Part of our being human is the fact that we are capable of much higher thought than other animals are capable of. Our thoughts are not just shaped by instinct and purpose, but also by a higher level of consciousness capable of vetoing some actions that many may consider the most reasonable. For example, if a burglar came into your house with a gun and threatened to kill you, by the time you overcame the burglar and have his own gun pointing at him, you would hesitate to end his life. A dog however, will have no trouble pulling the trigger without a second thought. Many animals eat their babies too when faced with a food shortage. I believe many of you who read this blog would twitch at the idea.
But it seems this is the way we humans are heading towards now. Most of us seem to be bent on overridding our consciousness in order to be capable of greater personal achievement. Take drug lords for example, and how they continually sell drugs that leave victims addicted and threaten them for exorbitant payment. It does the drug dealer a lot of good, but none whatsoever on the part of the consumer. People actually admire them, to be really frank, for being able to carry out unthinkable things for the sake of wealth. Similar things occur in China, but on a larger scale. Take milk for example. Time and time again we hear of banks relying on taxpayer money to survive, paying out massive bonuses to their higher ranking staff without batting an eye, and then coming back to threaten for more money. The opposing parties in USA’s congress are usually bent on block each others’ policies not for the sake of preventing the government from doing anything stupid, but to make sure that they get their cut.
These things don’t just occur when there’s a lot of money to be had, and it doesn’t mean that you could suddenly get rich beyond your imaginations by doing something inconsiderate. It happens at all levels of society! Students get poached by people from better schools using scholarship money just to bring the school’s name up, coughing without covering your mouth in front of other people, not turning off the tap while you are brushing your teeth, burning an open fire in the middle of a summer drought. Are just those things that people do because they did not use the very ability that distinguishes them from the animals they subordinate. Being aware of consequences is a habit that we humans MUST foster if we really want to call ourselves human. My favorite quote of all time sums this all up:
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use” - Galileo Galilei
Its really a wonder why so many people around us, and influential people at that, don’t even make use of this very ability we have to think about other people to help people! Are we human not because we are considerate, but we can forgive ourselves for being selfish?
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