MAN KNOW THY SELF (1)

                                         "KNOW THYSELF"

                                            By Aubrey Weldon

Physical force has always been used for the regulation of human behavior to determine who gets what, when, where, and how. Only the physically strong survived. We have some evidence of how humans lived in small groups with tribal pecking orders and oral traditions. It would appear to me that the population explosion and the food supply would become the driving force for rules and regulations other than physical force, coupled with the appreciation of human life as something to value.

RELIGION

The religious myth is the most powerful myth ever created to control humans. Long before Moses and his Bible, humans were living under rules and regulations called Law. We are often reminded, even in modern times, that physical force plays a large part in achieving desired results as to who gets what resources. As humans begin to populate the earth over 30,000 years ago, they were mainly hunters and gatherers, moving about the earth until devising a means to make permanent settlements a viable alternative for survival.

          These ideas and concepts would become the driving force in the evolution of the life of mankind on the earth. Religion and Law would be used to control human behavior. All their various mythological gods and various methods of punishment for illegal behavior the few have ruled the many.  Religion can never reform society because it's a form of slavery; fear and wonder is a powerful combination used to control society. It was once said "that the best things in life can't be told because they transcend thought. The second best is the thoughts about those things and the third best is what we talk about. Every religion is a metaphor of the great mysteries while every law is aimed at punishment or reward for unacceptable behavior.  

 MORALITY

The basis of all morality starts with the right of a human to his own life, and that all other laws flowed from that premise. Of course, slavery in the world made that idea ludicrous. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness came a lot later in human evolution, and even those ideas were planted in the face of slavery. So where did a moral basis for the law as we know it come from?

           Allowing humans to keep their life was right at the top of the list. The right to make a living, to have shelter and food was at least second to the first one, but the right to possess property and have it protected by law has posed the greatest threat to human morality. At times, property rights far exceeded the basic right to ones life and security in most countries.

           The scheme of Capitalism as a system of distribution of goods and services had made a valiant attempt to reconcile these two opposing principles, the right to make a living to survive and the right to own property. Here is where the greatest struggle for morality takes place everyday.

            Some humans are well aware of the drawbacks of a price driven system and the scarcity of money.  The many methods used to get that money constantly raised issues of morality and how the law was posed to deal with them.
            One thing that did not help was that the ones who make the laws had all the money and the property, and that most laws were aimed at protecting their possessions. Under the old Feudal System, the King was the law. The church had their own laws, and the landowners controlled the destiny of the serfs or vassals. The system operated under some brutal realities that didn't fair well for morality. You did what was right and good for the King, the Church, and the Landlord.