Left / right? Difference?

Are you seriously considering moderate left-wing Policies in the UK to socialist economics in Venezuela? Seriously? You believe that do you? And similarly, do you believe that anyone that votes for a hard Brexit wants to bring back Nazi style concentration camps for immigrants? Are you mad? I've heard it all over the last few years/days. On one side of the spectrum we have people shouting about community, core values, helping the disadvantaged and striving in life, and on the other hand we have a sort of similar thought too, but starting with our own countrymen. Never before have I seen a world more divided; blinded by their own Political sway to see the cold stark truth in front of them. It benefits people in power for us to be firmly divided. They've had to do this right? Who knows what would have happened if Facebook actually brought us together, fortified us through our goals and brought an uprising like the world has never seen before.

At the end of the day each and every one of us is human. We exist in this world motivated by our own gain in some form or another. Nothing we ever do is motivated by selflessness. In fact, I have come to believe that there is no such feeling as selflessness. Take me for example, even after I do a good deed for someone my veins soak up the good feeling I get from that good deed like a water starved desert dweller hunting for his next drink. A selfless act motivated by selfish needs to feel good. Whether we sit on the left of the right of Politics we're all selfishly motivated to some point regardless of which way you look at it. A disabled family member may want to see better rights for disabled people, or a debt stricken businessman that isn't allowed any financial help may be duped into thinking that it's everyone’s prerogative to struggle alone.

Selfish Motivations

Which brings me to the conclusion that we are all motivated by what we think that we deserve. A person that's not receiving the outcome that they'd hoped from in life may become angry and resentful at other successful people, or similarly a successful person may dedicate a great amount of time to charity because they feel that they receive more than they deserve; Bill gates being notorious for this. His charitable efforts have had far reaches. I know through a lifetime in the voluntary sector that we can purchase his goods at a drastically knocked down price, and, occasionally free.

For many years I slipped into depression. My intended outcome for life is not what my reality was. I suffered from depression for many years, mainly because I had envisioned myself as being rich and successful, married and with a family, but I had lived for the most part of my life alone, penniless and isolated. A hard burden to bare for anyone. Which is why I really don't believe in Politics of the deserving. People that are poor do not deserve to be poor, even if they are happy living a life of such. It tells me that the system is so unfairly stacked up against their favour that a lifetime of poverty is sometimes the best some will get. We tell people that "If only you did what I did you'll be happy" "seize the day" and yes, I am on occasion prone to doing so, but what we miss is that circumstances are unique and people are different. I know myself that I am one of the privileged few that had a glimpse and a taste of what the good life was like. My Aunties were all successful and happy. I knew something had to give way in my life to change it for the better. Some people don't have that option, or know no other way.

The rich and powerful

We argue that people with vast amounts of money rule over this world with an uncaring attitude and keep minions in their place to serve their needs. Although I really don't agree with that mentality I do understand it slightly. They were born to an entirely different set of circumstances than what I was, or you were. I had to struggle for food on some days but I expect someone like Bill Gates can barely understand the pressures of seeking a home outwith his price range. We are a people that haven't worked as hard as he has, in his mind he deserves more than the African water boy breaking his back walking and travelling 20 miles to get his family the water that they need to survive daily. In my eyes they both work hard, both of them, but in a different way.

Money. Money is the tool that divides us on such an uncaring scale and has been witness to some of the most gross inequalities of the modern world. If there was no money there would be no wars, no inequality, no Politics of the deserving and no bullshit. There would be more equality than there ever has been since a time that money came into fruition. People would be more inclined to help each other on a compassionate scale and then, we would definitely see a Politics of the deserving. Those that worked hard would be paid off for their work. A harvest of crops, for instance.

The Human Condition

I just can't underestimate the human ambition to lead and to follow. We were never this ambitious in caveman times but that was because there were a lot less of us, and humans didn't really get along outside of their own communities. Since we've seen the rise of vast communities and global communication we've seen great leaders with millions of followers. I myself, love to follow a good few of them. No matter what type of community we create, a hierarchy will always present itself and people will follow blindly as well as others will challenge leadership in quest for power. Have we outgrown ourselves? Can we evolve to embrace our differences on a global scale? Those are questions that I keep asking myself.

I like to think I'm trying my hardest to embrace everyone on an equal scale; that I'm learning and giving way to a path of understanding and enlightenment. I'm learning to understand people based on circumstances, background and social stance rather than jumping on the bandwagon with pitchforks out at what I see in front of me.

Sometimes I feel I'm too much of an idealist

Call me an idealist but I'd love to see a world where we all survive together in harmony. Where we are at peace with one another and we respect that which makes us all different. I'd love to see the gross inequalities stamped out but I'd also like to see those that make the extra effort be rewarded for their extra time. I'd just love for a better world. For the right and the left to come together and stand as one.

I know, wishful thinking.

As Charles Darwin famously noted,

It is not those that lead that will survive the test of time; it will be those that are able to adapt and be at one with the changing environment around them