The Value of Human Life

   

    The summer Olympics of 2024 are in full swing!  A chance for the world to see the fittest, fastest, most impressive humans on earth - and to discover which country can bring home the most gold medals!  Great feats of human ability are on display as we watch athletes pushing past the boundaries of their capacity and giving everything they have to reach their dream- to compete and be proven the best in the world.

    But there is just one issue - they are not the best. They may be the fastest, most prepared, strongest or most psychologically focused than anyone else in the world - but not the best. Why?

    Because, despite what our competitive upbringing and environment tell us - the natural fact is that no one is better than anyone else in this life. We are all equal as humans - a life is a life. A life given will have its joys and sorrows, ups and downs, simple pleasures and complex troubles. And though each life is unique, no one life has more value than another.

  Why make this distinction? Well, because our misconception that some lives are better than others has rendered our species haggard and lost. It makes individuals fight with themselves and each other - competing for a prize that can't be won. It breaks down community relationships - and causes us to fight against each other instead of banding together. Nationally and internationally, it tends to make us feel we have the right to slaughter humans by the hundreds of thousands with no remorse - because we are better than them.

    So surely it is something at least worth musing about philosophically, and of course I would suggest it is something we should put into action at least for our own sake. Do you dare to face the reality that you are not inherently better than anyone else? Any internal competitions or rankings you have in your head in terms of where you fit into this world, into your family, into your community. Let them vanish.

    Dare you face the reality that your favorite sports team, your favorite band, artist or personal preference is not in fact better than anyone else's? That your nation is not the best, your race is not the best, your bloodline is not the best.

    And then where does that leave you?

    Are you still able to motivate yourself to be everything you are capable of being? Or is that hollow competitive drive to be the best the only thing we have keeping us going?

    If that the case, then we've already lost. If as individuals we can not even face the truth of our equal human value - then what chance will there be for international peace? Until we recognize the inherent value in ourselves and each other - none of us will be safe from the jaws of injustice, the ravages of war, or the fear of total annihilation. 

    Be brave fellow human. Be brave in who you are and be all that you can be - while still acknowledging that no matter what you do you will never be the best - and that is ok. Let this reality liberate you, let it make you stronger, more compassionate, more impactful, more famous - anything you want it to make you and stand in that power without feeling you must also be superior - because you are not,

...and that is ok.

That's all for now. Thanks for musing with me. 

Miss Emily J Hart

Your Philosophical Muse