human beings.

*****

Read More: 

>> The only thing that doesn’t change.

>> Slapped by the truth. 

>> We are here to love & love hard every chance that we get. 

{Feed your empathy.}