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SECURITY........There’s a word to think about. A friendly, benign word...something we all want. What could be the harm in it?... Power, greed, manipulation, oppression, control...these are words to beware of are they not? Words like those make all kinds of unsavory linkages to other words like: lying, cheating, stealing, killing...words we’ve been trying to overcome forever. Everyone understands the need to do battle with these words. We are taught from day one that they are wrong; in church, in schools, from our parents...and yet they persist, seemingly, as strong as ever...why? A human defect of course...Human Nature...the thing that drives all of us. But what is Human Nature? It has the potential to be the great social leveler...the thing that connects us all. If for the sake of argument we could accept the notion written in Christianity and other religions, that we are composed of multiple vices and virtues, and that we all have the capacity for great good, great evil...or both...then, we could begin this discussion from a perspective of equality. We are each of us, our own planet, complete with a whole wealth of resources. It’s what we do with those resources that complicates things. There are basic things we all need...food, water, air...but, we need other things too...a place to call home, someone to share it with, children, and a way to provide for ourselves ...these things and legions of others require the one big thing we all need...SECURITY. It’s the ground from which all things grow...notice I didn’t say good things, but rather, ALL things...good, bad and indifferent. If you think about it, security is every bit as primary as air, water or food, because as with these, we can’t survive without it. The moral dilemma of the word security as I see it is this: we absolutely must have it in order to survive...even at the expense of others. In other words we will do whatever is required to insure security for ourselves first and foremost . From this point other things come into play for example: is my security enhanced if other people are secure as well? Will working to make sure that everyone’s needs are equally met enhance my security? Is it reasonable to assume that that can always happen? What if it can’t? Will that be a threat to my security?...and...How can I work to control that? Remember control...the friendliest word in the first list? Control is inexorably linked to security...without it, it’s hard to have any (security). And so it seems to start at the tiniest level...the jockeying for control to maintain security. So you can see quite early on it becomes a matter of who’s jockeying for control...and will my interests best be served by working with them, or against them. If I choose to help those doing the jockeying, by working to oppress others through various acts of manipulation...for example, creating a situation where my opposition ends up fighting amongst themselves...then I’ll be on the side with the power. Power helps me retain control...control is security. Why would I turn my back on my neighbors? Many reasons...fear...being beaten, being killed...lack of control...lack of security. Greed...promises of wealth and power...or...promises of security. It’s this word ...security...and our concepts of it that need to be analyzed if we are to make any real progress towards the goal of peace and global justice. I’m painting this argument with broad strokes to illustrate some very simple ways that we engage in the act of survival...in no way am I suggesting that this is how we act ALL the time, or that we ALL act this way, or that when or if we do act this way...we do so to this degree. The reality is much more complex. To finish my incomplete metaphor: each human being is his or her own planet, traveling through a solar system made up of societies, orbiting a sun called security. All the laws of any given society, both natural and unnatural work differently on different societies... and we know that there are many different societies. However the one common pull for all these societies, working to keep them in a constant orbit and, indeed, all of us as individuals, is security. Webster’s Dictionary describes security as: freedom from danger, freedom from fear or anxiety, or, freedom from want or deprivation. All these definitions do a pretty good job of describing worthy goals, but are they ever truly attainable? Is anyone ever truly free from danger, or anxiety? Does anyone ever have everything they could ever want? What are the pitfalls of really going after these things as the dictionary states them? Or...is there another road... Do those who choose to attain unfair power and exert it over the lives of others ever reach a point where they feel more secure? Or as they work to consolidate that power in a never ending quest for more security; do they become even more fearful of loosing what they’ve fought so hard to attain. If in seeking security one group ends up dominating and oppressing one or many other groups; wouldn’t it be a natural thing if the first group started fearing a reprisal from the second group? And wouldn’t it be natural for the second group to engage in acts of reprisal? What if that fear of reprisal actually caused the first group to oppress the second group even more...even to the brink of destroying that group? Would the first group then feel more secure...would they be free from anxiety? As we look at the disparity between what we want from life, and what we have, knowing the state of the world...do we feel more secure? What is it with this word...security...that we won’t share it with each other? Is it that we can only see if we are on a mountain top, looking down...towering over the rest of humanity. Is there any natural force that could work to help maintain our equality with one another without one group achieving dominance? Do we as common people feel more secure for having placed trust in the leaders of our own country? Or... is it just a way to avoid having to look at ourselves. |
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