The Need for Strength

I have experienced it time and time again. The feeling of powerlessness and weakness in the face of the pressures that are heaped upon me from so many people, places, and things is like a vice that closes in on you. That alienating feeling is the source of nightmares and something that we all seek to avoid at all costs. We need to feel that we have control over our lives and destinies. The feeling of strength and security is something that we all desire and in many ways cannot live without. It is impossible to draw fulfillment out of life without a sense of strength drawn from a clear purpose and importance. However, in our desperation for this reassuring feeling we all too often end up preying on others of our own kind.

Human perception focuses on the outer appearance, as I have often found to my cost throughout my life, and any perceived sign of weakness can cause the unscrupulous to circle you like hungry sharks attracted by the scent of blood. In an environment where security is found to be lacking, those who seek to inflict pain on others find a safe haven while their victims know only pain and suffering. They seem to be able to sniff out weakness like a bloodhound, they know where their insults will bite deepest, and they know where the pain they will inflict will hurt the most. With merriment and sport they seek out victims, whether they enjoy the infliction of pain, or simply want to prove their strength or popularity by attacking the outsider. Instead of drawing strength from purpose and a sense of fulfillment they draw brutish strength from abusing others and drawing satisfaction from the pain that they inflict upon the weak. That is how the alienated seek the desperately needed strength that all human beings desire.

However, in such brute strength they will search in vain, for there is no security to be found there. Such brutes must constantly look over their shoulder for competitors who would strip away their supremacy. Popularity in particular is fluid and ever shifting. Those who are popular today may be nothing tomorrow. When the brute loses their supremacy they have nothing and their desperation may lead them into madness. Their callousness bringing about harsh retribution from their own human nature, for preying upon their fellow humans erodes their humanity to the point of complete loss of control. Their attempts to reach security come to nothing but their own destruction.

The alienation of feeling powerless is merely answered by the alienation of brutishness toward fellow human beings, leading only to further degeneration and corruption of the human spirit.  True strength rests in realizing one’s purpose and potential. When one possesses a clear and important role within society they can find a solid sense of security and will take pleasure in improving their performance within that role. Secure in their role they will feel no need to compete with or take from others except when it comes to further striving for perfection. Solidarity between human beings will become the status quo under such conditions. When human society grants human beings their sole natural right, the right to grow and develop their potentials, society will be purposeful and dignified. When society does not do this the result will be unhappiness, alienation and hopelessness. Such an alienated society produces too many brutes willing to trample the potential of others and waste their own in the process. Such a situation cannot be tolerated, for it rapes human beings of their dignity and weakens the fabric of society as a whole.

Human society is only as strong as the collective strength of the human beings that make it up. In particular the leaders of society must set a dignified example to show the rest of the citizenry that they have a purpose and a potential that can and must be fulfilled. They must show that such fulfillment contributes to society and to human wellbeing as a whole. The society that is effective in guiding its’ citizens to their proper place and potential will strong, enlightened and enduring. The society that effectively does these things will be a truly dignified society and an example to the world. The unity and solidarity of the citizenry will form a living citadel of dignity that will be a bastion against alienation and a demonstration of the true strength of humanity. This will be an unmistakable sign that our species will not be broken and will forever stand in its appointed task as guardian of the world and its life.

As the world’s most powerful species we must be dignified adults and not alienated children. While the mature strength of the adult is centered on purpose and fulfillment the immature strength of the child too often devolves into sadism and destruction. Our choice lies between these. We cannot afford to fail. We must do what must be done for the sake of our species, for the sake of the planet, and for the sake of the heavens above. We have a responsibility and it is a responsibility that we must forever uphold. Human beings everywhere, embrace the dignified strength that is yours, understand your role, and with your brethren build the mighty edifice of the living citadel; combine and lend your strength to your species!