Imagine

 

Its 181 days since the state of disaster was declared in South Africa and let’s face it we are not living in a harmonious world. In fact the world seems divided as ever. One might imagine that we could at lease unite around one common goal; the pandemic. The USA seems divided at a time and about issues that could have some dramatic and violent outcomes. Then again so is our country and so are many countries. As I ponder this sad truth, I think of a world united by a common set of values. The question is, “Would we all interpret the same value differently?” While many religions share common values, each religion has its own truths. How in goodness name can we create a common set of values? Well I have an idea and I don’t think it’ll offend anyone.

Imagine if everyone shared the values of truth, equality, compassion, freedom and courage and lived their lives in accordance with these values?

This is a list of secular values proposed by Yuval Noah Harari in his book “21 lessons for the 21^st century”. He also wrote Sapiens and Homo Deus which are great reads for the thinking person.

Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli public intellectual, historian and a professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His family was a secular Jewish family with Eastern European and Lebanese roots.

Harari, as a secular person, defines truth as provable facts. For example gravity is a truth. This immediately has the potential to offend many people whose truth is based on dogma, faith or belief. That’s ok, I say. Live your truth. The value of Truth, taken together with the other four values produce the more harmonious outcome most people wish for.

The second value, Equality simply asserts that all people are equal. Imagine the racism, misogyny and xenophobia and other bigoted, other-harming behaviors that are extinguished with this one shared value. On this point it is also interesting to note that not many people acknowledge their bigotry. Most people rationalize their other-group demeaning by citing “not like me” and often including a falsehood about the group and driving fear of the group. This is an old trick used since time immemorial, based on falsehood but with possibly one instance of truth attached to it. Today’s fake news dare I say. To use an innocuous example, I will make a relatively widely believed false statement that all Rottweilers are aggressive and vicious. Truth is that Chihuahuas, out of the 35 most common breeds are reported as the most aggressive. Rottweilers can be trained or antagonized to aggression but so can Labradors. Now imagine an Anti-Rottweiler Action Group based on this falsehood. Such is the irrational leap from equality and tolerance to bigotry.

Thirdly, Compassion. This calls on us to put ourselves in our fellow man’s shoes, to empathise and be kind. It’s not the same as pity which is disempowering and often demeaning. Compassion goes hand in hand with empowerment, accountability and truthfulness. I also believe this is very closely aligned with a wonderful principle of “do no harm to others”.

Now let’s think of Freedom. I love this one. The value of freedom refers to the freedom to apply our minds to an issue, truthfully, critically, compassionately and with a deep appreciation that all people are equal.

Lastly and so importantly: living your life aligned with the above four values requires courage. It requires courage to do what you know is right especially if those around you are behaving contrarily. This is where ethics and behavior intersect. Having the courage to do what’s right because it is the right thing to do. I must admit that I am disgusted and flummoxed by the number of instances in the news where people do things they do know are illegal, abhorrent, harming of others and against every sprit of our South African Constitution because of a populist view or a perceived entitlement based on the fact that others are doing it. The alleged corruption related to PPE gear sourcing is a case in point.

Having laid out my brief understanding of Harari’s proposed values, I aspire to live these values and am committed to giving it my very best shot. I do however ponder on how these values support my real respect for the natural environment and mankind’s need to fundamentally review our abuse of it. For me, the answer is deeply pragmatic. Nature will be fine and will survive, no matter how man abuses it. I am deeply saddened by much of the planet’s destruction but nature will evolve and survive.  However, if mankind continues to abuse our natural resources, it is mankind that will not continue to exist on this planet.

Please consider these ideas and be wise, be humble, be kind and be silly sometimes.

Finally, isn’t it amazing that the ideas of tolerance and thinking for yourself have come to mean exactly the opposite of their actual meaning? People often seem to behave as if tolerance and thinking for oneself only occur if one behaves and thinks like them. Clearly that is not what these ideas require.

On a positive note, , let’s all agree what a beautiful country we live in. Yesterday Cape Town and the wider Western Cape delivered the most wonderfully beautiful spring day. No wind anywhere and photies from far and wide showing the beauty of our spring. Postberg flowers, Cape Point Nature reserve, Table Mountain, Oudekraal, Knysna, Silvermine, Greyton and McGregor and the list goes on. Yes of course each photo had a bicycle or a cyclist but that simply adds heaps of enjoyment to the beauty. I think of it as our Jumping Castle of Life. What’s the value of an unjumped jumping castle?